Friday, November 25, 2011

Innistrad Update

Time for some changes!

WHITE
OUT: Mistmeadow Skulk and Shining Shoal
IN: Fiend Hunter and Mikaeus, the Lunarch

BLUE
OUT: Careful Consideration, Probe, Exclude
IN: Counterpart, Snapcaster Mage, and Forbidden Alchemy

BLACK
OUT: Ambition's Cost, Crypt Angel, Despise, Korlash Heir to Blackblade, Twisted Abomination, Stupor
IN: Liliana of the Veil, Bloodline Keeper/Lord of Lineage, Moan of the Unhallowed, Bloodgift Demon, Rune-Scarred Demon, Sever the Bloodline

RED
OUT: Adamaro First to Desire, Arc Trail, Ghostfire, Fire Imp, Pyroclasm, Rakka Mar
IN: Reckless Waif, Bloodcrazed Neonate, Stromkirk Noble, Brimstone Volley, Devil's Play, Chaos Warp

GREEN
OUT: Ice Storm, Elvish Visionary, Stunted Growth, Silvos Rogue Elemental
IN: Garruk Relentless/Garruk, the Veil-Cursed, Mayor of Avabruck/Howlpack Alpha, Avacyn's Pilgrim, Kessig Cagebreakers

ARTIFACTS/COLORLESS
OUT: Bonehoard, Pentad Prism
IN: Manor Gargoyle, Mana Crypt

LANDS
OUT: Enemy Karoos
IN: Innistrad Lands

MULTICOLOR
OUT: Ghastlord of Fugue, Blightning
IN: Evil Twin, Olivia Voldaren

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Generous Friends

Given that we have such generous friends who are willing to include some of their quite valuable cards in our cube, in order to not accidentally steal anything here is a list (currently incomplete) of what people have donated:

Jasper
Ancestral Recall

Ralph
Survival of the Fittest

Le
Karn Liberated
Red Sun's Zenith
Volition Reins
Sun Titan
Consecrated Sphinx
Baneslayer Angel
Koth of the Hammer
Bloodline Keeper/Lord of Lineage
Mirran Crusader
Avacyn's Pilgrim

Dave
Archon of Justice
Stoneforge Mystic
Mother of Runes
Swords to Plowshares
Reveillark
Eternal Dragon
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
Bribery
Draining Whelk
Glen Elendra Archmage
Fact or Fiction
Mana Leak
Blue Sun's Zenith
Treasure Mage
Trinket Mage
Pestermite
Capsize
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Sower of Temptation
Thirst for Knowledge
Forbid
Bitterblossom
Nantuko Shade
Ob Nixilis, the Fallen
Oona's Prowler
Puppeteer Clique
Ancient Grudge
Kuldotha Pheonix
Slagstorm
Siege-Gang Commander
Wildfire
Indrik Stomphowler
Arbor Elf
Cloudthresher
Ice Storm
Wood Elves
Primal Command (Chinese)
Oracle of Mul Daya
Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
Woodfall Primus
Loxodon Hierarch
Lightning Helix
Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
Trygon Predator
Stillmoon Cavalier
Azorius Guildmage
Broodmate Dragon
Murderous Redcap
Firespout
Loxodon Hierarch
Indrik Stomphowler
Pernicious Deed
Voidslime
Broodmate Dragon
Epochrasite
Dimir Signet
Sword of Fire and Ice
Sword of Feast and Famine
Tangle Wire
Sol Ring
Umezawa's Jitte
Artisan of Kozilek
Oblivion Stone
Dimir Aqueduct
Arcane Sanctum
Temple Garden
Hallowed Fountain
Breeding Pool
Windswept Heath
Polluted Delta
Wooded Foothills
Bloodstained Mire
Flooded Strand
Scalding Tarn
Tropical Island
Savannah
Gemstone Mine
Opposition
Sarkhan the Mad
Future Sight

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Neil Patrick Harris in the Cube

NPH, aka New Phyrexia is out making it time for some changes. We're making changes for the auto-includes, but for all the other cards we want other opinions before we put them in. They are listed below, along with cards from the corresponding section that are most likely to receive the axe in favor of the new card:

