Having lots of mana dorks has always seemed like a good thing to me.
Do you mean he should cut Berserk instead of Bramblecrush and still put in Fyndhorn Elves? If so, I agree with that. Bramblecrush has really showed up in our cube as a solid answer to a great many, scary threats.
I think Bramblecrush should definitely be kept and Fyndhorn should definitely be in. If you are looking for cuts to make, i would cut berserk, wall of blossoms, or life from the loam.
if you must get rid of bramblecrush, I would put in that shapeshifter rhino guy.
I normally propose thought experiments to my playgroup to discuss the merits of cards we all think are 'pretty good' but aren't top tier, to try and see what would happen if they left the cube, what cards need to come in, etc. This type of brainstorming is what led my cube to where it is today, which I am quite happy with.
Mainly I proposed the question to get some ideas and generate a little discussion. The highlights of which are that I'm missing Fyndhorn Elves and that Bramblecrush is plenty good to stay in. Thanks for the input. I think I will keep proposing some of these thought experiments here from time to time since I think that worked out quite well. I appreciate the input.
Next topic;
Say I want to cut Ashmouth Hound. What comes in in red? (CMC 2 or less).
Any one of these three would be fine. I'm looking to add the Patrol back in for myself here in the near future. I miss the extra 2-power 1-drop. I already cube the other two at 360, but I don't use the Hound.
I took some advice not to cut Fireslinger a while back, and since then, Fireslinger has shown up. That card is a lot better than I originally gave it credit for, so that would be my choice.
Another thing I noticed is that you run four X-spells in your red section. It might be worth considering dropping one or two of them for Stromkirk Noble or Reckless Waif. I know that some people don't like the Waif but some people have also had great experiences with it. Kargan Dragonlord is another card which could be cut for one of your potential adds.
I decided to add in Booster Tutor (and provide a 15 card toolbox pack for it to access). I'm sure the pack will change significantly over the next few months as it gets played.
The premade Booster Tutor pack seems interesting, I would be very interested in seeing how it stacks up against raw cube packs. If you ever fire a draft with under 8, I'd recommend testing the difference.
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A few other cubes I played with included booster tutor, and they just pulled out 15 random undrafted cube cards to pick from. Usually that worked out pretty well, but on more than one occasion there was nothing to help the person tutoring.
We will try it both ways for sure, but I think people are going to love the toolbox *wish* card. If this works out, we might see about including Burning and Cunning Wish with similar packages.
The premade pack sounds a little lame man, as it detracts from the fun of having Booster Tutor in the first place: The mystery and excitement of getting random cards.
I agree about disagreeing with the premade pack idea. If you want to increase your cube to 375 to support the tutor in an 8 man draft, that would be one thing, but the fun comes in the random potential for a bomb or a blank, and a predetermined pack seems to go against the spirit of the card.
I actually think that's a perfect idea for the wishes, and may just bite that for my own cube group, but I agree that it feels off with the Tutor. A sideboard is constructed, a booster isn't. Kudos on the novel concept though.
The idea is also being bounced around that there will be a pile of 30-45 or so 'out of game, tutorable cards', which booster tutor would hit a random group of 15, and wishes would have access to qualifying cards. This would also mean that Living Wish, Burning Wish, and Cunning Wish would make the cube.
Right now we are testing out the booster tutor pack, and if it goes well, we will look at expanding/modifying. I think after I get a few more people on board in our group, I will be able to get away with making the pack a bit more 'random', but for now we are piloting the idea with the premade pack.
I'd be interested to hear your results. Especially with the wishes. Like I said, I'm going to try the same idea for the wishes, so I will share my experience as well. I just wonder if the idea isn't a little too cheaty breaking the limited environment mold.
The idea is also being bounced around that there will be a pile of 30-45 or so 'out of game, tutorable cards', which booster tutor would hit a random group of 15, and wishes would have access to qualifying cards. This would also mean that Living Wish, Burning Wish, and Cunning Wish would make the cube.
Right now we are testing out the booster tutor pack, and if it goes well, we will look at expanding/modifying. I think after I get a few more people on board in our group, I will be able to get away with making the pack a bit more 'random', but for now we are piloting the idea with the premade pack.
I would agree more with a larger-than-fifteen premade pack. Probably something like 45 cards to make it from. On the other hand, it may just not be worth lugging around with the rest of the cube at that point. YMMV.
The premade pack has been a smashing success. Because it is such a predictable tutor, we are finding it to get drafted midpack and it has been performing pretty well.
We will probably change the pack up a bit and expand it to 25-30 cards and have you get 15 at random, but those changes will wait for the AVR update.
I would agree more with a larger-than-fifteen premade pack. Probably something like 45 cards to make it from. On the other hand, it may just not be worth lugging around with the rest of the cube at that point. YMMV.
I definitely think it should be more than 15 and I'd say 30 minimum.
If it were just 15 then Booster Tutor would just be "strictly better" than all the wishes. At 30, you could say "Booster Tutor grabs 1/2 of the cards at random." (And I like round numbers like that.)
So if it were up to me I'd do either exactly 30 cards or exactly 45 cards.
On its face, I'm not a fan of bolting on something like Wishes that require actions extraneous to the draft process. Booster Tutor is always a fun card though. Interesting choice of cards for your premade pack. What was the rationale behind the card choices?
