Huh, that is a pretty interesting design. It's nice to see Wizards innovating a bit with the structure of their planeswalkers – even if, lacking an ultimate, she feels a bit lackluster from a flavor perspective. I can see this doing good work in tempo or control decks. Pity you can't use the -2 for reanimator purposes tho. I don't think it will quite make the cut for me but I think I'll try it out over Sorin LoI just for variety's sake.
Hi fellow cubers. Here's an idea I had for a new drafting method. My playgroup's been on hard times lately, so I haven't actually gotten to test it, but I wanted to run it by y'all and see what you think.
Auction Drafting
Open one 15 card pack and spread it face-up on the table. Each player then opens one additional 15 card pack each, which becomes his/her hand. The player will end up keeping some of these and using others to bid on cards on the table. The bidding value of a card is its CMC.
To bid, players take turns placing one card from their hand next to a card on the table. (Be sure to differentiate the two players’ bids by having them point towards the player who placed them, marking them with different colored poker chips, etc.) Once a card has been used as a bid, it is no longer draftable by either player. A player can outbid an opponent simply by placing a card of higher CMC over the earlier bid. Players continue in this fashion until each has bid on all the cards s/he wants to bid on. Once both players are satisfied, cards that have been “won” (including those won with 0 CMC bids, e.g. lands) go into their winner’s draft pile. Cards not bid on and cards used as bids are discarded.
Players keep their hands as a second pack is opened on the table, and a second round of bidding commences. (In other words, players may want to keep some higher CMC cards from their initial hand to bid on good stuff in the second round.) Players reverse order, and this round precedes as the previous one did, only now when it’s finished, both cards that were won from the table and whatever cards remain in hand are added to the player’s draft pile.
You’re a third of the way done! Simply repeat everything from the beginning twice more: two fresh packs per player, and four new packs face-up, one at a time.
By the end, each player should have seen 9 packs (of a total 12 used), and drafted around 45 cards, depending on how much competition there was for individual cards.
The thing I worry the most is that it seems to give aggro an unfair advantage (tho perhaps that's a good thing in cubes where aggro struggles). Any thoughts on how to avoid this? One way would be to have the cards used for bidding be completely separate from the cards used for deckbuilding – but that seems, to my mind anyway, to take some of the fun out of it, particularly the challenge of seeing how what's in your hand interacts well with what's on the table. Another possibility might be to switch it up so that low CMCs win cards. The problem there seems to be that there are simply too many cards with low CMCs, and the bidding with get muddled.
I can't tell you much specific to the Beijing Magic scene, but as an expat playing in South Korea I absolutely recommend bringing your cube (and a favorite deck or 2 if you play other formats) and a trade binder with you. A quick look at the Wizards Store Locator shows over 20 shops that sell Magic cards in Beijing, and their Magic scene is big enough that they've hosted Grand Prixs so there's bound to be a strong Magic scene. Showing up at some FNM drafts with a trade binder is bound to help you meet locals and expats with a common interest, which is fantastic when you're a stranger in a strange land. Expat Magic players in Asia are a niche within a niche, so if the Magic scene in Beijing is anything like the one in the Seoul area expat players will be really happy to see you show up and you will make friends. You may also be one of the only people in your area that owns a cube, so if you talk up your cube you're bound to have some takers. If you like pimping out your cube with foreign cards, it'll be a bonanza for you.
Also, if you ever come across the Yellow Sea to the Seoul area, PM me. I'd be happy to show you and your wife the sights and if you're in town on a Sunday night I'll make sure our group in Suwon does a cube draft for you to join.
Hi everyone, not sure if this is the right forum for questions like this, but I was just wondering: is there anybody currently cubing in Beijing? Who's maybe looking for another player? My wife & I will be moving there in like a month and it would be nice to keep the good times rolling. I haven't actually decided whether to take my own cube or put it in storage. (I probably will tho, it's my baby.)
Who wouldn't? Outside of zombie tribal sections where Gravecrawler thrives, Mr. Bloodsoaked is doubtless black's best 1 drop. He can even trigger his own raid trigger! I guess it's unfortunate that you can't recur him without other (attacking) creatures in play – a clear disadvantage to Bloodghast, but that's a 2 drop, and how much more could you want really?
