Some of you may recognize me as one of the crazy believers in budget, pauper, and other concepts that aren't conducive to tournament play winning strategy. I have a penchant for multicolor goodness and giving commons a chance to run for their full value in the game.
When Conflux hit in February an idea trickled into my head, and the story in fuller details is at the PMC Challenge blog linked in my signature (as well as on the word 'story' previous). I won't bore you with all the details here.
Speadsheet Features:
-Mana curves by color
-Creature/Noncreature counts
-Spoiler Listing with assigned costs by cards (morph, etc.) broken down by color and creature/noncreature
-Auto-generating MTGSalvation and magic-decks.de card formatting
-Changes log by color with basic reasoning
-"Pimp" count tables for foils, artists signed, and foreign black bordered
Cube Features:
-Tighter mana curves that push aggressive strategies to the forefront.
-Synergy between allied and enemy color strategies is significant.
-Room for future expansion if desired; current plan is to stay as close to 360 as possible.
Cube Issues:
-Control is not as impressive as aggro; significant space to tighten control and resist aggro.
-Lack of board sweepers ensures that black and red removal, and to a lesser extent white and blue removal, must remain over-represented and will be drafted heavily.
-Multicolor has been trimmed but still feels weaker than much of the monocolor choices. Multicolor needs to be tuned further without dramatic reduction in cards to maintain multicolor feel.
ADD -->Raise the Alarm - The circle is now complete. I was once the learner but now I am the master.
ADD -->Cloud Elemental - Because I couldn't find a copy of Cloud Spirit in my collection; will change again soon
ADD -->Skittering Skirge - Strong card, also have a signed foil version to put in. Coincidence? [My order arrived with a non-signed version; trying to get it sorted out (though it's still a foil Arena version)]
ADD -->Brute Force - Red Giant Growth feels right.
ADD -->Land Aid '04 - To gather proof Magic players can't sign; or put a land into play untapped for two? Sure.
Further tightening of the gold card count. In a first review of a color again: RG Exploding Borders out for Branching Bolt - pure efficiency Rip-Clan Crasher out for Deadshot Minotaur - Gives red-green a little reach against the fliers that permeate other colors; cycling ensures it's never an absolutely dead card
Other gold reviews to follow.
Additions: Cage of Hands - Reusable removal is nice Impulse - Should never have been cut to begin with Tortured Existence - Recycle and reuse the best of your graveyard Martyr of Ashes - Can function as a quasi board sweeper, and any sweep effects are well needed here Phantom Tiger - Kitty just won't die
Blue: Confound out for Arcane Denial - Giving Denial a trial in the cube to see if giving your opponent "Draw two cards." isn't as severe as it feels at first glance.
GREEN:
Out: Wild Elephant for players not being too wild about it
In: Elephant Ambush for being surprisingly good
Cube Expansion:
White: Plover Knights - control and aggro friendly white beef with evasion
Blue: Brainstorm - stupid good
Black: Shade's Form - black card advantage and/or insurance policy
Red: Vulshok Sorcerer - pingers are awesome
Green: Giant Dustwasp - green evasion, fair size
I've taken the liberty of using the "Playtest" sticker format of putting proxies in the cube. This will help differentiate the cards better (easier to find as I get more orders in), easier to read (less confusion in use), and look better than my scrawl on some paper:
By taking out the two Rebels that really don't stand alone (leaving the two more aggressive or evasive Rebels) I made room for more Shadow evasion. Leitbur feels more relevant (and useful later in the game) than the Defender.
Boggart and Imp are upgrades to Scout and Djinn respectively. I thought long and hard about what to cut for Skinthinner. Leaving behind the more flexible removal makes more sense than a Dark Banishing with cycling tacked on: when would I ever cycle this? Skinthinner is either a 2/1 two drop or a great morph flip, both serving some of the purpose that Expunge served while giving aggro a boost too. Feels okay but there may have been something I missed.
These bring my total cube to 360 (perfect for an 8-man draft) as well as boosts the number of picks that a control deck would want. Acolyte is an improved Bottle Gnomes, Undo is a great tempo card, Witches are a pinger in black, Sparksmith is looking to combo with Dragon Fodder/Empty the Warrens, and the Boa is just a great creature.
I didn't have either the Boa or Undo handy so I proxied them for now. Enjoy my terrible artwork!
Yes. A thousand times yes. They lured me in with Ivory Tower and Zuran Orb, and I kept telling myself "I can quit whenever I want...just look at that untapped disk". That was ten years ago man.....
Your Hybrid seems quite weak. Of course there's not much choice for hybrid in pauper, but I'd consider cutting down on the amount of hybrids. Things like Wild Cantor and Poison the Well would just be 15th picks all the time.
You're mostly likely right. Cutting some more fat from hybrid cards is probably next in line of "things to do" while this is getting tested. I was able to get a four-man draft off this weekend and the responses were surprising and satisfying: while everyone agreed that it felt a little "trick heavy" and light on creatures (fixing one means fixing the other simultaneously) and there were no real board sweepers of any sort (more on this later) everyone agreed that it was a ton of fun and that there was enough mana fixing to run a full three color deck (and I even faced a sick set of mana fixers that consistently pulled off a turn five Skyreach Manta paying WUBRG).
There are other cards that I'm considering; if you have any further suggestions before I go through to make cuts and additions (so I can do this all at once) I would appreciate it!
Yes. A thousand times yes. They lured me in with Ivory Tower and Zuran Orb, and I kept telling myself "I can quit whenever I want...just look at that untapped disk". That was ten years ago man.....
Yes. A thousand times yes. They lured me in with Ivory Tower and Zuran Orb, and I kept telling myself "I can quit whenever I want...just look at that untapped disk". That was ten years ago man.....
Crypt Rats may be worth a shot, I've heard that it's really good in MBC on online pauper and it provides a rare effect in a common format. I could see that being the missing black card (agreed on the cuts.)
There are overall a lot of spells and not many creatures, from the looks of it.
I needed something to do so I'm working on my own ideal list for a Pauper cube. I'll probably actually build it when I get home. I'm still finishing up filling out the colors - land, artifact, & gold are all done though.
Here's the break down: 270 cards - enough for a six man and keeping the power level well above normal limited. 40x each color, 40 gold, 30 artifact, 20 land
Some quick thoughts, but I'll share more with you Thurday:
I think you're running too many lands. The artifact land cycle seems bad. There's little if any synergy with the rest of the cards and you randomly get blown out by artifact removal. I like the bounce land cycle, panoramas, Rupture Spire, Shimmering Grotto, Terramorphic Expanse, Desert, & Arena (it has no rarity and isn't super good so there)
You should definitely go through when you get the time and up the power level in your colors. As stated in the previous post, there's a lot of underpowered cards in your list right now. Off the top of my head - where's the Blastoderm?!
Combing Gatherer is really the best way to optimize your list. It'll just take a while. Maybe we can draft yours and mine on Thurs. to brainstorm.
Crypt Rats may be worth a shot, I've heard that it's really good in MBC on online pauper and it provides a rare effect in a common format. I could see that being the missing black card (agreed on the cuts.)
Crypt Rats is exactly what I was looking for: it's a splashable Pestilence that adds to the creature count.
There are overall a lot of spells and not many creatures, from the looks of it.
Yeah; many of the monocolor additions would be creatures and I've tried to avoid cutting creatures in my first pass where it was appropriate. I'll need to add a few more before I feel it's more balanced.
Neck Snap, Pentarch Ward, Samite Pilgrim, Icatian Crier, Dawn Charm, Strength of Unity, Boros Fury-Shield and Aven Trailblazer look suboptimal.
The shadow critter are good but lend themselves well to the traditional white weenie strategy; I'd rather keep the Protection X dudes (Disciple of Law, Disciple of Grace, etc.) and add in a few more with evasion (Defender of Law, Thermal Glider, ect.).
The Shade and Lancer seem like decent creatures, and Cage of Hands is an effective common Prison Term. While you look at Aven Trailblazer and Samite Pilgrim as janky, I've never seen the Trailblazer be less than a splashable Talon Troopers (and often hits as a 2/4 or 2/5) and the Pilgrim often mimics Master Healer. Strength is usually a +4/+4 that sticks (unlike it's cousin's Gaea's Might and Might of Alara) around. Boros Fury-Shield blows games wide open and Dawn Charm rolls up several situation effects into one very useful package: counter a burn spell, regenerate your best dude, or just Fog for a turn? I've never been disappointed having it in my hand.
The Crier and Ward have performed pretty poorly so far though.
Metathran Zombie, Parasitic Strix, Stormscape Familiar, Ghastly Discovery, Prohibit, Unstable Mutation, Worldly Council and Confound look suboptimal.
Let me know what you think of the recommendations.
I like your recommendations; I like them a lot, actually. This cube is far from tuned and I know that my collection has some serious holes in it (Urza's Legacy through Mirrodin is really spotty).
I needed something to do so I'm working on my own ideal list for a Pauper cube. I'll probably actually build it when I get home. I'm still finishing up filling out the colors - land, artifact, & gold are all done though.
Here's the break down: 270 cards - enough for a six man and keeping the power level well above normal limited. 40x each color, 40 gold, 30 artifact, 20 land
Some quick thoughts, but I'll share more with you Thurday:
I think you're running too many lands. The artifact land cycle seems bad. There's little if any synergy with the rest of the cards and you randomly get blown out by artifact removal. I like the bounce land cycle, panoramas, Rupture Spire, Shimmering Grotto, Terramorphic Expanse, Desert, & Arena (it has no rarity and isn't super good so there)
You should definitely go through when you get the time and up the power level in your colors. As stated in the previous post, there's a lot of underpowered cards in your list right now. Off the top of my head - where's the Blastoderm?!
Combing Gatherer is really the best way to optimize your list. It'll just take a while. Maybe we can draft yours and mine on Thurs. to brainstorm.
Blastderm is on order (I don't own one otherwise it's already be in here!).
I've been feeling the same with lands: there is just too much (though I was going to add a Desert at some point soon). I felt that I either cut the Odyssey lands and the artifact lands (though anyone who wants an Esper subtheme will miss them; I only grabbed the three Esper colored artifact lands) or add a lot more spellshapers to make running CitP tapped lands more appealing (which seems pretty bad even on paper). It seems my suspicion that the first is better is, well, better. I will sya that the Invasion sac lands are pretty decent: they accelerate to five mana on turn four without artifacts and grab the two allied colors simultaneously. They atleast seemed decent when played.
I'm looking forward to Thursday to see what you've cooked up (and I'll make a note of more commons I need to grab).
Yes. A thousand times yes. They lured me in with Ivory Tower and Zuran Orb, and I kept telling myself "I can quit whenever I want...just look at that untapped disk". That was ten years ago man.....
I've made some changes to the cube and I'm ready for more fresh eyes to take a look over it. One of my main goals is to finish upgrading the power level of my cards (so, yes, Blastoderm should be in here and it will be shortly); more power recommendations would be great.
A brief overview: I cut back on the domain mechanic and upgraded as many weaker creatures as possible. I changed tricks (like Seal of Cleansing and Smash) into creatures (like Ronom Unicorn and Tin Street Hooligan) where possible. There are still a small handful of sub-par critters and spells that will get swapped out as I get better recommendations and apply the scouring I've done on the Gatherer.
