***I am currently looking to tear down this cube and build it again from scratch. The OP is very outdated. Looking forward to the Khans block and the return of morph.***
~The Mighty Morphin' Cube~
Overview
Onslaught Block was my favorite set to draft, mostly because of the morph mechanic.
Morph is the main theme of the Cube and the power level of all other cards use the morph mechanic as the baseline.
This Cube is extremely creature heavy and it's designed to be slow enough for the morph creatures to define the format.
The tribes featured in this Cube are: Beasts, Birds, Clerics, Dragons, Elves, Goblins, Rebels, Soldiers, Wizards, and Zombies.
Early Game - Spot removal, duress-type effects, and mana acceleration; basically set up for morph creatures.
Mid-Game - Dominated by morph creatures.
Late Game - Stagnant board states are unclogged with big, splashy spells.
***A very good tribal deck can go for the aggro win.***
Cube Core
There will always be 90 creatures with morph in the cube (1 out of 4 cards). I'll only update the current list of 90 if they ever bring the morph mechanic back.
What makes this a "Morph Cube"?
The Tribes - Onslaught was a tribal block and a tribal theme runs throughout. In addition to the original 8 Onslaught tribes, slivers from Tempest/Legions/Time Spiral, dragons from Scourge, Rebels from Mercadian Masques, and Ninjas, from Kamigawa are also featured. Not all tribes are created equal in this cube and I don't feel like they need to be. The is a morph cube first and a tribal cube second.
Rebels - The soldiers alone were not enough to support a White Weenie strategy. They needed help and the rebels seemed like a good fit considering there is a lot of tribal cross over with birds, soldiers, and clerics. Whipcorder is also a card so the rebel tribe was an easy fit.
Morph Enablers - Flicker-type effects allow players to cheat huge morph creatures into play. Changeling champions do the same by similar means.
Unsummon - Unsummon-type effects have priority in this cube as removal because whenever a face-down creature is bounced, that creature's true identity must be revealed. The owner of that creature may choose to play another face-down creature... but is it the same one?
Duress - Duress-type effects are rampant in this cube because peeking at your opponent's hand is extremely important information in this cube.
Shock - All red spot removal in the cube is always in 2's. Morph creatures come down as 2/2 creatures and this type of spot removal will keep early morphs in check, but will have less effect as the game goes on and creatures begin unmorphing.
Convereted Mana Cost Morphed creatures have a converted mana cost of zero. This means that cards like Crime/Punishment are very effective.
Split Cards - Including all 23 split cards may not be optimal for the cube, but they're too fun for me not to include. They are of the appropriate power level for morph, they also induce interesting splashes, and this cube is all about having multiple options, so they fit thematically. It's the same reason why I paired morph with ninjutsu and of all the big sorcery cycles, I included commands & decrees--I like presenting players with an overwhelming amount of options.
Stagnant Board States - The commands, swords, and dragons are all included to bust open stagnant board states (which were common in Onslaught block).
Planechase FFA Variant
After playing a normal draft, sometimes people just want to FFA and this is where Planechase comes in. Planechase is a lot of fun and is about as casual as you can get (if you're using a community deck of planar cards). A lot of the planes have a lot of good synergy with morph and after looking through them all I decided to go with the following 20 card planar deck:
This planar deck is designed to be used specifically for FFA games and not for normal cubing. In this format players draft 4 packs instead of 3 and make 50 card decks to prevent decking. Max 6 players.
I've been looking through my cards some more and I think I'm probably going to throw out some of my original ideas.
I think I want to focus it even more on the morph mechanic. Part of this means throwing out themes that don't at least have a little interaction with morph and putting in themes that do.
Rebels and slivers might have to go. But in a weird way, I think the Eldrazi might fit in nicely. The colorless Edrazi are big and splashy, but most importantly, I think they're slow enough. (This also means that I'm going to do away with the reanimator idea. That would make them too fast.) And it seems to me that all of the cards that create Eldrazi Spawn have some synergy with morph just because they can all be sac'd to cast your morphs. I might even want to throw in cards like Intangible Virtue and Parallel Lives to get a token theme going. There are already some morph cards that also create tokens, so maybe get some weird synergy there.
Rebels & Slivers OUT and Eldrazi IN?
@Sscchhmueptfter
I think you might be right about the World Enchantments. They're just a little too clunky (and there aren't enough of them).
You might also be right about some of the split cards. Maybe I should be more picky.
I have to think a little more (and get more feedback?) on mana fixing theory for Cube. Part of the reason why I loved Onslaught Block and morph so much was that you could splash other colors, not really caring if you didn't draw your mana source. Not sure if this would translate well to Cube. I definitely need more morph creatures then.
If I stay on the eldrazi idea, I think I'm going to include the wishes:
Just because I can sort of have a sideboard subtheme going because there would be some overlap with both Research // Development and Spawnsire of Ulamog. That could be fun. I could also get some neat little syngery with All is Dust as it won't kill any eldrazi or morphs.
edit: If Eldrazi are IN, then I think cycling is IN as well. Morph, Eldrazi, and Cycling can all find uses to dump colorless mana. Again, weird synergies that I'm liking. This means that I'll get spot removal and board sweepers in the form of:
I'll even get to throw in all the land cyclers for mana fixing. Astral Slide and Lightning Rift are going to be great. I think I like this new direction.
Morph makes a fine theme in all colors and defines the way the cube plays, because there are so many cards to chose from. Eldrazi can't do that. I don't think they can support two players per draft table drafting an eldrazi deck. Of the playable cards, only two (Eldrazi Temple and Hand of Emrakul) work in Eldrazi decks exclusivly. The other cards will be picked by other players as well. And overall there is not nough synergy among the Eldrazi themselves. In an eldrazideck, Cultivate is better than most of the eldrazienablers.
It might be possible to support an eldrazi archetype that gets drafted occasionally that should be about it.
Do you want to only include cards that fit a certain theme, or also "normal" cards? Do you want each draft deck to follow a certain theme, or should players have to decide between synergy or stronger single cards? Do you want to enable draft archetypes? Should those be drafted in every draft, or should that be uncertain? Do you want archetypes to be spread equally across all colors?
I haven't done any testing yet, but I kind of like the Eldrazi spcifically because the Eldrazi cards can be drafted by anyone. This is part of the reason I just got rid of the rebels and slivers. They just seemed too narrow to the point that people would just draft what was open, find the theme that the person next to them wasn't going for, and there would be barely any competition for cards.
I don't know if it'll really work out that way since there only 26 out of 360 cards are Eldrazi.
(There are probably too many of the annihilators in there, but for now I just threw them all in the list.)
I'm okay with "normal" cards just as long as there is some loose synergy with morph. Like Dead Weight and Grim Lavamancer, I'm happy to throw in just because all the morph creatures have 2 toughness. Ratchet Bomb and Engineered Explosives are there because morph creatures have 0cc. I could probably add a few cards that effect cards with "the same name." (I would probably add Shock over Lightning Bolt, for example.)
I'm still debating on whether or not to add a token subtheme and if there will be enough cards to support it.
In Innistrad Block draft, I always like drafting the fun decks like Spider Spawning, Burning Vengeance, etc. I don't know if it's possible to add a card of that type in Cube. A card that if you saw it in your p1p1 and if you wanted to just "go for it," you would have the option. Maybe an alternate win card where "you win the game" that has some syngery with some of the other cards?
I'm currently at 349 cards and I'll probably fill the last 11 by the end of the night. If you see anything missing or something that needs to be taken out, let me know.
I'll probably organize it by color in addition to its current set-up later on.
This is still the early stages of building this Cube, so I haven't yet tallied up the color counts, tribal balance, removal, or anything else. Once I get up to 360, I plan on going through it all card-by-card and digging out all the stats which I'll post.
I feel like I need a lot more removal, but it's hard to tell when so many creatures are also removal.
One thing I really like which I just added were alternative ways to "cheat" the morphs into play without going deep on reanimator. In the current list there are really only 2 reanimation spells:
I decided I wanted to expand on what Spy Network already does and introduce the ability to lessen the randomness that morphs provide. I think these cards make multiple morph creatures a little less random and a little more strategic. With these, at least you can have an educated guess as to what morphs are what.
I also added a bunch of counter spells and removal that take advantage of the 0cc of morphed creatures. Spells like Spell Blast and Disembowel can be very efficient 1cc spells.
Like I said, if you see any huge mistakes in the list, let me know. Stats coming shortly.
I bumped up the number of mana elves and suddenly green beasts seems like a real thing if someone drafted a dedicated ramp strategy.
I've increased the number of cards that reveal your opponent's hand, your hand, and your draws. I just feel that the more of these effects there are, the less luck based using removal on a morphed creature feels.
I just dropped $200 on Card Kingdom (including $58 on an Illusionary Mask) so I've passed the point of no return. Luckily for me, this is probably one of the cheapest non-pauper Cubes on this forum. (Illusionary Mask, Sliver Queen, and a couple others are basically the only money cards.)
I started compiling the stats for the Cube and it seems to me that the Bird tribe is the weakest by far. This shouldn't be that big a surprise to me since I think Birds was pretty weak in Onslaught too.
I'm currently looking for suggestions to help the birds out.
edit: Here are the stats for the Morph Creatures alone:
For today's changes, I'm tightening up the removal. I also want to more define the color identities. So I've decided to now include every single red sorcery and instant that deals 2 damage to target creature or player. (Note: I'm intentionally leaving out Lightning Bolt (& friends) because again, morph creatures define the format. I want it known that if you ever bump a creature's toughness to 3 or more, it's suddenly out of range of most of the targeted removal in the Cube.)
I've also added more control magic type spells. So now part of the fun for blue players will be to choose the correct morph'd creature to steal. (Hopefully they do this after casting Peek, duress, or any of the other variants so they have an idea of what they're getting. Of course, it could all just be a bluff after their opponent top deck'd *yet another* morph after they saw the Akroma in their opponent's hand.)
