Wicked Wolf, but bigger! PrimeTime is seeing its age as a good 6-drop in green. Could King Kong find a place alongside Carnage Tyrant as Green's premier 6-drop?
There's a lot to like here, definitely one of my favorite six-drops in green now. Don't think it's in the top 3 by power-level, but it's the kind of card I want in my cube.
Pretty good value creature. I like how it's titan-esque with both an ETB and attack trigger, but differentiates itself by having those be separate effects.
The lack of trample puts this below the other green 6-drops for me, at least behind Primeval Titan / Carnage Tyrant. Also has to compete with the Overrun giant, and GoG has Kiki-twin applications. Might give this a test if I can find a slot for 6-cmc creature #3. Would love to combo King Kong with Palace Jailer.
This is a sweet card. I like that it gives green access to good removal and can be a repeatable Naturalize effect moving forward. Additionally, the ability to protect itself with the human/bounce trigger is good; that protection will be more reliable than it looks at first glance. Lack of trample hurts its validity as a legitimate finisher, but it's still a good 6-drop. I don't think it replaces Prime Time or Carnage Tyrant though.
Tough Cube slot... We like Carnage Tyrant, Primeval Titan, and Regal Behemoth in our 720, and like others have said the lack of trample puts a damper on considering this card as a “big midrange” finisher.
While the stats are good, this strikes me a card that needs to be appraised more as a "mulldrifter" than a "baneslayer". If you kill something when this comes out and your opponent wastes a kill spell on this, you are getting an equivalent card advantage to evoking a mulldrifter... for twice the cost... in a very heavily-green card. If this card survives to get a single attack and hits an artifact/enchantment before biting it you are getting a decent 3-for-1 in most cases... which still probably isn't quite worth in most cases (especially when the alternate options are so great).
Ocassionally, this card will take out a second artifact/enchantment or each a chump blocker before being put down (which it could theoretically do better, something has gone seriously wrong for your opponent if this thing lives over turn cycles). Even that glorious 4-for-1 seems borderline for me. While this guy does have some general combat presence and the activated ability has some presence, the heavy commitment to green and lack of decent green etb humans (other than witness, of course) makes that an iffy consideration.
I really love this card but I don't think I can find room at 465 cards. It doesn't replace Titan or Tyrant. Primus is more resilient and more likely to hit two targets. So that leaves me with thinking about Hornet Queen and I can't see cutting that card because Queen fits in a totally different role. Maybe I'll cut a 5 drop, which would mean goodbye to Verdurous Gearhulk.
Kogla is going to be a nice target for Sneak Attack, Breach, and Ilharg.
I might replace Titan for this. I'm not running a ton of relevant manlands so I feel like removing a creature and some artifacts is going to be more impactful on average. No trample is a shame but removing a blocker when Kogla ETB is a fair substitute. The protection is amazing flavour, and will probably come up on occasion. Bouncing value Humans like Blade Splicer would make for fun interactions.
I will test this glorious ape in the slot of Greenwarden of Murasa. It's a much more interesting package of effects and I like that it does so much at once. I hope to live the dream of bouncing Eternal Witness for ape***** value!
I might test this in place of Primeval Titan. It's definitely a lower power level, but I don't want to carve out space elsewhere. I just wish that this had a King Kong showcase art, since that's clearly what it's going for.
The top two green sixes are pretty easily Prime Time and Carny T. After that, though, I think if you want a third or fourth the power level of the next few options are all pretty comparable. Testing this as your third six drop is certainly not embarrassing. I have this guy on my watch list. Also, and this isn't really really relevant for cube, but the flavor level on this is off the charts.
Good things are instant value, artifact/enchant removal on attack, and potential indestructibility. Bad things are the triple G in the cost, no trample, and the indestructibility cost is problematic given that it costs additional mana resources and requires a human.
I'm also of the opinion that Primeval Titan has not aged well, but alas I don't think this is the guy to replace him. A green fatty without trample means chump blocks for days. The fight ability is good, but it often won't be enough to ensure the beats get through which is the big idea here. I would have traded either the 2nd or 3rd ability for trample (preferably the 3rd even if its super flavorful).
It's good, and exactly as good as I thought it would be. I'm happy enough to cube it, but it's still behind Primeval Titan and Carnage Tyrant (and Great Oak Guardian if you play Kiki/Twin). But securely in that #3/#4 slot.
I decided to cut Terastodon for Kogla. It's not at the same CMC, but serves a very similar role. I wanted to give Kogla a spot while not exchanging it with a creature that has trample.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Wicked Wolf, but bigger! PrimeTime is seeing its age as a good 6-drop in green. Could King Kong find a place alongside Carnage Tyrant as Green's premier 6-drop?
The lack of trample puts this below the other green 6-drops for me, at least behind Primeval Titan / Carnage Tyrant. Also has to compete with the Overrun giant, and GoG has Kiki-twin applications. Might give this a test if I can find a slot for 6-cmc creature #3. Would love to combo King Kong with Palace Jailer.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
The list on cube cobra
Read my blog on cube - Latest post June 2nd 2022
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 49th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from MKM!
Ocassionally, this card will take out a second artifact/enchantment or each a chump blocker before being put down (which it could theoretically do better, something has gone seriously wrong for your opponent if this thing lives over turn cycles). Even that glorious 4-for-1 seems borderline for me. While this guy does have some general combat presence and the activated ability has some presence, the heavy commitment to green and lack of decent green etb humans (other than witness, of course) makes that an iffy consideration.
Kogla is going to be a nice target for Sneak Attack, Breach, and Ilharg.
Cheers,
rant
My Cube
CubeCobra: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5f5d0310ed602310515d4c32
Cube Tutor: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/1963
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
Draft my cube! (630 cards)
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
Follow me. I tweet.
I'm also of the opinion that Primeval Titan has not aged well, but alas I don't think this is the guy to replace him. A green fatty without trample means chump blocks for days. The fight ability is good, but it often won't be enough to ensure the beats get through which is the big idea here. I would have traded either the 2nd or 3rd ability for trample (preferably the 3rd even if its super flavorful).
Don’t think it’s amazing, but it’s certainly close and would find a home.
Worth testing
Last Updated 02/07/24
Streaming Standard/Cube on Twitch https://www.twitch.tv/heisenb3rg96
Strategy Twitter https://www.twitter.com/heisenb3rg
Cube Tutor: Here
Utility Lands: Here
I'm really curious how good this big ape is.
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 49th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from MKM!
Cheers,
rant
My Cube
CubeCobra: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5f5d0310ed602310515d4c32
Cube Tutor: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/1963