This thread is dedicated to Hicham's & my own cube project, a cube designed to be drafted Rochester style. The up-to-date list can be found on CubeCobra here: https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/rochester
When it comes to card versions used, I prefer the version in which the card was originally printed. There's something nice about being able to tell at a glance what expansion each card comes from, it turns the cube into a journey through the history of the game of Magic. All cards originally printed in Alpha/Beta are Collector's Edition instead (there are a few Beta commons in there though).
My thanks go out to everyone who has ever given feedback and whose cube lists I browsed for inspiration - the cube would not have been as awesome without you!
The inclusion of Inkfathom Infiltrator in the black section is somewhat of an anomaly. When researching hybrids I realized that this card is actually a strict upgrade of Dauthi Slayer, but there's no room for it in the multi-color section. Running the inferior card because of this seemed wrong, so we decide to simply cut the Slayer for it and stick it in the black section. We'll see later if there's a better solution. We're giving Tombstalker and Bloodghast a test run based on your collective recommendations. And Skirge and Shortfang got cut simply because there were no other cards we were comfortable cutting in their stead.
A few underperformers, some upgrades (Farseek, Kodama's Reach). Krosan Grip gets a chance over Naturalize, on paper the split second looks more relevant than the additional 1. Doubling Season gets a chance to prove itself; it probably has the most synergy of the combo cards we run and it's in the ramp color, so 5 mana doesn't seem unattainable. Note that we forgot that All Suns' Dawn got moved to the multi-color section, so we actually have room for another green card. I'm thinking of giving Omnath, Locus of Mana a test-run. Edit Feb 22: we opted (rather impulsively) for Mold Shambler as the 75th green card.
Form of the Dragon got cut for the more versatile Comet Storm, Kaervek's Torch was upgraded to a Disintegrate, and the (in our opinion) weakest 2-damage burn spell got cut in favor of another 2-drop. I finally caved and my pet card Mana Flare left the cube for the re-introduction of the Encampment (manlands have been really good, and a 2/1 first strike is relevant enough). Since Squee got shipped to the colorless section the Mox could slot into Red without a fuss.
Another few underperformers, Story Circle departs because of my strong dislike of this card (sorry Hicham), and some swaps were made to lower the curve.
Colorless
Includes cards that do not need or generate colored mana, including artifacts and lands.
The workshop didn't have enough to work with, Crucible is unloved, Aeolipile got cut for being sub-par. This brings the net total down 2 cards, but that doesn't matter much.
Fixers
Includes all fixers playable in any deck, including lands and artifacts.
The fixer section was expanded to 71 by the dual manlands and Undiscovered Paradise, making its return to the cube after the inclusion of several landfall cards.
Multi-color
Includes cards that need more than one color to be playable and hybrids.
This section was balanced 6-4 allied-enemy, the only exception being black-white which has 5 cards. Since 2 of these are hybrids that can easily fit in either of its colors, we didn't think this was a big deal.
Post-update Cube Overview
Colored sections: 75 each
Colorless: 64
Fixers: 71
Multi-color: 60
--------------------------------- TOTAL = 570
Hatred was always a threshold card for being so damn risky. After hesitating for ages, we finally cut it and likely won't miss it. Skeletal Vampire never had a huge impact for its cost, it got cut to lower the curve, hence the two additional 2-drops which also supports the 'help aggro' drive.
The looter was swapped for the RoE looter to see how it plays out. Pestermite is always on the bubble, it got cut to test Coralhelm. Old Jace was sub-par too often, Opportunity and Stroke were cut for being too heavy, they got replaced by much cheaper cards to lower the curve.
Fastbond was cut after we realised that some form of card draw is necessary to make it worthwhile, which makes the card too narrow. The RoE mana elf was the perfect replacement. Admirers were too small as a creature and too slow for the card draw, it got the axe for the much faster Vengevine. Hystrodon was deemed weaker than Ohran Viper. Since our ramp department was really big, we cut two of the weaker cards for Terastodon and Ice Storm, and finally Stonewood Invocation got cut because it just didn't make decklists to make room for another RoE test case, Momentous Fall.
Red was in need of a huge shot in the arm, and that's what we tried to give it. Slower midrangish cards got cut for more aggressive stuff. Devestating Summons and to a lesser degree Kargan Dragonlord are RoE test cases. Wild Ricochet finally got the axe, it has never done anything for us. Finally, the burn department was given a slight facelift with 2 RoE new-comers and a Hammer swap. We were a bit sad to see Hammer of Bogardan go, but we had to face the reality that the recursion just doesn't happen.
The white section saw a bunch of cards fail our vote of confidence: Honor of the Pure for being too narrow, Prison and Muse for being sub-par, Rector for not having enough good targets, and Pacifism/Arrest for being sub-par as removal. Ronom Unicorn could be replaced after we added 2 more white/x disenchant effects in the gold section (more on that below). I don't think the includes need much explanation, just solid to great additions for aggro and some for control to replace the cut control cards.
This section was shrunk a bit, the cut cards proved to be sub-par. The scepter seemed great on paper but it just didn't happen. The rest was filler and didn't make deck lists. Added were the RoE test case All is Dust and two missing (near-)staples.
This section was made smaller and lighter. Knell was the fifth card in a 4-card section, Niv-Mizzet was replaced by Gelectrode which seems much more likely to see play, Mirari's Wake never did much for us and was replaced by the come-back Armadillo Cloak. Finally, Blink and Hedge Mage were cut for the two white/x disenchant effects mentioned earlier, since games are decided so often by artifacts and enchantments we figured we'd try to add some more answers, and these swaps seemed a decent way to accomplish it.
Jace goes back in, we agreed that it's at the very least better than Jushi. The Shapeshifter lost the matchup versus Sakashima since it's more expensive. Rewind was cut because 4 mana is expensive for a hard-counter and the upside is only occasionally useful. Added were a few cards considered staples by many, so we're checking out how they play.
Oath was cut for being too hit-or-miss, Doubling Season failed to perform and Mold Shambler played a lot like a variant of Desert Twister, which is just too expensive. In went 2 aggro creatures and a fattie to ramp into or reanimate.
Firecat was another unimportant midrange card that was replaced by Giant Solifuge, which was moved to red from the multi-color section. This because it plays alot more like a red card than a green and its cost might as well be 2RR, so why not run it in the red section (also see Inkfathom Infiltrator in the black section). We decided that running both Rolling Thunder and Comet Storm was a bit excessive, and Comet Storm lost the head-to-head because it only becomes better than Rolling Thunder if you have 7 mana or more.
White
No changes. I wanted to get rid of Karakas, but Hicham is not entirely convinced and I didn't really have a card to propose as a replacement. Now there's a first.
The M10s were the second allied cycle that didn't have an enemy cycle to back it up (the first is the Worldwake manlands, and those aren't going anywhere soon), and because the cube has shrunk a bit after the last couple of updates the fixers section could stand to become a bit smaller as well. The most aggressive color combinations got pain lands instead of filters to better suit their plan.
The multi-color section was further pruned by removing the awkward Thoctar and cutting one card from each allied color combination. Now the section is a bit more balanced at 5 cards for the allied colors and 4 for the enemy colors: since allied colors are combined a bit more naturally, this is ok.
Acid-Moss and Totem were teetering on the brink for a while now and finally got the axe. Momentous Fall did not live up to expectations and hence leaves the cube again. Entering the cube is another aggro 2-drop and 2 repeatable fog cards.
The cloak was rather impulsively added to bolster aggro in the previous update, but neither of us really believes in the aura so it leaves again. The liege should be a better way to improve WG and possibly mono-white aggro.
We finally reached the point where across most color sections there were more cards we weren’t entirely happy with anymore than cards we wanted to add. We decided to cut each color section down to 70 cards (from 75), which constitutes a considerable slimming down of our cube. The Fixer & Multi-Color sections were also slimmed down, for different reasons I’ll go into below.
This was one of the hard sections to find cuts in. In the end we cut a good number of marginal 2-drops, but hopefully aggro shouldn’t take too much of a hit from this update as we also gave it back 2 cards I have high hopes for, and cut a sweeper. We hemmed and hawed a while over whether to keep Diabolic Servitude and add Corpse Dance. Servitude seldom makes the main deck but Hicham would like some critical mass for reanimator; in the end we decided to leave it in for now and see how it fares in a tighter cube. Corpse Dance was Hicham’s suggestion, I’m still not entirely convinced it will be up to par but I’m always willing to give a card a chance. Somewhere in the discussions we forgot that we ended up not cutting Servitude but still counted it as a cut, resulting in a 71 card black section. We chalked it up as a test slot for Corpse Dance and moved on.
Blue was quite solid overall. Inkwell doesn’t have enough impact unless Tinkered into play, and even then it’s been known to fail winning the game. Desertion is good, but as a 5-cost counterspell it’s not good enough anymore. The others are remaining weakest links. Crystal Shard was moved to the blue section as we haven’t seen it without blue sources for a long time.
No earth-shattering cuts here I think - this wasn’t a particularly difficult section to find cuts in. Hurricane almost got cut instead of Baloth, it will be closely monitored as it tends to not make main decks.
Here was a little drama as Hicham convinced me to cut Firestorm. It still makes me a little sad, but it’s undeniable that the card is not what it used to be in constructed. I haven’t seen crazy stuff with it even once since the dawn of cube time. I guess most people will call us crazy to cut Firecat – we don’t like morphs and we don’t like creatures that function as player burn, and the cat is both. We won’t miss it. Solifuge was first shipped to the red section after missing the cut in Multi-Color, but it didn’t pull its weight there either, so out it goes. Greater Gargadon made its way back into our cube which will probably meet with approval by the hive mind; hopefully it will do more for us in this tighter incarnation of our cube than it did so far. Fulminator Mage was a card brought up by quietquieter and got us thinking, we concluded that on paper it should function like a variant of Molten Rain: it has less (but still plenty) targets but has more potential for damage. We’re giving it a test run in the red section.
This was another section with little controversy. We agreed to cut a sweeper, which ended up being Akroma’s Vengeance. Austere Command has performed considerably better for us, I don’t consider Martial Coup bullet proof as it’s so expensive, but overall Vengeance has annoyed us more than Coup, so it gets the axe. The main reason is that the archetype that wants Vengeance most also values manafacts highly, which get destroyed by Vengeance. Tails was a hard to cast bear 90% of the times. The other cards weren’t hard to cut.
Sword had not enough impact for the heavy equip cost, it just doesn’t turn games around like the other swords and Warhammer do. I wanted to try Deathmantle and Hicham indulged me, while BattleBall was added as additional colorless finisher and Tinker target. There’s a few cards on the watch list in this section, but we didn’t really felt compelled to cut them just yet.
This section was slimmed down mainly to keep the percentage of fixers about the same for the cube. Also, each guild now has an equal number of fixers, which is something I’ve been advocating – formerly, allied guilds had one more fixer than enemy guilds. As for the fixers we chose to keep, we’re not entirely sure we got it right yet – the idea was to keep the 5 most appropriate fixers for each guild. Comments here are very welcome.
This section was trimmed for a different reason. We concluded that there’s actually no good reason to balance this section perfectly. After all, a deck that doesn’t have multi-colored cards doesn’t have an inherent disadvantage when compared to a deck that does, as would be the case with fixers. The correct thing to do for the cube seems to be to keep those cards that do things either better than their mono-colored counterparts or that have a unique and powerful effect for their colors. In short: we cut the cards that disappointed us and kept the ones we like.
Since we didn't feel like we were lacking spot removal in black, we upgraded Doom Blade to GftT (since we already cut Terror). Barter -> BSZ seems obvious, then we needed another cut since this section was accidentally one card too large after the last update. Exhume finally got the axe after lots of doing nothing.
Future Sight makes room for the similar Sphinx as an experiment, Deep Analysis gets cut because it's just hampered too much by its cost and speed, Palinchron is a fine control finisher, but really isn't necessary (control has no problem winning games, it's the taking control that needs slots) and RoR is the last cut for the cards we wanted to give a go.
Mostly cards that didn't get played got cut so not much pain was involved in the cutting. The usual suspects were added along with a popular functional reprint and a land destruction card reports for duty once more.
The usual adds with no shocking cuts (I think), the Mystic is on trial to see if it works with the concentration of equipment we're currently running. The cube is smaller once again and we just added 2 pieces of equipment so it might be good enough.
More cuts than adds here, we don't have a fixed number of colorless cards and just run the ones that earn their spot. A number of colorless cards were found wanting and got cut. No surprises in the adds I think.
We went over this section and cut those cards that were not good enough or not necessary. Tezz enters the cube as another cornerstone for the artifact archetype, Wake makes its return (hopefully it'll be as nuts as it's been for other people), Spiritmonger finally gets replaced by Leech (with some regret), Verdict and Blightning get a trial to add some extra discard to the cube.
This update is somewhat off-the-wall because we were a bit rushed and Hicham had lots of new and surprising suggestions (as usual, without letting me know in advance). Some of these changes may not be long-lived, but changing back is always possible so I'm ok with trying something new.
Cuts were made mostly for underperformers but we're also keeping an eye on curve issues and the importance of the cards' role. Each color section loses one additional card to compensate for the many additions in the Colorless section. Finally, a few cards were moved from multi-color to color sections.
Corpse Dance failed the vote of confidence, the 4-drops were cut because black has too many of them and Ob Nixilis because we're still cutting down on the number of finishers. The inquisition and especially Smallpox are an experiment to increase the critical mass of disruption. Lashwrithe is our NPH addition as we get mono-black decks on a regular basis anyway.
The Isle was cut because it doesn't perform any important role in blue. Snap is a test swap with Boomerang, I got the idea from thinking how neat a free phybrid Unsummon would be when I realised that was already printed. Conundrum Sphinx was a bit too narrow, we're hoping Pestermite will see more play. Finally, we wanted to cut a fatty and Hicham finally convinced me to cut Morphling over Jwar Sphinx. It can do so much, but it does take a lot of mana to make it happen. A painful cut, but mostly for nostalgia reasons.
For the green section we both had some experimental suggestions, but since this was by far the section with the most cuttable borderline stuff, the margin for experiments was there. The cuts were all pretty easy: the only one that saw any successful play was the Stag, but then mostly as a sideboard card. The others either didn't make the main deck with any regularity and/or didn't perform when they did.
The cuts never made the cut in our deck so we won't miss them. We just don't like player burn I guess. Fire was shipped to the red section because this is how the card is played: never without red mana, and even in a blue/red build almost always for the Fire side. Since we don't balance our multi-color section anymore, there's no reason to keep it there anymore. I have high hopes for Hatred Dragon, it didn't look good viewed as a colorless card but in the red section it looks a lot better.
The Outpost and Harm's Way were both theoretically liked, but in practice made the cut very seldomly. The Unicorn is a bit sub-par and we have too many 2-drops, the Captain is another fatty less (even if it performed alright). The 2 extra disenchants were moved from the multi-color section for the same reason as Fire/Ice: the kicker is only a bonus.
