Vraan, Executioner Thane - 1B
Legendary Creature - Phyrexian Vampire
Whenever one or more other creatures you control die, each opponent loses two life and you gain two life. This ability triggers only once each turn.
2/2
While it doesn't have the combo potential of Zulaport Cutthroat, this card comes with more stats and drains for twice as much. This is probably the best Blood Artist variant outside of very dedicated combo decks.
I think "you control" and "once per turn" kill this, unfortunately. Aggro wants their two drops to do a lot more, and it's just too slow and grindy for midrange or control, especially where it doesn't count itself.
I can't believe I missed it doesn't count itself >_>. With that condition, the card's not great :/
If the translation is correct and it doesn't specify "whenever another creature you control dies", I am quite certain it does in fact count itself. I think Blood Artist/Zulaport both name themselves to avoid confusion. I think they skipped it on this one because the "one or more" wording is made to avoid confusion on how many triggers you get following a sweeper and the like.
I think the card looks like an interesting design. Probably not strong enough, but can be interesting for cubes that want a Blood Artist effect, but feel they are too narrow - as this is more playable in aggro decks and the like. I wish they had made it 3/2 to make it a bit more pushed in aggro. I also see a lot of cubes with a fairly pushed aristocrats, where another blood artist effect is interesting simply for redundancy.
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I can't believe I missed it doesn't count itself >_>. With that condition, the card's not great :/
If the translation is correct and it doesn't specify "whenever another creature you control dies", I am quite certain it does in fact count itself. I think Blood Artist/Zulaport both name themselves to avoid confusion. I think they skipped it on this one because the "one or more" wording is made to avoid confusion on how many triggers you get following a sweeper and the like.
I think the card looks like an interesting design. Probably not strong enough, but can be interesting for cubes that want a Blood Artist effect, but feel they are too narrow - as this is more playable in aggro decks and the like. I wish they had made it 3/2 to make it a bit more pushed in aggro. I also see a lot of cubes with a fairly pushed aristocrats, where another blood artist effect is interesting simply for redundancy.
The wording of this definitely says "one or more other creatures", so it won't trigger on itself. Compare to the wording on the Spanish version of cards like Grand Warlord Radha, which just says "Siempre que una o más criaturas".
This is too many restrictions on the trigger to be playable imo, between the once/turn trigger, the "one or more" wording, and excluding itself. I still like the design, though.
The wording of this definitely says "one or more other creatures", so it won't trigger on itself.
Ah *****, completely missed that word in there. Well, this is embarrassing. Anyways, makes the card completely uninteresting in that case. Such a shame, as the floor of a bear that shocks the opponent on death would at least be playable in black aggro.
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Zulaport CutThroat is strong because you can bluff all-in and force the opponent to play more defensively.
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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
Vraan, Executioner Thane - 1B
Legendary Creature - Phyrexian Vampire
Whenever one or more other creatures you control die, each opponent loses two life and you gain two life. This ability triggers only once each turn.
2/2
While it doesn't have the combo potential of Zulaport Cutthroat, this card comes with more stats and drains for twice as much. This is probably the best Blood Artist variant outside of very dedicated combo decks.
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
If the translation is correct and it doesn't specify "whenever another creature you control dies", I am quite certain it does in fact count itself. I think Blood Artist/Zulaport both name themselves to avoid confusion. I think they skipped it on this one because the "one or more" wording is made to avoid confusion on how many triggers you get following a sweeper and the like.
I think the card looks like an interesting design. Probably not strong enough, but can be interesting for cubes that want a Blood Artist effect, but feel they are too narrow - as this is more playable in aggro decks and the like. I wish they had made it 3/2 to make it a bit more pushed in aggro. I also see a lot of cubes with a fairly pushed aristocrats, where another blood artist effect is interesting simply for redundancy.
This is too many restrictions on the trigger to be playable imo, between the once/turn trigger, the "one or more" wording, and excluding itself. I still like the design, though.
Draft my cube! (630 cards)
Ah *****, completely missed that word in there. Well, this is embarrassing. Anyways, makes the card completely uninteresting in that case. Such a shame, as the floor of a bear that shocks the opponent on death would at least be playable in black aggro.
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