Reprieve is exciting - I’m already running mana tithe (at the moment at least), and reprieve I think is in an interesting spot where it’s clearly a better card on average than tithe/spike, but perhaps a bit worse in white relatively because it’s two mana. The higher cost I think is important, just because blue simply has more instants/flash so it’s more likely to be able to hold up 2 mana than white, which makes reprieve inherently just a bit more telegraphed and situational than remand. That dynamic I think assuages any fears I would have about color pie blurring.
Comparing to diregraf ghoul, I’d probably rather have the raid on later turns as well - you miss one turn of potential blocking in exchange for +2 life, and it’s much more likely to deal damage than the ghoul. Admittedly it does start to compare a bit less favorably once you start considering equips/buffs for the two turns of missed attacks, but then again, having menace means that once it does get to pick up an axe or whatever, it’s that much better.
EDIT: It is also quite a bit worse with stuff like curse of shallow graves, to be fair
I dunno, I kinda like the Okiba reckoner raid. You basically miss one attack relative to say a diregraf ghoul (if you play it turn one, you miss t2 and t3), but you immediately get half of one attack back and the other half the next turn in an unblocksble way (plus life gain), so you’re really only down 2 damage overall and only if the opponent couldn’t block/kill it turn 2/3, and then the 2/2 menace is way more likely to be able to get in on any subsequent turn.
In addition to the other options mentioned (Cloudgoat, Custodi Squire, Sentinel, Verdict, Scaleguard), I run Patron of the Valiant as my Serra-like card as a little extra support for +1/+1 counter synergies.
Speaking of graveyard decks, I think Relentless Pursuit could be the card I've been looking for as a way to support graveyard strats without being too narrow (on top of Satyr Wayfinder). Admittedly, I haven't tried Grapple with the Past or Winding Way or the like, but I've just been worried they are too weak outside of GY decks - this new card is at least potential card advantage and so might be able to slot into midrange green decks more easily.
Yeah, the card has honestly impressed me a lot in TOE limited - it can be INTENSELY frustrating to play against (though that might be a reason NOT to cube it). It essentially reduces the number of attacks the opponent can make for the rest of the game, while also reducing the effectiveness of each attack. The fact that you still gain the life EVEN if you block the attacking creature makes a big difference as well.
Want to find a slot to test Chandra, Novice Pyromancer - I've been liking the uncommon walkers, getting one with a plus and two relevant minuses is exciting, we'll see how she plays
Ancestral Blade - Neither half is super impressive, but I feel like the flexibility might be worth it
Cryptic Caves - There's not a simple slot in for my cube since I'm not currently running any utility lands, aside from Treetop Village and Faerie Conclave, but it seems like a nice option
Cloudkin Seer - Very efficient card that also works nicely with flyers and blink/sac type decks. Not sure if I want to cut stuff like Tandem Lookout, Sea Gate Oracle, Eldrazi Skyspawner, or Latch Seeker, who somehow all seem to overlap with the seer's functionality, but do each specific part a bit better.
Tomebound Lich - I like this card a lot, I'm tempted to run it alongside Shadowmage Infiltrator, since although I think Finkel does his own job a fair bit better than the Lich, the Tomeboy ends up performing a bunch of other nice functions too - triggers on ETB to work with blink/sac effects and get value in the face of removal, loots to work with graveyard stuff, and the deathtouch and lifelink make it operate better on defense. I actually do have space for both, since I think I'm down to cut Far // Away, which would leave my Dimir section all creatures (these guys and Baleful Strix and Psychatog.
Howling Giant - I am currently running Trostani's Summoner which I like (in theory at least) as a reanimator/blink/sac fodder tool. Being monogreen is nice, though it does work less well with blink effects with so much power concentrated in the pack leader. Freeing up a guild slot is nice in theory, though I'm not quite burning for Selesnya slots in particular. It's also competing with other green 7 drops, a slot that I might already run too many of (Pelakka Wurm, Roar of the Wurm, and Plated Crusher)
Bloodthirsty Aerialist - I've been eyeing lifegain themes, and this card might be the shoehorn that deck needed to justify inclusion, since it really only takes one trigger for this card to work, and two for it to be great. And it's not an absolute embarrassment with zero
Vampire of the Dire Moon - A nice buddy for the aerialist. I've never run any Typhoid rats type cards, but I've also been looking for an excuse to diversify my black one drops beyond just generic 2/x's for 1. Carnophage is just kind of a bad card that's been itching for the axe. I think Diregraf Ghoul, Gnarled Scarhide, and Vampire Lacerator can hold down that role just fine.