Hicham has finally given up on his pet card Grindstone. I salute you, my friend. The Collar and Processor have been power creeped out. I don't think any of our adds are very surprising.
I love the Efreet to bits, but it's too narrow/not powerful enough for the multi-color section, unfortunately. The other 3 were moved to color sections.
Lashwrithe is more narrow than we're comfortable with after all, especially since losing a 4-drop would be a good thing for black's curve. We're giving the Graverobber another chance, at the very least it's another 2-drop which black could use anyway.
Trying to push aggro a little more with Wild Dogs. Emissary is an experiment, the theory is that should make it into a lot of decks due to its cost and versatility, if it doesn't deliver it's out again. The Troll didn't make it in anymore even in aggressive builds, Weaver was always on the cusp and anyway quite narrow for green.
We're testing Spellskite here because it might be good enough outside blue and the Orb was on its way out anyway (finding room in blue would be more painful). If it's good enough and getting played in blue more than anywhere else we'll find a cut there in a later update.
Changes needing some explanations are probably those involving 2-drops. The goal was to up the count of 2-drops with one card while eliminating a BB 2-drop. Hence the Skittering Skirge cut, it could just as well have been Black Knight - we were both on the fence with Hicham leaning towards Skirge and I towards Knight; but in the end I cared just a little more than Hicham about this swap so it‘s the Skirge that will leave. As soon as another good BB 2-drop gets printed, the Knight will follow. With the addition of the Ghoul and the extra 2-drop, I’m looking forward to see what this update will do for black aggro.
For us the cuts of Necropotence and Skeletal Scrying were quite painful. Hicham is greatly attached to Necropotence, while I consider it too narrow and the disadvantage too great to still claim a berth in our cube. I’m a big fan of Skeletal Scrying, while Hicham thinks the exile part makes the card awkward. We solved the problem by gritting our teeth and cutting both. Meanwhile, the rest of the world continues not caring a whit for either of these cards, so I’m not expecting big waves after these cuts.
Acid-Moss has seen successful use, but it seemed a good cut for Bramblecrush. The other cuts were underperformers. The inclusion of Avacyn’s Pilgrim might raise some eyebrows, so I’ll bring it out into the open: yes, we really do like mana elves that much. Time will tell if 8 of them is too much for a 68 green section. The seven we’ve been running so far sure haven’t seen much bench time, so odds are the 8th will be gratefully accepted as well.
Disintegrate was fine, but the flashback card trumps it so out it goes. Crimson Mage soured on me quite fast, we’re trying out 2 new ISD 2-drops to up the count of red 2-drops to 12. Barbarian Ring and Spikeshot Elder might be some semi-controversial cuts, but we never used either to great effect. I’ve only seen the Ring go off once or twice in all the time it’s been in the cube. The Elder was run in aggro decks, but was mostly a 1/1 for R, which is very bad. The ability seems great and abusable, but in practice it proved really clunky and because of this was very rarely used.
We’re trying out the scalable Ajani-the-creature in Pianna’s slot, seems an upgrade to me. Eternal Dragon is another cut that some people will inevitably dislike, but if the dragon part of the card is never relevant all you have left is a plains fetcher, which just doesn’t cut it. Fiend Hunter gets a trial run. As for the disenchant swaps, suddenly the cheaper cards every white deck can get full use out of seemed better than the off-color kicker cards.
Trisk can’t compete with the colored 6-drops anymore, it stopped making main decks a while back. The Warhammer is insane, but with so many Swords of X & Y floating about in the card pool, it felt like there was too much heavy equipment after all. Which makes me eat my words. Yum, words!
Two filters get replaced by ISD duals. Now the only filter left is the BW one, because that color combination is notorious for being especially mana intensive.
Terminate doesn't provide enough added value compared to mono-colored options. Olivia seems savage for its cost so we’re giving her a test run. Wall of Denial was cut because it doesn't really hinder aggro, which should be its main job; Venser the Planeswalker gets a test spot. Mirari's Wake was fun and powerful in the right decks but ultimately too narrow and arguably mostly 'win more'. Mortify was seldom maindecked, the enchantment part was hardly used so usually it got beat out by mono-black removal. The Predator gets another chance (at least partly because of feedback on this forum). Sphinx gets cut because it was too narrow – it was only played as Tinker tech.
This is a small update to slightly adjust from the previous large update, and also to add some experimental cards as a direct result from this discussion started by Konfusius.
This discussion also led to a re-evaluation of our cube categorization. In order to reflect the different deck status of lands and lower the threshold of adding them, Konfusius has chosen to run a separate land section for all lands (that do not take a spell slot). Our cube is categorized according to the color philosopy – 5 sections for cards requiring a single color, a section for cards requiring respectively no colored mana (colorless) or multiple colors (multi-color), and a section for cards that enable multiple colors (fixers). Making a separate land section would cause all kinds of trouble for this philosophy, but to achieve the same end result as Konfusius we opted to balance each color only for cards that take a spell slot, and thus allow (slightly) different amounts of utility lands for color sections. Effectively, there’s no competition between spells and lands anymore even if they’re in the same section: if a land is good enough, it gets a slot; if not, it gets cut (the same as for our colorless and multi-color sections). This way, our categorization system is intact, it is acknowledged that lands are different than spells and the threshold for inclusion is lowered, and color balance should not be significantly impacted.
Concretely, the impact of this change is that blue got one additional card since it had 1 less ‘spell slot’ card than the other colors, and that we could add colored utility lands without needing to cut a card for them in their color.
When re-evaluating lands with the mind set ‘remember: lands don’t take spells slots’, I concluded that manlands are probably the most likely to be of value in the average cube game. Getting a bonus creature will simply always be relevant, which cannot be said about many other utility lands we don't run yet. This is why this update includes so many manlands. Spawning Pool, while obviously not as powerful as Faerie Conclave and Githu Encampment, will be a welcome addition to any black deck that can afford to play an ‘enter the battlefield tapped’ land – basically, any deck that does not have ‘doing as much damage as possible’ as its main strategy.
The extra blue slot as a result of the categorization adjustment went to the Geists. When Innistrad was released we didn’t include it simply because we couldn’t agree on a cut – it was clear that this is blue’s missing spell. I’m not worried about its power level and I’m glad to add a blue creature. Mindshrieker was also on the table as a 2-drop that can finish games on his own, but, yeah, we couldn’t find a cut.
We agreed that Thornling was probably not the best cut in our previous update. We’re bringing it back at the cost of cutting one of the 3-cost ramp spells (Kodama’s Reach, Cultivate, Harrow), which have all been losing stock lately, seeing play less and less. The functional reprint of the trio got the axe.
Nexus offers a free evasive creature to any deck that can afford to run a land that does not produce colored mana – part of the land experiment. Guardian Idol just seems solid – a mana rock that comes with a free sorcery proof bear. Now that it’s on my radar, I find it strange that so few cubes run this card. Jinxed Choker seems to have a lot of potential as a sort of Sulfuric Vortex like effect for any aggro deck that wants it – maybe it’s not as scary as I think it will be, but testing it will show.
The cuts will probably be controversial. Black Vise can do a ton of damage and plays nicely with land destruction and draw 7s, but it has some serious drawbacks: it can also do no damage at all, it misses out on all the synergies that creatures enjoy (anthem effects, equipment, etc) and it has anti-synergy with discard. Finally, you can negate the Vise’s impact just by doing what you want to be doing in the first place – playing your cards. We found that in the average case, it did too little damage to justify the high variance of this card. Decks are just too efficient to take a ton of damage from Black Vise anymore. Yes, if you’re mana screwed you will take a beating from a Vise – but the odds of winning when you’re mana screwed are minimal at best anyway.
Memory Jar has seen very little play for quite a while now, simply failing to make the main deck. We decided to bench the Jar for now.
The Stormbind-Wolf Run swap can be considered part of the land experiment, although I’m quite confident that the Wolf Run should be better in cubes that focus on ramp, and Stormbind in cubes that focus on green aggro. The cut 4-drops failed my vote of confidence in particular – I don’t consider them powerful enough for the multi-color section and both guilds already have a better 4-drop (Murderous Redcap and Bloodbraid Elf). The adds probably won’t raise eye-brows.
Losing The Abyss is a pity as it's beautiful, stylish, iconic, and quite effective in the right deck, but it's a card that ends up in sideboards regularly and basically doesn't fill a hole in the cube (control can get by perfectly without it).
We considered adding Entomb and Exhume as well but decided against them at this time, one of both of these may get added in the next update.
Cutting Disk and O-Stone might make some waves, but they haven't been hacking it lately. They're sideboard material very often even in control builds and haven't been great even when sided in. When we realized we wouldn't miss either of them in the slightest we bit the bullet and cut them.
With the addition of the Chalice in colorless, we lose 1 mana rock. We'll be closely monitoring the presence of artifact acceleration to make sure that on the one hand aggro is not hosed by midrange/control decks jumping to mid/late game too often, and on the other hand that Wildfire/artifact/Upheaval decks get enough pieces to build a working deck. It's a fine line.
The 2-drops are likely about equally mediocre, but yeah let's give this Knight a shot. Entomb makes its re-appearance after reanimator decks have been more successful lately, to further bolster this archetype. Tombstalker is the cut because it's been having trouble making main decks since a fairly long time now.
Birthing Pod is an experimental add to see how it plays in cube (I love toolbox style builds). Thragtusk gets Genesis' slot, which failed to make an impression during its return.
Stonewright gets a test run in Waif's spot, which didn't perform. Ember Hauler was rarely played, Spear will see a lot more play for sure. Fire/Ice gets upgraded to Arc Lightning 2. Chandra Firebrand and her Phoenix were quite middle-of-the-road and get subbed out for no less than 2 additional 5-drops, the M13 hasty dragon and the returning Kiki-Jiki for more shenanigans.
Obvious add Ajani bumps out Scepter. We're not really sure if the Archangel will prove up to par, but we're testing it. Captain gets cut because Hicham doesn't like it, and it is control-only.
Wolf Run was ok when run but we just don't see the type of deck that wants it often enough to justify giving it a spot in the über-tight gold section. Life/Death is run primarily to give reanimation another 2-cost tool.
We're adding a mana stone as we had the feeling that there weren't enough to go around, especially now that red control has become more present with the P3K stuff we now run.
Demon was very underplayed, it seemed to have great difficulty to make deck lists, always losing out to top tier cards and role players. Zenith felt like one black sweeper too many. The 2-drops were swapped out with RtR 2-drops.
Adds:Pack Rat, Thrill-Kill Assassin, Life // Death
The Rat is insane, 'nuf said. Assassin will probably not be the flashiest but we believe it will be better or at the very least more versatile than Interloper. Life // Death was never played without black sources, so in our 'as played' classification system it belongs in the black section.
I can already hear the outcries of cubists all over the world as Meloku exits our cube
The naked truth is that Meloku is played only occasionally and has never been very good for us, it just needs too much mana to be a win con. We've been cubing it for ages on the strength of the cube community's support for this card, but enough is enough.
With this update we're cutting down on some land destruction spells because they weren't played enough, and Ice Storm is one of the casualties. Reach won't be missed, and Blasto finally exits the cube after many years of faithful service.
2 land destruction spells get cut. Keldon Marauders will be another controversial cut, but it has been too borderline to keep making the cut with another great 2-drop printed in RtR.
I was talking about Zealot obviously, but I'm glad to add Chainwalker as well. I think it's going to be a solid dude for red. Smash gets added because it was felt that red could use 1 more out against artifacts - and this one is instant speed, deals as much damage as the Hammer and can double as 'walker removal.
I've been a staunch supporter of all pegasi in cube so this is a bit awkward, but I do feel confident that the additions have more to offer to the cube format than the flyers - especially considering the fact that white already has the 3 soltaris as evasive beaters. Harrier has been perfectly fine, but likely won't be missed. The Seal gets cut because of the addition of Sundering Growth in the multi-color session, which will likely be played in white decks most often because we're speculating green players will value the effects strapped to creatures higher, but not exclusively, or we'd have to put Growth in the white section. This is more of an experimental call, we'll have to see how (and if) Growth ends up getting played.
Captain fits fine in aggro and is another token producer, which I love - I have high hopes for this card. Fencing Ace is probably worthy of the 'most undervalued RtR card' award. Seriously, white is absolutely stuffed with boost effects, and even a simple +1/+0 elevates Ace above average 2-drop level. I freaking love this card. Pilgrim gets a test run, I'm curious to see how it compares to Knight of Meadowgrain (which I'm actually looking to cut because of the WW, but Hicham didn't want to let go) and Lone Missionary, which I value highly in cube.
Venser & Blink never panned out. Life/Death wasn't really cut, it was just moved to the black section. Leech was upgraded to Lol Troll. Lighthouse turned out too weak for the multi-color section. Gerrard's Verdict is good, but was picked low and sat in sideboards as often as not, a sure sign of a gold card not making the grade.
For a better look at what our multi-color sections look like now, please refer to the OP.
I'm expecting some rejoicing for the return of Dr Teeth, we added him back in now that we are fully supporting reanimator so he can play a double role in the dimir section. Maybe we can also regain some confidence in him as a mid to late game beatstick.
For UG we swapped the ISD buddy land for the bounce land, the rationale being that we reduced the amount of land destruction making being blown out less likely. Also, the buddy land is not essential and UG has the most 'untap lands' effects in the cube, allowing for some additional synergistic tricks (always fun).
Rakdos and Orzhov both lost a fixer in one of the most recent updates and we have felt that, especially in aggro builds. They both get an extra painland.
So basically we've swapped the two 5-color basic fetchers for the allied Mirage cycle that also ETB tapped but can fetch ABU and shock duals, and brought back two landfall creatures to profit from the additional fetches.
Following the success of pretty much every other Conspiracy we tried, we're also testing 2 more Conspiracies:
The Staxx subtheme in your cube looks interesting, but I think it will require a few drafts to see if it is viable.
Depending on what the artifact section looks like, Stax/Prison is most certainly viable as I have been working on this for my cube and have won at least two drafts personally using prison decks.
Temporal Isolation gives you another great removal spell for 2 mana, even if it might be slightly worse in your list since you are running 2 additional shadow creatures than other lists.
Crib Swap: I never liked that card. There are currently Wing Shards ad Condemn in my list which are fine (defensive) removal spells.
Thanks for the reply Eidolon!
We'll see how the prison theme works out, we're not sure about it either but in earlier versions of our cube control decks had a hard time so we tried to give them some more toys to play with.
I personally really like the Visionary, it's good evasion with a relevant ability as enchantment hate is not that abundant.
Tails is missing indeed as we didn't want to overdo the WW 2-drops. The problem is that White is so clearly divided between weenie and control, so this also fits in the 'give control a chance' thing. Also, it looks really mana intensive.
[CARD]
Archon of Justice[/CARD] is actually in, it was missing in the list, will fix it.
Will have a look at the alternative 4 drops.
Crib Swap - I really prefer a hard removal spell over situational spells, hence the missing Wing Shards & Condemn. The 1/1 is just irrelevant mostly.