Here's an updated list of all 1cc black/blue spells that let you peek at your opponent's hand:
The idea is to keep this effect mainly in black & blue to help define them in this Cube against opposing morphs. I want it known that if you play black or blue you have a chance to have a better idea about what morph creatures your opponent is playing against you. The other colors will have to play in the dark (for the most part).
The idea is to give wrath effects to all colors, but they're especially effective in this Cube because all creatures that are morphed have a converted mana cost of zero.
After a little play testing it became very clear that 4-5 color sliver decks needed some additional mana fixing. The rest of the archetypes seemed to be fine because of all the colorless mana they could dump into morphs and cyclers, but the slivers needed some help. I decided to cannibalize the duals from my other decks:
The dual lands make all the land cyclers (14 total) twice as good. The only question is if this is enough to support the slivers or not? I don't want to bring in shocks and fetchs, but I will if I have to. But considering all the artifact mana in the Cube already, this requires further testing.
I really wanted to avoid the duals when this Cube first started (just so I wouldn't have to cannibalize the dual from my existing decks). But this Cube is too much fun. I'll probably be playing this much more than any of the others.
As for Avacyn Restored spoilers, Cloudshift is coming in:
I think I'm going to keep Flicker and get rid of Otherworldly Journey. I just can't get rid of Flicker. From art to function to elegance, it's one of my favorite cards in the Cube.
And finally, I just added a bunch of detailed descriptions about some design choices on my blog. Check it out if interested.
This might be the last update I post in a while. It's been exactly a week since I started this thing (read: obsessing over this thing) and unless anyone else has any suggestions, this looks to be the final version, with minor adjustments here or there.
I've basically given up on trying to build up the underwhelming bird tribe and instead am putting the best creatures that interact with the rest of the Cube. The birds are just going to be the weakest tribe until WotC decides to print new and better cards. Also got rid of Igneous Pouncer and Pale Recluse. They're land cyclers (which I like a lot) but they're the only two that don't fall into any of the 8 tribes.
And now that I've had more time to test it, I'm convinced that these are the correct ratios for what I was trying to do:
360 Card Cube
90 Creatures with Morph
45 Slivers
Even if they bring back the morph mechanic in a future set, I'm going to stick to exactly 90. Basically, it's enough for morphs to effect every thing that happens during the draft and in game. And it's enough slivers to allow roughly 2 slivers per "booster" and potentially get multiple people to go slivers in the same draft (which is the point).
Anyway, like I said, this is going to be my last daily update. I'm sure there will be small tweaks here or there, but I really like where it is right now in general. I just dumped $56 more dollars into this Cube. My Pernicious Deed, Cursed Scroll, and a few others are in the mail, and I hope that to be my last purchase for a while. As always, all questions, comments, and suggestions are welcome.
Pentad Prism was nice, but it was actually the last remaining artifact mana source that could accelerate you for more than 1 mana. Just for consistency's sake, everything is now uniform with all 2cc artifacts. And I also felt that I needed at least one more bomby rare that could really effect the way someone drafted and changed the game completely if it were played. For example, if I took the Bidding for my deck, I'd probably value cyclers much higher in my picks.
After further testing, I found a handful of cards that have been underwhelming for various reasons:
Battlefield Medic and Information Dealer - I liked them because there helped fill out the 2cc slot, but they just aren't as powerful as their counterparts in other colors.
Coral Trickster, Aquamorph Entity, and Fathom Seer - If any of these were in any of the 8 tribes, I'd keep them, but I think they got to go. I only like keeping non-tribal morphs if they're of the bomby variety and these aren't making the cut. I've found that at least those cards can fit into the Flicer/Ixidor/Champion/Venser, the Sojourner archetype, while these cards don't fit into any archetypes.
Gempalm Incinerator - The only other gempalm I have is Gempalm Polluter. And the difference between that one and this one is that the incinerator needs to have 2 goblins in play before it really sees any play because "2 toughness" is so significant in this Cube.
Undead Gladiator - I don't have any graveyard themes. It's just not very exciting.
Restoration Angel - As high I was for this card when it was first spoiled, I think this isn't going to make the cut. It's not of a relevant type and her effect is already redundant with so many existing cards in the Cube.
So I'm looking to replace 3 morphs, 2 cyclers, and 3 other cards (tribal creatures, artifacts, lands, etc.).
Ideas?
edit: Alright, I'm decided to try something and push the goblins and for someone to be able to live the dream and get the "constructed goblin deck."
And I decided to keep the Gempalm Incinerator because of this new push for goblins. I want to have the option open for someone to just grab Goblin Lackey, Siege-Gang Commander, Goblin Recruiter, Goblin Ringleader, and a bunch of burn. Recruiter also seems pretty good for non-goblin decks that run changelings or Nameless Inversion. The marshal also makes the lackey a little more threatening. I wanted to have at least 1 or 2 archetypes that people could go into -- using zero morphs -- and I think goblins is going to be one of them.
The morphs I added aren't great, but at least they are of proper tribes.
Unearth is just a place holder until I can think of something better. And the more I test, the more I'm convinced that the Sojourners have got to go. So I'm looking for a 4x more cyclers to replace. I might just add the Onslaught cycle lands. This Cube needs more things to do on turn 1.
(I resisted adding Mirror Entity this entire time because it's 3cc, but it's just too good to pass. It could be a beating on its own, it can fit into any tribe archetype, and it can even be anti-sliver tech. Skeletal Changeling seemed a little weak and didn't like the black activation. Goblin Matron goes in to keep the new goblin theme going. The Tribal equipment was just too slow.)
If anyone's interested, ever since I stopped bumping this thread, I started a blog series on my site that's all about design decisions and changes to this Cube:
Like I said, it's all cube specific stuff if anyone's interested in some of the decisions I made for this cube. I'll continue posting more of these until I run out of topics.
I'm posting this now because I think the list is finally settling down. I've been making small changes to the list almost daily, but it should be fairly stable right. I always keep the list on my blog the more updated of the two lists (just because I've been changing it so much), but as of right now, this list posted here is completely up to date.
edit: I just posted my first Crack-a-Pack:
What would you pick? Find out what I would pick here:
are you playing this cube with current combat rules, or damage on the stack like in the original onslaught block? Damage on the stack made a lot of the utility morphs more playable
are you playing this cube with current combat rules, or damage on the stack like in the original onslaught block? Damage on the stack made a lot of the utility morphs more playable
That's an interesting idea, but I've never not played with the current rules in any format.
It's part of the reason why I'm playing Festering Goblin and not Mogg Fanatic. The Festering Goblin can take down 2 toughness creatures and the fanatic can't, which is kind of a big deal in this cube.
You're right, the morphed creatures were a lot better under the old rules and it might be worth experimenting with but most of the time it doesn't make that much of a difference.
I'm taking another look at the Cube and I think I want to drop the cycling. As it is right now, it could just as easily be described as just an "Onslaught Block Cube" and not really a "Morph Cube." I like cycling, but as a matter of principle, I kind of want to make a distinction between the two. If you check out the first few posts of this thread, this Cube was originally supposed to be really wacky. But it slowly adopted more and more things from Onslaught Block instead.
Cycling was great because it provided many board sweepers like Decree of Annihilation, Decree of Pain, Akroma's Vengeance, Starstorm, and a few others. (Cycling was also great because all of the spells were slow enough to work well with the slowness of morph creatures. There's a reason WotC paired the two mechanics together.)
If I do this, this will free 48-50 cards from the Cube.
So as of right now, I'm on the hunt for mechanics/themes that compliment morph and are sufficiently slow enough to not overwhelm morph.
I've been wanting to to make this cube more than just an "Onslaught Cube" for a while, but I think I've found a mechanic that will make Onslaught lovers love it even more and Onslaught haters hate it equally as much:
Ninjutsu.
When I was making the cube, I guess I just glossed over this mechanic because none of the creatures with Ninjutsu were of the appropriate type. But this might be the mechanic that makes attack & blocking even more unpredictable than it already was with morph. (Like I said, if you hated this aspect of Onslaught, then you're going to hate this even more.)
With the addition of Planechase 2012, there are now a total of 10 creatures with Ninjutsu:
The more I look at them, the more they fit perfectly into the cube. They have a lot effects that let you peek at your opponent's hand and unsummon creatures, both of which are already themes of the cube. This includes unsummoning your own creature when you activate ninjutsu. Remember, whenever a creature with morph is unsummoned, you have to reveal it to your opponent.
There are many things that cut down on the randomness of morph in this cube which makes cards like Gitaxian Probe so powerful.
Many of the same effects that are strong against morph are also strong against ninjutsu. And the best thing is all I have to do to update my cube is to be one copy of Planechase 2012 Game Pack - Night of the Ninja. This will be my first time owning any Planechase cards, so I might try those out as well (outside of cube?).
I still have to finalize an updated list with both most of these ninjas and M13. I'll post a new list shortly.
Looking to make major changes, my ninja + M13 updates are almost complete. I'm also still going to cut the bulk of cycling out of the cube.
OUT:
-Cycling
-Split Cards
-Miscellaneous Cards
IN:
+Ninjas
+Rebels
+High CMC Spells
I've always liked Rebels and wanted to include them from the start. I took a second look at them and many of them have dual creature types with existing tribes (soldier, cleric, bird). The soldier tribe was always a little weak and I think a soldier/rebel White Weenie archetype might be possible and be a little more resilient. But the bigger change has to be the High CMC Spells.
The idea is that the Cube is already set up to slow down the game to make creatures with morph matter. (This means that all non-elf mana accelerators are 2 CMC artifacts, for example.) But after that, the face-down creatures begin to clog the board, allowing their interactions to dominate. But I figure it wouldn't hurt to include some late game bombs that have the ability to unclog stagnant game states.
