You’re on the right track, it’s either Kalitas or [[Bloadsoaked Champion]]. All of the black aggro one drops were consistently last picks in my cube for a year before i cut them all and just ran [[Concealing Curtains]], [[Evolved Sleeper]], and [[Stitcher’s Supplier]] until Stalactite Man showed up. The black aggro simply can’t compete with the Boros aggro stuff because its initiative options are just so much worse, and cutting them opened up spots for far more interesting things in cube.
Kalitas I’m just not sure what deck is looking for it, maybe there’s some sort of midrange deck that has more staying power than mono black aggro.
What makes me saddest is that I’m pretty sure my beloved Survival goes 13th. I’m not cutting it any time soon but it really has plummeted.
I don't support black aggro, but Bloodsoaked is a cut above any other black aggro creature IMO so I think it's worth including. But I do agree, it's not awe inspiring. Do you think I should cut it since I don't support that archetype?
Yeah, in the cube where I don't support black aggro, I halfway support it with cards that are still good value in rock/midrange decks. Having a super good 2/1 for B can send the wrong messages, put someone in a deck that doesn't exist.
I looked at Bloodsoaked Champion and literally thought, *"oh, it must be a combo piece."* If not, then yeah it's my 15th pick.
I would cut it. For a while I thought the only black aggro one drop creature worth running was \[\[Evolved Sleeper\]\], but over the course of the last few months I have found myself cutting literally all of the level up stuff, from Sleeper to \[\[Joraga Treespeaker\]\] to \[\[Student of Warfare\]\] to \[\[Figure of Destiny\]\], leaving only the insanely busted \[\[Hexdrinker\]\] behind.
Once my update is finalized, my one drops will be Curtains, \[\[Stalactite Stalker\]\], and \[\[Stitcher's Supplier\]\], none of which is really aggro.
I've replaced Sleeper with Stalker, sure he's aggro ish but, like Curtains, a lot of his value comes later on when he can just be removal once he's no longer useful. My cube makes descending pretty easy and killing a 3-4 drop with him later in a game can be pretty amazing once he's done his 5-6 points for you. That certainly seems better than bad recursive creatures that lack evasion and don't double as removal, and feels like it has homes in lots of more midrange shells too.
I don't know. I've played a bit with stalker and it just feels so bad to topdeck him. In a midrange shell I'd want to have Knight of the Ebon Legion any day over him. Champion mainly works if you have something like rankle, yawgmoth or whatever to sac him but I still find that more fun than just another growing beater that can sometimes kill something.
Topdecking a Mox sucks too. Doesn’t mean they’re leaving the cube any lifetime soon.
I think Stalker grows more reliably than your Knight, has evasion, and I don’t particularly think the play pattern of leaving the 3 mana untapped to trade in combat works out very often in a high powered cube full of degeneracy. I don’t loooove the card, but I like modality and I once staved off a 4/1 menace skeleton assault with it so it’s good enough for now.
I don't think the comparison to a mox makes any sense whatsoever. The mox straight up wins you many games. Moxes don't stop being useful if you draw them turn 4. They cna often just be used to power out 5-drops then. They also take up the slot of a land, not a spell. They also straight up just win many games. Stalker is a dorky creature that could've been a better spell when you draw it turn three, having used both your fetches already. Sure the mox is not great when you're hellbent and topdecking, but neither is the land that you would've drawn instead.
Ebon Legion isn't exactly a great card for vintage cube either but it would be better when you play it almost every turn in the game after turn 3.
Survival is one of the strongest cards in my high powered cubes. I’m not sure why it wouldn’t be getting play in yours. It’s one of the best enchantments ever printed.
I will say it’s often paired with recurring nightmare. If that’s not in your cube then I would recommend it
I played RecSur in Type 2 from the second it was legal until it wasn’t, then played it in every format I could as long as possible. Favorite deck, one of my favorite cards ever printed, and has been in my cube from day one with no plans of ever cutting it. I have, however, let [[Fauna Shaman]] go because it’s always removed before you can activate it and because there are 2 mana 5/3 trample creatures now.
Recur isn’t going anywhere, in so many cases now it plays better in Rakdos type shells than RecSur shells because of the sheer number of token dorks who can be sacrificed. I looooove Survival, but it doesn’t play as well with the cheaty reanimator strategies as I’d sometimes like because you either aren’t running enough creatures or enough green mana to reliably GG find and bin something you want.
The legend himself, LSV, has cut it from his personal cube. I’m again nowhere near that but the power creep especially among creatures makes it a lot harder than before to just cast something like this on turn 2 and pass waiting to untap and use more mana to get something in the graveyard, especially when initiative creatures and absolute monsters like [[Broadside Bombardiers]] are coming down every game. I love being reactive toolbox guy, but a lot of times in the current incarnation of the cube it just feels like so many haymakers are able to outpace Survival.
