Buffing elves is a decent upside, and the ramp can get rather silly in exactly the decks that have elves to buff. It's nothing earth-shattering, but it seems respectable with hill giant stats.
With a mana dork or other piece of ramp, this comes down on turn 3 and ramps to 8 on turn 4 if undisturbed. It's gross, but in a very fair kind of way.
It's like a really fragile Thran dynamo you can't tap the turn you play it, but does have some tribal benefits.
I have 10 elves in my cube (and nothing that makes elf tokens). So the buff is pretty meaningless for me. So the question is do you want a 4 mana 3/3 that taps for GGG? I think the answer is no, at least for me.
This exact card exists for 1 mana less just without the lord bonus. That card is much better than this in my eyes even with the more green intensive cost and is still not even close to making it into my cube.
This can be cool for cubes with a heavy elf tribal theme, as more lords are always welcome. However, in a normal cube environment, buffing elves is close to irrelevant.
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This exact card exists for 1 mana less just without the lord bonus. That card is much better than this in my eyes even with the more green intensive cost and is still not even close to making it into my cube.
This exact card exists for 1 mana less just without the lord bonus. That card is much better than this in my eyes even with the more green intensive cost and is still not even close to making it into my cube.
I kind of forgot that card existed, but in any event GGG is a very different casting cost than 3G. This guy is castable in an artifact ramp deck. Tribe is not.
Anyway, you're right - neither of these cards are gonna make it in a normal cube.
I'm going to watch this card - Not because of its tribal potential, but 4 mana for 3 green is a decent rate.
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I'm actively maintaining a comprehensive article to help explain to new cube players how some complex vintage level cards work in a cube environment. Vintage Cube Cards Explained
Buffing elves is a decent upside, and the ramp can get rather silly in exactly the decks that have elves to buff. It's nothing earth-shattering, but it seems respectable with hill giant stats.
With a mana dork or other piece of ramp, this comes down on turn 3 and ramps to 8 on turn 4 if undisturbed. It's gross, but in a very fair kind of way.
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My 1570 card cube (no longer updated)
My 415 Peasant+ Artifact and Enchantment Cube
Ever-Expanding "Just throw it in" cube.
I have 10 elves in my cube (and nothing that makes elf tokens). So the buff is pretty meaningless for me. So the question is do you want a 4 mana 3/3 that taps for GGG? I think the answer is no, at least for me.
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
Llanowar Tribe
In terms of castability, GGG is pretty comparable to 3G. It's a both are "occasionally on turn 3, usually by turn 4".
That said, I agree, I don't think either of these cards is good enough.
I kind of forgot that card existed, but in any event GGG is a very different casting cost than 3G. This guy is castable in an artifact ramp deck. Tribe is not.
Anyway, you're right - neither of these cards are gonna make it in a normal cube.
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
Vintage Cube Cards Explained
Here are some other articles I've written about fine tuning your cube:
1. Minimum Archetype Support
2. Improving Green Archetypes
3. Improving White Archetypes
4. Matchup Analysis
5. Cube Combos (Work in Progress)
Draft my Cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/d8i