I think I will have to read this once again later (after I play more with RIX than I have so far).
RIX seems to be hyper aggressive to me. Or at least my decks usually were pretty fast. It's faster than XLN alone and Dinosaurs are also kind of accelerated. The whole Standard will be like that actually.
As for removal, it's pretty strange but did not seem to be scarce so what I see here didn't surprise me. The removal is better than people think. It's not that the removal would be effective, it is just fine considering how the format looks like. (with the exception of well someone casting Zetalpa...and their opponent trying to get rid of it)
Soul of the Rapids is a really bad creature and something you really do not want to play (yeah, ok I've seen someone have that enchanted with Mark of the Vampire, but seriously this card is bad). If your deck runs flyers you are on offensive and usually play them on 2 mana slot, 3 mana slot and then the game is pretty much over (ok. usually on turn 8 as it seems). You certainly won't care if someone plays Soul of the Rapids on turn 5 or later since you will just go through. It may be difficult to block, but you really do not care about blocking that unless things are really bad and then it doesn't matter what your opponent would have played.
Pete saying that land destruction and control-U decks are taking away the fun for some doesnt come from nowhere I agree.
However, I can say for sure that the lack of those types of decks takes away a lot of strategy/fun for the better mtg players. On the pro tour these options would bring a lot to the game and PV, LSV, Finkel and so on would love this.
Also remember; It is possible to make lgs/house rules to disallow such and such decks if desirable locally.
Technically Merfolk, Zombies, Vampires, Goblins, Elves, and whatever the white one is (Human I think?) are characteristic tribes as the smaller ones--I agree that the usage is confusing, but it is consistent (and should have been more focused on tribes, though you can't give all the tribes the same attention they gave Dragons here). I still feel like this was thrown together at the last minute--here's a theme that's generic, let's throw in Mana Drain so people open it, shove it out for HASCON.
Well, those are "iconic tribes" (but so are Merfolk, Zombie, Goblin and Elves – white never had one clearly established representative there), but that's not a technical use of the term. There's iconic lands, iconic creatures, iconic everything. It's just an adjective in the English meaning of the word. Besides, the set wasn't certainly focused on tribal themes and mechanics, so the name of the set still refers to everything.
Agree with your points and certainly think Pitiless Plunderer has more potential as a Standard combo than a Modern combo piece.
I note I got it wrong when I said Huatli's ultimate is Glimpse of Nature. It's actually better than that as it triggers whenever a creature enters the battlefield rather than cast so it does work well with tokens.
My apologies. My experience with Explore is really limited so I misread it as a Scry and it is basically a Scry for most purposes.
Pitiless Plunderer has a lot of combo potential. You would definitely want Viscera Seer over Kalitas - you need a free sacrifice outlet to go infinite. It does not do anything on its own but there are a lot of ways to turn it into a kill. Plague Belcher and Diregraf Captain are two on theme examples of finishers for the combo. Also, you can make an infinite army of Zombies with Diregraf Colossus.
Pitiless Plunderer is a good card actually. I build a Standard deck around it for a combo kill (http://stsu.blogspot.cz/2018/01/ambitious-masterminds-monument.html) and it works nicely with Dread Wanderer/Oathsworn Vampire, Yahenni and Bontu's Monument. I don't think that Kalitas is a good card to include in the deck but Viscera Seer is certainly the top sac outlet in Modern.
There needs to be an immediate win con otherwise it's easier to just beat people with other creatures. 1/4 for four mana sounds expensive even for a combo piece. And since we have Melira combo in Modern I wouldn't expect this card to be played in a similar fashion. Anything that can generate mana in a strange way can become broken though.
In a Marionette Master deck though this card shines^_^ (in Standard).
As for Explore. It filters library and sometimes puts a needed card into graveyard (in GPG deck for example). As Rerepete said it puts a card into graveyard not bottom of the library. Jadelight Ranger really likes cards like Wayward Swordtooth or Azusa, Lost but Seeking. So I can imagine this card be played in land heavy decks or ones that need a lot of resources. I doubt that Merfolk in Standard will want to play that but we will see. The card goes more into a ramp/explore deck.
I'd try Huatli in BW Tokens. The minus ability on a flyer is not bad actually and the ultimate ability is simply insane. Note that the plus ability is actually +1 plus the number of creatures and that makes her actually playable.
Explore doesn't act like a scry, it is top of deck or graveyard.
"Pitiless Plunderer
This card is expensive but a potential combo card. Off the top of my head, with another zombie is in play, you can sacrifice and recast Gravecrawler..."
You also need a sac. outlet. Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet or Viscera Seer come to mind.
Iconic has a specific usage in Magic when it comes to tribes though: it refers to the "big" tribe for each color (Angels, Sphinxes, Demons, Dragons, and Hydras). Granted, I don't think they succeeded at that either (except for Dragons).
Pack Rat is probably my favourite card in the whole cube. It does exactly what you said it does, and has won me so many games if I see it P1P1 I usually take it.
Snap! I totally forgot (and didn't even notice O-Kagachi wasn't in the list!)
But it would have been fun with you really went with Lantern Kami in the list, of all Spirits!