Likely Benchwarmers until critical mass of support Woodland Champion - Kind of wish this were a white card, right now I'm not running a ton of mono green token makers
Scholar of the Ages - Not really a card that I'm looking to hardcast, but boy is it sick if you get it into play and can start spinning the wheels
Season of Growth - Right now there's roughly 10 or so cards in my cube that trigger this. If I decide to go heavier on auras/heroic type stuff this seems like a good option
Angel of Vitality - If the aerialist/dire moon package goes well, I might be looking to expand the lifegain archetype. She could be a part of that effort, but she might still not be quite good enough.
Barkhide Troll - If I ever get around to pushing +1/+1 counters more, though I'm already not running Strangleroot Geist because of the GG cost, so this one might miss either way
Winged Words - I do like this card as a complement to the flyers strat, but Chart a Course is already sort of fulfilling that purpose better. If I find I want a second version of this sort of effect, it could make the cut
Moldervine Reclamation - Right now I'm running Deathreap Ritual to some success. There are pros and cons for each of these, but I feel like 5 mana might be the dealbreaker, though I like the effect
Audacious Thief - I like the idea of this card, kind of wish it had menace or deathtouch or something. Seems likely to die before attacking, or during its first combat, potentially not even trading
Ironroot Warlord - Pretty high floor, but I think its ceiling is not all that high actually and mostly coincides with win-more situations
Corpse Knight - Nice card for tokens/aggro, but my Orzhov section is super competitive that I don't think this ranks in the top 6 (and I only run 4 per section)
I mean, I already am running Fiery Cannonade so Flame Sweep is an easy upgrade. The upside is actually relevant, in my cube at least. Letting a UR tempo deck run a sweeper without killing its own Carnivorous Death-Parrots is a nice bonus to an effect that's already good enough.
Part of me really likes Angel of Vitality - it's definitely not good enough on its own, but it's definitely a welcome addition to the lifegain matters cardpool that may be approaching critical mass soon.
Chandra, Novice Pyromancer intrigues me - after having just gotten uncommon planeswalkers last set, and being somewhat impressed with at least a few of them, the prospect of a planeswalker that actually has a plus ability (even if it literally did nothing) is exciting. Her minuses are both relevant, she starts with a fair chunk of loyalty... I dunno, I think she might actually be good. The comparisons to Staggershock make some sense, but I think folks are underestimating the value of just being able to drop her on an empty board and represent a difficult to deal with threat. The mana ability is also quite relevant as well, even the turn you play her.
Undead Augur seems sweet. It's quite close to being just good enough completely on its own, and I incidentally run several other zombies and zombie creators that I think are enough to push it into solid territory. I don't even think you necessarily need to actively support tribal for him to be good.
Martyr's soul is definitely a cool design, I think it might not be quite good enough though - a big part of the power of convoke is being able to play creatures and then immediately tap them for mana, which doesn't really work for this guy's ability.
Goblin War Party is actually a bit intriguing to me. It might be a bit too expensive, but it's not THAT much worse than Beetleback Chief or Hordeling Outburst, and the potential to be a Heroic Reinforcements with a bonus guy late game is powerful. It's just slightly too expensive in each mode, and I'm not sure if the flexibility makes up for it, but I'm considering it at least.
Yeah I mean, I'm already sort of OK with having the slight imbalance, I guess I was just hoping I could have it both ways haha, like if y'all had any suggestions for hybrid/hybrid-ish cards I was overlooking that I could slot in to balance it a bit more.
Leelue, I'm curious, I've been adopting a similar strategy for accounting for hybrids as you do in your cube, and I've been having trouble balancing my colors with the addition of WAR. Before the set, my hybrid section looked like this:
Which wasn't totally balanced (4W, 4U, 4B, 5R, 3G), but was close enough that I figured it was fine since I was relatively happy with each individual card.