My Question: Are there any other high cmc/bomb sorcery cycles besides the decrees, ultimatums, and commands that would be a good fit to unclog a gummed up board?
edit: ahhh... forgot all about the beacons and zeniths. It looks like the beacons don't do enough and the zenith's are too powerful.
But yeah, I think the cube is slow enough that it might work nicely. There should be enough time to drop multiple morph creatures and do some tricks for them to have an effect and then blow everything up with Timmy sized sorceries.
edit again: I ended up going with a full set of the original Elder Dragon Legends (all Legends, not Chronicles). I'm a sucker for older cards and these guys accomplished what I originally wanted the ultimatums for. These guys are the only 3-color cards in the entire cube. I like this because they can single-handedly give a player an excuse to go for something (3 color deck) that they never tried to draft before. And as big and unwieldy as they might seen, they're still the biggest fliers in a set that has very few fliers. In other words, just like the decrees and commands, they have the ability to go over the top and can threaten to end the game in an already clogged board state.
Thematically, there is already an minor dragon theme with the presence of Imperial Hellkite. Also, I like how 7/7's help define the cube now with the elder dragons to go along with the sliver legends.
I finally wrote up the big update I've been working on with too many changes to count. (I've probably swapped out at least 75 cards in this 360 cube.)
Cycling OUT - Wasn't doing enough for the cube.
Land Cyclers OUT
Rebels IN - Perfect fit to help WW strategies; overlap in existing tribe types.
Ninjas IN - Together with morph, they help to make attacks & blocks even more interesting.
Super Cycles IN - Help to bust open stagnant board states.
I've also given up on some of the ratios of cards in had in the cube, except for two:
There will always be 90 creatures with morph in the cube (1 out of 4 cards). I'll only update the current list of 90 if they ever bring the morph mechanic back.
There will always be 45 slivers in the cube (1 out of 8 cards). Not only are the slivers a super tribe, they are the only tribal cards that give benefits to both sides of the board. Together with changelings, I think it's important to keep the sliver number consistent so that multiple players can "go slivers" during the same draft. If not, they just become unquestionably the best tribe.
Too many changes to list. I didn't think the cube needed to be color balanced in the past because it essentially had 90 extra "colorless" creatures in the form of morph. But with my efforts to make the cube more and more structured, color balancing felt like the obvious next step.
The cube now features 12 tribes and I categorize them into 3 groups:
Super Tribe: Slivers
Major Tribes: Rebels, Wizards, Zombies, Goblins, Elves
Minor Tribes: Beasts, Birds, Clerics, Dragons, Ninjas, and Soldiers
The morph mechanic lends itself well to a tribal theme, but this cube remains a "morph cube" first and a "tribal cube" second. It's possible to draft decks of a single super or major tribe, but you'll likely find yourself splashing some of the minor tribes no matter what archetype you end up going (tribal and non-tribal archetypes alike).
I'm very happy with my decision to completely dump cycling. Given that the cycling spells made up the bulk of the non-creature spells in the cube, that space is now filled with a complete set of 30 multi-color split cards & 10 "allied flashback" cards. Almost all of these spells fit existing cube themes (unsummon effects, flicker effects, shock effects, peek effects, converted mana cost effects, and creature combat). But they also promote interesting splash possibilities. This is something cycling never did and I think it's important when it's sometimes so easy to go mono-color with one of the major tribes.
When drafting you often find yourself asking yourself the following questions:
Should I go for a strictly morph themed deck, a tribal deck, or a mix?
Should I just draft a "good stuff" deck?
Should I go slivers?
Should I go mono-major tribe?
Should I splash any of the minor tribes?
Should I splash any of the off-color non-creature spells?
Should I go for one of the elder dragons for funsies?
I think the more directions the cube begins pulling a player throughout a draft, the better. That means that all the other players will asking themselves similar questions and no one will just fall into a cookie-cutter mold. In other words, these questions promote competition for cards with other players during the draft.
(Note: This is probably the only time I've ever played with an errata, but allowing Research / Development the ability to shuffle cards from the exiled zone and not the sideboard is necessary to make it playable.)
The never ending search for the perfect cube continue. Slivers are out. They were fun, but they were just going against the grain of what everything else in the cube was trying to do. While many other things promoted competition among picks between players going different archetypes, the Slivers were basically as "cookie cutter" as you could get. You either chose to go Slivers and picked nothing but Slivers or you did something else and had zero interest in them.
This means that 43 cards need to be replaced and the changes start with the following:
The guildmages are great because 5 are Wizards, 2 are Elf Wizards, 1 is an Elf, and 1 is a Zombie. Only 1 of the 10 is of an irrelevant creature type. But that's fine in my cube because the off-tribe morph creatures have already set that precedent. (This is a morph cube first and a tribal cube second.) The hybrid mana also fits in nicely with the easy color splash thing I'm going for (split cards, off-color flashback, etc.)
Land cyclers and Innistrad lands seem to be fine, but it's the Swords that up the power level of the cube significantly. I've begun favoring artifact hate to hopefully off-set it. But in a creature heavy format, it seemed wrong to not have equipment.
Overall, I think the changes are good. The slivers just had to go. They were holding back the cube.
edit: I also have to say that with all these recent changes, I'm happy to say that "The Spider Spawning Deck" is alive in this format. You can p1p1 Spider Spawning and never look back. Spider Spawning, Forbidden Alchemy, Tracker's Instinct, Regrowth, Research / Development, Armored Skaab, Screeching Skaab, Geralf's Mindcrusher, Laboratory Maniac, Thought Courier, Magus of the Bazaar, Bloodline Shaman, Gnaw to the Bone, Dream Twist, mana elves, and many other flashback and looting effects are all available to assemble that deck in this cube. (My errata'd Research / Development takes the place of Runic Repetition.)
IN:
+5 M13 Rings
This might seem like an odd addition, but they're more equipment for this creature heavy format and they favor mono-colored decks. I like how some cards pull you toward multicolor and tribes & these rings favor mono-color (for the most part). It makes for interesting decisions during draft. These are (obviously) much weaker than the swords, but I think they can be good picks that people will be happy to pick up late, if they're in the right colors.
OUT:
-1 Cavern of Souls
-1 Mutavault
IN:
+5 Scourge Dragon Auras
After the slivers were out, it occurred to me that Cavern of Souls doesn't actually do much anymore. I also like the idea that Birds of Paradise is the only card in the entire format that can be tapped for all 5 colors, so the caverns was an easy cut. Mutavault might seem a bit odd, but the more I play with the format, the most I'm in love with this type of "super structuring" of the cube that I've been doing for a while. Pretty much every non-tribal card in the cube is part of an existing cycle. Some of those cycles are artificial (Revised Cycle: balance, braingeyser, demonic tutor, wheel of fortune, regrowth) and others are altered ("Allied Flashback Cycle" is mostly from Innistrad block, but includes other cards like Momentary Blink instead of Feeling of Dread), but I like how this extra level of structure helps define this cube as an actual "format."
TL;DR - Mutavault isn't part of any cycle, so it's out.
The cube already has a graveyard theme and it has needed some playable auras for a while. The dragon auras (Dragon Scales, Dragon Fangs, etc.) from Scourge seemed like a good fit. And again, this is a creature heavy format, so I like the idea of creatures running around with multiple auras & equipment just piled on.
edit again: My only concern at this point is that if all 5 colors play too similarly because of how structured it all is. Green still ramps, Black zombies keep coming back, Rebels can recruit others to overwhelm, and goblins are the most explosive. There are definitely colors that are better for morph strategies (white & blue) while others that do not. There are a few build-a-round cards that you can open p1p1 like Venser the Sojourner & Spider Spawning. And then you have other archetypes like The Mill Deck, self-mill zombies, reanimator and other things...
...but green might have the most ramp (by far), but every color has access to 20 mana rocks. All tribes play slightly differently, but they all have access to swords, rings, auras, and lands that kind of want to bash creatures into each other. All colors have their own flavor of morph creatures, but that can all be put aside in favor of a 3 color strategy topped off with an elder dragon. All colors have slightly different tribal curves, but they all have access to 2cc guildmages and countless morph creatures that are all cast with 3 colorless mana.
This will require further testing. I think it might be okay. I think the board state will get gummed up quickly if no one does anything cute, but the cube is literally packed with cards that are able to bust open stagnant board states.
After looking over the complete spoiler, I've decided not to make any changes to the cube. The only cards that are really speaking to me are the guildmages and charms and even they might not make the cut since they are strictly gold. This is as opposed to hybrid mana, off-color flashback, split cards, etc. which are prominent in this cube.
Also, I only include complete cycles of cards. If I decide to include the guildmages or charms, it won't be until the next set is released and all 10 Ravnica guilds are comlete.
In related news, I haven't made any changes to the cube since I posted last, 3 weeks ago. I really like the current build.
Mono-elves just don't work the same as Mono-Goblins or Zombies. Elves play more as enablers for ramp and combo over straight up aggro. This is why Sylvan Messenger is getting the axe and his goblin and zombie counterparts are staying in.
I still am kind of in love with the idea of Birds of Paradise being the only source of rainbow mana. When this is the case, the value of the birds just goes way up. Wirewood Channeler is out. Of course Birchlore Rangers still exists but... it has morph and is somewhat conditional, so I think it's still okay.
I remember initially passing on Fierce Empath because I tried to stay away from all 3cc non-morph creatures. In this cube the 3cc slot is already packed. But since that time I've really increased the combo strategies found in the cube and now Fierce Empath is perfect. This is the same reason why Elvish Piper is coming in.
Between Scion of Darkness and Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni, I'd rather have the ninja in the cube. The 3 ninjas effectively turn all creatures into "morph." It was also next to impossible to have 3+ clerics on the battlefield at the same time for the supplicant to be effective.
