Team Reno's Cube!!!

[Aiken013]

Hello all!

My name is Kenny Ignacio and I live in Reno. My friend Joe Magdaleno and myself put this cube together at Worlds this past December and have been pimping it out ever since with massive foils and promos. We're trying to keep the cards in english so people can actually read what they do, but besides that, it's blossomed quite well.

I organized everything very meticulously courtesy of Nightwing's spreadsheet. Check it out!

If you have any ideas on subtractions / additions / or anything in general, just post it here. Thanks!


Edit: Was missing two cards for some reason, so I plugged them in and re-uploaded the spreadsheet. Enjoy.
Edit: Fixed all of the things eidolon said.

[nightwing]

Hi Aiken,
impressive cube! I was wondering what holiday cards we put into your cube. We already know that Gifts Given is downright broken, but how does Evil Presents fare in your cube?

Also see you nearly have all of power 9. You might as well proxy the rest. Btw what kind of card sleeves do you use to protect your cube? And what card box?

I realised that you're using my old spreadsheet. The new one improved the formulas in the totals pages. It's listed in this post
http://www.cubedrafting.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=53&start=10#p1537. Next time I post my cube list, I'll be sure to update the first post as well.

[BobbyMFC]

Kenny! The cube is awesome, and ridiculously fun.

[Aiken013]

Hey there guys. Thanks bobby for the shout out. We kept ancestral out because it always was completely unfair. Black lotus was tolerable because whatever you played off of it was not completely game over. Yet ancestral was always game over. The first time you get to evil presents out Malfegor you will probably scream in joy. Also i am waiting to he a necromancy so i can take out dread return since its so much better.

[eidolon]

great cube! a lot of amazing limited/constructed cards from the history of magic + an impressive number of "pimped" cards.
Here are some thought about your cube:

@Hokori, Dust Drinker: How good is this card? Sure, it helps Wx weenie, but it costs 4 mana, is easy to remove and very unfun to play against
@Endless Horizons: does it see play? if you play a white control deck, Sacred Mesa might be the better card
@Time Walk: After kicking Recall, this would be another potential ban
@Kagemaro, First to Suffer: in a deck without U he is a potential 5 mana 2/2 or 6 mana infest...
@"swamps-matter"-spells: I don't like to push mono decks + if the there weren't enough payables for someone to draft MBC, you end up with a bunch of "dead" cards in the cube
@Form of the Dragon:expensive and risky card
@Kavu Titan: part of some lists, but a vanilla with P/T= mana cost is not 100% on the average cube level
@Boros Guildmage: one of the weakest guildmages
@Wistful Selkie: bad cantrip compared with something like Carven Caryatid or wall of blossom
@Cankerous Thirst: took this card out of my cube last month
@Guided Passage: its a sorcery speed tutor for bad cards in a strange mana combination
@Maelstrom Nexus: hard to cast, no effect on the board, when it hits play, will get you a lot of unneeded fixers, asuming you play a bunch of them to hit WUBRG early
@Cloven Casting: again 7 mana with no effect when it hits the board. very restrictive condition (only 30 cards that work with it)
@Gilden Lotus: 5 mana is too much for mana acceleration imo
@Memory Jar: no card to combo with like Megrim/ Words of War
@ Obelisks: unimpressive, often table in normal limited
@Urza's Blueprints: costs like a million mana

you might want to change the misspelled cards:
Cards with errors:

Eight-and-a-Half Tails | Alternative: Eight-and-a-Half-Tails
Yosei, the Morningstar | Alternative: Yosei, the Morning Star
Elspeth, Knight Errant | Alternative: Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Spectral Possession | Alternative: Spectral Procession
Keiga, the Tidestar | Alternative: Keiga, the Tide Star
Meloku, the Clouded Mirror | Alternative: Meloku the Clouded Mirror
Vendillion Clique | Alternative: Vendilion Clique
Man-O-War | Alternative: Man-o'-War
Tezzeret, the Seeker | Alternative: Tezzeret the Seeker
Ancestral Visions | Alternative: Ancestral Vision
Kokusho, the Eveningstar | Alternative: Kokusho, the Evening Star
Zo-Zu, the Punisher | Alternative: Zo-Zu the Punisher
Beserk | Alternative: Berserk
Kodama, the North Tree | Alternative: Kodama, of the North Tree
Sakura Tribe-Elder | Alternative: Sakura-Tribe Elder
Nichol Bolas, Planeswalker | Alternative: Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
Dominous of Fealty | Alternative: Dominus of Fealty
Niv Mizzet, the Firemind | Alternative: Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
Burning Tree Shaman | Alternative: Burning-Tree Shaman
Debtor's Knell | Alternative: Debtors' Knell
Nath the Gilt-Leaf | Alternative: Nath of the Gilt-Leaf
Azorious Guildmage | Alternative: Azorius Guildmage
Sharuum, the Hegemon | Alternative: Sharuum the Hegemon
Rafiq, of the Many | Alternative: Rafiq of the Many
Sensai's Diving Top | Alternative: Sensei's Divining Top
Azorious Signet | Alternative: Azorius Signet

Archon of Justice: listed as artifact

[Aiken013]

great cube! a lot of amazing limited/constructed cards from the history of magic + an impressive number of "pimped" cards.
Here are some thought about your cube:

@Hokori, Dust Drinker: How good is this card? Sure, it helps Wx weenie, but it costs 4 mana, is easy to remove and very unfun to play against

I think this card is fantastic in any aggressive deck, and we're trying to push aggressive decks enough so they can face up to the slower more powerful cards in the control decks.

@Endless Horizons: does it see play? if you play a white control deck, Sacred Mesa might be the better card

This could be very true. I have just always hated the card myself, but I will try it again I suppose. However, Endless Horizons is very good as well.

@Time Walk: After kicking Recall, this would be another potential ban

This is actually a new addition as well (it replaced Ophidian because it was just under-performing). We have yet to be able to test it. It has NEVER been in any cube draft since it's addition. Bad luck I guess.

@Kagemaro, First to Suffer: in a deck without U he is a potential 5 mana 2/2 or 6 mana infest...

I actually think this guy is very good. Obviously he is a terrible top deck, but he's good with multiple cards (Genesis / Volrath's Stronghold / Eternal Witness / Restock / etc.) and obviously amazing with blue card draw. He is definitely under a slight watch though.

@"swamps-matter"-spells: I don't like to push mono decks + if the there weren't enough payables for someone to draft MBC, you end up with a bunch of "dead" cards in the cube

I do semi agree, but the mono black deck is very strong and very popular among my cube-mates. However, it is definitely being watched as well.

@Form of the Dragon:expensive and risky card

The more I have been playing with this card, the more I have liked it. It's a great play before Wildfire / Jokulhaups / Cataclysm / Catastrophe / Armageddon / etc. and even more broken with Planeswalkers. Not to mention the interaction with Necropotence / Yawgmoth's Bargain... I just think there are probably worse cards.

@Kavu Titan: part of some lists, but a vanilla with P/T= mana cost is not 100% on the average cube level

I agree with the power level statement. However, it's flexibility is what makes this card viable.

@Boros Guildmage: one of the weakest guildmages

Yeah, he's quite poor. But he's a R/W card, and I needed to get 8... I am now leaning on the "don't add bad cards just to even it out" bandwagon though, so I don't know. Especially since Alara Reborn has been released. The multicolor section is about to explode I think.

@Wistful Selkie: bad cantrip compared with something like Carven Caryatid or wall of blossom

I agree. However, it's a U/G card, not a G card. So comparing it to those is quite far from anything anyway. However, I think it's going to get replaced with Vedalken Heretic.

@Cankerous Thirst: took this card out of my cube last month

This card is getting axed as soon as I get my hands on a Lord of Extinction.

@Guided Passage: its a sorcery speed tutor for bad cards in a strange mana combination

Yeah, I think this card is getting cut as well. I just loved this card for some reason, and I had a foil one, so I added it for the fun factor.

@Maelstrom Nexus: hard to cast, no effect on the board, when it hits play, will get you a lot of unneeded fixers, asuming you play a bunch of them to hit WUBRG early

It's quite easy to get all 5 colors early in my cube. However, I think it's hard to gauge this card's power level until it's been played since Cascade is such an amazing keyword. I will definitely let you guys know though once I test it.

@Cloven Casting: again 7 mana with no effect when it hits the board. very restrictive condition (only 30 cards that work with it)

It's just better than Noggle Hedge-Mage. So I swapped 'em to play with a new card to test it. But it's probably awful...

@Gilden Lotus: 5 mana is too much for mana acceleration imo

I think of this card as more of a color fixing card... But it does a bit of both as well. However, it is one of the worse cards in the artifact section... So you just never know...

@Memory Jar: no card to combo with like Megrim/ Words of War

I think this card is amazing. It's a draw 7! Busting this during the upkeep is the key play usually. Also, the mill aspect is pretty amazing. I have never lost after having using this card in a game.

@ Obelisks: unimpressive, often table in normal limited

This card is amazing in 5c. However, it's pretty useless in any other deck.

@Urza's Blueprints: costs like a million mana

6 mana to draw 2 cards is pretty good. 12 mana to draw infy cards is even better. But I understand some people's views on it. I was very skeptical of it for a long time when I used to cube with Adam Prosak in Phoenix, but I've grown to like it a lot.

you might want to change the misspelled cards:
Cards with errors:

Eight-and-a-Half Tails | Alternative: Eight-and-a-Half-Tails
Yosei, the Morningstar | Alternative: Yosei, the Morning Star
Elspeth, Knight Errant | Alternative: Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Spectral Possession | Alternative: Spectral Procession
Keiga, the Tidestar | Alternative: Keiga, the Tide Star
Meloku, the Clouded Mirror | Alternative: Meloku the Clouded Mirror
Vendillion Clique | Alternative: Vendilion Clique
Man-O-War | Alternative: Man-o'-War
Tezzeret, the Seeker | Alternative: Tezzeret the Seeker
Ancestral Visions | Alternative: Ancestral Vision
Kokusho, the Eveningstar | Alternative: Kokusho, the Evening Star
Zo-Zu, the Punisher | Alternative: Zo-Zu the Punisher
Beserk | Alternative: Berserk
Kodama, the North Tree | Alternative: Kodama, of the North Tree
Sakura Tribe-Elder | Alternative: Sakura-Tribe Elder
Nichol Bolas, Planeswalker | Alternative: Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
Dominous of Fealty | Alternative: Dominus of Fealty
Niv Mizzet, the Firemind | Alternative: Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
Burning Tree Shaman | Alternative: Burning-Tree Shaman
Debtor's Knell | Alternative: Debtors' Knell
Nath the Gilt-Leaf | Alternative: Nath of the Gilt-Leaf
Azorious Guildmage | Alternative: Azorius Guildmage
Sharuum, the Hegemon | Alternative: Sharuum the Hegemon
Rafiq, of the Many | Alternative: Rafiq of the Many
Sensai's Diving Top | Alternative: Sensei's Divining Top
Azorious Signet | Alternative: Azorius Signet

Archon of Justice: listed as artifact

Thanks! I will definitely change these. I was just hammering it out yesterday without the actual cards in front of me. I was going completely from memory. So, a few hyphons and commas slipped through the cracks it seems. Haha.

Anything else guys? What do you guys think will happen with the Alara Reborn additions?

[Strichnine]

Wow, the spelling error thing is HILARIOUS! Seriously funny, I can't believe that someone would go through and spot all of the errors.

it maks me laff cuz its funy

[eidolon]

I can't believe that someone would go through and spot all of the errors

: I didn't. I just copy paste each deck list for an online application, that gives me an ordered card list, pictures an some statistics, but doesn't work with misspelled cards. so i just posted all the cards, that I had to correct before I was able to upload your cube.
here is a link to the site: http://www.deckcheck.net/stats.php , but unfortunately this feature is down since a few hours...
but the main site is still online http://www.deckcheck.net (great easy to search database with >25000 tournament decks , statistics, sample hand/proxy generator + everything in English)

[Aiken013]

Nightwing:

I keep my cube in a standard long box, single row, and carry my lands in a separate box. I keep 50 foil of each land on hand, and have never had a problem with it. I sleeve my cube in the sleeves that look like a magic card on the back. I am also currently in the process of getting the KMC perfect size sleeves so that I can double sleeve it.

I kinda want an entire separate box for my cube, but I don't think I want to buy one of those Rook boxes... How do you guys store yours?

Also, I will post some pics of my cube in a bit. My digi camera is completely dead.

[Aiken013]

So, I think I'm going to bump my cube to 90 cards of each color. Try to get a little more variance within the drafts. What do you guys think?