MTG Salvation

Basic cube info:

My Conspiracy expansion

My cube box:


CubeCobra link: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5f5d0310ed602310515d4c32


All critique and constructive criticism welcomed.


Cheers,
rant

I don't know it it was intentional, but your tri color section is:
Bant Charm GWU
Sphinx of the Steel Wind WUB
Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker UBR
Hellkite Overlord BRG
- and -
Crime // Punishment BWG

So you hit all of the allied tri-color arcs except RGW, and have Crime//Punishment instead.

I agree with almost all the changes that Eidolon232 listed above. Most of them are very good but here is what i would change or keep:

Mana Tithe should stay. It's been great for us and always catches your opponent the first time. Even when they play around it, there will be times when they are forced to tap out to make a play you can still counter their spell.

I actually just cut Eight and half tails for stonecloaker in my cube. 8tails was just too much mana. You cant effectively use his protection and play your curve out which means he's only good in later stages of the game, which is not what the decks that are playing him really want.

I would rather have Concentrate over deep analysis and stroke of genius.

I dont see the appeal of arc lightning, there is better burn.

Not a fan of Imperious perfect or Oracle of mul daya. Try acidic slime.

Imperious Perfect, Deep Analysis and Arc Lightning are all great cards... I wouldn't cut them. Especially not Deep Analysis and Arc Lightning.

EDIT: I guess I mean that I agree with those proposed changes from eidolon, myself. I agree with most of his post, with a few exceptions:

I like Bottle Gnomes, Blade of the 6th Pride, White Knight, Jushi Apprentice, Hammer of Bogardan, and Barbarian Ring. The rest of his proposed changes are pretty much spot on, IMO.

Yeah i like all those too except for Jushi apprentice and Hammer of Bogardan. Ive explained in other threads why i dont like jushi and i think hammer is just wayyyy too much mana. It's almost never recurred which makes it strictly worse than Volcanic hammer and Fire ambush 99% of the time. I can see Bogardan giving a red deck the extra reach in the very late game against a deck, but by that time if you havent been making other plays or doing anything else you've probably already lost, not to mention recurring it on your upkeep can lose you the game if you topdeck your bomb and need to play it but cant.

Perfect is a good card when untouched but lacks the ability to pump your team (unless you have a ton of elves in your cube which most dont, this cube runs 6 it looks like) and dies to every possible removal and burn spell which simply isnt good enough. I run creakwood liege right now and am really considering taking it out. It's pretty much the same thing except makes bigger dudes, requires no mana to make dudes, and actually pumps your whole team most of the time while being able to attack as well.

I think concentrate is better than deep analysis despite being slightly less splashable. Trading two less mana and 3 less life for one less card seems perfectly fine to me (and you get all three cards at once) especially when the majority of decks running the two will be control.

Arc lightning isnt bad at all, i just think there is better burn. That card is only better than the worst burn in the cube when there is multiple targets for it.

Deep Analysis is splashable 4-for-1 card draw. So, so good. Much more effective than Concentrate, and it can go in a lot more decks. Also has value from the graveyard, and can help control to recover from a hand-wrecking Mind Twist.

My experiences with hammer are very different from yours, as it is recurred with some regularity and has caused control players to scoop knowing they can't race the hammer and can't exile it.

Just last weekend I used Hammer to grind a Mono-U player down over a series of turns. He eventually was forced to counter it a few times so as not to die, but that can only last so long. It's definitely not cheap to accomplish, but inevitability it just so useful to have sometimes. Definitely don't cut Arc Lightning either. Card is the nuts if aggro decks are present a good amount of the time. One of the easiest 2-for-1s in the cube very often. Its kinda like a red Ashes to Ashes against aggro that doesn't hit you for five, or it can go to the opponents dome to finish them off.

Thanks for all the replies. I don't have a lot of time today to respond, but here's a quick one.

Jushi, White Knight, and Mana Tithe are not getting cut. All have been great. Stonecloaker is another card that has pulled his weight. I could see cutting him eventually, but he's really good.

The red changes Eidolon suggests are really interesting and I will probably make those. However, I'll keep the Hammer. It gets recurred here about 50% of the time.

Gush really does need to get replaced by the Deep Anal. Good catch.

Yeah, I have no Naya card and use Crime // Punishment instead. It's my one multicolor imbalance. I've found the Punishment side to be consistently awesome and Crime to get played quite a bit. I also just don't like the cards the Naya shard has to offer, except maybe Wild Nacatl.

Lotus Bloom has been so-so. Occasionally totally busted, sometimes sitting suspended while the opponent beats down.

Cheers,
rant

Hammer has been pretty beastly for us. It's only one more mana than a Volcanic Hammer (which many cubes run) for the potential of much more damage. Sure, 8 mana for 3 damage seems like a terrible deal, but aggressive red decks tend to run out of cards with the opponent at very low life totals. Additionally, it turns a red decks worst nightmare, mana flood, into a damage source.

Quote from rantipole

Yeah, I have no Naya card and use Crime // Punishment instead. It's my one multicolor imbalance. I've found the Punishment side to be consistently awesome and Crime to get played quite a bit. I also just don't like the cards the Naya shard has to offer, except maybe Wild Nacatl.