Now that the full Gatecrash Spoiler has been released, consider this the Gatecrash Update for my cube. Long story short: I've swapped out ~60 cards as I've revised my cube and none of them are from Gatecrash.
The changes began a few weeks ago and they began in the inclusion of these 10 cards:
This cube is very creatures heavy, a little light on removal, and light on fliers. And the Invasion & Planar Chaos Dragons have really shifted the way this cube feels and plays.
You can real more on which cards were swapped in and out and why I made the changes I made in these 2 blog posts:
Another huge change for the cube was to make an exception to the singleton rule for cube with 4 copies of Illusionary Mask:
If I'm going with this morph theme, I might as well go all the way. There are already 90 creatures with morph in the cube, but now every creature can have "morph." 4 copies of Illusionary Mask introduced many new wrinkles into how game are played, including:
Reducing expensive morph costs to zero.
Morphing creatures who have alternate costs (Skirk Volcanist).
Cheating undercosted creatures into play (Skaab Ruinator).
Concealing the identities of non-morph tribal creatures.
Bluffing a Invasion or Planar Chaos Dragon by tapping 6 mana of at least 3 different colors. (This is a bluff your opponents will have to respect because there are 10 of these dragons in the cube.)
The rest of the cube is still singleton and this is the only exception. Illusionary Mask was never the most powerful card in the cube, but its effect was so unique and completely on theme that I just couldn't resist dropping $150+ to have some fun with it. And besides, this may the be only time some people have to play with Illusionary Mask in any format at any venue.
~The Mighty Morphin' Cube~
Overview
Basic Info
The Cube
1 Amrou Scout
1 Aven Riftwatcher
1 Ballista Squad
1 Blade of the Sixth Pride
1 Bound in Silence
1 Defiant Falcon
1 Defiant Vanguard
1 Errant Doomsayers
1 Fresh Volunteers
1 Knight of the Holy Nimbus
1 Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero
1 Nightwind Glider
1 Ramosian Captain
1 Ramosian Commander
1 Ramosian Lieutenant
1 Ramosian Revivalist
1 Ramosian Sergeant
1 Ramosian Sky Marshal
1 Steadfast Guard
1 Thermal Glider
1 Whipcorder
1 Changeling Hero
1 Mirror Entity
Other White Creatures (14)
1 Aven Liberator
1 Crude Rampart
1 Daru Healer
1 Daru Lancer
1 Daru Sanctifier
1 Dawning Purist
1 Defender of the Order
1 Exalted Angel
1 Frontline Strategist
1 Gravel Slinger
1 Karona's Zealot
1 Liege of the Axe
1 Weathered Bodyguards
1 Wingbeat Warrior
1 Ancestral Tribute
1 Increasing Devotion
1 Ray of Distortion
Other White (3)
1 Eternal Dragon
1 Dragon Scales
1 Austere Command
1 Aphetto Alchemist
1 Disruptive Pitmage
1 Echo Tracer
1 Ixidor, Reality Sculptor
1 Magus of the Bazaar
1 Master of the Veil
1 Nameless One
1 Raven Guild Master
1 Riptide Entrancer
1 Riptide Survivor
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Thought Courier
1 Voidmage Apprentice
1 Voidmage Prodigy
1 Willbender
1 Shapesharer
Other Blue Creatures (19)
1 Ascending Aven
1 Brine Elemental
1 Chromeshell Crab
1 Dermoplasm
1 Fledgling Mawcor
1 Geralf's Mindcrusher
1 Ixidron
1 Maelstrom Djinn
1 Mischievous Quanar
1 Mistform Seaswift
1 Mistform Shrieker
1 Quicksilver Dragon
1 Screeching Skaab
1 Shaper Parasite
1 Skaab Ruinator
1 Undead Alchemist
1 Vesuvan Shapeshifter
1 Wall of Deceit
1 Weaver of Lies
1 Deep Analysis
1 Dream Twist
1 Grasp of Phantoms
1 Increasing Confusion
1 Silent Departure
Other Blue (3)
1 Shoreline Ranger
1 Dragon Wings
1 Cryptic Command
1 Ashen Ghoul
1 Bladewing's Thrall
1 Boneknitter
1 Carnophage
1 Carrion Feeder
1 Graveborn Muse
1 Gravecrawler
1 Grave Defiler
1 Gravedigger
1 Haunted Cadaver
1 Putrid Imp
1 Putrid Raptor
1 Shepherd of Rot
1 Skinthinner
1 Undead Gladiator
1 Undead Warchief
1 Vengeful Pharaoh
1 Wretched Anurid
1 Zombie Cutthroat
1 Cairn Wanderer
Other Black Creatures (14)
1 Aphetto Exterminator
1 Bane of the Living
1 Big Game Hunter
1 Blightspeaker
1 Cabal Archon
1 Cabal Executioner
1 Ebonblade Reaper
1 Grinning Demon
1 Headhunter
1 Infernal Caretaker
1 Liege of the Pit
1 Rathi Trapper
1 Silent Specter
1 Soul Collector
1 Army of the Damned
1 Chainer's Edict
1 Dread Return
1 Increasing Ambition
1 Moan of the Unhallowed
1 Sever the Bloodline
Black Cycles (3)
1 Twisted Abomination
1 Dragon Shadow
1 Profane Command
1 Goblin Guide
1 Goblin Lackey
1 Goblin Piledriver
1 Goblin Recruiter
1 Goblin Ringleader
1 Goblin Taskmaster
1 Goblin Tunneler
1 Mogg Flunkies
1 Mogg War Marshal
1 Siege-Gang Commander
1 Skirk Commando
1 Skirk Marauder
1 Skirk Volcanist
1 Sparksmith
1 Squee, Goblin Nabob
1 Tarfire
1 Warbreak Trumpeter
1 Changeling Berserker
1 Fire-Belly Changeling
Other Red Creatures (13)
1 Akroma, Angel of Fury
1 Battering Craghorn
1 Blistering Firecat
1 Bloodstoke Howler
1 Fortune Thief
1 Gathan Raiders
1 Grim Lavamancer
1 Imperial Hellkite
1 Magus of the Scroll
1 Rockshard Elemental
1 Shaleskin Plower
1 Skirk Alarmist
1 Snapping Thragg
1 Boom / Bust
1 Dead / Gone
1 Rough / Tumble
Red Flashback (5)
1 Devil's Play
1 Faithless Looting
1 Firebolt
1 Increasing Vengeance
1 Rolling Temblor
Other Red (3)
1 Chartooth Cougar
1 Dragon Breath
1 Incendiary Command
1 Birchlore Rangers
1 Bloodline Shaman
1 Bloom Tender
1 Druid of the Anima
1 Elvish Piper
1 Elvish Soultiller
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Patron of the Wild
1 Priest of Titania
1 Primal Whisperer
1 Quirion Elves
1 Seeker of Skybreak
1 Sylvan Messenger
1 Thelonite Hermit
1 Tribal Forcemage
1 Urborg Elf
1 Voice of the Woods
1 Wellwisher
1 Wirewood Channeler
1 Wirewood Herald
1 Changeling Titan
1 Woodland Changeling
Other Green Creatures (13)
1 Krosan Cloudscraper
1 Krosan Colossus
1 Hystrodon
1 Towering Baloth
1 Nantuko Vigilante
1 Root Elemental
1 Treespring Lorian
1 Broodhatch Nantuko
1 Serpentine Basilisk
1 Venomspout Brackus
1 Titanic Bulvox
1 Ravenous Baloth
1 Spitting Gourna
1 Creeping Renaissance
1 Gnaw to the Bone
1 Increasing Savagery
1 Moment's Peace
1 Parallel Evolution
Other Green (3)
1 Elvish Aberration
1 Dragon Fangs
1 Primal Command
1 Crosis, the Purger
1 Darigaaz, the Igniter
1 Dromar, the Banisher
1 Intet, the Dreamer
1 Numot, the Devastator
1 Oros, the Avenger
1 Rith, the Awakener
1 Teneb, the Harvester
1 Treva, the Renewer
1 Vorosh, the Hunter
Ravnica Guildmages (10)
1 Azorius Guildmage
1 Boros Guildmage
1 Dimir Guildmage
1 Izzet Guildmage
1 Golgari Guildmage
1 Gruul Guildmage
1 Orzhov Guildmage
1 Rakdos Guildmage
1 Selesnya Guildmage
1 Simic Guildmage
1 Assault / Battery
1 Fire / Ice
1 Illusion / Reality
1 Life / Death
1 Night / Day
1 Order / Chaos
1 Pain / Suffering
1 Spite / Malice
1 Stand / Deliver
1 Wax / Wane
Ravnica Split Cards (10)
1 Bound / Determined
1 Crime / Punishment
1 Hide / Seek
1 Hit / Run
1 Odds / Ends
1 Pure / Simple
1 Research / Development
1 Rise / Fall
1 Supply / Demand
1 Trial / Error
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Fires of Undeath
1 Forbidden Alchemy
1 Momentary Blink
1 Ray of Revelation
1 Reap the Seagraf
1 Saving Grasp
1 Strangling Soot
1 Travel Preparations
1 Wild Hunger
Enemy Flashback (10)
1 Burning Oil
1 Deadly Allure
1 Desperate Ravings
1 Lingering Souls
1 Memory's Journey
1 Mystic Retrieval
1 Rally the Peasants
1 Spider Spawning
1 Tracker's Instincts
1 Unburial Rites
4 Illusionary Mask
Swords (5)
1 Sword of Body and Mind
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Sword of War and Peace
M13 Rings (5)
1 Ring of Evos Isle
1 Ring of Kalonia
1 Ring of Thune
1 Ring of Valkas
1 Ring of Xathrid
1 Charcoal Diamond
1 Fire Diamond
1 Marble Diamond
1 Moss Diamond
1 Sky Diamond
Talisman (5)
1 Talisman of Dominance
1 Talisman of Impulse
1 Talisman of Indulgence
1 Talisman of Progress
1 Talisman of Unity
Signets (10)
1 Azorius Signet
1 Boros Signet
1 Dimir Signet
1 Golgari Signet
1 Gruul Signet
1 Izzet Signet
1 Orzhov Signet
1 Rakdos Signet
1 Selesnya Signet
1 Simic Signet
1 Proteus Machine
1 Whetwheel
1 Badlands
1 Bayou
1 Plateau
1 Savannah
1 Scrubland
1 Taiga
1 Tropical Island
1 Tundra
1 Underground Sea
1 Volcanic Island
Fetch Lands (10)
1 Arid Mesa
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Flooded Strand
1 Marsh Flats
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Polluted Delta
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Azorius Chancery
1 Boros Garrison
1 Dimir Aqueduct
1 Golgari Rot Farm
1 Gruul Turf
1 Izzet Boilerworks
1 Orzhov Basilica
1 Rakdos Carnarium
1 Selesnya Sanctuary
1 Simic Growth Chamber
Onslaught Tribal Lands (8)
1 Contested Cliffs
1 Daru Encampment
1 Goblin Burrows
1 Riptide Laboratory
1 Seaside Haven
1 Starlit Sanctum
1 Unholy Grotto
1 Wirewood Lodge
1 Alchemist's Refuge
1 Desolate Lighthouse
1 Gavony Township
1 Grim Backwoods
1 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Prahv, Spires of Order
1 Nephalia Drownyard
1 Slayers' Stronghold
1 Stensia Bloodhall
1 Vault of the Archangel
Other Land (1)
1 Zoetic Cavern
The Flow of the Game
Cube Core
What makes this a "Morph Cube"?