Now with WAR, I'm trying to find space for:
They might not each ultimately make the cut, but I think they are all much more interesting cards than the other hybrids I'm running, and potentially powerful as well. But the color balance gets thrown even more out of whack when I slot them in - maybe in part because I'm more willing to cut some of the non-finks non-redcap hybrids more than I'm willing to cut the blue signets, but here's where my hybrid section is at now:
Which has the color balance at 5U, 3W, 3B, 6R, 3G, obviously tilted towards blue and red. But I just like the blue and red cards more? Maybe I'll end up cutting some of the walkers if they don't play well, but the other hybrid cards don't end up slotting that well to replace them anyway since a lot of them were red or blue also, especially when the walker I'm most certain will stay is Saheeli.
Yeah conjurant has definitely impressed me in limited, it's a lot better than it looks because of the flexibility. Not sure it quite makes the cut for cube, but I'm considering it for sure. Like, even when they block it with a smaller thing to shrink it, you are still killing that thing so it's not terrible. It even has the fun property of being immune to deathtouch.
EDIT: It is also quite a bit worse with stuff like curse of shallow graves, to be fair
thank you for this
Fiery Cannonade -> Flame Sweep - Basically a strict upgrade
Thunderclap Wyvern -> Empyrean Eagle - While the flash is nice, 3 is a much nicer spot than 4 for this archetype in particular
Boros Challenger -> Skyknight Vanguard - Been struggling with my Boros section, this card seems good alongside anthems/burn spells
Want to find a slot to test
Chandra, Novice Pyromancer - I've been liking the uncommon walkers, getting one with a plus and two relevant minuses is exciting, we'll see how she plays
Ancestral Blade - Neither half is super impressive, but I feel like the flexibility might be worth it
Cryptic Caves - There's not a simple slot in for my cube since I'm not currently running any utility lands, aside from Treetop Village and Faerie Conclave, but it seems like a nice option
Spectral Sailor - I'm still trying to make Favorable winds and Curious Obsession happen, so this is a tempting option. The Flying Men suite has become surprisingly competitive recently, what with Pteramander, Faerie Seer, Siren Stormtamer, and Cloudfin Raptor, and I'm not totally sure this guy is better than those, or if I have room for five(!) of them
Cloudkin Seer - Very efficient card that also works nicely with flyers and blink/sac type decks. Not sure if I want to cut stuff like Tandem Lookout, Sea Gate Oracle, Eldrazi Skyspawner, or Latch Seeker, who somehow all seem to overlap with the seer's functionality, but do each specific part a bit better.
Tomebound Lich - I like this card a lot, I'm tempted to run it alongside Shadowmage Infiltrator, since although I think Finkel does his own job a fair bit better than the Lich, the Tomeboy ends up performing a bunch of other nice functions too - triggers on ETB to work with blink/sac effects and get value in the face of removal, loots to work with graveyard stuff, and the deathtouch and lifelink make it operate better on defense. I actually do have space for both, since I think I'm down to cut Far // Away, which would leave my Dimir section all creatures (these guys and Baleful Strix and Psychatog.
Howling Giant - I am currently running Trostani's Summoner which I like (in theory at least) as a reanimator/blink/sac fodder tool. Being monogreen is nice, though it does work less well with blink effects with so much power concentrated in the pack leader. Freeing up a guild slot is nice in theory, though I'm not quite burning for Selesnya slots in particular. It's also competing with other green 7 drops, a slot that I might already run too many of (Pelakka Wurm, Roar of the Wurm, and Plated Crusher)
Blood for Bones - This card interests me - I think it's probably worse than Victimize and Diabolic Servitude, but it might be time for me to admit that Whisper, Blood Liturgist isn't gonna happen, I should stop trying to make Whisper, Blood Liturigst happen.
Bloodthirsty Aerialist - I've been eyeing lifegain themes, and this card might be the shoehorn that deck needed to justify inclusion, since it really only takes one trigger for this card to work, and two for it to be great. And it's not an absolute embarrassment with zero
Vampire of the Dire Moon - A nice buddy for the aerialist. I've never run any Typhoid rats type cards, but I've also been looking for an excuse to diversify my black one drops beyond just generic 2/x's for 1. Carnophage is just kind of a bad card that's been itching for the axe. I think Diregraf Ghoul, Gnarled Scarhide, and Vampire Lacerator can hold down that role just fine.
