Yep, Phantom Centaur is an awesome card, but like Star Slayer, the pro:color creatures simply led to too many hard feelings. I'd still be playing it otherwise.
I came here to talk up Helm of Possession, but it's already been done. My cube is a tick slower than most, and it's a total bomb there, as well as a fan favorite. Giving every color the opportunity to steal creatures is simply great.
Here's one that's almost never played that has been fantastic for my cube: Blistering Firecat. Now that morph is back, people should give the card another look. Being able to bluff 7 damage makes a lot of morph look more threatening, and it offers red aggro a topdeck that typically hits as hard as Hellrider or Hero of Oxid Ridge, if played as a 4-drop.
And this is not underplayed at all for how strong it is (i.e., it's not played and not strong), but my playgroup has taken a shine to a card I threw in on a whim, and refuses to let me take it out: Praetor's Grasp. It typically grabs a Sword or a broken artifact, sometimes a land if you're mana screwed, sometimes the key combo piece from that Wildfire/Sneak Attack/Kiki-Jiki deck, or whatever. There is almost always a target that makes it worthwhile, though.
Now that I can pick up some of the Gods for around $2, they're tempting me again. Xenagos, God of Midrange seems pretty strong, although he got mixed reviews when the set came out. Would you put it ahead of Ghor-Clan Rampager? (I'm also running Sarkhan Vol, BBE, and Huntmaster).
It's funny, I held off for a long, long time. He'd been playing games like Glory to Rome, Settlers of Catan, Galaxy Trucker, Innovation... but the gruesome nature of some of the art in Magic made me wait until last year. (I'm one of those parents who fears that Star Wars is too violent for young kids, so Carnophage seems a bit much...) However, he'd already absorbed more than I had expected by lurking around the table watching us play.
So, he basically knew how to play when he was 7, but I only formally taught him at 8.
Oh, and all of his favorite decks seem to be black/red, full of the darkest, bloodiest art in the game.
Nah, it just seemed the most efficient way to insure I always have someone to cube with. Sure, it took a decade, but now I have a gamer who is not allowed to leave the house. Woo!
The day has arrived--my 9-year-old son finally cubed with me! And he trounced me...
He's played tons of Euros for years, and has pestered me to teach him Magic for a while now. He's a pretty shy kid, but a group in his afterschool program has started bringing decks with them. I've taught him the game and let him bring some of my old, underpowered kitchen table decks to school--he's now offering "tune up" services for other kids decks, and dispensing deckbuilding advice to the counselors. I've created a monster...
Anyway, this weekend he asked if we could cube. I started him out with Sealed, and gave him no advice. I figured he'd be blown away by the power level of the cards and build a giant Timmy deck, so I (cruelly) built a UW control deck to expose him to the horrors of facing down the blue deck. Nope, he built a very fast BR deck with quite a good curve, and was very restrained. He stomped me three games in a row.
Next up, Winston with 105 cards! I built a UG ramp deck that used Brago's Favor to get a Bribery out on turn three every game. He had an Esper deck that was quite effective, and even once overcame facing down its own Sphinx of the Steel Wind on T3. I took the match, but seeing him work his way out of a seemingly hopeless situation and claw back into a game was awesome.
Now my problem is that my cubing group typically plays from 9 p.m. until 1 a.m., and he's not going to want to go to sleep...
I really don't understand people's opinion of the power level of this card. While everyone defaults to going first if they win the die roll, from what I've read it actually makes very little difference. The win/loss ratio in one article I found (http://puremtgo.com/articles/ars-arcanum-magic-2013-limited-overview) had it at 49/51 in M13 limited. I think I read something about standard tournament play that found a 52/48 advantage overall, though I can't find the citation now.
If I were running a flat out aggro deck, I'd pick this fairly highly, but in many matchups the advantage seems marginal enough that I'd pick many, many cards over it.
I'd never considered Tribute to Hunger before. I might try swapping out Chainer's Edict for it. Instant speed and lifegain for the seldom-used flashback? Seems pretty close to me.
It's a corner case, but you could use this as the worst green ramp spell ever, if needed. (Similar to how you could use Beast Within in response to removal to give yourself a 3/3, in fact.)
Given the paucity of cubeable combat tricks, I think I'll be testing this one, too. Certainly not as strong a card as Arc Lightning or Lightning Strike, but one that seems like it will lead to more interesting and unpredictable combat, which I'd like in my cube.
Hmm. I still value all the shadow guys very highly, and want to try to keep Dauthi Marauder when I add this in. Maybe it's time for Nekrataal to finally say goodbye? And is Xathrid Necromancer that much better than the Liliana's Reaver I've been testing?
Sorry, this is devolving into the This or That forum...
