Gr Devotion

I first became interested in the Gr Devotion deck when I saw that it top4ed a SCG Open. I wasn't thrilled with the version I saw though, so I didn't pay it much attention until I saw Makihito Mihara playing the deck on Friday at PT Theros. That's when I went and bought the rest of the cards I needed and put something together. I didn't have Mihara's decklist but I figured I'd be able to wing it.

It turns out Mihara was one of few people playing the deck at the Pro Tour and he ended up top4ing. I've been tuning my version since then and I've arrived at this:

4 Elvish Mystic
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
2 Kalonian Tusker
2 Scavenging Ooze
4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Voyaging Satyr
2 Nylea, God of the Hunt
4 Polukranos, World Eater
2 Arbor Colossus

4 Domri Rade
1 Xenagos, the Reveler
4 Garruk, Caller of Beasts

4 Nykthos, Shrine to Nix
4 Stomping Ground
4 Temple of Abandon
10 Forest
1 Mountain

Sideboard
2 Mistcutter Hydra
4 Mizzium Mortars
2 Nylea's Disciple
1 Scavenging Ooze
2 Skylasher
1 Stormbreath Dragon
2 Wasteland Viper
1 Xenagos, the Reveler

I started with 4 Kalonian Tusker because I thought it just made too much sense in a green devotion deck and therefore thought it was in Mihara's deck. It turns out he played 0 copies. I still like a few because it does some cool things some of the time and it's a good creature to Domri-fight with. They get boarded out about half the time.

The rest of the maindeck is very similar to Mihara's but that doesn't mean I haven't tried variations. This is what I've arrived at after a lot of trial and error.

In the sideboard Skylasher and Stormbreath Dragon are the only standouts. Skylasher is helpful against Mono Blue, especially when they don't see it coming. Taking a Tidebinder Mage out for free is really nice. Skylasher isn't a game ender, which is why there's only a few. It's definitely a sweet card to have early on against them to make sure they don't put too much pressure on you.

Stormbreath Dragon has been competing with/complementing Mistcutter Hydra for slots. They're really similar. Both are good against UW, Mistcutter is good against Mono Blue, and Dragon is okay against Wr Aggro. This is why I like having a split on them.

I've played with Xenagos a bit and I really can't figure out how good he is. I'm still playing him but it's been confusing. I much prefer Domri+Garruk but there are those times that Domri gets Needled that I don't like playing 4 copies. Normally Domri is great against matchups that have Needle so it's awkward. If there were an Acidic Slime type card I would surely be boarding 1 (Sylvan Primordial is too expensive for me, thanks).

Questions, comments? Let me know below or on twitter!

(Update 10/18/13)

To my surprise, after playing with the deck more I've come even closer to matching Mihara's original decklist. One thing that I've now learned is that cards like Stormbreath Dragon, while very good against control, don't do anything to help against Supreme Verdict which is the primary problem in those matchups. For that reason I've made a few changes to help against the card.

I've decided I don't much care for Xenagos except against wrath effects but it's still not a bad card (very similar to Garruk Wildspeaker) and I don't know what else I'd rather play MD anymore.

Bramblecrush serves as an answer to Pithing Needle and Detention Sphere but is also capable of destroying a land, a Jace, or an Elspeth. It's akin to Sylvan Primordial except it doesn't cost 7.

The lone Mutavault is also to help against wrath effects. I typically cut 2 ramp creatures to hedge and Mutavault makes up for those.

Boozecube Previews (pics)

So far I've used this blog primarily to post decklists and to talk about my cube endeavors. I expect that most readers are mostly interested in decklists but I would like to talk about cube, cube design, and sometimes just Magic design.

So here it goes.

If you don't already know what boozecube is, it's a format designed by Jay Boosh that makes use of custom cards to incorporate drinking into a game of Magic, a novel idea. I've taken on the daunting task of designing my own Magic set for play alongside drinking. Getting it all right will certainly be a challenge but it'll be a lot of fun too. The set is 142 cards and will be accompanied by 218 normal Magic cards which I have a speadsheet for but it is currently outdated.

The design process is mostly done but the cube needs to be playtested a few times before I can call it version 1.0. Thus, I am going to reveal some previews for it and talk about how I designed them.

(Boozetouch is one of two primary forms of drinking. It's the "poison" of boozecube. Whenever a creature with it deals damage to a player, they drink one increment of beer/wine/whatever you like and the ability accumulates. The other that is also seen on this card is drinking as a cost, in this case for ninjutsu)

A clear allusion to Huntmaster of the Fells, this card was designed to be part of a cycle of ninjas that were originally all Izzet hybrid cards. This one had to evolve to actually make sense as a Magic card. The ideology behind the boozecube features a few slight changes to the original Magic color pie but blue having access to this kind of removal isn't one of them.

As a boros card, it makes a lot more sense. Though, red has no other cards that allow it to make Bottle tokens. That really belongs to white and blue.

The idea behind giving a card like this mountainwalk and plainswalk is that as a 2/2 in a high powered cube it is pretty small. It's ability should actually be something the opponent needs to be afraid of. And it's also a nice way to get through some unblockable boozetouch damage.

Black Out is part of a cycle of cards that were designed as a "tilt cycle." The goal is for these cards to be as tilting as possible. For that goal I decided that a cycle of free spells that are actually high impact (at least, in the right matchup) would be the way to go. Originally, you only had to control one of the basic land type for each card but I wanted to make them at least "fair." That also allowed me to accomplish another goal, which is to incentivize players to stay out of 3+ colors.

Taking a shot appears on only a handful of cards. As you can imagine, it's a powerful ability and thus also very costly as it appears on this cycle.

For this one, I chose -2/-2 to all creatures in order to give black a way to deal with a swarm of creatures. Just killing a creature is something that appears frequently in black and the cycle has to be impactful in order for it to accomplish the goal of tilting opponents.

Betterblossom is a top-down design based off of Shahar Shenhar thinking that Commander's Authority was a playable draft card when preparing for Pro Tour Barcelona (he drafted 3 copies and referred to it as Betterblossom). As it stands, this card may not be good enough for the boozecube but it's always important to work inside jokes into every aspect of life.

I've only been watching Game of Thrones for one season but I like Hodor. I like him enough to design a cards around him. It's designed to be very unique (annihilator on a 4-drop) but at the same time almost no one will ever want to pick Hodor because of his drawback (despite that this is the easiest way to force a shot even if you have to pour it).

Just remember that when you drink, drink to Hodor!

I designed a Planeswalker for each color that fits well into the boozecube's newly arranged color pie. Frank's plus ability is a bit of a cop-out but it works for black because black is the only color that doesn't have much access to boozetouch. Black is the color that often forces your opponent to drink in other ways.

