You are quite right. I should probably find better cards in U/B. Regarding ankh of mishra, it's just a terrible top deck and often you want to curve out with guys anyway. But then again, i also cut black vise from my cube, because i have different playtesting results than others.
Here are the cuts and additions i have lined up atm.
Exalted Angel - Council's Judgment
Vengevine - Oracle of Mul Daya
Strangleroot Geist - Courser of Kruphix
Avenger of Zendikar - Reclamation Sage
(Something) - Curse of Predation
Molten Rain - Goblin Rabblemaster
Firestorm - Rolling Earthquake
Fire//Ice - Izzet Charm
Electrolyze - Dack Fayden
Murderous Redcap - Grenzo, Dungeon Warden
Steel Hellkite - Hellkite Overlord
---------------------------------------------
Exalted Angel has been pulling it's weight and a decent card, but i feel it's been worse than say Elspeth Tirel. Here i have to cut a card and i want to support the token theme a bit so i'm letting Spear and Tirel stay and cutting Exalted Angel instead. Unsure whether or not i'll miss it, but we'll see. And this new card is amazing, can't have enough mono color vindicates.
The other shift is my green. Cards like Strangleroot Geist and Vengevine haven't been pulling their weight as much as i hoped. Green is a decent aggro plan, but it usually supports another color with fatties. Usually green ends up with more midrangy decks, and the cards i want to add reflect this. Some of the cards i want to add are just decent value, or upgrades. Courser of Kruphix seems like a very good midrange card that ups your card quality, and is very good against aggro. I want to fit in Curse of Predation but i don't know what to cut. Troll Ascetic is close, but having three drops to accelerate into is important for green. If Courser doesn't work out, i'll probably cut it for predation.
In red i'm missing the Rolling Earthquake, it would be in if it weren't for this fact. Molten Rain and Firestorm haven't been pulling their weight, but Firestorm has done some good so i'm more inclined to let it stay. The card i want to test is the Goblin Rabblemaster which should be a decent addition for token decks.
The multicolor cards are cards i want to test, and i'm convinced they'll work out. Hellkite Overlord was given the edge over Empyrial Archangel as a Natural Order target because it kills in basically two turns. Broodmate Dragon is under consideration.
The organization makes sense to me if you see them as colorless cards. While they are better in their respective colored decks, i've seen all of them played in non-blue decks. My colorless section is also a bit bigger, so i have extra slots for it. As for the green fatty of choice, my second go to guy was pelakka wurm. I think the tokens are very good, but it's not as good on turn 3/4 with natural order, where Pelakka Wurm would shine. Avenger is better in a lot of situations, especially where removal is concerned. I'll discuss it with my players i think.
Hmm, Vengevine hasn't been doing to much good either lately. It's good at pressuring planeswalkers and control decks. Might think about that one, or i might cut it when i get my Oracle of Mul Daya. Steel Hellkite is going out for a Hellkite Overlord when i get it (which should be soon).
Alright, after having to figure out some cuts i ended up shifting the cube slightly. Phyerxian mana cost cards frequently end up in other colored decks. Essentially Metamorph, Dismember and Porcelain Legionaire end up in decks that don't play their colors. I'll move them to the artifact/colorless section and cut some of the cards that haven't done much for me.
Ankh of Mishra is not that good, you can usually play around it, Memory Jar has not done anything, even though i'm a big fan. I just don't support combo enough. I might re add it if i decide to support storm or such decks a bit more. The last cut is Lodestone golem, which has been fine but is my least favourite artifact creature atm. It's decent, but both steel hellkite and precursor have been better.
Since i now open up some slots in white/blue/black i get to add back in cards that were previously cut, and add the ravages of war that is incoming:
So:
-1 Jar (Replaced by Porcelain Legionnaire)
-1 Lodestone Golem (Replaced by Phyrexian Metamorph)
-1 Ankh of Mishra (Replaced by Dismember)
+1 Psionic Blast (which is on the verge of getting cut, when a good new blue card shows up it's out).