White contenders: Blade Splicer, Inquisitor Exarch, Elesh Norn, Porcelain Legionnaire, Mistral Charger, Stormfront Pegasus
White shitters: Silver Knight, Auriok Champion, Mistmeadow Skulk, Shrieking Grotesque, Leonin Skyhunter, Kor Aeronaut, Samurai of the Pale Curtain, Guardian of the Guildpact, Leonin Relic-Warder

Blue contenders: Phyrexian Metamorph, Phyrexian Ingester, Standstill, Forbid
Blue shitters: Probe, Brainstorm, Ponder, Memory Lapse, Infiltrator il-Kor, Domestication, Court Hussar, Telling Time

Black contenders: Dismember, Life's Finale, Sheoldred, Gatekeeper of Malakir, Stupor, Despise
Black shitters: Dauthi Marauder, Stinkweed Imp, Crypt Angel, Last Gasp, Decree of Pain, Hand of Cruelty, Smother, Kagemaro, Ob Nixilis, Twisted Abomination, Skeletal Vampire

Red contenders: Act of Aggression, Urabrask the Hidden, Volt Charge, Moltensteel Dragon, Molten Rain, Pillage, Jackal Pup
Red shitters: Flameblast Dragon, Urza's Rage, Ghostfire, Countryside Crusher, Pain Kami, Gathan Raiders, Changling Berserker

Green contenders: Primeval Titan, Arbor Elf, Fyndhorn Elves, Elves of Deep Shadow, Rofellos, Cloud Thrasher, Brutalizer Exarch, Primal Command, Ice Storm, Oracle of Mul Daya, Woodfall Primus
Green shitters: Abundance, Birds of Paradise, Masked Admirers, Ohran Viper, Iwamori of the Open Fist

Artifact Contenders: Etched Monstrosity, Spellskite, Black Vise
Artifact Shitters: Scroll Rack, Masticore, Molten-Tail Masticore, Juggernaut, Mask of Memory

Thinking of cutting down multicolor further, since it is our largest section and has a lot of filler cards that make the cut only because they are cards #9 and #10 of a color pair (*cough* U/R *cough*)

Multicolor shitters:
Deft Duelist, Ith High Arcanist
Divinity of Pride, Gerrard's Verdict, Castigate
Captain's Maneuver, Brion Stoutarm, Soltari Guerrillas
Glare of Subdual, Wilt-Leaf Cavaliers
Sygg River Cutthroat, Wydwen the Biting Gale, Cavern Harpy, Ghastlord of Fugue
Izzet Chronarch, Wand of the Elements, Spellbound Dragon, Dominus of Fealty, Prophetic Bolt, Nucklavee
Temporal Spring, Coiling Oracle, Lorescale Coatl, Cold-Eye Selkie
Defiler of Souls, Torrent of Souls, Wrecking Ball, Demigod of Revenge
Deity of Scars, Glissa the Traitor, Grave-Shell Scarab
Burning-Tree Shaman, Rumbling Slum, Vexing Shusher, Vithian Renegades

Land contenders: Shelldock Isle
Land shitters: Soldevi Excavations


Green
Beast from Within in for Squall Line

Artifact
(FOIL!) Sword of War and Peace in for Aether Vial
(FOIL!) Batterskull in for Engineered Explosives

Additionally, the following foils have been added:
Eight-and-a-Half-Tails
Frost Titan
Grave Titan
Garruk Wildspeaker
Orzhov Basilica
Contested War Zone
Birds of Paradise
Hero of Oxid Ridge
Golbin Wardriver
Accorder Paladin

Saturday, April 9, 2011

In: Lotus cobra
Out: Thornweald Archer











In: Blue Sun's Zenith
Out: Conundrum Sphinx











In: Mortarpod
Out: Myr Turbine

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Green Sucks Less!

Granted we've only done one draft with the new cards, but we had three green players and the green decks did some exciting things. I drafted a committed ramp deck that sought to end the game with an early Vigor or Eldrazi Conscription, a timely Rude Awakening, or a large Gelatinous Genesis. Against Phil I played turn 3 Triskelion turn 4 Gelatinous Genesis for x=3, proceeding to crush crush him, and I won multiple games with entwined Rude Awakening. We'll see how green fares in future drafts.

