It's boring, but it's really, really good. Pretend for one second that Oblivion Ring wasn't available and tell me you wouldn't windmill slam this card into every single W/U deck.
O-Ring is available, but I would probably slam any removal in the colors I'm in.
However, gold cards shouldn't just be added because they are good, they should fit the theme of the archetype.
Cards like the this or the uncounterable wrath just add redundancy to a control strategy when that isn't what the control strategy needs. 40 card control decks don't need 5 interchangeable PWer, redundant removal, and redundant wraths.
Control needs variety, not redundancy, aggro needs redundancy.
Updated through M13. Pictures will come whenever I get motivated enough to lay it all out. While my cube design includes power, I don't consider my cube to be "a collection of the absolute best cards printed" some cards are intentionally left out for design purposes.
FAQ
Q: Why don't you include Primeval Titan (or Eldrazi)?
A: I'm not a fan of the concentration of power in the green ramp strategy. It was the MTGO cube that really ruined it, green ramp still exists, but it doesn't have the density that it does in other cubes.
Q: How does the Splinter Twin combo work out for you?
A: Good. Sometimes it just blows people out, but it is pretty fragile so it isn't too over good. Often it is just put in a deck for value as another angle of attack.
Q: What are your thoughts on Thopter/Sword combo? Does it just get hated out?
A: In a 540 cube drafting with 6 players, often you only see one piece of the combo in the draft. It is in a sweet spot of not being played enough to be hate drafted, but cool enough to be included. It was an experiment and one I've been the happy with so far.
Q: Why do you have Black Knight but no White Knight? (Phantom Centaur, Mirran Crusader, etc)
A: Gregory Marques wrote a great article on black in the cube, one of his major points was to stop hating black out. So I did. Chameleon made the cut because of its uniqueness and power level, one pro black creature meant that it only showed up less than half the time.
Q: Why the Enemy Cycle of Pain lands?
A: Allied colors had mana fixing in the form of man lands, these are worse, but the best options available.
I enjoy the creative solution, but it is your cube and you can shape it however you want. Too many planeswakers? Cut some planeswalkers.
Just because a card is good, doesn't mean it is required to be in your cube.
Aggro decks are looking to overwhelm their opponent with plenty of pressure. A tempo deck is just looking to stick a threat and then slow your game down, they may only have a handful of threats. They play very differently, so different names.
Dressing absurdly over the normal is silly. If you feel the need to dress up for FNM, business casual should be the top of the line unless you are coming from work.
The basic premise that the OP forgets is that when a card is first released, there are less copies available then there is later.
Day 1, there are very few copies of X mythic rare because SCG/CFB/Etc can only open so many boxes. Fast forward a year and more become available, plus people open some in their packs, drafts, etc, increasing the supply.
Most cards will drop in price, the ones that won't are extremely powerful/playable.
Stores do play a role in the pricing, that is why cards are cheaper on ebay.
$20 for the foil walkers and the emblems isn't that bad, but the rest of this set sucks bad. If they don't start making these dual decks slightly better nobody is going to buy them.
I buy them for duel deck battles. You roll a couple die, you get a deck for the current round. It is great fun.
If a store owner or employee ever objectifies me, talks down to me, or threatens to ban me for doing something they don't agree with but is within my legal rights to do, I don't respond well
You have no legal right to do anything in his store except for shop there without discrimination based on race, color, religion, or national origin. You do not have any right to play casually, trade, or just hang out. Trading for profit, without buying anything, and complaining of discrimination is not going to get your far with the CAPA or the BBB.
It is a great idea for them, they get to clear their backlog of older cards at the cost of giving away a playset of power from those sets.
Most people won't get anything of value, for example Ali from Cario isn't exactly a easy card to sell or trade, despite being 'worth' 50+
My rebuttal, don't be surprised when people don't live up to your expectations.
Some people play to win, that's something you need to deal with.
I was watching Brian Kibler at GP Lincon, he was in a tough game three and the guy he was playing hit the top deck twice in a row to win a game Kibler was clearly in control of.
Kibler looked frustrated and upset; he took a deep breath, smiled, and shook his opponents hand. He cleaned up his cards and when he left the table you could see the frustration return.
He obviously plays to win, he was obviously upset, yet he managed to treat his opponent with respect.
Shocking.
O-Ring is available, but I would probably slam any removal in the colors I'm in.
However, gold cards shouldn't just be added because they are good, they should fit the theme of the archetype.
Cards like the this or the uncounterable wrath just add redundancy to a control strategy when that isn't what the control strategy needs. 40 card control decks don't need 5 interchangeable PWer, redundant removal, and redundant wraths.
Control needs variety, not redundancy, aggro needs redundancy.
Garbage bin won that trade.
FAQ
Q: Why don't you include Primeval Titan (or Eldrazi)?
A: I'm not a fan of the concentration of power in the green ramp strategy. It was the MTGO cube that really ruined it, green ramp still exists, but it doesn't have the density that it does in other cubes.
Q: How does the Splinter Twin combo work out for you?
A: Good. Sometimes it just blows people out, but it is pretty fragile so it isn't too over good. Often it is just put in a deck for value as another angle of attack.
Q: What are your thoughts on Thopter/Sword combo? Does it just get hated out?
A: In a 540 cube drafting with 6 players, often you only see one piece of the combo in the draft. It is in a sweet spot of not being played enough to be hate drafted, but cool enough to be included. It was an experiment and one I've been the happy with so far.
Q: Why do you have Black Knight but no White Knight? (Phantom Centaur, Mirran Crusader, etc)
A: Gregory Marques wrote a great article on black in the cube, one of his major points was to stop hating black out. So I did. Chameleon made the cut because of its uniqueness and power level, one pro black creature meant that it only showed up less than half the time.
Q: Why the Enemy Cycle of Pain lands?
A: Allied colors had mana fixing in the form of man lands, these are worse, but the best options available.
Google Doc link
Just because a card is good, doesn't mean it is required to be in your cube.
http://imgur.com/a/yfXLv
Day 1, there are very few copies of X mythic rare because SCG/CFB/Etc can only open so many boxes. Fast forward a year and more become available, plus people open some in their packs, drafts, etc, increasing the supply.
Most cards will drop in price, the ones that won't are extremely powerful/playable.
Stores do play a role in the pricing, that is why cards are cheaper on ebay.
I buy them for duel deck battles. You roll a couple die, you get a deck for the current round. It is great fun.
You have no legal right to do anything in his store except for shop there without discrimination based on race, color, religion, or national origin. You do not have any right to play casually, trade, or just hang out. Trading for profit, without buying anything, and complaining of discrimination is not going to get your far with the CAPA or the BBB.
Most people won't get anything of value, for example Ali from Cario isn't exactly a easy card to sell or trade, despite being 'worth' 50+
I was watching Brian Kibler at GP Lincon, he was in a tough game three and the guy he was playing hit the top deck twice in a row to win a game Kibler was clearly in control of.
Kibler looked frustrated and upset; he took a deep breath, smiled, and shook his opponents hand. He cleaned up his cards and when he left the table you could see the frustration return.
He obviously plays to win, he was obviously upset, yet he managed to treat his opponent with respect.
Shocking.