The second ability is something we've seen black do before and while it doesn't tie in with the character all that well it is something I like seeing on a Planeswalker.

We've also seen the ultimate ability before but it's just too perfect when stuck to this character.

Each color has a mythic rare (rarity in the set only matters in regards to power level) that accentuates that color's roles. Green features aggressive cards (paired with red) and cards that interact well with the graveyard (paired with black). Sephiroth pulls those two together nicely. Its ability can work after a bloody combat, after a Dread Return, or after some clever use of Birthing Pod.

(Intoxicate is the infect of boozecube except that in this cube the creature still deals normal combat damage)

If you haven't figured out thus far, I really like designing in cycles. This is part of another cycle of allied colored split cards that feature the fuse mechanic (at an additional cost). The two sides are designed to have synergy together though it may not be immediately obvious, as is the case with Drunken/Bees.

This card may not end up being all that powerful. It's situational but granting intoxicate can be really devastating if timed correctly though.

I think that's enough previews for today but I'd love to hear your feedback or ideas on my endeavor. Tweet at me or post below!

Theros Brews, Pauper and Modern Decklists (pics)

Last night towards the end of my stream, I decided to brew up a decklist that I would be interested in playing in the post Theros format. I wanted to start with GR Aggro because of how much I like Polukranos and Stormbreath Dragon but I also want to look at GW Aggro and WU Control. Here are my initial ideas:

Gruul

4 Elvish Mystic

4 Experiment One

4 Kalonian Tusker

3 Scavenging Ooze

2 Boon Satyr

4 Ghor-Clan Rampager

4 Polukranos, World Eater

4 Stormbreath Dragon

4 Domri Rade

3 Mizzium Mortars

4 Stomping Ground

4 Temple of Abandon

12 Forest

4 Mountain

There are no Burning-Tree Emissary because it doesn't fit well with Tusker, which is a card I like better in this deck. Boon Satyr may not be good enough to be included in large numbers but it's still a 4 power 3-drop and that's something I want. Magma Jet is probably not better than Mizzium Mortars but I could see a combination. The new planeswalker, Xenagos, is fine but I would prefer to play 4 Domri and the two don't mix that well. Xenagos does interact well with all of our late game mana sinks so it's something I will try at some point, sideboard at least. Fitting Mutavault into the manabase is probably too greedy, especially when we already have so many late game mana sinks.

Selesnya

4 Elvish Mystic

4 Soldier of the Pantheon

4 Voice of Resurgence

4 Fleecemane Lion

2 Scavenging Ooze

4 Loxodon Smiter

4 Polukranos, World Eater

4 Advent of the Wurm

4 Selesnya Charm

2 Ajani, Caller of the Pride

4 Temple Garden

4 Selesnya Guildgate

8 Forest

8 Plains

I'm not sure which of the available 1-drops are best but Soldier is worth a shot over Dryad Militant. Experiment One has been great in Standard so far so that could still be the way to go. It even works with Ajani in a cute way. Ajani is a card I think can shine in correct circumstances. This deck is incredibly dense so I think it's perfect for Ajani, so long as he's easily castable. The God weapons in red, green, and white are all playable in my opinion but they need to be better than the alternatives and I think Ajani is better in this case.

Azorius/r

1 AEtherling

4 Chained to the Rocks

4 Syncopate

1 Celestial Flare

4 Azorius Charm

2 Azorius Keyrune

4 Detention Sphere

4 Supreme Verdict

4 Jace, Architect of Thought

2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion

4 Sphinx's Revelation

4 Hallowed Fountain

4 Azorius Guildgate

4 Sacred Foundry

4 Steam Vents

2 Mutavault

3 Island

5 Plains

I hit a wall while working on this deck. There are almost no good cards from Theros to help this deck along so I decided that I wanted to give the new 1-drop removal spell a try. Playing 8 additional dual lands isn't ideal, and my just not be worth it, but Chained to the Rocks gives you a Swords to Plowshares type effect that works well with Jace's -2 ability. Otherwise we could always adopt Pacifism or Sensory Deprivation. Going deeper into red could be the way to go but for now I'm sticking to this idea. I would love to be able to play 4 Mutavault in this type of deck but I'm pretty conservative when it comes to mana, at least before any testing.

Going deeper into red could definitely alleviate some of the card quality issues in just UW. It also means that we get access to scrylands but at the cost of Mutavaults and being a more streamlined deck. We'll have to wait and see how important Thunder Strike, Warleader's Helix, and friends are to the new format. And for the record, I'm not a huge fan of Steam Augury. I'm a much bigger fan of Jace, though alongside more instant speed removal it probably has a place. 

Also last night, Pauper bannings were announced. Temporal Fissure and Cloudpost both met the hammer which I think is great for the format. I took a decklist that I brewed up previously in the format (but knew it was bad in a Cloudpost format) and updated it for my expectations of the new format:

4 Fume Spitter

4 Augur of Skulls

4 Chittering Rats

1 Crypt Rats

4 Mulldrifter

1 Snuff Out

1 Brainstorm

1 Disfigure

1 Undying Evil

1 Vendetta

1 Grim Harvest

1 Oona's Grace

1 Soul Manipulation

1 Traumatic Visions

1 Spinning Darkness

4 Tragic Slip

4 Diabolic Edict

3 Mystical Teachings

3 Dimir Aqueduct

2 Dimir Guildgate

4 Evolving Wilds

12 Swamp

1 Island

Sideboard

3 Basilica Screecher

1 Crypt Rats

1 Disfigure

1 Dispel

4 Duress

1 Echoing Decay

1 Grim Harvest

1 Psychic Strike

1 Soul Manipulation

1 Spinning Darkness

This type of deck has a natural advantage against creature decks which is what most of the remaining format is made of but it also has enough card advantage to fight through control decks. A deck comprised of mostly countermagic would give us a hard time but if we can deal with their threats (easy enough), then that'll give us a chance for our engines to take over.

I used to employ a Probe and/or Trinket Mage Engine but I've decided the Mystical Teachings engine is going to be the way to go. It's less clunky than Probe, more versatile than Trinket Mage, and works through discard and countermagic. It also allows the deck to play a lot of sweet singletons as seen above. I would list the sweetest ones, but I'd end up listing almost all of them.

As for Theros additions, Read the Bones is a viable option but I've always said that if you're playing blue you can do better when it comes to card draw.

