Hmm... Maybe I will try out daretti.. Great write up wtw!
I thought long and hard and changed my mind on song of dryads as well, added it in cube, but I havent seen it action yet.
Partially inspired by drafting a sweet GR agro/midrange deck and repeatedly getting smashed by wurmcoil engine and baneslayer angel in back to back matches. Underestimated the creature exile clause.
I cut feldon after a few drafts, only because he didn't have a clear home. If I go really deep on red graveyard shenagins, maybe ill give him another run. Daretti is a step in that direction.
Still have no desire to test dualcaster mage and glad testing reports have confirmed he's underperforming.
I also cut malicious affliction... Morbid was very tough to turn on in decks that weren't black agro/sacrifice. In the other decks it was quite a bit more restrictive than GFTT. There were many black decks I saw that had too many removal spells, and were cutting some. Indicating I likely had more than enough black removal in my cube... I like GFFT better and it was currently at the bottom of the list I run.
Want at least 1 2 mana edict effect (diabloic or chainers), consuming vapors is one of blacks only lifegain source, hero's downfall is too versatile to cut, dismember is too splashable to cut, ETB 187-removal synergizes with reanimator strategies, and then there's GFTT.. Doesn't leave room for malicious affliction.
Fleshcarver is amazing. It's either #1 or #2 black 3 drop, competing with ophiomancer. #3 is way in the distance
Think it could be really good, but once people start being aware of it in your deck and the cube, they can play around it to some extent, making it a lot less effective.
Seems decent, but 4 cmc is so stacked... I dunno.. Would have to see a lot of feedback before id want to test it out
Whip of erebos is a nice bridge between reanimator and midrange, that can also be used as a sideboard card for black agro.
Living death is narrow, but when you get a good deck for it, it's absurdly strong.
Goodking wrote a great summary a few posts up of why all-in reanimator is a huge gamble and creating a sideplan when it doesn't pan out is important.
These days, I've had the best results with control/reanimator.
For me, black sweepers are the big draw for a controllish strategy. It allows you to stall other gameplans, without having to dedicate too many card slots to non-reanimator peices. Pernicious deed is probably my favourite, since I rarely have cheap artifacts or mana creatures in a control based reanimator strategy and it stops equipment, mana rocks and creatures.
The key feature about this strategy is you don't have as many reanimation spells or big targets, but you have a LOT of filtering as well as tutors, brain storm, preordian, impulse..
1-2 Sweepers and a few removal spells. The "digging" aspect serves double duty to assemble your peices, as well as digging for answers if you are desperate.
You only need 2-3 fatties, but you want them to be super premium, preferably 1 hard castable. Griselbrand is by far the best x1000 and is the only one Id put on the similar draft priority of tutors. A card like woodfall primus is not what you want.
My last draft that I 3-0ed with reanimator, had demonic tutor, imperial seal, mystical tutor, show and tell, animate dead, griselbrand , grave titan and emrakul. The rest were all cantrips, dig spells, targeted discard , sweepers and removal.
@ wtwlf123 about "Monastery Swiftspear vs Chandra's Phoenix" I widened my cube, I'm running 500 cards. I ended up having to expand because more friends began to play
Rephrasing questions, I believe that is the last to finalize the changes in the cube:
Cool. Ive never gotten the card to work, but I can tell it's very powerful, think I'm just drafting with it wrong.
Do you ever build around it? When drafting , what are the archetypes that it generall goes in? The more midrangey strategies? Color combinations?
Common cards you pair it with outside of stripmine/wasteland? Like it with reanimator?
Sorry for all the questions, but I'm testing out tatiana, and want to include a little land/graveyard package to see how she is in an enviornment that supports building around her.
I dismissed this card when I first read it, but I stumbled upon her again, and noticed I missed her interactions with fetch lands.
I think I want to test her out now. In double fetch land cube, probability of her being a rampant growth + two 5/3's + future upside seems pretty high.
I think this guy is very cubable and he's found a home in my cube, much to the hatred of the players who love that archetype.
There's a few considerations when including him tho,
1) How powerful do you want cheat strategies to be.
2) How many interactions do you have with him in the cube to make him playable against non-cheaty strategies?
For my cube, I think he's very good.
I have a humans agro sub-theme, I run parallax wave/flicker wisp (combo), there's 2 birthing pods in my cubes, there's kiki jiki-restoration infinite combo archetypes and I fully support sneak/show. So not only does this card hate on a higher % of the format, but he's totally main deckable due to cool interactions... unlike other very powerful hate cards like null rod or timely reinforcements.
That being said, he's so unbelievably strong against certain archetypes, that a consideration for excluding him can be cube archetype balance alone. The same consideration can be had for INCLUDING him as well. Depending on how powerful sneak/show/reanimator is in your cube and how powerful you want it to be.
Dont think Id ever want to play a 4/2 trample for 3 in a green deck that can't support red mana.
Don't think I want an agressive threatening creature in a GU only deck, so would classify this card as gruul.
Card doesn't stack up to the gruul competition imo.
Very powerful if beating down with the tempo advantage. Can threaten to do a lot of damage, seems strong in a R/G deck but it's drawbacks are clear. Vulnerable to removal, poor on defense, gets outclassed by big creatures and only really shines in subset of situations/matchups/decks. For all of those drawbacks, he doesn't take over the game by himself.. Like a Master of the wild hunt/goblin rabblemaster/brimaz/hero of bladehold type card.
Think the card is good, but not adding it to my cube. Wouldn't shame someone for testing it out tho
What I don't get is why people think this is better than Beast within.