Playing with the new cards and talking with our play group revealed some minor changes that needed to be made, and also that we're bat-shit crazy.

Diabolic Servitude in for Dark Ritual
Somehow Servitude got cut, and we've been thinking of putting it back in for a while. Ritual has been okay but not amazing.

Zo-Zu the Punisher in for Stingscourger
Been meaning to get this guy in for a while, since he is a house in monored.

Farhaven Elf in for Wildsize
This guy got left out of the changes to green but deserves to be in. Problem solved!

Sarkhan the Mad in for Void
Planeswalkers are OP, not sure what we were smoking when we took him out...

If there are other cards you want to see in or out, let us know!

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

With the release of Mirrodin Besieged comes time to update the cube. This time around though we are not just making card changes however.

We've decided that hybrid and gold as separate categories is not working out the way we would like. Firstly, that structure resulted in multiple cards that were very underwhelming but made the cut because we needed a fifth U/R hybrid or an eighth R/W gold. Secondly, with the way we build our draft pools, almost every hyrbid card was in an eight-man draft, taking a lot of the randomness out of that part of the pool. Hybrid and gold are now one category with 10 cards of each color pair, 6 tricolor cards and 5 colorless Eldrazi.

Now on with the changes!

White

In
Out
Mirran Crusader
White Knight
Leonin Skyhunter
Spectral Lynx
Accorder Paladin
Kami of Ancient Law
Leonin Relic-Warder
Harm's Way
Hero of Bladehold
Breath of Life
White Sun's Zenith
Fuedkiller's Verdict


Blue

In
Out
Consecrated Sphinx
Palinchron
Treasure MagePlaxmanta


Black

In
Out
Dauthi Marauder
Daggerclaw Imp
Go for the Throat
Nezumi Cutthroat
Black Sun's Zenith
Mutilate
Massacre Wurm
Laquatus's Champion


Red

In
Out
Ghostfire
Carbonize
Slagstorm
Molten Disaster
Goblin Wardriver
Sulfur Elemental
Hero of Oxid Ridge
Hoarding Dragon


Green

In
Out
Ifh-Biff Efreet
Deadwood Treefolk
Iwamori of the Open Fist
Kavu Titan
Abundance
Ohran Viper
Natural Order
Kodama of the North Tree
Silvos, Rogue Elemental
Reclaim
Farhaven Elf
Wall of Blossoms
Rude Awakening
Wild Mongrel
Gaea's Revenge
Civic Wayfinder
Gigapede
Borderland Ranger
Avenger of Zendikar
Bellowing Tanglewurm
Green Sun's Zenith
Imperious Perfect
Thrun, the Last Troll
Leatherback Baloth
Explore
Squirrel Nest
Terastodon
Garruk's Packleader
Sylvan Library
Lotus Cobra
Ondu Giant
Seedborn Muse


Land

In
Out
Karakas
Windbrisk Heights
Soldevi Excacations
Faerie Conclave
Contested Warzone
Urza's Factory
Evolving Wilds
Thawing Glaciers


Artifacts

In
Out
Sword of Feast and Famine
Livewire Lash
Thopter Assembly
Trigon of Rage
Myr Battlesphere
Stuffy Doll
Myr Turbine
Chimeric Mass
Spine of Ish Sah
Crystal Ball
Bonehoard
Empyrial Plate


Multicolor

In
Out
Glissa the Traitor
Gleancrawler

Murkfiend Leige

Overbeing of Myth

Vorosh, the Hunter

Firemane Angel

Flame-Kin Zealot

Skyknight Legionnaire

Lightning Angel

Oros, the Avenger

Intet, the Dreamer

Iridescent Angel

Thistledown Liege

Mirrorweave

Watchwolf

Mystic Enforcer

Mercy Killing

Inkfathom Infiltrator

Moroii

Dimir Guildmage

Death Grasp

Deathbringer Liege

Orzhov Pontiff

Sarkhan the Mad

Ashenmoor Gouger

Blazing Specter

Cankerous Thirst

Golgari Guildmage

Consume Strength

Plaxcaster Frogling

Spellbreaker Behemoth

Fires of Yavimaya

Hull Breach

Call the Skybreaker

Double Negative

Frenetic Efreet