Lastly, if you missed my Living End decklist that I've started streaming with, here it is:

4 Fulminator Mage

2 Shriekmaw

4 Deadshot Minotaur

4 Monstrous Carabid

4 Street Wraith

3 Pale Recluse

2 Twisted Abomination

4 Jungle Weaver

3 Living End

4 Demonic Dread

4 Violent Outburst

4 Blackcleave Cliffs

3 Copperline Gorge

1 Raging Ravine

1 Blood Crypt

1 Stomping Ground

1 Godless Shrine

1 Overgrown Tomb

4 Verdant Catacombs

1 Swamp

2 Forest

Sideboard

2 Avalanche Riders

1 Domri Rade

2 Faerie Macabre

3 Ingot Chewer

2 Jund Charm

2 Shriekmaw

3 Sin Collector

There's no Dryad Arbor because you rarely need to have one for Demonic Dread and even when you do it's really situational. The deck doesn't need more dead cards either.

The 1 Domri Rade in the sideboard could easily be a 4th Sin Collector but I've had good results with him so far. It serves as a way to circumvent hate while still being a bro otherwise. I bring him in against Tron and UWR.

A Daily Event with a similar decklist will go up on ChannelFireball in a few days so look for that and if you'd like to watch the archived stream from yesterday go here. Thanks for reading!

C/Ube Revamp (pics)

Last year I blogged a lot about "Cube: Legacy" which was a form of cube that involved progressively adding errata to cards in a "level up" fashion. It was based on Risk: Legacy and the idea came about from past Magic designer Gregory Marques. You can read about it from my earlier blog posts but I've since dropped the idea. It was a great idea and fun while it lasted but there were too many obstacles to continue it (primarily the upkeep and barriers to entry for a lot of players).

One of the reasons I liked the idea was because my cube is only commons and uncommons so it added an aspect that deepened the format when it otherwise might be considered dull. But the design of my cube has come a long way since then. I've only just revamped it so there hasn't been much play with it but if functions pretty similarly to Modern Masters draft and it isn't dull in my opinion.

I'm also undertaking another cube project in Boozecube (which I'll post about soon). It's not hard to come up with ways to drink while playing Magic but the idea of designing a format around it was enticing so I took Jay Boosh's idea of Boozecube and made it my own. I'm still working on it and, of course, there's lots of playtesting (read: drinking) to be done so it's a work in progress.

The new C/Ube list was influenced by Eric Klug's cube which he tweets about and has written about. The new list can be viewed here on cubetutor.com, which is an amazing website for cubers by the way. I shaved it down to 510 (or so) cards in order to better support specific archetypes including the following:

• Wx Aggro/Rebels
• Rx Aggro
• Azorius Control
• W, R, and/or G Tokens
• B, G, and/or U Dredge
• Rakdos (+g/w) Aristocrats
• UB Reanimator
• Gxxx Ramp.

There are still a few oddball rules in the cube. Primarily, white 2 and 3-drops have rebel errata. Otherwise, white would be a pretty awful color. Squadron Hawk is also in the cube and it comes with three additional Hawks that you can wish for rather than fill your library with. And damage goes on the stack like in the old days.

Here are some sample decks that I drafted on cubetutor.com:

Orzhov Aristocrats/Tokens

Azorius Control with a black splash

Golgari "Aristocrats"

Red Aggro with a green splash

Currently Playing

Modern: RWU Wafo Tapa Control

4 Celestial Colonnade
2 Sulfur Falls
2 Steam Vents
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Sacred Foundry
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Arid Mesa
1 Plains
1 Mountain
3 Island
3 Tectonic Edge

4 Snapcaster Mage

4 Lightning Bolt
4 Path to Exile
2 Spell Snare
1 Izzet Charm
4 Lightning Helix
3 Shadow of Doubt
2 Electrolyze
2 Supreme Verdict
4 Cryptic Command
1 Batterskull
2 Sphinx's Revelation

Sideboard
2 Batterskull
1 Counterflux
2 Negate
2 Runed Halo
2 Stony Silence
1 Isochron Scepter
3 Vendilion Clique
1 Wrath of God
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant

 Standard: Esper Control

2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Augur of Bolas
1 Restoration Angel

4 Devour Flesh
4 Azorius Charm
4 Think Twice
2 Liliana of the Veil
2 Dissipate
4 Supreme Verdict
3 Jace, Memory Adept
1 Planar Cleansing
4 Sphinx's Revelation

24 Duals
3 Nephalia Drownyard

Sideboard
1 Blind Obedience
1 Duress
3 Negate
1 Planar Cleansing
4 Rest In Peace
1 Tragic Slip
3 Vampire Nighthawk
1 Witchbane Orb

Currently Playing

Modern: RWU Flash

4 Geist of Saint Traft
3 Vendilion Clique
4 Snapcaster Mage

4 Lightning Bolt
4 Path to Exile
2 Spell Snare
4 Izzet Charm
1 Lightning Helix
2 Remand
4 Electrolyze
2 Batterskull
1 Sphinx's Revelation

4 Celestial Colonnade
1 Hallowed Fountain
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Steam Vents
1 Sulfur Falls
4 Arid Mesa
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Eiganjo Castle
1 Plains
1 Mountain
3 Island
1 Slayer's Stronghold

2 Aven Mindcensor
2 Engineered Explosives
2 Lightning Helix
2 Meddling Mage
3 Molten Rain
2 Negate
1 Purify the Grave
1 Runed Halo

Standard: Esper Control

2 Snapcaster Mage

4 Devour Flesh
4 Azorius Charm
4 Think Twice
1 Blind Obedience
4 Liliana of the Veil
1 Murder
1 Dissipate
1 Detention Sphere
4 Supreme Verdict
3 Jace, Memory Adept
4 Sphinx's Revelation

24 Duals
3 Nephalia Drownyard

Sideboard
1 Detention Sphere
1 Duress
3 Negate
4 Rest In Peace
4 Vampire Nighthawk
2 Witchbane Orb

UW Control in Modern

I recently wrote an article detailing many of the various options available to UW Control players in Modern. It wasn't meant to be comprehensive because there are still plenty of unexplored variations in the format. For instance, Spellstutter Sprite + Mutavault is something that could be viable (potentially in conjunction with equipment).

There are some other cool things that I've been exploring though, leading me to like this list. A few of the ideas I took from Riccardo Neri's Worlds 2009 Extended decklist (which I've always liked).

4 Celestial Colonnade
3 Hallowed Fountain
1 Watery Grave
4 Seachrome Coast
3 Scalding Tarn
2 Tolaria West
3 Island
1 Plains
2 Tectonic Edge
1 Academy Ruins

3 Wall of Omens
1 Snapcaster Mage
3 Vendilion Clique
2 Restoration Angel

2 Relic of Progenitus
4 Talisman of Progress
1 Batterskull
1 Engineered Explosives
4 Path to Exile
3 Spell Snare
3 Mana Leak
2 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Supreme Verdict
4 Cryptic Command
1 Mystical Teachings
1 Sphinx's Revelation

Sideboard
3 Damping Matrix
1 Batterskull
4 Meddling Mage
2 Runed Halo
2 Geist of Saint Traft
1 Supreme Verdict
2 Celestial Purge

This version makes use of a few synergies not seeing play elsewhere:

• Tolaria West, Academy Ruins, Engineered Explosives

This package has very little cost and in a very diverse format can be rewarding. It shines in some matchups more than others (like GW Auras) but even in matchups you wouldn't expect, it can still be good. Also, playing Tolaria West increase the density of the deck slightly more.

