- Hicham
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Torggo posted a message on [MH3][CUBE] Psychic FrogI can see cutting a card for power level but not because of boredom, unless your group is fine with playing with worse cards. I would think most players would want good cards in their decks.Posted in: Cube New Card Discussion -
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asmallcat posted a message on [OTJ][CUBE] Duelist of the MindFor those that don't know (I didn't), commit a crime targeting your opponent or anything they control (essentially) so in addition to normal draw spells removal will also pump this creature.Posted in: Cube New Card Discussion
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Cythare posted a message on [CUBE][PIP] Watchful RadstagI definitely get that this won't make it in at 3 mana, but this effect at 2 mana feels beyond reasonable to print.Posted in: Cube Card and Archetype Discussion -
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wtwlf123 posted a message on [MH3][CUBE] Psychic FrogI love this card, and you saved me from having to make a thread here for it.Posted in: Cube New Card Discussion
Free discard outlet, permanent +1/+1 counters, obnoxious to block or attack into in combat, hard to block and then draws cards when it connects... gross synergy with draw-7 effects. I'm 100% in for this card, and can't wait to cube it. Good in reanimator, tempo, and draw-7 shells. -
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Fredo posted a message on [PIP][CUBE] Caesar, Legion's EmperorDefinitely a cube-worthy card, I wouldn't fault anyone for running it. This card will be great in token builds, and all mardu colors have lots of token generators.Posted in: Cube Card and Archetype Discussion
What's noteworthy is that you don't need to attack with Caesar to get the trigger, so it has an impact from turn 1. The third ability can become game-ending pretty quickly, and the first adds 2 tokens to the board; black has plenty of self-recurring creatures to sacrifice and if you run aristocrats, a sacrifice outlet is nice to have. If the third ability isn't worth taking yet, you can draw a card.
The only real disadvantage this card has is it being tricolor IMO, it's the only factor preventing me from just slamming it in. -
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wtwlf123 posted a message on Set (P)review - My top 20 Lost Murders at Karlov Manor (MKM) cards for the cube!Hello again fellow cube enthusiasts!Posted in: Articles, Podcasts, and Guides
This is my 49th installment of the "top 20" set (P)review articles! Just like the previous reviews, it will be in a spoiled top X countdown format, with each section having an image, a brief summary/description, and my verdict on what cubes I think it could potentially see some play in. I got a lot of positive feedback on the format from the last few articles, so I’m going to keep the “what I like” and “what I don’t like” sections.
Keep in mind (just like the others) that this is a set preview. Similar to draft predictions in professional sports, this list is an educated guess at best. Some cards I value highly in here may turn out to not last long in the cube. Other cards that are lower down on the list (or even missed entirely!) could (well, very likely may) turn out to be great cards. Even the great Tom Brady was drafted in the 6th round! Again, this is not intended to be gospel, set in stone, or written as a review for posterity. This is simply written to be an enjoyable guess at cards I like for cubes, and hopefully it'll allow some cube managers to evaluate cards they may have otherwise overlooked and/or put some cards in perspective that may've been overhyped. Nothing more.
Murders at Karlov Manor is honestly a pretty disappointing set for the cube. Not because the set is bad or poorly designed, or even because the cards are underpowered, it just happens to be centered around a couple of new mechanics that don’t translate particularly well to typical cube environments. Collect Evidence is an ability that requires you to exile high mana values worth of cards from graveyards, which isn’t particularly consistent in typical limited environments, and Disguise is a new take on Morph that makes for very cool cards, but can be difficult to make them mana-efficient plays in today’s fast-paced cube environments. But there are still a lot of cards worth exploring, and several cards that can be good role-players for cubes supporting specific themes and archetypes.
Without further ado, here’s the countdown!
Outrageous Robbery
A black Braingeyser variant!
What I Like: Robbery can work as an instant-speed Braingeyser effect of sorts to generate card advantage, and it can also double as a mill support card and an infinite mana sink to win games. Effects like this also tend to be loads of fun, since playing your opponent’s cards can be an absolute blast, and allows play patterns that are rare to explore.