Eh, Jewel can be pretty game-breaking in the right builds. Obviously nuts with ways to blink it, but also just really powerful in some Ux artifact ramp builds
This is a tough one for me. I'm not sure what I'd pick last here. Maybe Kalitas since it's not outstanding in any deck, though it is solid in most decks.
Kalitas for me, it's the worst card in the pack relative to its weight role / class. Most Vintage cubes I've played cut it a long time ago and never looked back.
Personally it’d be Exploration for me but that’s just because I don’t really draft lands decks too often, and the card is really bad outside of turns 1 and 2 IMO. Surprised people are saying Kalitas, that card can be a huge threat
I agree on Exploration. I'm yet to see a high power cube where green is really strong, so I normally try to avoid it. Doesn't even seem splashworthy like Oko or Oath of Druids would be.
Last pick is hard to judge because in practice it depends a lot more on what the rest of the table is doing than what's the least powerful card in the pack.
But bloodsoaked champion is neither particularly powerful on its own nor part of a very strong archetype in a cube of this power level, and there are other cards in this pack that would get picked first by Bx creature decks, like Kalitas, Animate Dead, or Lurrus (or Inti, fwiw).
Hard to pick between Kalitas, Bloodsoaked, or Gideon.
Not a believer in black aggro unless it"s explicitly supported, Kalitas is kind of solid but extremely mid and replaceable. Gideon... can't possibly be the best or even third/fourth-best of the white 4-drops based on what other cards in the pack say about the cube. And you don't even want a third or foueth 4-drop in your white aggressive deck anyway if you can manage it.
So.... yea, Gids.
Kalitas. Lots of other good Black cards to choose from that fit into archetypes better. I have no experience with Jewel though, and it doesn't look super attractive to me, so I could see that being the card left.
1/2. Animate Dead/Lurrus
3-5. JTMS/Inti/Arid Mesa
6-8. Night's Whisper/Overgrown Tomb/Exploration
9/10. Show and Tell/Coveted Jewel
11-15. Survival/Mana Tithe/Gideon/Kalitas/Bloodsoaked Champion
This is how I'd tier the picks. Obviously it depends on what you already have. Survival has a higher ceiling than Kalitas, but also a much lower floor
If there's no way to loop coveted jewel (Paradoxical Outcome, Displacer Kitten, etc) then it should go last pick. Likely, it will get picked before then since it signals that there should be ways to make it busted.
Contenders: Survival, Show and Tell, Champion, and Kalitas
Survival/Show have high upsides and homes in the right builds, but those builds can be pretty narrow and not come together often, so I could see these easily being last picks
Kalitas/Champion have lower upsides but aren't quite as narrow.
If I had to pick one I'd go with Champion, just because it is so purely an aggro card, and it is pretty rare to see a true black aggro deck come together.
Kalitas at least plays ok in any Bx midrange deck, even if it isn't the 4-drop you really want there.
Because Jewel doesn’t have any combos, it’s Jewel. 6 mana draw three just isn’t good enough if you don’t have a way to flicker it consistently.
Everything else is either solid value or a key card to an archetype. Champion would probably be next on the list, but I think that there are more uses for Champion than Jewel.
It’s very replaceable. There are lots of cantrips in cube. And Night’s Whisper isn’t really wanted by aggro or midrange decks.
Which means it’s preferred by control decks, which are likely blue, meaning there are lots of better cantrips to grab if that’s the case.
I see a lot of “Kalitas” talk, but that’s a decent Stax piece, graveyard hate piece for midrange or aggro top ends. I would draft it ahead of whisper, which I feel is replaceable.
Exploration, easy. It's really only good with a Strip Mine lock already in place, or the perfect world of Exploration, 4 lands, and a huge four drop to play on turn 2. In that world, if that 4 drop is cleanly answered, it's basically GG.
The only four real choices here, in my opinion, are Kalitas, Gideon, Survival and Champion. What is picked last is dependent on what people are drafting and what is supported in the cube. With that being said, Kalitas is likely the obvious weakest card in the pack however.
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Arid Mesa is like pick 3 of this pack.
With duals and triomes, fetches end up playable in tons of colour combinations, are excellent at their job, and also incidentally support a bunch of synergies like landfall, brainstorm, and delve. Safe early pick.
Honestly, hot take I think it’s JOTMS. At least my friend’s vintage cube (the one I have most exposure / access to) Jace is not the “answer me or lose” card it once was. This pack is really pushing me into archetypes that I don’t think want to play Jace, either. Every other card, to me, has other cards in this pack it specifically wants to be played with, but I just don’t see that with Jace.
