So, I love Dragonstorm. The problem is, my playgroup doesn't love combo. I don't love lightning fast combos myself in EDH, but Dragonstorm seems durdly and clunky enough that it wouldn't be too cutthroat. Play the value game for a awhile and then when the pieces come together, storm out. I was thinking either Melek, Izzet Paragon or Mizzix of the Izmagnus as the general (though I'm open to other suggestions--Intet? Nicol Bolas?).
I know things like Past in Flames and Mizzix's Mastery help put my storm count over the top and lots of cheap action spells are necessary to keep the wheels greased. I also know I need a critical mass of dragons to make Dragonstorm work properly and that's gonna gum up the works. There'll be times when I draw too many dragons and I don't have something like Scroll Rack to put them back in my library. Crystal Ball helps with that because if I can see them coming, I can put them on the bottom. As does running lots of fetches to let me shuffle things away when I Scroll Rack them or see them with Top or whatever.
I've never tried anything storm related before and this one seems like a tough balancing act to pull off, so I come seeking counsel. What do you guys think? Can I make it work?
Speaking of Pacifism variants, how about Forced Worship?
Cage of Hands is much better. Costs one more to cast, but it's cheaper to bounce so it kinda evens out. It also stops the creature from blocking. Although neither of them prevent activated abilities like Faith's Fetters (which also hits permanents in general, not just creatures), Prison Term (which can jump around if a more dangerous creature crops up), or Arrest. Forced Worship doesn't rank high on my list since all of those are better and pretty cheap to acquire.
Necrotic Plague might not be all that good, but it's a pet card of mine that I'll be running in my Daxos deck. It's funny and it actually kills the creature. Plus, sometimes I just enjoy creating a little chaos.
Been a while since I messed with this list but I'm looking to make room to test out Dream Pillager and Dragonlord Ojutai. I think those are the only cards that have come out recently that fit this build.
What about Blade of Selves? Seems pretty perfect for this deck.
Broodbirth Viper might not be good enough to make the deck, but it might be fun enough to give a shot.
Flamerush Rider's not quite as new, but it seems fun. Might be too fragile though.
Ghave is currently the front runner. I like Junk a lot, both in general and in terms of enchantments, and Ghave enables cool things in this kind of deck. He lets a creature-lite deck run Grave Pact and Aura Shards as well as opening up a token sub-theme if I want. I'm also considering a heavier creature-hate concept with guys like Tainted AEther and Spreading Plague to really punish creature heavy decks.
I've always had a fondness for enchantments and have brewed up a number of builds for enchantment-based control decks and even build a Jenara deck that used her and some of the best auras to beatdown for the win. It was fun and it lasted for a while before I took it apart. The problem now is that every time I brew up a new list, it ends up as another Selesnya or Bant enchantress deck and I don't necessarily wanna retread that ground. I want another enchantment control deck, but this time I'm thinking Ghave, Guru of Spores, Marath, Will of the Wild, or Narset, Enlightened Master. None of them are the typical enchantment colors/generals and I think all of them could be interesting.
What do you guys think? I wanna keep it competitive, but my group isn't particularly cutthroat.
Mystic Remora makes the cut in just about every blue deck I've ever thrown together and yet, no one else runs it in my groups.
Phyrexian Reclamation is a card I grabbed because my LGS didn't have a copy of Oversold Cemetery sitting around and I needed something to fill-in. Since then, it's been a mainstay in most of my black decks.
I've heard from a number of sources that Black aggro has a tough time in cube. I'm only just know getting my cube out into the world for some real testing, but black does seem to be lacking in good, aggressive two-drops and curve-topping finishers at four and five mana. I'm not gonna give up on it before I even start, but I do want a couple alternatives in mind, should the worst be true. I've heard people talk about Pox decks, which seem pretty cool and it's definitely on my radar, but something I haven't seen get much attention is Aristocrats. It wouldn't enable Mono-Black aggro, but it does give black something aggressive and distinct to contribute to the cube. For those unfamiliar, here's a good article that lays down the foundation of the deck.
I wasn't playing Standard at the time, but I was aware of the deck and it seemed pretty cool. Has anyone tried to do anything along these lines in Cube? Do some of the specific parts required to make it work end up feeling underpowered? Does it fall apart if it doesn't get ALL the pieces it needs? Does it just take up too much space to shoehorn in? If it did work, what were some of the all-stars? What cards did a good job of greasing the wheels?
I'm probably getting ahead of myself here, looking at replacements for Black aggro before I even get good testing in; but half the fun of building your own cube is theorycrafting, daydreaming, and tinkering with hypotheticals, right?
All the same, I do recommend checking out that blog post about card selection in cube. There's some very interesting food for thought on the subject.
