Our aggro:control creature ratio is very lopsided in favor of aggro. We've found that not only does this create the most fun games, but also some of the most balanced cube drafts, particularly in 2 man formats. Control decks can utilize aggressive creatures, but the same is not true the other way around.
For example, Yosei, the Morning Star was recently cut for Spectral Procession. While Yosei is undeniably the more powerful card, Spectral Procession can be played in a variety of decks and serves a much better spot in the cube.
Moreover, we purposely keep our creature count higher to support aggressive strategies even more than they might normally be. This involves playing "suboptimal" creatures in favor of more powerful higher casting cost cards. Our creature:non-creature ratio might reflect this to a larger degree than other cubes.
"The most common pitfall is the lack of aggro as a competitive strategy. Pretty much every cube will have aggro as a possible archetype, but how does it get pushed into competitive, common, equal, or even dominant? I can assure you that simply because aggro cards are available doesn't mean there's enough to support it equally. Aggro typically needs two to three times as many cards available to it as control does for any given pool to have an equal chance of going either aggro or control. If you look through my cube list, you'll find that in colors that support both aggro and control (like white) I have seven creatures that cost 5 or more mana, and soon to be 20 that cost 1 or 2. In a color like red that's even more aggressive, I've got five "big" creatures and 16 that cost 1 or 2 mana. In the four colors that support aggro, my overall 1-2CC creature to 5+CC ratio is 8:3. So for every 3 "control" creatures you have in the cube, I'd try and have 8 or so aggressive creatures. This will help to make sure that both the aggro player and the control player will have the tools they need to draft a competitive deck. You may look at this and say, "Doesn't keeping a > 2:1 ratio of aggro to control make aggro more powerful? Wouldn't having a 1:1 ratio be balanced?" The short answer is no. Think about the number of creatures required in an aggressive deck to make it competitive. Of the 23 playables, you'll have probably 12-14 creatures. Versus a control deck, which will draft 5-6 creatures (and only 2-3 of those will be true "control" creatures, and the rest will be mid-range or utility creatures).
Even numbers create uneven drafts. Use more aggro to "balance" the draft.
In short, you need at least twice (if not three times) as many aggressive creatures in the same draft pool to build one aggro deck for each control deck that's built. It's really that simple. In an ideal world, I'd like to see a 3:2:1 ratio as a guideline for aggro/midrange/control creature selections (remember that the 3:2:1 will include the mid-range creatures, too, placed into the sections they support better)."
I've got 25 aggro creatures and 25 control creatures in the same draft.
~ How many control decks can I make? Five? Six? More?
~ How many aggro decks can I make? Two? Maybe?
Cube Size: 360. Breakdown: 250 colored (50 each color) - ~70% total, 14% each color
56 colorless - ~15%
54 multicolored - ~15% (~7% actual gold cards [24]) Standard or Theme: Standard. Snow Lands: No. Average Number of Players: 2-8. How Often Drafted: At least twice a week. It's pretty lively here.
Card Selection Proxies: Yes. The entire cube is proxied. Powered: Yes. Portal: Yes. "Un" Cards: No. Banned Cards for Power-Level: No. Banned Cards for Time Constraints: No. Banned Cards for "fun" factor: No.
Cube Design Standard or Multiplayer: Standard. Sideboards?: Yes. Color Balance: Yes. Gold Balance: Yes. Hybrid/Split/Kicker as Gold: Yes. Perfectly Balanced CMC: No!
I would take out Scavenging Ooze or Albino Troll. And definitely add LFTL. I see you run also Wild Nacatl as green card. Would you play it in a G, GU or any other than Naya deck?
Albino Troll might get the axe. I cut LFTL to make room for Albino Troll when I made the Stormbind -> Sarkhan Vol swap. I might change both of those back. We haven't played a lot of games at 360.
Nah. Maybe I'll move Wild Nacatl to it's own section and play 361.
-1 Smokestack
+1 Nothing (Wild Nacatl will replace this card to make it a 360 card cube once again, color balance is fine with him here due to phyrexian mana cards).
-10 gold cards (strongest two non-lands from each guild stay)
+5 WUBRG
+5 Colorless
Ponder and Preordain should both be better at 360 than they are at 450, and they also (wonderfully) go with Yawgmoth's Will quite well. I think I'll be more impressed with them at this level than otherwise, but that's pure speculation.
Since I cut Tezzeret 2.0 and decided to not add 5 more colorless cards, I decided to also cut Tezzeret 1.0. I'm actually at a loss as to what blue card I really want to add. Ponder, Preordain, and Condescend are all fine cards, but I could easily see cutting them for other business. I'm relying heavily on the Cube Comparison thread here.
-1 Smokestack
+1 Nothing (this makes exactly 360 with Wild Nacatl)
I also think you could remove Trike, since these days, you get a lot more bang for your 6 mana.
Maybe Reflecting Pool? Although I might be misevaluating it.
Also, you don't run Grafted Wargear?
Those are fantastic suggestions.