Likely Benchwarmers until critical mass of support
Woodland Champion - Kind of wish this were a white card, right now I'm not running a ton of mono green token makers
Scholar of the Ages - Not really a card that I'm looking to hardcast, but boy is it sick if you get it into play and can start spinning the wheels
Season of Growth - Right now there's roughly 10 or so cards in my cube that trigger this. If I decide to go heavier on auras/heroic type stuff this seems like a good option
Gnarlback Rhino - Another tool for the above archetype
Brineborn Cutthroat - Neat card, I am sort of trying to make simic flash a thing as an attempt to justify Wilderness Reclamation and this is another cog for that
Angel of Vitality - If the aerialist/dire moon package goes well, I might be looking to expand the lifegain archetype. She could be a part of that effort, but she might still not be quite good enough.
Twinblade Paladin - Same as above
Barkhide Troll - If I ever get around to pushing +1/+1 counters more, though I'm already not running Strangleroot Geist because of the GG cost, so this one might miss either way
Lightning Stormkin - A bit too boring for a gold card, feel like I'd prefer Adeliz, the Cinder Wind or Stormchaser Mage as more interesting versions, though the stormkin is possibly better just on average power level
Winged Words - I do like this card as a complement to the flyers strat, but Chart a Course is already sort of fulfilling that purpose better. If I find I want a second version of this sort of effect, it could make the cut
Moldervine Reclamation - Right now I'm running Deathreap Ritual to some success. There are pros and cons for each of these, but I feel like 5 mana might be the dealbreaker, though I like the effect
Audacious Thief - I like the idea of this card, kind of wish it had menace or deathtouch or something. Seems likely to die before attacking, or during its first combat, potentially not even trading
Ironroot Warlord - Pretty high floor, but I think its ceiling is not all that high actually and mostly coincides with win-more situations
Corpse Knight - Nice card for tokens/aggro, but my Orzhov section is super competitive that I don't think this ranks in the top 6 (and I only run 4 per section)
I will also likely replace Thunderclap Wyvern with Empyrean Eagle - the flash is nice, but costing 3 instead of 4 is a big deal, especially when other anthems and important cards in the archetype cost 4 - Celestial Crusader, Kongming, Sleeping Dragon, Battle Screech, Spectral Procession (most likely in a two color deck), etc.
Part of me really likes Angel of Vitality - it's definitely not good enough on its own, but it's definitely a welcome addition to the lifegain matters cardpool that may be approaching critical mass soon.
Chandra, Novice Pyromancer intrigues me - after having just gotten uncommon planeswalkers last set, and being somewhat impressed with at least a few of them, the prospect of a planeswalker that actually has a plus ability (even if it literally did nothing) is exciting. Her minuses are both relevant, she starts with a fair chunk of loyalty... I dunno, I think she might actually be good. The comparisons to Staggershock make some sense, but I think folks are underestimating the value of just being able to drop her on an empty board and represent a difficult to deal with threat. The mana ability is also quite relevant as well, even the turn you play her.
Goblin War Party is actually a bit intriguing to me. It might be a bit too expensive, but it's not THAT much worse than Beetleback Chief or Hordeling Outburst, and the potential to be a Heroic Reinforcements with a bonus guy late game is powerful. It's just slightly too expensive in each mode, and I'm not sure if the flexibility makes up for it, but I'm considering it at least.
Which wasn't totally balanced (4W, 4U, 4B, 5R, 3G), but was close enough that I figured it was fine since I was relatively happy with each individual card.
Now with WAR, I'm trying to find space for:
They might not each ultimately make the cut, but I think they are all much more interesting cards than the other hybrids I'm running, and potentially powerful as well. But the color balance gets thrown even more out of whack when I slot them in - maybe in part because I'm more willing to cut some of the non-finks non-redcap hybrids more than I'm willing to cut the blue signets, but here's where my hybrid section is at now:
Which has the color balance at 5U, 3W, 3B, 6R, 3G, obviously tilted towards blue and red. But I just like the blue and red cards more? Maybe I'll end up cutting some of the walkers if they don't play well, but the other hybrid cards don't end up slotting that well to replace them anyway since a lot of them were red or blue also, especially when the walker I'm most certain will stay is Saheeli.