I like Relic a lot. It probably is the best 3 mana rock, but I also like basalt monolith for decks that are trying to ramp to high levels on mana and don't need to the fixing. But most decks are happier with the relic. I like the new art work as well, so it might be time get a foil version since the OG is a little more than I want to pay at the moment
Can't think of the last card I got because I wanted new artwork, but I have never picked up an arcane denial, but I probably will pick one up with A25 Release.
Relic is great. Fixing and the potential for a 2x ramp effect ...so good. Any deck playing multiple 5+cc cards will want to play Relic, especially one that might be stretching on mana.
Probably the best mana rock out there that's fair enough for any cube to run. For unpowered cubes, grim monolith and mana vault are better, but I know people exclude those due to power concerns.
I can't imagine ever cutting relic from any cube. Going from 3 to 6 is such huge game.
i've never played utopia sprawl as ive found my mana dorks work well enough. but when i play against it in other cubes it seems more annoying than mana dorks for some reason.
I grew up 100 yards from the city limits of Calgary (1 million pop.) and found that was the best mix of rural and urban. close enough to drive in but still outside the majority of traffic, light, and noise pollution. Last year I moved to a small rural town for work and its 2 hours to get to the nearest LGS. I like having a 5 minute drive to work but miss a lot of the amenities that cities have to offer.
I value having a variety of effects in cube, so I run Utopia Sprawl and Search for Tomorrow over the 8th and 9th mana elves. Survival of the Fittest and Opposition prefer the creatures, but Utopia Sprawl does have nice interactions in Arbor Elf and Garruk Wildspeaker. It's also nice that it can manafix and provide mana the turn it's cast if cast after turn 1. It opens you up to being 2-for-1'd by Strip Mine, but in general is harder to remove than creature ramp.
Utopia Sprawl has few postivies over the average mana dork. The chance of it sticking around through a wrath is neglible next to terrible downside of getting wastelanded, and the potential for fixing trades off for when you just don't have a forest. I'd sooner run Boreal Druid.
I live in Tampa and have grown to hate living in a big city. All you do is drive where you need to go, do your thing, and drive home. I hope to move to Portland, Oregon, a town I can walk around in and smell the roses while doing errands.
I like it a lot; it ramps, it fixes, it comes down early and most decks don't have a lot of enchantment removal.
I live in Northern Ireland, you are never more than 20 minutes drive from the country side or an hour from the coast. Our capital city, Belfast, isn't exactly a "Big City" either, I can walk to the city center in 20 minutes but I live in a 2-floor 6-room semi-detached house (split 4 ways) without paying an insane amount of money.
Utopia Sprawl has few postivies over the average mana dork. The chance of it sticking around through a wrath is neglible next to terrible downside of getting wastelanded, and the potential for fixing trades off for when you just don't have a forest. I'd sooner run Boreal Druid.
I would say the average cube deck has a lot less ways to remove this than it does a mana elf. Infact I would flip your entire statement; The chance of getting wastelanded, and the potential for fixing trades off for when you just don't have a forest is negligible next to it sticking around through a wrath and being immune to creature removal. I can't ever think of a time I have utopia sprawl in my hand, green mana to cast it but no forest to enchant, seems like a very fringe case to be worries about in comparison to not having to worry about creature removal. Not having to worry if someone will "bolt the bird" on a critical turn is pretty useful for a lot of green decks who are stretching their mana base
People are expecting birds and elves when they face green, utopia sprawl often slips past their removal and lets you keep the extra mana around. It also has some synergies with untapping lands like Garruk Wildspeaker. I wouldn't say its better than an elf, just different, and I will take that over the worst of the elves.
It's unexciting, but it's been good. Gets worse the later into the game you go, but even then there are a lot of boards featuring just a single creature.
Nah, and **** that. I have an intense fear of heights, the only time I'll throw myself from a plane is if it's more dangerous to be in that plane vs tumbling towards earth.
If your red aggro is mono-red, Eidolon is one of the best 2-drops available. If you play 2-color R/X aggro decks, the RR cost can be quite prohibitive, as both the effect and the body need to resolve as soon as possible before they become outclassed/ineffective.