What I Don't Like: Generally speaking, it’s better to draw your own cards than try and use your opponent’s, since the cards in your deck will be more on-theme and working towards the same goal. Not only that, but this is quite inefficient as a draw spell, even in black; you have to spend 5+ mana before this gives you access to more cards than Night’s Whisper, and you’re still not drawing your own cards when you do so.
Verdict: If your cube supports mill, has a use for an infinite mana sink, and is excited about the prospect of playing a big, splashy “draw” spell in black, Robbery might be worth a close look. But on face value, I can’t see this cracking into cube lists that have a generally low-to-the-ground mana curve.
Lazav, Wearer of Faces
A disruptive Dimir beater.
What I Like: A 2-power 2-drop that can generate card advantage over time with clue generation and provides maindeckable graveyard hate might be exactly what some cubes are looking for. It can swing into lions, pikers, and bears (oh my!), exile critical cards from graveyards, and create clues in the process. It also has the potential to be a very powerful threat when you can exile big threats from a ‘yard, and then crack clues to transform Lazav into a beastly threat until the end of the turn.
What I Don't Like: The threat copying ability runs into a lot of consistency issues. But I think the bigger problem will be survivability and the limited window in which you’re forced to crack the clues to get the trigger to work right. Tempo decks with reactive spells want to keep mana up and crack clues at the end of the opponent’s turn, and that directly conflicts with Lazav’s ability to copy threats. Not the end of the world, but it will be annoying in a lot of board states. More critically, I’m unsure if this has the legs to push out other more important role players and more powerful cards from the typical Dimir suite.
Verdict: If your cube is looking for more maindeckable graveyard hate and likes seeing sequences come together that make for memorable stories, Lazav might be worth a spin, if you can find the room.
Unyielding Gatekeeper
A disruptive blink support monster.
What I Like: You always have the ability to run this out as a 3-power 2-drop if that’s what the curve asks for, which is a nice upside. But the main reason to include it will be for the Disguise trigger. This creature can either flicker a permanent of yours to abuse a valuable ETB trigger, but it also has the flexibility of being able to be used against an opponent’s scariest threat to turn it into a mundane bear. The flexibility of those three modes is what makes this creature appealing. The ward 2 ability when face-down will help ensure the transform ability that will hopefully result in good value for you.
What I Don't Like: In a world of Flickerwisps, paying 5 total mana to flicker a permanent isn’t exactly cost-effective by today’s standards, so the Gatekeeper is really relying on that flexibility to pull some weight.
Verdict: If your cube is looking for more Disguise triggers for a small guessing game subtheme, Gatekeeper is one of the better options worth investigating. But overall, I think this simply costs too much mana overall to crack most small- to medium-sized cube lists.
Anzrag, the Quake-Mole
A legendary …Mole God?!
What I Like: Years ago, an 8-power 4-drop with two upsides would’ve been an insane proposition. 8 power is a lot, and this card brings in two mechanics we don’t see often: a Relentless Assault effect, and a forced blocking mechanism. This creature is a nightmare to chump, and if you can hit 7 mana, it’ll likely win the game for you if you have other creatures to take advantage of the extra combat. Where this will really shine is in cubes that support a Fires subtheme. If you can manipulate ways to give the Mole haste, it’s a ridiculous beater.
What I Don't Like: In general, I think the 4-power creatures for 4 mana with a trample effect and haste are going to consistently be better performers …and there’s multiple creatures that fit that description in both of this creature’s colors.
Verdict: If your cube supports a subtheme that provides haste with multiple enablers, this Mole God may be worth close examination. It’s a savage monster with that one additional keyword. But I think that the competition in Gruul and the respective 4-drop slots in its two colors are too stacked for this to make the cut entirely on its own merits.
Archdruid's Charm
A powerful modal green spell.
What I Like: The bulk of this card’s ceiling comes from the first mode. In cubes that support creature-based combos AND land-based combos, the tutor effect is really powerful. It can be a mono green Eldamri’s Call when you’re looking for the missing piece of a creature combo, and it can search up ANY land (and put it right on the battlefield) if you support Depths/Valakut/Field combos in your environment. Additionally, the presence of this card shoehorns in an additional fight spell and an additional Naturalize effect, which are both nice effects to have around when they don’t consume a full slot dedicated specifically for them.
