Dan's Cube

redxxii wrote:
I'm a little sad about the removal of Karmic Guide, since it is one of my favorite creatures. I am happy to see Bloodgift Demon and Garruk Relentless though, should be fun additions. How are you handling double-sided cards though, since I know you double-sleeve your deck?

Karmic Guide is over-costed for its effect, I find. There are better reanimators and better flyers.

The inner sleeve is transparent on both sides, so I'm handling it the same as I would double-sided cards in a single sleeve.

Out at Worlds in San Francisco this weekend! I stopped by this afternoon to get some cards signed and do some trading. I'll be going back on Saturday. I already texted most of you with my alters. Here's what I picked up today:

Foil:
Watery Grave
Blood Crypt
Doubling Season (Real)
Polluted Delta (Judge)
Flooded Strand (Judge)
Venser the Sojourner
Putrid Leech
Graveborn Muse
Joraga Treespeaker

Got to see a lot of Magic celebs too!

I'll add more as I get more.

Dan,

What cards from Innistrad made your cube? any commons or uncommons?

I havent had the time to do a final review and decide and what might make the cut for my cube from Innistrad yet.

I believe only the following uncommons/commons:

Diregraf Ghoul
Avacyn's Pilgrim
Reckless Waif
Mentor of the Meek

I also added in:

Bloodgift Demon
Garruk Relentless
Devil's Play
Snapcaster Mage

And when I get one, Liliana is going in too

Slyphidine wrote:I believe only the following uncommons/commons:

Diregraf Ghoul
Avacyn's Pilgrim
Reckless Waif
Mentor of the Meek

I also added in:

Bloodgift Demon
Garruk Relentless
Devil's Play
Snapcaster Mage

And when I get one, Liliana is going in too

Mentor is a rare.
Avacyn's Pilgrim surprises me a bit. Did you cycle cards out for these?
Did you see the gameday art for diregraf ghoul? Its awesome, i need one.

Oops, you're right.

Avacyn's Pilgrim may be my favorite add. I believe I cut Fyndhorn Elves for it.

I have not seen the game day Diregraf Ghoul. I'll have to check it out.

Speaking of which, the new 2/1 for B is most certainly going in mine.

What do you think of swapping your Werebear for the new Scorned Villager. Seems like an upgrade to me, and easier to find a foil to boot.

The new Sorin is an autoinclude, obviously. Too bad it'll be so expensive.

I was just thinking about that Werebear swap. I'm definitely considering it.

Speaking of cuts, James, looking at making some grandiose cuts of my own. My cube has been inching up in size lately, and I want to trim it back a bit, plus try to balance the color numbers a little better. Also, I feel like the multicolor section is a bit too large at the moment, leading to packs where there are too many gold cards. I'm trying to limit each color pair to 4 cards. So here are 45 cards I'd like to cut, along with 3 replacements I've made already:

Artifact:
Everflowing Chalice
Lotus Petal
Mana Vault
Ensnaring Bridge
Goblin Charbelcher
Bosh, Iron Golem

Black:
Abyssal Persecutor
Skeletal Vampire -> Bloodline Keeper

Blue:
Palinchron
Riftwing Cloudskate
Evacuation
Foil
Frantic Search
Rewind

Green:
Elephant Guide

Multi:
Spiritmonger
Lorescale Coatl
Mystic Snake
Bituminous Blast
Wrecking Ball
Giant Solifuge
Fires of Yavimaya
Broodmate Dragon
Prophetic Bolt
Moroii
Debtors' Knell
Mortify
Loxodon Hierarch
Oversoul of Dusk
Armadillo Cloak
Firemane Angel
Goblin Legionnaire
Lightning Angel
Azorius Guildmage
Wall of Denial

Red:
Dwarven Blastminer
Mogg Fanatic
Rorix Bladewing
Grab the Reins -> Chandra the Firebrand

White:
Kataki, War's Wage
Pristine Angel
Soul Warden
Austere Command
Griffin Guide -> Fiend Hunter
Pulse of the Fields

Let the bloodbath begin!

If it helps, here are the current cards in each color pair, with the ones to be removed crossed out:

BG:
Putrid Leech
Spiritmonger
Maelstrom Pulse
Pernicious Deed
Putrefy

UG:
Edric, Spymaster of Trest
Lorescale Coatl
Mystic Snake
(it's Whacking Day...)
Simic Sky Swallower
Trygon Predator
Snakeform

BR:
Murderous Redcap
Olivia Voldaren
Bituminous Blast
Blightning
Terminate
Wrecking Ball

RG:
Bloodbraid Elf
Boggart Ram-Gang
Burning-Tree Shaman
Giant Solifuge
Tattermunge Maniac
Fires of Yavimaya

UR:
Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
Electrolyze
Fire // Ice
Prophetic Bolt
Suffocating Blast

UB:
Moroii
Psychatog
Shadowmage Infiltrator
Spite // Malice
Undermine

WB:
Angel of Despair
Stillmoon Cavalier
Debtors' Knell
Gerrard's Verdict
Mortify
Vindicate

WG:
Gaddock Teeg
Knight of the Reliquary
Loxodon Hierarch
Oversoul of Dusk
Qasali Pridemage
Armadillo Cloak
Mirari's Wake

WR:
Duergar Hedge-Mage
Figure of Destiny
Firemane Angel
Goblin Legionnaire
Ajani Vengeant
Lightning Helix

WU:
Azorius Guildmage
Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
Swans of Bryn Argoll
Wall of Denial
Absorb
Venser, the Sojourner

BR, WR, and WU were the toughest to thin down.