Interesting article. I'll have to give the blog a closer look. Anticipate was the other card I was looking at, so I think I'll just test them both and see what happens. Both of them cost all of a quarter, so why not?
See Beyond is cool, but sorcery-speed makes me cringe a little. I've never liked card quality sorceries that cost more than one mana. But if I end up liking Lat-Nam, but wanting to draw my cards NOW, I might take a look.
Fair enough. I came across it looking for a card to stand in for Serum Visions temporarily. That stupid thing costs $14 and I refuse to pay for a card that's worse than multiple $1 or less cards lol. At least for the time being.
So, I haven't seen anyone anywhere talk about Lat-Nam's Legacy in cube. Yeah, it's kinda awkward, but it gives you a free shuffle and it means you're drawing two additional cards on your next turn. It's an instant, which keeps it from being too cumbersome and it only costs two. Has anyone given it a shot?
I like them both, but I know at 360 you've got to make cuts somewhere. I would prefer Worn Powerstone unless you have very few 2-mana rocks. Getting to ramp on turn 2 (or at least having the option to) is pretty important for that style of deck. If you already have a decent complement of signets/Mind Stone/etc. then I would take Powerstone.
Yeah, I can probably find room for both, since my cube is still VERY much in flux, but I wanted to see which gets higher marks from people, just in case cuts have to be made.
I know things like Past in Flames and Mizzix's Mastery help put my storm count over the top and lots of cheap action spells are necessary to keep the wheels greased. I also know I need a critical mass of dragons to make Dragonstorm work properly and that's gonna gum up the works. There'll be times when I draw too many dragons and I don't have something like Scroll Rack to put them back in my library. Crystal Ball helps with that because if I can see them coming, I can put them on the bottom. As does running lots of fetches to let me shuffle things away when I Scroll Rack them or see them with Top or whatever.
I've never tried anything storm related before and this one seems like a tough balancing act to pull off, so I come seeking counsel. What do you guys think? Can I make it work?
Cage of Hands is much better. Costs one more to cast, but it's cheaper to bounce so it kinda evens out. It also stops the creature from blocking. Although neither of them prevent activated abilities like Faith's Fetters (which also hits permanents in general, not just creatures), Prison Term (which can jump around if a more dangerous creature crops up), or Arrest. Forced Worship doesn't rank high on my list since all of those are better and pretty cheap to acquire.
Necrotic Plague might not be all that good, but it's a pet card of mine that I'll be running in my Daxos deck. It's funny and it actually kills the creature. Plus, sometimes I just enjoy creating a little chaos.
What about Blade of Selves? Seems pretty perfect for this deck.
Broodbirth Viper might not be good enough to make the deck, but it might be fun enough to give a shot.
Flamerush Rider's not quite as new, but it seems fun. Might be too fragile though.
Flickering Ward, Rancor, Fallen Idol, and Mana Bloom plus Faith Healer and Auratog let you trigger Enchantresses and Constellation a LOT. Sigil of the Empty Throne can close out games in a hurry with this setup.
No Mercy is a pretty solid defensive enchantment.
It'd take a bit of reworking for your deck, but you could add things like Tainted AEther and Spreading Plague to really punish creature decks.
What do you guys think? I wanna keep it competitive, but my group isn't particularly cutthroat.
Phyrexian Reclamation is a card I grabbed because my LGS didn't have a copy of Oversold Cemetery sitting around and I needed something to fill-in. Since then, it's been a mainstay in most of my black decks.
I wasn't playing Standard at the time, but I was aware of the deck and it seemed pretty cool. Has anyone tried to do anything along these lines in Cube? Do some of the specific parts required to make it work end up feeling underpowered? Does it fall apart if it doesn't get ALL the pieces it needs? Does it just take up too much space to shoehorn in? If it did work, what were some of the all-stars? What cards did a good job of greasing the wheels?
I'm probably getting ahead of myself here, looking at replacements for Black aggro before I even get good testing in; but half the fun of building your own cube is theorycrafting, daydreaming, and tinkering with hypotheticals, right?
Interesting article. I'll have to give the blog a closer look. Anticipate was the other card I was looking at, so I think I'll just test them both and see what happens. Both of them cost all of a quarter, so why not?
See Beyond is cool, but sorcery-speed makes me cringe a little. I've never liked card quality sorceries that cost more than one mana. But if I end up liking Lat-Nam, but wanting to draw my cards NOW, I might take a look.
For an unpowered 360 card cube, which is better?
Yeah, I can probably find room for both, since my cube is still VERY much in flux, but I wanted to see which gets higher marks from people, just in case cuts have to be made.
Thanks =)