With RtR coming out and my decision to expand the Hybrid cards to 2 per guild, I've been looking at what cards I'd add for the guilds from this specific set. So far Rakdos is sort of underwhelming, but this card has been on my radar for a while and I think it's pretty interesting. What are your opinions on it?
I would wait till the second set of the ravnica block (when we finish all 10 guilds) to up the number of hybrids. Some color combinations barlely have one playable hybrid card at this junction. But that is just the OCD in me wanting to keep numbers even.
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I would wait till the second set of the ravnica block (when we finish all 10 guilds) to up the number of hybrids. Some color combinations barlely have one playable hybrid card at this junction. But that is just the OCD in me wanting to keep numbers even.
I actually considered for a while about how I would increase the hybrids and while I wanted to keep things even, I wanted both Kitchen Finks and Dryad Militant in my cube... So as a way to celebrate Ravnica's return, and it being awesome, I'm going to first increase the hybrids for the guilds coming out now, and then I'll up the count for the last five when the next set comes out.
It's an ok card for cubes aggressively pushing land destruction as a theme. If that is the case in your cube, go ahead and give Fulminator Mage a try.
That said, apparantly you did not consider Mage cubeable before RtR. I don't think it's a good idea to include cards you consider sub-par just to get a section to a certain size.
It's an ok card for cubes aggressively pushing land destruction as a theme. If that is the case in your cube, go ahead and give Fulminator Mage a try.
That said, apparantly you did not consider Mage cubeable before RtR. I don't think it's a good idea to include cards you consider sub-par just to get a section to a certain size.
What about a cube that isn't pushing LD? Is it a good enough card that various decks will want to main in order to deal with strong non-basics like Maze, Library, and Ruins, while also being ok with using it to kill shocks/pains when those targets aren't around? Or will it just end up on the side lines too often?
Well, it's not really that I didn't consider it cubeable, it's just that I didn't really know where to put it, and while I was interested, I wasn't interested enough to include it as an extra or in one of the coloured sections. It has definitely always been a card I liked and considered, just not one I really knew what to do with in terms of inclusion until now.
What about a cube that isn't pushing LD? Is it a good enough card that various decks will want to main in order to deal with strong non-basics like Maze, Library, and Ruins, while also being ok with using it to kill shocks/pains when those targets aren't around? Or will it just end up on the side lines too often?
I think it will basically be a sideboard card in that case. In a land destruction deck it's a sweet 3-drop though.
Yea, I never included it as Cackler was just better in my opinion... I never liked the shred freak though.
As for whether this is an aggro card, well maybe? I guess it can act as one and I'd definitely side it in against decks with Maze or something, but as a whole I think it's a card that like playing in more midrange or Ponza decks where it can do more work.
I think that card does significantly less work than Cackler and Rakdos Guildmage
Honestly I'd much rather play Wretched Anurid or something... The one toughness is so terrible on a creature that is either RR BB or RB, and the Haste is nice but the lacking toughness and none impressive power makes the Haste simply make up for the nullified damage the card will do in the near future.
At least the Cackler can attack into a Sea-gate Oracle with another x/2 in order to sneak in some damage each turn, whereas Shred Freak stops attacking after a 1/3+ hits play...
It's also just that much worse against things that do split damage or spread damage around, like Arc Trail just killing both your turn 1 and turn 2 play instead of one or the other.
The Shred-Freak has been pretty good here. Haste more than makes up for the lack of a higher toughness.
I second this.
Maybe fulminator could go in people's red sections as another LD creature, but hybrid/multicolor, I think there are other cards that should go in first.
I am very surprised at some of the responses in this thread. People really like Rakdos Shred-Freak over Fulminator Mage? There are very few cards I believe should be in every cube, and Fulminator Mage comes pretty darn close. Whether you decide to run him in B/R, or as a mono-color card, I believe he should make the cut. For those of you saying you wouldn't run him and are pushing GY and Smokestack/Pox themes, you are missing out on one of the best 3-drops available for black in those decks. Saying that Stone Rain is a better card to me is like saying an orange is better than a piece of chocolate cake. They are completely different cards, with completely different lines of play, better in completely different decks.