• Relic of Progenitus, Talisman of Progress, Thirst for Knowledge

Maindeck Relic allows Thirst for Knowledge to be playable, which is something this deck really wanted, but is also great against the many graveyard interactions in the format. On occasion you'll end up exiling a card from your graveyard that you rather wouldn't but if you have to then you have to.

• Mystical Teachings

A pure value card that works really well with Cryptic Command and the many instants/flash creatures. At 1 copy and with a pretty modest curve, it should only be clunky in fast matchups.

Feel free to ask questions in the comments or on twitter. It's early in the week so I'm sure I'll make more changes but this is what I intend to PTQ with if I don't end up going to SCG San Diego this weekend.

UWb Control in STD

I've finally played a few games of Standard, and with a mostly original list no less. I have no idea where the deck stands against Zombies and Jund since I have done very little with it so far, but the deck is showing some promise.

The idea behind the deck is to be a control deck that doesn't rely on a creature to win. It generally gets advantages by keeping Planeswalkers alive. It usually takes a looong time to kill with...

4 Glacial Fortress
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Isolated Chapel
4 Plains
4 Island
2 Nephalia Drownyard

4 Azorius Charm
3 Think Twice
4 Lingering Souls
2 Forbidden Alchemy
4 Detention Sphere
4 Jace, Architect of Thought
3 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
1 Curse of Death's Hold
2 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
4 Terminus
3 Syncopate

2 Angel of Serenity
1 Dispel
4 Dissipate
2 Geist of Saint Traft
1 Oblivion Ring
2 Sever the Bloodline
1 Sundering Growth
2 Ultimate Price

From the top, we have 26 lands with as many black sources available to us without playing Swamp. The reasoning there is that I'd like to be able to Azorius Charm very consistently.

Nephalia Drownyard seems innocuous but it is actually a game changer for other control decks. They usually have very few ways to answer it (Tamiyo) and so little happens in G1s that Drownyard just takes the game eventually. It's not the primary win condition because a lot of decks have graveyard synergy and you don't actually want to activate it on them but you can still activate it on yourself if you have nothing else to do.

Azorius Charm is one of the best things you can do both early in the game as well as late. I kinda wanted some Ultimate Price in the deck but I ended up just putting them in the SB.

However much I would love to play Sphinx's Revelation, Forbidden Alchemy gets the slot over it because it allows you to abuse all the graveyard interactions seen throughout the deck.

Curse of Death's Hold is a pretty narrow card and I'm pretty sure it will be the first card I cut when I'm looking for room but I didn't want to board it because a lot of decks will be bringing in enchantment hate anyways. It does do a pretty good job against opposing Lingering Souls though.

At the start of this format I thought that counterspells would be near unplayable. That changed very quickly. It turns out they are still playable and you actually want to have them in a number of matchups. Dissipate is certainly better than Syncopate, but the most important thing is being able to interact on turn2 so Syncopate gets the slot and Dissipate is in the SB.

UPDATE 10/29:

My updated list looks like this now:

4 Glacial Fortress
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Isolated Chapel
2 Swamp
3 Plains
4 Island
2 Nephalia Drownyard

4 Azorius Charm
3 Ultimate Price
4 Lingering Souls
4 Detention Sphere
1 Sever the Bloodline
4 Jace, Architect of Thought
3 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
2 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
1 Supreme Verdict
3 Terminus
3 Sphinx's Revelation
1 Syncopate / Remove Soul

2 Angel of Serenity
1 Negate
3 Dissipate
3 Geist of Saint Traft
1 Pithing Needle
3 Seraph of Dawn
1 Sever the Bloodline
1 Ultimate Price

RTR Cube and C:L Rules Updates

It's been a while since I've made a cube update and with Ravnica around the corner there's no better time. The changelog is pretty long so I'll just talk about the ones that stand out.

     Unearth -> Consume Spirit
     Murder -> Diabolic Edict
     Remove Soul -> Stealer of Secrets
     Dross Golem -> Dead Reveler
     Village Ironsmith -> Splatter Thug
     Penumbra Bobcat -> Korazda Monitor
     Cabal Pit -> Cabal Coffers
     Nacatl War-Pride -> Stampeding Serow
     Sengir Vampire -> Throat Slitter
     Demonic Taskmaster -> Nezumi Graverobber
     Lust for War -> Street Spasm
     Lava Hounds -> Slith Firewalker
     Krosan Verge -> Azorius Keyrune
     Dreadship Reef -> Izzet Keyrune
     Barbarion Ring -> Dimir Keyrune (Gatecrash)
     Kiss of Amesha -> Azorius Charm
     Spawning Pit -> Izzet Charm
     Crystal Ball -> Selesnya Charm
     Contagion Clasp -> Golgari Charm

     Armillery Sphere -> Relic of Progenitus

Cutting Armillery Sphere was a difficult choice but I decided I had to make a few sacrifices to make way for the Guildgates.

     Armadillo Cloak -> Sundering Growth
     Recoil -> Hussar Patrol
     Henchfiend of Ukor -> Vassal Soul

Some of the gold card switches made to accommodate Ravnica.

     Azorius Signet -> Azorius Guildgate
     Izzet Signet -> Izzet Guildgate
     Dimir Signet -> Rakdos Guildgate
     Rupture Spire -> Golgari Guildgate
     Shimmering Grotto -> Selesnya Guildgate

From the start I have been wary about having Signets in the cube. I resolved to just have the suitable three but now that there are other forms of basic fixing (in addition to the Keyrunes as replacements) I am fine with cutting the Signets. As for the five-color lands, I prefer it not to be possible to draft 4-5 color decks without any worries of color issues. There is still tons of fixing but now it doesn't apply to all five colors at once.

     Tectonic Rift -> Avalanche Riders

I've been afraid to include too many good LD spells because they aren't particularly fun and also punish people for playing bouncelands. I will probably come to regret this one once Avalanche Riders is given Persist or something like that but I don't consider the Cube: Legacy rules when making additions to the cube.