What I Don't Like: The triple-green cost is tough if you’re just trying to run the card for value, so I think it really relies on the ceiling of the tutor effect to justify the slot in the cube.
Verdict: If your cube supports both creature-based combos and land-based combos in your heavy green decks, I think the Charm is worth careful consideration. But for cubes where that’s not the case, it’s a pretty safe pass.
Proft's Eidetic Memory
A blue beatdown counter engine.
What I Like: The fact that this card replaces itself and provides a +1/+1 counter as a floor is solid. Where it’s intended to shine is in beatdown decks with some draw support, or in +1/+1 counters matters shells that can make exceptional use of the counters. Playing an early beater into this card into something like a Brainstorm for 3 +1/+1 counters, or gods willing a Timetwister or the like to put 7 +1/+1 counters on a threat is where you want to be. If you can find decks that can do that with any consistency, this card can shine. It will sometimes place counters where they can be really meaningful too, like onto a Hangarback or Ballista and have things get out of hand quickly. Alternatively, being able to flicker the permanent for more draws and more counters will be really cool in some builds.
What I Don't Like: In decks that can’t flicker it for value or can’t get anything more than face value out of the effect, I think it will fall short. I think cubes need to be supporting blue tempo, a counters-matters theme, and an above-average number of multi-draw effects that can see play in aggressively-leaning decks before Memory will really shine.
Verdict: If your cube supports hardened scales decks, aggressive blue shells, and big draw mechanics, I would take a hard look at Memory, because it fits right at home there. In most other cubes, I think it’ll be significantly harder to justify the slot.
Warleader's Call
A glorious and suddenly impactful anthem effect.
What I Like: Anthem effects on their own can be hard to justify, and Sudden Impact effects even moreso. But in cubes that want both of these effects, you can save some slot equity by combining inclusions on one card. Anthem effects are good in attacking token decks and go-wide aggro shells. Impact effects are good in token-engine decks and creature-based combo decks that can demonstrate non-lethal infinite loops. In cubes doing all of those things, a combination effect like this can look quite appealing.
What I Don't Like: Boros is stacked to the gills with some of the strongest multicolor cards in the cube. So unless your cube is DEEP on go-wide attacking token themes AND supports creature-based loops looking to turn themselves lethal, I think it’s going to be really hard to find room for this card.
Verdict: If your cube supports both mass token generation shells and creature-based loop combo, don’t lose track of this card. But outside of that, I think the competition in Boros is simply too stacked.
Sharp-Eyed Rookie
An evolving clue engine.
What I Like: 2-drops that can grow and represent card advantage are nothing to scoff at. Over the course of the game, if you can get a couple triggers with the rookie, you’ll have a decent-sized beater and a couple replacement clues to go with it.
What I Don't Like: This is an aggressively-leaning effect, but it can be hard to get more than one or two triggers at most off of an evolve creature that starts as a 2/2 in an aggro shell. Unlike Tireless Tracker which triggers off lands, Rookie will have far fewer cards in your library that will equate to a +1/+1 counter and a clue. As steve_man pointed out in the SCD, unlike the Tracker, bigger creatures (instead of lands) are tied to the clue generation, so it’s harder to generate the clues and crack them in the same turn cycle. Ultimately, the play patterns with the Rookie will be far less fluid.
Verdict: This is a solid value 2-drop in aggressive midrange decks, but this is no Tireless Tracker. I would probably test this out at 720 if I was playing the kinds of decks that could reliably get lots of triggers stacked onto this creature.
Forensic Gadgeteer
An artifacts-matter/combo hybrid card.
What I Like: Creating an extra clue with every artifact is powerful, especially in decks with lots of scaling construct tokens floating around. These clues are especially valuable when they can be cracked for only a single mana. In addition to the clue interactions, the cost reduction ability works with several artifacts in the cube, including being able to create infinite mana with Basalt Monolith.
What I Don't Like: Blue’s 3cc creatures are pretty stacked, and it can be hard to find room for simple solid support creatures like this. Especially with similar cards like Sai and Seedshark that might just be better even in the same decks.
Verdict: If you support the artifact.dec heavily and you’re looking for an additional Monolith combo card to make infinite mana with, I’d give the Gadgeteer careful consideration. I might be able to find room in artifact-themed cubes or at 720+ with the right support, but I think it’s overall a miss for most medium-sized cubes or smaller.
