Sure, there is a chance of spending $4 on a booster and getting the Mythic Rare $30 super card. There is also a chance of surviving putting your tongue in a light socket.
While Empty is obviously a Storm win-con, could it also be used to support red goblin and/or token decks, perhaps in Pauper cubes? If not, its inclusion is solely dependent on whether or not you're running the Storm package.
Those who run the Storm package, how many win-cons do you run? Do you ever think you might want more or less?
I love Warrens and would love to include it in my 720 (even without Storm support), but I don't want to "trick" people into thinking that Storm is playable. I tried out Crow Storm as a replacement, but getting 2 1/2s for 2U as a typical situation is a lot less worthwhile than getting 4 gobbos for 3R, at least in my list.
By no means is EtW bad, but in higher power-level cubes it is generally just unremarkable enough that people don't play it. I've drafted powered cubes with storm support before, and even there EtW is the worst wincon in the deck since it makes you either wait a turn to win or use another card to grant haste like Sarkhan or Urabrask, and is generally only included as storm support because of density issues.
So it makes the cut in storm-supporting powered cubes most of the time, but outside of that (I can say from experience) it's too slow and inconstant, not to mention 4cmc red cards are stacked.
Show and Tell is a powerful card. The effect is pretty unique, and in decks designed to play it, you're almost always putting down the scariest monster.
Not going to lie, this card used to be bad and it annoyed me that it was even in the MTGO cubes, but due to polarization of decks over time, the biggest creature you can reasonably expect your opponent to drop most of the time is a 4 drop. Show and Tell is absolutely insane now, but it's just inconsistent/symmetrical enough that it doesn't just feel blatantly broken, unlike Oath of Druids. Oath is to date one of the few (Oath, Tinker, Chanel, Mana Vault) cards I've cut from my unpowered cube for swingy-power reasons, and honestly it was better than any of the aforementioned cards and I honestly believe (can't say from experience though) a handful of power, specifically the moxen, as it's such an easy deck to draft with such a broken and unstoppable payoff.
I also have the Judge Promo Show and Tell art, which looks absolutely stunning.
Ballista is an incredibly flexible creature that is relevant at all points in the game. I wasn't sure it would be good enough when it was first spoiled, but seeing it get so much play in other formats has made me realize how powerful it can be.
Do you run infinite mana combos in your cube? Which ones? If so, what payoffs do you run?
Ballista is incredible. Not an understatement, it goes in every deck. Maybe there's some weird combo cube where it wouldn't work for some reason, but I've yet to find a deck where Ballista isn't played. EDIT: I wouldn't play it in Oath, that's a real spot where it's bad.
Ballista is a great card by virtue of its versatility alone. I only started to play Magic during Mirrodin Besieged so I never got to play with combat damage on the stack with a card like Triskelion, so whenever I play this in Standard, Cube or Modern I always imagine how degenerate this card would have been back then. My friend plays it as a one-of in modern in Abazan Company Combo, and the foiling looks amazing on the braze-gold backdrop of the metal.
Walking Ballista is great and I prefer it to the other XX artifact creature, Hangarback Walker. They're both great, though.
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EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: URDelver
Modern: UGRDelver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
Agree that he and his brother, Hangarback Walker are awesome cube cards due to sheer versatility. I'm sort of sad that it was not a Kaladesh Invention.
In my artifact cube, where there is colorless ramp, artifact synergy, and +1/+1 counters synergy, they are even more incredible.
Terastodon is a great green fatty. It's huge, answers up to three problem (noncreature) permanents, and can also upgrade your own permanents if 3/3 Elephants would be more useful. Still, there are many options for green fatties, and sometimes Terastodon doesn't make the cut.
If you had to pick one, would you pick Terastodon or Woodfall Primus? Why do you prefer one over the other?
I believe Scroll Rack goes from good, if you have fetches and other shuffle effects, to almost unplayable without them. I guess it also combos with miracles, if you run any of those.
What is the strangest place you've ever played Magic?
One of my favorite creatures to cheat into play, Griselbrand is great at winning a game if left unchecked, and can still provide its controller a great advantage even if it is killed immediately.