There are certainly a lot of situations where this could be good, but I feel like most of the time it's just going to be a 1/2 for 2. Sure, threatening the pump means it'll get through in situations where it might not otherwise, but then you'll just be doing 1 damage. And does red really need more discard outlets? I feel like we got quite a few good ones in this set alone.
Seems a bit unpredictable to me. Sure, sometimes it'll be good value (even maybe a 2-for-1), but other times it'll just sit in your hand without a target and you'll wish you had some burn or Jackal Pup. I'd probably run Skin Invasion if I wanted this sort of effect.
I'd like this guy an awful lot more if he were green.
Even then...I dunno. These "sac another creature" mechanics have never been all that appealing (I'm looking at you, devour) - too easy to get blown out after after casting one. And having to sac a creature in order to get an anthem effect is a particularly weird nonbo. That said, like you say, swinging for 12 10 (had to reread that it was a "cast" trigger, pity) trample damage on t6 out of nowhere with a single dork is kind of an awesome scenario, and one that shouldn't be too hard to set up, either. More pleasant weekend than magical Christmas, I should think.
I don't actively support green aggro, but this guy kinda makes me want to. I'm currently running 6 dorks at 1cmc and another 4 ramp-type cards at 2. Might be fun to throw this guy and Experiment One (back) in for those BBE type aggro/mid decks. Cut...oh I dunno...Avacyn's Pilgrim and Vorapede, maybe?
Yes, definitely going in for us. Imposing Sovereign has probably won more games than just about any other 2-drop in the cube; having an even more powerful effect on a more relevant body is fantastic. I'm likely to swap out Flickerwisp here but Soltari Champion may ultimately be the cut.
While we're on the topic of 3 drops, is no one running Silverblade Paladin anymore? That card has been absolutely insane for us. Is it the double white that keeps people away?
For me, yes, this is it primarily. I just don't like a guy that's a 2/2 doublestriker in some matches and an instant ragequit in others. I mean, that's an exaggeration, but there's just something uniquely frustrating about your opponent having a card that specifically hates on the particular colors you happened to draft. It's just arbitrary and feel-baddy. I go back and forth on the swords for that very reason. /2cents
I don't like this card. It's an aggressive card that doesn't fit in aggro decks. I want my 3 mana rocks to either tap for more than one mana or fix my colors, this does neither.
Also, w00t conspiracy spoilers finally arriving!
The thing I worry the most is that it seems to give aggro an unfair advantage (tho perhaps that's a good thing in cubes where aggro struggles). Any thoughts on how to avoid this? One way would be to have the cards used for bidding be completely separate from the cards used for deckbuilding – but that seems, to my mind anyway, to take some of the fun out of it, particularly the challenge of seeing how what's in your hand interacts well with what's on the table. Another possibility might be to switch it up so that low CMCs win cards. The problem there seems to be that there are simply too many cards with low CMCs, and the bidding with get muddled.
Sweet, thanks!
I think the buff resolves before he ETBs, so it shouldn't.
Even then...I dunno. These "sac another creature" mechanics have never been all that appealing (I'm looking at you, devour) - too easy to get blown out after after casting one. And having to sac a creature in order to get an anthem effect is a particularly weird nonbo. That said, like you say, swinging for
1210 (had to reread that it was a "cast" trigger, pity) trample damage on t6 out of nowhere with a single dork is kind of an awesome scenario, and one that shouldn't be too hard to set up, either. More pleasant weekend than magical Christmas, I should think.While we're on the topic of 3 drops, is no one running Silverblade Paladin anymore? That card has been absolutely insane for us. Is it the double white that keeps people away?
For me, yes, this is it primarily. I just don't like a guy that's a 2/2 doublestriker in some matches and an instant ragequit in others. I mean, that's an exaggeration, but there's just something uniquely frustrating about your opponent having a card that specifically hates on the particular colors you happened to draft. It's just arbitrary and feel-baddy. I go back and forth on the swords for that very reason. /2cents
It taps for any color.