Case of the Stashed Skeleton
An evasive 2-drop that generates value on death.
What I Like: A 2-power creature with menace for 2 mana isn’t the worst baseline. And it generates card advantage when it dies too, in the form of what equates to “drawing” an uncounterable Demonic Tutor, which is super sweet. While it’s on the battlefield, the Case can also be flickered to make extra skeletons, even if that does make it harder to “solve” later on down the line.
What I Don't Like: 2-drops are pretty competitive these days, and even ones that can generate card advantage when they die aren’t auto-include. Being unable to block while suspected limits this card to being included in attacking decks, which might not be the best decks to take advantage of the Tutor effect. If it could block, it would be a great Tutor effect for all kinds of shells, but this one is limited in application due to that one restriction.
Verdict: This card is very thematic and is super cool. I would try to find room at 720 to test it because it looks fun and powerful in the right decks, but I think it will be hard to find a slot for it in smaller cubes.
Intrude on the Mind
Instant-speed threat + cards.
What I Like: This is sort of a build-your-own instant-speed Mulldrifter effect of sorts. You can arrange the piles in a way that can get you a body + cards that will be ≥ the body & value from a ‘drifter by saying you will get a 2-card pile and a 3/3 flying or a 3-card pile and a 2/2 flying …either option at instant speed. I like spells that create bodies in my spells matters decks, so I can get this effect and trigger my Pyromancers at the same time. You can also create swingier piles based on how complicated the board state can make the choice for the opponent, but those splits will be tricky.
What I Don't Like: This is a Steam Augury effect, not a Fact or Fiction effect. Ultimately your opponent will have the final choice over the size of the threat or the specific cards drawn, and that can kill the viability of a 5-mana investment. If you NEED a 4/4 flier, you’ll never get it. If you NEED to draw a specific card to stabilize, you never will. And ultimately that will be the thing that kills this card, IMHO.
Verdict: If this was a Fact or Fiction that made the body, it’d be something I’d strongly consider even at the smallest of sizes. But as an Augury effect, I think it’ll be limited to 720+ card cubes, and even then, it’ll only be ones that are deep on a spells-triggering package.
Demand Answers
This set’s Thrill of Possibility effect.
What I Like: Thrill has shown that this kind of effect at instant-speed can be valuable. A surprise discard effect so you don’t telegraph your specific reanimation threat early is good, and it allows it to be a more effective role-player in reactive goodstuff decks. Demand adds the ability to sacrifice an artifact instead of discarding a card when that is a more palatable cost. With treasures, blood tokens, maps, food, and clues abound, finding a disposable artifact is easier than ever, which can make this card feel like a 2-for-1 in situations where no other Thrill variant has been able to.
What I Don't Like: This still has to overcome the similar effects that find themselves into cubes before it’s worth including. Whether it’s the haste from Bitter Reunion or the transforming effect of the Battle, other Thrill variants have important upsides to offer, so you’ll have to decide both if you want this kind of effect at all, and if you do, which of all the decently playable ones is the best for your environment.
Verdict: This has a chance of being the best Thrill variant for cubes, and with the right support, I would play this card in the 630-720 range depending on the construction of my red section.
Surveil Lands
A new full cycle of Surveil duals!
What I Like: In comparison to the Temple cycle, these both upgrade to Surveil for graveyard shenanigans, and they’re true fetchhable duals! There are some color combinations that depending on the roles the colors play in the cube could take great advantage of the Surveil trigger, and these lands should be given careful consideration depending on how you have your cube constructed.
What I Don't Like: Despite being better than Temples in multiple ways, these lands still always enter the battlefield tapped, and because of that, there will be limitations on where they’ll play well. It’s hard to play them over lands that can provide colored mana on T1, and unlike manlands that also enter tapped, they don’t double as win conditions or pressure planeswalkers.
Verdict: I think that these lands can be anywhere between the 8th best to the 10th best lands in given guilds based on the color composition, which will relegate these to larger cubes for most of the combinations. I could see some of these cracking into the 630+ range, but most of them will be on the outside looking in for most cubes smaller than 720+.
Long Goodbye
A solid removal spell.