Kari Zev, Ragavan, Ferocodon and Hazzie are all having a party now, given that players will be adding this card to their sideboards to deal with the Legion of Dusk and River Herald tribal decks. People will still consider bringing in this card against Ramunap Red post-board because it does hit some threats, but red mages will probably just take their normal line of "going bigger" post-board which will make this card even less scary. And Energy is not bothered by this card as you say.
This card is to help us handle the new kids in the block.
Agreed. I put the card there thinking of all the 'Big White' decks of the past. While Disorder is certainly better sideboard card (if you want to punish something white which this deck doesn't really need to do), Flashfires is a card I actually cast from time to time unlike Disorder that I cast exactly 0 times so far.
Those white control decks were driving me crazy years ago. Even though now, in EDH, Djeru is something that drives me totally insane!!!
Random, side note, I'm not normally the guy to correct card choices or sharpshoot builds, but Flashfires is just bad (RDW sideboard)...I've tested that silly card exhaustively and against the decks you tend to want it against, it's essentially like casting TW for the opponent. The WW opponent will tend to always have more permanent sources of damage that are just as cheap as RDW's permanents but generally better...W will have and always has had the best little critter threats...first strike, flying and protection mechanics just win this matchup, not to mention that WW will have more good creatures than red does. That said, I've never once been impressed with Flashfires, I think Disorder is the better card here, unless you expect a mono-W control meta, an archetype that is not impossible to fathom, but likely also not as good as just playing to the colors strong suite of efficient aggro cards. That said Disorder is more narrow than Flashfires, but I think certainly moreso what this style of deck wants, because it's looking to win the lottery against WW or have the WW pilot punt on epic proportions. On the other side of this argument, when I'm playing WW or D&T, I will always side out the Geddons because you want to have board impact everyturn, not attempt to seal an opponent off of mana, when their deck likely has an average CMC of 1.9-2.15; think the same would hold just as true or more true for the RDW pilot.
Here is a bonus Vampire deck for you to check out! (hint: It is a combo deck)
http://stsu.blogspot.cz/2018/01/ambitious-masterminds-monument.html
I think I will have to read this once again later (after I play more with RIX than I have so far).
RIX seems to be hyper aggressive to me. Or at least my decks usually were pretty fast. It's faster than XLN alone and Dinosaurs are also kind of accelerated. The whole Standard will be like that actually.
As for removal, it's pretty strange but did not seem to be scarce so what I see here didn't surprise me. The removal is better than people think. It's not that the removal would be effective, it is just fine considering how the format looks like. (with the exception of well someone casting Zetalpa...and their opponent trying to get rid of it)
Soul of the Rapids is a really bad creature and something you really do not want to play (yeah, ok I've seen someone have that enchanted with Mark of the Vampire, but seriously this card is bad). If your deck runs flyers you are on offensive and usually play them on 2 mana slot, 3 mana slot and then the game is pretty much over (ok. usually on turn 8 as it seems). You certainly won't care if someone plays Soul of the Rapids on turn 5 or later since you will just go through. It may be difficult to block, but you really do not care about blocking that unless things are really bad and then it doesn't matter what your opponent would have played.
Mountain + Jackal Pup
Its been a known thing for nearly 16 years. This isn't a new development in the least
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/latest-developments/land-d...
http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/154751683168/what-do-you-say-to-the...
Pete saying that land destruction and control-U decks are taking away the fun for some doesnt come from nowhere I agree.
However, I can say for sure that the lack of those types of decks takes away a lot of strategy/fun for the better mtg players. On the pro tour these options would bring a lot to the game and PV, LSV, Finkel and so on would love this.
Also remember; It is possible to make lgs/house rules to disallow such and such decks if desirable locally.
Here is the link to the Google Docs with the information and Master List: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1qC38ro0BDSJRRmTWYs2B1VqWZ-8qzlg2...
Technically Merfolk, Zombies, Vampires, Goblins, Elves, and whatever the white one is (Human I think?) are characteristic tribes as the smaller ones--I agree that the usage is confusing, but it is consistent (and should have been more focused on tribes, though you can't give all the tribes the same attention they gave Dragons here). I still feel like this was thrown together at the last minute--here's a theme that's generic, let's throw in Mana Drain so people open it, shove it out for HASCON.
Well, those are "iconic tribes" (but so are Merfolk, Zombie, Goblin and Elves – white never had one clearly established representative there), but that's not a technical use of the term. There's iconic lands, iconic creatures, iconic everything. It's just an adjective in the English meaning of the word. Besides, the set wasn't certainly focused on tribal themes and mechanics, so the name of the set still refers to everything.
Thanks for the comment.
Agree with your points and certainly think Pitiless Plunderer has more potential as a Standard combo than a Modern combo piece.
I note I got it wrong when I said Huatli's ultimate is Glimpse of Nature. It's actually better than that as it triggers whenever a creature enters the battlefield rather than cast so it does work well with tokens.
My apologies. My experience with Explore is really limited so I misread it as a Scry and it is basically a Scry for most purposes.