Wild Nacatl is fantastic as a Naya card. He keeps your section balanced without having to play junk like Woolly Thoctar or Naya Charm. Even if you don't want him as the Naya card he should be in the green section.

Ya, Wild Nacatl has been great for us... I'd use it as your Naya card, and move Crime // Punishment to a miscellaneous gold section

Quote from wtwlf123

Ya, Wild Nacatl has been great for us... I'd use it as your Naya card, and move Crime // Punishment to a miscellaneous gold section

I would move Crime // Punishment all the way to the miscellaneous not in the cube any more section.

I would too if I had to choose between it and the Nacatl... but if he most run both, that was a suggestion.

I think Nacatl belongs in the green section. Woolly Thoctar is a fine Naya card, that can win games easy even though it's three colors...

Quote from eidolon232

If a card would be useless / suboptimal in monocolor deck, I think it should better be listed under "Gold".

It's also good in GW or GR.

Nicol Bolas doesn't cost too much mana. He's the bomb.

IDK... maybe Crosis's Charm?

Thanks for all the input. I just fixed the typos and removed Jade Statue--it was previously cut but got left on the list by mistake.

I'm not sold on Wooly Thoctar at all. It's hard to guarantee having WRG available on t3. It's a beats in constructed, but I doubt it will be that good in cube. I'd run the Nacatl first. It seems the consensus here is to take out my pet Crime // Punishment for a Naya card. Poop.

Speaking of pet cards, we come to Hellkite Overlord. I totally acknowledge that Broodmate Dragon is the superior Jund card. However, the Overlord really excites my inner Timmy. I also think the haste is fantastic for reanimator strategies. So, I'm keeping the Overlord.

I still think Seal of Fire is pretty good. Beacon of Destruction should probably become some cheaper burn. Maybe it's time to pull Chain Lightning from my Legacy burn deck for the greater glory of the cube. Arc Lighting should come in. I actually don't own Hellspark Elemental, but I should acquire one.

And I definitely need to get my hands on Mishra's Factory.

Cheers,
rant

Quote from Donald_McDonald

I would move Crime // Punishment all the way to the miscellaneous not in the cube any more section.

I lol'd.

Quote from rantipole

I'm not sold on Wooly Thoctar at all. It's hard to guarantee having WRG available on t3. It's a beats in constructed, but I doubt it will be that good in cube. I'd run the Nacatl first. It seems the consensus here is to take out my pet Crime // Punishment for a Naya card. Poop.

We run Woolly Thoctar and it's been pretty good for Naya decks. It's not a consistent turn three dude, but it's pretty consistent as a turn five dude. Even then, he's pretty good since he serves the purpose of fat beats while allowing you to leave mana up for removal/burn or another creature. With all that said, if you're only opening up one slot for the tri-color gold cards, and don't want to include Nacatl in the green section, then it's much better than Thoctar.

Quote from rantipole

Speaking of pet cards, we come to Hellkite Overlord. I totally acknowledge that Broodmate Dragon is the superior Jund card. However, the Overlord really excites my inner Timmy. I also think the haste is fantastic for reanimator strategies. So, I'm keeping the Overlord.

Agreed. However, we run two cards per shard, so we have room for both. I love playing Hellkite Overlord, though. I don't know that I've seen someone lose after playing this guy.

Quote from rantipole

I still think Seal of Fire is pretty good. Beacon of Destruction should probably become some cheaper burn. Maybe it's time to pull Chain Lightning from my Legacy burn deck for the greater glory of the cube. Arc Lighting should come in. I actually don't own Hellspark Elemental, but I should acquire one.

I agree that Seal of Fire is pretty good. Arc Lightning, Chain Lightning, and Hellspark Elemental are all leaps and bounds above Beacon of Destruction.

Quote from rantipole

And I definitely need to get my hands on Mishra's Factory.

Yes, you should. It's incredible.

Small change:

I got a Lotus Cobra off of ebay, so when it arrives I'm doing this:
- Verdant Force
+ Lotus Cobra

This lowers greens curve, supports ramp, and removes a nostalgic but now outclassed creature from cube. I'm also working on replacing Moldervine Cloak, probably with Imperious Perfect.

Cheers,
rant

100% upgrade. Lotus Cobra is just great!

Imperious Perfect going in for Moldervine Cloak seems like a great idea.

As soon as I get my hands on an extra Perfect, she'll replace the Cloak.

As suggested in another thread, I"m probably doing this:
-Grinning Demon
+Bloodghast

Opinions?

Cheers,
rant

Solid change again, I don't rate Grinning Demon particularly highly whereas Bloodghast is a potent aggro card and is very 'interactive' with other Cube mechanics. His gaining haste at the business end of the game is just gravy. He's super annoying to deal with for control unless you have a shroudy Wall of Denial type blocker.

Quote from rantipole

-Grinning Demon
+Bloodghast

I really like this change. I want to try Bloodghast in my own cube, but I've been unable to convince one of my cube mates of it's worth.

Quote from calibretto

I really like this change. I want to try Bloodghast in my own cube, but I've been unable to convince one of my cube mates of it's worth.

How? Bloodghast is a beating! Have you suggested other sweet interactions with it like Skullclamp/Braids/Smokestack and the like? It does a lot more than just kill control players (but it does a good job of that too).