Mmm, as Hicham correctly pointed out to me, we are in fact not currently running Archon of Justice. I'd like to see it in, but the 5-drop slots are pretty hotly contested in white.
That first angel you mentioned doesn't seem to exist under that name, plaese checq spellign?... EDIT: I found it (Emeria Angel). Looks alright but it's not a control card so doesn't really fill the same void.
Any further suggestions for white would be great, in the meanwhile I added blue to the original post!
We hesitated a long time between Palinchron and Spinx of Jwar Isle. In the end Palinchron won out because of the fact that being free opens uo many possibilities. But it was a very close call. We could have both, but does Blue really need a lot of finishers? Any evasive creature will do once you have control , which is also part of the reason for the 3/1 flyers.
Between Palinchron and Sphinx, I prefer the sphinx. I prefer a creature that has inherent protection, instead of using Palinchron's ability.. plus Palinchron comes in 1 turn slower, and has 1 less power.
Sure, blue also needs some early creatures, but 3 looters?
Well, I like a looter or two in any deck that has more than a splash of blue, so 3 looters in the entire cube didn't seem excessive to me. We'll see, if it turns out to be excessive we can always cut one.
Cloud Spirit/Rishadan Airship are taking away precious room for more powerful blue cards. 3/1 evasive creatures with no other ability would be a high pick in limited, but blue tends to be even more control for what I have experienced.
3 power evasion for 3 mana seems good to me, even in cube. The Spirit & Ship weren't auto-includes by any means, but they're pretty good 3-drops that can go in pretty much any blue deck, so they seem solid choices. If anyone has suggestions for blue 3-drop creatures we don't run yet that are better, we're all ears.
Tradewind Rider: without a doubt a great creature, but at least in my cube I had a hard time getting 3 creatures on the board with the average blue deck.
Personally I'm having doubts about him as well, but I haven't had the heart to cut him so far. We'll see how he performs.
3 counters that did very well in my cube: Remand/Memory Lapse(tempo counters for the early game, that are still useful later) and Exclude(50% of the time you get a Dismiss for 1 less mana).
Also worth considering: Repeal(bounce that doesn't generate card disadvantage is always worth a second look), Condescend(scry 2 is very close to an extra card), Sphinx of Jwar Isle(it might not look too scary, but you get a slightly worse Morphling but you don't have to spend any additional mana to make it a impressive beater )
Do you think we don't run enough counters? Or have we included counters you would cut for other counters? Personally, the only counter I see cutting is Rewind. More is always possible of course.
The comparison to Morphling is quite astute, I hadn't looked at it that way. Perhaps we need to find room for the Sphinx. I'm loathe to cut Palinchron, his ability actually protects him better than shroud does the Sphinx as it also protects against Wrath and Edict effects, and you should always have the mana free because of his 'untap lands' ability. The latter also occasionally makes some crazy stuff possible with certain lands or Mana Flare/Mirari's Wake. It just like the bugger
3 power evasion for 3 mana seems good to me, even in cube. The Spirit & Ship weren't auto-includes by any means, but they're pretty good 3-drops that can go in pretty much any blue deck, so they seem solid choices. If anyone has suggestions for blue 3-drop creatures we don't run yet that are better, we're all ears.
Vesuvan Shapeshifter and Willbender are both pseudo 3 drops and I think blue would appreciate the utility creatures over the aggressive fliers, especially considering you already have Vendilion Clique, Serendib Efreet and Wakethrasher as aggressive blue 3 drops already.
EDIT: Cutting Rewind for Remand would make your cube better.
3 power evasion for 3 mana seems good to me, even in cube. The Spirit & Ship weren't auto-includes by any means, but they're pretty good 3-drops that can go in pretty much any blue deck, so they seem solid choices. If anyone has suggestions for blue 3-drop creatures we don't run yet that are better, we're all ears.
Blue creatures that can't block aren't what blue wants. I'd cut both of the 3/1 airships for something like Willbender and Vesuvan Shapeshifter (if you need to keep 'em @ 3CC creatures). But, I'd probably cut a few blue creatures for some more blue spells from your list, myself. With no Repeal, Memory Lapse, Remand or Condescend, there's not room for Rishidan Airship.
Among the ones already mentioned, Skittering Horror and Puppeteer Clique might fit into your cube.
The first one is a easy to cast 4 power creature, the other can deal immense damage out of nowhere, gives you off color etb effects and graveyard hate on a medium sized creature (which means that you can reuse it if you need to). The persist is a nice bonus, but I think I would still play the card without that ability.
Do you need Necropotence in addition to Yawgmoth's Bargain? Since it is harder to cast and you don't get the cards immediately you don't find that many copies of the scull in other cubes.
If you want to make room for another spell, Befoul a is rather expensive removal spell.
No Mindtwist? Yes, this card is broken, but since you are playing with P9, I wouldn't ban any other cards.
Beacon of Unrest was really cool for us, since it can target both graveyards and can also get you artifacts back + when the game lasts longer than usual, you can cast it every few turns.
I am the one who insisted on having Necropotence. Even though Bargain clearly is better, in my opinion Necro just has too much potential power not to be included. And i have to admit, I just love the card.
I want the cube to have enough Land Destruction so this can be a viable archytype. Or a very playable back up plan for other decks. Cards like Befoul, Creeping Mold and Aftershock are great for this as they are not just simple land destruction which would be too narrow to make it in. I like Land Destruction as a deck, even though a lot of people dislike it enough to make Wizards choose to not make it playable in standard anymore.
Puppeteer Clique was one of the last cards to get cut. It will probably get a change if one of our current cards ends up to be dissapointing.
Order of the Ebon Hand and Phyrexian Rager are just plain good creatures. I agree that they don't have a wow factor or aren't super exciting, but they are playable in a lot of decks. And will just do their job. The Order might get cut if we end up having too many many intensive black cards.
These I personally don't like: the Mogg was IMO killed by the M10 rules, the Welder is too narrow for my tastes, the Tinkerer is too slow (if I want to smash artifacts, I want to smash them now), and the Firewalker I don't really believe in - he has to beat face at least 3 times to be even worth the cost [as a creature], and he's RR.
Skizzik is in, so I agree there! It's listed at 4 in the curve. Pyroclasm was almost in but was edged out by Volcanic Fallout on the tiebreaker (also burns players).
Wow, I'd never had a close look at Lightning Surge! Looks like a nice finisher for burn, though I'm not sure if it will make it in. But thanks for bringing it to our attention! Cone of Flame wasn't really considered, is this often 2 for 1 in your experience?
This one is really good in limited, but I found that in cube you really don't want to discard other colored cards unless it's for a really powerful effect (for instance Forbid & Force of Will), and since Pyrokinesis does not damage players it got cut. Not sure it that was the correct call or if many other cubes are running it. Might go back in at some point.
I found Jokulhaups a reset button with no guarantee of getting the long end of the stick afterwards... Inferno is quite effective but really expensive and lacks flexibility.
These are not essential and could go, though we both quite like the Lancer. In general it's pretty hard to find good red creatures, especially cheap ones.
This fits in the scope of our land destruction theme, though it's not set in stone - it's probably the weakest of the land destruction/something else hybrids.
Mana Flare (Green is the ramp color and it's version isn't good enough IMO)
This is my pet card! The reason it's good enough is exactly because it's not in the ramp color, and it is in the color with the X-cost finishers! Mana Flare can make crazy things happen, and I'd like to keep it in for that alone. It's not hard to make a deck in which the Flare is much better than in the average deck (just don't drop it turn 3).
The funny thing is, I had to fight really hard to get it included - and then Hicham first picked it in the draft Totally looked like the correct call, too - but I'm biased.
I'm in the sceptical camp, I tried it and it was unimpressive in practice.
At worst, it is 5 to the dome for 2R.
That's respectable and pretty good for RDW.
Sometimes it's a cheaper Concentrate/Harmonize for red ... which is busted!
Wow, I'd never had a close look at Lightning Surge! Looks like a nice finisher for burn, though I'm not sure if it will make it in. But thanks for bringing it to our attention! Cone of Flame wasn't really considered, is this often 2 for 1 in your experience?
I like Lightning Surge the most of these two ... it is comforting for a red card in hand/deck to do 10-12 dmg to the dome in one card ... that is usually more than enough if game goes long. Cone of Flame can be akward depending on board, but it is devastating enough to be pretty good include for Counterburn decks.
Browbeat is bad. Both effects are undercosted, but since you spend 3 mana and it never does what you want it to, it's worthless.
Agreed. I also cut Jokulhaups from my cube. It was hard to abuse it and quite often after playing it, you'd lose anyway. Yeah, if you have a planeswalker out when you play, you'll win, but that doesn't happen often enough to run it.
I still like Fanatic. He easily kills ramp creatures, can finish off larger creatures that took damage, and can always go to the dome if all else fails. He was weakened, but he still offers red a lot for the mana.
Lightning Surge and Cone of Flame look weak to me. I have no experience with Pyrokinesis other than hearing good things from some players.
Browbeat is bad. Both effects are undercosted, but since you spend 3 mana and it never does what you want it to, it's worthless.
You said it yourself ... both effects are undercosted ... both effects are also desirable. Either effect will often win you the game. Who cares that you can't choose ... plenty of great cards that opponents make choices for (and often incorrectly if you can act/bluff at all).
If you could make choice, it would likely cost 2 more ... and still be pretty good.
Browbeat is awful. It doesn't matter what it ends up doing, or how mana-efficient the effect is, it's not the effect you need. That makes it bad. Don't ever play cards that let your opponent determine what your cards will do.
And Mogg Fanatic is still a great creature, even post M10. I also prefer Pyroclasm to fallout, for lots of reasons.
Browbeat is awful. It doesn't matter what it ends up doing, or how mana-efficient the effect is, it's not the effect you need. That makes it bad. Don't ever play cards that let your opponent determine what your cards will do.
And Mogg Fanatic is still a great creature, even post M10. I also prefer Pyroclasm to fallout, for lots of reasons.
Atleast not if one of the options is a lava axe...
When it comes to card versions used, I prefer the version in which the card was originally printed. There's something nice about being able to tell at a glance what expansion each card comes from, it turns the cube into a journey through the history of the game of Magic. All cards originally printed in Alpha/Beta are Collector's Edition instead (there are a few Beta commons in there though).
My thanks go out to everyone who has ever given feedback and whose cube lists I browsed for inspiration - the cube would not have been as awesome without you!
2010 Updates
Eyeblight's Ending
Faerie Trickery
Draining Whelk
Persuasion
Reap and Sow
Grab the Reins
Soltari Emissary
Crib Swap
Doran the Siege Tower
Mesmeric Orb
IN:
Chainer's Edict
Remand
Memory Lapse
Boomerang
Oracle of Mul Daya
Grim Lavamancer
Flickerwisp
Pacifism
Sphinx of the Steel Wind
Juggernaut
Black
OUT:Dauthi Slayer, Laquatus Champion, Order of the Ebon Hand, Skittering Skirge, Nezumi Shortfang
IN: Inkfathom Infiltrator, Tombstalker, Bloodghast, Mox Jet, Volrath's Stronghold
The inclusion of Inkfathom Infiltrator in the black section is somewhat of an anomaly. When researching hybrids I realized that this card is actually a strict upgrade of Dauthi Slayer, but there's no room for it in the multi-color section. Running the inferior card because of this seemed wrong, so we decide to simply cut the Slayer for it and stick it in the black section. We'll see later if there's a better solution. We're giving Tombstalker and Bloodghast a test run based on your collective recommendations. And Skirge and Shortfang got cut simply because there were no other cards we were comfortable cutting in their stead.
Blue
OUT: Opposition, Equilibrium, Confiscate, Time Warp, Cloud Spirit, Rishadan Airship, Ancestral Vision, Clone
IN: Jace the Mind Sculptor, Sphinx of Jwar Isle, Pestermite, Vesuvan Shapeshifter, Mox Sapphire, Faerie Conclave, Tolarian Academy, Shelldock Isle.
Lots of cuts here, most of them because the cards had underperformed, were just too expensive to see much play, or just because we don't like them.
Green
OUT:Civic Wayfinder, Explosive Vegetation, Naturalize, Channel, Pouncing Jaguar, Kavu Titan, Heartwood Storyteller, Protean Hulk, Tooth and Nail, Cloudthresher.
IN:Farseek, Kodama's Reach, Krosan Grip, Arbor Elf, Doubling Season, Deranged Hermit, Mold Shambler, Mox Emerald, Gaea's Cradle, Treetop Village, Weatherseed Totem.
A few underperformers, some upgrades (Farseek, Kodama's Reach). Krosan Grip gets a chance over Naturalize, on paper the split second looks more relevant than the additional 1. Doubling Season gets a chance to prove itself; it probably has the most synergy of the combo cards we run and it's in the ramp color, so 5 mana doesn't seem unattainable. Note that we forgot that All Suns' Dawn got moved to the multi-color section, so we actually have room for another green card. I'm thinking of giving Omnath, Locus of Mana a test-run. Edit Feb 22: we opted (rather impulsively) for Mold Shambler as the 75th green card.
Red
OUT: Form of the Dragon, Mana Flare, Kaervek's Torch, Magma Jet, Squee, Goblin Nabob.
IN: Comet Storm, Ghitu Encampment, Disintegrate, Plated Geopede, Mox Ruby.
Form of the Dragon got cut for the more versatile Comet Storm, Kaervek's Torch was upgraded to a Disintegrate, and the (in our opinion) weakest 2-damage burn spell got cut in favor of another 2-drop. I finally caved and my pet card Mana Flare left the cube for the re-introduction of the Encampment (manlands have been really good, and a 2/1 first strike is relevant enough). Since Squee got shipped to the colorless section the Mox could slot into Red without a fuss.
White
OUT: Orim's Chant, Cataclysm, Story Circle, Humility, Magus of the Disk, Stormfront Pegasus, Guardian Seraph, Galepowder Mage.
IN: Eight-and-a-half-tails, Kor Skyfisher, Steppe Lynx, Perimeter Captain, Mox Pearl, Karakas, Kjeldoran Outpost, Kor Haven.
Another few underperformers, Story Circle departs because of my strong dislike of this card (sorry Hicham), and some swaps were made to lower the curve.
Colorless
Includes cards that do not need or generate colored mana, including artifacts and lands.
OUT: Mishra's Workshop, Crucible of Worlds, Aeolipile.
IN: Lodestone Golem
The workshop didn't have enough to work with, Crucible is unloved, Aeolipile got cut for being sub-par. This brings the net total down 2 cards, but that doesn't matter much.
Fixers
Includes all fixers playable in any deck, including lands and artifacts.
IN: Undiscovered Paradise, Creeping Tar Pit, Celestial Collonade, Lavaclaw Reaches, Stirring Wildwood, Raging Ravine.
The fixer section was expanded to 71 by the dual manlands and Undiscovered Paradise, making its return to the cube after the inclusion of several landfall cards.