Ravnica Additions:

     Gore-house Chainwalker
     Gatecreeper Vine
     Rakdos Shred-Freak
     Fencing Ace
     Thrill-kill Assassin
     Bloodfray Giant
     Dreg Mangler
     Hellhole Flayer
     Skymark Roc
     Dryad Militant
     Rakdos Cackler
     Lyev Skyknight

Moving on, I've decided to make a few changes to the rules of Cube: Legacy to accommodate for new players who have not used the cube before. It is not incredibly fun when half of the cubers have a considerable amount of edge over you, whether it be numerous named cards or knowing exactly what every card does. There's no way to fix this issue completely, but I want to take steps so that it is lessened.

The change I'm making to help with this problem is abandoning the achievements part of the game. It had a few of its own flaws (difficult to keep track of while battling) but barrier to entry is the real problem, so instead the reward sheet will now be used for winners of the cube. The winner of a cube draft will now get to roll a die to earn one of the achievements.

I think this is a big step forward for the game. There are less rules over all, less things to keep track of during gameplay, and less of a barrier to entry. That means more fun!


As always, if you are curious about something or think I missed something feel free to post below or on twitter.

C:L Comprehensive Ability Sheet

Updated 9/27

I figured it would be a better idea to just list the comprehensive ability sheet rather than list the abilities that are currently on the rotating sheet. I keep the following amount on each successive tier on the active list at a time: 2, 5, 4, 3, 2.

Fifth Tier abilities (1 pt):

• Reach
• Wither
• Trample
• Vigilance
• Scry 1 or ETB scry 1
• Basic land type-walk

Fourth Tier abilities (3 pts):

• Flash
• Haste
• Flying
• Breath
• Exalted
• Shadow
• Populate or ETB Populate
• First Strike
• +1 toughness
• Regenerate for C
• Protection from a color
• Gain 2 life or ETB gain 2 life
• Cycling equal to C or 2 (+1 if the card was printed with madness)
• Draw a card then discard a card or ETB draw a card then discard a card
• Ninjutsu equal to 1C if CMC is <5, 2C if CMC is 5-6, and 3C if CMC is 7+
• Madness equal to 1C if CMC is <5, 2C if CMC is 5-6, and 3C if CMC is 7+
• Morph equal to C if CMC is <4, 1C if CMC is 4-5, 3C if CMC is 6, and 3CC if CMC is 7+ (you may pay an additional point to change ETB abilities to "turned face up" ones; put only on creatures)

Third Tier abilities (6 pts, 7 pts if it's the second sticker for a card):

• Graft 1
• Shroud
• Unleash
• +1 power
• Defender
• Protection from a card type
• Scavenge XCC where X is 1 less than the creature's power
• Deal 2 damage to target player or ETB deal 2 damage to target player
• Miracle equal to C if CMC is <6, 1C if CMC is 6-7, and 2C if CMC is 8+
• Unearth equal to 1C if CMC is <5, 2C if CMC is 5-6, and 3C if CMC is 7+
• Switch a keyword ability with one worth the same amount of points or less that appears on the comprehensive ability sheet
• Glass-spin (whenever this permanent becomes the target of a spell or ability for the first time in a turn, counter that spell or ability)

Second Tier abilities (9 pts, 10 if it's the second sticker for a card):

• Persist
• Dredge 3
• Hexproof
• Recover 2C
• Echo equal to mana cost
• Draw a card or ETB draw a card
• Increase or decrease a numeral in a textbox by 1
• When this card deals damage to a player draw a card
• Suspend 2 equal to up to 2C less than CMC, but not less than C
• When this card deals damage to a player that player discards a card at random
• Change colored mana symbols in a card's mana cost or text box to phyrexian mana symbols

First Tier abilities (12 pts, 14 if it's the second sticker for a card):

• Graft 2
• Undying
• Cascade
• Rebound
• Flashback
• Indestructible
• Double Strike
• Creatures you control get +1/+1 (put on only permanents)

Ability Reset (4 pts): Remove all ability stickers from a card. This option is usable on any card but not after the card has become a part of a cube in progress.

When buying an ability for a card that has one or more counterparts (double faced cards, Squadron Hawks, etc.), for each counterpart you may pay 1 more to give it the same ability.

The winner of each cube draft gets to roll a die to obtain one of the following rewards to be used at the appropriate time:

• Obtain a random first or second tier ability sticker.

• At a time when you could normally buy a sticker, move a sticker on a card in your pool to a different card that has no stickers. Repeat this process.

• The current cube is now a 3v3 team cube. You pick the teams. Use after drafting is completed (winning team members each win a reward).

• Everyone reveals their first picks. You choose one of them for yourself, the rest are randomly redistributed. Use only after P1P1.

• Choose either the drafter to your left or your right. Look at that player’s picks and exchange one card from their picks with a card from yours. Use between packs during the draft.

• Challenge a player to a heads up best of 5 sealed deck match. Wager an amount of points of your choosing.

• Add a rare of your choice to the Cube. Make it count because the cube owner may veto ridiculous suggestions and you only have two chances to get it right.

• Name a card in your pool in your honor. That card costs 1 less for you to cast and 1 more for your opponents.

Zombies And A Control Mockup

First, this is the deck that I expect to be strong at the beginning of the format. I feel that the format will hinge on this deck or something close to it:

4 Gravecrawler
4 Diregraf Ghoul
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Blood Artist
4 Rakdos Shred-Freak
4 Geralf's Messenger
4 Falkenrath Aristocrat

4 Pillar of Flame
4 Brimstone Volley
1 Tragic Slip

4 Blood Crypt
4 Dragonskull Summit
2 Mountain
13 Swamp

The fear of this deck stems from the fact that it's hyper-aggressive (12 one-drops) and that it has threats that are hard to answer/ require specific removal (Gravecrawler, Geralf's Messenger, Falkenrath Aristocrat). There are answers to these cards but they tend to be limited in some way. Azorius Charm isn't permenant, Oblivion Ring/Detention Sphere and Sever the Bloodline are clunky, and Knight of Glory is not difficult to answer (BG even has Golgari Charm). Sensory Deprivation and Pacifism might actually be reasonable options seeing as they're both maindeckable and hit any creature, but they don't stop Gravecrawler and Messenger forever (and then there's Abrupt Decay and Golgari Charm).

As far as a control deck goes, I'm having a hard time figuring out a reasonable configuration (as is the case with any unknown format). This is what I've currently got cooking:

2 Snapcaster Mage

4 Pillar of Flame
4 Izzet Charm
4 Mizzium Mortars
2 Desperate Ravings
4 Lingering Souls
4 Rakdos Keyrune
4 Jace, Architect of Thought
2 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
1 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
1 Devil's Play
3 Sphinx's Revelation

4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Clifftop Retreat
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Steam Vents
4 Sulfur Falls
2 Island
3 Mountain

The color breakdown of the deck is very odd. The only white cards are Lingering Souls and Sphinx's Revelation and the only black costs are Souls, Rakdos Keyrune, and a Nicol Bolas. With 10-11 lands untapping the M10 lands I think the mana could actually work out.