Thoughts?

I'd keep Bituminous Blast over Blightning, since cascading removal seems stronger than direct damage/discard. I'm also not entirely sold on Gerrard's Verdict, it's always seemed like a weaker BW card in your cube compared to the others.

And of course you're trying to get ride of my favorite creature ever... Firemane Angel.

Blightning is a solid disruptive aggro card, while Bit Blast is a card advantagey control card. I was favoring aggro here, but I'm not thrilled to be cutting bit blast. What else could I take out, though?

Verdict I see as another nice aggressive card, though it works well for control as well.

And I know you love the Angel. I got rid of it just to spite you. Actually, I got rid of it to teach you a lesson for all those times you forgot to gain a life.

Slyphidine wrote: Actually, I got rid of it to teach you a lesson for all those times you forgot to gain a life.

So pretty much every time...

I can't really think of what else I'd cut from BR, since we all know how strong Terminate and Redcap are. I just remember seeing Blightning going very late in several cube drafts, since no one really wanted to pick it up. I'm not sold on it's effect versus Bit-Blast, which all know is very good.

Spiritmonger and Broodmate Dragon are the 2 i'd seriously question cutting.

'Monger is so ridiculously overpowered for 5 mana and Broodmate hitting play is often an auto-win.

intrinsic wrote:'Monger is so ridiculously overpowered for 5 mana

I'd make the argument that he's way outclassed at 5 mana:

Bloodgift Demon
Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief
Shriekmaw
Meloku the Clouded Mirror
Morphling
Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
Vesuvan Shapeshifter
Deranged Hermit
Genesis
Kodama of the North Tree
Thornling
Ancient Hydra
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
Kumano, Master Yamabushi
Siege-Gang Commander
Baneslayer Angel
Reveillark

These are all monocolored, and most of them I'd pick over Spiritmonger. A 6/6 for 5 is great and all, but he's seriously missing evasion (trample, flying, etc.). Any regenerater or token creator completely turns off Spiritmonger. The same cannot be said for any of the cards above.

I love Broodmate, but I never found him to be abused enough. Probably because I want him with Crystal Shard, and going 4 color is tough.

Some nice pickups this weekend!

Foil Snapcaster Mage
Foil Phantasmal Image
Foil Gravecrawler (Buy-a-box promo given as a prize at KOP C&M!)
Sorin, Lord of Innistrad

And optionally...

Foil Scorned Villager
Foil Lingering Souls
Foil Undying Evil
Wolfbitten Captive
Faithless Looting
Strangleroot Geist

Of those, probably the Villager, Captive, and Faithless Looting will make the cut.

Captive is a very strong turn-1 play, since if you don't have a 2-drop you can still swing in for 3 or more (4 if he flips and you activate his ability in response). He won me a couple of games on Saturday since he was in my opening had like 40% of the time.

i was thinking the scorned villager would replace joraga treespeaker in my cube. Whats your plan for... her?

Dunno yet. I like Treespeaker better for sure. Biggest thing is that he accelerates faster and stays there, plus doesn't hurt your tempo if he survives:

T1: Treespeaker
T2: Level, play a 2 drop
T3: Play a 5 drop

With Scorned Villager:

T1: Play a 1 drop
T2: Play Scorned Villager
T3: If your opponent didn't play a spell, flip, play a 5 drop. If he did, either play a 3 drop or nothing.
T4: Play a six drop if you played nothing.

So much more work. Not sure where or if she belongs yet.

I agree that Treespeaker is easily the better card, but I want to test Scorned Villager, as well. I might cut something like Ambush Viper for it. I am trying to improve green's ramp, so I can justify running stuff like Kozilek.

Dan, you haven't mentioned putting Strangleroot Geist in, and I know you have a copy. Are you not planning on adding it?

Oh, and Dungeon Geists has gone up from $0.76 to $0.95, almost a 33% increase in value. Obviously it is the next 'goyf...

tomchaps wrote:Oh, and Dungeon Geists has gone up from $0.76 to $0.95, almost a 33% increase in value. Obviously it is the next 'goyf...

LSV listed it in his blue review as a card to watch. A solid 3 in constructed, which means I've made a terrible mistake.

Strangleroot... yeah, I'll probably give him a whirl. I forgot to mention him, since he wasn't shiny.

Does Havengul Lich deserve a slot? Has to survive a turn, but then enables so many shenanigans. Seems like a pretty broken limited card also.

If so, which UB do I cut:

Psychatog
Shadowmage Infiltrator
Spite // Malice
Undermine

I like Psychatog and Undermine too much to see them go.

Spite/Malice, obviously. It's cute, but each half costs twice what it should in the cube. The Lich looks like it will be a blast to play, even if it might be marginal in a some games. Worth putting in to try, at least.

I do love the versatility of Spite/Malice, though you're probably right.

Next question:

Do I buy a foil Havengul Lich for $25 right now while the price is low? I figure this will get a lot of play in EDH, some play in Cube, and perhaps some standard play as well. $25 for a quite playable mythic rare foil. Sounds good to me.

EDIT: Too late, took the plunge!