Some issues: <>I couldn't find a clean way to cut back the hybrid gold cards from the 10 commons released. Some are pretty weak (Arsenal Threasher) but other color sets have both as great options (Bant Sureblade and Cyrstallization are both nice). I appreciate the X-blade cycle and flexibility of the mana costs but cutting this back to just five would be great. <>Slivers were added, though Black and Red have the weakest in my opinion. Recommendations to the sliver count (or even just swap to better ones that I overlooked or underestimated) are more than welcome. <>Domain has a similar level of support as slivers, and a green land fetching deck backed by domain andslivers feels like a viable combination of two subthemes as one draft strategy (Five Color Aggro/Control?). Thoughts? <>The mana fixing is scaled back, though perhaps not enough. I really designed this to be drafted but I keep finding myself playing it Stack style. I'm not sure if dramatically cutting the mana fixing back will impact the colors that decks can safely run; I'd like to keep shard color decks viable (and very strong if at all possible). <>The cube has increased slightly in size; I'd like to bring this down to under 400 if possible but I feel that the most obvious cuts are in the hybrid and gold cards... not exactly conducive to a "Multicolor Cube".
Yes. A thousand times yes. They lured me in with Ivory Tower and Zuran Orb, and I kept telling myself "I can quit whenever I want...just look at that untapped disk". That was ten years ago man.....
Yes. A thousand times yes. They lured me in with Ivory Tower and Zuran Orb, and I kept telling myself "I can quit whenever I want...just look at that untapped disk". That was ten years ago man.....
I think that right now, there's way too much multi in the allied slots, 12 for each allied combination, when each individual color has 45, will probably skew the decks to being mainly 2 color/"shard" decks.
I missed the whole thread title being "multicolor" but right now, I still think it'll likely be too skewed to either allied 2 color or "shard" decks; there's very little aggro support so most of the decks will also likely skew towards midrange-ish.
I'd probably run Castigate over Soul Link, it seems a much better effect and pinpoint discard is not that common in this environment.
I don't think the sliver subtheme is good and will be a deck that occasionally has the pieces fit, but will likely be just passed, I'd likely just pass them if I were to see them in a deck as many of them aren't good on their own. A lot of the red creatures don't do much for me, like Hooded Kavu, Bogardan Rager [I know that there aren't many finishers, but I don't think that he would be a good one] Viashino runner, Skirk Commando) some cards like Martyr of Ashes (a mass removal,) Hissing Iguanar, (if you're playing with m10 rules,) Spur Grappler and Keldon Berserker, Mogg Flunkies, Fireslinger, Goblin Patrol, Vulshok Sorcerer and Keldon Vandals may be worth a shot in red. Don't forget to keep the burn (to the dome) count high, I think spell-wise, it's really good with that. (Lunge may also be better as Lash Out, even though it may not hit the dome as consistently.)
I think that right now, there's way too much multi in the allied slots, 12 for each allied combination, when each individual color has 45, will probably skew the decks to being mainly 2 color/"shard" decks.
I missed the whole thread title being "multicolor" but right now, I still think it'll likely be too skewed to either allied 2 color or "shard" decks; there's very little aggro support so most of the decks will also likely skew towards midrange-ish.
The creature selection is continuing to be tuned; more aggro support is coming in the next round of updates.
I'd probably run Castigate over Soul Link, it seems a much better effect and pinpoint discard is not that common in this environment.
I'm torn between the two; the pseudo evasion/removal effect of Soul Link is handy for any W/B aggro deck, but Castigate is pretty swank. I want to give Soul Link a try before switching in something that can be a terrible top deck late in the game.
I don't think the sliver subtheme is good and will be a deck that occasionally has the pieces fit, but will likely be just passed, I'd likely just pass them if I were to see them in a deck as many of them aren't good on their own.
I want to give these a try; anyone who runs domain/five color aggro would love to pick up slivers. The Black slivers are most likely the worst, but Blue has two evasive ones that can break a game open. If slivers trun out to be the suck I can switch in other creatures.
I like your suugestions here: I have Spur Grappler and Keldon Vandals going in, and perhaps a few other adjustments. There are a ton of bears in this cube and I feel Lunge will hold its own; Lash Out may behitting the critter harder but I'm not seeing the potential for the clash effect to be nearly consistent enough. I can always just switch it around after playing with Lunge for awhile.
I thought about snow long and hard before I started; I elected to go with [i]Unhinged[/i] (and a few [i]Unglued[/i]) lands + Framed! combo. Some lucky U/R deck is going to rock out with a massive Fireball! (And Un-sets are a pet of mine in general.)
I'm making several adjustments based on what you've pointed out: more manabugs are in and I finally have my Blastoderm and other great goodies to sink in.
Yes. A thousand times yes. They lured me in with Ivory Tower and Zuran Orb, and I kept telling myself "I can quit whenever I want...just look at that untapped disk". That was ten years ago man.....
I especially have a hard time figuring the green and white bombs, but i'm looking for advice on all 5 colors (+artifacts)
What cards do you consider to be bombs in a commons-only environement?
Thanks for the help!
It'll be appearing (tonight as I update this with the most recent changes) but a bomb in green is Blastoderm. It rocks pretty hard on turn four.
White is something much harder: I can't really put my finger on a card and say "THIS will rock your world." White has a lot of incremental synergy (multiple tappers, lots of dudes with protection, and a lot of flying) and access to powerful removal (Oblivion Ring and Faith's Fetters can handle just about anything in the game, let alone a pauper cube). I guess what I mean is that White has the best "silver bullet" cards but ends up being a "jack of all trades and a master of none." White needs some work
In artifacts there aren't any bombs at common: virtually all artifact at common are utility. In my cube specifically, gaining access to five colors is fairly easy so Skyreach Manta is a house (5/5 flying for five is no joke) and Serrated Arrows can wipe out several X/1's. The signets are perhaps the best workhorses of the deck and getting one down is usually a pretty good thing. Whispersilk Cloak can get a game to end quick given a decent critter to put it on, but nothing jumps out as a true bomb.
In multicolor, Armadillo Cloak can easily end a game if an opponent doesn't have the removal, Putrid Leech plays just like it looks (a 4/4 for two), and I've seen Suicidal Charge wreck boards pretty hard (especially with the numerous X/1's that are scattered about). There's a lot of power density in multicolor (protection cycles and cheap effects) and it suffers from the same issue as white: good stuff but nothing "OMFG!" ...atleast in commons.
Somebody else may chime in with some clearer responses.
Yes. A thousand times yes. They lured me in with Ivory Tower and Zuran Orb, and I kept telling myself "I can quit whenever I want...just look at that untapped disk". That was ten years ago man.....
The Drelnoch was to draw cards but with so much evasion Ninja of the Deep Hours seems more consistent. The Drake was to be an evasive beater, but the Cavalry are better in that case.
Confound and Exclude are just okay, while Impulse and False Demise are just great. This was an easy upgrade.
Winnower, Thrull, and Rider would be better if they were just a touch cheaper while Maurader, and Carnophage are cheap. Teh Rats were evasive, but the Wei cards are even better. Bone Splinters and Skulltap are better served as creatures that have similar abilities, though discard isn't exactly removal.
Swapping off-color promoting elves (Urborg, Anima) for on-color acceleration (Llanowar, Fyndhorn) seems good. Off-color creatures (Ragworm, Scrapper, Bobcat) pale next to good aggro (Acridian, Jaguar, Grunts). Upgrading to more efficient beatsticks elsewhere (Rootwalla, Blastderm) is much better than vanilla fodder (Barkhide, Warthog).
There is certainly more room for improvement and the M10 prerelease today should give me some great commons to work in afterwards. I'll update my main list in the first post once I have the commons in hand and swapping into the cube. The short list of M10 I'm looking at: Doom Blade, Blinding Mage, Safe Passage, Ice Cage, Child of Night, Sign in Blood, and Deadly Recluse.
Yes. A thousand times yes. They lured me in with Ivory Tower and Zuran Orb, and I kept telling myself "I can quit whenever I want...just look at that untapped disk". That was ten years ago man.....
First off, I know you're not working today, so you're up entirely too early. Second, this looks to be coming along. I like the P3K additions. Though Wei Scout could probably just be Prickly Boggart if you want a cheap black evasive guy. Two is just SO much more than one. I'd like to sort the cube and give it a once over in person on Thursday and give some more suggestions than. Let me know.
9 AM is late for me to be getting a start on the day. Sleep is a habit and when the habit is to wake up at 5:30 AM five days a week sleeping past 8 AM can be difficult.
It would be great to have good constructive feedback from you. I'll also be bringing all the M10 love I have from today to swap in as well.
Yes. A thousand times yes. They lured me in with Ivory Tower and Zuran Orb, and I kept telling myself "I can quit whenever I want...just look at that untapped disk". That was ten years ago man.....
I'm debating making the following changes tonight:
M10 Goodness:
Blinding Mage replacing Samite Pilgrim - It's probably time to take out more domain themed jank, even if I like it.
Safe Passage replacing Pentarch Ward - Passage can win games, Ward can't. I'll miss the cantrip + protection effect though.
Ice Cage replacing Worldly Council - Blue has tons of card draw and filter with Council being the worst. Ice Cage is a temporary removal in a color that could use it.
Child of Night replacing Undead Leotau - The Leotau is either poor, color intensive removal or a weak finisher. Child provides another early drop and a relevant ability.
Doom Blade replacing Nameless Inversion - Same mana cost, but the Blade just kills outright. That said, Inversion can cap black creatures and can pump up a creature with high toughness. I'm not sure if Inversion is the best swap but it feels right.
Sign in Blood replacing Dirge of Dread - I haven't seen Dirge do anything other than be cycled. I like the idea of givng my team fear (Profrane Command has done good things in Standard) but if card draw is desired Sign in Blood is better. Not sure about this change either.
Deadly Recluse replacing Ember Weaver - They both want to kill dudes dead, but the Recluse isn't conditional. Cheaper too.
Other Changes
Rolling Thunder replacing Tribal Flames - Tribal Flames is a great domain card but it's often the least relevant burn spell hanging around. Thunder will clear a path, or win games, even in a two-color deck.
Jungle Lion replacing Transluminant - Transluminant gives green a little card advantage but not of the overwhelmingly strong type. The Lion feels like it will help push the aggro content in green.
I like the P3K additions. Though Wei Scout could probably just be Prickly Boggart if you want a cheap black evasive guy. Two is just SO much more than one.
I understand what you're saying but I like the fact that the Scout basically reads "~ cannot be blocked." I'd like to see how bigger drafts handle black and, if weenie aggro is the route taken often, I can certainly switch it up. Relatedly, I've been scoping out Dread Warlock but he feels a touch expensive. However, more evasion is generally good...
Yes. A thousand times yes. They lured me in with Ivory Tower and Zuran Orb, and I kept telling myself "I can quit whenever I want...just look at that untapped disk". That was ten years ago man.....
I'm working on my own pauper cube, and one thing i've noticed is the lack of board sweepers. Any suggestions? pestilence is really the only volcanic fallout style sweeper i've seen.
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I'm working on my own pauper cube, and one thing i've noticed is the lack of board sweepers. Any suggestions? pestilence is really the only volcanic fallout style sweeper i've seen.
Ensuring that there is plenty of repeatable removal (like Prodigal Sorcerer effects) is something I'm leveraging to smooth out my cube (as per the next update).
Yes. A thousand times yes. They lured me in with Ivory Tower and Zuran Orb, and I kept telling myself "I can quit whenever I want...just look at that untapped disk". That was ten years ago man.....
I'm working up what can only be called a reboot of my cube: massive, sweeping cuts coupled with changing over almost half the cards in every color.