If you are super heavy green, dealing with a 3/3 doesn't seem extremely difficult. Beast within is awful against agressive decks, but this card also seems weak against agressive decks (a lot better tho). Instant speed is so much better than sorcery, and you can use it on your own lands for blow outs.
If you aren't super heavy green, removal is not that hard to come by and you don't really want to play either of these cards over another colors quality removal (imo).
I thought long and hard and changed my mind on song of dryads as well, added it in cube, but I havent seen it action yet.
Partially inspired by drafting a sweet GR agro/midrange deck and repeatedly getting smashed by wurmcoil engine and baneslayer angel in back to back matches. Underestimated the creature exile clause.
I cut feldon after a few drafts, only because he didn't have a clear home. If I go really deep on red graveyard shenagins, maybe ill give him another run. Daretti is a step in that direction.
Still have no desire to test dualcaster mage and glad testing reports have confirmed he's underperforming.
I also cut malicious affliction... Morbid was very tough to turn on in decks that weren't black agro/sacrifice. In the other decks it was quite a bit more restrictive than GFTT. There were many black decks I saw that had too many removal spells, and were cutting some. Indicating I likely had more than enough black removal in my cube... I like GFFT better and it was currently at the bottom of the list I run.
Want at least 1 2 mana edict effect (diabloic or chainers), consuming vapors is one of blacks only lifegain source, hero's downfall is too versatile to cut, dismember is too splashable to cut, ETB 187-removal synergizes with reanimator strategies, and then there's GFTT.. Doesn't leave room for malicious affliction.
Fleshcarver is amazing. It's either #1 or #2 black 3 drop, competing with ophiomancer. #3 is way in the distance
Seems decent, but 4 cmc is so stacked... I dunno.. Would have to see a lot of feedback before id want to test it out
Living death is narrow, but when you get a good deck for it, it's absurdly strong.
Goodking wrote a great summary a few posts up of why all-in reanimator is a huge gamble and creating a sideplan when it doesn't pan out is important.
These days, I've had the best results with control/reanimator.
For me, black sweepers are the big draw for a controllish strategy. It allows you to stall other gameplans, without having to dedicate too many card slots to non-reanimator peices. Pernicious deed is probably my favourite, since I rarely have cheap artifacts or mana creatures in a control based reanimator strategy and it stops equipment, mana rocks and creatures.
The key feature about this strategy is you don't have as many reanimation spells or big targets, but you have a LOT of filtering as well as tutors, brain storm, preordian, impulse..
1-2 Sweepers and a few removal spells. The "digging" aspect serves double duty to assemble your peices, as well as digging for answers if you are desperate.
You only need 2-3 fatties, but you want them to be super premium, preferably 1 hard castable. Griselbrand is by far the best x1000 and is the only one Id put on the similar draft priority of tutors. A card like woodfall primus is not what you want.
My last draft that I 3-0ed with reanimator, had demonic tutor, imperial seal, mystical tutor, show and tell, animate dead, griselbrand , grave titan and emrakul. The rest were all cantrips, dig spells, targeted discard , sweepers and removal.
Pheonix > Swiftspear >> waif
Keldon Marauders > lightning mauler > borderland marauder
Do you ever build around it? When drafting , what are the archetypes that it generall goes in? The more midrangey strategies? Color combinations?
Common cards you pair it with outside of stripmine/wasteland? Like it with reanimator?
Sorry for all the questions, but I'm testing out tatiana, and want to include a little land/graveyard package to see how she is in an enviornment that supports building around her.
Is it used outside of decks with stripmine/wasteland?
I think I want to test her out now. In double fetch land cube, probability of her being a rampant growth + two 5/3's + future upside seems pretty high.
There's a few considerations when including him tho,
1) How powerful do you want cheat strategies to be.
2) How many interactions do you have with him in the cube to make him playable against non-cheaty strategies?
For my cube, I think he's very good.
I have a humans agro sub-theme, I run parallax wave/flicker wisp (combo), there's 2 birthing pods in my cubes, there's kiki jiki-restoration infinite combo archetypes and I fully support sneak/show. So not only does this card hate on a higher % of the format, but he's totally main deckable due to cool interactions... unlike other very powerful hate cards like null rod or timely reinforcements.
That being said, he's so unbelievably strong against certain archetypes, that a consideration for excluding him can be cube archetype balance alone. The same consideration can be had for INCLUDING him as well. Depending on how powerful sneak/show/reanimator is in your cube and how powerful you want it to be.
Hmm.. if wtwl really likes it, I guess ill give it a testing shot. Can't hurt.. It is a sweet card no doubt
maybe underestimating the trample part of the card
Don't think I want an agressive threatening creature in a GU only deck, so would classify this card as gruul.
Card doesn't stack up to the gruul competition imo.
Very powerful if beating down with the tempo advantage. Can threaten to do a lot of damage, seems strong in a R/G deck but it's drawbacks are clear. Vulnerable to removal, poor on defense, gets outclassed by big creatures and only really shines in subset of situations/matchups/decks. For all of those drawbacks, he doesn't take over the game by himself.. Like a Master of the wild hunt/goblin rabblemaster/brimaz/hero of bladehold type card.
Think the card is good, but not adding it to my cube. Wouldn't shame someone for testing it out tho
Not close to enough dragons in cube to abuse the second part
If you are super heavy green, dealing with a 3/3 doesn't seem extremely difficult. Beast within is awful against agressive decks, but this card also seems weak against agressive decks (a lot better tho). Instant speed is so much better than sorcery, and you can use it on your own lands for blow outs.
If you aren't super heavy green, removal is not that hard to come by and you don't really want to play either of these cards over another colors quality removal (imo).
Thoughts? Super hard to deal with creature that makes your entire team able to get damage through.
Expensive and low toughness tho..