Planechase FFA Variant
After playing a normal draft, sometimes people just want to FFA and this is where Planechase comes in. Planechase is a lot of fun and is about as casual as you can get (if you're using a community deck of planar cards). A lot of the planes have a lot of good synergy with morph and after looking through them all I decided to go with the following 20 card planar deck:
1 Astral Arena
1 Bloodhill Bastion
1 Gavony
1 Glen Elendra
1 Kharasha Foothills
1 Krosa
1 Lair of the Ashen Idol
1 Norn's Dominion
1 Panopticon
1 Prahv
1 Quicksilver Sea
1 Takenuma
1 Truga Jungle
1 Velis Vel
1 Windriddle Palaces
1 The Zephyr Maze
1 Mutual Epiphany
1 Planewide Disaster
1 Reality Shaping
1 Time Distortion
This planar deck is designed to be used specifically for FFA games and not for normal cubing. In this format players draft 4 packs instead of 3 and make 50 card decks to prevent decking. Max 6 players.
Thread | Draft
I think I want to focus it even more on the morph mechanic. Part of this means throwing out themes that don't at least have a little interaction with morph and putting in themes that do.
Rebels and slivers might have to go. But in a weird way, I think the Eldrazi might fit in nicely. The colorless Edrazi are big and splashy, but most importantly, I think they're slow enough. (This also means that I'm going to do away with the reanimator idea. That would make them too fast.) And it seems to me that all of the cards that create Eldrazi Spawn have some synergy with morph just because they can all be sac'd to cast your morphs. I might even want to throw in cards like Intangible Virtue and Parallel Lives to get a token theme going. There are already some morph cards that also create tokens, so maybe get some weird synergy there.
Rebels & Slivers OUT and Eldrazi IN?
@Sscchhmueptfter
I think you might be right about the World Enchantments. They're just a little too clunky (and there aren't enough of them).
You might also be right about some of the split cards. Maybe I should be more picky.
I have to think a little more (and get more feedback?) on mana fixing theory for Cube. Part of the reason why I loved Onslaught Block and morph so much was that you could splash other colors, not really caring if you didn't draw your mana source. Not sure if this would translate well to Cube. I definitely need more morph creatures then.
If I stay on the eldrazi idea, I think I'm going to include the wishes:
Living Wish
Burning Wish
Cunning Wish
Just because I can sort of have a sideboard subtheme going because there would be some overlap with both Research // Development and Spawnsire of Ulamog. That could be fun. I could also get some neat little syngery with All is Dust as it won't kill any eldrazi or morphs.
edit: If Eldrazi are IN, then I think cycling is IN as well. Morph, Eldrazi, and Cycling can all find uses to dump colorless mana. Again, weird synergies that I'm liking. This means that I'll get spot removal and board sweepers in the form of:
Swat
Radiant's Judgement
Expunge
Akroma's Vengeance
Decree of Pain
I'll even get to throw in all the land cyclers for mana fixing. Astral Slide and Lightning Rift are going to be great. I think I like this new direction.
Thread | Draft
I haven't done any testing yet, but I kind of like the Eldrazi spcifically because the Eldrazi cards can be drafted by anyone. This is part of the reason I just got rid of the rebels and slivers. They just seemed too narrow to the point that people would just draft what was open, find the theme that the person next to them wasn't going for, and there would be barely any competition for cards.
I don't know if it'll really work out that way since there only 26 out of 360 cards are Eldrazi.
(There are probably too many of the annihilators in there, but for now I just threw them all in the list.)
I'm okay with "normal" cards just as long as there is some loose synergy with morph. Like Dead Weight and Grim Lavamancer, I'm happy to throw in just because all the morph creatures have 2 toughness. Ratchet Bomb and Engineered Explosives are there because morph creatures have 0cc. I could probably add a few cards that effect cards with "the same name." (I would probably add Shock over Lightning Bolt, for example.)
I think your ideas about Threaten, Otherworly Journey, and Echoing Decay were pretty good and I'll probably be adding them. (I like how Echoing Decay also deals with tokens. I also forgot to add Venser, the Sojourner to the list.
I'm still debating on whether or not to add a token subtheme and if there will be enough cards to support it.
In Innistrad Block draft, I always like drafting the fun decks like Spider Spawning, Burning Vengeance, etc. I don't know if it's possible to add a card of that type in Cube. A card that if you saw it in your p1p1 and if you wanted to just "go for it," you would have the option. Maybe an alternate win card where "you win the game" that has some syngery with some of the other cards?
Thread | Draft
I'll probably organize it by color in addition to its current set-up later on.
This is still the early stages of building this Cube, so I haven't yet tallied up the color counts, tribal balance, removal, or anything else. Once I get up to 360, I plan on going through it all card-by-card and digging out all the stats which I'll post.
I feel like I need a lot more removal, but it's hard to tell when so many creatures are also removal.
One thing I really like which I just added were alternative ways to "cheat" the morphs into play without going deep on reanimator. In the current list there are really only 2 reanimation spells:
But I all of the following cards that can also get morphs to flip one way or another:
I also added the following cards which give you a look at your opponent's hand:
I decided I wanted to expand on what Spy Network already does and introduce the ability to lessen the randomness that morphs provide. I think these cards make multiple morph creatures a little less random and a little more strategic. With these, at least you can have an educated guess as to what morphs are what.
I also added a bunch of counter spells and removal that take advantage of the 0cc of morphed creatures. Spells like Spell Blast and Disembowel can be very efficient 1cc spells.
Like I said, if you see any huge mistakes in the list, let me know. Stats coming shortly.
Thread | Draft
I just dropped $200 on Card Kingdom (including $58 on an Illusionary Mask) so I've passed the point of no return. Luckily for me, this is probably one of the cheapest non-pauper Cubes on this forum. (Illusionary Mask, Sliver Queen, and a couple others are basically the only money cards.)
I started compiling the stats for the Cube and it seems to me that the Bird tribe is the weakest by far. This shouldn't be that big a surprise to me since I think Birds was pretty weak in Onslaught too.
I'm currently looking for suggestions to help the birds out.
edit: Here are the stats for the Morph Creatures alone:
white: 13
blue: 28
black: 14
red: 15
green: 17
multi:
artifact: 2
land: 1
beast: 15
bird: 4
cleric: 7
elf: 6
goblin: 6
soldier: 9
wizard: 12
zombie: 5
------
Replaced a handful of slivers to balance out the color distribution:
white: 7
blue: 7
black: 7
red: 7
green: 7
multi: 9
artifact: 1
Thread | Draft
4 mana for a 3/4 flyier with flash? And it can cheat a morph into play?
Turn 3: Play a morph.
Turn 4: Instantly play an angel in response to your removal and return it to play as Akroma, Angel of Fury.
Angelic Renewal OUT --> Restoration Angel IN
Thread | Draft
OUT
IN
This is in additional the existing Shock, Assault/Battery, Dead/Gone, and Tarfire. I'm also adding Magus of the Scroll to go along with Grim Lavamancer.
I've also added more control magic type spells. So now part of the fun for blue players will be to choose the correct morph'd creature to steal. (Hopefully they do this after casting Peek, duress, or any of the other variants so they have an idea of what they're getting. Of course, it could all just be a bluff after their opponent top deck'd *yet another* morph after they saw the Akroma in their opponent's hand.)
Here's an updated list of all 1cc black/blue spells that let you peek at your opponent's hand:
The idea is to keep this effect mainly in black & blue to help define them in this Cube against opposing morphs. I want it known that if you play black or blue you have a chance to have a better idea about what morph creatures your opponent is playing against you. The other colors will have to play in the dark (for the most part).
edit: 1 more update for today.
Aeolipile OUT ---> Powder Keg IN
I can't believe I forgot about Powder Keg. It now joins the following cards that have similar effects:
Ratchet Bomb
Engineered Explosives
Pernicious Deed
Crime/Punishment
Void
The idea is to give wrath effects to all colors, but they're especially effective in this Cube because all creatures that are morphed have a converted mana cost of zero.