The first black card I decided to play was Lingering Souls. It just feels really powerful with Planeswalkers, against certain creatures, and is also a potent win condition. The second black card was Rakdos Keyrune which is miles better than other Keyrunes in control decks. Being able to cast Pillar of Flame off it is one of the reasons for that. I might not actually want any Keyrunes in this deck but Sphinx's Revelation has me pining for them. Nicol Bolas was actually an afterthought. I wanted a game ender and he seemed least vulnerable and also versatile.

Sphinx's Revelation gives the deck access to a huge swing. It might also be the reason we want to keep our curve low. Casting it for 2 is not the worst thing you can do for five mana, but once you pass that point it gets pretty powerful.

Who knows whether or not the deck is actually good. It might not even fare well against the deck I had most in mind when making it, but we'll have to wait and see. Until then it'll just be Cube, Pauper, Modern, and Sealed for me.

UW Control in Legacy

I'm very busy getting ready for the Invitational this weekend (since I'm leaving in less than 36 hours) so my blog post might be on the short side, but I know that a few people were interested in some of my thoughts on the deck that I won in LA with this past weekend so I want to at least talk about that. I got the list from Jesse Hampton a few days before the event. I didn't have time to test with the deck so I just went with exactly what he gave me with a few changes in the board.

The biggest problems I had with Reid Duke's original list (which I played with in a few vids on MTGOAcademy) were Trinket Mage, Land Tax, a low land count, and a low fetchland count. Those issues were all absent from the new version of the deck.

Trinket Mage is just too expensive. You get to play a small package to go with it, sure, but the cost isn't really worth it. I would much rather play an Enlightened Tutor to fill the same role but for cheaper and have the added utility of searching for Oblivion Ring, Counterbalance, Moat, etc. AND using it as a counterspell with Counterbalance in play.

Land Tax, while seemingly great, is actually shit in this format as well as in this deck. I ended up playing one in the board for other control decks and when I had it turn one against the mirror match it was pretty powerful.

The low land count was probably rationalized by Reid by the two Land Taxes. I found that to be a huge weakness in the deck. The deck can't afford to miss early land drops and also can't rely on Land Tax when it does. His low fetchland count was also a mystery to me since they are insane with Top and Counterbalance. I went all the way up to ten and have no regrets about it.

So, here is the updated list:

2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Vendilion Clique

3 Counterbalance
1 Oblivion Ring
4 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Enlightened Tutor
4 Brainstorm
1 Counterspell
4 Force of Will
3 Spell Pierce
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Entreat the Angels
3 Terminus

5 Island
2 Plains
2 Arid Mesa
4 Flooded Strand
1 Glacial Fortress
4 Polluted Delta
2 Tundra
2 Volcanic Island
1 Karakas

Sideboard:
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Counterbalance
1 Land Tax
1 Moat
1 Sphere of Law
1 Humility
1 Disenchant
3 Pyroblast
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Terminus
1 Engineered Explosives

The only real change to the maindeck is getting rid of the Shackles and replacing it with a real spell. The sideboard needed more hedges against Goblins and Patrick Sullivan so I added a few cards for that. I think it's a really strong deck and look forward to playing it this weekend.

If you have any other questions or comments you can leave them here or on twitter. Thanks for reading and don't forget to check me out this weekend at the Invitational!

Custom Planeswalkers For My Cube

I like doing neat things with my cube and since it's a nonrare cube there are no Planewalkers in it. I wanted that to change so I designed a cycle of Walkers that I thought would be fair and fun. This is the third iteration of them and I'd like to know your thoughts! Some were designed with certain aspects of the cube in mind. Be aware that the power level is intended to be that of uncommons and that they are being played with other nonrares.

Standard, Modern, and Pauper

It's been a while since I've made a post and I had a request to post my lists and thoughts on the current format so I thought I'd do that for all formats I'm currently playing.

If you'd to ask or state anything, feel free to in the comments section or on twitter.

Standard (RUG Pod)

I don't know what it is, but I actually don't like UW Delver. It has seen very good results and is touted as the best deck in the format but I still can't get behind it. Then again, I rarely do get behind the "best" deck so I guess it's actually normal. I've tested other decks too but I keep coming back to RUG Pod. It's been performing the best for me all while being an unpopular deck, which is a quality I much prefer the deck I play to have.

Matt Nass's primer on the deck can be found here. And here's my most recent list:

4 Birds of Paradise
4 Llanowar Elves
2 Elvish Visionary
2 Phantasmal Image
3 Strangleroot Geist
1 Viridian Corrupter
2 Borderland Ranger
1 Deceiver Exarch
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
4 Huntmaster of the Fells
1 Thragtusk
1 Zealous Conscripts
1 Wolfir Silverheart
1 Inferno Titan

4 Birthing Pod
4 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Bonfire of the Damned

4 Copperline Gorge
3 Hinterland Harbor
3 Rootbound Crag
2 Mountain
1 Island
9 Forest
1 Kessig Wolf Run

Sideboard
1 Ancient Grudge
2 Arc Trail
1 Bonfire of the Damned
3 Hellrider
1 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
3 Pillar of Flame
1 Stingerfling Spider
1 Thragtusk
1 Wolfir Silverheart
1 Zealous Conscripts

The ability to switch to a very fast Hellrider deck is really awesome. I've started doing it in matchups that I didn't used to, like RG Aggro and Zombies.

Modern (UW Control)

I haven't done as well as I'd like to have with my UW deck. I think there is a version of it that is good but I'm still not there yet. I'll continue playing it but I'm also going to try some other decks soon (RWU Delver unfortunately). Hopefully Ravnica will have something that puts it over the top (I'm looking at you, Azorius Charm). In the meantime, the Magic Player's Championship will hopefully shake up the format a bit.

This is my current list (which is changing constantly):

4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Squadron Hawk
3 Vendilion Clique
2 Kitchen Finks

2 Engineered Explosives
4 Path to Exile
1 Dismember
1 Spell Pierce
2 Spell Snare
4 Sleight of Hand
3 Remand
4 Cryptic Command

4 Celestial Colonnade
3 Hallowed Fountain
1 Watery Grave
2 Scalding Tarn
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Marsh Flats
2 Plains
6 Island
1 Moorland Haunt
3 Tectonic Edge

Sideboard
1 Academy Ruins
2 Disenchant
1 Dispel
3 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Vedalken Shackles
1 Oust
1 Pulse of the Grid
2 Kitchen Finks
2 Wrath of God

Vedalken Shackles, while really powerful, are too slow in the important creature matchups. If I drop them entirely then I could go back to a mana base with Seachrome Coast which casts the MD Kitchen Finks better.