What I Like: I like this more than the Terror variants that are still played in some of the medium- to large-sized cube lists out there. The ability to hit both creatures and ‘walkers is important, and the uncounterability will occasionally prove invaluable.
What I Don't Like: I think that there is steep competition for removal spells that cost more than one mana nowadays, and this feels replacement-level compared to something like Bitter Triumph. Plus, there are a lot of threats that cost 4+ mana that demand answers now, and as things were trending cheaper and cheaper, those medium-sized threats have less and less removal that can deal with them now.
Verdict: This is a solid spell, and I expect a lot of cubes, especially lower-to-the-ground aggressive midrange cubes, to get good mileage out of a universally-playable cheap, instant-speed removal spell like this. I would play this at 720 for sure, and maybe into some 630 or 540 lists depending on cube composition and your current demand for answers.
Cryptic Coat
A solid cloaked threat engine.
What I Like: A 3-power unblockable threat with ward 2 for 3 mana isn’t too bad a baseline, especially considering you’re getting 2 permanents and the additional potential upside of flipping your cloaked threat as part of the package. But what sells me on this card is the reliability and the eventuality. The ability to return the Cloak to your hand and replay it to make a new threat is super nice, since every recast will essentially net you an extra 2/2 with ward 2 that can potentially transform. In reactive decks, you can leave up your mana for countermagic, and bounce the Cloak at will. Making it hard to permanently eliminate the threat. Unblockability is good in the era of monarch and initiative, and you can repeatedly bounce and replay this card for a very hard-to-remove engine that will fill your board with potentially flippable bears with ward.
What I Don't Like: While the eventuality is great, and the resiliency is safe, the efficiency when creating your additional threats isn’t there. It’s effectively 5 mana per loop cycle, and each loop generates one more cloaked 2/2. While this means this card will be a savage monster in retail limited, I’m unsure how that will translate to the cube exactly. The play patterns will the instant-speed bounce is also a bit problematic, since if I bounce this at my opponent’s EOT with the intention of replaying it on my turn, the unblockable cloaked body will always have summoning sickness. The only way to avoid that and build your board at the same time is to bounce and replay on your turn, which eliminates the ability to hold up countermagic and protect the Cloak from removal. It’ll be quite the conundrum sometimes.
Verdict: Way better than it looks, and not generating nearly enough buzz for how good it will be. This is my projected sleeper for the set. I’d slam this at 720, and I’d give it careful consideration at 630. Hard to find room at 540, but it might get there depending on the composition of your cube and how important an unblockable, inevitable threat engine can be in that environment.
Kellan, Inquisitive Prodigy
An Explore + Trygon Predator adventure?
What I Like: The 2-mana mode is similar to Explore/Growth Spiral in that it plays an extra land and replaces itself. This card does it differently than its predecessors do though; instead of outright drawing a card, you essentially “draw” Kellan (as Sliver Lord pointed out in the SCD) as your card, AND you make a clue to draw a second card later. Kellan itself is like a bigger Trygon Predator with vigilance that can also eat your own disposable artifacts to draw more cards down the line (or eat his own clue to bypass the 2-mana activation and draw for free). When you have the extra land in hand already, you can make your extra land drop on T2, and make your 4th land on T3 and cast him from exile. This allows Kellan to follow the powerful precedent set by the more competitive adventure creatures, of curving directly from the adventure into the threat in some cases.
What I Don't Like: Having the draws from the explore effect be delayed hurts the reliability of the additional land drop. In some draws without extra lands available, it may be better to skip the adventure altogether and just cast Kellan as a 4-drop. Additionally, as steve_man points out in the SCD, there are decks that might want Explore or Growth Spiral that don’t want to play Kellan. Decks centered around Oath of Druids or Sevalla’s Stampede don’t want Kellan floating around in the library as a bad “hit”.
Verdict: I think Kellan can compete for the 5th or 6th true gold slot in Simic, which puts it as a reasonable include in the 630-720 range. There’s a chance that it could be worth including in some smaller cubes too, if midrangey value piles with lots of targets for Kellan are commonplace in your playgroup.
No More Lies
An Azorius Mana Leak!