Thread | Draft
After a little play testing it became very clear that 4-5 color sliver decks needed some additional mana fixing. The rest of the archetypes seemed to be fine because of all the colorless mana they could dump into morphs and cyclers, but the slivers needed some help. I decided to cannibalize the duals from my other decks:
OUT
- Celestial Colonnade
- Creeping Tar Pit
- Lavaclaw Reaches
- Raging Ravine
- Stirring Wildwood
- Aunti's Hovel
- Gilt-Leaf Palace
- Fluctuator
- Pure/Simple
- Wings of Velis Vel
IN
+ Badlands
+ Bayou
+ Plateau
+ Savannah
+ Scrubland
+ Taiga
+ Tropical Island
+ Tundra
+ Underground Sea
+ Volcanic Island
The dual lands make all the land cyclers (14 total) twice as good. The only question is if this is enough to support the slivers or not? I don't want to bring in shocks and fetchs, but I will if I have to. But considering all the artifact mana in the Cube already, this requires further testing.
I really wanted to avoid the duals when this Cube first started (just so I wouldn't have to cannibalize the dual from my existing decks). But this Cube is too much fun. I'll probably be playing this much more than any of the others.
As for Avacyn Restored spoilers, Cloudshift is coming in:
I think I'm going to keep Flicker and get rid of Otherworldly Journey. I just can't get rid of Flicker. From art to function to elegance, it's one of my favorite cards in the Cube.
And finally, I just added a bunch of detailed descriptions about some design choices on my blog. Check it out if interested.
Thread | Draft
Recent changes:
OUT
- Stoic Champion
- Fluctuator
- Inquisition of Kozilek
- False Demise
- Grim Monolith
- Firebolt
- Control Magic
- Hit/Run
- Igneous Pouncer
- Pale Recluse
- Resounding Silence
- Many sub-par birds.
IN
+ Mother of Runes
+ Goblin Lackey
+ Immolation
+ Tidehollow Sculler
+ Bloodline Shaman
+ Glissa, the Traitor
+ Elves of Deep Shadow
+ Wren's Run Vanquisher
+ Mentor of the Meek
+ Galepowder Mage
+ Unnatural Selection
+ Rotlung Reanimator
+ Beast Within
+ Mage's Guile
+ Unburden
+ Scrap
I've basically given up on trying to build up the underwhelming bird tribe and instead am putting the best creatures that interact with the rest of the Cube. The birds are just going to be the weakest tribe until WotC decides to print new and better cards. Also got rid of Igneous Pouncer and Pale Recluse. They're land cyclers (which I like a lot) but they're the only two that don't fall into any of the 8 tribes.
And now that I've had more time to test it, I'm convinced that these are the correct ratios for what I was trying to do:
Even if they bring back the morph mechanic in a future set, I'm going to stick to exactly 90. Basically, it's enough for morphs to effect every thing that happens during the draft and in game. And it's enough slivers to allow roughly 2 slivers per "booster" and potentially get multiple people to go slivers in the same draft (which is the point).
Anyway, like I said, this is going to be my last daily update. I'm sure there will be small tweaks here or there, but I really like where it is right now in general. I just dumped $56 more dollars into this Cube. My Pernicious Deed, Cursed Scroll, and a few others are in the mail, and I hope that to be my last purchase for a while. As always, all questions, comments, and suggestions are welcome.
edit again:
OUT
- Pentad Prism
IN
+ Patriarch's Bidding
Pentad Prism was nice, but it was actually the last remaining artifact mana source that could accelerate you for more than 1 mana. Just for consistency's sake, everything is now uniform with all 2cc artifacts. And I also felt that I needed at least one more bomby rare that could really effect the way someone drafted and changed the game completely if it were played. For example, if I took the Bidding for my deck, I'd probably value cyclers much higher in my picks.
Thread | Draft
So I'm looking to replace 3 morphs, 2 cyclers, and 3 other cards (tribal creatures, artifacts, lands, etc.).
Ideas?
edit: Alright, I'm decided to try something and push the goblins and for someone to be able to live the dream and get the "constructed goblin deck."
OUT
- Battlefield Medic
- Information Dealer
- Restoration Angel
- Undead Gladiator
- Coral Trickster
- Aquamorph Entity
- Fathom Seer
IN
+ Goblin Recruiter
+ Goblin Ringleader
+ Goblin Marshal
+ Unearth
+ Daru Sanctifier
+ Daru Mender
+ Nameless One
And I decided to keep the Gempalm Incinerator because of this new push for goblins. I want to have the option open for someone to just grab Goblin Lackey, Siege-Gang Commander, Goblin Recruiter, Goblin Ringleader, and a bunch of burn. Recruiter also seems pretty good for non-goblin decks that run changelings or Nameless Inversion. The marshal also makes the lackey a little more threatening. I wanted to have at least 1 or 2 archetypes that people could go into -- using zero morphs -- and I think goblins is going to be one of them.
The morphs I added aren't great, but at least they are of proper tribes.
Unearth is just a place holder until I can think of something better. And the more I test, the more I'm convinced that the Sojourners have got to go. So I'm looking for a 4x more cyclers to replace. I might just add the Onslaught cycle lands. This Cube needs more things to do on turn 1.
OUT
- Unearth
- Scrap
- Esper Sojourners
- Bant Sojourners
- Naya Sojourners
- Stormscape Familiar
- Skeletal Changeling
- Diviner's Wand
- Veteran's Armaments
IN
+ Secluded Steppe
+ Lonely Sandbar
+ Barren Moor
+ Forgotten Cave
+ Tranquil Thicket
+ Mirror Entity
+ Goblin Matron
+ City of Brass
+ Thoughtseize
(I resisted adding Mirror Entity this entire time because it's 3cc, but it's just too good to pass. It could be a beating on its own, it can fit into any tribe archetype, and it can even be anti-sliver tech. Skeletal Changeling seemed a little weak and didn't like the black activation. Goblin Matron goes in to keep the new goblin theme going. The Tribal equipment was just too slow.)
Thread | Draft
Mighty Morphin' Blog
Like I said, it's all cube specific stuff if anyone's interested in some of the decisions I made for this cube. I'll continue posting more of these until I run out of topics.
Thread | Draft
I've also continued to post more articles on my blog about different changes and design decisions:
I'm posting this now because I think the list is finally settling down. I've been making small changes to the list almost daily, but it should be fairly stable right. I always keep the list on my blog the more updated of the two lists (just because I've been changing it so much), but as of right now, this list posted here is completely up to date.
edit: I just posted my first Crack-a-Pack:
What would you pick? Find out what I would pick here:
Thread | Draft
What would you pick?
I put my initial thoughts and a poll up on my blog here:
http://www.casualmtg.net/2012/04/crack-pack-2.html
A few people participated in the first poll and as long as people like this stuff, I'll try to post more of these from time to time.
Thread | Draft
That's an interesting idea, but I've never not played with the current rules in any format.
It's part of the reason why I'm playing Festering Goblin and not Mogg Fanatic. The Festering Goblin can take down 2 toughness creatures and the fanatic can't, which is kind of a big deal in this cube.
You're right, the morphed creatures were a lot better under the old rules and it might be worth experimenting with but most of the time it doesn't make that much of a difference.
Thread | Draft
Cycling was great because it provided many board sweepers like Decree of Annihilation, Decree of Pain, Akroma's Vengeance, Starstorm, and a few others. (Cycling was also great because all of the spells were slow enough to work well with the slowness of morph creatures. There's a reason WotC paired the two mechanics together.)
If I do this, this will free 48-50 cards from the Cube.
So as of right now, I'm on the hunt for mechanics/themes that compliment morph and are sufficiently slow enough to not overwhelm morph.
Any ideas?
Thread | Draft
I've been wanting to to make this cube more than just an "Onslaught Cube" for a while, but I think I've found a mechanic that will make Onslaught lovers love it even more and Onslaught haters hate it equally as much:
Ninjutsu.
When I was making the cube, I guess I just glossed over this mechanic because none of the creatures with Ninjutsu were of the appropriate type. But this might be the mechanic that makes attack & blocking even more unpredictable than it already was with morph. (Like I said, if you hated this aspect of Onslaught, then you're going to hate this even more.)
With the addition of Planechase 2012, there are now a total of 10 creatures with Ninjutsu:
The more I look at them, the more they fit perfectly into the cube. They have a lot effects that let you peek at your opponent's hand and unsummon creatures, both of which are already themes of the cube. This includes unsummoning your own creature when you activate ninjutsu. Remember, whenever a creature with morph is unsummoned, you have to reveal it to your opponent.
There are many things that cut down on the randomness of morph in this cube which makes cards like Gitaxian Probe so powerful.
Many of the same effects that are strong against morph are also strong against ninjutsu. And the best thing is all I have to do to update my cube is to be one copy of Planechase 2012 Game Pack - Night of the Ninja. This will be my first time owning any Planechase cards, so I might try those out as well (outside of cube?).
I still have to finalize an updated list with both most of these ninjas and M13. I'll post a new list shortly.
<3
Thread | Draft
OUT:
-Cycling
-Split Cards
-Miscellaneous Cards
IN:
+Ninjas
+Rebels
+High CMC Spells
I've always liked Rebels and wanted to include them from the start. I took a second look at them and many of them have dual creature types with existing tribes (soldier, cleric, bird). The soldier tribe was always a little weak and I think a soldier/rebel White Weenie archetype might be possible and be a little more resilient. But the bigger change has to be the High CMC Spells.
I've decided to add the following:
The idea is that the Cube is already set up to slow down the game to make creatures with morph matter. (This means that all non-elf mana accelerators are 2 CMC artifacts, for example.) But after that, the face-down creatures begin to clog the board, allowing their interactions to dominate. But I figure it wouldn't hurt to include some late game bombs that have the ability to unclog stagnant game states.