I'm organizing this by color and converted mana cost at the suggestion of Klug: I've been aware of the curve in colors but I haven't devoted enough attention to it. Enhancing the grouping of cards seems like the best way to see the curve (as well as entering all the data into a spread... a project once this reboot is finished).
Yes. A thousand times yes. They lured me in with Ivory Tower and Zuran Orb, and I kept telling myself "I can quit whenever I want...just look at that untapped disk". That was ten years ago man.....
While I am currently in the process of gutting and revamping each color while cutting away tons of multicolor, artifact, and land glut (70 cards total so far vs. listing on page one), I'm struggling to make blue relevant enough on it's own. Card draw and some counters just doesn't seem to cut it well against the powerful aggro strategies that are developing. Blue's aggro options are really limited (I can hear the "Well duh!" from everyone over here) but dumping defensive critters doesn't jive well with me. I added virtually every pinger I can get my hands on (which should bump blue's power up a considerable notch) but I'm worried it won't be enough to allow a true control deck to appear.
Blue is updated in the post above; any input would be greatly appreciated.
Yes. A thousand times yes. They lured me in with Ivory Tower and Zuran Orb, and I kept telling myself "I can quit whenever I want...just look at that untapped disk". That was ten years ago man.....
While I am currently in the process of gutting and revamping each color while cutting away tons of multicolor, artifact, and land glut (70 cards total so far vs. listing on page one), I'm struggling to make blue relevant enough on it's own. Card draw and some counters just doesn't seem to cut it well against the powerful aggro strategies that are developing. Blue's aggro options are really limited (I can hear the "Well duh!" from everyone over here) but dumping defensive critters doesn't jive well with me. I added virtually every pinger I can get my hands on (which should bump blue's power up a considerable notch) but I'm worried it won't be enough to allow a true control deck to appear.
Blue is updated in the post above; any input would be greatly appreciated.
If blue has trouble facing aggro adding in walls or virtual walls (Horned Tutle etc) might be a solution. Also Undo was amazing in draft and I think would be good here.
If blue has trouble facing aggro adding in walls or virtual walls (Horned Tutle etc) might be a solution. Also Undo was amazing in draft and I think would be good here.
Undo seems pretty good for blue; I'm just concerned about what virtual/real walls to add. Things that are very effective, like Drift of Phantasms, seem like cards that just can't get there to win with. Any suggestions for walls-like critters that can convert into something reasonable to kill with?
Yes. A thousand times yes. They lured me in with Ivory Tower and Zuran Orb, and I kept telling myself "I can quit whenever I want...just look at that untapped disk". That was ten years ago man.....
The revamp is complete: check the first page for the complete new listing of the cube (as well as the revamp post a few posts back from this one).
PMC 2.0 Summary:
45 - Each Color [225 total monocolor cards]
11 - Each Allied Pair (Gold + Hybrid) [55 total allied gold/hybrid cards]
4 - Each Enemy Pair (Gold + Hybrid) [20 total enemy gold/hybrid cards]
5 - Hybrid Gold
25 - Artifacts
25 - Lands
[355 Total Cards; 5 short of a full 8-man draft]
Features:
-Tighter mana curves that push aggressive strategies to the forefront.
-Synergy between allied and enemy color strategies is significant.
-Room for future expansion if desired; current plan is to stay as close to 360 as possible.
Issues:
-Control is not as impressive as aggro; significant space to tighten control and resist aggro.
-Lack of board sweepers ensures that black and red removal, and to a lesser extent white and blue removal, must remain over-represented and will be drafted heavily.
-Multicolor has been trimmed but still feels weaker than much of the monocolor choices. Multicolor needs to be tuned further without dramatic reduction in cards to maintain multicolor feel.
But gutting tons of weaker off-color creatures I was able to fill out both a decent Rebel chain as well as add a lot more aggressive creatures. With the massive cut to artifacts, Disenchant effects were weakened significantly so I cut them from white as well. Radiant's Judgment has only a few targets in the entire cube so it felt good to swap it for another aggressive creature. Safe Passage should be interesting due to the surge in total creatures across all colors.
In summary: evasive, efficient dudes > inefficient off-color dudes.
While many of blue's creatures are still underwhelming in comparison to other colors, I've tried to give blue the tools to disrupt and take control of the game. By adding in pingers and the few efficient creatures it has (abeit with drawbacks: Illusionary Servant) along with the other Looter creatures (Thought Courier and Looter il-Kor) to give some reach. The most painful cuts were the spell-based card filtering (Brainstorm, Ponder, Impulse, Probe, Compulsive Research) but I feel that having more creatures is something needed for blue. Aggro is very quick and I'm currently looking for more "walls" like Fathom Seer (which is Gush on a stick, but I digress) to both gum up aggro as provide further card advantage for blue.
In summary: pingers and other decent blue critters > inefficient off-color dudes and redundant filtering.
Pushing the aggro theme in black brings in many evasive beaters for inefficient creatures. Chill to the Bone was redundant and expensive for what it did, and Pit Keeper feels better than what you would get with Recover anyway.
In summary: evasive creatures and utility-on-a-stick > jank
Taking out the now weakened artifact destruction as well as inefficient creatures and burn paved the way to better creatures, burn, and some pingers. Rolling Thunder is so there is an additional sweep effect int he cube, though I feel that it's as dangerous as Fireball to become an "I win!" card. We'll see if it holds up under use - Fireball has been okay so far.
In summary: efficient aggro and burn > inefficient jank
Pushing the aggro theme in green brings in more efficient creatures (Note: Mtenda Lion will soon be Jungle Lion) and some much needed evasion. I look at trample as a form of evasion for green (turning pump spells into removal + burn) as well as a natural pairing for equipment in a green deck. Cutting out inefficient domain jank allowed more pump effects and total creatures to get onboard.
In summary: more aggressive creatures and pump spells > domain and off-color jank
Trimming tons of the worst in an attempt to leave the best salvagable. There isn't an easy way to say this: common multicolor is so hit-or-miss it's tough to properly have both balance and strength among the colors. I need feedback on tuning (swapping cards in/out that work better) and possibly one more cut from each allied pair (forcing the expansion of monocolor). I want my cube to be more than just another pauper cube, but "forcing" the multicolor angle in a manner that fits the cube sensibilites of lot of you (which is to say those who would be interested in playign with the cube) is challenging. I've learned a lot from Klug and playing with his cube; now I need to convert the multicolor into something that's exciting to cube with. I think it's getting close but there's a lot fo room to go.
Though I'm sad to see them go, i've cut all of the cycling lands as well as the Invasion ETB tapped sac lands. All of these lands were just too slow and their usefulness too obtuse (bounce a cycling land with a karoo land, cycle FTW) and slow as well. These cuts, along with the artifact cuts, should provide a great improvement in using the cube to play "Stack" - a fair litmus test of how powerful the cube is.
Please provide feedbackif you're willing; I feel that this cube is on the cusp of moving from "okay" to "pretty good." Thanks!
Yes. A thousand times yes. They lured me in with Ivory Tower and Zuran Orb, and I kept telling myself "I can quit whenever I want...just look at that untapped disk". That was ten years ago man.....
(puts face in hands and weeps)
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Curse Premiumplaywinning strategy. I have a penchant for multicolor goodness and giving commons a chance to run for their full value in the game.When Conflux hit in February an idea trickled into my head, and the story in fuller details is at the PMC Challenge blog linked in my signature (as well as on the word 'story' previous). I won't bore you with all the details here.
PMC 2.0 Summary:
50 - Each Color [250 total monocolor cards]
10 - Each Allied Pair (8 Gold + 2 Hybrid) [50 total allied gold/hybrid cards]
4 - Each Enemy Pair (3 Gold + 1 Hybrid) [20 total enemy gold/hybrid cards]
27 - Artifacts
25 - Lands (incl. the //gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?name=+[Borderpost">"]five ARB Borderposts)
372 Total Cards - [Online Analysis - Now ZEN Updated 10/12, Spreadsheet - Updated 10/12]
Speadsheet Features:
-Mana curves by color
-Creature/Noncreature counts
-Spoiler Listing with assigned costs by cards (morph, etc.) broken down by color and creature/noncreature
-Auto-generating MTGSalvation and magic-decks.de card formatting
-Changes log by color with basic reasoning
-"Pimp" count tables for foils, artists signed, and foreign black bordered
Cube Features:
-Tighter mana curves that push aggressive strategies to the forefront.
-Synergy between allied and enemy color strategies is significant.
-Room for future expansion if desired; current plan is to stay as close to 360 as possible.
Cube Issues:
-Control is not as impressive as aggro; significant space to tighten control and resist aggro.
-Lack of board sweepers ensures that black and red removal, and to a lesser extent white and blue removal, must remain over-represented and will be drafted heavily.
-Multicolor has been trimmed but still feels weaker than much of the monocolor choices. Multicolor needs to be tuned further without dramatic reduction in cards to maintain multicolor feel.
The PMC v2.0
White:
Creatures
1 CCM:
Akrasan Squire
Goldmeadow Harrier
Soltari Foot Soldier
Soul Warden
2 CCM:
Amrou Scout
Benalish Trapper
Blade of the Sixth Pride
Blinding Mage
Defiant Falcon
Kami of Ancient Law
Kor Skyfisher
Master Decoy
Order of Leitbur
Raise the Alarm
Ronom Unicorn
Soltari Trooper
Squall Drifter
Stormfront Pegasus
Temple Acolyte
3 CCM:
Amrou Seekers
Aven Riftwatcher
Griffin Sentinel
Pegasus Charger
Saltfield Recluse
Skyhunter Prowler
Soltari Lancer
Soltari Visionary
Wispmare
4 CCM:
Guardian of the Guildpact
Kor Sanctifiers
5CCM:
Plover Knights
6 CCM:
Noble Templar
Spells
1 CCM:
Mana Tithe
Sunlance
2 CCM:
Dawn Charm
Jouney to Nowhere
Judge Unworthy
Momentary Blink
Pacifism
Temporal Isolation
3 CCM:
Arrest
AWOL
Cage of Hands
Oblivion Ring
Safe Passage
4 CCM:
Blinding Beam
Divine Verdict
Faith's Fetters
Neck Snap
5 CCM:
Gleam of Resistance
Blue:
Creatures
1 CCM:
Mistblade Shinobi
2 CCM:
Carnivorous Death-Parrot
Dreamscape Artist
Errant Ephemeron
Goassamer Phantasm
Looter il-Kor
Merfolk Looter
Ninja of the Deep Hours
Thought Courier
Welkin Tern
3 CCM:
Echo Tracer
Fathom Seer
Illusionary Servant
Man-'o-War
Ophidian
Pestermite
Prodigal Sorcerer
Rishadan Airship
Rootwater Hunter
Shaper Parasite
Thornwind Faeries
Zuran Spellcaster
4 CCM:
Shimmering Glasskite
Wu Elite Cavalry
5 CCM:
Mulldrifter
6 CCM:
Æthersnipe
Shoreline Ranger
Vedalken Dismisser
Spells
1 CCM:
Brainstorm
Force Spike
2 CCM:
Arcane Denial
Boomerang
Counterspell
Daze
Framed!