Multi-color
Includes cards that need more than one color to be playable and hybrids.
OUT: Army Ants, Psychatog, Plumeveil, Azorius Guildmage, Glare of Subdual, Trygon Predator.
IN: Recoil, Momentary Blink, Loam Lion, Mortify, Temporal Spring.
This section was balanced 6-4 allied-enemy, the only exception being black-white which has 5 cards. Since 2 of these are hybrids that can easily fit in either of its colors, we didn't think this was a big deal.
Post-update Cube Overview
Colored sections: 75 each
Colorless: 64
Fixers: 71
Multi-color: 60
---------------------------------
TOTAL = 570
OUT: Hatred, Skeletal Vampire
IN: Dauthi Slayer, Wretched Anurid
Hatred was always a threshold card for being so damn risky. After hesitating for ages, we finally cut it and likely won't miss it. Skeletal Vampire never had a huge impact for its cost, it got cut to lower the curve, hence the two additional 2-drops which also supports the 'help aggro' drive.
Blue
OUT: Thought Courier, Pestermite, Jace Beleren, Opportunity, Stroke of Genius
IN: Academy Ruins, Force Spike, Enclave Cryptologist, Coralhelm Commander, Frantic Search
The looter was swapped for the RoE looter to see how it plays out. Pestermite is always on the bubble, it got cut to test Coralhelm. Old Jace was sub-par too often, Opportunity and Stroke were cut for being too heavy, they got replaced by much cheaper cards to lower the curve.
Green
OUT: Fastbond, Masked Admirers, Hystrodon, Farhaven Elf, Gemhide Sliver, Stonewood Invocation
IN: Joraga Treespeaker, Vengevine, Ohran Viper, Terastodon, Ice Storm, Momentous Fall
Fastbond was cut after we realised that some form of card draw is necessary to make it worthwhile, which makes the card too narrow. The RoE mana elf was the perfect replacement. Admirers were too small as a creature and too slow for the card draw, it got the axe for the much faster Vengevine. Hystrodon was deemed weaker than Ohran Viper. Since our ramp department was really big, we cut two of the weaker cards for Terastodon and Ice Storm, and finally Stonewood Invocation got cut because it just didn't make decklists to make room for another RoE test case, Momentous Fall.
Red
IN > OUT
Mogg Fanatic > Magus of the Scroll
Gorilla Shaman > Hearth Kami
Fireslinger > Rakdos Pit Dragon
Kargan Dragonlord > Ryusei the Falling Star
Mogg War Marshal > Stingscourger
Viashino Slaughtermaster > Jaya Ballard
Devestating Summons > Wild Ricochet
Forked Bolt > Urza's Rage
Volcanic Hammer > Hammer of Bogardan
Staggershock > Volcanic Fallout
Red was in need of a huge shot in the arm, and that's what we tried to give it. Slower midrangish cards got cut for more aggressive stuff. Devestating Summons and to a lesser degree Kargan Dragonlord are RoE test cases. Wild Ricochet finally got the axe, it has never done anything for us. Finally, the burn department was given a slight facelift with 2 RoE new-comers and a Hammer swap. We were a bit sad to see Hammer of Bogardan go, but we had to face the reality that the recursion just doesn't happen.
White
OUT: Honor of the Pure, Ghostly Prison, Windborn Muse, Academy Rector, Pacifism, Arrest, Ronom Unicorn
IN: Student of Warfare, Wall of Omens, Gideon Jura, Lone Missionary, Parallax Wave, Mana Tithe, Stormfront Pegasus
The white section saw a bunch of cards fail our vote of confidence: Honor of the Pure for being too narrow, Prison and Muse for being sub-par, Rector for not having enough good targets, and Pacifism/Arrest for being sub-par as removal. Ronom Unicorn could be replaced after we added 2 more white/x disenchant effects in the gold section (more on that below). I don't think the includes need much explanation, just solid to great additions for aggro and some for control to replace the cut control cards.
Colorless
OUT: Platinum Angel, Puppet Strings, Jade Statue, Karn, Isochron Scepter, Force Field, Su-Chi, Cathodion
IN: All is Dust, Pithing Needle, Oblivion Stone
This section was shrunk a bit, the cut cards proved to be sub-par. The scepter seemed great on paper but it just didn't happen. The rest was filler and didn't make deck lists. Added were the RoE test case All is Dust and two missing (near-)staples.
Fixers
IN: Chrome Mox, Evolving Wilds
Two cards were added, the importance of acceleration makes Chrome Mox a likely include, and a second Terramorphic Expanse didn't seem too much.
Multi-Color
OUT: Debtor's Knell, Niv-Mizzet, the Fire Mind, Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker, Duergar Hedge Mage, Momentous Blink, Mirari's Wake
IN: Gelectrode, Orim's Thunder, Dismantling Blow, Armadillo Cloak
This section was made smaller and lighter. Knell was the fifth card in a 4-card section, Niv-Mizzet was replaced by Gelectrode which seems much more likely to see play, Mirari's Wake never did much for us and was replaced by the come-back Armadillo Cloak. Finally, Blink and Hedge Mage were cut for the two white/x disenchant effects mentioned earlier, since games are decided so often by artifacts and enchantments we figured we'd try to add some more answers, and these swaps seemed a decent way to accomplish it.
New cube total = 565 cards.
Black
OUT: Silent Specter, Dusk Urchins, Phyrexian Rager
IN: Skittering Skirge, Order of the Ebon Hand, Makeshift Mannequin
A couple of midrange cards of minor importance were replaced with more aggro creatures. The Mannequin gets a test run based on forum recommendations.
Blue
OUT: Jushi Apprentice, Vesuvan Shapeshifter, Rewind
IN: Condescend, Thirst for Knowledge, Jace Beleren
Jace goes back in, we agreed that it's at the very least better than Jushi. The Shapeshifter lost the matchup versus Sakashima since it's more expensive. Rewind was cut because 4 mana is expensive for a hard-counter and the upside is only occasionally useful. Added were a few cards considered staples by many, so we're checking out how they play.
Green
OUT: Oath of Druids, Doubling Season, Mold Shambler
IN: Twinblade Slasher, Pouncing Jaguar, Pelakka Wurm
Oath was cut for being too hit-or-miss, Doubling Season failed to perform and Mold Shambler played a lot like a variant of Desert Twister, which is just too expensive. In went 2 aggro creatures and a fattie to ramp into or reanimate.
Red
OUT: Blistering Firecat, Comet Storm
IN: Magma Jet, Giant Solifuge (moved from multi-color)
Firecat was another unimportant midrange card that was replaced by Giant Solifuge, which was moved to red from the multi-color section. This because it plays alot more like a red card than a green and its cost might as well be 2RR, so why not run it in the red section (also see Inkfathom Infiltrator in the black section). We decided that running both Rolling Thunder and Comet Storm was a bit excessive, and Comet Storm lost the head-to-head because it only becomes better than Rolling Thunder if you have 7 mana or more.
White
No changes. I wanted to get rid of Karakas, but Hicham is not entirely convinced and I didn't really have a card to propose as a replacement. Now there's a first.
Colorless
No changes.
Fixers
OUT: M10 cycle, BR/GR/GW/RW filters
IN: BR/GR/GW/RW pain lands (Horizon Canopy for GW).
The M10s were the second allied cycle that didn't have an enemy cycle to back it up (the first is the Worldwake manlands, and those aren't going anywhere soon), and because the cube has shrunk a bit after the last couple of updates the fixers section could stand to become a bit smaller as well. The most aggressive color combinations got pain lands instead of filters to better suit their plan.
Multi-Color
OUT: Woolly Thoctar, Dimir Cutpurse, Wilt-Leaf Liege, Bituminous Blast, Augury Adept, Giant Solifuge (moved to red)
The multi-color section was further pruned by removing the awkward Thoctar and cutting one card from each allied color combination. Now the section is a bit more balanced at 5 cards for the allied colors and 4 for the enemy colors: since allied colors are combined a bit more naturally, this is ok.
New cube total = 554
OUT: Nezumi Graverobber
IN: Corrupted Zendikon
The Graverobber never was anything more than a 2/1. The Zendikon is given a chance to prove itself.
Blue
No changes.
Green
OUT: Mwonvuli Acid-Moss, Weatherseed Totem, Momentous Fall
IN: Albino Troll, Spike Weaver, Constant Mists
Acid-Moss and Totem were teetering on the brink for a while now and finally got the axe. Momentous Fall did not live up to expectations and hence leaves the cube again. Entering the cube is another aggro 2-drop and 2 repeatable fog cards.
Red
OUT: Countryside Crusher, Rolling Thunder
IN: Blistering Firecat, Arc Lightning
Crusher was deemed too weak, Firecat returns to the cube after only a month's absence. Rolling Thunder was cut for the much lighter Arc Lightning.
White
OUT: Karakas, World Queller
IN: Blade of the Sixth Pride, Knight of the White Orchid
Two underperformers made room for another 2 white weenies to give white a distinct swarm flavor.
Colorless
IN: Basilisk Collar
The collar is given a test run.
Fixers
No changes.
Multi-color
OUT: Armadillo Cloak
IN: Wilt-Leaf Liege
The cloak was rather impulsively added to bolster aggro in the previous update, but neither of us really believes in the aura so it leaves again. The liege should be a better way to improve WG and possibly mono-white aggro.
New cube total = 555
OUT
Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni
Befoul
Terror
Sorin Markov
Grinning Demon
Makeshift Mannequin
Mirri the Cursed
IN
Grave Titan
Consuming Vapors
Skinrender
Fumespitter
Liliana's Specter
Vampire Hexmage
Child of Night
BLUE
OUT
[CARD]
Tradewind Rider[/CARD]
Sakashima the Impostor
Academy Ruins
Hinder
IN
Preordain
Aether Adept
Conondrum Sphinx
Disperse
GREEN
OUT
Gaea's Cradle
Oracle of Mul Daya
Overrun
Ant Queen
Wood Elves
IN
[CARD]
Obstinate Baloth[/CARD]
Overwhelming Stampede
Life from the Loam
Vinelasher Kudzu
Wild Nacatl
RED
OUT
Akroma, Angel of Fury
Manabarbs
Boom/Bust
Suq'Ata Lancer
Bogardan Hellkite
Greater Gargadon
Shock
Smash to Smithereens
Menacing Ogre
Demolish
IN
Koth of the Hammer
Inferno Titan
Ember Hauler
Manic Vandal
Arc Trail
Spikeshot Elder
Galvanic Blast
Barbarian Ring
Hearth Kami
Stone Rain
WHITE
OUT
Akroma, Angel of Wrath
Miraculous Recovery
Magus of the Tabernacle
IN
Sun Titan
Elspeth Tirel
Ronom Unicorn
COLORLESS
OUT
The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
Ivory Tower
Sigil of Distinction
Chimeric Idol
Ensnaring Bridge
Lightning Greaves
IN
Sword of Body and Mind
Molten-tail Masticore
Crystal Ball
Chimeric Mass
Wurmcoil Engine
Crucible of Worlds
Sword of Vengeance
MULTI
OUT
Rafiq of the Many
Empyrial Archangel
Wild Nacatl (moved to green)
FIXERS
OUT
Lotus Petal
New cube size = 552
BLACK
OUT: Corrupted Zendikon, Child of Night, Dauthi Slayer, Inkfathom Infiltrator, Order of the Ebon Hand, Sudden Death, Decree of Pain
IN: Unearth, Fledgling Djinn, Corpse Dance
This was one of the hard sections to find cuts in. In the end we cut a good number of marginal 2-drops, but hopefully aggro shouldn’t take too much of a hit from this update as we also gave it back 2 cards I have high hopes for, and cut a sweeper. We hemmed and hawed a while over whether to keep Diabolic Servitude and add Corpse Dance. Servitude seldom makes the main deck but Hicham would like some critical mass for reanimator; in the end we decided to leave it in for now and see how it fares in a tighter cube. Corpse Dance was Hicham’s suggestion, I’m still not entirely convinced it will be up to par but I’m always willing to give a card a chance. Somewhere in the discussions we forgot that we ended up not cutting Servitude but still counted it as a cut, resulting in a 71 card black section. We chalked it up as a test slot for Corpse Dance and moved on.
BLUE
OUT: Power Sink, Disperse, Riftwing Cloudskate, Dissipate, Desertion, Inkwell Leviathan
IN: Crystal Shard (moved from Colorless)
Blue was quite solid overall. Inkwell doesn’t have enough impact unless Tinkered into play, and even then it’s been known to fail winning the game. Desertion is good, but as a 5-cost counterspell it’s not good enough anymore. The others are remaining weakest links. Crystal Shard was moved to the blue section as we haven’t seen it without blue sources for a long time.
GREEN
OUT: Vinelasher Kudzu, Imperious Perfect, Ravenous Baloth, Terra Stomper, Rude Awakening
No earth-shattering cuts here I think - this wasn’t a particularly difficult section to find cuts in. Hurricane almost got cut instead of Baloth, it will be closely monitored as it tends to not make main decks.
RED
OUT: Gorilla Shaman, Galvanic Blast, Firestorm, Fork, Zo-Zu the Punisher, Blistering Firecat, Giant Solifuge
IN: Greater Gargadon, Fulminator Mage
Here was a little drama as Hicham convinced me to cut Firestorm. It still makes me a little sad, but it’s undeniable that the card is not what it used to be in constructed. I haven’t seen crazy stuff with it even once since the dawn of cube time. I guess most people will call us crazy to cut Firecat – we don’t like morphs and we don’t like creatures that function as player burn, and the cat is both. We won’t miss it. Solifuge was first shipped to the red section after missing the cut in Multi-Color, but it didn’t pull its weight there either, so out it goes. Greater Gargadon made its way back into our cube which will probably meet with approval by the hive mind; hopefully it will do more for us in this tighter incarnation of our cube than it did so far. Fulminator Mage was a card brought up by quietquieter and got us thinking, we concluded that on paper it should function like a variant of Molten Rain: it has less (but still plenty) targets but has more potential for damage. We’re giving it a test run in the red section.
WHITE
OUT: Eight-and-a-Half-Tails, Soltari Visionary, Hokori, Dust Drinker, Wall of Reverence, Akroma’s Vengeance
This was another section with little controversy. We agreed to cut a sweeper, which ended up being Akroma’s Vengeance. Austere Command has performed considerably better for us, I don’t consider Martial Coup bullet proof as it’s so expensive, but overall Vengeance has annoyed us more than Coup, so it gets the axe. The main reason is that the archetype that wants Vengeance most also values manafacts highly, which get destroyed by Vengeance. Tails was a hard to cast bear 90% of the times. The other cards weren’t hard to cut.
COLORLESS
OUT: Sword of Vengeance, Crystal Shard (moved to Blue)
IN: Nim Deathmantle, Myr Battlesphere
Sword had not enough impact for the heavy equip cost, it just doesn’t turn games around like the other swords and Warhammer do. I wanted to try Deathmantle and Hicham indulged me, while BattleBall was added as additional colorless finisher and Tinker target. There’s a few cards on the watch list in this section, but we didn’t really felt compelled to cut them just yet.