Pitiless Plunderer has a lot of combo potential. You would definitely want Viscera Seer over Kalitas - you need a free sacrifice outlet to go infinite. It does not do anything on its own but there are a lot of ways to turn it into a kill. Plague Belcher and Diregraf Captain are two on theme examples of finishers for the combo. Also, you can make an infinite army of Zombies with Diregraf Colossus.
Pitiless Plunderer is a good card actually. I build a Standard deck around it for a combo kill (http://stsu.blogspot.cz/2018/01/ambitious-masterminds-monument.html) and it works nicely with Dread Wanderer/Oathsworn Vampire, Yahenni and Bontu's Monument. I don't think that Kalitas is a good card to include in the deck but Viscera Seer is certainly the top sac outlet in Modern.
There needs to be an immediate win con otherwise it's easier to just beat people with other creatures. 1/4 for four mana sounds expensive even for a combo piece. And since we have Melira combo in Modern I wouldn't expect this card to be played in a similar fashion. Anything that can generate mana in a strange way can become broken though.
In a Marionette Master deck though this card shines^_^ (in Standard).
As for Explore. It filters library and sometimes puts a needed card into graveyard (in GPG deck for example). As Rerepete said it puts a card into graveyard not bottom of the library. Jadelight Ranger really likes cards like Wayward Swordtooth or Azusa, Lost but Seeking. So I can imagine this card be played in land heavy decks or ones that need a lot of resources. I doubt that Merfolk in Standard will want to play that but we will see. The card goes more into a ramp/explore deck.
I'd try Huatli in BW Tokens. The minus ability on a flyer is not bad actually and the ultimate ability is simply insane. Note that the plus ability is actually +1 plus the number of creatures and that makes her actually playable.
that's kinda scry! It's a half a scry!
Explore doesn't act like a scry, it is top of deck or graveyard.
"Pitiless Plunderer
This card is expensive but a potential combo card. Off the top of my head, with another zombie is in play, you can sacrifice and recast Gravecrawler..."
You also need a sac. outlet. Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet or Viscera Seer come to mind.
Mutiny isn't a two-for-one; the damage only goes one way.
Iconic has a specific usage in Magic when it comes to tribes though: it refers to the "big" tribe for each color (Angels, Sphinxes, Demons, Dragons, and Hydras). Granted, I don't think they succeeded at that either (except for Dragons).
I liked yours, too! The timing was a funny coincidence and I'm glad we didn't overlap any.
I'm curious to try Pack Rats now -- tbh I've never seen it accomplish anything in cube.
Great article, thanks for sharing your views.
Pack Rat is probably my favourite card in the whole cube. It does exactly what you said it does, and has won me so many games if I see it P1P1 I usually take it.
Snap! I totally forgot (and didn't even notice O-Kagachi wasn't in the list!)
But it would have been fun with you really went with Lantern Kami in the list, of all Spirits!
Stay warm! Love your articles but not needed at the expense of your family/home needs!
For my Deck:
3 Lantern Kami are Placeholder for 3 O-Kagachi, Vengeful Kami on gatherling ;-)
Nice spoiler and beautiful art.
Kari Zev, Ragavan, Ferocodon and Hazzie are all having a party now, given that players will be adding this card to their sideboards to deal with the Legion of Dusk and River Herald tribal decks. People will still consider bringing in this card against Ramunap Red post-board because it does hit some threats, but red mages will probably just take their normal line of "going bigger" post-board which will make this card even less scary. And Energy is not bothered by this card as you say.
This card is to help us handle the new kids in the block.
Agreed. I put the card there thinking of all the 'Big White' decks of the past. While Disorder is certainly better sideboard card (if you want to punish something white which this deck doesn't really need to do), Flashfires is a card I actually cast from time to time unlike Disorder that I cast exactly 0 times so far.
Those white control decks were driving me crazy years ago. Even though now, in EDH, Djeru is something that drives me totally insane!!!
Yeah, unless Big White comes back into our metagame (ie. probably never), I don't see much purpose for Flashfires.
It was a fun card back in the days though :)
Random, side note, I'm not normally the guy to correct card choices or sharpshoot builds, but Flashfires is just bad (RDW sideboard)...I've tested that silly card exhaustively and against the decks you tend to want it against, it's essentially like casting TW for the opponent. The WW opponent will tend to always have more permanent sources of damage that are just as cheap as RDW's permanents but generally better...W will have and always has had the best little critter threats...first strike, flying and protection mechanics just win this matchup, not to mention that WW will have more good creatures than red does. That said, I've never once been impressed with Flashfires, I think Disorder is the better card here, unless you expect a mono-W control meta, an archetype that is not impossible to fathom, but likely also not as good as just playing to the colors strong suite of efficient aggro cards. That said Disorder is more narrow than Flashfires, but I think certainly moreso what this style of deck wants, because it's looking to win the lottery against WW or have the WW pilot punt on epic proportions. On the other side of this argument, when I'm playing WW or D&T, I will always side out the Geddons because you want to have board impact everyturn, not attempt to seal an opponent off of mana, when their deck likely has an average CMC of 1.9-2.15; think the same would hold just as true or more true for the RDW pilot.