Ice Cage
Impulse
Mana Leak
Miscalculation
3 CCM:
Exclude
Fade Away
False Demise
Frantic Search
Repulse
Undo
4 CCM:
Deep Analysis
Into the Roil
Ray of Command
5 CCM:
Traumatic Visions
6 CCM:
Capsize
Black
Creatures
1 CCM:
Carnophage
Prickly Boggart
Vampire Lacerator
2 CCM:
Blind Creeper
Child of Night
Cuombajj Witches
Dauthi Horror
Dauthi Slayer
Nezumi Cutthroat
Order of the Ebon Hand
Pit Keeper
Rathi Trapper
Ravenous Rats
Skittering Skirge
3 CCM:
Crypt Rats
Dauthi Marauder
Death's-Head Buzzard
Dread Warlock
Phyrexian Ghoul
Phyrexian Rager
Razortooth Rats
Tar Pit Warrior
Vampire Aristocrat
Wei Strike Force
Zombie Cutthroat
4 CCM:
Faceless Butcher
Gravedigger
Okiba-Gang Shinobi
5 CCM:
Skinthinner
6 CCM:
Twisted Abomination
7 CCM:
Heartstabber Mosquito
Spells:
1 CCM:
Disfigure
Tortured Existence
Unearth
2 CCM:
Diabolic Edict
Disturbed Burial
Doom Blade
Grim Harvest
Last Gasp
Nameless Inversion
Terror
3 CCM:
Ashes to Ashes
Dirge of Dread
Eyeblight's Ending
Rend Flesh
Shade's Form
4 CCM:
Snuff Out
Pestilence
7 CCM:
Absorb Vis
Evincar's Justice
Red:
Creatures:
1 CCM:
Kird Ape
Martyr of Ashes
Mogg Fanatic
2 CCM:
Dragon Fodder
Fireslinger
Goblin Skycutter
Hearth Kami
Keldon Marauders
Mogg War Marshal
Skirk Marauder
Sparksmith
3 CCM:
Defender of Chaos
Gathan Raiders
Ghitu Slinger
Keldon Vandals
Mudbutton Torchrunner
Prodigal Pyromancer
Ronin Houndmaster
Ruinous Minotaur
Spikeshot Goblin
Spur Grappler
Vithian Stinger
Vulshok Sorcerer
4 CCM:
Empty the Warrens
Stingscourger
Viashino Fangtail
5 CCM:
Ingot Chewer
Torch Slinger
6 CCM:
Chartooth Cougar
Spells
0 CCM:
Fireblast
1 CCM:
Brute Force
Chain Lightning
Dead//Gone
Firebolt
Lightning Bolt
Rift Bolt
2 CCM:
Fire Ambush
Incinerate
Lash Out
Volcanic Hammer
3 CCM:
Arc Lightning
Puncture Blast
4 CCM:
Aftershock
5 CCM:
Barbed Lightning
Burst Lightning
Fissure
Pyrotechnics
6 CCM:
Fiery Fall
X CCM:
Fireball
Rolling Thunder
Green:
Creatures:
1 CCM:
Basking Rootwalla
Elves of Deep Shadow
Fyndhorn Elves
Jungle Lion
Llanowar Elves
Pouncing Jaguar
Wild Nacatl
2 CCM:
Acridian
Deadly Recluse
Fists of Ironwood
Gemhide Sliver
Mire Boa
River Boa
Sakura-Tribe Elder
Silhana Ledgewalker
Thornscape Familiar
Thornweald Archers
Wild Mongrel
3 CCM:
Borderland Ranger
Civic Wayfinder
Gilt-Leaf Ambush
Nantuko Vigilante
Patron of the Wild
Phantom Tiger
Simian Grunts
Yavimaya Elder
4 CCM:
Blastoderm
Elephant Ambush
Penumbra Spider
Skyshroud Troll
Wickerbough Elder
5 CCM:
Aerie Ouphes
Giant Dustwasp
Sprout Swarm
Stampeding Rhino
6 CCM:
Mold Shambler
7 CCM:
Wirewood Guardian
Spells:
1 CCM:
Giant Growth
Rancor
2 CCM:
Edge of Autumn
Evolution Charm
Farseek
Land Aid '04
Rampant Growth
3 CCM:
Ferocious Charge
Harrow
Kodama's Reach
Krosan Tusker
Vines of Vastwood
Wildsize
6 CCM:
Sylvan Bounty
Multicolor and Hybrid
W/:
Azorius First-Wing
Deft Duelist
Ethercaste Knight
Galina's Knight
Silver Drake
Talon Trooper
Esper Cormorants
Sanctum Plowbeast
Silkbind Faerie
Curse of Chains
U/:
Cavern Harpy
Dimir Infiltrator
Tidehollow Strix
Vodalian Zombie
Jhessian Zombies
Agony Warp
Recoil
Soul Manipulation
Scarscale Ritual
Helm of the Ghastlord
B/
Gobhobbler Rats
Goblin Outlander
Igneous Pouncer
Terminate
Blightning
Wrecking Ball
Suicidal Charge
Riot Spikes
Traitor's Roar
R/:
Tin Street Hooligan
Rhox Brute
Deadshot Minotaur
Gorger Wurm
Streetbreaker Wurm
Valley Rannet
Colossal Might
Branching Bolt
Gaintbaiting
Runes of the Deus
G/
Qasali Pridemage
Selesnya Evangel
Valeron Outlander
Leonin Armorguard
Pale Recluse
Sigiled Behemoth
Sigil Blessing
Armadillo Cloak
Safehold Elite
Shield of the Oversoul
W/:
Putrid Warrior
Blind Hunter
Pillory of the Sleepless
Unmake
B/:
Putrid Leech
Golgari Rotwurm
Consume Strength
Desecrator Hag
G/:
Gaea's Skyfolk
Winged Coatl
Assault Zeppelid
Snakeform
U/:
Razorfin Hunter
Izzet Chronarch
Quicksilver Dagger
Noggle Bandit
R/:
Goblin Legionnaire
Skyknight Legionnaire
Squee's Embrace
Fire at Will
Artifacts:
Creatures:
Scuttlemutt
Yotian Soldier
Utility:
Bonesplitter
Leonin Bola
Leonin Scimitar
Viridian Longbow
Vulshok Morningstar
Whispersilk Cloak
Expedition Map
Mind Stone
Moonglove Extract
Serrated Arrows
Manafixing:
Wayfarer's Bauble
Armillary Sphere
Chromatic Sphere
Chromatic Star
Prismatic Lens
Azorius Signet
Boros Signet
Dimir Signet
Golgari Signet
Gruul Signet
Izzet Signet
Orzhov Signet
Rakdos Signet
Selesnya Signet
Simic Signet
Lands:
Utility:
Arena
Desert
Manafixing:
Rupture Spire
Shimmering Grotto
Terramorphic Expanse
Bant Panorama
Esper Panorama
Grixis Panorama
Jund Panorama
Naya Panorama
Fieldmist Borderpost
Firewild Borderpost
Mistvein Borderpost
Veinfire Borderpost
Wildfield Borderpost
Azorius Chancery
Boros Garrison
Dimir Aqueduct
Golgari Rot Farm
Gruul Turf
Izzet Boilerworks
Orzhov Basilica
Rakdos Carnarium
Selesnya Sanctuary
Simic Growth Chamber
ZEN Changes as of 10/1
WHITE:
Brilliant Halo ----> Journey to Nowhere - Removal, yar!
Lumithread Field ----> Kor Sanctifier - Disenchant on a stick.
Aven Squire ----> Kor Skyfisher - Better two-drop.
BLUE:
Repeal ----> Into the Roil - The same but better?
Cloud Elemental ----> Welkin Tern - Blue aggro FTW
BLACK:
Executioner's Capsule ----> Disfigure - More efficiency.
Foul Imp ----> Heartstabber Mosquito - More removal.
Severed Legion ----> Vampire Lacerator - Aggro FTW
RED:
Flame Jet ----> Burst Lightning - Modal efficiency.
Tin Street Hooligan ----> Ruinous Minotaur - 5 power for three is just too good to pass up. (See below for importqnt Hooligan info.)
Suq'Ata Lander ----> Torch Slinger - ETB burn is great.
GREEN:
Sudden Strength ----> Vines of Vastwood - Better pump spell.
Giant Warthog ----> Mold Shambler - Mini-Woodfall Primus FTW
ARTIFACT:
~ADD~ ----> Expedition Map - Colorless Sylvan Scrying? Sure.
MULTICOLOR:
Yavimaya Barbarian ----> Tin Street Hooligan - Hooligan was almost always cast as RG. This changes makes sense (and freed up room in Red).
Changes as of 9/7:
Thunderbolt --> Chain Lightning - Burn, baby, burn. Disco inferno.
Cloudchaser Aven --> Wispmare - The Aven was a switch in of itself but Wispmare is so much better.
Cloud of Faeries --> Rishadan Airship - Flying aggro for a color that needs it
Cephalid Looter --> Mana Leak - A great counter for a modest utility creature; I think this is the right swap
Sunscape Familiar --> Lumithread Field - I want to see if the utility works the way I think it will
Stormscape Familiar --> Echo Tracer - More bounce than California
Nightscape Familiar --> Zombie Cutthroat - Like Gathan Raiders it's useful in nearly any deck
Thunderscape Familiar --> Aftershock - It just kills stuff dead
Thornscape Familiar --> Patron of the Wild - Creature pump is good I hear
The blade cycle is coming out:
Bant Sureblade --> Soltari Visionary - Evasion plus trigger ability is good
Esper Stormblade --> Carnivorous Death-Parrot - 2/2 flying for two without a real drawback.
Grixis Grimblade --> Gravedigger - He should have been in here much sooner
Jund Hackblade --> Vithian Stinger - Pingers are really good; unearth is okay too
Naya Hushblade --> Nantuko Vigilante - Naturalize on a stick, something that's needed.
And some straight-up additions:
ADD -->Raise the Alarm - The circle is now complete. I was once the learner but now I am the master.
ADD -->Cloud Elemental - Because I couldn't find a copy of Cloud Spirit in my collection; will change again soon
ADD -->Skittering Skirge - Strong card, also have a
signedfoil version to put in. Coincidence? [My order arrived with a non-signed version; trying to get it sorted out (though it's still a foil Arena version)]ADD -->Brute Force - Red Giant Growth feels right.
ADD -->Land Aid '04 - To gather proof Magic players can't sign; or put a land into play untapped for two? Sure.
Changes as of 8/23:
Cuts:
Vedalken Outlander, Etherium Abomination, Singe-Mind Ogre, Nacatl Outlander, Sigil of the Nayan Gods
Further tightening of the gold card count. In a first review of a color again:
RG
Exploding Borders out for Branching Bolt - pure efficiency
Rip-Clan Crasher out for Deadshot Minotaur - Gives red-green a little reach against the fliers that permeate other colors; cycling ensures it's never an absolutely dead card
Other gold reviews to follow.
Additions:
Cage of Hands - Reusable removal is nice
Impulse - Should never have been cut to begin with
Tortured Existence - Recycle and reuse the best of your graveyard
Martyr of Ashes - Can function as a quasi board sweeper, and any sweep effects are well needed here
Phantom Tiger - Kitty just won't die
Blue:
Confound out for Arcane Denial - Giving Denial a trial in the cube to see if giving your opponent "Draw two cards." isn't as severe as it feels at first glance.