I think Eidolon is a sweet card, but the cost keeps it out for me.
What do I like to do? Well, I found out recently that I love playing Pauper.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I can't say I'm pleased to see you and must warn you I may have to do something about it.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: URDelver
Modern: UGRDelver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
It's a strong, simple effect for a good price. I wouldn't blink twice if I saw it in a draft, but unless there's one or more 2-card GW creature combos, it seems better to just play one of GW's versatile creatures.
Like at any phase of the game, I think a deck that would play this card would do better with Fleecemane Lion (better tempo early, strong creature late) and nobody plays Lion.
Creatures are probably one of the least good card types to tutor for, so GW is only an alright rate for the effect. Stacked guild is stacked.
Why is that? I believe that cube creatures are great, and that I would almost certainly be trying this out if it were mono-green. I already run Green Sun's Zenith, for example. As a GW card though, yeah I agree that there's simply not enough space for it in the majority of cubes.
Chain lightning is great. I would basically consider it a sorcery speed bolt, I can count on my hands the ammount of times had someone actually copy Chain Lightning since it rare for someone to be holding up double red (in my experience). I have had experiences where someone could copy my Chain Lightning but doing so would have played out worse for them.
The "drawback" is a complicated one; if they copy it you also get the chance to copy it so it often isn't worth it. If I go for the dome with chain lightning do you really want to let me do it again? If I kill a utility guy is it worth killing one of mine if it lets me bolt something else.
The thing is you are always ahead in value if you start a Chain Lightning fight since your opponent never has the option to cast more bolts than you and you will always have paid less since the first cast only cost R. The balancing fact is you paid a card and your opponent did not, but if your playing well you wont cast it when you will come out worse.
Interesting tension, even if it rarly comes up in cube.
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@Radient Dragon - I think we are on the same schedule. I keep starting a message and you have posted by the time I'm finished
Eladamri's Call
Good card but I'm not running it. It's well costed and useful but a bit too narrow, I assume it gets stronger the more creature combos you have but I have very few and they aren't GW.
Is it just the picture or is the new are a lot more washed out?
I worked security so I had to talk down a lot of angry people
It's basically a sorcery-sped Bolt. When the chaining comes up, it's usually because the player casting it forgot about that part of the card, and I've seen it be a costly drawback.
Depends on the opponents deck though, Chain Lightning is at best a 1-for-1 and at worst you can 2-for-1 yourself, there are a ton of matchups where I could happily cut chain lightning for Arc Trail or Flames of the Firebrand. If my opponent has a bunch of elves Arc Trail is probably better and against tokens Flames of the Firebrand is going to act like a mini sweeper.
In game 1 chain lightning is usually the best option, but once I have seen their deck it sometimes gets sided out.
Banishing Light is great. It's hard to argue with splashable removal that can deal with everything.
I've played a ton of other card games over the years. The only one besides Magic that I still play is Decipher's Star Wars CCG. I thill think it has the best game mechanics of any CCG I've ever played. The Destiny system is a great tool for balancing the game from a design standpoint, but it's not a mechanic that could be ported into Magic.
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
Can't think of the last card I got because I wanted new artwork, but I have never picked up an arcane denial, but I probably will pick one up with A25 Release.
http://www.cubetutor.com/cubeblog/63569
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
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I can't imagine ever cutting relic from any cube. Going from 3 to 6 is such huge game.
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
Utopia Sprawl
Do you live in an urban area or a rural one? Which do you prefer?
I grew up 100 yards from the city limits of Calgary (1 million pop.) and found that was the best mix of rural and urban. close enough to drive in but still outside the majority of traffic, light, and noise pollution. Last year I moved to a small rural town for work and its 2 hours to get to the nearest LGS. I like having a 5 minute drive to work but miss a lot of the amenities that cities have to offer.
[180 classic cube]
I live in Tampa and have grown to hate living in a big city. All you do is drive where you need to go, do your thing, and drive home. I hope to move to Portland, Oregon, a town I can walk around in and smell the roses while doing errands.
This is still the best place for high-power-level cube chat & debate.