What are your thoughts on Griselbrand? Feel free to talk about Scroll Rack as well, if you want. Anyone have any experience with it in cube?
Scroll Rack is a fine choice, but it's a bit durdly for most cubes. I'd bring it back if I expanded to 630-720, but the colorless competition is too fierce at smaller sizes. Makes a fun combo with Land Tax and is great for putting a Tinker/Natural Order target back in your deck when you draw it.
Grielbrand is pretty amazing. He's one of the best creatures to cheat into play but is fine to hard cast in a mostly black control or ramp deck.
As a player I really like Scroll Rack, but in my group the more skilled drafters had a tendency to pick it because they know control often will beat a less well-drafted deck. It increased game length and didn't add to the fun, so I took it out. Haven't looked back. Big Gris is a powerhouse.
Grizzley-brand here is literally the best fatty ever printed in magic's history, a card that was in the same set as Tibalt. Really goes to show that Wizards was a little off their rocker when they designed Avacyn Restored, to say the least (it's also the second worst limited format I've ever had the displeasure to play, just behind RTR).
I also copped the promo version of him for less than $10 in mint condition on ebay, back before the masters reprint when he was like $25. I have a job so it's certainly not a big deal for me monetarily, but I was having a pretty rough time around then and the small emotional victory felt really good and holds a special place for me in my cube.
I'd get the new fnm frames over normal copies but I prefer the old full art fnm cards.
http://www.cubetutor.com/cubeblog/63569
Empty the Warrens
While Empty is obviously a Storm win-con, could it also be used to support red goblin and/or token decks, perhaps in Pauper cubes? If not, its inclusion is solely dependent on whether or not you're running the Storm package.
Those who run the Storm package, how many win-cons do you run? Do you ever think you might want more or less?
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!
So it makes the cut in storm-supporting powered cubes most of the time, but outside of that (I can say from experience) it's too slow and inconstant, not to mention 4cmc red cards are stacked.
Show and Tell
Show and Tell is a card I would try in my cube if I had one, but I haven't tried to acquire one yet. As such, I don't have any experience with it.
Have you ever lost a game to your opponent benefiting from a symmetrical effect of yours such as Show and Tell or Oath of Druids?
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!
I also have the Judge Promo Show and Tell art, which looks absolutely stunning.
Walking Ballista
Ballista is an incredibly flexible creature that is relevant at all points in the game. I wasn't sure it would be good enough when it was first spoiled, but seeing it get so much play in other formats has made me realize how powerful it can be.
Do you run infinite mana combos in your cube? Which ones? If so, what payoffs do you run?
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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!
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: UR Delver
Modern: UGR Delver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
In my artifact cube, where there is colorless ramp, artifact synergy, and +1/+1 counters synergy, they are even more incredible.
Terastodon
Terastodon is a great green fatty. It's huge, answers up to three problem (noncreature) permanents, and can also upgrade your own permanents if 3/3 Elephants would be more useful. Still, there are many options for green fatties, and sometimes Terastodon doesn't make the cut.
If you had to pick one, would you pick Terastodon or Woodfall Primus? Why do you prefer one over the other?
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!
Scroll Rack
I believe Scroll Rack goes from good, if you have fetches and other shuffle effects, to almost unplayable without them. I guess it also combos with miracles, if you run any of those.
What is the strangest place you've ever played Magic?
Griselbrand
One of my favorite creatures to cheat into play, Griselbrand is great at winning a game if left unchecked, and can still provide its controller a great advantage even if it is killed immediately.
What are your thoughts on Griselbrand? Feel free to talk about Scroll Rack as well, if you want. Anyone have any experience with it in cube?
Grielbrand is pretty amazing. He's one of the best creatures to cheat into play but is fine to hard cast in a mostly black control or ramp deck.
Cheers,
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I'd like to find room to bring Rack back, but it's hard at 450.
And Griselbrand is one of the best creatures to cheat into play, period.
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!
I also copped the promo version of him for less than $10 in mint condition on ebay, back before the masters reprint when he was like $25. I have a job so it's certainly not a big deal for me monetarily, but I was having a pretty rough time around then and the small emotional victory felt really good and holds a special place for me in my cube.