My Question: Are there any other high cmc/bomb sorcery cycles besides the decrees, ultimatums, and commands that would be a good fit to unclog a gummed up board?
edit: ahhh... forgot all about the beacons and zeniths. It looks like the beacons don't do enough and the zenith's are too powerful.
Thread | Draft
I'm on the fence about Decree of Silence just because it's such a demoralizing spell and can be a game ender with Venser, the Sojourner. I also can't play Clarion Ultimatum for obvious reasons.
But yeah, I think the cube is slow enough that it might work nicely. There should be enough time to drop multiple morph creatures and do some tricks for them to have an effect and then blow everything up with Timmy sized sorceries.
edit: I've decided to drop the Ultimatums and include all the Decrees and Commands (including Decree of Silence). I've also added a couple other "Timmy sized spells" like Army of the Damned and Sudden Disappearance.
edit again: I ended up going with a full set of the original Elder Dragon Legends (all Legends, not Chronicles). I'm a sucker for older cards and these guys accomplished what I originally wanted the ultimatums for. These guys are the only 3-color cards in the entire cube. I like this because they can single-handedly give a player an excuse to go for something (3 color deck) that they never tried to draft before. And as big and unwieldy as they might seen, they're still the biggest fliers in a set that has very few fliers. In other words, just like the decrees and commands, they have the ability to go over the top and can threaten to end the game in an already clogged board state.
Thematically, there is already an minor dragon theme with the presence of Imperial Hellkite. Also, I like how 7/7's help define the cube now with the elder dragons to go along with the sliver legends.
Thread | Draft
I've also given up on some of the ratios of cards in had in the cube, except for two:
edit:
**most recent edits in the OP.
Thread | Draft
1 Essence Sliver
1 Plated Sliver
1 Quilled Sliver
1 Sidewinder Sliver
1 Sinew Sliver
1 Talon Sliver
1 Watcher Sliver
Rebels (18)
1 Amrou Scout
1 Aven Riftwatcher
1 Ballista Squad
1 Blade of the Sixth Pride
1 Bound in Silence
1 Defiant Falcon
1 Defiant Vanguard
1 Errant Doomsayers
1 Knight of the Holy Nimbus
1 Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero
1 Nightwind Glider
1 Ramosian Captain
1 Ramosian Revivalist
1 Ramosian Sergeant
1 Reveille Squad
1 Steadfast Guard
1 Thermal Glider
1 Whipcorder
1 Changeling Hero
1 Mirror Entity
Other White Creatures (17)
1 Aven Liberator
1 Crude Rampart
1 Daru Healer
1 Daru Lancer
1 Daru Sanctifier
1 Dawning Purist
1 Defender of the Order
1 Exalted Angel
1 Fiend Hunter
1 Frontline Strategist
1 Gravel Slinger
1 Karona's Zealot
1 Leonin Relic-Warder
1 Liege of the Axe
1 Mirror Entity
1 Planar Guide
1 Weathered Bodyguards
1 Wingbeat Warrior
1 Journey to Nowhere
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Shared Triumph
Seal (1)
1 Seal of Cleansing
Command (1)
1 Austere Command
Decree (1)
1 Decree of Justice
1 Mistform Sliver
1 Mnemonic Sliver
1 Psionic Sliver
1 Screeching Sliver
1 Shifting Sliver
1 Synapse Sliver
1 Winged Sliver
Wizards (16)
1 Aphetto Alchemist
1 Disruptive Pitmage
1 Echo Tracer
1 Ixidor, Reality Sculptor
1 Master of the Veil
1 Nameless One
1 Raven Guild Master
1 Riptide Entrancer
1 Riptide Survivor
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Thought Courier
1 Vedalken AEthermage
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Voidmage Apprentice
1 Voidmage Prodigy
1 Willbender
1 Amoeboid Changeling
1 Shapesharer
Other Blue Creatures (22)
1 Armored Skaab
1 Ascending Aven
1 Brine Elemental
1 Chromeshell Crab
1 Dermoplasm
1 Fledgling Mawcor
1 Geralf's Mindcrusher
1 Higure, the Still Wind
1 Ixidron
1 Maelstrom Djinn
1 Mischievous Quanar
1 Mistblade Shinobi
1 Mistform Seaswift
1 Mistform Shrieker
1 Ninja of the Deep Hours
1 Quicksilver Dragon
1 Sakashima's Student
1 Screeching Skaab
1 Unblinking Bleb
1 Vesuvan Shapeshifter
1 Wall of Deceit
1 Weaver of Lies
1 Seal of Removal
Command (1)
1 Cryptic Command
Decree (1)
1 Decree of Silence
1 Clot Sliver
1 Frenzy Sliver
1 Mindlash Sliver
1 Mindwhip Sliver
1 Toxin Sliver
1 Spectral Sliver
1 Vampiric Sliver
Zombies (15)
1 Bladewing's Thrall
1 Boneknitter
1 Cabal Interrogator
1 Carnophage
1 Diregraf Ghoul
1 Festering Goblin
1 Gravecrawler
1 Grave Defiler
1 Haunted Cadaver
1 Rotlung Reanimator
1 Shepherd of Rot
1 Skinthinner
1 Spined Basher
1 Wretched Anurid
1 Zombie Cutthroat
1 Cairn Wanderer
Other Black Creatures (19)
1 Aphetto Exterminator
1 Bane of the Living
1 Big Game Hunter
1 Blightspeaker
1 Cabal Archon
1 Cabal Executioner
1 Doomed Necromancer
1 Ebonblade Reaper
1 Grinning Demon
1 Headhunter
1 Infernal Caretaker
1 Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni
1 Liege of the Pit
1 Okiba-Gang Shinobi
1 Rathi Trapper
1 Rebel Informer
1 Silent Specter
1 Soul Collector
1 Throat Slitter
1 Appetite for Brains
1 Cover of Darkness
1 Despise
1 Duress
1 Inquisition of Kozilek
Seal (1)
1 Seal of Doom
Command (1)
1 Profane Command
Decree (1)
1 Decree of Pain
1 Blade Sliver
1 Bonesplitter Sliver
1 Fury Sliver
1 Heart Sliver
1 Hunter Sliver
1 Magma Sliver
1 Two-Headed Sliver
Goblins (19)
1 Arms Dealer
1 Gempalm Incinerator
1 Goblin Guide
1 Goblin Lackey
1 Goblin Marshal
1 Goblin Matron
1 Goblin Piledriver
1 Goblin Recruiter
1 Goblin Ringleader
1 Goblin Taskmaster
1 Goblin Tunneler
1 Mogg Flunkies
1 Siege-Gang Commander
1 Skirk Commando
1 Skirk Marauder
1 Skirk Volcanist
1 Sparksmith
1 Tarfire
1 Warbreak Trumpeter
1 Changeling Berserker
1 Fire-Belly Changeling
1 Taurean Mauler
Other Red Creatures (13)
1 Akroma, Angel of Fury
1 Battering Craghorn
1 Blistering Firecat
1 Bloodstoke Howler
1 Dwarven Blastminer
1 Fortune Thief
1 Grim Lavamancer
1 Imperial Hellkite
1 Magus of the Scroll
1 Rockshard Elemental
1 Shaleskin Plower
1 Skirk Alarmist
1 Snapping Thragg
1 Krenko's Command
1 Lavamancer's Skill
Split Cards (3)
1 Boom / Bust
1 Dead / Gone
1 Rough / Tumble
Seal (1)
1 Seal of Fire
Command (1)
1 Incendiary Command
Decree (1)
1 Decree of Annihilation
1 Brood Sliver
1 Gemhide Sliver
1 Horned Sliver
1 Might Sliver
1 Muscle Sliver
1 Quick Sliver
1 Spinneret Sliver
Elves (22)
1 Birchlore Rangers
1 Bloodline Shaman
1 Druid of the Anima
1 Elves of Deep Shadow
1 Elvish Archdruid
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Fyndhorn Elves
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Patron of the Wild
1 Priest of Titania
1 Primal Whisperer
1 Quirion Elves
1 Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
1 Sylvan Messenger
1 Thelonite Hermit
1 Timberwatch Elf
1 Tribal Forcemage
1 Urborg Elf
1 Voice of the Woods
1 Wellwisher
1 Wirewood Channeler
1 Wren's Run Vanquisher
1 Chameleon Colossus
1 Changeling Titan
1 Woodland Changeling
Other Green Creatures (14)
1 Krosan Cloudscraper
1 Krosan Colossus
1 Hystrodon
1 Towering Baloth
1 Nantuko Vigilante
1 Root Elemental
1 Treespring Lorian
1 Broodhatch Nantuko
1 Serpentine Basilisk
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Venomspout Brackus
1 Titanic Bulvox
1 Ravenous Baloth
1 Spitting Gourna
1 Steely Resolve
Seal (1)
1 Seal of Primordium
Command (1)
1 Primal Command
Decree (1)
1 Decree of Savagery
1 Acidic Sliver
1 Harmonic Sliver
1 Hibernation Sliver
1 Opaline Sliver
1 Sliver Legion
1 Sliver Overlord
1 Sliver Queen
1 Spined Sliver
Elder Dragons (5)
1 Arcades Sabboth
1 Chromium
1 Nicol Bolas
1 Palladia-Mors
1 Vacvictis Asmadi
Other Gold (5)
1 Armadillo Cloak
1 Bladewing the Risen
1 Bloodbraid Elf
1 Silent-Blade Oni
1 Venser, the Sojourner
1 Assault / Battery
1 Fire / Ice
1 Illusion / Reality
1 Life / Death
1 Night / Day
1 Order / Chaos
1 Pain / Suffering
1 Spite / Malice
1 Stand / Deliver
1 Wax / Wane
Ravnica Split Cards (10)
1 Bound / Determined
1 Crime / Punishment
1 Hide / Seek
1 Hit / Run
1 Odds / Ends
1 Pure / Simple
1 Research / Development
1 Rise / Fall
1 Supply / Demand
1 Trial / Error
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Fires of Undeath
1 Forbidden Alchemy
1 Momentary Blink
1 Ray of Revelation
1 Reap the Seagraf
1 Saving Grasp
1 Strangling Soot
1 Travel Preparations
1 Wild Hunger
1 Adaptive Automaton
1 Metallic Sliver
1 Proteus Machine
1 Venser's Sliver
Diamonds (5)
1 Charcoal Diamond
1 Fire Diamond
1 Marble Diamond
1 Moss Diamond
1 Sky Diamond
Talisman (5)
1 Talisman of Dominance
1 Talisman of Impulse
1 Talisman of Indulgence
1 Talisman of Progress
1 Talisman of Unity
1 Azorius Signet
1 Boros Signet
1 Dimir Signet
1 Golgari Signet
1 Gruul Signet
1 Izzet Signet
1 Orzhov Signet
1 Rakdos Signet
1 Selesnya Signet
1 Simic Signet
1 Belbe's Portal
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Illusionary Mask
1 Powder Keg
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Shuriken
1 Whetwheel
1 Badlands
1 Bayou
1 Plateau
1 Savannah
1 Scrubland
1 Taiga
1 Tropical Island
1 Tundra
1 Underground Sea
1 Volcanic Island
1 Arid Mesa
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Flooded Strand
1 Marsh Flats
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Polluted Delta
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Contested Cliffs
1 Daru Encampment
1 Goblin Burrows
1 Riptide Laboratory
1 Seaside Haven
1 Starlit Sanctum
1 Unholy Grotto
1 Wirewood Lodge
Other Lands (3)
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Mutavault
1 Zoetic Cavern
Too many changes to list. I didn't think the cube needed to be color balanced in the past because it essentially had 90 extra "colorless" creatures in the form of morph. But with my efforts to make the cube more and more structured, color balancing felt like the obvious next step.
