This card has been a great roleplayer for us. I wouldn't fault anyone for trying Urza's as well, as Mishra's is only marginally better than Urza's, but two Cube slots feels like a lot for this effect.
I'm really curious to see how this works out for your group. I definitely agree with the idea that blue tends to be more highly drafted than it can support but I worry that without that part holding it back it will just run over everything. Looking forward to seeing if my thesis is false.
That is a reasonable concern. Based on my experiences recently the non-blue decks do just fine, but the problem is more of the draft dynamics and how there seems to be a glut of Naya shard cards at the end of every draft. In theory smoothing this out keeps number of people drafting the archetypes at a similar level but smoothes picks out and allows the blue tempo and blue control players to signal a bit better. We'll see what happens though - first time I've unbalanced the color sections in the 10 years I've maintained this Cube.
Many drafts were had, many beers consumed. Old friends reunited and a couple new friends made. A great weekend for Cube!
In general the Cube feels quite balanced in its current form with very few “dead cards.” Pretty much all my concerns in the previous post were answered with decks performing well in each category under review. Some of the more exciting decks included a very powerful mono black Aristocrats deck that made great use of Blood Artist and Gray Merchant, as well as one of the best Boros aggro decks I’ve ever seen drafted at 720 (Mox Ruby, Mox Pearl, Mana Crypt, Strip Mine, Wasteland, Plateau, Foundry, 2 fetches, a nice curve plus a lot of the best 3 and 4-drops that can be cast off Crypt).
I have made proposed changes based on a general acceptance of the need to prioritize draft balance over “on paper” balance. The group discussed that while we believe lower tier pairs like GW and GR are more viable than many streamers and podcasts lead you to believe, it's undebatable that more players compete for and play the blue combinations. The final cards in most packs that go unplayed are Naya shard midrange cards, like Huntermaster of the Fells et al. This does not necessarily mean these cards are bad, but rather there’s a single person drafting a deck that wants those cards, and there is no incentive for that player to prioritize them when they will easily scoop up whatever replacement level alternatives they see late.
Because of that, I am going to introduce an experimental change that aims to balance the draft experience but will probably make anyone with “Cube list OCD” cringe. We’re going up to 90 blue cards with 84 in other colored sections while also unbalancing multi in favor of blue and black multi cards that will be more impactful than the cards being cut. The goal is to maximize the draft experience when considering weighted drafted popularity of the color combinations. The goal of this change is to fix the current problem of “you will never table an Opt in this Cube.” The specific changes should give blue aggro, control, and combo a tad more breathing room next to each other which also helps with signaling.
-Brutal Cathar
+Portent
+Sleight of Hand
+Negate
+Memory Lapse
+Forbid
+Memory Deluge
-Vedalken Shackles
-The Abyss
+Eidolon of the Great Revel
+Hanweir Garrison
+Smash to Smithereens
-Chandra, Acolyte
-Koth of the Hammer
-Earthquake
-Goblin Bombardment
+Search for Tomorrow
+Elder Gargaroth
-Timeless Witness
-Life from the Loam
-Turntimber Symbiosis
+Hostage Taker
+Falkenrath Aristocrat
+Vanishing Verse
+Maelstrom Pulse
+Bounding Krasis
-Bloodbraid Elf
-Huntmaster of the Fells
-Murderous Redcap
-Voice of Resurgence
-Warden of the First Tree
-Dakkon, Shadow Slayer
I see this in a lot of Cubes, but is it actually good? I’m considering adding more support for the big artifact decks, and I’ve passed over this for years but am seeing that it’s one of the more common cards that I don’t run.
This has some serious sleeper potential. Just bought one from a guy in the parking lot after he bought a commander set so I can try it during a Cube event this weekend. This commander singles are always so hard to find on release day, at least in my area.
Incoming Cube weekend getaway with friends! Lots of drafts are about to happen. I look forward to testing the small number of Vow cards added plus all the tweaks made recently. Generally I’d like to keep my eye on how the following are performing:
-Aristocrats
-Non-blue control
-Rock-style decks
-Various fatty cheating strategies based on some of my recent changes
-If Boros aggro is still a thing or if hyper efficiency of mono white and mono red has taken over too much. As people play and watch more Magic Online I think draft dynamics change, and one of the biggest effects of MTGO cube is people increasing their desire to jam mono colored decks. It can be difficult to balance making sure there is ample support for depth of mono colored strategies while not overly incentivizing people to always go mono.
I think this archetype can be quite good, but it’s one of the most difficult to support if you don’t support persist combo. For what it’s worth I also think The Meathook Massacre is the real deal.
Curious about your thoughts on Volatile Arsonist. We’re adding him over Goldspan Dragon for 720. Note that we have some human tribal synergies in white plus Winota.
The part that's frustrating right now is what I refer to as the Goryo's Vengeance <-> Unmarked Grave - They both feel too narrow because they're missing half of the creature requirements.
Unmarked Grave is NOWHERE near as narrow as Goryo's Vengeance. It is much, much closer to being as narrow as Entomb than it is Goryo's Vengeance:
- There are much more non-legendary fatties than legendary ones
- Unmarked Grave is a tutor and isn't just restricted to targeting what's in your graveyard
Unmarked Grave has been doing well for me in my list. Entomb is generally the most important card in a reanimator list, and this is playing out pretty much exactly how I expected it to: a strong supplement role player for a specific archetype. I always wanted a second Entomb variant, and this fit the bill quite nicely for me, especially since Archon of Cruelty was printed in the same set.