What I Like: True Mana Leaks are hard to come by, and if you can stomach dedicating a gold slot to a “filler” spell, No More Lies is worth a close look. Not as flashy and exciting as some of the powerful multicolor cards out there, but this is absolutely a good enough counterspell if you can find room. Exiling the spell is a good upside, and more playable 2cc counterspells is always welcome.
What I Don't Like: In smaller cubes, the competition given how powerful most gold spells are nowadays is too stiff to allow in solid playable inclusions.
Verdict: I don’t mind giving each guild access to one generic playable goodstuff spell in the multicolor section, even if I prefer to dedicated those slots to things that are more unique and powerful when I can. If you can live with the less-than-exciting inclusion eating up a gold card slot, I think No More Lies is a card that will be playable in pretty much every W/U shell in the cube. I would test it in the #5 or #6 gold slot, so it will probably make for a good inclusion at 630 or 720. Perhaps even 540 if you’re looking for another cheap counterspell.
Fugitive Codebreaker
A flexible Bedlam Reveler variant.
What I Like: A 2-power creature with prowess and haste for 1R is a good baseline. There will be a lot of instances where that will be good enough, and will likely be where it resolves in the curve a lot. But the Disguise ability is also quite good. In spells matters decks loaded with instants and sorceries, flipping this creature face-up will be cheap, and then you can immediately refill your hand with more gas, and maybe even trigger prowess more and bash in. Unlike Bedlam Reveler, this card can be flipped face-up at instant speed, so you can draw your 3 cards before drawing for the turn and potentially keep an extra card.
What I Don't Like: In cubes that do elect to run this creature, it’ll be pretty obvious what it is. Despite the ward, the opponent will know to kill this card before it can flip face-up and draw a bunch of cards.
Verdict: I think there’s a lot of additive distraction with this card. Disguise feels bad with no mystery, and the face-up flip payoff distracts from the floor of being a 2/1 prowess with haste for 2 mana. This will present quite the proverbial Kavu Titan problem for a lot of evaluators that are afraid to just ignore the value and bash in with this as a Swiftspear-esque beater. A solid 630+ inclusion for cubes supporting a spells matters theme that extends into red, IMO.
Escape Tunnel
A strictly better Evolving Wilds?
What I Like: Evolving Wilds and Terramorphic Expanse are solid lands. By now, pretty much every cube manager understands how they play and what to expect from them. Fill the ‘yard, shuffle effect, mana fixing, works with Crucible effects, etc. This land has an additional ability that can make cheap creatures unblockable. In the era of monarch and initiative running around, that might prove to be more valuable than ever before, and it’s strapped to a baseline land that we know to be serviceable. Might be fun to explore ways to make small creatures unblockable and then grow them post activation to squeeze in big damage while dodging blockers.
What I Don't Like: A small upside over an existing fringe playable. Nothing exciting to see here but some slight added utility. I wish the size restriction was removed from the creature target. Let me bash in with BIG unblockable monsters!
Verdict: Not better enough to make Evolving Wilds desirable where it wasn’t before (unless you have a really big initiative/monarch presence) but certainly a valuable enough upside to be the first version of this effect that you would play if you wanted to bring one in. For me, that’s at 630.
Novice Inspector
A second Thraben Inspector.
What I Like: Thraben Inspector kills X/1 creatures in combat, carries equipment, crews copters, makes 2 game objects for 1 mana, and provides filler ETB triggers all in one small package. Nothing exciting, but it can be quite serviceable in the right decks.
What I Don't Like: Kinda a bummer that the best card in this set seems to be a functional reprint of a relatively middling existing card.
Verdict: If you like Thraben Inspector a lot, you can play this card alongside it at whatever size that happens to be for you. For me, I only like it a little bit. I would play both at 630, personally, but I could see only running one of them (or none) at any sizes smaller than that.
Thanks for taking the time to read through the article! Feel free to post your comments here for discussion and share your feedback.
Cheers, and happy cubing!
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steve_man posted a message on [MKM][CUBE] Surveil Dual LandsPosted in: Cube Card and Archetype DiscussionQuote from Alan Yuan »I did a bit of Theorycrafting/ testing today on these lands and I believe they ARE strong lands for constructed, with high potential for Modern/ Legacy play but may cut short for Cube.
