The original used to be one of the best creatures of its time and saw plenty of tournament play... The other two.. Not so much, as far as I can tell. What do you guys think about them? How do you rate them compared to colored creatures of the same manacost? Are they only still cube staples because the competition for artifact creatures is so low?
The original used to be one of the best creatures of its time and saw plenty of tournament play... The other two.. Not so much, as far as I can tell. What do you guys think about them? How do you rate them compared to colored creatures of the same manacost? Are they only still cube staples because the competition for artifact creatures is so low?
There might be a day where I cut the original Masticore for something but I really doubt I will cut Molten Tail Masticore. Repeatable shots of four damage for 4 on a 4/4 for 4 that can also regenerate is so good.
I really like the two 4cc Masticores still, and it'll be a long while before either is cut. Molten-Tail is excellent in creature-heavy decks, particularly as an aggro curve-topper. It provides a solid amount of reach and the ability to shoot creatures and planeswalkers as well. And the discard drawback is partially mitigated by its ability. The original Masticore still sees a lot of play in control decks and slower mid-range decks because the repeatable removal is valuable, and again, the body is solid.
I'm a big fan of all three for very different reasons. At 450 I'd have all of them, no question. but at 360, I have to go with atleast Molten-Tail and probably the original as well. Razormane is amazing but is a bit worse against instant speed artifact removal.
I cannot really see cutting any of the three. They are all good, in different yet similar ways. The original is one of my favorite picks in cube because he can just show up for two turns, and totally obliterate their board position, then swing, then go away when needed, or be tinkered away, or any of a hundred other amazing things. my cube is big enough for them, and I doubt it will ever be too small for them.
"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
At 500 cards, I run all three and love them. I'd probably run all three down to 450 or maybe even 405. At 360, I think it's OK to cut Razormane. These creatures do a lot of work for their cost, and the drawback can be made into an advantage or mostly nullified.
The only thing I don't like about the Masticores is that they get run as curve toppers in aggro decks a lot and therefore you sometimes run into the awkward situation of having no cards in hand if you would play out your Masticore.
But, other than those slightly narrow situations, they are fantastic. I have NO idea which one I would cut if I had to choose one. Moltensteel feels like the best, though.
moltensteel is definitely one of the powerhouses of the brown artifact creatures. Pretty versatile, nice fat body, cheap price, kills planeswalker and whatever else. All it would need is a bit of evasion and then it would be perfect. But I am just happy the way it is.
In our sealed event after the prerelease, my friend got this down with a recurring nightmare and some tokens from a lingering souls. Yeah, it was bad times for me.
I've been tempted to cut one of the Masticores recently--none of them have been played very much for a very long time, except as graveyard enablers.
This weekend, a very experienced Magic player who is new to the cube eagerly maindecked Moltentail. He was playing GR ramp, but I had a dominating board advantage even after he got a ton of lands out with Primeval Titan.
Can you see where this is going? He plays Moltentail, then my EOT shoots me for four, then for eight more during his upkeep for exactly lethal. I don't think there was another card that could have won him the game with that board.
When I see Healing Salve, I'm often like "Oh girl, I wish I could turn every card into this." Thanks they removed the gain life part, otherwise this would have been broken.
Razormane feels like the odd man out to me. Sometimes he just isn't so good. I cut him ages ago, and haven't regretted it. The other two masticores are solid as a rock.
I currently run the 2 4cc ones at 450. Molten-Tail has been very strong, but classic is certainly on my watch list. That said, no replacements are currently on the radar.
Four drops in Cube is a very contested slot, and even though monocolored, multicolored and colorless cards don't directly compete for the same slots in Cube construction, they certainly do in deck construction. I almost always prefer to run the on-color four mana cards over a Masticore, so I ended up cutting them all. They are slow and bind a lot of resources. Four mana planeswalkers and creature power creep have obsoleted Masticore for me.
Molten-Tail Masticore is a good play in a creature heavy deck, but I needed to cut four drops and I wanted to only keep two colorless ones. Ultimately, I kept Lodestone Golem over it, because I liked the disruption element without further investment more than the resilience and reach at a high cost.
Molten-Tail Masticore is a good play in a creature heavy deck, but I needed to cut four drops and I wanted to only keep two colorless ones. Ultimately, I kept Lodestone Golem over it, because I liked the disruption element without further investment more than the resilience and reach at a high cost.
I'm thinking of pulling Molten-Tail Masticore as well. It doesn't see as much play as it did before (as you've pointed out there's a lot of 4 drop options when it comes to deck construction). I think I'd rather have Ankh or Chrome Mox (I know, totally different cards, but all are wanted by creature heavy/aggro decks).
The original used to be one of the best creatures of its time and saw plenty of tournament play... The other two.. Not so much, as far as I can tell. What do you guys think about them? How do you rate them compared to colored creatures of the same manacost? Are they only still cube staples because the competition for artifact creatures is so low?
There might be a day where I cut the original Masticore for something but I really doubt I will cut Molten Tail Masticore. Repeatable shots of four damage for 4 on a 4/4 for 4 that can also regenerate is so good.
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I like all the masticores. I even like how their disadvantage invites you to find ways to mitigate it, or even take advantage of it.
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But, other than those slightly narrow situations, they are fantastic. I have NO idea which one I would cut if I had to choose one. Moltensteel feels like the best, though.
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In our sealed event after the prerelease, my friend got this down with a recurring nightmare and some tokens from a lingering souls. Yeah, it was bad times for me.
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This weekend, a very experienced Magic player who is new to the cube eagerly maindecked Moltentail. He was playing GR ramp, but I had a dominating board advantage even after he got a ton of lands out with Primeval Titan.
Can you see where this is going? He plays Moltentail, then my EOT shoots me for four, then for eight more during his upkeep for exactly lethal. I don't think there was another card that could have won him the game with that board.
So yes, Moltentail stays in for a while longer...
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Four drops in Cube is a very contested slot, and even though monocolored, multicolored and colorless cards don't directly compete for the same slots in Cube construction, they certainly do in deck construction. I almost always prefer to run the on-color four mana cards over a Masticore, so I ended up cutting them all. They are slow and bind a lot of resources. Four mana planeswalkers and creature power creep have obsoleted Masticore for me.
Molten-Tail Masticore is a good play in a creature heavy deck, but I needed to cut four drops and I wanted to only keep two colorless ones. Ultimately, I kept Lodestone Golem over it, because I liked the disruption element without further investment more than the resilience and reach at a high cost.
"What am I looking at? Ashes, dead man."
I'm thinking of pulling Molten-Tail Masticore as well. It doesn't see as much play as it did before (as you've pointed out there's a lot of 4 drop options when it comes to deck construction). I think I'd rather have Ankh or Chrome Mox (I know, totally different cards, but all are wanted by creature heavy/aggro decks).