Changes as of 8/16
RED:
Out: Fire Imp for not being a common
In: Fire Ambush for being awesome
GREEN:
Out: Wild Elephant for players not being too wild about it
In: Elephant Ambush for being surprisingly good
Cube Expansion:
White: Plover Knights - control and aggro friendly white beef with evasion
Blue: Brainstorm - stupid good
Black: Shade's Form - black card advantage and/or insurance policy
Red: Vulshok Sorcerer - pingers are awesome
Green: Giant Dustwasp - green evasion, fair size
I've taken the liberty of using the "Playtest" sticker format of putting proxies in the cube. This will help differentiate the cards better (easier to find as I get more orders in), easier to read (less confusion in use), and look better than my scrawl on some paper:
Changes as of 8/6/2009:
Ramosian Sergeant, Ramosian Lieutenant, Defender of Law out.
Soltari Foot Soldier, Order of Leitbur, Soltari Lancer in.
By taking out the two Rebels that really don't stand alone (leaving the two more aggressive or evasive Rebels) I made room for more Shadow evasion. Leitbur feels more relevant (and useful later in the game) than the Defender.
Wei Scout, Fledgling Djinn, Expunge out.
Prickly Boggart, Foul Imp, Skinthinner in.
Boggart and Imp are upgrades to Scout and Djinn respectively. I thought long and hard about what to cut for Skinthinner. Leaving behind the more flexible removal makes more sense than a Dark Banishing with cycling tacked on: when would I ever cycle this? Skinthinner is either a 2/1 two drop or a great morph flip, both serving some of the purpose that Expunge served while giving aggro a boost too. Feels okay but there may have been something I missed.
Large Image of New Cards/Proxies:
These bring my total cube to 360 (perfect for an 8-man draft) as well as boosts the number of picks that a control deck would want. Acolyte is an improved Bottle Gnomes, Undo is a great tempo card, Witches are a pinger in black, Sparksmith is looking to combo with Dragon Fodder/Empty the Warrens, and the Boa is just a great creature.
I didn't have either the Boa or Undo handy so I proxied them for now. Enjoy my terrible artwork!
[deck *]
card
card
card
[/deck *]
you should be doing
[deck *]
1 card
1 card
1 card
[/deck *]
Calvin and Hobbes
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Curse Premium*Smacks Head*
Thanks. I shouldn't have missed that.
You're mostly likely right. Cutting some more fat from hybrid cards is probably next in line of "things to do" while this is getting tested. I was able to get a four-man draft off this weekend and the responses were surprising and satisfying: while everyone agreed that it felt a little "trick heavy" and light on creatures (fixing one means fixing the other simultaneously) and there were no real board sweepers of any sort (more on this later) everyone agreed that it was a ton of fun and that there was enough mana fixing to run a full three color deck (and I even faced a sick set of mana fixers that consistently pulled off a turn five Skyreach Manta paying WUBRG).
Immediately before running the draft my friends threw some cards I missed my way to swap for: Lavamancer's Skill, Seal of Doom, and Consult the Necrosages all come out for Ghitu Slinger, Diabolic Edict, and Tidehollow Strix respectively.
In pursuit of things that could actually wipe the board properly, I'm looking hard at getting Evincar's Justice, Pestilence, and Fade Away into the mix. Other neat cards that play into "having creatures with protection" include Defender of Law, Defender of Chaos, Weatherseed Faeries, and Oraxid. Some really good spells were missed in my initial pull of cards Lightning Bolt, Rampant Growth, Cephalid Looter, Merfolk Looter, and Rend Flesh.
There are other cards that I'm considering; if you have any further suggestions before I go through to make cuts and additions (so I can do this all at once) I would appreciate it!
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Curse PremiumPotential Cuts:
1 Æthertow
U/B:
1 Oona's Gatewarden
B/R:
1 Poison the Well
R/G:
1 Wild Cantor
G/W:
1 Barkshell Blessing
W/B:
1 Nyp Gwyllion
B/G:
1 Gaze of the Gorgon
G/U:
1 Favor of the Overbeing
1 Clout of Dominus
R/W:
1 Double Cleave
WU:
1 Plumes of Peace
UB:
1 Deny Reality
1 Vectis Agents
BR:
1 Monstrous Carabid
RG:
1 Deadshot Minotaur
GW:
1 Steel Leaf Paladin
1 Castigate
1 Vectis Dominator
BG:
1 Llanowar Dead
GU:
1 Coiling Oracle
UR:
1 Magefire Wings
RW:
1 Thundersong Trumpeter
Artifact:
1 Baton of Courage
1 Clockwork Condor
Potential Additions:
1 AWOL
1 Defender of Law
1 Nightwind Glider
1 Seal of Cleansing
1 Thermal Glider
Blue:
1 Cephalid Looter
1 Coast Watcher
1 Looter il-Kor
1 Oraxid
1 Weatherseed Faeries
1 Ashes to Ashes
1 Evincar's Justice
1 Pestilence
1 Rend Flesh
Red:
1 Defender of Chaos
1 Fireball
1 Frazzled Editor
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Mountain Yeti
1 Rampant Growth
1 Rancor
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Scaled Wurm
1 Yavimaya Scion
This would yield new counts:
Gold: 90
Hybrid: 30
Artifact: 62
Land: 41
Each Color: 40
Cube Total: 423
25 of each basic land provided
There are overall a lot of spells and not many creatures, from the looks of it.
Would Icatian Javelineers, Kird Ape, False Defeat and the like be counted as common for your common cube?
I'd keep these in mind:
Blade of the Sixth Pride, Soltari Trooper, Benalish Cavalry, Cage of Hands, Cenn's Enlistment, Devout Witness, Judge Unworthy, Kami of Ancient Law/Ronom Unicorn, Prismatic Strands, Renewed Faith, Shade of Trokair, Soltari Visionary, Daru Lancer
Neck Snap, Pentarch Ward, Samite Pilgrim, Icatian Crier, Dawn Charm, Strength of Unity, Boros Fury-Shield and Aven Trailblazer look suboptimal.
Impulse, Boomerang, Unsummon, Condescend, Counterspell, Courier's Capsule and/or Inspiration, Negate, Dreamscape Artist, Fathom Seer, Infiltrator Il-Kor, Gush, Looter Il-Kor, Miscalculation, Ninja of the Deep Hours, Snap, Spiketail Drakeling and Wu Elite Cavalry.
Metathran Zombie, Parasitic Strix, Stormscape Familiar, Ghastly Discovery, Prohibit, Unstable Mutation, Worldly Council and Confound look suboptimal.
Let me know what you think of the recommendations.
I used to write cube articles on StarCityGames, now for GatheringMagic and podcast about cube (w/Antknee42.)
Here's the break down:
270 cards - enough for a six man and keeping the power level well above normal limited.
40x each color, 40 gold, 30 artifact, 20 land
Some quick thoughts, but I'll share more with you Thurday:
I think you're running too many lands. The artifact land cycle seems bad. There's little if any synergy with the rest of the cards and you randomly get blown out by artifact removal. I like the bounce land cycle, panoramas, Rupture Spire, Shimmering Grotto, Terramorphic Expanse, Desert, & Arena (it has no rarity and isn't super good so there)
You should definitely go through when you get the time and up the power level in your colors. As stated in the previous post, there's a lot of underpowered cards in your list right now. Off the top of my head - where's the Blastoderm?!
Combing Gatherer is really the best way to optimize your list. It'll just take a while. Maybe we can draft yours and mine on Thurs. to brainstorm.
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Curse PremiumCrypt Rats is exactly what I was looking for: it's a splashable Pestilence that adds to the creature count.
Yeah; many of the monocolor additions would be creatures and I've tried to avoid cutting creatures in my first pass where it was appropriate. I'll need to add a few more before I feel it's more balanced.
Yes, yes, and yes (and False Demise is an entirely new card for me; very cool). I'll be looking to pick up the Demise soon.
The shadow critter are good but lend themselves well to the traditional white weenie strategy; I'd rather keep the Protection X dudes (Disciple of Law, Disciple of Grace, etc.) and add in a few more with evasion (Defender of Law, Thermal Glider, ect.).
The Shade and Lancer seem like decent creatures, and Cage of Hands is an effective common Prison Term. While you look at Aven Trailblazer and Samite Pilgrim as janky, I've never seen the Trailblazer be less than a splashable Talon Troopers (and often hits as a 2/4 or 2/5) and the Pilgrim often mimics Master Healer. Strength is usually a +4/+4 that sticks (unlike it's cousin's Gaea's Might and Might of Alara) around. Boros Fury-Shield blows games wide open and Dawn Charm rolls up several situation effects into one very useful package: counter a burn spell, regenerate your best dude, or just Fog for a turn? I've never been disappointed having it in my hand.
The Crier and Ward have performed pretty poorly so far though.
I like your recommendations; I like them a lot, actually. This cube is far from tuned and I know that my collection has some serious holes in it (Urza's Legacy through Mirrodin is really spotty).
Blastderm is on order (I don't own one otherwise it's already be in here!).
I've been feeling the same with lands: there is just too much (though I was going to add a Desert at some point soon). I felt that I either cut the Odyssey lands and the artifact lands (though anyone who wants an Esper subtheme will miss them; I only grabbed the three Esper colored artifact lands) or add a lot more spellshapers to make running CitP tapped lands more appealing (which seems pretty bad even on paper). It seems my suspicion that the first is better is, well, better. I will sya that the Invasion sac lands are pretty decent: they accelerate to five mana on turn four without artifacts and grab the two allied colors simultaneously. They atleast seemed decent when played.
I'm looking forward to Thursday to see what you've cooked up (and I'll make a note of more commons I need to grab).
