Comments
Beginning to show themselves up as weak and potentially in need of replacement...
Filth
- fun idea, but there's not a lot of self-discard in here, and even less of a guarantee of opponents' Swamps.
Phyrexian Negator
- awesome fun card, but strictly worse in multiplayer environments, so people are shying away from drafting it.
Void Maw
- doesn't play well with the rest of Black's graveyard theme in the cube.
Red's curve - Probably needs a few less weenies. Goblin subtheme probably needs Wort, Boggart Auntie
and/or Siege-Gang Commander
to be truly viable.
Reiterate
- Boring. :(
Viashino Cutthroat
- In here to play with Sneak Attack
and Pandemonium
, but that's a three-card combo in a draft.
Elite Vanguard
- Boring. :(
Inner Sanctum
- Meh.
Jugan, the Rising Star
- Triple green CC, and we already have Verdant Force
.
Cloudstone Curio
- Good for broken combos, but not here.
Well of Knowledge
- Meh.
Grinning Totem
- Meh.
Hornet Cannon
- Discussion that outside of use with Grave Pact
, it's crap.
Gold's colour ratios - Some of the three-colour cards are crap, for the sake of filling out the three-colour ratios (hi there, Storm Spirit
). Same with some of the enemy dual-colour cards (hello Quicksilver Dagger
.
Mishra's Factory
, Strip Mine
- Good, but no-one uses them. Need to replace them with a cycle of cheap duals (e.g. Zendikar Refuges).
1:34 a.m. on May 17, 2011
OK, big changes.Still to be done...
- Swap out Maggot Carrier and Sunhome Enforcer for Corrosive Mentor and Brion Stoutarm.
- Swap out Mishra's Factory and Strip Mine for some half-decent dual-lands.
5:04 a.m. on September 19, 2011
Awesome Plays Out Of The Cube So Far
Next Changes
The first cut of the Cube stuck rigidly to a mana curve. It's now proving that in a Multiplayer environment, a lot of the 1-drops are fairly useless. So it's time to bump the curve up and add some more power.
Mishra's Factory
,
Strip Mine
and
Frostwind Invoker
are also on the hit list, and awaiting decent replacements.
3:46 a.m. on September 26, 2011
Above five changes made.
Now awaiting replacement:
Mishra's Factory
, Strip Mine
, Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
, Quicksand
, Frostwind Invoker
, Guul Draz Vampire
, Flame-Kin Zealot
, Storm Spirit
, Jugan, the Rising Star
(fun, but triple green CC), Spike Weaver
(good, but negative and unfun), Kinsbaile Borderguard
, Orcish Lumberjack
(mostly pointless 1-drop), Blood Moon
(useless now that Goblin King has gone), Spoils of Evil
(not getting the love), Fool's Tome
(being last-picked by the TappedOut bots)
10:31 p.m. on October 5, 2011
Thanks to immense help from the purchase of all five Commander decks...
1:55 a.m. on October 21, 2011
Further wholesale Commander-induced changes...
- Wrexial, the Risen Deep
in for Wydwen, the Biting Gale
. One UB legend out, a much more fun one goes in. - Angel of Despair
in for Evershrike
. Shrike was underwhelming. The angel is not. - Chromeshell Crab
in for Frostwind Invoker
. The playgroup's overwhelming hate for the Invoker is sated by replacing it with creature theft. :) - Basandra, Battle Seraph
in for Bull Cerodon
. The Cerodon was an underwhelming fatty with no evasion, while Basandra has flying and is at least interesting. She is henceforth in the Well See How She Plays group. :) - 4x Mishra's Factory
out for Elfhame Palace
, Salt Marsh
, Shivan Oasis
and Urborg Volcano
. This one had been driving me nuts. Id been hoping to put the M10 lands in, but these will do. - Coastal Tower
in for Pillar of the Paruns
. Completes the set. The Pillar was only helping you cast one in every six or seven cards anyway. - Svogthos, the Restless Tomb
in for Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
. We keep a man-land in the Cube (and a Zombie at that), replacing Valakut, which was never going to work well in this format. - Mortivore
in for Guul Draz Vampire
. A slight curve change. Any arguments? :) - Lhurgoyf
in for Sporesower Thallid
. Decent beef in to replace fungus. - Brawn
in for Sporoloth Ancient
. Ditto. Can be discarded by several things, and blanket trample will help un-stall games. - Mulldrifter
in for Magus of the Bazaar
. Mully was already in, but Id botched something somewhere. Magus comes out in the tidy-up. Dont think therell be too many complaints. - Anger
in for Viashino Cutthroat
. As per Brawn
, can be discarded easily, and should help finish games. Cutthroat was only in to interact with Pandemonium
, and was annoying me. - Eternal Witness
in for Psychotrope Thallid
. Another good straight swap. - Liliana Vess
in for Spoils of Evil
. Heck yeah. Only need to find an excuse to free our single Jace up, and we have a walker for all five colours. - Scavenging Ooze
in for Thallid
. Looked good in the playgroup's Commander deck challenge, and replaces fungus here. - Veteran Explorer
in for Utopia Mycon
. We maintain our colour-fixing while losing fungus. - Oblivion Ring
in for Wing Shards
. Got one in the Commander decks, so in it goes, as its better removal.