This might be an odd question, but is Tinker still doing work for you? It seems like without some artifact fat it might be less than awesome. Sundering Titan, Myr Battlesphere, Wurmcoil Engine, and Batterskull are all pretty awesome, but I can't see myself tinkering up much more than that and feeling good about it. I still like Trisk, he provides another guy for Tinker and also is very good against aggro (which this cube has a TON of right now). If Tinker is still awesome for you, I think I can bring myself to cut Trike for Lodestone Golem or perhaps Grafted Wargear.
Speaking of, I like Grafted Wargear. However, 8 equipment is plenty in a 360 cube however, and all the others are better IMHO.
As for Reflecting Pool: I want to encourage 4 and 5 color control a bit more. I don't run unglued cards, so City of Ass just won't do here.
Right now I'm going to do:
-1 Condescend (Crystal Shard taking its place)
+1 Smokestack
EDIT: Also, I took out Prophetic Bolt for Fire // Ice. I originally meant to cut Prophetic Bolt, not exactly sure how I accidentally cut Fire // Ice instead. We're expecting really good things from Isochron Scepter.
Also, I took out Prophetic Bolt for Fire // Ice. I originally meant to cut Prophetic Bolt, not exactly sure how I accidentally cut Fire // Ice instead. We're expecting really good things from Isochron Scepter.
As far as I'm aware, the CMC of a split card is the sum of both of its parts. This makes the CMC for Fire // Ice4, ie not a legal target for Isochron Scepter.
As far as I'm aware, the CMC of a split card is the sum of both of its parts. This makes the CMC for Fire // Ice4, ie not a legal target for Isochron Scepter.
12/1/2004: If the copied card is a split card, you may choose to cast either side of the split card, but not both. The split cards Fire/Ice, Illusion/Reality, Night/Day, Stand/Deliver, and Wax/Wane all have at least one side with converted mana cost 2 or less.)
Yeah, split cards are super confusing. If you reveal it off of Dark Confidant, you take 4 damage, but you can put it on Isochron Scepter. I don't get it either.
In that case I stand corrected! I'd looked up the split card CMC ruling (back when it first came up) but I never thought to check whether the Scepter itself maybe randomly broke that rule.
As far as I'm aware, the CMC of a split card is the sum of both of its parts. This makes the CMC for Fire // Ice4, ie not a legal target for Isochron Scepter.
No, the CMC of Fire//Ice is 2 and also 2 again. While not on the stack, split cards have two separate sets of characteristics. Which means, it has two converted mana costs which you don't add them together. Although it may seem that way with certain cards like Dark Confidant. (But you are actually getting hit twice).
So yes, you can imprint Fire//Ice onto the Scepter.
Paladin en-Vec -> Leonin Relic-Warder
With the high density of cheap and strong artifacts (67 artifacts/enchantments) in a small powered cube, you might want to run some additional artifact hate in your list.
I like Paladin en-Vec more than most, I think he still deserves a spot at 360. He's no Mirran Crusader, but protection from two relevant colors give him a big nod over the Relic-Warder IMHO. It doesn't help that Relic-Warder dies to nearly every burn and black removal spell available.
Waterfront Bouncer -> Æther Adept
Manowar2 has an immediate impact on the board, instead of the 1 turn delay and gives you a real body, that can block another creature or start getting in for damage. It also doesn't come with the Bouncer's card disadvantage and works well with cards that reuse etb triggers.
Blue has some pretty awesome ability lands, primarily CARD]Academy Ruins[/CARD] + Shelldock Isle, so I would strongly consider cutting a nonessential spell like Thirst for Knowledge to make room for at least one of them.
I think I'll actually drop Thirst For Knowledge for Aether Adept to leave in the Bouncer and the utility lands out. While Shelldock Isle and Academy Ruins are awesome, I don't think they're 360 quality cards unfortunately. Thirst For Knowledge is a holdover from the 450 where reanimator was supported almost to a fault.
Inquisition of Kozilek can hit 69.1% of the nonland cards in your cube, or 135% the number of cards that you can hit with Duress, which looks really strong compared to one of the edicts or a filler card like Nezumi Graverobber.
4 X spells looks excessive in red, especially when Devil's Play + Burst Lightning count as 2 additional X spells.
In an aggressive deck, I rather want cards that can deal 5-6 damage for 3-4 mana than 7. (Keldon Champion/ Brimstone Volley)
Fireball, Devil's Play, and the two Earthquakes are staying. I think 4 is a great number. We tested Brimstone Volley at 450 and it wasn't that awesome. I can't imagine it would be better at 360. Keldon Champion was also cut at 450.
Twinblade Slasher could become Wild Dogs, since it flexible and doesn't bind your early mana (especially since many other green creatures already have an activated ability that requires mana)
Albino Troll: Timewalk Troll doesn't really make the cut at a 450 cards level anymore, so I would advise against using up one of the precious slots for such a mediocre card. You could play Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary (impressive mana acceleration) or Viridian Shaman (another easy 2:1) in its place.
I like Twinblade Slasher more than Wild Dogs, although I would like to add Wild Dogs and I might add it over Albino Troll. I didn't realize I had cut Rofellos, I need to get him back in there.