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White:
Icatian Crier, Sunscape Apprentice, Boros Fury-Shield, Strength of Unity
Blue:
Metathran Zombie, Parasitic Strix, Stormscape Apprentice, Command of Unsummoning, [card]Echoing
Truth[/card], Ghastly Discovery, Prohibit, Seal of Removal, Unstable Mutation
Black:
Nightscape Apprentice, Sedraxis Alchemist, Agonizing Demise, Bone Harvest, Dry Spell,
Exotic Curse, Rite of Consumption, Strangling Soot
Red:
Thunderscape Familiar, Dark Temper, Electrostatic Bolt, Incite Hysteria, Keldon Mantle,
Psychotic Fury, Rain of Embers, Savage Offensive, Smash
Green:
Ambassador Oak, Skyshroud Elf, Symbiotic Elf, Thornscape Apprentice, Naturalize,
Seal of Primordium, Sprouting Vines, Wandering Stream
Hybrid:
Æthertow, Oona's Gatewarden, Poison the Well, Wild Cantor, Barkshell Blessing, [card]Nip
Gwyllion[/card], Clout of the Dominus, Favor of the Overbeing, Gaze of the Gorgon, Double Cleave
Gold:
Deny Reality, Vectis Dominator, Plumes of Peace, Castigate, Vectis Agents,
Magefire Wings, Monstrous Carabid, Llanowar Dead, Thundersong Trumpeter, [card]Deadshot
Minotaur[/card], Steel Lead Paladin, [card]Coiling Oracle
Artifact:
Clockwork Condor, Copper Myr, Gold Myr, Iron Myr, Leaden Myr, Min Replica,
Silver Myr, Soldier Replica, Wizard Replica, Æther Spellbomb, Arcane Spyglass,
Baton of Courage, Heliophial, Obelisk of Bant, Obelisk of Esper, Obelisk of Grixis,
Obelisk of Jund, Obelisk of Naya, Pyrite Spellbomb, Springleaf Drum
Land:
Abandoned Outpost, Ancient Den, Bog Wreckage, Ravaged Highlands, Seafloor Debris,
Seat of the Synod, Timberland Ruins, Vault of Whispers
IN
White:
Aven Squire, Knight of the Skyward Eye, Nightwind Glider, Sidewinder Sliver, [card]Sinew
Sliver[/card], Talon Sliver, Thermal Glider, AWOL, Judge Unworthy, Lapse of Certainty,
Radiant's Judgment
Blue:
Cephalid Looter, Coast Watcher, Dreamscape Artist, Merfolk Looter, Oraxid, [card]Shadow
Sliver[/card], Synchronous Sliver, Weathersed Faeries, Whip-Spine Drake, Winged Sliver,
Boomerang, Countspell, Daze, Fade Away, Framed!, Frantic Search,
Gush, Memory Lapse
Black:
Cadaverous Knight, Clot Sliver, Crypt Rats, Dauthi Horror, Death's=Head Buzzard, [card]
Faceless Butcher[/card], Frenzy Sliver, Moonglove Winnower, Order of the Ebon Hand, Ravenous Rats,
Razortooth Rats, Shadow Rider, Spitting Sliver, Ashes to Ashes, Dark Banishing,
Evincar's Justice, Pestilence, Rend Flesh
Red:
Battering Sliver, Bogardan Rager, Bonesplitter Sliver, Chartooth Couger, [card]Defender of
Chaos[/card], Frazzled Editor, Goblin Skycutter, Hearth Sliver, Ingot Chewer, [card]Macetail
Hystrodon[/card], Shock Troops, Skirk Commando, Tin Street Hooligan, Vaishino Fangtail, [card]Dragon
Fodder[/card], Empty the Warrens, Fireball, Fireblast, Flame Jet, Lightning Bolt,
Lunge
Green:
Aerie Ouphes, Deadly Insect, Druid of the Anima, Gemhide Sliver, Mire Boa, [card]Muscle
Sliver[/card], Penumbra Bobcat, Penumbra Spider, Sakura-Tribe Elder, Scaled Wurm, [card]Wickerbough
Elder[/card], Wild Nacatl, Yavimaya Elder, Edge of Autumn, Kodama's Reach, [card]Rampant
Growth[/card], Rancor
Hybrid Gold:
Arsenal Thresher, Sewn-Eye Drake
Artifact:
Metallic Sliver, Venser's Sliver
A brief overview: I cut back on the domain mechanic and upgraded as many weaker creatures as possible. I changed tricks (like Seal of Cleansing and Smash) into creatures (like Ronom Unicorn and Tin Street Hooligan) where possible. There are still a small handful of sub-par critters and spells that will get swapped out as I get better recommendations and apply the scouring I've done on the Gatherer.
Some issues:
<>I couldn't find a clean way to cut back the hybrid gold cards from the 10 commons released. Some are pretty weak (Arsenal Threasher) but other color sets have both as great options (Bant Sureblade and Cyrstallization are both nice). I appreciate the X-blade cycle and flexibility of the mana costs but cutting this back to just five would be great.
<>Slivers were added, though Black and Red have the weakest in my opinion. Recommendations to the sliver count (or even just swap to better ones that I overlooked or underestimated) are more than welcome.
<>Domain has a similar level of support as slivers, and a green land fetching deck backed by domain andslivers feels like a viable combination of two subthemes as one draft strategy (Five Color Aggro/Control?). Thoughts?
<>The mana fixing is scaled back, though perhaps not enough. I really designed this to be drafted but I keep finding myself playing it Stack style. I'm not sure if dramatically cutting the mana fixing back will impact the colors that decks can safely run; I'd like to keep shard color decks viable (and very strong if at all possible).
<>The cube has increased slightly in size; I'd like to bring this down to under 400 if possible but I feel that the most obvious cuts are in the hybrid and gold cards... not exactly conducive to a "Multicolor Cube".
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Curse PremiumI think that right now, there's way too much multi in the allied slots, 12 for each allied combination, when each individual color has 45, will probably skew the decks to being mainly 2 color/"shard" decks.I missed the whole thread title being "multicolor" but right now, I still think it'll likely be too skewed to either allied 2 color or "shard" decks; there's very little aggro support so most of the decks will also likely skew towards midrange-ish.
I'd probably run Castigate over Soul Link, it seems a much better effect and pinpoint discard is not that common in this environment.
I don't think the sliver subtheme is good and will be a deck that occasionally has the pieces fit, but will likely be just passed, I'd likely just pass them if I were to see them in a deck as many of them aren't good on their own. A lot of the red creatures don't do much for me, like Hooded Kavu, Bogardan Rager [I know that there aren't many finishers, but I don't think that he would be a good one] Viashino runner, Skirk Commando) some cards like Martyr of Ashes (a mass removal,) Hissing Iguanar, (if you're playing with m10 rules,) Spur Grappler and Keldon Berserker, Mogg Flunkies, Fireslinger, Goblin Patrol, Vulshok Sorcerer and Keldon Vandals may be worth a shot in red. Don't forget to keep the burn (to the dome) count high, I think spell-wise, it's really good with that. (Lunge may also be better as Lash Out, even though it may not hit the dome as consistently.)
Skred is definitely worth looking into if you are thinking of running snow lands, along with Chilling Shade, Boreal Centaur, Gangrenous Zombies and Gelid Shackles.
A lot of the green creatures don't do much for me (Gruul Scrapper and Simic Ragwurm are not good outside of their respective color combos and meh inside of them, Transluminant and Penumbra Bobcat don't seem worth their second lives, Scaled Wurm is too expensive and Barkhide Mauler is a cycling Durkwood Boars, which I'm not too thrilled with.) and a lot of the aggro staples, which are common, are missing, especially Llanowar Elves/Fyndhorn Elves/Boreal Druid, as well as Basking Rootwalla, Jungle Lion, Pouncing Jaguar, Wild Dogs, Rogue Elephant as well as other good cheap green creatures like Wall of Roots, River Boa, Werebear, Civic Wayfinder, Simian Grunts, Acridian, Elvish Visionary and Jolrael's Centaur. If you're going to run signets/talismans, they do a much better job at being 2 mana accel/fixers than Urborg Elf and Druid of tha Anima.
With black, it's similar, a lot of the creatures don't do much for me like Ostiary Thrull , Disciple of Malice, Undead Leotau, Enemy of the Guildpact (may be better with more multi, but it seems like it costs way too much for what it does), Moonglove Winnower (too weak), Shadow Rider doesn't seem good enough for its 4 cost and a lot of the good aggro creatures are missing like Carnophage, Shadow Guildmage (whether you count it as black, black/red or black/red/blue is up to you), Blind Creeper, Mesmeric Fiend as well as cards like Phyrexian Rager, Chittering Rats, Okiba-Gang Shinobi and if you can run them, Wei Scout, Wei Ambush Force, Wei Strike Force (I'd replace Razortooth Rats with it, if you can) and Dauthi Marauder. I'd also very much try to find room for Duress (I'm not a huge fan of Skulltap, Scarscale Ritual only asks for a -1/-1 counter as opposed to a sacrifice)
I used to write cube articles on StarCityGames, now for GatheringMagic and podcast about cube (w/Antknee42.)
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Curse PremiumThe creature selection is continuing to be tuned; more aggro support is coming in the next round of updates.
I'm torn between the two; the pseudo evasion/removal effect of Soul Link is handy for any W/B aggro deck, but Castigate is pretty swank. I want to give Soul Link a try before switching in something that can be a terrible top deck late in the game.
I want to give these a try; anyone who runs domain/five color aggro would love to pick up slivers. The Black slivers are most likely the worst, but Blue has two evasive ones that can break a game open. If slivers trun out to be the suck I can switch in other creatures.
I like your suugestions here: I have Spur Grappler and Keldon Vandals going in, and perhaps a few other adjustments. There are a ton of bears in this cube and I feel Lunge will hold its own; Lash Out may behitting the critter harder but I'm not seeing the potential for the clash effect to be nearly consistent enough. I can always just switch it around after playing with Lunge for awhile.
I thought about snow long and hard before I started; I elected to go with [i]Unhinged[/i] (and a few [i]Unglued[/i]) lands + Framed! combo. Some lucky U/R deck is going to rock out with a massive Fireball! (And Un-sets are a pet of mine in general.)
I'm making several adjustments based on what you've pointed out: more manabugs are in and I finally have my Blastoderm and other great goodies to sink in.
Again, I've picked up some P3K critters and I am currently swapping a few things around. Skulltap will be cut for Phyrexian Rager for sure.
Thanks for your input Usman. If you, or anyone else, thinks of other things I'm all ears!
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Curse PremiumIt'll be appearing (tonight as I update this with the most recent changes) but a bomb in green is Blastoderm. It rocks pretty hard on turn four.
White is something much harder: I can't really put my finger on a card and say "THIS will rock your world." White has a lot of incremental synergy (multiple tappers, lots of dudes with protection, and a lot of flying) and access to powerful removal (Oblivion Ring and Faith's Fetters can handle just about anything in the game, let alone a pauper cube). I guess what I mean is that White has the best "silver bullet" cards but ends up being a "jack of all trades and a master of none." White needs some work
In artifacts there aren't any bombs at common: virtually all artifact at common are utility. In my cube specifically, gaining access to five colors is fairly easy so Skyreach Manta is a house (5/5 flying for five is no joke) and Serrated Arrows can wipe out several X/1's. The signets are perhaps the best workhorses of the deck and getting one down is usually a pretty good thing. Whispersilk Cloak can get a game to end quick given a decent critter to put it on, but nothing jumps out as a true bomb.
In multicolor, Armadillo Cloak can easily end a game if an opponent doesn't have the removal, Putrid Leech plays just like it looks (a 4/4 for two), and I've seen Suicidal Charge wreck boards pretty hard (especially with the numerous X/1's that are scattered about). There's a lot of power density in multicolor (protection cycles and cheap effects) and it suffers from the same issue as white: good stuff but nothing "OMFG!" ...atleast in commons.
Somebody else may chime in with some clearer responses.
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Curse PremiumWhite:
Out:
Shelter
In:
Kami of Ancient Law
Shelter is a fair trick, but the Kami can usually be a lot more relevant.
Blue:
Out:
Drelnoch
Whip-Spine Drake
Confound
Exclude
In:
Ninja of the Deep Hours
Wu Elite Cavalry
Impulse
False Demise
The Drelnoch was to draw cards but with so much evasion Ninja of the Deep Hours seems more consistent. The Drake was to be an evasive beater, but the Cavalry are better in that case.
Confound and Exclude are just okay, while Impulse and False Demise are just great. This was an easy upgrade.
Black:
Out:
Moonglove Winnower
Ostiary Thrull
Razortooth Rats
Shadow Rider
Bone Splinters
Skulltap
In:
Dauthi Marauder
Carnophage
Wei Scout
Okiba Gang Shinobi
Wei Strike Force
Phyrexian Rager
Winnower, Thrull, and Rider would be better if they were just a touch cheaper while Maurader, and Carnophage are cheap. Teh Rats were evasive, but the Wei cards are even better. Bone Splinters and Skulltap are better served as creatures that have similar abilities, though discard isn't exactly removal.
Red:
Out:
Hooded Kavu
Macetail Hystrodon
Skirk Commando
In:
Keldon Vandals
Kird Ape
Spur Grappler
Swapping three subpar creatures for three creatures with a lot more going for them is just smart.