I like fulminator a lot more in constructed. I use it in modern living end, but I can't see it being that great in cube without a reliable reanimation method. Even then, unless you're desparate, I think there are generally better cards to return from the yard for a 2nd go.
I like fulminator a lot more in constructed. I use it in modern living end, but I can't see it being that great in cube without a reliable reanimation method. Even then, unless you're desparate, I think there are generally better cards to return from the yard for a 2nd go.
I can think of very few B/R cards at 3CC that I'd be more happy to get back into play via early reanimation than Fulminator. If we're talking about cards that need Entomb or another discard outlet to take advantage of reanimation spells, I'm not sure Fulminator Mage or really any other 1-3 drop should be a part of the discussion.
Saying that Stone Rain is a better card to me is like saying an orange is better than a piece of chocolate cake.
Oranges:
+ No HFCS
+ Stays fresh for days without refrigeration
+ Yummy citrus taste
+ Prevents scurvy
Chocolate Cake:
- Full of empty calories (makes you fat)
- Goes stale quickly without proper storage
- Doesn't taste as good as an apple
</Jokes>
The closest comparison to fulminator mage in my book is Wasteland. I'd say more often than not, both wasteland and fulminator instantly blow a non-basic. While I'd argue wasteland is usually better because it takes a land slot rather than a spell slot, creature recursion is more prevalent, and the mage can swing for two and/or pick up equipment in a pinch.
Oranges:
+ No HFCS
+ Stays fresh for days without refrigeration
+ Yummy citrus taste
+ Prevents scurvy
Chocolate Cake:
- Full of empty calories (makes you fat)
- Goes stale quickly without proper storage
- Doesn't taste as good as an apple
</Jokes>
The closest comparison to fulminator mage in my book is Wasteland. I'd say more often than not, both wasteland and fulminator instantly blow a non-basic. While I'd argue wasteland is usually better because it takes a land slot rather than a spell slot, creature recursion is more prevalent, and the mage can swing for two and/or pick up equipment in a pinch.
Chocolate Cake:
++++++ CHOCOLATE!!!
On another note, Fulminator Mage is a Stone Rain with extra flexibility and extra abusability. And it's hybrid. What's not to like?
Specialities about the cube: U tempo, B aggro, R slow-ish are supported. G aggro is not.
Currently trying to support tokens in all colors but blue, in different ways: W pumps them, B sacrifices them, R suicides them, G has decent-sized ones.
cube list outdated
*literal C/U definition according to gatherer
**some cards are banned. Library of Alexandria, Land Tax, Sol Ring.
On another note, Fulminator Mage is a Stone Rain with extra flexibility and extra abusability. And it's hybrid. What's not to like?
Nothing. But it's in a crowded 3cc slot in that color combination (meaning both red and black have a deep selection of 3cc cards available), and there's a pretty fair list of Rakdos cards I like more than it. It's not a matter of it being bad, it's a matter of it being hard to find room.
Nothing. But it's in a crowded 3cc slot in that color combination (meaning both red and black have a deep selection of 3cc cards available), and there's a pretty fair list of Rakdos cards I like more than it. It's not a matter of it being bad, it's a matter of it being hard to find room.
I guess I just disagree that black and red are brimming with better cards at the 3-slot than Fulminator Mage.
I like Rakdos Shred Freak more. It's a much worse card but the slot for a two drop aggressive beater is needed much more. I really like Fulminator Mage, but I'm not going to cut a hastey 2/1 for him anytime soon.
I'd like Fulminator Mage a lot more if he really was a Stone Rain, but when I tried him he was too often a Grey Ogre if my opponent didn't have a non-basic.
I may give him another try if, as Kojiro suggests, he can support both my existing red LD and a black pox strategy. I do like my multicoloured cards to represent that guild's strategy in my cube.
"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less." -Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass
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With RtR coming out and my decision to expand the Hybrid cards to 2 per guild, I've been looking at what cards I'd add for the guilds from this specific set. So far Rakdos is sort of underwhelming, but this card has been on my radar for a while and I think it's pretty interesting. What are your opinions on it?