I personally play a Grixis Deck in Legacy with a Watery Grave instead of Underground Sea. I found that having a Surveil land in your deck can be incredibly strong as you can opt to EOT Fetch -> Surveil depending on the board state. In fact, I found this interaction to be so strong that I'm planning to play 2 Surveil lands as a starting point for testing.
The problem in cube is that if you only have a single set of fetch lands, this interaction comes up significantly less AND with the Triome cycle competing for a similar design space. Plus, several individuals also pointed out the problem with ETB tapped lands, and thus my instinct is it's unlikely we're going to play the entire cycle as-is.
This is overthinking things, IMO. These are more than good enough for any cube that is willing to tolerate ETB tapped manland. It's just a matter of having / finding space for them. -
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Fredo posted a message on [CUBE][MKM] Anzrag, the Quake-MolePosted in: Cube Card and Archetype Discussion
Wowza! Seems like a crazy dangerous creature, pretty much must-kill or get steamrolled. 4 mana seems right. I like it. -
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19_f_cali posted a message on [Cube] Brain FreezePosted in: Cube Card and Archetype Discussion
Brain Freeze (and storm in general) is a card I hated for years in cubes for being too parasitic, but recently I have been rethinking it. Most cube lists here tend to differ pretty heavily from mtgo vintage cube lists, which tend to prioritize synergies over raw power level, but recently raw power has gotten so high that I feel like I have space for more synergistic cards, and think brain freeze might be good even in lists that dont explicitly support storm with rituals (or other storm cards).
I have been watching a good amount of LSV drafts, and the number of games that he wins with this card is insane. Its probably his #1 win condition, and I was surprised to notice how his brain freeze decks are almost always buildable from my cube (minus brain freeze, and occasionally underworld breach). On its own, it seems to be best in a wheel / artifact deck where you can generate a bunch of mana, wheel, play a few moxes / talismans and all of a sudden can mill for 20+ (and maybe close out the game next turn with another wheel / regrowthed brain freeze). Also, it can win games out of nowhere if your opponent casts a few spells on their turn, then you end with brainfreeze, snapcaster, brainfreeze, which mills for 24 / 30 if you opponent casts 2-3 spells.
However, the main combo is that its obviously broken with underworld breach which effectively ends the game (and does instantly win with black lotus / lotus petal / lions eye diamond in hand / milled from deck). Normally I would stay away from two card combos without redundancy, however LED is fantastic with wheels in general (you hold priority after casting wheels then sac the led), and in particular with echo of eons. Also it can often just be used to activate permanents abilities (equip costs, clues, maps, urza activations, escape costs etc... its quite useful), and being a 0 mana artifact for the artifact deck is actually quite big (for tolarian academy in particular which is approaching the top of the non power in my cube). Because of this LED seems to always find a good home every draft.
Underworld breach could also be considered a dead card, but its base rate of a bad regrowth is totally playable in a lot of decks, and it has actually found pretty good success with mishra's bauble effects and dragon's rage channeler to draw 3-4 cards off of 2 mana from breach and also just by flashing back lightning bolt / chain lighting 2 times to burn for 6. While its certainly on the narrow side, its not as dead as I would have originally expected, and often generates a lot of value by itself. A card I sometimes compare it to is treasure cruise/dig through time, all of which generate 2-3 cards worth of value for little mana if you have 6ish cards in the bin.
I think that Brain freeze + breach (+ LED) is definitely worth reconsidering these days, as it the highest ceiling of any combo, and has a surprisingly low cost to add. I would also add frantic search to these, which works with breach / brain freeze very well and is possibly even stronger in reanimator too, and would compare to faithless looting in terms of generic playability (actually even higher as its blue, and can untap tolarian academy / gaeas cradle / maybe even urzas saga).
Im curious if others have considering brain freeze without explicit storm support, and also if there are any other supporting cards that could be added without going all in on storm. Like I said in the beginning, cards today are so generically powerful / value oriented, that I have been slowly steering towards more synergies / combos in order to gain advantages as raw card advantage becomes less needed. Regarding storm I think Ive seen aetherflux reservoir and bolas's citadel too, but aetherflux seems weak to me (maybe Im misevaluating it) and citadel seems too narrow outside of tinker, and the lifeloss seems quite severe in my cube where aggro is always very prevalent.