Deranged Hermit could get upgraded to Phantom Centaur, which comes with above average stats and is really hard to kill, be it in combat or with conventional removal. Even better: If you have one of the cards that can pump a creature toughness, the damage still gets prevented even if you run out of +1/+1 counters.
We like Deranged Hermit much more than Phantom Centaur.
I like the 3 lands / 2 spell ratio. I wouldn't cut Wall of Denial or Venser for Celestial Colonnade, but I would cut Psychatog for Creeping Tar Pit if my playgorup didn't love Psychatog as much as it does or I didn't care about having 2 gold cards per guild.
I prefer Sarkhan Vol to Kird Ape, but while this is only a matter of personal preferences, there is no way that Loam Lion should be chosen over Qasali Pridemage.
The other removal in the cube is just so good that Mortify and to a lesser extend Terminate don't feel that special anymore. How about replaying it with Desolation Angel (or Gerrard's Verdict / Stillmoon Cavalier if you think it is too expensive)?
I like Mortify. It's still a very high pick around here.
Out of those listed, I like Lodestone Golem and Grafted Wargear best. Oblivion Stone, Crucible of Worlds, and Engineered Explosives are not making it in. Pithing Needle and Spellskite are fine but I just can't find the room.
With the very limited amount of room, I might actually decide to run Grafted Wargear over Scroll Rack, since it has such a huge immediate impact on the game.
I will definitely consider this. This is a great suggestion actually.
I like Paladin en-Vec more than most, I think he still deserves a spot at 360. He's no Mirran Crusader, but protection from two relevant colors give him a big nod over the Relic-Warder IMHO. It doesn't help that Relic-Warder dies to nearly every burn and black removal spell available.
I totally agree with this, but I'm not really a fan of any of the creatures that remove something and then bring it back when the critter dies. PeV has procection from two of the three best removal colors and a pretty relevant third ability.
I think I'll actually drop Thirst For Knowledge for Aether Adept to leave in the Bouncer and the utility lands out. While Shelldock Isle and Academy Ruins are awesome, I don't think they're 360 quality cards unfortunately. Thirst For Knowledge is a holdover from the 450 where reanimator was supported almost to a fault.
I'm totally on board with the TfK/AAdept switch. However, I think Academy Ruins is likely the best blue-aligned land and wouldn't hesitate to run it at 360. I like it better than Waterfront Bouncer and Ponder.
I will think about replacing Moltensteel Dragon with Searing Blaze.
Blaze always looked too inconsistent to me, but I know some on this forum love it. While I prefere Moltensteel to Keldon Champion, if you really want to cut the flying red Hatred you could retest the Champion.
I like Twinblade Slasher more than Wild Dogs, although I would like to add Wild Dogs and I might add it over Albino Troll. I didn't realize I had cut Rofellos, I need to get him back in there.
I like your green section just the way it is. I might cut the Slasher for Wild Dogs or maybe Rofellos, but I wouldn't be in a hurry to change anything.
I like the 3 lands / 2 spell ratio. I wouldn't cut Wall of Denial or Venser for Celestial Colonnade, but I would cut Psychatog for Creeping Tar Pit if my playgorup didn't love Psychatog as much as it does or I didn't care about having 2 gold cards per guild.
Yeah, I'm with your group: I wouldn't cut Psychatog either.
I like Mortify. It's still a very high pick around here.
Eh. It's become pretty outclassed. It would be the first WB card I cut in my cube and it isn't even close. I'm actually considering cutting it for Gerrard's Verdict.
Out of those listed, I like Lodestone Golem and Grafted Wargear best. Oblivion Stone, Crucible of Worlds, and Engineered Explosives are not making it in. Pithing Needle and Spellskite are fine but I just can't find the room.
I like Pithing Needle more than Phyrexian Revoker because it costs 1 mana and can hit lands. I like it best out of the artifacts eidolon listed.
I'd rather support 4 and 5 color control than cripple it.
Four and five color control tends not to need much support. More often, you need to guard against it. Rishadan Port is a complete beast for aggro and definitely makes the cut at 360.
With any decent sized hand, Scroll Rack digs x cards deeper into your library to find your win condistion or solution. It's gravy with you have any reshuffling ability. I'd definitely would not make this suggested switch.
With any decent sized hand, Scroll Rack digs x cards deeper into your library to find your win condistion or solution. It's gravy with you have any reshuffling ability. I'd definitely would not make this suggested switch.
See any other artifact you'd rather cut? I like Scroll Rack a lot too.
A few things to remember: I'm not ready to cut Triskelion quite yet, although he's definitely on the chopping block. Our playgroup loves Isochron Scepter, so I doubt that's close to getting cut.
I don't like the cuts of Smokestack and to a lesser extent Scroll Rack. I'd move Squee to red and cut either Spikeshot Elder or Forked Bolt to keep Smokestack. I'd totally cut either Trike or Isochron (most likely Isochron) for Scroll Rack, but I don't think you'll like that suggestion.
I don't like the cuts of Smokestack and to a lesser extent Scroll Rack. I'd move Squee to red and cut either Spikeshot Elder or Forked Bolt to keep Smokestack. I'd totally cut either Trike or Isochron (most likely Isochron) for Scroll Rack, but I don't think you'll like that suggestion.