+1 Blood Scrivener
+1 Ravages of War
In addition i've decided i need more support for Natural Order and have cut Nantuko Vigilante for Hornet Queen. I will also make another cut in the colorless section in the future to make space for a Hellkite Overlord which is a great reanimation/NO target, something i feel i've been missing.
Just fixed me a Ravages of War and i have the option of cutting (in my mind) either Elspeth Tirel or Spear of Heliod. So far Spear of Heliod has seen some play, but it's nothing special. The synergy of Elspeth Tirel in red tokens and in some other decks makes it see a lot more play. So i'm leaning towards cutting Spear of Heliod.
Agreed: Changed the cut from Shard to Psionic Blast. Riftwing might be something of a pet card, but it has shown it's value in most of the drafts. The fact that you can suspend it makes it really good. I'm a sucker for build around cards though, so i'm unsure of how long it'll stay. Atm i'd much rather cut Shard or Tezzeret before touching Riftwing. Tezzeret is super sweet when it works, but it works less often than Crystal Shard.
Cutting cards is hard. I want to keep them all, but i don't want a large cube size ^^,.
I've been very happy with both Morphling. I'm more likely to cut the Psionic Blast than any of those. Tezzeret is part of the artifact package, but is definitely one of the weaker cards. I could definitely see cutting Psionic Blast for now and letting Tezzeret go before the Shard.
Trying out Jace, Architect of Thought, and cutting Crystal Shard. Crystal Shard is a very good card, but ends up in the sideboard very often. I think Jace AOT will see more maindeck play.
I realize i probably shouldn't have taken a booster with Swords in them ;D. I'm very much a blue mage though and would probably err on taking the Jace. The pack is pretty weak though, so after the Jace and Sword is gone there's a lot of very close picks in there.
Cool :). I'm probably getting a Gnarled Scarhide, Imperial Seal and a Master of the Feast for the cube soon. Meaning i have to cut three black cards. At this point i'm looking to cut Sinkhole, Bane of the Living and probably Pain Seer/Bone Shredder.
I don't really want to cut the Pain Seer as i got the game day one, which is sooo pimp. But it's a close one. Between it and Bone Shredder.
The cut for Prophetic Flamespeaker will probably be Blistering Firecat. In my cube Firecat and Firestorm aren't getting drafted and very rarely makes the cut. Goblin Welder is definitely a pet card of mine, and i demolished last draft with it, but i'm not sure how often it'll go that way. I am however supporting artifacts a bit more with this cube than others. And i just love the little guy. But certainly on the chopping block.
EDIT:
-1 Eternal Dragon
+1 Elspeth Tirel.
Had Elspeth in, and she was decent, don't know why i cut it instead of dragon.
Added a cube chopping block. The cards on there are the ones i'm most likely to cut during my next cube update, or cards that have been underperfoming. It also gives some insight into what i believe are cards that have been less stellar and opens up some discussion (for those interested in having one). If not it also serves as a memory bank for me ^^,.
Actually didn't think of that (thought it seems kinda obvious at this point). The Magma Jet swap would be the most logical, and my reasoning at the time was that i didn't have all to many bombtastic cards for Sneak Attack, so i wanted the scry. This is probably just wrong, as killing two guys would in many situations be just as good. Faithless Looting interacts pretty well with welder, but it might not be good enough. It did give me some good ways of putting guys into the yard during play, but it's definitely reasonable to assume that it could be cut.
The deck wasn't actually that insane, it was a bit slow. But it did have some incredible late game grind power, so i won most games that went long. The deck 3-0ed, but i felt that most games were close. Which is the way it should be!
Played some good old cube today. Posted some pictures on my twitter account (@stoyrm). I don't believe i can hotlink the pictures directly into this thread but here's the links anyway!
Had the morphling in my deck for a while and the squee was pretty tempting, but not good enough. This deck really showcased the strenght of goblin welder, and the imperial recruiter let me get it every game. Dack Fayden would have been AMAZING in this deck and i'm really looking forward to seeing him in action in the future!