FIXERS:
OUT: Mystic Gate, Sunken Ruins, Gruul Signet, Selesnya Signet, Sulfurous Springs, Evolving Wilds
This section was slimmed down mainly to keep the percentage of fixers about the same for the cube. Also, each guild now has an equal number of fixers, which is something I’ve been advocating – formerly, allied guilds had one more fixer than enemy guilds. As for the fixers we chose to keep, we’re not entirely sure we got it right yet – the idea was to keep the 5 most appropriate fixers for each guild. Comments here are very welcome.
MULTI-COLOR:
OUT: Gelectrode, Stillmoon Cavalier, Voidslime, Loxodon Hierarch, Wrecking Ball, Nemesis of Reason, Teferi’s Moat
This section was trimmed for a different reason. We concluded that there’s actually no good reason to balance this section perfectly. After all, a deck that doesn’t have multi-colored cards doesn’t have an inherent disadvantage when compared to a deck that does, as would be the case with fixers. The correct thing to do for the cube seems to be to keep those cards that do things either better than their mono-colored counterparts or that have a unique and powerful effect for their colors. In short: we cut the cards that disappointed us and kept the ones we like.
The new cube total is a sexy 515.
CUT: Doom Blade, Barter in Blood, Exhume
ADD: Go for the Throat, Black Sun's Zenith
Since we didn't feel like we were lacking spot removal in black, we upgraded Doom Blade to GftT (since we already cut Terror). Barter -> BSZ seems obvious, then we needed another cut since this section was accidentally one card too large after the last update. Exhume finally got the axe after lots of doing nothing.
Blue
CUT: Future Sight, Deep Analysis, Palinchron, Rite of Replication
ADD: Consecrated Sphinx, Standstill, Sea Gate Oracle, Repeal
Future Sight makes room for the similar Sphinx as an experiment, Deep Analysis gets cut because it's just hampered too much by its cost and speed, Palinchron is a fine control finisher, but really isn't necessary (control has no problem winning games, it's the taking control that needs slots) and RoR is the last cut for the cards we wanted to give a go.
Green
CUT: Hurricane, Harmonize, Briarhorn, Overwhelming Stampede, Silvos, Rogue Elemental
ADD: Green Sun's Zenith, Thrun, the Last Troll, Fauna Shaman, Cultivate, Mwonvuli Acid-Moss
Mostly cards that didn't get played got cut so not much pain was involved in the cutting. The usual suspects were added along with a popular functional reprint and a land destruction card reports for duty once more.
Red
CUT: Fault Line, Banefire, Flame Javelin, Rorix Bladewing
ADD: Slagstorm, Red Sun's Zenith, Hero of Oxid Ridge, Goblin Wardriver
Fault Line and Banefire were upgraded, Javelin was cut for mostly underperforming and Rorix for being one finisher too many in red.
White
CUT: Celestial Crusader, Parallax Wave, Martial Coup, Knight of the White Orchid
ADD: Accorder Paladin, Mirran Crusader, Hero of Bladehold, Stoneforge Mystic
The usual adds with no shocking cuts (I think), the Mystic is on trial to see if it works with the concentration of equipment we're currently running. The cube is smaller once again and we just added 2 pieces of equipment so it might be good enough.
Colorless
CUT: Dust Bowl, Juggernaut, Duplicant, Mishra's Helix, Nim Deathmantle, Mindslaver, All is Dust
ADD: Phyrexian Revoker, Bonehoard, Sword of Feast and Famine
More cuts than adds here, we don't have a fixed number of colorless cards and just run the ones that earn their spot. A number of colorless cards were found wanting and got cut. No surprises in the adds I think.
Fixers
CUT: Thawing Glaciers
ADD: Evolving Wilds
After hesitating for ages, we finally brought ourself to cutting the Glaciers for being just too slow, Evolving Wilds gets its spot.
Multi-Color
CUT: Undermine, Wilt-Leaf Liege, Void, Hellkite Overlord, Desolation Angel[/CARD], Spiritmonger, Mystic Snake, Boggart Ram-Gang, All Suns' Dawn, Broodmate Dragon
ADD: Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas, Mirari's Wake, Gerrard's Verdict, Putrid Leech, Blightning
We went over this section and cut those cards that were not good enough or not necessary. Tezz enters the cube as another cornerstone for the artifact archetype, Wake makes its return (hopefully it'll be as nuts as it's been for other people), Spiritmonger finally gets replaced by Leech (with some regret), Verdict and Blightning get a trial to add some extra discard to the cube.
This brings the total of our cube to 505 cards.
Pre-draft Amendment:
IN (OUT)
Doom Blade (Thrashing Wumpus) - different cut for Go for the Throat
Skeletal Scrying (Yawgmoth's Bargain) - test swap
Pyroclasm (Sudden Shock) - as suggested
Frenetic Efreet (Prophetic Bolt) - Bolt was underplayed, an old favorite makes its reappearance
Cuts were made mostly for underperformers but we're also keeping an eye on curve issues and the importance of the cards' role. Each color section loses one additional card to compensate for the many additions in the Colorless section. Finally, a few cards were moved from multi-color to color sections.
BLACK
OUT: Corpse Dance, Phyrexian Scuta, Plague Sliver, Ob Nixilis, the Fallen
IN: Lashwrithe, Inquisition of Kozilek, Smallpox
Corpse Dance failed the vote of confidence, the 4-drops were cut because black has too many of them and Ob Nixilis because we're still cutting down on the number of finishers. The inquisition and especially Smallpox are an experiment to increase the critical mass of disruption. Lashwrithe is our NPH addition as we get mono-black decks on a regular basis anyway.
BLUE
OUT: Shelldock Isle, Boomerang, Conundrum Sphinx, [CARD]Morphling
[/CARD]IN: Snap, Pestermite, Power Sink
The Isle was cut because it doesn't perform any important role in blue. Snap is a test swap with Boomerang, I got the idea from thinking how neat a free phybrid Unsummon would be when I realised that was already printed. Conundrum Sphinx was a bit too narrow, we're hoping Pestermite will see more play. Finally, we wanted to cut a fatty and Hicham finally convinced me to cut Morphling over Jwar Sphinx. It can do so much, but it does take a lot of mana to make it happen. A painful cut, but mostly for nostalgia reasons.
GREEN
OUT: Berserk, Constant Mists, Great Sable Stag, Phantom Centaur, Chameleon Colossus, [CARD]Genesis
[/CARD]IN: Basking Rootwalla, Elves of Deep Shadow, Beast Within, Carven Caryatid, Brutalizer Exarch
For the green section we both had some experimental suggestions, but since this was by far the section with the most cuttable borderline stuff, the margin for experiments was there. The cuts were all pretty easy: the only one that saw any successful play was the Stag, but then mostly as a sideboard card. The others either didn't make the main deck with any regularity and/or didn't perform when they did.
RED
OUT: Hellspark Elemental, Hell's Thunder, [CARD]Skizzik
[/CARD]IN: Fire/Ice, Moltensteel Dragon
The cuts never made the cut in our deck so we won't miss them. We just don't like player burn I guess. Fire was shipped to the red section because this is how the card is played: never without red mana, and even in a blue/red build almost always for the Fire side. Since we don't balance our multi-color section anymore, there's no reason to keep it there anymore. I have high hopes for Hatred Dragon, it didn't look good viewed as a colorless card but in the red section it looks a lot better.
WHITE
OUT: Kjeldoran Outpost, Harm's Way, Ronom Unicorn, Captain of the Watch
IN: Blade Splicer, Dismantling Blow, Orim's Thunder
The Outpost and Harm's Way were both theoretically liked, but in practice made the cut very seldomly. The Unicorn is a bit sub-par and we have too many 2-drops, the Captain is another fatty less (even if it performed alright). The 2 extra disenchants were moved from the multi-color section for the same reason as Fire/Ice: the kicker is only a bonus.
COLORLESS
OUT: Grindstone, Basilisk Collar, Phyrexian Processor
IN: Noxious Revival, Dismember, Porcelain Legionnaire, Spined Thopter, Phyrexian Metamorph, Sword of War and Peace, Batterskull, Karn Liberated
Hicham has finally given up on his pet card Grindstone. I salute you, my friend. The Collar and Processor have been power creeped out. I don't think any of our adds are very surprising.
MULTI-COLOR
OUT: Frenetic Efreet, Fire/Ice, Dismantling Blow, Orim's Thunder
I love the Efreet to bits, but it's too narrow/not powerful enough for the multi-color section, unfortunately. The other 3 were moved to color sections.
New cube total = 501 cards.
Black: Nezumi Graverobber (Lashwrithe)
Lashwrithe is more narrow than we're comfortable with after all, especially since losing a 4-drop would be a good thing for black's curve. We're giving the Graverobber another chance, at the very least it's another 2-drop which black could use anyway.
Blue: Waterfront Bouncer (Jace Beleren)
I thought we'd try the Bouncer again, it fulfills a useful function in the cube. Baby Jace sadly never quite met expectations.
Green: Wild Dogs, Viridian Emissary (Albino Troll, Spike Weaver)
Trying to push aggro a little more with Wild Dogs. Emissary is an experiment, the theory is that should make it into a lot of decks due to its cost and versatility, if it doesn't deliver it's out again. The Troll didn't make it in anymore even in aggressive builds, Weaver was always on the cusp and anyway quite narrow for green.
Red: Smash to Smithereens, Viashino Heretic, Cunning Sparkmage (Devastating Summons, Thick-Skinned Goblin, Hellkite Charger)
Cutting some chaff and an unwanted fatty for some more artifact hate and another pinger.
Colorless: Spellskite (Zuran Orb)
We're testing Spellskite here because it might be good enough outside blue and the Orb was on its way out anyway (finding room in blue would be more painful). If it's good enough and getting played in blue more than anywhere else we'll find a cut there in a later update.
Sewer Nemesis (Diabolic Servitude)
(Liliana Vess)
Blue (69 -> 68)
Jace, Memory Adept (Sphinx of Jwar Isle)
Phantasmal Image (Standstill)
(Snap)
Green (69 -> 68)
[CARD]
Garruk, Primal Hunter[/CARD] (Brutalizer Exarch)
Skinshifter (Basking Rootwalla)
Scavenging Ooze (Viridian Emissary)
(Life from the Loam)
Red (69 -> 68)
Chandra, the Firebrand (Starstorm)
Chandra's Phoenix (Ravenous Baboons)
Chaos Warp (Words of War)
Crimson Mage (Goblin Wardriver)
Stormblood Berserker (Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker)
(Fireball)
White (69 -> 68)
(White Knight)
Colorless (63 -> 62)
Solemn Simulacrum (Ankh of Mishra)
(Noxious Revival)
Fixers (60)
Gemstone Mine (Solemn Simulacrum)
Llanowar Wastes (Twilight Mire)
Multi-Color (33 -> 30)
Edric, Spymaster of Trest (Simic Sky Swallower)
(Recoil)
(Sarkhan Vol)
(Blazing Specter)
New cube total = 492
OUT: Chaos Warp, IN Keldon Marauders
Multi-Color:
OUT: Oona, Queen of the Fae
New cube total = 491
Diregraf Ghoul (Inquisition of Kozilek)
Vampire Interloper (Skittering Skirge)
Nezumi Cutthroat (Skeletal Scrying)
Tribute to Hunger (Innocent Blood)
Liliana of the Veil (Smallpox)
Bloodgift Demon (Necropotence)
Changes needing some explanations are probably those involving 2-drops. The goal was to up the count of 2-drops with one card while eliminating a BB 2-drop. Hence the Skittering Skirge cut, it could just as well have been Black Knight - we were both on the fence with Hicham leaning towards Skirge and I towards Knight; but in the end I cared just a little more than Hicham about this swap so it‘s the Skirge that will leave. As soon as another good BB 2-drop gets printed, the Knight will follow. With the addition of the Ghoul and the extra 2-drop, I’m looking forward to see what this update will do for black aggro.
For us the cuts of Necropotence and Skeletal Scrying were quite painful. Hicham is greatly attached to Necropotence, while I consider it too narrow and the disadvantage too great to still claim a berth in our cube. I’m a big fan of Skeletal Scrying, while Hicham thinks the exile part makes the card awkward. We solved the problem by gritting our teeth and cutting both. Meanwhile, the rest of the world continues not caring a whit for either of these cards, so I’m not expecting big waves after these cuts.
Blue
Ludevic’s Test Subject (Frantic Search)
Snapcaster Mage (Dismiss)
Since I had some great success with Ludevic’s egg in ISD limited, we’re testing it. I’m sooo looking forward to cubing with Snapcaster Mage. <3
Green
Avacyn’s Pilgrim (Wild Dogs)
Ambush Viper (Vines of Vastwood)
Bramblecrush (Mwonvuli Acid-Moss)
Garruk Relentless (Kodama of the North Tree)
Acid-Moss has seen successful use, but it seemed a good cut for Bramblecrush. The other cuts were underperformers. The inclusion of Avacyn’s Pilgrim might raise some eyebrows, so I’ll bring it out into the open: yes, we really do like mana elves that much. Time will tell if 8 of them is too much for a 68 green section. The seven we’ve been running so far sure haven’t seen much bench time, so odds are the 8th will be gratefully accepted as well.
Red
Bloodcrazed Neonate (Crimson Mage)
Ashmouth Hound (Spikeshot Elder)
Brimstone Volley (Barbarian Ring)
Devil’s Play (Disintegrate)
Disintegrate was fine, but the flashback card trumps it so out it goes. Crimson Mage soured on me quite fast, we’re trying out 2 new ISD 2-drops to up the count of red 2-drops to 12. Barbarian Ring and Spikeshot Elder might be some semi-controversial cuts, but we never used either to great effect. I’ve only seen the Ring go off once or twice in all the time it’s been in the cube. The Elder was run in aggro decks, but was mostly a 1/1 for R, which is very bad. The ability seems great and abusable, but in practice it proved really clunky and because of this was very rarely used.
White
Cloistered Youth (Blade of the Sixth Pride)
Mikaeus, the Lunarch (Pianna, Nomad Captain)
Fiend Hunter (Eternal Dragon)
Seal of Cleansing (Dismantling Blow)
Revoke Existence (Orim’s Thunder)
We’re trying out the scalable Ajani-the-creature in Pianna’s slot, seems an upgrade to me. Eternal Dragon is another cut that some people will inevitably dislike, but if the dragon part of the card is never relevant all you have left is a plains fetcher, which just doesn’t cut it. Fiend Hunter gets a trial run. As for the disenchant swaps, suddenly the cheaper cards every white deck can get full use out of seemed better than the off-color kicker cards.
Colorless
(Loxodon Warhammer)
(Triskelion)
Trisk can’t compete with the colored 6-drops anymore, it stopped making main decks a while back. The Warhammer is insane, but with so many Swords of X & Y floating about in the card pool, it felt like there was too much heavy equipment after all. Which makes me eat my words. Yum, words!