We tried a Glimpse draft this weekend with four people, each drafting 9 packs of 15, picking one, burning two. It was the first time I've ever actually drafted every single card in my cube, which was awesome.
The format got mixed reviews compared to the "normal" 5-packs-of-9-cards four-person format we normally use. The draft took longer than usual, and one person felt that it was much more of a solo experience than normal, and less interesting. People reveled in being able to hate away the cards they hate. Some folks intentionally burned cards in their colors early on, to try and force others into other colors. The decks were really strong, although not necessarily as strong as I would have predicted. It seems that the obvious bombs will get hated away, but the synergistic cards make it around the table more often. We had a strong GW fast-midrange--it couldn't even find room for Lotus Cobra, which is insane--and two functionally identical BR aggro decks that were likewise more streamlined than anything I'd seen (despite both of them being in the same exact archetype). The overall conclusion was that the draft was less interesting and longer, but the decks and gameplay more interesting.
Personally, I confronted a P1P1 with Ajani Vengeant, Grave Titan, Liliana of the Veil, and Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker. I've been accused of overdrafting Boros Aggro, and while the Titan was probably the most powerful pick, I decided to take a risk on the combo deck, and took Kiki-Jiki (burning Grave Titan and Ajani). It turns out that no-one burns cards like Pestermite, Deceiver Exarch, Ponder, Impulse... I had a crazy amount of draw and filtering, and won all nine games without dropping any. (Naming Kiki-Jiki with both hidden agendas, Brago's Favor and Unexpected Potential, allowing me to cast it for four colorless mana, was backbreaking. In the first game against one of the BR aggro decks, they had a perfect start, and I was at 2 life at their EOT on turn three, while I had only Pondered. I think they were feeling pretty good about their chances, especially with burn in hand. I flashed in Pestermite end of turn, untapped, played my fourth land, revealed my hidden agendas and comboed out for the win turn four.)
Glimpse Draft rules question--what would you do with Conspiracy constructs like Agent of Acquisitions (i.e., can you keep all 15 cards and not burn any?) and Lurking Automaton (maximum P/T of 4/4??)
Sorry, this is turning into "It Could Only Happen in Cube..." Back to the format discussion! I think we'll go back to our normal four-man drafts most of the time, with this thrown in every so often. But everyone was very excited to try this as a 2-man draft format. I'll let you know how it goes...
How much would you be willing to pay for this spell if it didn't have Delve? I think it'd be a slam dunk in most cubes at 1UU and a 540+ card card at 2UU. So the only question is, how often will you be able to cast it for 2UU or less? I'm intruiged but skeptical.
Well, the effect is superior to Fact or Fiction (the best two out of the top seven is going to be better than the worst three out of the top five almost every time) plus there's plenty of room for a card to be worse than FoF and still be Cubable. Blue is the best color at filling up its graveyard, while also having almost no graveyard interaction to compete with Delve. This is going to be very good I think. Testable at 360, essentially an auto-include at 540+ IMO.
I agree, except for the blue-has-no-graveyard-interaction part. We've found that MOST reanimator decks are UB, even more than the traditional GB. In our games, I fear the delve cost will be restrictive for quite a few decks...
I love this card, and immediately plunked it into my green section. I really support tokens (even going so far as to run Doubling Season in green), and the flavor is fantastic.
However, after the first draft with the card, I'm reconsidering. I struggle to keep aggro decks viable, and my playgroup has to be pushed to play red. This card absolutely wrecks fast creature-based decks single-handedly, unless they have non-burn removal. I still think the card is good, but for my current environment it's simply too punishing to the fast decks.
My favorite card is the only Un-card I run in my cube: Booster Tutor. It's absurdly powerful (we flip 14 cards from the undrafted cube box), skill-testing, and dramatic.
Am I crazy to want to try and make an LD/Wildfire/Sneak Attack/Reanimation monstrosity?
I came here to talk up Helm of Possession, but it's already been done. My cube is a tick slower than most, and it's a total bomb there, as well as a fan favorite. Giving every color the opportunity to steal creatures is simply great.
Here's one that's almost never played that has been fantastic for my cube: Blistering Firecat. Now that morph is back, people should give the card another look. Being able to bluff 7 damage makes a lot of morph look more threatening, and it offers red aggro a topdeck that typically hits as hard as Hellrider or Hero of Oxid Ridge, if played as a 4-drop.
And this is not underplayed at all for how strong it is (i.e., it's not played and not strong), but my playgroup has taken a shine to a card I threw in on a whim, and refuses to let me take it out: Praetor's Grasp. It typically grabs a Sword or a broken artifact, sometimes a land if you're mana screwed, sometimes the key combo piece from that Wildfire/Sneak Attack/Kiki-Jiki deck, or whatever. There is almost always a target that makes it worthwhile, though.