I've decided that a lot of the matchups are basically races while in others (combo) we play as a true control deck. But even then, I still have Kitchen Finks over Geist of Saint Traft due to its higher versatility.

I think I'm also going to try a version that has Gifts Ungiven, though that would be in contrary to the idea that most matchups are races. I guess the deck would be a lot different/ have a much different game plan.

Pauper (UR Post)

I only just started playing Pauper so I don't have a lot to say about it. But I have become very opinionated on the deck that I've been playing with, which is UR Post. I'll go over the differences from other versions and why I think this one is correct.

3 Sea Gate Oracle
1 Mnemonic Wall
4 Mulldrifter
1 Ulamog's Crusher

3 Expedition Map
4 Firebolt
4 Preordain
1 Brainstorm
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Izzet Signet
4 Prophetic Prism
1 Counterspell
1 Harvest Pyre
3 Prohibit
1 Capsize
1 Ghostly Flicker
3 Mystical Teachings

9 Island
6 Mountain
4 Cloudpost
4 Glimmerpost

Sideboard
4 Earth Rift
1 Echoing Truth
1 Envelop
2 Flame Slash
3 Negate
1 Pyroblast
1 Seismic Shudder
2 Serrated Arrows

Sea Gate Oracle

Compulsive Research is a much better card in this deck but the body is actually very relevant in this format. In addition to that, I have to play this card to justify the Ghostly Flicker.

Ulamog's Crusher

At first I didn't like the random fatty that you can't tutor for, but I realized that the one random X spell was virtually the same thing and since I've never actually managed to kill any creatures of relevance with  Rolling Thunder I decided to make the switch. So far there's not much difference between the two but I like that this one is a giant.

Firebolt

Firebolt is easily the best of the available burn spells. It hits players, can deal 4, and is a two for one. Most of the time you want to sorcery speed the burn anyways. As an instant, Lightning Bolt does give you more safety which is why it's my second pick for this slot. I play one copy as a tutor target currently. I used to also have a Staggershock but it was (surprisingly) unimpressive.

EDIT: I've actually decided Harvest Pyre has been under-performing and have switched back to Staggershock which I think is better in the matchups where you really need removal. It could also just be another Lightning Bolt instead.

Brainstorm

Other versions usually play Mysteries of the Deep but I prefer one mana to five. My version also has more shuffle / "scry" effects to make Brainstorm do what it's best at. In addition, when drawn it still acts as a way to find relevant cards early game even why you can't shuffle.

Prohibit

Other versions usually play Condescend which I've found to be horrible in this format. It's bad against pretty much every deck that you want a counterspell in as well as the other ones. Prohibit is an actual two (sometimes four) mana hard counter and is definitely best in this slot.


That's all I've got for you today. See you in the queues!

Battle Pod

I've done some streaming and some testing with a deck I'm calling "Battle Pod." I knew it wouldn't be a great success going in, but I was convinced I could make something of it. Now, I'm not so sure. The deck started out as a giant Birthing Pod deck that had a ton of useless singletons. I trimmed it down so that it turned into a Ramp-Birthing Pod-Battle of Wits hybrid and saw some reasonable success in 2-man queues (broke even in tix). But the variance of the deck can't really be helped, thus it is a failed experiment. But if you'd like to give the deck a shot (hopefully just for fun) then continue reading.

One of my guidelines in forging the deck was that there needed to be a lot of value/two-for-one cards in order to offset the likelihood of mana flood/variance. Another was to keep the deck as streamlined as possible also to reduce variance.

Miracles seemed like a good idea in the deck since they will be live a lot more often in a giant deck, but the idea might be slightly misguided. For one thing, the mana is difficult and you won't always have the correct colors for miracles at the right times. And then there's the issue with having too many cards that are stuck in your hand. Bonfire of the Damned (and Terminus in other versions/SB) should continue to be in the deck but I think I'm done with Temporal Mastery in the deck.

I narrowed down the necessary Birthing Pod/Green Sun's Zenith targets to the following:

Rune-Scarred Demon

Sunblast Angel

Fiend Hunter

Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite

Inferno Titan

Deceiver Exarch

Wurmcoil Engine

Viridian Corrupter

Mwonvuli Beast Tracker

Wolfir Silverheart

Stingerfling Spider

Acidic Slime

Strangleroot Geist

I'd say that's pretty streamlined

Now, for the 4-ofs:

Creatures:

4 Birds of Paradise

4 Avacyn's Pilgrim

4 Llanowar Elves

4 Elvish Visionary

4 Viridian Emissary

4 Scorned Villager

4 Phantasmal Image

4 Borderland Ranger

4 Blade Splicer

4 Huntmaster of the Fells

4 Solemn Simulacrum

4 Restoration Angel

4 Phyrexian Metamorph

4 Thragtusk

4 Primeval Titan

You'll notice that most of the 4-ofs are either ramp or value creatures, as they should be.

Primeval Titan, being the most consistent win condition to hit play, might actually be the best card in the deck. It is capable of fixing all mana issues and of putting a lot of additional power into play. If you're really psycho (or have a better functioning mana base), you could even include Glimmerpost in the list. The utility land package I currently have is 1 Gavony Township, 1 Kessig Wolf Run, 1 Vault of the Archangel. The Vault is actually a surprisingly awesome slot. It does something that Primeval Titan isn't usually capable of, which is racing from really tough spots.

Noncreatures:

4 Ponder

4 Abundant Growth

4 Rampant Growth

4 Farseek

4 Sphere of the Suns

4 Vessel of Endless Rest

4 Divination

4 Forbidden Alchemy

4 Birthing Pod

4 Ranger's Path

4 Garruk Relentless

4 Battle of Wits

4 Gideon Jura

4 Tamiyo the Moon Sage

4 Green Sun's Zenith

4 Bonfire of the Damned

I'm not sure if this version of the deck should actually include Increasing Ambition. It's not likely that you will have 5-mana available and the ability to do nothing two turns in a row without dying.

In this version I've opted for Ranger's Path over Gilded Lotus because we care about that extra turn a lot. And hopefully we're casting Primeval Titan or something else big the turn we'd be casting the Lotus.

The deck does actually want to have removal, but it wants to have the broadest removal possible which is why wrath effects and planeswalkers are best. Something like Dismember could also fit and is something I'd consider.

Initially, I was convinced that Venser the Sojourner would be an auto-include in the deck but I've found that it's not reliable enough. Very rarely will you have a worthwhile card to blink and have Venser sticking around. I've now switch to both Gideon (which I think will be really good) and Tamiyo to accompany him.

I'm contemplating Lingering Souls especially since the two worst matchups are Delver and Zombies. For now I'm going with the heavy planeswalker package because I think they fill a role that this deck needs filled but I'll keep Souls in mind.

