There are a few problems with Null Rod effects in even powered cubes:
- Even in a Vintage cube, the critical mass of mana rocks in the average deck to hit just isn't there for this to be relevant in most matchups.
- Not enough payoff to build around.
- In cube you'd much rather just play any Uktabi Orangutan effect over this
1. It will be a mediocre card in a lot of match-ups, but it's an absolute house in the matches where you really need it to be - broken (mostly Ux) decks with lots of mana accelerators (we're playing 15/360 in our cube) and other powerhouses like Time Vault or Engineered Explosives. You're always at a disadvantage against those decks, and Collector Ouphe gives you a fighting chance.
2. It doesn't require building around? I would normally play 3 Equipment cards MAX in an aggro deck and that's only if I drew the premium stuff (Skullclamp, Jitte, Grafted Wargear). I have zero issues having this extremely minor anti-synergy in my deck; my opponent will almost certainly be playing more artifacts and if he doesn't, I still get to play the Ouphe to my advantage as I can see the board state when I play it or have it get killed in combat. Of course if you managed to draft a lot of power, you probably shouldn't put Collector Ouphe in your deck. No biggie.
3. You're glossing over the fact that Collector Ouphe costs you only 2 mana, which is a massive difference. Urangutan is a better fit for more midrangey builds, and I certainly wouldn't play it over the likes of Goblin Rabblemaster in an aggro deck. A bear by contrast is much less embarrassing as a body for an aggro deck. Of course if you could play a Tin Street Hooligan in mono colours that always triggers you'd be an absolute madman not to play it. So on that one point we agree: Urangutan's triggered ability is superior to Ouphe's static ability.
In an extremely powerful set, this is one of the easiest includes for me. Surprised at the lack of discussion. I guess unpowered cubes are not interested in this.
I have to say I think people are underestimating this card a bit. If you support hard aggro in red this should be high on your list. On an empty board: 3 damage the turn you play it, then 6, 10, 15, 21 (counting the dies trigger once in each case). On a normal curve it can single-handedly end the game by turn 6. That's the same clock as Goblin Rabblemaster, and Goblin Rabblemaster is behind until turn 5, by which time both are at 15 damage cumulatively. I think Rabbie is clearly superior because it creates permanents, but this is still worth mentioning.
It's very strong for a common. I don't think it's quite up there with the premium bounce spells like Into the Roil, Cyclonic Rift and Repeal, which are just about what we've got room for, but I'm curious for people's experience with this.
Very interesting card, I definitely think this is better than the Boar (considering the competition as well). Not the best on curve as has been mentioned, but you should be able to profitably draw 1-2 cards in most situations. Late game it's a godsend and probably wins you the game on the spot. Absolutely worth testing. I guess this is a cycle? Looking forward to the other ones.
Another great token producer in the red 3 CMC slot. I think Goblin Rabblemaster remains the undisputed king. Not only does he have the strongest damage output, I disagree with the assessment elsewhere in this thread that he is the least resilient. For us producing a permanent on turn 1 has been far more relevant than missing an extra point of toughness. For that reason I find Goblin Rabblemaster and Legion Warboss to be more resilient than their competitors.
I think this card is very close in power level to Najeela (who is at the bottom of my list), who maybe barely edges out New Krenko on Warrior synergies.
This effect is cute, but in the end it's a 5 CMC sweeper. This card wouldn't even make our white section, and is nowhere near good enough for the very competitive Azorius slot.
I think this is very, very good. Very aggressive. Compare this to a 2 power hasted creature like Earthshaker Khenra. They both deal 2 damage on an empty board on the first turn (I'm counting the die trigger for this comparison) and this guy only gets better after. If your opponent takes care of it during his turn after you've swung twice, you'll have dealt 6 damage - that's a full turn ahead of Earthshaker Khenra at that point. Connect once and this guy is totally worth it.
Of course Earthshaker Khenra has the ETB trigger and the Eternalize, but I think this card is really powerful.
I disagree strongly that this card is better than Brimaz. This Gideon does precisely nothing if you're behind on board presence. I'm not sure it should crack cubes of 450 cards or smaller, in fact.
I've cooled on Gideon Blackblade myself (since it was spoiled yesterday). It's great on offense, but if you're behind it will not help you as much as most random 3-CMC creatures would. It's certainly a far cry from Brimaz, King of Oreskos, and most other white three-drops are 2W. I'm not sure we would cube any of these planeswalkers actually. Domri might be the most powerful one.
Hero of Bladehold is the White 4 CMC card closest to the chopping block in our cube. This card looks incredibly powerful, much more resilient than Hero. The only archetype where I would prefer Hero to this planeswalker is hard aggro, and W/x hard aggro tends to be W/R, and R has much better 4-drops anyway. This card strikes me as a slam dunk for any cube 540+, and we'll be testing at 360 expecting her to stick.
I think your weakest and cuttable cards are Hazoret, Pia and Kiran Nalaar, and Purphoros. A lot of people suggest removing Hero of Oxid Ridge if you already play Hellrider, but to me Hellrider is by some distance the best aggressive red 4-drop, and Hero does an extremely decent Hellrider impression.
TitI > Baral > Will Kenrith, but I'm not close to runnning any of these at 360
Living Death > Liliana (also not running either at 360, though Living Death is close)
Chart a Course > Search > Looter
Scrapheap Scrounger > Bloodghast > Asylum Visitor
Memory Lapse > Daze > Force Spike; we run all three.
1. It will be a mediocre card in a lot of match-ups, but it's an absolute house in the matches where you really need it to be - broken (mostly Ux) decks with lots of mana accelerators (we're playing 15/360 in our cube) and other powerhouses like Time Vault or Engineered Explosives. You're always at a disadvantage against those decks, and Collector Ouphe gives you a fighting chance.
2. It doesn't require building around? I would normally play 3 Equipment cards MAX in an aggro deck and that's only if I drew the premium stuff (Skullclamp, Jitte, Grafted Wargear). I have zero issues having this extremely minor anti-synergy in my deck; my opponent will almost certainly be playing more artifacts and if he doesn't, I still get to play the Ouphe to my advantage as I can see the board state when I play it or have it get killed in combat. Of course if you managed to draft a lot of power, you probably shouldn't put Collector Ouphe in your deck. No biggie.
3. You're glossing over the fact that Collector Ouphe costs you only 2 mana, which is a massive difference. Urangutan is a better fit for more midrangey builds, and I certainly wouldn't play it over the likes of Goblin Rabblemaster in an aggro deck. A bear by contrast is much less embarrassing as a body for an aggro deck. Of course if you could play a Tin Street Hooligan in mono colours that always triggers you'd be an absolute madman not to play it. So on that one point we agree: Urangutan's triggered ability is superior to Ouphe's static ability.
We will test it in a 360 cube, and expect it to find a slot as Rakdos's 3rd card, behind Kolaghan's Command and Daretti, Ingenious Iconoclast.
I think this card is very close in power level to Najeela (who is at the bottom of my list), who maybe barely edges out New Krenko on Warrior synergies.
Of course Earthshaker Khenra has the ETB trigger and the Eternalize, but I think this card is really powerful.
TitI > Baral > Will Kenrith, but I'm not close to runnning any of these at 360
Living Death > Liliana (also not running either at 360, though Living Death is close)
Chart a Course > Search > Looter
Scrapheap Scrounger > Bloodghast > Asylum Visitor
Memory Lapse > Daze > Force Spike; we run all three.