Cheers,
rant
I like Squee being colorless because that's how he's played in most of our decks, but I doubt it will affect color balance a ton if I shift him to red. I'd rather have another artifact.
I like Scroll Rack more than Smokestack, so I'll be swapping that in. I really like Smokestack too though. I hate Forked Bolt, so no problems cutting it.
I'd cut Moltensteel Dragon before Spikeshot Elder, also.
There is a big difference between searching for a card that you are sure will be good compared to tutoring up something that you hope to be good next turn.
I'd say at least 90% of the time you choose the same card.
For example, Yosei, the Morning Star was recently cut for Spectral Procession. While Yosei is undeniably the more powerful card, Spectral Procession can be played in a variety of decks and serves a much better spot in the cube.
Moreover, we purposely keep our creature count higher to support aggressive strategies even more than they might normally be. This involves playing "suboptimal" creatures in favor of more powerful higher casting cost cards. Our creature:non-creature ratio might reflect this to a larger degree than other cubes.
"The most common pitfall is the lack of aggro as a competitive strategy. Pretty much every cube will have aggro as a possible archetype, but how does it get pushed into competitive, common, equal, or even dominant? I can assure you that simply because aggro cards are available doesn't mean there's enough to support it equally. Aggro typically needs two to three times as many cards available to it as control does for any given pool to have an equal chance of going either aggro or control. If you look through my cube list, you'll find that in colors that support both aggro and control (like white) I have seven creatures that cost 5 or more mana, and soon to be 20 that cost 1 or 2. In a color like red that's even more aggressive, I've got five "big" creatures and 16 that cost 1 or 2 mana. In the four colors that support aggro, my overall 1-2CC creature to 5+CC ratio is 8:3. So for every 3 "control" creatures you have in the cube, I'd try and have 8 or so aggressive creatures. This will help to make sure that both the aggro player and the control player will have the tools they need to draft a competitive deck. You may look at this and say, "Doesn't keeping a > 2:1 ratio of aggro to control make aggro more powerful? Wouldn't having a 1:1 ratio be balanced?" The short answer is no. Think about the number of creatures required in an aggressive deck to make it competitive. Of the 23 playables, you'll have probably 12-14 creatures. Versus a control deck, which will draft 5-6 creatures (and only 2-3 of those will be true "control" creatures, and the rest will be mid-range or utility creatures).
Even numbers create uneven drafts. Use more aggro to "balance" the draft.
In short, you need at least twice (if not three times) as many aggressive creatures in the same draft pool to build one aggro deck for each control deck that's built. It's really that simple. In an ideal world, I'd like to see a 3:2:1 ratio as a guideline for aggro/midrange/control creature selections (remember that the 3:2:1 will include the mid-range creatures, too, placed into the sections they support better)."
~ How many control decks can I make? Five? Six? More?
~ How many aggro decks can I make? Two? Maybe?
Breakdown: 250 colored (50 each color) - ~70% total, 14% each color
56 colorless - ~15%
54 multicolored - ~15% (~7% actual gold cards [24])
Standard or Theme: Standard.
Snow Lands: No.
Average Number of Players: 2-8.
How Often Drafted: At least twice a week. It's pretty lively here.
Card Selection
Proxies: Yes. The entire cube is proxied.
Powered: Yes.
Portal: Yes.
"Un" Cards: No.
Banned Cards for Power-Level: No.
Banned Cards for Time Constraints: No.
Banned Cards for "fun" factor: No.
Cube Design
Standard or Multiplayer: Standard.
Sideboards?: Yes.
Color Balance: Yes.
Gold Balance: Yes.
Hybrid/Split/Kicker as Gold: Yes.
Perfectly Balanced CMC: No!