Calvin and Hobbes
Cube Tutor
I actually considered for a while about how I would increase the hybrids and while I wanted to keep things even, I wanted both Kitchen Finks and Dryad Militant in my cube... So as a way to celebrate Ravnica's return, and it being awesome, I'm going to first increase the hybrids for the guilds coming out now, and then I'll up the count for the last five when the next set comes out.
That said, apparantly you did not consider Mage cubeable before RtR. I don't think it's a good idea to include cards you consider sub-par just to get a section to a certain size.
What about a cube that isn't pushing LD? Is it a good enough card that various decks will want to main in order to deal with strong non-basics like Maze, Library, and Ruins, while also being ok with using it to kill shocks/pains when those targets aren't around? Or will it just end up on the side lines too often?
Well, it's not really that I didn't consider it cubeable, it's just that I didn't really know where to put it, and while I was interested, I wasn't interested enough to include it as an extra or in one of the coloured sections. It has definitely always been a card I liked and considered, just not one I really knew what to do with in terms of inclusion until now.
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Yup. Rakdos already has a better pair of hybrid cards.
I like the Mage, but he was never impressive. Always just filler.
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As for whether this is an aggro card, well maybe? I guess it can act as one and I'd definitely side it in against decks with Maze or something, but as a whole I think it's a card that like playing in more midrange or Ponza decks where it can do more work.
I think that card does significantly less work than Cackler and Rakdos Guildmage
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Honestly I'd much rather play Wretched Anurid or something... The one toughness is so terrible on a creature that is either RR BB or RB, and the Haste is nice but the lacking toughness and none impressive power makes the Haste simply make up for the nullified damage the card will do in the near future.
At least the Cackler can attack into a Sea-gate Oracle with another x/2 in order to sneak in some damage each turn, whereas Shred Freak stops attacking after a 1/3+ hits play...
It's also just that much worse against things that do split damage or spread damage around, like Arc Trail just killing both your turn 1 and turn 2 play instead of one or the other.
My CubeCobra (draft 20 card packs, 2 packs.)
430, Peasant, Very Unpowered
Why you should take your hybrids out of your gold section
Manamath Article
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My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
I second this.
Maybe fulminator could go in people's red sections as another LD creature, but hybrid/multicolor, I think there are other cards that should go in first.
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Oranges:
+ No HFCS
+ Stays fresh for days without refrigeration
+ Yummy citrus taste
+ Prevents scurvy
Chocolate Cake:
- Full of empty calories (makes you fat)
- Goes stale quickly without proper storage
- Doesn't taste as good as an apple
</Jokes>
The closest comparison to fulminator mage in my book is Wasteland. I'd say more often than not, both wasteland and fulminator instantly blow a non-basic. While I'd argue wasteland is usually better because it takes a land slot rather than a spell slot, creature recursion is more prevalent, and the mage can swing for two and/or pick up equipment in a pinch.
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Chocolate Cake:
++++++ CHOCOLATE!!!
On another note, Fulminator Mage is a Stone Rain with extra flexibility and extra abusability. And it's hybrid. What's not to like?
450, Peasant*, unpowered**
Specialities about the cube:
U tempo, B aggro, R slow-ish are supported. G aggro is not.
Currently trying to support tokens in all colors but blue, in different ways: W pumps them, B sacrifices them, R suicides them, G has decent-sized ones.
cube list outdated
*literal C/U definition according to gatherer
**some cards are banned. Library of Alexandria, Land Tax, Sol Ring.
Nothing. But it's in a crowded 3cc slot in that color combination (meaning both red and black have a deep selection of 3cc cards available), and there's a pretty fair list of Rakdos cards I like more than it. It's not a matter of it being bad, it's a matter of it being hard to find room.
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My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
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And that's okay to do. It is the cube forum after all. Disagreements happen from time to time.
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I'm always open to suggestions on how to improve my cube. Take a look and ask a question, or give a constructive critique whenever you can.
I may give him another try if, as Kojiro suggests, he can support both my existing red LD and a black pox strategy. I do like my multicoloured cards to represent that guild's strategy in my cube.
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"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less." -Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass