Wizards generously added a large allotment of phantom points to all active accounts over the summer in a "Please test out the version 4 client" move. I didn't use mine then, so this event (and a few more) will be on the house, which makes me feel better about using the v4 client and losing to clock because of the interface.
For more info on the Legacy Cube, read here, or check out the full card list here. There are plenty of oldies and goodies in this, what amounts to a Greatest Hits draft. The major difference is that only Legacy-legal cards are in, which means no Power Nine. And with that preamble out of the way, let's dive into a Swiss Legacy Cube event with the pick-by-pick replay.
Pack 1 pick 1:
My Pick:
There are only two real choices here, Splinter Twin for combo goodness, or Snapcaster Mage for pure value and versatility. I think I know the mechanics of the combo, but I don't want to be under time pressure to execute what amounts to an indefinite loop, so we can't go wrong with the blue card, right?
Pack 1 pick 2:
My Pick:
Ancient Tomb and the green planeswalker are both tempting, but when was the last time you played a 'tog?
Pack 1 pick 3:
My Pick:
There are a couple of reanimator pieces here, which is generally blue-black, but I like the top, for all the good it does at such a low cost. This pick wasn't the best for my clock-sensitive play style, but I think it was right given the other options. Too bad there is a blue fetchland here, because top makes me yearn for shuffle effects.
Pack 1 pick 4:
My Pick:
I remember when Meloku was as good of a blue finisher as there was. I wonder if that is still true. I do love Far//Away also.
Pack 1 pick 5:
My Pick:
Weak manafixing, aggro black, a fragile clone or splashed anti-aggro burn are my choices here. I like the way Arc Trail feels with Snapcaster, so I don't give up much and I will watch for red splashable lands for this possibility.
Pack 1 pick 6:
My Pick:
Great manafixing and the looter get passed for raw planeswalker power.
Pack 1 pick 7:
My Pick:
Tradewind Rider is great, but the Nighthawk is very, very strong against both aggro and big threats from control.
Pack 1 pick 8:
My Pick:
The Arena is just what I want to be doing.
Pack 1 pick 9:
My Pick:
This is not the storm Tendrils but instead the awkward removal Tendrils, so I take a shot from a relatively empty pack on the Mox. The dual is also in the running as well.
Pack 1 pick 10:
My Pick:
This is a fine finisher or possible reanimation target. If we can play him more than once in a game, that would be ideal.
Pack 1 pick 11:
My Pick:
Servitude wheeling indicates a) there are no people reanimating or b) these young kids didn't take the time to read the card and process what it does. That being said, it is on the expensive side for reanimation, but it is repeatable for as long as you have creatures in the yard.
Pack 1 pick 12:
My Pick:
I'm getting some strong mana requirements, so I'll try the chroma land over the removal on a stick.
Pack 1 pick 13:
My Pick:
Underground River is so bad it wheeled! Hinterland Harbor is better if we want to splash green, but I have no inkling of heading in that direction yet, so I stick with the fixing I know we will use.
Pack 1 pick 14:
My Pick:
Looter might make the cut.
Pack 1 pick 15:
My Pick:
And we pick up some green splash potential anyway.
Pack 2 pick 1:
My Pick:
Ultimate Price is not enough of a draw for me to overlook biggest Garruk. We already have one green source, right? But seriously, the rest of this pack is meh, with Old Man of the Sea really doing work on the nostalgia front but I know there are many planeswalkers in the cube, so I love the first +1 ability on Garruk.
Pack 2 pick 2:
My Pick:
This pack makes up for the last one by featuring SEVEN cards I would consider playing. In decending order, Volcanic Island, Vraska, Brainstorm, Polluted Delta, Wasteland, Shriekmaw, Treachery. Those last two were very close, but I had a Type II deck back in 1999 that featured 4x Treachery, so that tips the scales over the Lorwyn block Elemental deck I had that ran Shriekmaws.
Pack 2 pick 3:
My Pick:
Big Daddy Jace may be the strongest card in the cube. <SNATCH!>
Pack 2 pick 4:
My Pick:
Whip does a real good job in my type of deck, but Mulldrifter is top-flight. I hope the Whip wheels, but it probably won't.
Pack 2 pick 5:
My Pick:
Didn't I say there are lots of planeswalkers? I'm not sure I have ever cast Force of Will (if I did, it was in Dr. Jonathan <bicycle horn sound effect>'s griefer blue deck.
Pack 2 pick 6:
My Pick:
Flooded Strand and Gedankenstein are strong contenders, but Frost Titan is possibly the best blue finisher.
Pack 2 pick 7:
My Pick:
Now I am glad I took Treachery over Shriekmaw, since we picked up a similar effect here.
Pack 2 pick 8:
My Pick:
Oracle is nothing spectacular, but we need to hold the ground against aggro and dig for our best cards at the same time, so in he goes. I actually give some consideration to Birthing Pod. It is what I want, since I have a good chain of utility creatures going and it is so fun, plus it's technically colorless (and we might splash green). But the Oracle is what we need.