1 Elite Vanguard
1 Isamaru, Hound of Konda
1 Mother of Runes
1 Savannah Lions
1 Steppe Lynx
1 Student of Warfare
//2CC
1 Accorder Paladin
1 Cloistered Youth
1 Knight of Meadowgrain
1 Kor Skyfisher
1 Soltari Monk
1 Soltari Priest
1 Soltari Trooper
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Wall of Omens
1 Blade Splicer
1 Flickerwisp
1 Mirran Crusader
1 Mirror Entity
1 Soltari Champion
//4CC
1 Exalted Angel
1 Hero of Bladehold
1 Kor Sanctifiers
1 Ranger of Eos
1 Baneslayer Angel
1 Cloudgoat Ranger
1 Reveillark
//6CC
1 Sun Titan
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Land Tax
1 Mana Tithe
1 Path to Exile
1 Reconnaissance
1 Swords to Plowshares
//2CC
1 Balance
1 Disenchant
1 Journey to Nowhere
1 Oblivion Ring
//4CC
1 Ajani Goldmane
1 Armageddon
1 Day of Judgment
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 Faith's Fetters
1 Moat
1 Ravages of War
1 Wrath of God
1 Elspeth Tirel
1 Gideon Jura
//6CC
1 Catastrophe
1 Enclave Cryptologist
//2CC
1 Gilded Drake
1 Looter il-Kor
1 Phantasmal Image
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Waterfront Bouncer
1 Æther Adept
1 Man-o'-War
1 Serendib Efreet
1 Vendilion Clique
//4CC
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Meloku the Clouded Mirror
1 Mulldrifter
//6CC
1 Keiga, the Tide Star
1 Force of Will
//1CC
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Force Spike
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Preordain
1 Ponder
//2CC
1 Arcane Denial
1 Counterspell
1 Into the Roil
1 Impulse
1 Mana Drain
1 Mana Leak
1 Memory Lapse
1 Miscalculation
1 Remand
1 Time Walk
1 Crystal Shard
1 Forbid
1 Jace Beleren
1 Thirst For Knowledge
1 Timetwister
1 Tinker
1 Vedalken Shackles
//4CC
1 Control Magic
1 Cryptic Command
1 Deep Analysis
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Bribery
1 Treachery
1 Jace, Memory Adept
//6CC
1 Upheaval
//XCC
1 Condescend
1 Carnophage
1 Diregraf Ghoul
1 Fume Spitter
1 Gravecrawler
1 Sarcomancy
1 Vampire Lacerator
//2CC
1 Bloodghast
1 Dark Confidant
1 Dauthi Horror
1 Dauthi Slayer
1 Nantuko Shade
1 Nezumi Graverobber
1 Oona's Prowler
1 Vampire Hexmage
1 Hypnotic Specter
1 Liliana's Specter
1 Vampire Nighthawk
//4CC
1 Braids, Cabal Minion
1 Graveborn Muse
1 Nekrataal
1 Skinrender
//5CC
1 Shriekmaw
1 Grave Titan
1 Kokusho, the Evening Star
//XCC
1 Tombstalker
1 Snuff Out
//1CC
1 Dark Ritual
1 Duress
1 Imperial Seal
1 Reanimate
1 Thoughtseize
1 Vampiric Tutor
//2CC
1 Animate Dead
1 Bitterblossom
1 Chainer's Edict
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Doom Blade
1 Go For The Throat
1 Hymn to Tourach
1 Sinkhole
1 Liliana of the Veil
1 Necromancy
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Recurring Nightmare
//4CC
1 Consuming Vapors
1 Damnation
1 Nether Void
//XCC
1 Mind Twist
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Goblin Guide
1 Goblin Patrol
1 Gorilla Shaman
1 Greater Gargadon
1 Grim Lavamancer
1 Jackal Pup
1 Magus of the Scroll
1 Mogg Fanatic
1 Reckless Waif
1 Stromkirk Noble
1 Spikeshot Elder
1 Ember Hauler
1 Fireslinger
1 Hearth Kami
1 Hellspark Elemental
1 Kargan Dragonlord
1 Keldon Marauders
1 Plated Geopede
1 Stormblood Berserker
1 Torch Fiend
//3CC
1 Chandra's Phoenix
1 Fire Imp
1 Keldon Vandals
1 Manic Vandal
1 Avalanche Riders
1 Flametongue Kavu
1 Hellrider
1 Hero of Oxid Ridge
//5CC
1 Siege-Gang Commander
//6CC
1 Inferno Titan
1 Fireblast
//1CC
1 Burst Lightning
1 Chain Lightning
1 Faithless Looting
1 Firebolt
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Arc Trail
1 Incinerate
1 Magma Jet
//3CC
1 Arc Lightning
1 Char
1 Molten Rain
1 Pillage
1 Staggershock
1 Sulfuric Vortex
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Koth of the Hammer
//5CC
1 Chandra Nalaar
//XCC
1 Devil's Play
1 Fireball
1 Basking Rootwalla
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Fyndhorn Elves
1 Joraga Treespeaker
1 Jungle Lion
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Noble Hierarch
1 Pouncing Jaguar
1 Twinblade Slasher
1 Wild Dogs
1 Wolfbitten Captive
//2CC
1 Albino Troll
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Lotus Cobra
1 Mire Boa
1 River Boa
1 Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Strangleroot Geist
1 Tarmogoyf
1 Wall of Blossoms
1 Wild Mongrel
1 Eternal Witness
1 Troll Ascetic
1 Uktabi Orangutan
1 Viridian Shaman
1 Yavimaya Elder
//4CC
1 Chameleon Colossus
1 Thrun, The Last Troll
1 Vengevine
1 Wickerbough Elder
//5CC
1 Acidic Slime
1 Deranged Hermit
1 Genesis
1 Indrik Stomphowler
1 Woodfall Primus
1 Rancor
1 Vines of Vastwood
//2CC
1 Regrowth
1 Survival of the Fittest
1 Sylvan Library
1 Kodama's Reach
1 Krosan Tusker
//4CC
1 Bramblecrush
1 Garruk Relentless
1 Garruk Wildspeaker
1 Plow Under
1 Garruk, Primal Hunter
//Land
1 Treetop Village
//Land
//Land
//Land
//Land
//Land
//Land
//Land
//Land
//Land
//Land
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Diamond
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
//2CC
1 Grim Monolith
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Porcelain Legionnaire
1 Spined Thopter
//3CC
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Squee, Goblin Nabob
1 Masticore
1 Molten-Tail Masticore
1 Solemn Simulacrum
//5CC
1 Batterskull
1 Razormane Masticore
1 Wurmcoil Engine
//7CC
1 Myr Battlesphere
//8CC
1 Sundering Titan
1 Bonesplitter
1 Skullclamp
//2CC
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Grafted Wargear
1 Sword of Body and Mind
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Sword of War and Peace
1 Black Vise
1 Cursed Scroll
1 Dismember
1 Pithing Needle
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Ankh of Mishra
1 Winter Orb
//3CC
1 Mimic Vat
1 Tangle Wire
1 Icy Manipulator
1 Nevinyrral's Disk
1 Smokestack
//7CC
1 Karn Liberated
1 Mishra's Factory
1 Mutavault
//HIGH FIVE
1 City of Brass
1 Grand Coliseum
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Maze of Ith
1 Rishadan Port
1 Strip Mine
1 Wasteland
10-23-11 Deckcheck
10-24-11 Deckcheck
12-14-11 Deckcheck
02-08-12 Deckcheck
Blimpy's Aggro-Focused Cube (powered 360)
I'm always open to suggestions on how to improve my cube. Take a look and ask a question, or give a constructive critique whenever you can.