...
4:36 a.m. on October 24, 2011
...
- Warstorm Surge
in for Pandemonium
. People hated the two-sided nature of Pandemonium, so it never got picked. The Surge will hopefully be a different story. - Hateflayer
in for Jokulhaups
. Maintains the curve, adds a very good Elemental to work with Incandescent Soulstoke
. - In the Web of War
in for Furnace of Rath
. Furnace suffered from the same problem as Pandemonium
(I need a Fire Servant
in here eventually). For those yet to play it, ItWoW is fantastic. Looking forward to watching it introduce itself to new friends. :) - Kyren Negotiations
in for Blood Moon
. Moon was useless once Goblin King
was gone. Negotiations should be interesting, especially with token generators. - AEther Sting
in for Fault Line
. Another card suffering from the same syndrome as Pandemonium
. Aether Sting is an interesting one-sided effect. This one is also in the Well See How She Plays group. - Barreling Attack
in for Reiterate
. No-one played Reiterate. The Attack is one of my old Mirage faves. Hopefully its not complete rubbish in here it should be a surprise scalper at the least. - Boros Signet
in for AEther Spellbomb
. - Golgari Signet
in for Kaleidostone
. - Izzet Signet
in for Khalni Gem
. - Orzhov Signet
in for Spectral Searchlight
. - Simic Signet
in for Well of Knowledge
. The Signets are working well, and I now have all five enemy-colour signets to put in. They replace three alternate mana-fixers and two cards no-one was playing. - Nezumi Graverobber
in for Deathspore Thallid
. Everyones favourite flip card in to remove fungus. - Hydra Omnivore
in for Jugan, the Rising Star
. The card I want to see our resident Timmy gleefully slap a Whispersilk Cloak
on, swapped for a card that broke the triple mana rule (i.e. dont cost GGG unless you almost win the game). - Elvish Piper
in for Spike Weaver
. The Weaver was on my hitlist for being negative and annoying. The Piper is the opposite. - Kulrath Knight
in for Void
. A boring sweeper goes for a very good Elemental Knight. Loves being next to Corrosive Mentor
, Haakon, Kinsbaile Cavalier
- Makeshift Mannequin
in for Persecute
. A fun reanimator in for a card that was never going to work in a Cube environment. - Rubinia Soulsinger
in for Storm Spirit
. Simply a better option as the alternate GWU card to Treva. - Trade Secrets
in for Show and Tell
. Unfortnately, I need S&T for a coming deck. Added some powerful card draw to compensate. - Dismal Failure
in for Turnabout
. A little more countermagic in for a card that was situational at best. - Wanderwine Prophets
in for Sarah Palinchron
. Lets give people a reason to draft Merfolk! :) - Summon the School
in for Story Circle
. And lets add the card that makes the Prophets work!
4:36 a.m. on October 24, 2011
10:07 p.m. on October 24, 2011
Austere Command
in for Purify
. Sensible as a straight swap. Command is much better and has much more utility, for only 1 more.
Faith's Fetters
in for Roar of Reclamation
. Dropping Roar to make sure the curve of white spells doesn't become too top-heavy, and because no-one was playing it (you'd have to invest heavily in artifacts during draft, and then hope you're not helping others as you resolve it). We don't have a decent 5cc option to replace Purify, so we'll put in a 4cc option. The Fetters is about the best card not in the Cube, and works well with the enchantment subthemes.
Reveillark
in for False Prophet
. Dropping a 4cc creature for a 5cc to finish evening the curve out. People were mostly too scared to play the Prophet (it's good, but vulnerable to piffage when you don't want or expect it). The Lark is full of combo goodness, fits the Elemental tribe in the Cube, and potentially brings an infinite combo or two (I suspect, anyway - Coffin Queen stands out as an obvious combo buddy).
Transcendent Master
in for Wall of Nets
. A straight swap that adds more power to the cube and less passive play. The Wall was half-decent, but the Master sees good play in our meta (and my copy is shiny).
9:06 p.m. on December 18, 2011
Proliferate in for the Merfolk tribe (as Wanderwine Prophets
was proving unplayable). Looks like a good, fun swap!
12:13 a.m. on April 19, 2012