Let me know if you thought i misbuilt the deck, definitely choices here that could have been different!
I'm more into Constructed than Limited these days, which should indicate something about my opinion on the format.
What. Is. This. Sorcery?
I heard this rumor after a friend went to the awful PTQ held in Oslo but i couldn't quite believe it. This doesn't happen very often!
On another note; I've been playing a bit of cube lately and i'm really enjoying playing with Power. I'll be the first to say that some games are a bit lopsided and can be a bit frustrating, but it's so much fun when you get to play some absurd archetype like Grixis Welder. I think i need to myself a "The Abyss" though, i hadn't thought of playing the card until recently, but it seems super powerful in a planeswalker control strategy. Not sure about it yet though. Anyway getting one of those will have to wait as my pimping sickness has been influencing me recently. I finished my set of power last summer so now i'm finishing some foil pimping for my vintage deck, which hasn't been cheap. If i don't end up using the cards they'll be cube cards anyway. Which leads me to the other pimping sickness. I started out picking up some small fnm foils and suddenly i want all the FNM foils. Foiling and cube goes hand in hand with a bank account with no money!
Legacy has been good to me lately netting me two firsts and a third with Jund, Storm and High Tide. Borrowed High Tide the other day and went on a real 2-0 heater until the semi's where i played terribly and lost because of it, which was absolutely justice so it was fine.
Cut Black Vise today, which some people would consider heresy i'm sure. Added a All is Dust even though i think that is probably the wrong add. I've been wanting another colorless man and i've been thinking of adding a Steel Hellkite. It survives Wildfire variants and is a decent tinker target. Black Vise has NEVER been good in any of the drafts we've played and it's too situational. It's more of a sideboard card anyway and not a good one at that.
Here are the cuts and additions i have lined up atm.
Exalted Angel - Council's Judgment
Vengevine - Oracle of Mul Daya
Strangleroot Geist - Courser of Kruphix
Avenger of Zendikar - Reclamation Sage
(Something) - Curse of Predation
Molten Rain - Goblin Rabblemaster
Firestorm - Rolling Earthquake
Fire//Ice - Izzet Charm
Electrolyze - Dack Fayden
Murderous Redcap - Grenzo, Dungeon Warden
Steel Hellkite - Hellkite Overlord
---------------------------------------------
Exalted Angel has been pulling it's weight and a decent card, but i feel it's been worse than say Elspeth Tirel. Here i have to cut a card and i want to support the token theme a bit so i'm letting Spear and Tirel stay and cutting Exalted Angel instead. Unsure whether or not i'll miss it, but we'll see. And this new card is amazing, can't have enough mono color vindicates.
The other shift is my green. Cards like Strangleroot Geist and Vengevine haven't been pulling their weight as much as i hoped. Green is a decent aggro plan, but it usually supports another color with fatties. Usually green ends up with more midrangy decks, and the cards i want to add reflect this. Some of the cards i want to add are just decent value, or upgrades. Courser of Kruphix seems like a very good midrange card that ups your card quality, and is very good against aggro. I want to fit in Curse of Predation but i don't know what to cut. Troll Ascetic is close, but having three drops to accelerate into is important for green. If Courser doesn't work out, i'll probably cut it for predation.
In red i'm missing the Rolling Earthquake, it would be in if it weren't for this fact. Molten Rain and Firestorm haven't been pulling their weight, but Firestorm has done some good so i'm more inclined to let it stay. The card i want to test is the Goblin Rabblemaster which should be a decent addition for token decks.
The multicolor cards are cards i want to test, and i'm convinced they'll work out. Hellkite Overlord was given the edge over Empyrial Archangel as a Natural Order target because it kills in basically two turns. Broodmate Dragon is under consideration.
Hmm, Vengevine hasn't been doing to much good either lately. It's good at pressuring planeswalkers and control decks. Might think about that one, or i might cut it when i get my Oracle of Mul Daya. Steel Hellkite is going out for a Hellkite Overlord when i get it (which should be soon).