Here's to many more years at MTGS *clink*
I live in Northern Ireland, you are never more than 20 minutes drive from the country side or an hour from the coast. Our capital city, Belfast, isn't exactly a "Big City" either, I can walk to the city center in 20 minutes but I live in a 2-floor 6-room semi-detached house (split 4 ways) without paying an insane amount of money.
I would say the average cube deck has a lot less ways to remove this than it does a mana elf. Infact I would flip your entire statement; The chance of getting wastelanded, and the potential for fixing trades off for when you just don't have a forest is negligible next to it sticking around through a wrath and being immune to creature removal. I can't ever think of a time I have utopia sprawl in my hand, green mana to cast it but no forest to enchant, seems like a very fringe case to be worries about in comparison to not having to worry about creature removal. Not having to worry if someone will "bolt the bird" on a critical turn is pretty useful for a lot of green decks who are stretching their mana base
People are expecting birds and elves when they face green, utopia sprawl often slips past their removal and lets you keep the extra mana around. It also has some synergies with untapping lands like Garruk Wildspeaker. I wouldn't say its better than an elf, just different, and I will take that over the worst of the elves.
Diabolic Edict
Have you ever gone skydiving? How did you enjoy it?
Nah, and **** that. I have an intense fear of heights, the only time I'll throw myself from a plane is if it's more dangerous to be in that plane vs tumbling towards earth.
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
Eidolon of the Great Revel
What's your idea of a good time? What would you most want to be doing if given the option?
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
What do I like to do? Well, I found out recently that I love playing Pauper.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: UR Delver
Modern: UGR Delver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
Eladamri's Call
Have you ever had to settle or defuse a dispute? How serious was it?
My 630 Card Powered Cube
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My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
Like at any phase of the game, I think a deck that would play this card would do better with Fleecemane Lion (better tempo early, strong creature late) and nobody plays Lion.
Why is that? I believe that cube creatures are great, and that I would almost certainly be trying this out if it were mono-green. I already run Green Sun's Zenith, for example. As a GW card though, yeah I agree that there's simply not enough space for it in the majority of cubes.
Chain Lightning
How often has Chain Lightning's drawback come up in games? Is it basically just a sorcery-speed Lightning Bolt?
The "drawback" is a complicated one; if they copy it you also get the chance to copy it so it often isn't worth it. If I go for the dome with chain lightning do you really want to let me do it again? If I kill a utility guy is it worth killing one of mine if it lets me bolt something else.
The thing is you are always ahead in value if you start a Chain Lightning fight since your opponent never has the option to cast more bolts than you and you will always have paid less since the first cast only cost R. The balancing fact is you paid a card and your opponent did not, but if your playing well you wont cast it when you will come out worse.
Interesting tension, even if it rarly comes up in cube.
------------------
@Radient Dragon - I think we are on the same schedule. I keep starting a message and you have posted by the time I'm finished
Eladamri's Call
Good card but I'm not running it. It's well costed and useful but a bit too narrow, I assume it gets stronger the more creature combos you have but I have very few and they aren't GW.
Is it just the picture or is the new are a lot more washed out?
I worked security so I had to talk down a lot of angry people
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
This is still the best place for high-power-level cube chat & debate.
Here's to many more years at MTGS *clink*
Depends on the opponents deck though, Chain Lightning is at best a 1-for-1 and at worst you can 2-for-1 yourself, there are a ton of matchups where I could happily cut chain lightning for Arc Trail or Flames of the Firebrand. If my opponent has a bunch of elves Arc Trail is probably better and against tokens Flames of the Firebrand is going to act like a mini sweeper.
In game 1 chain lightning is usually the best option, but once I have seen their deck it sometimes gets sided out.
Banishing Light
Do you play other trading card games? Is there anything that one of those games do that you would like to see brought over to Magic?
I've played a ton of other card games over the years. The only one besides Magic that I still play is Decipher's Star Wars CCG. I thill think it has the best game mechanics of any CCG I've ever played. The Destiny system is a great tool for balancing the game from a design standpoint, but it's not a mechanic that could be ported into Magic.
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!