Blimpy's Aggro-Focused Cube (powered 360)
I'm always open to suggestions on how to improve my cube. Take a look and ask a question, or give a constructive critique whenever you can.
Blimpy's Aggro-Focused Cube (powered 360)
I'm always open to suggestions on how to improve my cube. Take a look and ask a question, or give a constructive critique whenever you can.
Albino Troll might get the axe. I cut LFTL to make room for Albino Troll when I made the Stormbind -> Sarkhan Vol swap. I might change both of those back. We haven't played a lot of games at 360.
Nah. Maybe I'll move Wild Nacatl to it's own section and play 361.
EDIT: I moved Wild Nacatl to it's own section and added Life From The Loam back in. Albino Troll is still in the maindeck, although I'm thinking about cutting him to add in another one drop (Twinblade Slasher, perhaps).
DOUBLE EDIT: I'm thinking about the following changes:
-1 Lone Missionary
+1 Blade Splicer
-1 Tezzeret the Seeker
+1 Preordain
-1 Albino Troll
+1 Twinblade Slasher
-1 Smokestack
+1 Nothing (Wild Nacatl will replace this card to make it a 360 card cube once again, color balance is fine with him here due to phyrexian mana cards).
-10 gold cards (strongest two non-lands from each guild stay)
+5 WUBRG
+5 Colorless
Blimpy's Aggro-Focused Cube (powered 360)
I'm always open to suggestions on how to improve my cube. Take a look and ask a question, or give a constructive critique whenever you can.
-10 gold cards (only two gold cards per guild now, instead of three)
+10 WUBRG (for 50 of each color total)
The added WUBRG cards are the following:
+1 Blade Splicer
+1 Kor Sanctifiers
Basic adds. I'm really glad both of these can make the cut. Kor Sanctifiers should have probably never been cut.
+1 Preordain
+1 Ponder
Ponder and Preordain should both be better at 360 than they are at 450, and they also (wonderfully) go with Yawgmoth's Will quite well. I think I'll be more impressed with them at this level than otherwise, but that's pure speculation.
+1 Profane Command
+1 Snuff Out
Pretty basic. Black is tight.
+1 Moltensteel Dragon
+1 Forked Bolt
These red additions are disappointing. I could do without either of these and are easily the first two on the chopping block.
+1 Albino Troll
+1 Skinshifter
Albino Troll and Skinshifter are both unexciting, but they'll do for now. I like Skinshifter more than Phantom Centaur.
More changes:
-1 Tezzeret the Seeker
+1 Condescend
Since I cut Tezzeret 2.0 and decided to not add 5 more colorless cards, I decided to also cut Tezzeret 1.0. I'm actually at a loss as to what blue card I really want to add. Ponder, Preordain, and Condescend are all fine cards, but I could easily see cutting them for other business. I'm relying heavily on the Cube Comparison thread here.
-1 Smokestack
+1 Nothing (this makes exactly 360 with Wild Nacatl)
Blimpy's Aggro-Focused Cube (powered 360)
I'm always open to suggestions on how to improve my cube. Take a look and ask a question, or give a constructive critique whenever you can.
I can't see cutting any other artifact though. Do you have a better cut for me?
Blimpy's Aggro-Focused Cube (powered 360)
I'm always open to suggestions on how to improve my cube. Take a look and ask a question, or give a constructive critique whenever you can.
Those are fantastic suggestions.
This might be an odd question, but is Tinker still doing work for you? It seems like without some artifact fat it might be less than awesome. Sundering Titan, Myr Battlesphere, Wurmcoil Engine, and Batterskull are all pretty awesome, but I can't see myself tinkering up much more than that and feeling good about it. I still like Trisk, he provides another guy for Tinker and also is very good against aggro (which this cube has a TON of right now). If Tinker is still awesome for you, I think I can bring myself to cut Trike for Lodestone Golem or perhaps Grafted Wargear.