The cube now features 12 tribes and I categorize them into 3 groups:
The morph mechanic lends itself well to a tribal theme, but this cube remains a "morph cube" first and a "tribal cube" second. It's possible to draft decks of a single super or major tribe, but you'll likely find yourself splashing some of the minor tribes no matter what archetype you end up going (tribal and non-tribal archetypes alike).
I'm very happy with my decision to completely dump cycling. Given that the cycling spells made up the bulk of the non-creature spells in the cube, that space is now filled with a complete set of 30 multi-color split cards & 10 "allied flashback" cards. Almost all of these spells fit existing cube themes (unsummon effects, flicker effects, shock effects, peek effects, converted mana cost effects, and creature combat). But they also promote interesting splash possibilities. This is something cycling never did and I think it's important when it's sometimes so easy to go mono-color with one of the major tribes.
When drafting you often find yourself asking yourself the following questions:
I think the more directions the cube begins pulling a player throughout a draft, the better. That means that all the other players will asking themselves similar questions and no one will just fall into a cookie-cutter mold. In other words, these questions promote competition for cards with other players during the draft.
(Note: This is probably the only time I've ever played with an errata, but allowing Research / Development the ability to shuffle cards from the exiled zone and not the sideboard is necessary to make it playable.)
Thread | Draft
This means that 43 cards need to be replaced and the changes start with the following:
OUT:
-43 Slivers
IN:
+10 Ravnica Guildmages
+5 Onslaught Landcyclers
+5 On-color Flashback Spells
+5 Swords
+10 Innistrad Utility Lands
That leaves 8 more cards, but I have some ideas.
The guildmages are great because 5 are Wizards, 2 are Elf Wizards, 1 is an Elf, and 1 is a Zombie. Only 1 of the 10 is of an irrelevant creature type. But that's fine in my cube because the off-tribe morph creatures have already set that precedent. (This is a morph cube first and a tribal cube second.) The hybrid mana also fits in nicely with the easy color splash thing I'm going for (split cards, off-color flashback, etc.)
Land cyclers and Innistrad lands seem to be fine, but it's the Swords that up the power level of the cube significantly. I've begun favoring artifact hate to hopefully off-set it. But in a creature heavy format, it seemed wrong to not have equipment.
Overall, I think the changes are good. The slivers just had to go. They were holding back the cube.
edit: I also have to say that with all these recent changes, I'm happy to say that "The Spider Spawning Deck" is alive in this format. You can p1p1 Spider Spawning and never look back. Spider Spawning, Forbidden Alchemy, Tracker's Instinct, Regrowth, Research / Development, Armored Skaab, Screeching Skaab, Geralf's Mindcrusher, Laboratory Maniac, Thought Courier, Magus of the Bazaar, Bloodline Shaman, Gnaw to the Bone, Dream Twist, mana elves, and many other flashback and looting effects are all available to assemble that deck in this cube. (My errata'd Research / Development takes the place of Runic Repetition.)
IN:
+5 M13 Rings
This might seem like an odd addition, but they're more equipment for this creature heavy format and they favor mono-colored decks. I like how some cards pull you toward multicolor and tribes & these rings favor mono-color (for the most part). It makes for interesting decisions during draft. These are (obviously) much weaker than the swords, but I think they can be good picks that people will be happy to pick up late, if they're in the right colors.
OUT:
-1 Cavern of Souls
-1 Mutavault
IN:
+5 Scourge Dragon Auras
After the slivers were out, it occurred to me that Cavern of Souls doesn't actually do much anymore. I also like the idea that Birds of Paradise is the only card in the entire format that can be tapped for all 5 colors, so the caverns was an easy cut. Mutavault might seem a bit odd, but the more I play with the format, the most I'm in love with this type of "super structuring" of the cube that I've been doing for a while. Pretty much every non-tribal card in the cube is part of an existing cycle. Some of those cycles are artificial (Revised Cycle: balance, braingeyser, demonic tutor, wheel of fortune, regrowth) and others are altered ("Allied Flashback Cycle" is mostly from Innistrad block, but includes other cards like Momentary Blink instead of Feeling of Dread), but I like how this extra level of structure helps define this cube as an actual "format."
TL;DR - Mutavault isn't part of any cycle, so it's out.
The cube already has a graveyard theme and it has needed some playable auras for a while. The dragon auras (Dragon Scales, Dragon Fangs, etc.) from Scourge seemed like a good fit. And again, this is a creature heavy format, so I like the idea of creatures running around with multiple auras & equipment just piled on.
edit again: My only concern at this point is that if all 5 colors play too similarly because of how structured it all is. Green still ramps, Black zombies keep coming back, Rebels can recruit others to overwhelm, and goblins are the most explosive. There are definitely colors that are better for morph strategies (white & blue) while others that do not. There are a few build-a-round cards that you can open p1p1 like Venser the Sojourner & Spider Spawning. And then you have other archetypes like The Mill Deck, self-mill zombies, reanimator and other things...
...but green might have the most ramp (by far), but every color has access to 20 mana rocks. All tribes play slightly differently, but they all have access to swords, rings, auras, and lands that kind of want to bash creatures into each other. All colors have their own flavor of morph creatures, but that can all be put aside in favor of a 3 color strategy topped off with an elder dragon. All colors have slightly different tribal curves, but they all have access to 2cc guildmages and countless morph creatures that are all cast with 3 colorless mana.
This will require further testing. I think it might be okay. I think the board state will get gummed up quickly if no one does anything cute, but the cube is literally packed with cards that are able to bust open stagnant board states.
Here is a link to the deck stats I'm working with currently: http://deckstats.net/deck-1455025-9bf7880f3ba91ad71adc71c9ec110048.html
Thread | Draft
***No changes***
After looking over the complete spoiler, I've decided not to make any changes to the cube. The only cards that are really speaking to me are the guildmages and charms and even they might not make the cut since they are strictly gold. This is as opposed to hybrid mana, off-color flashback, split cards, etc. which are prominent in this cube.
Also, I only include complete cycles of cards. If I decide to include the guildmages or charms, it won't be until the next set is released and all 10 Ravnica guilds are comlete.
In related news, I haven't made any changes to the cube since I posted last, 3 weeks ago. I really like the current build.
edti: Non-RTR changes:
- Sylvan Messenger
- Wirewood Channeler
+ Fierce Empath
+ Elvish Piiper
More Changes:
-Scion of Darkness
-Dark Supplicant
+Graveborn Muse
+Festering Goblin
Between Scion of Darkness and Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni, I'd rather have the ninja in the cube. The 3 ninjas effectively turn all creatures into "morph." It was also next to impossible to have 3+ clerics on the battlefield at the same time for the supplicant to be effective.
Thread | Draft
The changes began a few weeks ago and they began in the inclusion of these 10 cards:
This cube is very creatures heavy, a little light on removal, and light on fliers. And the Invasion & Planar Chaos Dragons have really shifted the way this cube feels and plays.
You can real more on which cards were swapped in and out and why I made the changes I made in these 2 blog posts:
Another huge change for the cube was to make an exception to the singleton rule for cube with 4 copies of Illusionary Mask:
If I'm going with this morph theme, I might as well go all the way. There are already 90 creatures with morph in the cube, but now every creature can have "morph." 4 copies of Illusionary Mask introduced many new wrinkles into how game are played, including:
The rest of the cube is still singleton and this is the only exception. Illusionary Mask was never the most powerful card in the cube, but its effect was so unique and completely on theme that I just couldn't resist dropping $150+ to have some fun with it. And besides, this may the be only time some people have to play with Illusionary Mask in any format at any venue.
edit: Here's Crack-a-Pack #7 from the updated list: http://www.casualmtg.net/2013/01/crack-pack-7.html
(Feel free to vote. <3)
Thread | Draft