So, he basically knew how to play when he was 7, but I only formally taught him at 8.
Oh, and all of his favorite decks seem to be black/red, full of the darkest, bloodiest art in the game.
How old is your kid now, wtwlf?
He's played tons of Euros for years, and has pestered me to teach him Magic for a while now. He's a pretty shy kid, but a group in his afterschool program has started bringing decks with them. I've taught him the game and let him bring some of my old, underpowered kitchen table decks to school--he's now offering "tune up" services for other kids decks, and dispensing deckbuilding advice to the counselors. I've created a monster...
Anyway, this weekend he asked if we could cube. I started him out with Sealed, and gave him no advice. I figured he'd be blown away by the power level of the cards and build a giant Timmy deck, so I (cruelly) built a UW control deck to expose him to the horrors of facing down the blue deck. Nope, he built a very fast BR deck with quite a good curve, and was very restrained. He stomped me three games in a row.
Next up, Winston with 105 cards! I built a UG ramp deck that used Brago's Favor to get a Bribery out on turn three every game. He had an Esper deck that was quite effective, and even once overcame facing down its own Sphinx of the Steel Wind on T3. I took the match, but seeing him work his way out of a seemingly hopeless situation and claw back into a game was awesome.
Now my problem is that my cubing group typically plays from 9 p.m. until 1 a.m., and he's not going to want to go to sleep...
If I were running a flat out aggro deck, I'd pick this fairly highly, but in many matchups the advantage seems marginal enough that I'd pick many, many cards over it.
Something like Advantageous Proclamation (i.e., play a 35 card deck) has been much stronger in my conspiracy-enabled cube, never mind Double Stroke (banned for power level), Unexpected Potential, or Brago's Favor.
I'd never considered Tribute to Hunger before. I might try swapping out Chainer's Edict for it. Instant speed and lifegain for the seldom-used flashback? Seems pretty close to me.
As someone who plays both Bramblecrush and Beast Within, this is a slam dunk for me.
Sorry, this is devolving into the This or That forum...
The format got mixed reviews compared to the "normal" 5-packs-of-9-cards four-person format we normally use. The draft took longer than usual, and one person felt that it was much more of a solo experience than normal, and less interesting. People reveled in being able to hate away the cards they hate. Some folks intentionally burned cards in their colors early on, to try and force others into other colors. The decks were really strong, although not necessarily as strong as I would have predicted. It seems that the obvious bombs will get hated away, but the synergistic cards make it around the table more often. We had a strong GW fast-midrange--it couldn't even find room for Lotus Cobra, which is insane--and two functionally identical BR aggro decks that were likewise more streamlined than anything I'd seen (despite both of them being in the same exact archetype). The overall conclusion was that the draft was less interesting and longer, but the decks and gameplay more interesting.
Personally, I confronted a P1P1 with Ajani Vengeant, Grave Titan, Liliana of the Veil, and Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker. I've been accused of overdrafting Boros Aggro, and while the Titan was probably the most powerful pick, I decided to take a risk on the combo deck, and took Kiki-Jiki (burning Grave Titan and Ajani). It turns out that no-one burns cards like Pestermite, Deceiver Exarch, Ponder, Impulse... I had a crazy amount of draw and filtering, and won all nine games without dropping any. (Naming Kiki-Jiki with both hidden agendas, Brago's Favor and Unexpected Potential, allowing me to cast it for four colorless mana, was backbreaking. In the first game against one of the BR aggro decks, they had a perfect start, and I was at 2 life at their EOT on turn three, while I had only Pondered. I think they were feeling pretty good about their chances, especially with burn in hand. I flashed in Pestermite end of turn, untapped, played my fourth land, revealed my hidden agendas and comboed out for the win turn four.)
Glimpse Draft rules question--what would you do with Conspiracy constructs like Agent of Acquisitions (i.e., can you keep all 15 cards and not burn any?) and Lurking Automaton (maximum P/T of 4/4??)
Sorry, this is turning into "It Could Only Happen in Cube..." Back to the format discussion! I think we'll go back to our normal four-man drafts most of the time, with this thrown in every so often. But everyone was very excited to try this as a 2-man draft format. I'll let you know how it goes...
Most of all, thanks for the concept!
I agree, except for the blue-has-no-graveyard-interaction part. We've found that MOST reanimator decks are UB, even more than the traditional GB. In our games, I fear the delve cost will be restrictive for quite a few decks...
However, after the first draft with the card, I'm reconsidering. I struggle to keep aggro decks viable, and my playgroup has to be pushed to play red. This card absolutely wrecks fast creature-based decks single-handedly, unless they have non-burn removal. I still think the card is good, but for my current environment it's simply too punishing to the fast decks.