More generally, Im also pretty interested if people have more "synergy" focused cards (lke brain freeze, or zuran orb for titania/balance which has also proved worth surprisingly strong), which can be added for variety (I love when a single card creates an entirely new archtype in a cube), or just for win percentage points as a way to combat generic value. -
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steve_man posted a message on [VOW][CUBE] Concealing Curtains // Revealing EyeI've been playing this lately and have been really liking it. Cards like Kitesail Freebooter / Deep Cavern Bat have been performing really well for me since they both interact well against initiative / combo, and this works similarly to those.Posted in: Cube Card and Archetype Discussion - To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
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I can't imagine this card leaving the cube...like never. It is just so back braking.
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Can a mod do this after all this time or at least shoot it up the chain if they can't?
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People don't know an Angel when they see it? Or don't know Griselbrand is a Demon? I think using a reference card is way too much hassle for something players should know anyhow. And if they do'nt they will learn.
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It remains a multicolour card so we are always a lot more demanding of those, but when a card performs you can't complain.
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Would need to have hexproof at the very minimum. Preferably trample as well and make a 3/3 when it hits. It is a multi colour card and costs 7 mana with 4 coloured symbols.
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For example, OP said he think Acidic Slime is not cutting it anymore. To me this is ridiculous as the card is still a very high pick in our cube (high power cube,500ish,competitive Spike players). In a specific thread you can go into details (which archetypes, how much anti-artifact, anti-land does green need,...)
In a thread like this things will either get lost in the discussion or end up with replies like 'Are you crazy! We still run it because it has been stellar for us'. Which helps nobody.
I think Wtwfl came off a bit haughty, even if he ment well. A bit like the old Wtfl did but with a different take We still need brutal card evaluation just as we did before. But Wtfwl has as point that the cube universe has grown tremendiously from when a lot of us 'old timers' started this niche Magic hobby. Back in 2009 or 2012 there were a lot clearer power levels. So working from the assumption that Cube managers want the most powerfull cards and the most powerfull archeytpes (allready we are losing a lot of cubes with these axioms), we could have a lot of good discussions about card X is better then card Y in those days.
Nowadays, things are a lot muddier. People run a lot of different archetypes and packages. The number of cards that are powerfull enough to get into a 'Power cube' has grown tremendiously. We have a 500 cube, but there are at least 250+cards that are good enough to be played at that size. Back in 2010 there were clear power levels: a 360 card, a 450 card, a 650 card, and the hopefull (or insulting) 'I would play that in a 850 cube, maybe' remark.
I for one am still open to discussing cards, but this format is unhelpfull. Before this meta discussion started, I had actually immediately decided to ignore this thread, because there was nothing to be learned here. As others have said on a psychological level this rubs a lot of people the wrong way. And a lot of people will ignore good remarks if you include what they consider staples in your list.'If he is dumb enough not to see hte value of card X, why listen to his reasoning about card A,B or C?'
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He seems to shut down a lot of cards. Very promising start here.
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This is what rubs people the wrong way. You don't say these cards don't work any more in our group, no you say 'these cards are subpar' and cube owners that still run these only do it because they are conservative, nostaligic. Have some fate, other cube owners are not dumb. They might actually still like these cards because they are good cards (for their environment)! People with different oppinions on cards are not always wrong.
Sure I get your drift. Power creep is a thing and cards do get pushed out over time because other more powerfull cards are printed. And we all are guilty of holding on to certain cards a bit too long at times. But cubes are so different and power level has evolved to a level where 'it depends on the enviroment' is not a way to kill discussions any more, but is just true a lot of times.
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I don't agree with this. Porforus is still busted for us. Tokens are great, but Purphoris is the best card in a token deck. And Squee is still broken with Survival, Fauna Shaman and random stuff like Skullclamp.
I do think it depends on how you draft and how big your cube is. The smaller your cube is the better and the more cards you see more during the draft the better. In a 720 Cube Squee might just end up being a recurrable 1/1 for 2R, which is very crappy. In our cube (8 player Rochester) he is always part of some broken combo (or ends up in a sideboard). We don't see it as a red card, but as a 0CC colourless card.
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