In our draft yesterday I saw no 2-mana blue counters in the entire draft while a Cryptic Command was wheeled to me and that really got me thinking about the current state of Cryptic. Have we really come to the point where subpar 2-mana counters (lose focus, arcane denial and so on) are way higher picks than Cryptic Command? Imo Cryptic has always a been a high-reward, narrow, parasitic blue control payoff but I'm wondering if the payoff is enough these days. Not planning to cut it yet as blue 4-drop instants are not particularly competitive, but it's definitely creeping closer to the chopping block.
Among the following, which one would you choose to round out the counterspell suite in a 360 Legacy+ Cube:
- Lose Focus
- Memory Lapse
- Stern Scolding
For context Stern Scolding hits 103/137 (75.2%) creatures in my cube.
I love that we keep getting more and more cheap planeswalker removal, it goes a long way towards preventing early snowballing and it also helps simplify boardstates (which is sorely needed when every other card makes 2+ tokens but this is a topic for another day). Molten collapse competes with kolaghan's command, daretti and fire convenant in my cube. I think I might skip this one purely for variety's sake but can't deny the card is bonkers good.
We have tried this for three drafts. As an engine, it's quite slow and not 100% reliable, which isn't great for a card that is niche to begin with. It can be fun and it definitely gives white some desirable texture in the cube, especially in combination with artifact clone effects. Its success in constructed was short-lived and was only because you could play multiples of this (it does work wonders in multiples). Long story short, I would play this in slower cubes with at least a couple of artifact clone effects, blink effects and obviously token producing effects although those are ubiquitous these days. It isn't powerful enough as a standalone card in legacy+ cubes imo.
Agreed although it must be said that the cost of activation is very steep. P&K are also relevant for any cube that wants to support The One Ring. However, I gotta admit I like this a fair bit more than Siege-Gang Commander, mostly for its ability to sac any creature, not just goblins. It will probably turn out to be too slow an engine to be effective, but I really hope we will get more stuff like this in the future.
I think this is significantly better than both FTK and Custodi Lich (removes planeswalkers, deals damage to face, insane with equipment, much better with flicker effects) but a fair bit worse than Palace Jailer. I just wish it were 1 mana cheaper and it had a smaller body because any good aggro deck should not play 5 drops imo. For the record I'm considering cutting Nahiri for this .
I think this might be one of the biggest sleepers of all time on the forum. We tested this card yesterday and it performed incredibly well. It won 2 games basically by itself, killing Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes and drawing multiple cards. I didn't add any humans to support this (except Forth Eorlingas!) and it still got at least a counter in every game it was cast. I have 23 RW Humans/Human token makers in my 400 card cube and apparently it's plenty enough for this to shine. If your format is slow enough for your RW aggro decks to be in the market for a 5-drop, this might be the best Boros card ever after Forth Eorlingas, which honestly might be the only reason why this won't see more cube play.
Did anyone have any success with this? I am in the process of adding some more lands support to my cube but this was middling at best, just like tireless provisioner and other lands payoffs. I feel like this archetype comes together once every 10 drafts and I should just give up on it but I don't wanna.
Just curious about where everybody is at regarding heirloom blade today. Is sword of fire and ice still stronger? Personally, I'd rank it just below SOFI, right next to feast and famine and above every other sword.
Am I the only one to think that this card is just a tad overrated? Don't get me wrong, it's going in my cube for sure, most likely for Beast within, but there is an aspect of the card that worries me. Giving my opponent a land, untapped and even nonbasic no less, makes it so I really don't want to use this to hit a mox or a signet, which are often the targets of efficient artifact interaction in my cube. This means that boseiju is best used on later turns to answer bigger, scarier things. I wonder how many times I will be able to hold on to this long enough to use it as a worthwhile spell. But then again, it's a freaking forest so none of this really matters if you look at it as a land, which it is. And the interactions with wrenn, loam and regrowth effects will probably make this card insane regardless.
I'm gonna follow your advice. Out the wurm and in comes hive. Also I think I might swap lili for custodi lich since y'all seem to be so high on that little fellow.
Will let you know if we enjoy the changes
Looking for some advice on what to cut for this card. I currently don't run any black utility lands and I figured it was time to finally get one in there. It's probably gonna be Hive or maybe stronghold but that's besides the point. When it comes to what to cut I'm completely lost. Here are the options I am considering:
- Massacre Wurm: kind of redundant and hate the triple black. Love that it's a castable reanimate target, would like to have 2 black six drops and effect is splashy and fun.
- Liliana Death's Majesty: not a card that anyone is particularly happy to draft but a necessary evil since black fives are so lacking
- Valki: decent 2-drop for black aggro but rear side is pretty much wasted and the effect is fundamentally worse than freeboter's in a powered cube
- Heartless Act: efficient, splashable but it's still "only" a doom blade effect
- Hero's Downfall: flexible and powerful, not splashable and already have access to rider and baleful mastery. Also I don't run very many PWs
Not sure what's surprising... I thought Red's 'walker situation was pretty straight-forward.
This didn't age so well. What led you to axing Koth?? Asking because I'm lowering the overall curve of my cube and I need to cut at least one red four drop. Currently contemplating cutting Koth or getting rid of twin
- Lose Focus
- Memory Lapse
- Stern Scolding
For context Stern Scolding hits 103/137 (75.2%) creatures in my cube.
Monastery Mentor
Sedgemoor Witch
Young Pyromancer
Chrome host seedshark
Saheeli, sublime artificer
Third path iconoclast
Exciting new red 4-drop that could be a roleplayer in both aggro and sacrifice builds. Clearly worse than dedicated aggro 4-drops such as Hellrider or Rampaging Raptor, it might challenge Pia and Kiran Nalaar or Siege-Gang Commander.
What are your thoughts?
Will let you know if we enjoy the changes
- Massacre Wurm: kind of redundant and hate the triple black. Love that it's a castable reanimate target, would like to have 2 black six drops and effect is splashy and fun.
- Liliana Death's Majesty: not a card that anyone is particularly happy to draft but a necessary evil since black fives are so lacking
- Valki: decent 2-drop for black aggro but rear side is pretty much wasted and the effect is fundamentally worse than freeboter's in a powered cube
- Heartless Act: efficient, splashable but it's still "only" a doom blade effect
- Hero's Downfall: flexible and powerful, not splashable and already have access to rider and baleful mastery. Also I don't run very many PWs
I'm eager to hear your opinions
This didn't age so well. What led you to axing Koth?? Asking because I'm lowering the overall curve of my cube and I need to cut at least one red four drop. Currently contemplating cutting Koth or getting rid of twin