Fixers
Hinterland Harbor (Flooded Grove)
Sulfur Falls (Cascade Bluffs)
Two filters get replaced by ISD duals. Now the only filter left is the BW one, because that color combination is notorious for being especially mana intensive.
Multi-Color
Olivia Voldaren(Terminate)
Venser, the Sojourner (Wall of Denial)
(Mirari's Wake)
(Mortify)
Trygon Predator
(Sphinx of the Steel Wind)
Terminate doesn't provide enough added value compared to mono-colored options. Olivia seems savage for its cost so we’re giving her a test run. Wall of Denial was cut because it doesn't really hinder aggro, which should be its main job; Venser the Planeswalker gets a test spot. Mirari's Wake was fun and powerful in the right decks but ultimately too narrow and arguably mostly 'win more'. Mortify was seldom maindecked, the enchantment part was hardly used so usually it got beat out by mono-black removal. The Predator gets another chance (at least partly because of feedback on this forum). Sphinx gets cut because it was too narrow – it was only played as Tinker tech.
New cube total = 487
Add: Gravecrawler
Cut: Black Knight, Nezumi Cutthroat, Doom Blade, Night's Whisper, Tribute to Hunger, Juzam Djinn
Blue
Add: -
Cut: Power Sink, Wake Thrasher, Thirst for Knowledge, Thieving Magpie, Gifts Ungiven
Green
Add: Wolfbitten Captive, Worldly Tutor , Strangleroot Geist, Mayor of Avabruck, Phantom Centaur, Vorapede
Cut: Pouncing Jaguar, Twinblade Slasher, Avacyn's Pilgrim, Ambush Viper, Mire Boa, Carven Caryatid, Ohran Viper, Krosan Grip, Obstinate Baloth, Thornling, Stunted Growth
Red
Add: Stromkirk Noble, Reckless Waif, Faithless Looting, Torch Fiend, Markov Blademaster, Hellrider
Cut: Greater Gargadon, Bloodcrazed Neonate, Blood Knight, Smash to Smithereens, Cunning Sparkmage, Viashino Heretic, Fulminator Mage, Brimstone Volley, Slagstorm, Keldon Champion, Moltensteel Dragon
White
Add: Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Hallowed Burial
Cut: Silver Knight, Paladin en-Vec, Fiend Hunter, Mikaeus, the Lunarch, Karmic Guide, Rout, Austere Command
Colorless
Add: -
Cut: Spellskite, Crucible of Worlds, Crystal Ball, Bonehoard, Silent Arbiter
Multi-Color
Add: Sorin, Lord of Innistrad, Falkenrath Aristocrat, Huntmaster of the Fells
Cut: Lightning Helix, Blightning, Absorb, Putrefy, Temporal Spring, Olivia Voldaren
Fixers
Add: Talisman of Dominance, Talisman of Progress, Talisman of Indulgence
Cut: Azorius Signet, Dimir Signet, Rakdos Signet, Orzhov Signet, Simic Signet, Golgari Signet, Sulfur Falls, Karplusan Forest, Stirring Wildwood
New Cube total = 448
This discussion also led to a re-evaluation of our cube categorization. In order to reflect the different deck status of lands and lower the threshold of adding them, Konfusius has chosen to run a separate land section for all lands (that do not take a spell slot). Our cube is categorized according to the color philosopy – 5 sections for cards requiring a single color, a section for cards requiring respectively no colored mana (colorless) or multiple colors (multi-color), and a section for cards that enable multiple colors (fixers). Making a separate land section would cause all kinds of trouble for this philosophy, but to achieve the same end result as Konfusius we opted to balance each color only for cards that take a spell slot, and thus allow (slightly) different amounts of utility lands for color sections. Effectively, there’s no competition between spells and lands anymore even if they’re in the same section: if a land is good enough, it gets a slot; if not, it gets cut (the same as for our colorless and multi-color sections). This way, our categorization system is intact, it is acknowledged that lands are different than spells and the threshold for inclusion is lowered, and color balance should not be significantly impacted.
Concretely, the impact of this change is that blue got one additional card since it had 1 less ‘spell slot’ card than the other colors, and that we could add colored utility lands without needing to cut a card for them in their color.
On to the update.
Black
Add Spawning Pool.
When re-evaluating lands with the mind set ‘remember: lands don’t take spells slots’, I concluded that manlands are probably the most likely to be of value in the average cube game. Getting a bonus creature will simply always be relevant, which cannot be said about many other utility lands we don't run yet. This is why this update includes so many manlands. Spawning Pool, while obviously not as powerful as Faerie Conclave and Githu Encampment, will be a welcome addition to any black deck that can afford to play an ‘enter the battlefield tapped’ land – basically, any deck that does not have ‘doing as much damage as possible’ as its main strategy.
Blue
Add Dungeon Geists
The extra blue slot as a result of the categorization adjustment went to the Geists. When Innistrad was released we didn’t include it simply because we couldn’t agree on a cut – it was clear that this is blue’s missing spell. I’m not worried about its power level and I’m glad to add a blue creature. Mindshrieker was also on the table as a 2-drop that can finish games on his own, but, yeah, we couldn’t find a cut.
Green
Add Thornling, cut Cultivate
We agreed that Thornling was probably not the best cut in our previous update. We’re bringing it back at the cost of cutting one of the 3-cost ramp spells (Kodama’s Reach, Cultivate, Harrow), which have all been losing stock lately, seeing play less and less. The functional reprint of the trio got the axe.
Red
No changes.
White
Add Forbidding Watchtower
See comments for Spawning Pool. This card is very similar – a defensive manland likely to find a deck and have an impact on games.
Colorless
Add: Blinkmoth Nexus, Guardian Idol, Jinxed Choker
Cut: Black Vise, Memory Jar
Nexus offers a free evasive creature to any deck that can afford to run a land that does not produce colored mana – part of the land experiment. Guardian Idol just seems solid – a mana rock that comes with a free sorcery proof bear. Now that it’s on my radar, I find it strange that so few cubes run this card. Jinxed Choker seems to have a lot of potential as a sort of Sulfuric Vortex like effect for any aggro deck that wants it – maybe it’s not as scary as I think it will be, but testing it will show.
The cuts will probably be controversial. Black Vise can do a ton of damage and plays nicely with land destruction and draw 7s, but it has some serious drawbacks: it can also do no damage at all, it misses out on all the synergies that creatures enjoy (anthem effects, equipment, etc) and it has anti-synergy with discard. Finally, you can negate the Vise’s impact just by doing what you want to be doing in the first place – playing your cards. We found that in the average case, it did too little damage to justify the high variance of this card. Decks are just too efficient to take a ton of damage from Black Vise anymore. Yes, if you’re mana screwed you will take a beating from a Vise – but the odds of winning when you’re mana screwed are minimal at best anyway.
Memory Jar has seen very little play for quite a while now, simply failing to make the main deck. We decided to bench the Jar for now.
Multi-Color
Add: Kessig Wolf Run, Lingering Souls, Geist of Saint Traft
Cut: Stormbind, Falkenrath Aristocrat, Huntmaster of the Fells
The Stormbind-Wolf Run swap can be considered part of the land experiment, although I’m quite confident that the Wolf Run should be better in cubes that focus on ramp, and Stormbind in cubes that focus on green aggro. The cut 4-drops failed my vote of confidence in particular – I don’t consider them powerful enough for the multi-color section and both guilds already have a better 4-drop (Murderous Redcap and Bloodbraid Elf). The adds probably won’t raise eye-brows.
Fixers
Add Stirring Wildwood
When re-evaluating the lands it became clear to me that this cut was a mistake. Duals that are also manlands are too strong to exclude.
New cube total = 453
Cut: Spawning Pool, Bane of the Living, The Abyss
Add: Imperial Seal, Dance of the Dead
Losing The Abyss is a pity as it's beautiful, stylish, iconic, and quite effective in the right deck, but it's a card that ends up in sideboards regularly and basically doesn't fill a hole in the cube (control can get by perfectly without it).
We considered adding Entomb and Exhume as well but decided against them at this time, one of both of these may get added in the next update.
Blue
Cut: Complicate, Capsize, Jace, Memory Adept, Keiga, the Tide Star
Add: Fettergeist, Mist Raven, Tamiyo, the Moon Sage, Sphinx of Jwar Isle
Tempo gets some more toys to play with and there's a few swaps in the finisher department.
Green
Cut: Skinshifter, Harrow, Thornling, Rampaging Baloths
Add: Avacyn's Pilgrim, Genesis, Wolfir Silverheart, Primeval Titan
Swapping Harrow for another mana elf, Genesis is back and 2 finishers are experimentally replaced.
Red
Cut: Ashmouth Hound, Pyroclasm, Markov Blademaster, Demonfire
Add: Reckless Charge, Lightning Mauler, Rolling Earthquake, Burning of Xinye
Aggro gets a boost with an outstanding new 2-drop and the Charge, control gets some shiny new Portal toys!
White
Cut: Forbidding Watchtower, Decree of Justice, Calciderm, Hallowed Burial, Yosei, the Morning Star
Add: Silverblade Paladin, Restoration Angel, Ravages of War, Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobyte
Second Armageddon comes in, some AVR stuff and another fatty swap sees Norn enter the cube. Should be good times.
Colorless
Cut: Blinkmoth Nexus, Oblivion Stone, Nevinyrral's Disk, Razormane Masticore
Add: Everflowing Chalice
Cutting Disk and O-Stone might make some waves, but they haven't been hacking it lately. They're sideboard material very often even in control builds and haven't been great even when sided in. When we realized we wouldn't miss either of them in the slightest we bit the bullet and cut them.
Multi-color
Add: Desolate Lighthouse, Slayers' Stronghold, Momentary Blink
2 AVR spell lands come in, and the blink archetype gets another cornerstone.
Fixers
Cut: Boros Signet, Talisman of Indulgence
With the addition of the Chalice in colorless, we lose 1 mana rock. We'll be closely monitoring the presence of artifact acceleration to make sure that on the one hand aggro is not hosed by midrange/control decks jumping to mid/late game too often, and on the other hand that Wildfire/artifact/Upheaval decks get enough pieces to build a working deck. It's a fine line.
New cube total = 449
Knight of Infamy (Wretched Anurid)
Entomb (Tombstalker)
The 2-drops are likely about equally mediocre, but yeah let's give this Knight a shot. Entomb makes its re-appearance after reanimator decks have been more successful lately, to further bolster this archetype. Tombstalker is the cut because it's been having trouble making main decks since a fairly long time now.
Blue
No changes.
Green
Birthing Pod (Farseek)
Thragtusk (Genesis)
Birthing Pod is an experimental add to see how it plays in cube (I love toolbox style builds). Thragtusk gets Genesis' slot, which failed to make an impression during its return.
Red
Stonewright (Reckless Waif)
Searing Spear (Ember Hauler)
Flames of the Firebrand (Fire // Ice)
Thundermaw Hellkite (Chandra's Phoenix)
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker (Chandra, the Firebrand)
Stonewright gets a test run in Waif's spot, which didn't perform. Ember Hauler was rarely played, Spear will see a lot more play for sure. Fire/Ice gets upgraded to Arc Lightning 2. Chandra Firebrand and her Phoenix were quite middle-of-the-road and get subbed out for no less than 2 additional 5-drops, the M13 hasty dragon and the returning Kiki-Jiki for more shenanigans.
Quite an update for the red section.
White
Ajani, Caller of the Pride (Scepter of Dominance)
Sublime Archangel (Perimeter Captain)
Obvious add Ajani bumps out Scepter. We're not really sure if the Archangel will prove up to par, but we're testing it. Captain gets cut because Hicham doesn't like it, and it is control-only.
Colorless
No changes.
Multi-Color
(Kessig Wolf Run)
Life // Death
Wolf Run was ok when run but we just don't see the type of deck that wants it often enough to justify giving it a spot in the über-tight gold section. Life/Death is run primarily to give reanimation another 2-cost tool.
Fixers
Coldsteel Heart
We're adding a mana stone as we had the feeling that there weren't enough to go around, especially now that red control has become more present with the P3K stuff we now run.
New cube size = 450
Cuts: Bloodgift Demon, Black Sun's Zenith, Vampire Interloper, Knight of Infamy
Demon was very underplayed, it seemed to have great difficulty to make deck lists, always losing out to top tier cards and role players. Zenith felt like one black sweeper too many. The 2-drops were swapped out with RtR 2-drops.
Adds: Pack Rat, Thrill-Kill Assassin, Life // Death
The Rat is insane, 'nuf said. Assassin will probably not be the flashiest but we believe it will be better or at the very least more versatile than Interloper. Life // Death was never played without black sources, so in our 'as played' classification system it belongs in the black section.
Blue
Cuts: Repeal, Meloku, the Clouded Mirror
I can already hear the outcries of cubists all over the world as Meloku exits our cube
The naked truth is that Meloku is played only occasionally and has never been very good for us, it just needs too much mana to be a win con. We've been cubing it for ages on the strength of the cube community's support for this card, but enough is enough.
Adds: Cyclonic Rift
Gets tested over Repeal.
Green
Cuts: Ice Storm, Kodama's Reach, Blastoderm
With this update we're cutting down on some land destruction spells because they weren't played enough, and Ice Storm is one of the casualties. Reach won't be missed, and Blasto finally exits the cube after many years of faithful service.
Adds: Channel, Deadbridge Goliath
Channel gets another run following its interesting SCD thread. Goliath makes it in on general usefulness.
Red
Cuts: Aftershock, Stone Rain, Volcanic Hammer, Keldon Marauders
2 land destruction spells get cut. Keldon Marauders will be another controversial cut, but it has been too borderline to keep making the cut with another great 2-drop printed in RtR.
Adds: Ash Zealot, Gore-House Chainwalker, Smash to Smithereens
I was talking about Zealot obviously, but I'm glad to add Chainwalker as well. I think it's going to be a solid dude for red. Smash gets added because it was felt that red could use 1 more out against artifacts - and this one is instant speed, deals as much damage as the Hammer and can double as 'walker removal.
White
Cuts: Seal of Cleansing, Mistral Charger, Stormfront Pegasus, Goldmeadow Harrier
I've been a staunch supporter of all pegasi in cube so this is a bit awkward, but I do feel confident that the additions have more to offer to the cube format than the flyers - especially considering the fact that white already has the 3 soltaris as evasive beaters. Harrier has been perfectly fine, but likely won't be missed. The Seal gets cut because of the addition of Sundering Growth in the multi-color session, which will likely be played in white decks most often because we're speculating green players will value the effects strapped to creatures higher, but not exclusively, or we'd have to put Growth in the white section. This is more of an experimental call, we'll have to see how (and if) Growth ends up getting played.
