1.Flesh Carver
2.Drana/ Vampire Nighthawk (I like hawk more but Drana has an agro oriented ability)
3.Ophiomancer
4.Liliana, Heretical Healer
5.Master of the feast/ Strike Leader (I haven't played either but I like leader more)
6.Liliana, the last hope
In my cube black is only a support color in agro decks. This has been changing, and I have been adding more aggressive cards, but right now agro is mostly value/Reanimator. I'm making sure I say this because in an aggressive atmosphere Master of the feast is LEAGUES above Ophiomancer. These are all fine cards imo, but I can already sense a fleet of people *****ting on Master. I can also see a future where everyone calls me an idiot for ranking Liliana, the Last Hope last. I don't like her, and Liliana of the veil is a card. I guess if money is a problem they do have the same cmc, and you could use last hope in veils pot, but even new lily isn't cheap and She just isn't what I want to be doing.
- Ophiomancer = Flesh Carver
- Liliana, the Last Hope
- Mardu Strike Leader
- Drana
- Liliana, Heretical Healer (would be higher if there wasn't 3 Lilianas in the same slot)
- Vampire Nighthawk
- Master of the Feast
- Ophiomancer and Flesh Carver are premium 3-drops and are splashable, so that makes them a cut above the rest
- Liliana, the Last Hope is a great engine card and can defend herself quite easily
- Drana + Strike Leader are both good in aggro and tokens shells
- Heretical Healer is nasty in Recurring Nightmare / Stax / Midrange decks, but the other 2 Lilianas are more powerful and having room for a 3rd can be tough
- Vampire Nighthawk has a defensive niche that's pretty unique in black
- Master of the Feast is serviceable, but there are more consistent options now.
Emmy is probably better in a lot of cubes, and Is 100% the choice if you have a slower cube with a graveyard archetype. As I wrote this I realized she might just be the right choice everywhere. She doesn't have the shuffle clause so you can reanimate her, and a deck that wants to hard cast her will probably do it for 8-10. She's more playable in everything that wants to play her. After writing this I'm considering switching OG Emrakul to The promised End.
Shardless Agent seems like the default include in most Simic sections, but as has been stated on these forums also, it has some anti-synergy in the UG tempo decks since cascading into counterspells is really meh. (Honestly, I've personally felt that the Agent is a three-color card in disguise, best fit for decks that are just splashing blue. I might even go crazy and actually run it but categorize it as Temur.) Meanwhile, Rogue Refiner will always draw you a card and hit for one more damage. Coiling Oracle has an extremely lackluster body for a cmc2 gold card, but it can randomly ramp you. What do you think? Am I dumb to even consider other options than Agent?
If you throw agent into a deck with counter spells and hit one, you can't blame the counter spell. It's entirely possible to be pure UG and have no bad hits, or to just splash the agent.
It's also just so much better than any of those cards by a million years.
Agent is a great card. It is worth a splash for some decks, which you cannot say for the other two. Scales very well with blue power. In many decks it will consistently hit a ramp effect, plus it has some artifact synergies in blue (while you do not care if it gets destroyed by a Disenchant). It is of the better options in its uninspiring guild.
I always have to give the content answer. I haven't played with Aether Chaser yet, so leaving it off my analysis.
Marauders is the best pure aggro card and the one that is most impactful on T2. Ire Shaman I didn't like but the evasion is decent and late game it gets you another card (usually), so I don't fault anyone for running it. I like prowess a lot, so Abbot is the one I prefer (helps the art is sweet). But he's also the worst of the 4 on T2.
Marshall is 3 bodies for 2 mana, so is very good in token and sacrifice decks. He's the best synergy option if you are in the market for that sort of thing. In my midrange cube, he's practically uncuttable and I'd run him over all the others if I were forced to make that choice.
They're both prob good enough in a lot of lists, but I think Torch of Defiance would make more decks, including probably every deck Flamecaller would make
I still feel weird in the pants every time I read Chandra, Torch of Defiance. I remember reading her for the first time. I was early to a pauper tournament one wednesday and the guy behind my LGS's counter said, "Have you seen red Jace, The Mind Sculptor yet?" I said no and he replied with an enthusiastic, "DDDDDOOOOOOOOOOOD!"
I had a tough time fathoming that they would print a card that said those words. Torch didn't play out to be as busted as we thought, but the moral of the story is I like to windmill slam Torch, and even though flamecaller isn't that much worse in reality Torch still has 4 abilities.