This thing is designed like a toolbox, and assumes you are playing black (you did draft booster tutor after all)
Black
Animate Dead (Really good card that isn't in the cube, and can get you out of all kinds of messes)
Terror (Toolbox removal)
Sorin Markov (I need a finisher)
Graveborn Muse (Need some card advantage)
White
1 Seal of Cleansing (Toolbox removal)
1 Lingering Souls (Solid, and flashes back black)
Blue
1 Into the Roil (Toolbox removal)
1 Oona, Queen of the Fae (Finisher, playable even if you have no blue mana)
Red
1 Earthquake (Mass removal and direct damage)
1 Moltensteel Dragon (Big finisher, and requires no red mana)
1 Beast Within (Toolbox removal)
1 Thornling (Need to beat face)
1 Bonehoard (Works in any deck, solid equipment for aggro)
1 Tectonic Edge (Troublesome land needs to be removed)
1 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker (Not worth cubing with normally, but when it isn't a dead pick, but a massive game-ender you can tutor for, it works out...)
Looks like Latch Seeker** and Silverblade Paladin are going to be includes so far;
Cuts are pretty rough for both of those though... Not easy upgrades. Good to be getting such nice creatures though. Almost to critical mass to support blue tempo straight-up.
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But why replace Beamblecrush? A card that's an answer to every Sword and every 'walker is pretty hot for 360. It's been a valuable player for us.
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Do you mean he should cut Berserk instead of Bramblecrush and still put in Fyndhorn Elves? If so, I agree with that. Bramblecrush has really showed up in our cube as a solid answer to a great many, scary threats.
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if you must get rid of bramblecrush, I would put in that shapeshifter rhino guy.
Mainly I proposed the question to get some ideas and generate a little discussion. The highlights of which are that I'm missing Fyndhorn Elves and that Bramblecrush is plenty good to stay in. Thanks for the input. I think I will keep proposing some of these thought experiments here from time to time since I think that worked out quite well. I appreciate the input.
Next topic;
Say I want to cut Ashmouth Hound. What comes in in red? (CMC 2 or less).
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Either Stromkirk Noble, Fireslinger or Goblin Patrol
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Any one of these three would be fine. I'm looking to add the Patrol back in for myself here in the near future. I miss the extra 2-power 1-drop. I already cube the other two at 360, but I don't use the Hound.
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360 Unpowered Cube | Cubetutor
In:
Booster Tutor**
Out:
[CARD]Liliana's Specter
[/CARD]
**Booster Tutor comes with this 15 card pack to tutor from:
I decided to add in Booster Tutor (and provide a 15 card toolbox pack for it to access). I'm sure the pack will change significantly over the next few months as it gets played.
[Remixes] - [The Brutal Cube - 360 Powered] - [My Cube Article] - ['Print-This' Wishlist]
The premade Booster Tutor pack seems interesting, I would be very interested in seeing how it stacks up against raw cube packs. If you ever fire a draft with under 8, I'd recommend testing the difference.
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A few other cubes I played with included booster tutor, and they just pulled out 15 random undrafted cube cards to pick from. Usually that worked out pretty well, but on more than one occasion there was nothing to help the person tutoring.
We will try it both ways for sure, but I think people are going to love the toolbox *wish* card. If this works out, we might see about including Burning and Cunning Wish with similar packages.
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Right now we are testing out the booster tutor pack, and if it goes well, we will look at expanding/modifying. I think after I get a few more people on board in our group, I will be able to get away with making the pack a bit more 'random', but for now we are piloting the idea with the premade pack.
[Remixes] - [The Brutal Cube - 360 Powered] - [My Cube Article] - ['Print-This' Wishlist]
360 Unpowered Cube | Cubetutor
I would agree more with a larger-than-fifteen premade pack. Probably something like 45 cards to make it from. On the other hand, it may just not be worth lugging around with the rest of the cube at that point. YMMV.
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We will probably change the pack up a bit and expand it to 25-30 cards and have you get 15 at random, but those changes will wait for the AVR update.
[Remixes] - [The Brutal Cube - 360 Powered] - [My Cube Article] - ['Print-This' Wishlist]
I definitely think it should be more than 15 and I'd say 30 minimum.
If it were just 15 then Booster Tutor would just be "strictly better" than all the wishes. At 30, you could say "Booster Tutor grabs 1/2 of the cards at random." (And I like round numbers like that.)
So if it were up to me I'd do either exactly 30 cards or exactly 45 cards.
Thread | Draft
My Cube (DeckStats)
My Pauper Cube: 540 (CubeTutor link!)
Level 1 Judge
Black
Animate Dead (Really good card that isn't in the cube, and can get you out of all kinds of messes)
Terror (Toolbox removal)
Sorin Markov (I need a finisher)
Graveborn Muse (Need some card advantage)
White
1 Seal of Cleansing (Toolbox removal)
1 Lingering Souls (Solid, and flashes back black)
Blue
1 Into the Roil (Toolbox removal)
1 Oona, Queen of the Fae (Finisher, playable even if you have no blue mana)
Red
1 Earthquake (Mass removal and direct damage)
1 Moltensteel Dragon (Big finisher, and requires no red mana)
1 Beast Within (Toolbox removal)
1 Thornling (Need to beat face)
1 Bonehoard (Works in any deck, solid equipment for aggro)
1 Tectonic Edge (Troublesome land needs to be removed)
1 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker (Not worth cubing with normally, but when it isn't a dead pick, but a massive game-ender you can tutor for, it works out...)
Looks like
Latch Seeker** and Silverblade Paladin are going to be includes so far;Cuts are pretty rough for both of those though... Not easy upgrades. Good to be getting such nice creatures though. Almost to critical mass to support blue tempo straight-up.
** Changed my mind. Somehow I read that as CMC=2.
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This would include one of the most brutal card ever in Contract from Below, or is that too brutal? (Is there such a thing?)
What about Chaos Orb? I know some people play it as a colorless Vindicate. Just 2 mana to cast and 1 mana to top sac to "destroy target permanent."
Thread | Draft