Everything else:

2 Zealous Conscripts

2 Mycosynth Wellspring

2 Trading Post

I like two Conscripts because sometimes you want to tutor for the second one.

Then we have two additional mana fixers,and two Trading Posts. Trading Post does enough stuff that we don't mind having a few copies, though I don't think we want to see it often enough to play four.

This deck is capable enough of winning without Battle of Wits that I see no reason to waste a slot on a card like Elixir of Immortality. It would just be another dead card to draw.

Karn Liberated is a noticeable card that is missing from this list. I'm very hesitant to add more 7-drops to the deck but that could just be my normal deck instincts. If I continue playing the deck I'll definitely consider Karn.

75 creatures, 68 spells, now for the 88 lands:

20 Forest

11 Island

7 Plains

1 Mountain

1 Swamp

4 Seachrome Coast

4 Glacial Fortress

1 Darkslick Shores

4 Copperline Gorge

4 Rootbound Crag

4 Razorverge Thicket

4 Sunpetal Grove

1 Isolated Chapel

4 Woodland Cemetery

4 Hinterland Harbor

4 Sulfur Falls

3 Clifftop Retreat

4 Evolving Wilds

1 Gavony Township

1 Kessig Wolf Run

1 Vault of the Archangel

By no means perfect, but there's not much else to work with (Shimmering Grotto...?). You will mulligan a lot because of the lands and other times you will just draw a ton of them because there are so many mana sources. That's the variance you have to accept to play this deck.

No 231 card deck is complete without the last 15:

4 Terminus

4 Day of Judgment

1 Tree of Redemption

1 Silklash Spider

1 Glissa, the Traitor

1 Sylvok Replica

1 Ghost Quarter

2 ?

When you don't get to see your sideboard cards very often, you want them to be as impactful and as tutorable as possible. As such, I have eight additional wrath effects, and 5 useful tutor targets. Not much else fits in the remaining two slots. I'm sure there's some more tutor targets but they would end up being wasted space.

Well, that's Battle Pod. I think with the new changes I want to try the deck again but I know it won't end witty.

C:L July Cube Update

Hello cube enthusiasts! I have a good amount of stuff to update you on about the happenings of my cube. First, I’ve updated the ability sheet and achievement/rewards pages at the bottom of the blog. Second, I’ve shifted a few cards around after giving some more thought to the M13 changes. Those changes are as follows:

    Simian Grunts > Farhaven Elf

After playing with Simian Grunts (despite the fact that its been in the cube for a long time) I realized it’s actually shit. Echo makes cards really bad and every card with the ability has slowly been cut from the cube. I think we’re down to just Goblin Patrol, Ghitu Slinger, Albino Troll, and Hetrick Champion.

    Crippling Chill > Jilt

Crippling Chill was never supposed to stick around. I just needed to find a suitable replacement and Jilt is perfect. I overlooked it a while back and then just didn’t realize how good it is.

    Feeling of Dread > War Falcon

I thought Feeling of Dread would be a decent card but it’s very narrow. White decks are usually not great and Feeling of Dread is probably one of the worst cards you’ll find in a bad white deck. War Falcon (errataed to say Rebel of course) is another one-drop, 2-power flying creature which is perfect for white.

    Dauthi Slayer > Surakar Murauder

There’s nothing wrong with Dauthi Slayer except that black has an abundance of creatures that can’t block and also cards that are black intensive. As such, I’ve decided to cut it for the more versatile Surakar Murauder.

    AEther Spellbomb > Traumatic Visions

In short, there’s too many bounce spells and Traumatic Visions is a nice card for blue mages to have access to.

    Latch Seeker > Fettergiest

As a narrow double-U card, Latch Seeker wasn’t particularly impressive. Fettergeist is a cool card for blue to have that I overlooked from AVR.

    Wonder > Stern Mentor

Blue decks usually don’t really care about giving flying to the few creatures they have that don’t already have flying. Stern Mentor allows for potential mill wins single-handedly which is something I like having as an option.

    Recoil > Cut

    Jungle Barrier > Cut

    Giant Ambush Beetle > Cut

    Monstrous Carabid > Cut

I mentioned in my last update that I’m working on cutting the worst of the gold cards because they are usually the latest picks and because RTR is around the corner. Recoil is also out because of the large amount of bounce spells. Jungle Barrier is out because there are now too many UG cards. The other two are just lackluster and don’t see a lot of play.


In updating the Achievements/Rewards section, I decided that the both the achievements need to be more difficult and the rewards need to be splashier. Therefore a lot of them have been removed from the list or updated to reflect that.

One of the new rewards is something that’s been requested for a bit: the ability to add a rare to the cube (treated as an uncommon). I ended up switching out the reward for the “mulligan to 4 and win” achievement with the new one because it has been on the sheet so long without being achieved. It was shortly achieved and Snapcaster Mage was added to the cube.

Shriekmaw (Graft 1, Persist), AEther Adept (Graft 1, Persist), and Mulldrifter (Persist) have been reset. I gave Beast Attack Cascade and someone else gave it Rebound. No one has reset that one yet...

A new ability that I added to the third tier reads, “switch a keyword ability with one worth the same amount of points or less.” This is a tricky ability to enact because you (cube owner) have to know/decide what all keyword abilities are worth. It’s a really sweet one though. It lets players make cards that they deem “too good” into less powerful ones (read: poop) as they see fit. Defender (6 pts) is an interesting ability to make use of. I’m allowing this ability to overrule the “only 2 stickers” rule because it doesn’t technically add an ability.


Recently, some local players liked the idea of Cube:Legacy and created their own with a real (and powered) cube. They went way over the top though. Their ability sheet was 4 pages long and included just about everything you could think of (change colored mana symbols to phyrexian mana, etb destroy artifact or enchantment, etb search library for basic land/any land).

One of the abilities I liked most is one they adapted from my sheet. “Counterparts” turned into a keyword ability called friendship which acts similar to soulbond. For instance, If you give friendship to Attended Knight then whatever abilities that card has its “friend” also has. I’m not sure about the logistics surrounding it (infi tokens? works after Attended Knight has died?) but I love the idea.

Their experiment ended up being a success, but not for very long. Without any efforts to keep it balanced It got pretty far out of hand. I’m sure that I’ll adopt a bunch of their ideas in the near future.


Another fun idea I discovered recently was the BoozeCube. If you’re not familiar, it’s a format/cube designed with drinking dynamics and is intended to get you drunk (what else?). The design space for such a game is pretty wide open. I’m not about to create an entirely new cube but I do think I could incorporate some of the simpler things from BoozeCube into my ongoing cube project, most likely just adding boozetouch or something similar to the ability sheet. You can find out more about that here.