IF you assume you can splice it onto an arcane spell easily and
IF you assume there are no other permanents of the same type in their deck
it's Vindicate for 2UU.
That second "if" is especially unlikely though. (Yay, I killed your Tamiyo and you get JtMS?) Flexible as it is, I just don't see it.
I thought it would be fun to list some of our pet cards that we like in cube but don't seem to be run in many other cubes of similar size. (Recognizing, of course, that no one can really tell you your cube is WRONG. It's yours!) For me, I'm new to cube so it's something of a learning experience. But for other people, it might show us some cards we haven't thought of that could be strong.
I'll start with a few. Tell me why you wouldn't run these:
Sands of Delirium If you have other milling support, it's great of course, but I think it works really well in control mirrors as well as ramp decks. Reanimator/Dredge applications are bit more suspect. Nevertheless, it's flexible, and more overtly powerful in a format that uses 40 card decks than you might expect.
Mindslaver A card with CMC 6 needs to be a gamebreaker. This one is totally colorless, can be Tinkered for, and can end games by itself. Granted it varies a bit based on the board state, but it's a great feeling to pull off.
Might of Oaks At 8 life or less? Now you have to block my mana elves when I leave 4 open. Removal of basically anything you can chump block for 4 or a nasty surprise win.
Field of Souls Look at this enchantment. Now back to me. Look again. Your creatures are now Doomed Travelers. For white weenie or any other aggro, it gives you resilience you don't usually have. Get behind? This is the synergy you want to pair with your wrath effects.
But having a game that offers frustratingly complex mechanics or situations is a WEAKNESS, not a strength. As a teacher, you now have to account for things like attention span and possible decline in interest from youths who find they don't want to wade through a whole bunch of rules to get to the fun part.
I totally agree. But I think that is less likely to occur with new players as well. For example, new players are going to read Fiend Hunter pretty much like they read Banisher Priest. But an experienced player could frustrate a new player by abusing trigger-stacking with Fiend Hunter. That's the kind of rules complexity that is likely to come up only when experienced players are involved.
I'm going to go a bit against the consensus here and say it's just fine to give new players a cube to draft. It's the same as playing a board game like 7 Wonders or any other game with drafting or an auction mechanism for the first time. Yeah, you won't value things properly. But that's how you learn. If everyone is on the same footing, it shouldn't be a problem.
Not being able to experience or appreciate the full depth that a game offers the first time you play it is a STRENGTH of the game, not a weakness.
For sure this approach becomes more problematic with larger cubes. For a 360 though, running Llanowar Elves, Birds of Paradise, Elves of Deep Shadow, Avacyn's Pilgrim, Joraga Tree-Speaker, Arbor Elf and Noble Hierarch seems like plenty of one drop density to me.
Also, it's a GOAL for my cube, but it isn't there yet. Smite is out for Path to Exile once I save up enough to buy one. I'm also currently running Terramorphic Expanse and Evolving Wilds. So don't use my current list as a model right now.
They are from a cube context unless you support Hound or Cat tribal.
EDIT: Oh I see what you were saying. I meant that one is being strictly worse doesn't prevent me running the other because they are in different colors.
Everything has to be the best at something. There's no reason to cut every similar card just because there's one card out there that does it better than the rest.
My point was actually that I prefer to cut the one card that does it better than the rest and leave the more balanced ones in, not the other way around.
And since I don't want to run strictly worse things either, it means no Boreal Druid. Granted, Boreal Druid provides snow mana. But WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF MY CUBE, snow doesn't matter to any cards, so it's functionally always worse.
Since I run Man o' War, Aether Adept is strictly worse EXCEPT if I have some Wizard tribal support.
It's fine to run Jackal Pup along with Savannah Lions though, because they are in different colors, thus not "strictly the same".
This gives me the balance I want out of my cube while also serving to eliminate some of the more broken stuff like Sol Ring, which would otherwise be better than many other mana rocks.
Anyone else like this? Any reason this is a stupid idea you hate?
I run Doomed Necromancer. Modern-frame non-foil only in my cube, so good reanimation spells are a little tough to come by. I've found it to be reasonably close in power to something like Makeshift Mannequin.
IF you assume there are no other permanents of the same type in their deck
it's Vindicate for 2UU.
That second "if" is especially unlikely though. (Yay, I killed your Tamiyo and you get JtMS?) Flexible as it is, I just don't see it.
Exactly. Banisher Priest has only one triggered ability, while the others have two separate ones.
Thanks. Didn't know how to search for this concept exactly. Apparently "dark horse" is what I needed to type.
EDIT: Actually, that looks more like "cards everyone says you SHOULD run that didn't seem good but then actually were."
I like Mentor of the Meek quite a bit as well.
Fettergeist and Mul-Daya Channelers seem interesting. I might have to consider them.
I'll start with a few. Tell me why you wouldn't run these:
Sands of Delirium If you have other milling support, it's great of course, but I think it works really well in control mirrors as well as ramp decks. Reanimator/Dredge applications are bit more suspect. Nevertheless, it's flexible, and more overtly powerful in a format that uses 40 card decks than you might expect.
Mindslaver A card with CMC 6 needs to be a gamebreaker. This one is totally colorless, can be Tinkered for, and can end games by itself. Granted it varies a bit based on the board state, but it's a great feeling to pull off.
Might of Oaks At 8 life or less? Now you have to block my mana elves when I leave 4 open. Removal of basically anything you can chump block for 4 or a nasty surprise win.
Field of Souls Look at this enchantment. Now back to me. Look again. Your creatures are now Doomed Travelers. For white weenie or any other aggro, it gives you resilience you don't usually have. Get behind? This is the synergy you want to pair with your wrath effects.
I totally agree. But I think that is less likely to occur with new players as well. For example, new players are going to read Fiend Hunter pretty much like they read Banisher Priest. But an experienced player could frustrate a new player by abusing trigger-stacking with Fiend Hunter. That's the kind of rules complexity that is likely to come up only when experienced players are involved.
Not being able to experience or appreciate the full depth that a game offers the first time you play it is a STRENGTH of the game, not a weakness.
Also, it's a GOAL for my cube, but it isn't there yet. Smite is out for Path to Exile once I save up enough to buy one. I'm also currently running Terramorphic Expanse and Evolving Wilds. So don't use my current list as a model right now.
That's a great point actually. I hadn't considered that aspect.
They are from a cube context unless you support Hound or Cat tribal.
EDIT: Oh I see what you were saying. I meant that one is being strictly worse doesn't prevent me running the other because they are in different colors.
Fair Point. I like Worn Powerstone though. I was thinking of Everflowing Chalice as well, but that technically doesn't work.
My point was actually that I prefer to cut the one card that does it better than the rest and leave the more balanced ones in, not the other way around.
Additionally though, I don't like running cards that are exactly the same.
So since I run Llanowar Elves, that means no Fyndhorn Elves, no Elvish Mystic, etc.
And since I don't want to run strictly worse things either, it means no Boreal Druid. Granted, Boreal Druid provides snow mana. But WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF MY CUBE, snow doesn't matter to any cards, so it's functionally always worse.
Since I run Man o' War, Aether Adept is strictly worse EXCEPT if I have some Wizard tribal support.
It's fine to run Jackal Pup along with Savannah Lions though, because they are in different colors, thus not "strictly the same".
This gives me the balance I want out of my cube while also serving to eliminate some of the more broken stuff like Sol Ring, which would otherwise be better than many other mana rocks.
Anyone else like this? Any reason this is a stupid idea you hate?
I actually like the new Control Magic art much better than the old. Like, not even close. Ditto for Prosperity.