Speaking of, I like Grafted Wargear. However, 8 equipment is plenty in a 360 cube however, and all the others are better IMHO.
As for Reflecting Pool: I want to encourage 4 and 5 color control a bit more. I don't run unglued cards, so City of Ass just won't do here.
Right now I'm going to do:
-1 Condescend (Crystal Shard taking its place)
+1 Smokestack
EDIT: Also, I took out Prophetic Bolt for Fire // Ice. I originally meant to cut Prophetic Bolt, not exactly sure how I accidentally cut Fire // Ice instead. We're expecting really good things from Isochron Scepter.
Blimpy's Aggro-Focused Cube (powered 360)
I'm always open to suggestions on how to improve my cube. Take a look and ask a question, or give a constructive critique whenever you can.
As far as I'm aware, the CMC of a split card is the sum of both of its parts. This makes the CMC for Fire // Ice 4, ie not a legal target for Isochron Scepter.
Isochron Scepter's rulings:
12/1/2004: If the copied card is a split card, you may choose to cast either side of the split card, but not both. The split cards Fire/Ice, Illusion/Reality, Night/Day, Stand/Deliver, and Wax/Wane all have at least one side with converted mana cost 2 or less.)
Yeah, split cards are super confusing. If you reveal it off of Dark Confidant, you take 4 damage, but you can put it on Isochron Scepter. I don't get it either.
Blimpy's Aggro-Focused Cube (powered 360)
I'm always open to suggestions on how to improve my cube. Take a look and ask a question, or give a constructive critique whenever you can.
In that case I stand corrected! I'd looked up the split card CMC ruling (back when it first came up) but I never thought to check whether the Scepter itself maybe randomly broke that rule.
No, the CMC of Fire//Ice is 2 and also 2 again. While not on the stack, split cards have two separate sets of characteristics. Which means, it has two converted mana costs which you don't add them together. Although it may seem that way with certain cards like Dark Confidant. (But you are actually getting hit twice).
So yes, you can imprint Fire//Ice onto the Scepter.
Edit: Here's a link to an article that explains split cards very clearly with examples: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/af116
I like Paladin en-Vec more than most, I think he still deserves a spot at 360. He's no Mirran Crusader, but protection from two relevant colors give him a big nod over the Relic-Warder IMHO. It doesn't help that Relic-Warder dies to nearly every burn and black removal spell available.
I think I'll actually drop Thirst For Knowledge for Aether Adept to leave in the Bouncer and the utility lands out. While Shelldock Isle and Academy Ruins are awesome, I don't think they're 360 quality cards unfortunately. Thirst For Knowledge is a holdover from the 450 where reanimator was supported almost to a fault.
We might make this change once we have some cubing in, we're big fans of Arcane Denial around here.
Fantastic advice, I will be doing this.
I don't like him at 360, he's definitely awesome at 450 though.
Fireball, Devil's Play, and the two Earthquakes are staying. I think 4 is a great number. We tested Brimstone Volley at 450 and it wasn't that awesome. I can't imagine it would be better at 360. Keldon Champion was also cut at 450.
I don't like it much either, I'm looking to cut it for something better.
I will think about replacing Moltensteel Dragon with Searing Blaze.
I like Twinblade Slasher more than Wild Dogs, although I would like to add Wild Dogs and I might add it over Albino Troll. I didn't realize I had cut Rofellos, I need to get him back in there.
We like Deranged Hermit much more than Phantom Centaur.
I like the 3 lands / 2 spell ratio. I wouldn't cut Wall of Denial or Venser for Celestial Colonnade, but I would cut Psychatog for Creeping Tar Pit if my playgorup didn't love Psychatog as much as it does or I didn't care about having 2 gold cards per guild.
True. I must have cut the wrong card there too.
I like Mortify. It's still a very high pick around here.
We want more things to reanimate.
Out of those listed, I like Lodestone Golem and Grafted Wargear best. Oblivion Stone, Crucible of Worlds, and Engineered Explosives are not making it in. Pithing Needle and Spellskite are fine but I just can't find the room.
I will definitely consider this. This is a great suggestion actually.
I'd rather support 4 and 5 color control than cripple it.
Again, thank you so much for the advice, I will definitely be making some of these changes today.
EDIT: On second thought, I think I'm going to drop Reflecting Pool for Rishadan Port.
Blimpy's Aggro-Focused Cube (powered 360)
I'm always open to suggestions on how to improve my cube. Take a look and ask a question, or give a constructive critique whenever you can.
It's nice to finally see your cube up here.
I totally agree with this, but I'm not really a fan of any of the creatures that remove something and then bring it back when the critter dies. PeV has procection from two of the three best removal colors and a pretty relevant third ability.
I'm totally on board with the TfK/AAdept switch. However, I think Academy Ruins is likely the best blue-aligned land and wouldn't hesitate to run it at 360. I like it better than Waterfront Bouncer and Ponder.
I like Arcane Denial a lot. There are no other hard counters at that cost.
As good as the demon is, I don't see anything I'd cut for him in this cube.