I agree with this.
Also the legendary part of Goryo’s is not the entire problem. It’s the combination of legendary plus Shallow Grave effect. Shallow Grave already gives you a more narrow subset of creatures to hit, and adding legendary makes it way too restrictive. For example, you can’t do much with Shallow Grave’ing an Iona.
Of note, the non-haste red 3-drop “army in a can” creatures dropped way down for me this past year. Also I’m a little higher on Endurance and lower on Cemetery Prowler than what seems to be the common sentiment.
That is a reasonable concern. Based on my experiences recently the non-blue decks do just fine, but the problem is more of the draft dynamics and how there seems to be a glut of Naya shard cards at the end of every draft. In theory smoothing this out keeps number of people drafting the archetypes at a similar level but smoothes picks out and allows the blue tempo and blue control players to signal a bit better. We'll see what happens though - first time I've unbalanced the color sections in the 10 years I've maintained this Cube.
In general the Cube feels quite balanced in its current form with very few “dead cards.” Pretty much all my concerns in the previous post were answered with decks performing well in each category under review. Some of the more exciting decks included a very powerful mono black Aristocrats deck that made great use of Blood Artist and Gray Merchant, as well as one of the best Boros aggro decks I’ve ever seen drafted at 720 (Mox Ruby, Mox Pearl, Mana Crypt, Strip Mine, Wasteland, Plateau, Foundry, 2 fetches, a nice curve plus a lot of the best 3 and 4-drops that can be cast off Crypt).
I have made proposed changes based on a general acceptance of the need to prioritize draft balance over “on paper” balance. The group discussed that while we believe lower tier pairs like GW and GR are more viable than many streamers and podcasts lead you to believe, it's undebatable that more players compete for and play the blue combinations. The final cards in most packs that go unplayed are Naya shard midrange cards, like Huntermaster of the Fells et al. This does not necessarily mean these cards are bad, but rather there’s a single person drafting a deck that wants those cards, and there is no incentive for that player to prioritize them when they will easily scoop up whatever replacement level alternatives they see late.
Because of that, I am going to introduce an experimental change that aims to balance the draft experience but will probably make anyone with “Cube list OCD” cringe. We’re going up to 90 blue cards with 84 in other colored sections while also unbalancing multi in favor of blue and black multi cards that will be more impactful than the cards being cut. The goal is to maximize the draft experience when considering weighted drafted popularity of the color combinations. The goal of this change is to fix the current problem of “you will never table an Opt in this Cube.” The specific changes should give blue aggro, control, and combo a tad more breathing room next to each other which also helps with signaling.
-Brutal Cathar
+Portent
+Sleight of Hand
+Negate
+Memory Lapse
+Forbid
+Memory Deluge
-Vedalken Shackles
-The Abyss
+Eidolon of the Great Revel
+Hanweir Garrison
+Smash to Smithereens
-Chandra, Acolyte
-Koth of the Hammer
-Earthquake
-Goblin Bombardment
+Search for Tomorrow
+Elder Gargaroth
-Timeless Witness
-Life from the Loam
-Turntimber Symbiosis
+Hostage Taker
+Falkenrath Aristocrat
+Vanishing Verse
+Maelstrom Pulse
+Bounding Krasis
-Bloodbraid Elf
-Huntmaster of the Fells
-Murderous Redcap
-Voice of Resurgence
-Warden of the First Tree
-Dakkon, Shadow Slayer
+Gilded Lotus
-Ramunap Ruins
*Changes have been made on Cube Cobra*
I see this in a lot of Cubes, but is it actually good? I’m considering adding more support for the big artifact decks, and I’ve passed over this for years but am seeing that it’s one of the more common cards that I don’t run.
Agreed.
-Aristocrats
-Non-blue control
-Rock-style decks
-Various fatty cheating strategies based on some of my recent changes
-If Boros aggro is still a thing or if hyper efficiency of mono white and mono red has taken over too much. As people play and watch more Magic Online I think draft dynamics change, and one of the biggest effects of MTGO cube is people increasing their desire to jam mono colored decks. It can be difficult to balance making sure there is ample support for depth of mono colored strategies while not overly incentivizing people to always go mono.
Curious about your thoughts on Volatile Arsonist. We’re adding him over Goldspan Dragon for 720. Note that we have some human tribal synergies in white plus Winota.
I agree with this.
Also the legendary part of Goryo’s is not the entire problem. It’s the combination of legendary plus Shallow Grave effect. Shallow Grave already gives you a more narrow subset of creatures to hit, and adding legendary makes it way too restrictive. For example, you can’t do much with Shallow Grave’ing an Iona.
I’m going to bite on this one, because it’s a very tough this or that. Everything is extremely close.
1 - Endurance > Briarbridge Tracker > Cemetery Prowler
2 - Rampaging Ferocidon >> Reckless Stormseeker > Hanweir Garrison
3 - Graf Reaver >> Wight
4 - Archmage’s Charm > Neutralize
Of note, the non-haste red 3-drop “army in a can” creatures dropped way down for me this past year. Also I’m a little higher on Endurance and lower on Cemetery Prowler than what seems to be the common sentiment.