Green:
Out:
Barkhide Mauler
Druid of the Anima
Giant Warthog
Gruul Scrapper
Penumbra Bobcat
Simic Ragworm
Urborg Elf
In:
Basking Rootwalla
Llanowar Elves
Blastoderm
Simian Grunts
Acridian
Pouncing Jaguar
Fyndhorn Elves
Swapping off-color promoting elves (Urborg, Anima) for on-color acceleration (Llanowar, Fyndhorn) seems good. Off-color creatures (Ragworm, Scrapper, Bobcat) pale next to good aggro (Acridian, Jaguar, Grunts). Upgrading to more efficient beatsticks elsewhere (Rootwalla, Blastderm) is much better than vanilla fodder (Barkhide, Warthog).
There is certainly more room for improvement and the M10 prerelease today should give me some great commons to work in afterwards. I'll update my main list in the first post once I have the commons in hand and swapping into the cube. The short list of M10 I'm looking at: Doom Blade, Blinding Mage, Safe Passage, Ice Cage, Child of Night, Sign in Blood, and Deadly Recluse.
Thoughts?
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Alters Blog.
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Curse PremiumIt would be great to have good constructive feedback from you. I'll also be bringing all the M10 love I have from today to swap in as well.
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Curse PremiumM10 Goodness:
Blinding Mage replacing Samite Pilgrim - It's probably time to take out more domain themed jank, even if I like it.
Safe Passage replacing Pentarch Ward - Passage can win games, Ward can't. I'll miss the cantrip + protection effect though.
Ice Cage replacing Worldly Council - Blue has tons of card draw and filter with Council being the worst. Ice Cage is a temporary removal in a color that could use it.
Child of Night replacing Undead Leotau - The Leotau is either poor, color intensive removal or a weak finisher. Child provides another early drop and a relevant ability.
Doom Blade replacing Nameless Inversion - Same mana cost, but the Blade just kills outright. That said, Inversion can cap black creatures and can pump up a creature with high toughness. I'm not sure if Inversion is the best swap but it feels right.
Sign in Blood replacing Dirge of Dread - I haven't seen Dirge do anything other than be cycled. I like the idea of givng my team fear (Profrane Command has done good things in Standard) but if card draw is desired Sign in Blood is better. Not sure about this change either.
Deadly Recluse replacing Ember Weaver - They both want to kill dudes dead, but the Recluse isn't conditional. Cheaper too.
Other Changes
Rolling Thunder replacing Tribal Flames - Tribal Flames is a great domain card but it's often the least relevant burn spell hanging around. Thunder will clear a path, or win games, even in a two-color deck.
Jungle Lion replacing Transluminant - Transluminant gives green a little card advantage but not of the overwhelmingly strong type. The Lion feels like it will help push the aggro content in green.
What do you guys think?
Edit:
I understand what you're saying but I like the fact that the Scout basically reads "~ cannot be blocked." I'd like to see how bigger drafts handle black and, if weenie aggro is the route taken often, I can certainly switch it up. Relatedly, I've been scoping out Dread Warlock but he feels a touch expensive. However, more evasion is generally good...
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:symb:Maga, Traitor to Mortals:symb:
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Curse PremiumEvincar's Justice and Wipe Away are the only two that I've run across. I'm hoping that Safe Passage will perform like a white version of a board sweep.
Ensuring that there is plenty of repeatable removal (like Prodigal Sorcerer effects) is something I'm leveraging to smooth out my cube (as per the next update).
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!
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Curse PremiumI'm organizing this by color and converted mana cost at the suggestion of Klug: I've been aware of the curve in colors but I haven't devoted enough attention to it. Enhancing the grouping of cards seems like the best way to see the curve (as well as entering all the data into a spread... a project once this reboot is finished).
The PMC v2.0a
White:
Creatures
1 CCM:
Akrasan Squire
Goldmeadow Harrier
Ramosian Sergeant
Soul Warden
2 CCM:
Amrou Scout
Aven Squire
Benalish Trapper
Blade of the Sixth Pride
Blinding Mage
Defiant Falcon
Kami of Ancient Law
Master Decoy
Ramosian Lieutenant
Ronom Unicorn
Soltari Trooper
Squall Drifter
Stormfront Pegasus
Sunscape Familiar
3 CCM:
Amrou Seekers
Aven Riftwatcher
Defender of Law
Griffin Sentinel
Pegasus Charger
Saltfield Recluse
Skyhunter Prowler
4 CCM:
Cloudchaser Eagle
Guardian of the Guildpact
6 CCM:
Noble Templar
Spells
1 CCM:
Mana Tithe
Sunlance
2 CCM:
Brilliant Halo
Dawn Charm
Judge Unworthy
Momentary Blink
Pacifism
Temporal Isolation
3 CCM:
Arrest
AWOL
Oblivion Ring
Safe Passage
4 CCM:
Blinding Beam
Divine Verdict
Faith's Fetters
Neck Snap
5 CCM:
Gleam of Resistance
Blue:
Creatures
1 CCM:
Mistblade Shinobi
2 CCM:
Cloud of Faeries
Dreamscape Artist
Errant Ephemeron
Fathom Seer
Goassamer Phantasm
Looter il-Kor
Merfolk Looter
Ninja of the Deep Hours
Stormscape Familiar
Thought Courier
3 CCM:
Cephalid Looter
Illusionary Servant
Man-'o-War
Ophidian
Pestermite
Prodigal Sorcerer
Rootwater Hunter
Shaper Parasite
Thornwind Faeries
Zuran Spellcaster
4 CCM:
Shimmering Glasskite
Wu Elite Cavalry
5 CCM:
Mulldrifter
6 CCM:
Æthersnipe
Shoreline Ranger
Vedalken Dismisser
Spells
1 CCM:
Force Spike
2 CCM:
Boomerang
Confound
Counterspell
Daze
Framed!
Ice Cage
Miscalculation
3 CCM:
Exclude
Fade Away
False Demise
Frantic Search
Repulse
4 CCM:
Deep Analysis
Ray of Command
5 CCM:
Traumatic Visions
6 CCM:
Capsize
X CCM:
Repeal
Black
Creatures
1 CCM:
Carnophage
2 CCM:
Blind Creeper
Child of Night
Dauthi Horror
Dauthi Slayer
Fledgling Djinn
Nezumi Cutthroat
Nightscape Familiar
Order of the Ebon Hand
Pit Keeper
Rathi Trapper
Ravenous Rats
Wei Scout
3 CCM:
Crypt Rats
Dauthi Marauder
Death's-Head Buzzard
Dread Warlock
Phyrexian Ghoul
Phyrexian Rager
Razortooth Rats
Severed Legion
Tar Pit Warrior
Vampire Aristocrat
Wei Strike Force
4 CCM:
Faceless Butcher
Okiba-Gang Shinobi
6 CCM:
Twisted Abomination
Spells:
1 CCM:
Executioner's Capsule
Unearth
2 CCM:
Diabolic Edict
Disturbed Burial
Doom Blade
Grim Harvest
Last Gasp
Nameless Inversion
Terror
3 CCM:
Ashes to Ashes
Dirge of Dread
Expunge
Eyeblight's Ending
Rend Flesh
4 CCM:
Snuff Out
Pestilence
7 CCM:
Absorb Vis
Evincar's Justice
Red:
Creatures:
1 CCM:
Kird Ape
Mogg Fanatic
2 CCM:
Dragon Fodder
Fireslinger
Goblin Skycutter
Hearth Kami
Keldon Marauders
Mogg War Marshal
Skirk Marauder
Thunderscape Familiar
Tin Street Hooligan
3 CCM:
Defender of Chaos
Fire Imp
Gathan Raiders
Ghitu Slinger
Keldon Vandals
Mudbutton Torchrunner
Prodigal Pyromancer
Ronin Houndmaster
Spikeshot Goblin
Spur Grappler
Suq'Ata Lancer
4 CCM:
Empty the Warrens
Stingscourger
Viashino Fangtail
5 CCM:
Ingot Chewer
6 CCM:
Chartooth Cougar
Spells
0 CCM:
Fireblast
1 CCM:
Dead//Gone
Dead (Dead/Gone)
Firebolt
Lightning Bolt
Rift Bolt
2 CCM:
Flame Jet
Incinerate
Lash Out
Thunderbolt
Volcanic Hammer
3 CCM:
Arc Lightning
Puncture Blast
5 CCM:
Barbed Lightning
Fissure
Pyrotechnics
6 CCM:
Fiery Fall
X CCM:
Fireball
Rolling Thunder
Green:
Creatures:
1 CCM:
Basking Rootwalla
Elves of Deep Shadow
Fyndhorn Elves
Llanowar Elves
Mtenda Lion
Pouncing Jaguar
Wild Nacatl
2 CCM:
Acridian
Deadly Recluse
Fists of Ironwood
Gemhide Sliver
Mire Boa
Sakura-Tribe Elder
Silhana Ledgewalker
Thornscape Familiar
Thornweald Archers
Wild Mongrel
3 CCM:
Borderland Ranger
Civic Wayfinder
Gilt-Leaf Ambush
Simian Grunts
Yavimaya Elder
4 CCM:
Blastoderm
Penumbra Spider
Skyshroud Troll
Wickerbough Elder
Wild Elephant
5 CCM:
Aerie Ouphes
Sprout Swarm
Stampeding Rhino
6 CCM:
Giant Warthog
7 CCM:
Wirewood Guardian
Spells:
1 CCM:
Giant Growth
Rancor
2 CCM:
Edge of Autumn
Evolution Charm
Farseek
Rampant Growth
3 CCM:
Ferocious Charge
Harrow
Kodama's Reach
Krosan Tusker
Wildsize
4 CCM:
Sudden Strength
6 CCM:
Sylvan Bounty
Multicolor and Hybrid
W/:
Azorius First-Wing
Deft Duelist
Ethercaste Knight
Galina's Knight
Vedalken Outlander
Silver Drake
Talon Trooper
Esper Cormorants
Sanctum Plowbeast
Silkbind Faerie
Curse of Chains
U/:
Cavern Harpy
Dimir Infiltrator
Tidehollow Strix
Vodalian Zombie
Etherium Abomination
Jhessian Zombies
Agony Warp
Recoil
Soul Manipulation
Scarscale Ritual
Helm of the Ghastlord
B/
Gobhobbler Rats
Goblin Outlander
Kathari Bomber
Singe-Mind Ogre
Igneous Pouncer
Terminate
Blightning
Wrecking Ball
Suicidal Charge
Riot Spikes
Traitor's Roar
R/:
Nacatl Outlander
Rip-Clan Crasher
Yavimaya Barbarian
Rhox Brute
Gorger Wurm
Streetbreaker Wurm
Valley Rannet
Colossal Might
Exploding Borders
Gaintbaiting
Runes of the Deus
G/
Qasali Pridemage
Selesnya Evangel
Valeron Outlander
Leonin Armorguard
Pale Recluse
Sigiled Behemoth
Sigil Blessing
Armadillo Cloak
Sigil of the Nayan Gods
Safehold Elite
Shield of the Oversoul
W/:
Putrid Warrior
Blind Hunter
Pillory of the Sleepless
Unmake
B/:
Putrid Leech
Golgari Rotwurm
Consume Strength
Desecrator Hag
G/:
Gaea's Skyfolk
Winged Coatl
Assault Zeppelid
Snakeform
U/:
Razorfin Hunter
Izzet Chronarch
Quicksilver Dagger
Noggle Bandit
R/:
Goblin Legionnaire
Skyknight Legionnaire
Squee's Embrace
Fire at Will
Hybrid Gold:
Bant Sureblade
Esper Stormblade
Grixis Grimblade
Jund Hackblade
Naya Hushblade
Artifacts:
Creatures:
Scuttlemutt
Yotian Soldier
Utility:
Bonesplitter
Leonin Bola
Leonin Scimitar
Viridian Longbow
Vulshok Morningstar
Moonglove Extract
Whispersilk Cloak
Serrated Arrows
Manafixing:
Wayfarer's Bauble
Armillary Sphere
Chromatic Sphere
Chromatic Star
Prismatic Lens
Azorius Signet
Boros Signet
Dimir Signet
Golgari Signet
Gruul Signet
Izzet Signet
Orzhov Signet
Rakdos Signet
Selesnya Signet
Simic Signet
Lands:
Utility:
Arena
Desert
Manafixing:
Rupture Spire
Shimmering Grotto
Terramorphic Expanse
Bant Panorama
Esper Panorama
Grixis Panorama
Jund Panorama
Naya Panorama
Fieldmist Borderpost
Firewild Borderpost
Mistvein Borderpost
Veinfire Borderpost
Wildfield Borderpost
Azorius Chancery
Boros Garrison
Dimir Aqueduct
Golgari Rot Farm
Gruul Turf
Izzet Boilerworks
Orzhov Basilica
Rakdos Carnarium
Selesnya Sanctuary
Simic Growth Chamber
Revamp updated. Now generating list of cuts vs. adds. It's going to be long.