Ankh of Mishra is not that good, you can usually play around it, Memory Jar has not done anything, even though i'm a big fan. I just don't support combo enough. I might re add it if i decide to support storm or such decks a bit more. The last cut is Lodestone golem, which has been fine but is my least favourite artifact creature atm. It's decent, but both steel hellkite and precursor have been better.
Since i now open up some slots in white/blue/black i get to add back in cards that were previously cut, and add the ravages of war that is incoming:
So:
-1 Jar (Replaced by Porcelain Legionnaire)
-1 Lodestone Golem (Replaced by Phyrexian Metamorph)
-1 Ankh of Mishra (Replaced by Dismember)
+1 Psionic Blast (which is on the verge of getting cut, when a good new blue card shows up it's out).
+1 Blood Scrivener
+1 Ravages of War
In addition i've decided i need more support for Natural Order and have cut Nantuko Vigilante for Hornet Queen. I will also make another cut in the colorless section in the future to make space for a Hellkite Overlord which is a great reanimation/NO target, something i feel i've been missing.
Cutting cards is hard. I want to keep them all, but i don't want a large cube size ^^,.
1 Isolated Chapel
1 Accorder Paladin
1 Jace Beleren
1 Sundering Titan
1 Hellspark Elemental
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Carnophage
1 Memory Lapse
1 Chromatic Lantern
1 Ajani Goldmane
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Breeding Pool
1 Pillage
1 Stromkirk Noble
I don't really want to cut the Pain Seer as i got the game day one, which is sooo pimp. But it's a close one. Between it and Bone Shredder.
The cut for Prophetic Flamespeaker will probably be Blistering Firecat. In my cube Firecat and Firestorm aren't getting drafted and very rarely makes the cut. Goblin Welder is definitely a pet card of mine, and i demolished last draft with it, but i'm not sure how often it'll go that way. I am however supporting artifacts a bit more with this cube than others. And i just love the little guy. But certainly on the chopping block.
EDIT:
-1 Eternal Dragon
+1 Elspeth Tirel.
Had Elspeth in, and she was decent, don't know why i cut it instead of dragon.
The deck wasn't actually that insane, it was a bit slow. But it did have some incredible late game grind power, so i won most games that went long. The deck 3-0ed, but i felt that most games were close. Which is the way it should be!
This is my maindeck:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BmF11-KCEAE_q0I.jpg:large
And this is my SB
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BmF2KM8CcAA5Z3f.jpg:large
Had the morphling in my deck for a while and the squee was pretty tempting, but not good enough. This deck really showcased the strenght of goblin welder, and the imperial recruiter let me get it every game. Dack Fayden would have been AMAZING in this deck and i'm really looking forward to seeing him in action in the future!
Let me know if you thought i misbuilt the deck, definitely choices here that could have been different!
What. Is. This. Sorcery?
I heard this rumor after a friend went to the awful PTQ held in Oslo but i couldn't quite believe it. This doesn't happen very often!
On another note; I've been playing a bit of cube lately and i'm really enjoying playing with Power. I'll be the first to say that some games are a bit lopsided and can be a bit frustrating, but it's so much fun when you get to play some absurd archetype like Grixis Welder. I think i need to myself a "The Abyss" though, i hadn't thought of playing the card until recently, but it seems super powerful in a planeswalker control strategy. Not sure about it yet though. Anyway getting one of those will have to wait as my pimping sickness has been influencing me recently. I finished my set of power last summer so now i'm finishing some foil pimping for my vintage deck, which hasn't been cheap. If i don't end up using the cards they'll be cube cards anyway. Which leads me to the other pimping sickness. I started out picking up some small fnm foils and suddenly i want all the FNM foils. Foiling and cube goes hand in hand with a bank account with no money!
Legacy has been good to me lately netting me two firsts and a third with Jund, Storm and High Tide. Borrowed High Tide the other day and went on a real 2-0 heater until the semi's where i played terribly and lost because of it, which was absolutely justice so it was fine.