I've seen Bone Shards get some discussion in the testing thread and on Reddit but I didn't see a thread here.
This can support sacrifice/Aristocrats and can be a discard outlet for reanimator. I support aristocrats and have been thinking of playing it. Black has gotten a lot of good removal lately so it has a lot of competition but its a pretty unique card that works in multiple decks. I might cut my last Doom Blade variant (Heartless Act) for it.
Gonna test for sure. It's not that powerful, but it synergizes with the two dominant black archetypes in my cube.
Seems amazing in reanimator, where discarding a card has positive value.
1 mana sorcery kill creature/pw that also has additional value?
lmao I only even opened the thread to figure out why everyone here wanted to go check out some old crappy reprint ... I wonder how many more people are gonna go through the same thing.
Yeah, that discard choice is something worth considering. I don't think it's enough, but maybe.
This isn't a reliable discard outlet since it requires a target. Would've been cool if this was an instant so you could sacrifice a creature in response to removal. As is, this is hardly any better than Spark Harvest.
I'm a bit more interested now with the "sacrifice or discard". This is very decision heavy - I find cube decks to be very cluncky and I like the general direction of pitch creatures + 4 drops that can 3 for 1 to recoup the card loss.
Whats interesting is cards like Experimental Frenzy might make a comeback in my cube given the number of pitch/ cheap cards.
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I'm quite high on this card in theory, and will test. I think asking Spark Harvest (the previous best version of this card) to be an instant is too much. The discard is already substantially easier to pay than sacrificing a creature. Aggro decks will often have a spare land in hand, and they are the same decks that dearly need efficient removal to push through damage, or kill token-producing planeswalkers without falling behind in races. You cannot get more efficient than 1 mana kill any creature OR planeswalker, except tier 1 removal like Snuff Out. Without even considering that the discard is often an upside, I think this could shine in R + B/W token aggro decks - and in reanimator & Daretti shells, it should also fill two roles in one card. Them's my hopes, anyway.
Has anyone managed to test this little nugget?? Our playgroup's experiences with the card have been varied to say the least: it has been either unbelievably good and synergistic or the worst discard outlet/removal spell in our cube. On the fence about swapping this for a good ol' doom blade effect.
Has anyone managed to test this little nugget?? Our playgroup's experiences with the card have been varied to say the least: it has been either unbelievably good and synergistic or the worst discard outlet/removal spell in our cube. On the fence about swapping this for a good ol' doom blade effect.
This really depends on your cube's composition - If you have Reanimator, Aristocrats in your cube, then I could see the value of this card going up - but what I dislike is this really pushes a drafting on rails experience.
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The only archetypes that actively want Bone Shards in our cube are reanimator and black aggro (Gravecrawlers, Gutterbones etc. that dont mind to be sacrificed too much) and it pretty much stops there. People never draft it for any other decks. Do you think it is utterly unplayable in UB control deck or in a BG value, planeswalker deck with mana elves? I'm basically trying to figure out how narrow the card really is.
The only archetypes that actively want Bone Shards in our cube are reanimator and black aggro (Gravecrawlers, Gutterbones etc. that dont mind to be sacrificed too much) and it pretty much stops there. People never draft it for any other decks. Do you think it is utterly unplayable in UB control deck or in a BG value, planeswalker deck with mana elves? I'm basically trying to figure out how narrow the card really is.
You'll be surprised at how different this answer is depending on the composition of your cube - density of must answer planeswalkers, prevalence of cards to recoup card disadvantage and the density of removal.
The second thing is Doom Blade is probably at its all time worst and a lot of cube curators are cutting it. Its slowly becoming a 24th card in a lot of drafts - decent everywhere, but never great. I cannot really answer this either - I've cubed with 2-3 of the best Doom Blade variants for the last 4 years without question. I never really considered cutting them.
The last thing has to do with functionality - For example I play Springleaf Drum in my legacy affinity deck. In a vacuum, it is terrible - it interferes with your Chalice of the Void, its miles behind Ancient Tomb, Mox Opal, but at the end of the day, its necessary to provide fast/ colored mana 9-13 for consistency.
What I'm getting at is Aristocrats is a somewhat weak archetype that has a decent midgame to late game, but is slower at getting to the board than the other archetype. Bone Shards might be a necessity at helping the Aristocrats deck get onto the board/ remove 3-4 drops/ planewalkers/ fatties to win on the board.
This also depends on the prevalence of combo decks - There are cases where you might have drafted a subpar combo deck like Reanimator/ Welder for example that really lacks enablers. This is when cards like Pack Rat / Crypt Breaker really shines because they can help setup for reanimator but also throw away your subpar hand.
I personally still have Roast in my cube + legacy deck. Yes its absolutely terrible, but it is also a necessity
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
This removal spell turned out to be much better than we anticipated. My observation has been that you don’t need to pitch a reanimator fatty or sac a recursive dude for this card to be good, however, you should have some combination of card advantage or creature token generation to synergize with the card. The efficiency combined with flexibility of the effect is important when you consider what you need to kill on spot in 2021, and the ability to generate a double spell turn is great for turning the advantage.
This can support sacrifice/Aristocrats and can be a discard outlet for reanimator. I support aristocrats and have been thinking of playing it. Black has gotten a lot of good removal lately so it has a lot of competition but its a pretty unique card that works in multiple decks. I might cut my last Doom Blade variant (Heartless Act) for it.
agree the discard is interesting!
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Seems amazing in reanimator, where discarding a card has positive value.
1 mana sorcery kill creature/pw that also has additional value?
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Yeah, that discard choice is something worth considering. I don't think it's enough, but maybe.
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Whats interesting is cards like Experimental Frenzy might make a comeback in my cube given the number of pitch/ cheap cards.
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
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This really depends on your cube's composition - If you have Reanimator, Aristocrats in your cube, then I could see the value of this card going up - but what I dislike is this really pushes a drafting on rails experience.
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
You'll be surprised at how different this answer is depending on the composition of your cube - density of must answer planeswalkers, prevalence of cards to recoup card disadvantage and the density of removal.
- If your cube is filled with cards like Bedlam Reveler/ Deep Analysis, Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger, Tasigur, the Golden Fang and your combo/ tempo decks could easily recoup the card loss/ benefit from the graveyard, then a 2 for 1 isn't a big deal
- If you have cards like Soul Shatter, Magmatic Sinkhole like I do, then this goes slightly down in value
The second thing is Doom Blade is probably at its all time worst and a lot of cube curators are cutting it. Its slowly becoming a 24th card in a lot of drafts - decent everywhere, but never great. I cannot really answer this either - I've cubed with 2-3 of the best Doom Blade variants for the last 4 years without question. I never really considered cutting them.
The last thing has to do with functionality - For example I play Springleaf Drum in my legacy affinity deck. In a vacuum, it is terrible - it interferes with your Chalice of the Void, its miles behind Ancient Tomb, Mox Opal, but at the end of the day, its necessary to provide fast/ colored mana 9-13 for consistency.
What I'm getting at is Aristocrats is a somewhat weak archetype that has a decent midgame to late game, but is slower at getting to the board than the other archetype. Bone Shards might be a necessity at helping the Aristocrats deck get onto the board/ remove 3-4 drops/ planewalkers/ fatties to win on the board.
This also depends on the prevalence of combo decks - There are cases where you might have drafted a subpar combo deck like Reanimator/ Welder for example that really lacks enablers. This is when cards like Pack Rat / Crypt Breaker really shines because they can help setup for reanimator but also throw away your subpar hand.
I personally still have Roast in my cube + legacy deck. Yes its absolutely terrible, but it is also a necessity
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