2.Drana/ Vampire Nighthawk (I like hawk more but Drana has an agro oriented ability)
3.Ophiomancer
4.Liliana, Heretical Healer
5.Master of the feast/ Strike Leader (I haven't played either but I like leader more)
6.Liliana, the last hope
In my cube black is only a support color in agro decks. This has been changing, and I have been adding more aggressive cards, but right now agro is mostly value/Reanimator. I'm making sure I say this because in an aggressive atmosphere Master of the feast is LEAGUES above Ophiomancer. These are all fine cards imo, but I can already sense a fleet of people *****ting on Master. I can also see a future where everyone calls me an idiot for ranking Liliana, the Last Hope last. I don't like her, and Liliana of the veil is a card. I guess if money is a problem they do have the same cmc, and you could use last hope in veils pot, but even new lily isn't cheap and She just isn't what I want to be doing.
- Liliana, the Last Hope
- Mardu Strike Leader
- Drana
- Liliana, Heretical Healer (would be higher if there wasn't 3 Lilianas in the same slot)
- Vampire Nighthawk
- Master of the Feast
- Ophiomancer and Flesh Carver are premium 3-drops and are splashable, so that makes them a cut above the rest
- Liliana, the Last Hope is a great engine card and can defend herself quite easily
- Drana + Strike Leader are both good in aggro and tokens shells
- Heretical Healer is nasty in Recurring Nightmare / Stax / Midrange decks, but the other 2 Lilianas are more powerful and having room for a 3rd can be tough
- Vampire Nighthawk has a defensive niche that's pretty unique in black
- Master of the Feast is serviceable, but there are more consistent options now.
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Rogue Refiner vs. Shardless Agent vs. Coiling Oracle?
Shardless Agent seems like the default include in most Simic sections, but as has been stated on these forums also, it has some anti-synergy in the UG tempo decks since cascading into counterspells is really meh. (Honestly, I've personally felt that the Agent is a three-color card in disguise, best fit for decks that are just splashing blue. I might even go crazy and actually run it but categorize it as Temur.) Meanwhile, Rogue Refiner will always draw you a card and hit for one more damage. Coiling Oracle has an extremely lackluster body for a cmc2 gold card, but it can randomly ramp you. What do you think? Am I dumb to even consider other options than Agent?
It's also just so much better than any of those cards by a million years.
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Emrakul is more broadly playable and has a more unique effect.
Agent is a great card. It is worth a splash for some decks, which you cannot say for the other two. Scales very well with blue power. In many decks it will consistently hit a ramp effect, plus it has some artifact synergies in blue (while you do not care if it gets destroyed by a Disenchant). It is of the better options in its uninspiring guild.
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Agent > Refiner ≥ Oracle
Keep in mind that Agent is better when blue is the splash color, to limit the cascades into reactive spells.
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Aether Chaser - Abbot of Keral Keep - Ire Shaman - Mogg War Marshal - Keldon Marauders
Thanx.
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Abbot > Marauders > Ire Shaman > Aether Chaser > Mogg War Marshal
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This is how I'd rank them. The menace on Ire Shaman makes him better than marshal and the chaser.
Agree with this.
I always have to give the content answer. I haven't played with Aether Chaser yet, so leaving it off my analysis.
Marauders is the best pure aggro card and the one that is most impactful on T2. Ire Shaman I didn't like but the evasion is decent and late game it gets you another card (usually), so I don't fault anyone for running it. I like prowess a lot, so Abbot is the one I prefer (helps the art is sweet). But he's also the worst of the 4 on T2.
Marshall is 3 bodies for 2 mana, so is very good in token and sacrifice decks. He's the best synergy option if you are in the market for that sort of thing. In my midrange cube, he's practically uncuttable and I'd run him over all the others if I were forced to make that choice.
http://riptidelab.com/forum/threads/modular-cube-5-colors.800/
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I had a tough time fathoming that they would print a card that said those words. Torch didn't play out to be as busted as we thought, but the moral of the story is I like to windmill slam Torch, and even though flamecaller isn't that much worse in reality Torch still has 4 abilities.
Ancestral Vision vs Deep Analysis vs Faerie Conclave vs Enclave Cryptologist
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My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 49th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from MKM!
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic