My qualm is that I know this review is specific to your cube, which is different from most cubes here. Yet, your feedback on the cards is limited to a cursory overview of the card and its general role. Wouldn't it be more interesting if you pontificated a bit on why this card fits into YOUR cube in the way that it does? E.g. why you would rate Ash Zealot so low and Deathrite Shaman so high -- I suspect that it has a lot to do with the configuration of your cube.
There are a lot of questionable changes here, but the biggest ??????? moments I had were getting in Leatherback Baloth (at the expense of the hermit, no less) and cutting Garruk Relentless (which I rated as my favorite green card).
I guess that most people think of their manlands as more like gold cards (a la Shadowmage Infiltrator or Maelstrom Pulse) than as lands. I guess with the Guild section, you don't technically classify them as either. But it seems that in building the guild section, people naturally still stick to this kind of split. You don't see anyone running 100% fixing in their guild sections, for example.
So what are your thoughts on this? I know some people claim to be OCD about their cube organization and balance. But doesn't this provide more fixing to certain color combinations, which is arguably more important than most gold cards? I would assume that this topic has been discussed in the past, but maybe its a good time to think about now that people are remaking their multicolored sections.
They are not comparable. Being able to do the 1 damage at will is far far far far more important than being able to block 2-toughness creatures. You'll just have to take my word for it.
I think maybe it's not so much a problem that people are overvaluing Fanatic, but that they are undervaluing the other red 1-drops. Most people have been playing Fanatic for years, so they've had time to see all the corner cases flourish and therefore are aware of the full potential of Fanatic. Newer cards almost always take more time to be rated more accurately. I think as people get more playtime with newer 1-drops, those newer cards will rise up relative to the Fanatic. A lot of people will say "I've already tested X and it wasn't as good as Fanatic," but they've not put in nearly the same amount of playtime with these new cards to fully appreciate them, I think.
The second thing is that Fanatic shouldn't be competing with the "brute force" one drops in red. You need a certain threshold of those dumb beaters in the one slot, and clearly red needs a lot (and I would say that most people don't run enough of them). Fanatic comes in more as a utility creature that supplements that core. In white and green, you have to worry more about balancing utility 1-drops with beater 1-drops, but not so in red, at least in the current buildstyles of most MTGS cubes.
I prefer Noble & Waif to fanatic, and I think it's directly competing with Spikeshot Elder (depending on the speed of your build). With the new hybrid guy coming in, that's yet one more 1-drop to slot in. I might take the Fanatic out in the next iteration of changes. That being said, I think it's still fine in cubes > 360, especially if you play a lot of Winston.
I mean, I think Hellrider is the best red 4CC cr in a straight-up aggro (though some might say Avalanche riders). If you don't want to cut the other 4 drops its a bit tricky... though I don't think your 4 slot is THAT crowded (sneak attack doesn't really count). I'd say Molten Rain or Chandra, depending on your build. But it totally depends on the kinds of decks you want to foster.
KBH, I'm kind of interested in hearing how that's worked out for you. You mainly winston right? I'm having a bit of a pickle trying to figure out how to do adequate archetype support in a winston format. BTW, I don't think Acidic Slime is filler at all. I never pass it if I am in green.
Not exactly related to this thread, but aren't cube cards generally better in action than they are on paper? I mean, maybe that's self-selecting, but that's the general trend IMO.
Just watched http://www.twitch.tv/joyofcubing/b/332675734
I wanted to say that I thought your rant at the very end, (@2:32 for reference) was as good or better than your regular podcasts. I think part of it was that you were getting quite passionate about your subject matter, and partly that you had the leeway to just rant for a while without having your flow interrupted or stopping to ask guests for feedback. Maybe it's just my preference for this "Rant" style of discussion rather than the "interview the guest" type that the podcast tries to accomplish. Perhaps split the difference and do a "Kranny's rant" in the first half of the show and then have the guest react (w/ host interaction) in the second half? Or 15/15/15/15, whatever.
how is it "far better" than diregraf ghoul? certainly it's a more valuable card to the cube because it's hybrid, but i don't think it's a stronger card on the battlefield. and it doesn't go into twice as many decks as tattermunge maniac.
It's far better because when it's in an RB deck it's way easier to cast than any of those listed (except tattermunge).
I don't think deathtouch can be compared to flying. Flying with equipment gets you over tokens and anything they're willing to chump block with. If I'm aggro and they're trading their tokens with my 2/3 deathtouch, I don't think I'm going to win.
Actually now that I'm thinking about it, I think Vampire Interloper is better than Chainwalker. Not that I'm against Interloper, but seeing as you run neither the Interloper nor the Nezumi equivalent, I don't think Chainwalker will work that well for you.
Chainwalker and Arrester weren't even on my radar, thanks for flagging them. Evasion >> extra power, IMO, but that costing cost for Chainwalker is quite tempting. Arrester could definitely make it into medium-sized cubes, I think, but it doesn't really replace 2-drops. If you're using it to replace 3 or 4 drops, I could see it working out.
So what are your thoughts on this? I know some people claim to be OCD about their cube organization and balance. But doesn't this provide more fixing to certain color combinations, which is arguably more important than most gold cards? I would assume that this topic has been discussed in the past, but maybe its a good time to think about now that people are remaking their multicolored sections.
They are not comparable. Being able to do the 1 damage at will is far far far far more important than being able to block 2-toughness creatures. You'll just have to take my word for it.
The second thing is that Fanatic shouldn't be competing with the "brute force" one drops in red. You need a certain threshold of those dumb beaters in the one slot, and clearly red needs a lot (and I would say that most people don't run enough of them). Fanatic comes in more as a utility creature that supplements that core. In white and green, you have to worry more about balancing utility 1-drops with beater 1-drops, but not so in red, at least in the current buildstyles of most MTGS cubes.
KBH, I'm kind of interested in hearing how that's worked out for you. You mainly winston right? I'm having a bit of a pickle trying to figure out how to do adequate archetype support in a winston format. BTW, I don't think Acidic Slime is filler at all. I never pass it if I am in green.
BTW, I think Hellrider would be at least as good as Sarkhan Vol, if Sarkhan were monocolored.
Just watched http://www.twitch.tv/joyofcubing/b/332675734
I wanted to say that I thought your rant at the very end, (@2:32 for reference) was as good or better than your regular podcasts. I think part of it was that you were getting quite passionate about your subject matter, and partly that you had the leeway to just rant for a while without having your flow interrupted or stopping to ask guests for feedback. Maybe it's just my preference for this "Rant" style of discussion rather than the "interview the guest" type that the podcast tries to accomplish. Perhaps split the difference and do a "Kranny's rant" in the first half of the show and then have the guest react (w/ host interaction) in the second half? Or 15/15/15/15, whatever.
It's far better because when it's in an RB deck it's way easier to cast than any of those listed (except tattermunge).