Pack 2 pick 9:
My Pick:
Did you notice that several of our cards are wizards? Snapcaster and Seagate Oracle in particular would be fun to recycle.
Pack 2 pick 10:
My Pick:
In the eight picks since we last saw this pack, I moved the fetchland (and shuffle effect) above Wasteland. We actually have Top and Jace now that both offer much power with the shuffle.
Pack 2 pick 11:
My Pick:
I could have kept the green dream alive, but a pain land is the worst fixing and I think that ship has sailed. Meanwhile, we have some very enticing blink targets if we manage to grab a few white sources for Bragos, but I don't expect that to happen.
Pack 2 pick 12:
My Pick:
Prediction: Darkblast will not make the main deck but come in very handy out of the sideboard.
Pack 2 pick 13:
My Pick:
Maybe.
Pack 2 pick 14:
My Pick:
Pure hate. We don't need bad card draw.
Pack 2 pick 15:
My Pick:
Chasm Skulker could make the deck. I've never played him but he reminds me of these two cards from another game only stapled togather and with more upside.
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| They are each pretty good on their own. |
My Pick:
This lady faerie is super versatile. She beats down while hard-countering multiple spells. Speaking of which, this pack has the second Armageddon effect I've seen so far. Ugh.
Pack 3 pick 2:
My Pick:
As a plansewalker, Ashiok does little for our deck. He/she/it? needs to be protected before it can be played, which is not a plus in my book. Venser is more utility.
Pack 3 pick 3:
My Pick:
Oh, mama! Recurring Nightmare is bringing me dreams of chaining Nekrataal and Mulldrifters anddragons that drain our Villain for 5 when they die. Do it! (This is the feeling that cube is all about.)
Pack 3 pick 4:
My Pick:
At this point I realize Snapcaster doesn't have too many targets and while Sundering Titan is good to reanimate, Damnation and possible Damnation with flashback are what my deck needs more than another finisher.
Pack 3 pick 5:
My Pick:
Living Death would go better with a pure reanimation strategy, wheras it is not great with Nekrataal and Damnation. It still may have been a better pick than Negate, but I'm not sure about this one either way. We have no need for a green-white fetch or a big green-mana producer, and the Stinker wheels, so this pack is basically a whiff anyway.
Pack 3 pick 6:
My Pick:
In hindsight I would rather have the Remove Soul. This cube (or at least the parrt I played against) was heavy on creatures and counterspell, flashback counterspell gets real fun.
Pack 3 pick 7:
My Pick:
This particular green land actually gives us two more sources if we want to go that direction, since it can be fetched by the Delta. We aren't missing much by taking the land here.
Pack 3 pick 8:
My Pick:
Rites is only great with flashback available, which it doesn't look like we will have. I prefer a holistic blue-black control deck at this point to the gimmicky reanimator. Maybe I will even get to say "Stroke myself for five"
Pack 3 pick 9:
My Pick:
Nice! With one free counter already in our pile, I don't care for the inferior version, and this might be recency bias talking but the Cut does good work.
Pack 3 pick 10:
My Pick:
I was distracted by the lure of the on-color plansewalker. In hindsight I cut him/her and would have rather had the Thoughtseize to flash back with Snapcaster.
Pack 3 pick 11:
My Pick:
Legacy's Allure was one of my first rares and it is actually still pretty good more than 15 years later. (Because they are making creatures better)
Pack 3 pick 12:
My Pick:
That beefy flier doesn't fit my plan, but I'm not likely to play Intuition either.
Pack 3 pick 13:
My Pick:
Stinkweed mills quite a lot to get him back, but against some decks he could be good out of the board.
Pack 3 pick 14:
My Pick:
Factory will strain the mana, but could be the extra kickstarter I need for Recurring Nightmare shenanigans.
Pack 3 pick 15:
My Pick:
Oh. That was unexpected. I might play that, but it may be a little too much mana for an effect I can get incidentally on other cards.
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So I feel pretty good about this deck. It does some fun abusive things. It has some board control and counter elements and plenty of easy two-for-ones.
- I unintentionally forgot to add the Factory.
- Psychatog didn't do that much for me
- I might have liked the Diabolic Servitude and Stinkweed Imp
Overall, the biggest issue was time. I was playing a slow, plodding, fiddly deck and while I am not the fastest player anyway, the current iteration of the interface made it that much tougher. The match report section of this draft report I will call "Complaining about v4, sprinkled with Awesome Game Stories"
In round one, I win a very long one. I Damnation an early board of green things then Snapcaster Damnation (my only out) the Villain's followup of Natural Order for Progenitus.
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| Yikes! |
After that, I win by Topping a bunch and flying over with Meloku tokens, but I used up about 80% of my clock in the process. In game two, I get Opposition locked with only one minute left and in response to my Venser to get out of the lock, Villain pops me with a counterspell. I will never finish another game in time and lose to the clock with Villain still having 12 minutes, which is almost half the alotted time.