Adds: Precinct Captain, Nearheath Pilgrim, Fencing Ace
Captain fits fine in aggro and is another token producer, which I love - I have high hopes for this card. Fencing Ace is probably worthy of the 'most undervalued RtR card' award. Seriously, white is absolutely stuffed with boost effects, and even a simple +1/+0 elevates Ace above average 2-drop level. I freaking love this card. Pilgrim gets a test run, I'm curious to see how it compares to Knight of Meadowgrain (which I'm actually looking to cut because of the WW, but Hicham didn't want to let go) and Lone Missionary, which I value highly in cube.
Colorless
Cuts: Chimeric Mass
A fine and very versatile card, but probably too borderline at this point.
Adds: none.
Multi-Color
Cuts: Venser, the Sojourner, Momentary Blink, Life // Death, Putrid Leech, Gerrard's Verdict, Desolate Lighthouse
Venser & Blink never panned out. Life/Death wasn't really cut, it was just moved to the black section. Leech was upgraded to Lol Troll. Lighthouse turned out too weak for the multi-color section. Gerrard's Verdict is good, but was picked low and sat in sideboards as often as not, a sure sign of a gold card not making the grade.
Adds:
Let's break this up in sections shall we
For a better look at what our multi-color sections look like now, please refer to the OP.
I'm expecting some rejoicing for the return of Dr Teeth, we added him back in now that we are fully supporting reanimator so he can play a double role in the dimir section. Maybe we can also regain some confidence in him as a mid to late game beatstick.
Fixers
Cuts: Hinterland Harbor
Adds: Simic Growth Chamber, Caves of Koilos, Sulfurous Springs, Chromatic Lantern
For UG we swapped the ISD buddy land for the bounce land, the rationale being that we reduced the amount of land destruction making being blown out less likely. Also, the buddy land is not essential and UG has the most 'untap lands' effects in the cube, allowing for some additional synergistic tricks (always fun).
Rakdos and Orzhov both lost a fixer in one of the most recent updates and we have felt that, especially in aggro builds. They both get an extra painland.
New Cube Total = 452
Imperial Recruiter (Stonewright)
Sneak Attack (Forked Bolt)
Pox package:
Sac effects: Smallpox, Pox, Death Cloud + Fleshbag Marauder
Sac outlet: Carrion Feeder
Sac fodder: Reassembling Skeleton, Geralf's Messenger, Marsh Flitter
Heavy black enablers: Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Liliana of the Dark Realms (+ more in the fixing section)
Cuts: Fumespitter, Unearth, Fledgling Djinn, Chainer's Edict, Diabolic Edict, Liliana's Specter, Stupor, Graveborn Muse, Yawgmoth's Will
Blue
Kira, Great Glass-Spinner made room for Deceiver Exarch
Green
Adds:
Fastbond
Life from the Loam
Hornet Queen
Cuts:
River Boa
Call of the Herd
Terastodon
Red
Adds:
Cuts:
White
No changes
Colorless
Naked adds:
Multi-Color
Trygon Predator became Mystic Snake.
Fixers
Changes to accommodate more heavy black builds:
Twilight Mire
Graven Cairns (Sulfurous Springs)
New cube total (without power package): 450
IN Nether Spirit, OUT Carrion Feeder
Blue
IN Show and Tell, OUT Deceiver Exarch
Green
In: Eureka, Master of the Wild Hunt, Primal Command, Terastodon
Out: Creeping Mold, Deadbridge Goliath, Phantom Centaur, Pelakka Wurm
Red
IN Goblin Welder OUT Ghitu Slinger
White
IN Karmic Guide OUT Soltari Monk
Colorless
IN: Worn Powerstone, Thran Dynamo, Precursor Golem
OUT: Zuran Orb, Time Vault, Voltaic Key
Multi-Color
IN: Sphinx of the Steel Wind, Baleful Strix
New cube total = 453
Experiment One (Fastbond)
Somberwald Sage (Primal Command)
Goblin Bombardment (Fireblast)
Zealous Conscripts (Goblin Welder)
Bonfire of the Damned (Red Sun's Zenith)
Champion of the Parish (Steppe Lynx)
Daring Skyjek (Journey to Nowhere)
Parallax Wave (Catastrophe)
Blasting Station (Ring of Gix)
Mental Misstep
Noxious Revival
Karplusan Forest
Vivid Marsh
GOLD
IN
OUT
Wight of Precinct Six (Thrill-Kill Assassin)
The Abyss (Death Cloud)
Vinelasher Kudzu (Master of the Wild Hunt)
Greater Gargadon (Splinter Twin)
Eternal Dragon (Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite)
Black Vise (Mental Misstep)
Ankh of Mishra (Blasting Station)
(Precursor Golem)
Baleful Strix (Psychatog)
Blood Scrivener (Life//Death)
Cemetery Reaper (Dauthi Marauder)
Graveborn Muse (Abyssal Persecutor)
Pyrewild Shaman (Zealous Conscripts)
Spike Jester
Ral Zarek (Huntmaster of the Fells)
Voice of Resurgence (Prime Speaker Zegana)
Other changes:
+ Goblin Patrol, - Spikeshot Elder
+ Izzet Boilerworks
White
[CARD]
Imposing Sovereign[/CARD] (Nearheath Pilgrim)
Condemn (Soltari Champion)
Journey to Nowhere (Mirror Entity)
Blue
Daze
Standstill
Show and Tell (Bribery)
Jace Beleren (Impulse)
Invisible Stalker (Gilded Drake)
Black
Lifebane Zombie (Hypnotic Specter)
Xathrid Necromancer (Wight of Precinct Six)
Shadowborn Demon (Nekrataal)
Red
Goblin Patrol (Mogg Fanatic)
Goblin Welder (Spikeshot Elder)
Guttersnipe (Hearth Kami)
Young Pyromancer (Kargan Dragonlord)
Chandra, Pyromaster (Firestorm)
Green
Witchstalker (Life from the Loam)
Kaldonian Hydra (Indrik Stomphowler)
Berserk (Channel)
Colorless
Adaptive Automaton (Memory Jar)
Isochron Scepter
Multi-Color
(Mystic Snake)
Fixers
(Vivid Marsh)
(Karplusan Forest)
(Chromatic Lantern)
New Cube total (power included) = 442
Talrand, Sky Summoner (Show and Tell)
Frantic Search (Jace Beleren)
Faithless Looting (Goblin Patrol)
Fireblast (Fireslinger)
Ratchet Bomb (Isochron Scepter)
(Spike Jester)
(Lotleth Troll)
(Simic Charm)
(Loam Lion)
Tattermunge Maniac
Fulminator Mage
New cube total = 440
+ Soldier of the Pantheon
+ Spear of Heliod
+ Elspeth, Sun's Champion
+ Decree of Justice/Kjeldoran Outpost
- Knight of Meadowgrain
- Kor Sanctifiers
Blue
+ Omenspeaker
+ Thassa, God of the Sea
+ Snap
- Standstill
THS November swap:
+ Master of Waves
- Dungeon Geists
Black
+ Tormented Hero
+ Hero's Downfall
+ Marsh Flitter
+ Nether Spirit
+ Massacre Wurm
- Kokusho, the Evening Star
Red
+ Firedrinker Satyr
+ Lightning Strike
+ Hammer of Purphoros
+ Purphoros, God of the Forge
+ Devastating Summons
+ Krenko's Command
+ Goblin Bombardment
+ Ogre Battledriver
+ Beetleback Chief
+ Empty the Warrens
- Goblin Welder
- Reckless Charge
- Viashino Slaughtermaster
- Pyrewild Shaman
- Sneak Attack
- Fireblast
- Crater Hellion
- Devil's Play
Green
+ Sylvan Caryatid
+ Polukranos, World Eater
Colorless
+ Precursor Golem
Multi-Color
+ Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
+ Xenagos, the Reveler
+ Steam Augury
+ Manamorphose
- Kird Ape
- Gelectrode
New cube total = 454
- Parallax Wave
+ True-Name Nemesis
+ Deep Analysis
- Into the Roil
- Pestermite
+ Curse of Shallow Graves
+ Ophiomancer
+ Toxic Deluge
+ Whip of Erebos
+ Yawgmoth's Will
- Nezumi Graverobber
- Lifebane Zombie
- Marsh Flitter
- Shadowborn Demon
- Living Death
+ Tempt with Vengeance
- Lightning Strike
+ Curse of Predation
- Sakura-Tribe Elder
+ Opposition
- Waterfront Bouncer
- Deep Analysis
+ Awakening Zone
- Krosan Tusker
+ Gitaxian Probe
- Ratchet Bomb
- Steam Augury
- Reflecting Pool
Living Death (Whip of Erebos)
Courser of Kruphix (Kalonian Hydra)
Devil's Play (Chandra, Pyromaster)
Brimaz, King of Oreskos (Decree of Justice)
Kiora, the Crashing Wave
Xenagos, God of Revels
Exhume (Xathrid Necromancer)
Tendrils of Agony (Hero's Downfall)
Griselbrand (Liliana of the Dark Realms)
Blue
Turnabout (Daze)
Time Warp (Omenspeaker)
Stroke of Genius (Kira, Great Glass-Spinner)
Palinchron (Sphinx of Jwar Isle)
Green
Fastbond (Avacyn's Pilgrim)
Heartbeat of Spring (Wild Mongrel)
Cultivate (Witchstalker)
Kodama's Reach (Awakening Zone)
Rude Awakening (Garruk, Primal Hunter)
Red
Mana Flare (Faithless Looting)
Seething Song (Searing Spear)
Sneak Attack (Pillage)
Bogardan Hellkite (Wildfire)
Red Sun's Zenith (Burning of Xinye)
White
Karmic Guide (Mirran Crusader)
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite (Ajani, Caller of the Pride)
Decree of Justice (Elspeth, Sun's Champion)
Colorless
Memory Jar (Crucible of Worlds)
Mishra's Helix
Multi-Color
Mirari's Wake
(Rakdos Shred-Freak)
(Fulminator Mage)
(Geist of Saint Traft)
(Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver)
(Murderous Redcap)
(Duskmantle Seer)
Fixers
Lotus Petal
Gilded Lotus
New cube total = 452
Master of the Feast (Cemetery Reaper)
Dictate of Karametra (Fastbond)
Reckless Charge (Seething Song)
Viashino Slaughtermaster (Plated Geopede)
Prophetic Flamespeaker (Hammer of Purphoros)
Banishing Light (Journey to Nowhere)
Lotleth Troll (Pernicious Deed)
Dack Fayden (Xenagos, God of Revels)
Mana Confluence (Lotus Petal)
Goblin Rabblemaster (Chandra's Phoenix) - testing this goblin, looks like Goblin Assault got the upgrade it needed to make the cut in cube. The Phoenix is the cut for now, if Prophetic Flamespeaker fails to impress it can always come back.
Council's Judgment (Lone Missionary) Easy include, the Kor was the cut because no-one could remember it being played for ever.
Ajani, Caller of the Pride (Karmic Guide) - dial-back from a previous upgrade, the Guide couldn't convince us and some of us missed small Ajani.
Lore Seeker
Deal Broker
Coercive Portal - just testing this to see if it can find main decks.
Lurking Automaton
Grenzo, Dungeon Warder - I think this is a very strong card, good enough even for our very demanding multi-color requirements.
Paliano, the High City
Impulse (Turnabout)
Copy Artifact (Time Warp)
Deep Analysis (Palinchron)
Sphinx of Jwar Isle (Stroke of Genius)
Jungle Lion (Heartbeat of Spring)
Avacyn's Pilgrim (Cultivate)
Channel (Dictate of Karametra)
(Rude Awakening)
Searing Spear (Mana Flare)
Chandra's Phoenix (Red Sun's Zenith)
Mentor of the Meek (Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite)
Elspeth, Sun's Champion (Decree of Justice)
(Canal Dredger)
(Mishra's Helix)
(Mirari's Wake)
IN (OUT)
Bloodsoaked Champion (Blood Scrivener)
Mardu Skullhunter (Fledgling Djinn)
Xathrid Necromancer (Fleshbag Marauder)
Clever Impersonator (Snap)
Dig Through Time (Impulse)
War-Name Aspirant (Borderland Marauder)
Hordeling Outburst (Dragon Fodder)
Hellrider (Ogre Battledriver)
Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker (Chandra Nalaar)
Silver-Inlaid Dagger
(Deal Broker)
(Erratic Portal)
(Coercive Portal)
(Precursor Golem)
EDIT: we also don't run Lurking Automaton or Paliano, the High City anymore.
This update centers around the Mirage fetchlands:
Bad River
Flood Plain
Grasslands
Mountain Valley
Rocky Tar Pit
We wanted to test them out. The following changes accompany the addition of the 5 extra fetches:
Plated Geopede (Generator Servant)
Steppe Lynx (Mentor of the Meek)
(Evolving Wilds)
(Terramorphic Expanse)
So basically we've swapped the two 5-color basic fetchers for the allied Mirage cycle that also ETB tapped but can fetch ABU and shock duals, and brought back two landfall creatures to profit from the additional fetches.
