The really rough one is The Explorer, which lets you play an extra land on your turn. One of my spikiest players ALWAYS seems to get that one when we play. The Harvester (free loot per turn) can also be trouble if the right deck gets a hold of it. Since they can be blown up as permanents, the rest of the paths are usually pretty manageable; It's just those guaranteed extra 1-2 lands or a few extra looted cards can sometimes propel those players into archenemy territory!
This has probably been discussed elsewhere, but I was just curious what kinds of special stuff folks have come up with over the years for use with lore seeker, booster tutor, or summon the pack during casual cube sessions? Besides just the standard extra 15 cards, are there any things like un-cards, heroes journeys, custom cards, or even weirder stuff that you've set aside as special packs?
Personally, while I have lore seeker and similarcards in my main cube, I don't run conspiracies anymore. Instead, I've moved about 8 of them to a lore seeker pack with 7 heroes journey cards. A couple of the heroes journeys are insane, and immediately kick the game into overdrive. Since these cards all exist outside the deck, if the first 1 to 2 games are a disaster, these can be sidelined without too much trauma to the decks. It's definitely fun, but I use this pack only with extreme caution these days.
Recently, I also picked some cards out of a Force of Will tcg cube for use as an EDH cube wacky pack. FoW has an extremely similar rules structure to MtG, but with a power level comparable to modern/legacy. Early in the game's history, some bonkers cards were printed that I've decided to try and spice up edh using.
Finally, I'm starting to formulate an un-pack. This has been an interesting challenge, as the multi-player dynamics of my cube are pushing me to use very different cards than the standard un-cards you see other folks' lists.
For my EDH cube, I'm looking at sea-dasher, wilt, and heartless act as my definite includes.
My watchlist includes swallow whole, kogla, sharknado, and the broodmoth. Some of the multi-colored legends I wouldn't mind taking for a spin, but I'm leaving a lot of my acquisitions to luck-of-the-pack this time around. For obvious reasons, I have no friggin' clue when I'll get to cube next.
I've gotten back into the game after a couple year hiatus and missed the Eldrane transition. My budget is tight these days and "regular" versions of cards being way at the bottom of the price heap (under foil "regular" < extended art < foil extended art < alt art < foil alt art) has been a welcome development.
Years back, I collected the Force of Will tcg, which had a similar premium card structure. I remember it did a good job of tamping down prices for folks that just wanted to play casually, whereas all the tournament folks seemed obsessed with acquiring the extreme bling in addition to best decks.
Good cards were still good cards though, and format staples will always carry a hefty price. The premium card distribution FoW and now MtG is using just seems to stretch the price range distribution between normal, foil, and ultra chase versions; 5c - 50c for chaff vs bling chaff to $8 vs $100 for plain staple vs ultra chase-version staple.
I'm really loving this set for multi-player cube and am finding tons of low cmc creatures and effects to help reduce my list's overall curve and plug holes in certain archetypes. I can absolutely see how this set would be mediocre for 1v1 play, as you've got to jump through a lot of hoops to get certain cards "online."
Thanks for the great read! I look forward to your reviews each set, even though my cube is quite a bit different. I especially appreciated your detailed analysis of search for azcanta, as that was a card I completely dismissed out of hand.
I'm probably being greedy, but I wish this had had flash instead of menace. I'd like to include it in my edh cube as a foil to all the token strategies I run, but I rather it was a something I could flash-in as a response to avenger of zendikar, secure the wastes, or tempt with vengeance than just as a deterrent to those getting cast in the first place.
The book of disquietude by the Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa. It's a melancholical recolection of thoughts, images and ideas of the existencial unrest of a failed life.
If you land up enjoying Pessoa, I recommend checking out the misanthropic aphorisms of Emil Cioran. Also, pretty much any author published by the defunct Exact Change press.
I'm working on a very interesting, though super depressing, book on inter WWI & WWII conflicts and pogroms in central and eastern Europe, The Vanquished. First read about it on one of my lefty blogs here.
This has probably been discussed elsewhere, but I was just curious what kinds of special stuff folks have come up with over the years for use with lore seeker, booster tutor, or summon the pack during casual cube sessions? Besides just the standard extra 15 cards, are there any things like un-cards, heroes journeys, custom cards, or even weirder stuff that you've set aside as special packs?
Personally, while I have lore seeker and similar cards in my main cube, I don't run conspiracies anymore. Instead, I've moved about 8 of them to a lore seeker pack with 7 heroes journey cards. A couple of the heroes journeys are insane, and immediately kick the game into overdrive. Since these cards all exist outside the deck, if the first 1 to 2 games are a disaster, these can be sidelined without too much trauma to the decks. It's definitely fun, but I use this pack only with extreme caution these days.
Recently, I also picked some cards out of a Force of Will tcg cube for use as an EDH cube wacky pack. FoW has an extremely similar rules structure to MtG, but with a power level comparable to modern/legacy. Early in the game's history, some bonkers cards were printed that I've decided to try and spice up edh using.
Finally, I'm starting to formulate an un-pack. This has been an interesting challenge, as the multi-player dynamics of my cube are pushing me to use very different cards than the standard un-cards you see other folks' lists.
Thanks!
For my EDH cube, I'm looking at sea-dasher, wilt, and heartless act as my definite includes.
My watchlist includes swallow whole, kogla, sharknado, and the broodmoth. Some of the multi-colored legends I wouldn't mind taking for a spin, but I'm leaving a lot of my acquisitions to luck-of-the-pack this time around. For obvious reasons, I have no friggin' clue when I'll get to cube next.
Years back, I collected the Force of Will tcg, which had a similar premium card structure. I remember it did a good job of tamping down prices for folks that just wanted to play casually, whereas all the tournament folks seemed obsessed with acquiring the extreme bling in addition to best decks.
Good cards were still good cards though, and format staples will always carry a hefty price. The premium card distribution FoW and now MtG is using just seems to stretch the price range distribution between normal, foil, and ultra chase versions; 5c - 50c for chaff vs bling chaff to $8 vs $100 for plain staple vs ultra chase-version staple.
Thanks for the fun read!
Same. I was also holding out hope for Runo Stromkirk to get a card.
If you land up enjoying Pessoa, I recommend checking out the misanthropic aphorisms of Emil Cioran. Also, pretty much any author published by the defunct Exact Change press.