In round two, early in game one I drop a Chasm Skulker early against a white weenie deck. I protect it against removal with Force of Will and it grows quickly to 9/9 attacking on turn seven, which earns the concession. Top adds an extra counter every turn for the low cost of one mana, plus Merfolk Looter draws a card every turn as well.
Round two, game two looks similar, except our Villain puts up more of a fight. I have a Chasm Skulker again backed up by Glen Elendra Archmage, but Villain snuck out a Bitterblossom that I am controlling through repeated use of a Darkblast, which unfortunately replaces the draw and is therefore a bit of a non-bo with the only 6/6 skulker. He Grave Titans, then attacks, but I can block with the 6/6 and earn six little tokens, which should be enough to get there through his blockers. He wraths after combat, but I see the on-board Archmage to counter it and attack for the win. I have nine minutes left, while my vanquished opponent has 18.
The final round was quite the matchup. This Villain has snother white weenie deck, this time with some blue. Game one we each mull to five, which is in theory better for him being the quicker deck. Unfortunately for him, his deck was what they call "fair" (plays fair, not good, fair or poor).
His turn two 3/1 first striker and turn three pro-black 2/2 double striker seems like very bad news against my Psychatog, but a plan is coming together. I have Top, shuffling once with the fetchland, digging into my deck and ensuring land drops every turn.
- Take a hit from a now Grafted Wargear-ed 5/4 double striking pro-black guy
- Play Jace and unsummon his 5/4 threat.
- Chump the equipped 6/2 first striker the next turn with 'tog, discarding Kokusho for no apparent value. (See where this is going yet?)
- Get disconnected from MODO, which takes approximately forever to load after restarting and logging in.
- Play Merfolk Looter and Nekrataal, killing the first striker. Jace gets exiled by an Oblivion Ring-like enchantment and another small guy for our Villain.
- Play Recurring Nightmare! Get Kokusho from the yard and play Sea Gate Oracle.
- Chump the lethal double striker with the Oracle.
- Attack for five in the air, play Recurring Nightmare (#2), saccing the dragon to get Nekrataal, killing whatever was just played and draining for five.
- Replay Recurring Nightmare (#3) to get back the dragon.
- Force of Will an attempted Armageddon which would have locked me out of my tricks.
- Earn the concession with style.
But that was just game one. Game two was equally epic.
He has early pressure in the form of turn one 2/1, turn two 3/1 first strike, turn three Geist of Saint Traft. I trade Merfolk Looter for the 2/1 and Darkblast the 3/1 first striker, leaving two mana up on Villain's turn 4 against the Geist. Villain goes for a knockout Armageddon, but SURPRISE! I have Snapcaster, which leaves us each with no land and a standoff board situation. His hexproof 2/2 that brings a 4/4 to the party against my vanilla 2/1. It would have been so much better if he had attacked into surprise Snappy and I could have just traded and been done with Mr. St. Traft, but by the same token it would have been much worse if I didn't have any board presence when the Armageddon hit.
I get to play land first (the Riptide Lab, which only provides colorless but was also the only one remaining in my hand). Our Villain doesn't have a land. The Armageddon was his trump play and it just barely didn't work out perfectly. Eventually I rebuild a small board, using Top to find land. I'm pretty low on life and the Geist has effectively six power on attack, so I need to keep a guy back at all times. I reuse Darkblast at least once on a small guy, then eventually I build to Mulldrifter mana, which is a threat and more cards. Villain removes my flier and gets his Mirran Crusader (2/2 double strike, pro-black) again, but I have Treachery for that, plus Frost Titan on the same turn to polish things off.
That last match is what cube is all about. Huge haymaker plays, the cream of the crop of all-time Magic, kind of like Vintage or Legacy but in limited form. I really enjoyed the format and the gameplay, but remain frustrated by the game client issues. It seems that despite my meeting the minimum specs, the best suggestion Wizards has is to buy a stronger computer and get better internet access. This is a digital card game, right? Why can't I play on an old Apple IIe with dial-up? (Not that I have that. I have fibre and a 64-bit Vista machine with 4G RAM)
For those keeping track of the clock, I had two minutes remaining against 16 at the end of round three, bringing my grand total to 35 minutes down across three matches, during which we are only alotted 75 total. Part of this is my deliberate play style and part is the deck I built but I believe most is due to the client. I have not had time out issues since I was just learning how to play on MTGO. This is what I look at when a new effect hits the stack.
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| That big white area is the window where the game client should be. |
After five to ten seconds, the game returns and the prompt is waiting for my response. Cube is super fun and I am glad to play for free phantom tickets, but at this time I can't imagine putting down real money to play for real when I have to win each match 2-0 or risk losing on time to something beyond my control.
noice synergy between snapcaster and pyshcatog
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