Following the success of pretty much every other Conspiracy we tried, we're also testing 2 more Conspiracies:
Immediate Action
Sentinel Dispatch
Current cube total = 465
Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath (Phyrexian Arena)
Sewer Nemesis (The Abyss)
Utopia Sprawl (Elves of Deep Shadow)
Vinelasher Kudzu (Strangleroot Geist)
Song of the Dryads (Wickerbough Elder)
Oracle of Mul Daya (Vengevine)
Titania, Protector of Argoth (Vorapede)
Goblin Welder (Plated Geopede)
Firestorm (Searing Spear)
Faithless Looting (Reckless Charge)
Feldon of the Third Path (Prophetic Flamespeaker)
Dualcaster Mage (Chandra's Phoenix)
Trash for Treasure (Keldon Vandals)
Daretti, Scrap Savant (Beetleback Chief)
Hallowed Spiritkeeper (Steppe Lynx)
Deal Broker
Triskelion
(Boros Charm)
New cube total = 466
Grand Architect (Remand)
Show and Tell (Memory Lapse)
Meloku the Clouded Mirror (Sea Gate Oracle)
Inkwell Leviathan (Sphinx of Jwar Isle)
Fastbond (Berserk)
Life from the Loam (Wolfir Silverheart)
Rampaging Baloths (Plow Under)
Mishra's Workshop
Crucible of Worlds (Mimic Vat)
Metalworker
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
Knight of the Reliquary (Bloodbraid Elf)
Yasova Dragonclaw
Evolving Wilds
Terramorphic Expanse
Harrow (Wild Nacatl)
Mardu Woe-Reaper (Unexpectedly Absent)
Monastery Mentor (Ajani, Caller of the Pride)
Trusty Machete
Wild Nacatl
Warden of the First Tree
Soulfire Grand Master
Alesha, who Smiles at Death
Brutal Hordechief
Tasigur, the Golden Fang
New cube total = 479
Renowned Weaponsmith (Copy Artifact)
Elves of Deep Shadow (Harrow)
Jungle Lion (Titania, Protector of Argoth)
Berserk (Life from the Loam)
Wolfir Silverheart (Rampaging Baloths)
Goblin Heelcutter (Prophetic Flamespeaker)
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest (Knight of the Reliquary)
(Kiora, the Crashing Wave)
New cube total = 478
IN (OUT)
Dragon Hunter (Savannah Lions)
Hidden Dragonslayer (Soltari Priest)
Ojutai Exemplars (Hallowed Spiritkeeper)
Secure the Wastes (Elspeth, Sun's Champion)
Stratus Dancer (Show and Tell)
Unearth (Consuming Vapors)
Blood-Chin Rager (Pain Seer)
Silumgar Assassin (Master of the Feast)
Lilian, Heretical Healer (Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath)
Zurgo Bellstriker (Feldon of the Third Path)
Ire Shaman (Flametongue Kavu)
Den Protector (Jungle Lion)
Ainok Survivalist (Vinelasher Kudzu)
Surrak, the Hunt Caller (Oracle of Mul Daya)
(Deal Broker)
(Crucible of Worlds)
(Emrakul, the Aeons Torn)
Kolaghan's Command (Shadowmage Infiltrator)
Narset Transcendent (Supreme Verdict)
Sarkhan Unbroken (Voice of Resurgence)
(Terramorphic Expanse)
New cube size = 474
IN (OUT)
Kytheon, Hero of Akros (Elite Vanguard)
Relic Seeker (Cloistered Youth)
Battle Screech (Faith's Fetters)
Jace, Vryn's Prodigy (Invisible Stalker)
Whirler Rogue (Fettergeist)
Thopter Spy Network (Psionic Blast)
Liliana, Heretical Healer (Vampire Nighthawk)
Priest of the Blood Rite (Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath)
Abbot of Keral Keep (Ash Zealot)
Molten Vortex (Incinerate)
Pia and Kiran Nalaar (Molten Rain)
Evolutionary Leap (Omnath, Locus of Mana)
Scuttling Doom Engine (Moltentail Masticore)
(Silver-Inlaid Dagger)
Mirari's Wake
(Alesha, Who Smiles at Death)
(Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest)
(Narset Transcendent)
(Sarkhan Unbroken)
New cube total = 470
Drana, Liberator of Malakir (Mogis's Marauder)
Tendrils of Agony (Curse of Shallow Graves)
Yawgmoth's Bargain
Daze (Stratus Dancer)
Turnabout (Miscalculation)
Greenwarden of Murasa (Wolfir Silverheart)
Oath of Druids (Avacyn's Pilgrim)
Nissa, Vastwood Seer (Elves of Deep Shadow)
Kodama's Reach (Fyndhorn Elves)
Cultivate (Experiment One)
Oracle of Mul Daya (Wolfbitten Captive)
Explosive Vegetation (Ainok Survivalist)
Mana Reflection (Troll Ascetic)
Rude Awakening (Curse of Predation)
Goblin Glory Chaser (Avalanche Riders)
Gideon, Ally of Zendikar (Ajani Steadfast)
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite (Battle Screech)
Hedron Archive
Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
Lumbering Falls (Simic Growth Chamber)
Shambling Vent (Caves of Koilos)
New cube total = 473
Mystic Confluence (Tamiyo, the Moon Sage)
Time Warp (Thopter Spy Network)
Stroke of Genius (Meloku the Clouded Mirror)
Sakura-Tribe Elder (Utopia Sprawl)
Magus of the Wheel (Reckless Reveler)
Fiery Confluence (Molten Vortex)
Mizzix's Mastery (Earthquake)
Vryn Wingmare (Hidden Dragonslayer)
Quarantine Field (Ojutai Exemplars)
Helm of Awakening (Trusty Machete)
(Adaptive Automaton)
Meren of Clan Nel Toth
Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet (Priest of the Blood Rite)
Oath of Jace (Daze)
Tamiyo, the Moon Sage (Inkwell Leviathan)
Oath of Nissa (Oath of Druids)
Sylvan Advocate (Scavenging Ooze)
Wolfir Silverheart (Oracle of Mul Daya)
Chandra, Flamecaller (Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker)
Eldrazi Displacer (Relic Seeker)
Oath of Gideon (temporary experimental slot - yes, we were this lazy and yes, I'm ashamed)
Elspeth, Sun's Champion (Condemn)
Reflector Mage (Detention Sphere)
Venser, the Sojourner
Needle Spires (Battlefield Forge)
Hissing Quagmire (Llanowar Wastes)
Wandering Fumarole (Izzet Boilerworks)
New cube total = 479
Heir of Falkenrath // Heir to the Night (Dauthi Horror)
Relentless Dead
Cemetery Reaper
Geralf's Messenger
Necropotence
Gray Merchant of Asphodel
From Under the Floorboards
High Tide
Thing in the Ice // Awoken Horror
Crystal Shard
Ghostly Flicker
Dream Halls
Future Sight
Palinchron
Duskwatch Recruiter // Krallenhorde Howler (Uktabi Orangutan)
Gaea's Cradle
Experiment One
Wolfbitten Captive // Krallenhorde Killer
Exploration
Tireless Tracker
Oracle of Mul Daya
Titania, Protector of Argoth
Falkenrath Gorger (Jackal Pup)
Sin Prodder (Abbot of Keral Keep)
Fireblast
Mana Flare
Trash for Treasure
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
Jokulhaups
Form of the Dragons
Thalia's Lieutenant (Soltari Trooper)
Archangel Avacyn // Avacyn the Purifier (Vryn Wingmare)
Cloudshift
Hanweir Militia Captain // Westvale Cult Leader
Stonecloaker
Academy Rector
Humility
Dictate of Heliod
Westvale Abbey // Ormendahl, Profane Prince (Tectonic Edge)
Helm of Awakening
Adaptive Automaton
Crucible of Worlds
Helm of Possession
Mindslaver
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
Wild Nacatl
Kird Ape
Loam Lion
Momentary Blink
Venser, the Sojourner
Sorin, Grim Nemesis
Lion's Eye Diamond
Lotus Petal
Battlefield Forge
Sulfurous Springs
Caves of Koilos
Karplusan Forest
Llanoward Wastes
Brushland
Adarkar Wastes
Izzet Boilerworks
Simic Growth Chamber
Dimir Aqueduct
New cube total = 526
Depending on what the artifact section looks like, Stax/Prison is most certainly viable as I have been working on this for my cube and have won at least two drafts personally using prison decks.
Pauper Cube
I cube, I play EDH, and I can't afford Legacy. The other formats can suck it.
Thanks for the reply Eidolon!
We'll see how the prison theme works out, we're not sure about it either but in earlier versions of our cube control decks had a hard time so we tried to give them some more toys to play with.
I personally really like the Visionary, it's good evasion with a relevant ability as enchantment hate is not that abundant.
Tails is missing indeed as we didn't want to overdo the WW 2-drops. The problem is that White is so clearly divided between weenie and control, so this also fits in the 'give control a chance' thing. Also, it looks really mana intensive.
[CARD]
Archon of Justice[/CARD] is actually in, it was missing in the list, will fix it.
Will have a look at the alternative 4 drops.
Crib Swap - I really prefer a hard removal spell over situational spells, hence the missing Wing Shards & Condemn. The 1/1 is just irrelevant mostly.
Thanks again for the comments!
That first angel you mentioned doesn't seem to exist under that name, plaese checq spellign?... EDIT: I found it (Emeria Angel). Looks alright but it's not a control card so doesn't really fill the same void.
Any further suggestions for white would be great, in the meanwhile I added blue to the original post!
Thanks for reading.
I feel compelled to repeat everything I hear
Well, I like a looter or two in any deck that has more than a splash of blue, so 3 looters in the entire cube didn't seem excessive to me. We'll see, if it turns out to be excessive we can always cut one.
3 power evasion for 3 mana seems good to me, even in cube. The Spirit & Ship weren't auto-includes by any means, but they're pretty good 3-drops that can go in pretty much any blue deck, so they seem solid choices. If anyone has suggestions for blue 3-drop creatures we don't run yet that are better, we're all ears.
Personally I'm having doubts about him as well, but I haven't had the heart to cut him so far. We'll see how he performs.
Do you think we don't run enough counters? Or have we included counters you would cut for other counters? Personally, the only counter I see cutting is Rewind. More is always possible of course.
The comparison to Morphling is quite astute, I hadn't looked at it that way. Perhaps we need to find room for the Sphinx. I'm loathe to cut Palinchron, his ability actually protects him better than shroud does the Sphinx as it also protects against Wrath and Edict effects, and you should always have the mana free because of his 'untap lands' ability. The latter also occasionally makes some crazy stuff possible with certain lands or Mana Flare/Mirari's Wake. It just like the bugger
Vesuvan Shapeshifter and Willbender are both pseudo 3 drops and I think blue would appreciate the utility creatures over the aggressive fliers, especially considering you already have Vendilion Clique, Serendib Efreet and Wakethrasher as aggressive blue 3 drops already.
EDIT: Cutting Rewind for Remand would make your cube better.
EDIT: Beaten... and great minds think alike!
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EDIT: And I would cut Persuasion for one of the good blue spells you're not using.
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The black section has just been added. Don't hesitate to pick it apart!
As for the knights, I'd choose the jump and bushido knights over Order of the Ebon Hand. Bloodghast is also a great weenie black creature.
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Pauper Cube
I cube, I play EDH, and I can't afford Legacy. The other formats can suck it.
I am the one who insisted on having Necropotence. Even though Bargain clearly is better, in my opinion Necro just has too much potential power not to be included. And i have to admit, I just love the card.
I want the cube to have enough Land Destruction so this can be a viable archytype. Or a very playable back up plan for other decks. Cards like Befoul, Creeping Mold and Aftershock are great for this as they are not just simple land destruction which would be too narrow to make it in. I like Land Destruction as a deck, even though a lot of people dislike it enough to make Wizards choose to not make it playable in standard anymore.
Puppeteer Clique was one of the last cards to get cut. It will probably get a change if one of our current cards ends up to be dissapointing.
Order of the Ebon Hand and Phyrexian Rager are just plain good creatures. I agree that they don't have a wow factor or aren't super exciting, but they are playable in a lot of decks. And will just do their job. The Order might get cut if we end up having too many many intensive black cards.
I feel compelled to repeat everything I hear
Here are some of my opinions (Overall ... looks pretty good actually):
I'd try to add some of these if you like them (ones I like you don't have):
Mogg Fanatic
Goblin Welder
Goblin Tinkerer
Slith Firewalker
Skizzik
Pyroclasm
Browbeat (So good ...)
Lightning Surge
Cone of Flame
Word of Seizing
Pyrokinesis (One of the better burn spells ...)
Jokulhaups
Inferno
Some cards I suggest cutting over many I listed:
Thick-skinned Goblin
Akroma, Angel of Fury (Ignore the name ...)
Suq,Ata Lancer
Rakdos Pit Dragon
Demolish (I like Aftershock ... but this seems worse)
Mana Flare (Green is the ramp color and it's version isn't good enough IMO)
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=385729
Hey - thanks!
I like that these seem to really be some personal choices instead of more generic cube staples!
Let's see:
Mogg Fanatic
Goblin Welder
Goblin Tinkerer
Slith Firewalker
These I personally don't like: the Mogg was IMO killed by the M10 rules, the Welder is too narrow for my tastes, the Tinkerer is too slow (if I want to smash artifacts, I want to smash them now), and the Firewalker I don't really believe in - he has to beat face at least 3 times to be even worth the cost [as a creature], and he's RR.
Skizzik
Pyroclasm
Skizzik is in, so I agree there! It's listed at 4 in the curve. Pyroclasm was almost in but was edged out by Volcanic Fallout on the tiebreaker (also burns players).
Browbeat
I'm in the sceptical camp, I tried it and it was unimpressive in practice.
Lightning Surge
Cone of Flame
Wow, I'd never had a close look at Lightning Surge! Looks like a nice finisher for burn, though I'm not sure if it will make it in. But thanks for bringing it to our attention! Cone of Flame wasn't really considered, is this often 2 for 1 in your experience?
Word of Seizing
I wanted to include this card but it didn't make the cut. It's near the top of my wishlist for the next update.
Pyrokinesis
This one is really good in limited, but I found that in cube you really don't want to discard other colored cards unless it's for a really powerful effect (for instance Forbid & Force of Will), and since Pyrokinesis does not damage players it got cut. Not sure it that was the correct call or if many other cubes are running it. Might go back in at some point.
Jokulhaups
Inferno
I found Jokulhaups a reset button with no guarantee of getting the long end of the stick afterwards... Inferno is quite effective but really expensive and lacks flexibility.
The cards you suggested cutting:
Thick-skinned Goblin
Suq,Ata Lancer
Rakdos Pit Dragon
These are not essential and could go, though we both quite like the Lancer. In general it's pretty hard to find good red creatures, especially cheap ones.
Akroma, Angel of Fury (Ignore the name ...)
Wow, what's not to like?
Demolish (I like Aftershock ... but this seems worse)
This fits in the scope of our land destruction theme, though it's not set in stone - it's probably the weakest of the land destruction/something else hybrids.
Mana Flare (Green is the ramp color and it's version isn't good enough IMO)
This is my pet card! The reason it's good enough is exactly because it's not in the ramp color, and it is in the color with the X-cost finishers! Mana Flare can make crazy things happen, and I'd like to keep it in for that alone. It's not hard to make a deck in which the Flare is much better than in the average deck (just don't drop it turn 3).
The funny thing is, I had to fight really hard to get it included - and then Hicham first picked it in the draft Totally looked like the correct call, too - but I'm biased.
Thanks again for your input!
At worst, it is 5 to the dome for 2R.
That's respectable and pretty good for RDW.
Sometimes it's a cheaper Concentrate/Harmonize for red ... which is busted!
I like Lightning Surge the most of these two ... it is comforting for a red card in hand/deck to do 10-12 dmg to the dome in one card ... that is usually more than enough if game goes long.
Cone of Flame can be akward depending on board, but it is devastating enough to be pretty good include for Counterburn decks.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=385729
Pauper Cube
I cube, I play EDH, and I can't afford Legacy. The other formats can suck it.
Agreed. I also cut Jokulhaups from my cube. It was hard to abuse it and quite often after playing it, you'd lose anyway. Yeah, if you have a planeswalker out when you play, you'll win, but that doesn't happen often enough to run it.
I still like Fanatic. He easily kills ramp creatures, can finish off larger creatures that took damage, and can always go to the dome if all else fails. He was weakened, but he still offers red a lot for the mana.
Lightning Surge and Cone of Flame look weak to me. I have no experience with Pyrokinesis other than hearing good things from some players.
Cheers,
rant
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You said it yourself ... both effects are undercosted ... both effects are also desirable. Either effect will often win you the game. Who cares that you can't choose ... plenty of great cards that opponents make choices for (and often incorrectly if you can act/bluff at all).
If you could make choice, it would likely cost 2 more ... and still be pretty good.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=385729
And Mogg Fanatic is still a great creature, even post M10. I also prefer Pyroclasm to fallout, for lots of reasons.
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Atleast not if one of the options is a lava axe...
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