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Curse PremiumBlue is updated in the post above; any input would be greatly appreciated.
If blue has trouble facing aggro adding in walls or virtual walls (Horned Tutle etc) might be a solution. Also Undo was amazing in draft and I think would be good here.
My secondary "cube".
Really out of date cube thread with pictures.
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Curse PremiumUndo seems pretty good for blue; I'm just concerned about what virtual/real walls to add. Things that are very effective, like Drift of Phantasms, seem like cards that just can't get there to win with. Any suggestions for walls-like critters that can convert into something reasonable to kill with?
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Curse PremiumPMC 2.0 Summary:
45 - Each Color [225 total monocolor cards]
11 - Each Allied Pair (Gold + Hybrid) [55 total allied gold/hybrid cards]
4 - Each Enemy Pair (Gold + Hybrid) [20 total enemy gold/hybrid cards]
5 - Hybrid Gold
25 - Artifacts
25 - Lands
[355 Total Cards; 5 short of a full 8-man draft]
Features:
-Tighter mana curves that push aggressive strategies to the forefront.
-Synergy between allied and enemy color strategies is significant.
-Room for future expansion if desired; current plan is to stay as close to 360 as possible.
Issues:
-Control is not as impressive as aggro; significant space to tighten control and resist aggro.
-Lack of board sweepers ensures that black and red removal, and to a lesser extent white and blue removal, must remain over-represented and will be drafted heavily.
-Multicolor has been trimmed but still feels weaker than much of the monocolor choices. Multicolor needs to be tuned further without dramatic reduction in cards to maintain multicolor feel.
[b]White:[/b]
[b]Cuts:[/b] Aven Trailblazer, Darklit Gargoyle, Disciple of Grace, Dsciple of Law, Knight of the Skyward Eye, Nightwind Glider, Samite Pilgrim, Shrieking Grotesque, Sidewinder Sliver, Talon Sliver, Thermal Glider, Disenchant, Dismantling Blow, Lapse of Certainty, Pentarch Ward, Radiant's Judgment
[b]Adds:[/b] Ramosian Sergeant, Soul Warden, Amrou Scout, Blade of the Sixth Pride, Blinding Mage, Defiant Falcon, Master Decoy, Ramosian Lieutenant, Soltari Trooper, Stormfront Pegasus, Amrou Seekers, Griffin Sentinel, Pegasus Charger, Skyhunter Prowler, Cloudchaser Eagle, Safe Passage, Divine Verdict
But gutting tons of weaker off-color creatures I was able to fill out both a decent Rebel chain as well as add a lot more aggressive creatures. With the massive cut to artifacts, Disenchant effects were weakened significantly so I cut them from white as well. Radiant's Judgment has only a few targets in the entire cube so it felt good to swap it for another aggressive creature. Safe Passage should be interesting due to the surge in total creatures across all colors.
In summary: evasive, efficient dudes > inefficient off-color dudes.
[b]Blue[/card]
[b]Cuts:[/b] Coast Watcher, Oraxid, Pendrell Drake, Shadow Sliver, Silkwing Scout, Steamcore Weird, Synchronous Sliver, Weatherseed Faeries, Winged Sliver, Brainstorm, Compulsive Research, Gush, Impulse, Jilt, Memory Lapse, Ponder, Probe, Worldly Council
[b]Adds:[/b] Mistblade Shinobi, Cloud of Faeries, Fathom Seer, Gossamer Phantasm, Looter il-Kor, Thought Courier, Illusionary Servant, Prodigal Sorcerer, Rootwater Hunter, Shaper Parasite, Thornwind Faeries, Zuran Spellcaster, Shimmering Glasskite, Vedalken Dismisser, Confound[/card], Ice Cage, Miscalculation, Exclude
While many of blue's creatures are still underwhelming in comparison to other colors, I've tried to give blue the tools to disrupt and take control of the game. By adding in pingers and the few efficient creatures it has (abeit with drawbacks: Illusionary Servant) along with the other Looter creatures (Thought Courier and Looter il-Kor) to give some reach. The most painful cuts were the spell-based card filtering (Brainstorm, Ponder, Impulse, Probe, Compulsive Research) but I feel that having more creatures is something needed for blue. Aggro is very quick and I'm currently looking for more "walls" like Fathom Seer (which is Gush on a stick, but I digress) to both gum up aggro as provide further card advantage for blue.
In summary: pingers and other decent blue critters > inefficient off-color dudes and redundant filtering.
[b]Black[/b]
[b]Cuts:[/b] Cadaverous Knight, Chill to the Bone, Clot Sliver, Disciple of Malice, Enemy of the Guildpact, Frenzy Sliver, Spitting Sliver, Undead Leotau, Drag Down, Recover
[b]Adds:[/b] Blind Creeper, Child of Night, Dauthi Slayer, Nezumi Cutthroat, Pit Keeper, Dread Warlock, Razortooth Rats, Severed Legion, Tar Pit Warrior, Vampire Aristocrat
Pushing the aggro theme in black brings in many evasive beaters for inefficient creatures. Chill to the Bone was redundant and expensive for what it did, and Pit Keeper feels better than what you would get with Recover anyway.
In summary: evasive creatures and utility-on-a-stick > jank
[b]Red[/b]
[b]Cuts:[/b] Battering Sliver, Bogardan Rager, Bonesplitter Sliver, Frazzled Editor, Hearth Slvier, Needlepeak Spider, Shock Troops, Viashino Runner, Ancient Grudge, Ghostfire, Lunge, Smash to Smithereens, Tribal Flames
[b]Adds:[/b] Fireslinger, Hearth Kami, Skirk Marauder, Gathan Raiders, Prodigal Pyromancer, Ronin Houndmaster, Suq'Ata Lancer, Lash Out, Thunderbolt, Puncture Blast, Fissure, Pyrotechnics, Rolling Thunder
Taking out the now weakened artifact destruction as well as inefficient creatures and burn paved the way to better creatures, burn, and some pingers. Rolling Thunder is so there is an additional sweep effect int he cube, though I feel that it's as dangerous as Fireball to become an "I win!" card. We'll see if it holds up under use - Fireball has been okay so far.
In summary: efficient aggro and burn > inefficient jank
[b]Green[/b]
[b]Cuts:[/b] Court Archers, Deadly Insect, Ember Weaver, Matca Rioters, Muscle Sliver, Pincer Spider, Scaled Wurm, Spinneret Sliver, Transluminant, Gaea's Might, Gift of the Gargantuan, Might of Alara, Squall, Thrill of the Hunt
[b]Adds:[/b] Mtenda Lion, Deadly Recluse, Silhana Ledgewalker, Thornweald Archersm Borderland Ranger, Civic Wayfinder, Skyshroud Troll, Wild Elephant, Sprout Swarm, Stampeding Rhino, Giant Warthog, Giant Growth, Wildsize, Sudden Strength
Pushing the aggro theme in green brings in more efficient creatures (Note: Mtenda Lion will soon be Jungle Lion) and some much needed evasion. I look at trample as a form of evasion for green (turning pump spells into removal + burn) as well as a natural pairing for equipment in a green deck. Cutting out inefficient domain jank allowed more pump effects and total creatures to get onboard.
In summary: more aggressive creatures and pump spells > domain and off-color jank
[b]Multicolor[/b]
[b]Cuts:[/b] Carrion Thrash, Kederekt Creeper, Rakeclaw Gargantuan, Waveskimmer Aven, Windwright Mage, Arsenal Thresher, Crystallization, Sangrite Backlash, Sewn-Eye Drake, Trace of Abundance, Glassdust Hulk, Hindering Light, Architects of Will, Zombie Outlander, Lava Zombie, Shivan Zombie, Horned Kavu, Hull Breach, Llanowar Knight, Rhox Bodyguard, Soul Link, Shambling Shell, Temporal Spring, Wee Dragonauts, Cerodon Yearling, Minister of Impeditments, Steel of the Godhead, Gravelgill Axeshark, Lurking Informant, Cultbrand Cinder, Fists of the Demigod, Manamorphose, Skuzzback Marauders. Centaur Safeguard, Safewright Quest, Mourning Thrull, Rendclaw Trow, Shielding Plax, Noggle Bridgebreaker, Hobgoblin Dragoon
Trimming tons of the worst in an attempt to leave the best salvagable. There isn't an easy way to say this: common multicolor is so hit-or-miss it's tough to properly have both balance and strength among the colors. I need feedback on tuning (swapping cards in/out that work better) and possibly one more cut from each allied pair (forcing the expansion of monocolor). I want my cube to be more than just another pauper cube, but "forcing" the multicolor angle in a manner that fits the cube sensibilites of lot of you (which is to say those who would be interested in playign with the cube) is challenging. I've learned a lot from Klug and playing with his cube; now I need to convert the multicolor into something that's exciting to cube with. I think it's getting close but there's a lot fo room to go.
[b]Artifact[/b]
[b]Cuts:[/b] Metallic Sliver, Skyreach Manta, Suntouched Myr, Venser's Sliver, Barbed Sextant, Blight Sickle, Darksteel Ingot, Kaleidostone, Lotus Petal, Mind Stone, Pentad Prism, Relic of Progenitus, Terrarion, Wanderer's Twig
Turned the artifacts, cutting away less useful mana fixing, poor creatures, and miscellanecous jank. No problems here.
[b]Lands[/b]
[b]Cuts:[/b] Ancient Spring, Barren Moor, Drifting Meadow, Forgotten Cave, Geothermal Crevice, Irrigation Ditch, Lonely Sandbar, Polluted Mire, Remote Isle, Secluded Steppe, Slipppery Karst, Smoldering Creater, Sulfur Vent, Tinder Farm, Tranquil Thicket
Though I'm sad to see them go, i've cut all of the cycling lands as well as the Invasion ETB tapped sac lands. All of these lands were just too slow and their usefulness too obtuse (bounce a cycling land with a karoo land, cycle FTW) and slow as well. These cuts, along with the artifact cuts, should provide a great improvement in using the cube to play "Stack" - a fair litmus test of how powerful the cube is.
Please provide feedbackif you're willing; I feel that this cube is on the cusp of moving from "okay" to "pretty good." Thanks!