Blaze always looked too inconsistent to me, but I know some on this forum love it. While I prefere Moltensteel to Keldon Champion, if you really want to cut the flying red Hatred you could retest the Champion.
I like your green section just the way it is. I might cut the Slasher for Wild Dogs or maybe Rofellos, but I wouldn't be in a hurry to change anything.
I don't know if I could choose between these two, and this is just one more reason I run a larger cube. I'd probably cut Skinshifter for the Centaur.
Yeah, I'm with your group: I wouldn't cut Psychatog either.
Eh. It's become pretty outclassed. It would be the first WB card I cut in my cube and it isn't even close. I'm actually considering cutting it for Gerrard's Verdict.
I like Pithing Needle more than Phyrexian Revoker because it costs 1 mana and can hit lands. I like it best out of the artifacts eidolon listed.
Four and five color control tends not to need much support. More often, you need to guard against it. Rishadan Port is a complete beast for aggro and definitely makes the cut at 360.
Cheers,
rant
My Cube
CubeCobra: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5f5d0310ed602310515d4c32
Cube Tutor: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/1963
OUT -> IN
Thirst for Knowledge -> Aether Adept
Nezumi Graverobber -> Inquisition of Kozilek
Albino Troll -> Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
Skinshifter -> Phantom Centaur
Twinblade Slasher -> Wild Dogs
Loam Lion -> Qasali Pridemage
Scroll Rack -> Grafted Wargear
Smokestack -> Pithing Needle
Reflecting Pool -> Rishadan Port
Blimpy's Aggro-Focused Cube (powered 360)
I'm always open to suggestions on how to improve my cube. Take a look and ask a question, or give a constructive critique whenever you can.
See any other artifact you'd rather cut? I like Scroll Rack a lot too.
A few things to remember: I'm not ready to cut Triskelion quite yet, although he's definitely on the chopping block. Our playgroup loves Isochron Scepter, so I doubt that's close to getting cut.
Blimpy's Aggro-Focused Cube (powered 360)
I'm always open to suggestions on how to improve my cube. Take a look and ask a question, or give a constructive critique whenever you can.
I don't like the cuts of Smokestack and to a lesser extent Scroll Rack. I'd move Squee to red and cut either Spikeshot Elder or Forked Bolt to keep Smokestack. I'd totally cut either Trike or Isochron (most likely Isochron) for Scroll Rack, but I don't think you'll like that suggestion.
Cheers,
rant
My Cube
CubeCobra: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5f5d0310ed602310515d4c32
Cube Tutor: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/1963
I like Squee being colorless because that's how he's played in most of our decks, but I doubt it will affect color balance a ton if I shift him to red. I'd rather have another artifact.
I like Scroll Rack more than Smokestack, so I'll be swapping that in. I really like Smokestack too though. I hate Forked Bolt, so no problems cutting it.
I'd cut Moltensteel Dragon before Spikeshot Elder, also.
OUT -> IN
Forked Bolt -> Scroll Rack
Squee, Goblin Nabob (moved from colorless to red)
Blimpy's Aggro-Focused Cube (powered 360)
I'm always open to suggestions on how to improve my cube. Take a look and ask a question, or give a constructive critique whenever you can.
Is there anything from my black section you guys would cut for Nether Void? I love that card, but I can't find an easy cut for it.
EDIT: For reference:
1 Carnophage
1 Diregraf Ghoul
1 Sarcomancy
1 Vampire Lacerator
//2CC
1 Bloodghast
1 Dark Confidant
1 Dauthi Horror
1 Nantuko Shade
1 Oona's Prowler
1 Vampire Hexmage
1 Bane of the Living
1 Bone Shredder
1 Hypnotic Specter
1 Liliana's Specter
1 Vampire Nighthawk
//4CC
1 Braids, Cabal Minion
1 Graveborn Muse
1 Nekrataal
1 Skinrender
1 Shriekmaw
//6CC
1 Grave Titan
1 Kokusho, the Evening Star
//XCC
1 Tombstalker
1 Snuff Out
//1CC
1 Dark Ritual
1 Dismember
1 Duress
1 Imperial Seal
1 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Reanimate
1 Thoughtseize
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Animate Dead
1 Bitterblossom
1 Chainer's Edict
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Doom Blade
1 Go For The Throat
1 Hymn to Tourach
//3CC
1 Liliana of the Veil
1 Necromancy
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Recurring Nightmare
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Consuming Vapors
1 Damnation
//XCC
1 Mind Twist
1 Profane Command
//Land
1 Volrath's Stronghold
Blimpy's Aggro-Focused Cube (powered 360)
I'm always open to suggestions on how to improve my cube. Take a look and ask a question, or give a constructive critique whenever you can.
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!
Blimpy's Aggro-Focused Cube (powered 360)
I'm always open to suggestions on how to improve my cube. Take a look and ask a question, or give a constructive critique whenever you can.
I'd say at least 90% of the time you choose the same card.
Blimpy's Aggro-Focused Cube (powered 360)
I'm always open to suggestions on how to improve my cube. Take a look and ask a question, or give a constructive critique whenever you can.