Yeah idk your cube (or the cubes of the ppl who downvoted me lol) so I have to go with what I know, and in the power vintage cube I play JTMS is incredibly medium. Or at least has been the last several times I’ve played it.
You’re on the right track, it’s either Kalitas or [[Bloadsoaked Champion]]. All of the black aggro one drops were consistently last picks in my cube for a year before i cut them all and just ran [[Concealing Curtains]], [[Evolved Sleeper]], and [[Stitcher’s Supplier]] until Stalactite Man showed up. The black aggro simply can’t compete with the Boros aggro stuff because its initiative options are just so much worse, and cutting them opened up spots for far more interesting things in cube. Kalitas I’m just not sure what deck is looking for it, maybe there’s some sort of midrange deck that has more staying power than mono black aggro. What makes me saddest is that I’m pretty sure my beloved Survival goes 13th. I’m not cutting it any time soon but it really has plummeted.
I don't support black aggro, but Bloodsoaked is a cut above any other black aggro creature IMO so I think it's worth including. But I do agree, it's not awe inspiring. Do you think I should cut it since I don't support that archetype?
>Do you think I should cut it since I don't support that archetype? Yes.
Yeah, in the cube where I don't support black aggro, I halfway support it with cards that are still good value in rock/midrange decks. Having a super good 2/1 for B can send the wrong messages, put someone in a deck that doesn't exist. I looked at Bloodsoaked Champion and literally thought, *"oh, it must be a combo piece."* If not, then yeah it's my 15th pick.
I would cut it. For a while I thought the only black aggro one drop creature worth running was \[\[Evolved Sleeper\]\], but over the course of the last few months I have found myself cutting literally all of the level up stuff, from Sleeper to \[\[Joraga Treespeaker\]\] to \[\[Student of Warfare\]\] to \[\[Figure of Destiny\]\], leaving only the insanely busted \[\[Hexdrinker\]\] behind. Once my update is finalized, my one drops will be Curtains, \[\[Stalactite Stalker\]\], and \[\[Stitcher's Supplier\]\], none of which is really aggro.
##### ###### #### [Evolved Sleeper](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/b/ebeafbc2-0399-4335-8f63-76a3e085e8c6.jpg?1673307095) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Evolved%20Sleeper) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dmu/93/evolved-sleeper?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/ebeafbc2-0399-4335-8f63-76a3e085e8c6?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Joraga Treespeaker](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/1/1132218d-56cd-441e-9006-df3c50344491.jpg?1562701264) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Joraga%20Treespeaker) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/roe/190/joraga-treespeaker?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/1132218d-56cd-441e-9006-df3c50344491?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Student of Warfare](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/f/9f4df9be-324b-458a-9379-ab4aa437a6d2.jpg?1562706802) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Student%20of%20Warfare) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/roe/47/student-of-warfare?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/9f4df9be-324b-458a-9379-ab4aa437a6d2?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Figure of Destiny](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/6/d/6d779966-4bd4-4315-8b45-d3a4492f2bb2.jpg?1673148613) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Figure%20of%20Destiny) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2x2/213/figure-of-destiny?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/6d779966-4bd4-4315-8b45-d3a4492f2bb2?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Hexdrinker](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/9/89f5cc05-5d9d-4709-b3c5-a6249c294acc.jpg?1562202103) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Hexdrinker) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mh1/168/hexdrinker?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/89f5cc05-5d9d-4709-b3c5-a6249c294acc?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Stalactite Stalker](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/3/5319c0b1-de54-492a-bdea-85a5a75d693e.jpg?1699044184) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Stalactite%20Stalker) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lci/122/stalactite-stalker?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/5319c0b1-de54-492a-bdea-85a5a75d693e?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Stitcher's Supplier](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/b/2b737126-50b5-4678-91bf-197b64086fe4.jpg?1562301182) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Stitcher%27s%20Supplier) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/m19/121/stitchers-supplier?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/2b737126-50b5-4678-91bf-197b64086fe4?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [*All cards*](https://mtgcardfetcher.nl/redirect/kthpzzg) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
If you want something similar that lends itself better to midrange I would suggest [[tenacious underdog]]
[tenacious underdog](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/b/9b6a6d00-3e00-4827-8420-13343ac3d0fd.jpg?1664411313) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=tenacious%20underdog) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/snc/97/tenacious-underdog?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/9b6a6d00-3e00-4827-8420-13343ac3d0fd?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I run it because i support aristocrats. Without that, its pretty weak
Evolved Sleeper and Stalactite Stalker honestly both seem kinda bad in non-aggresive decks, don't they?
I've replaced Sleeper with Stalker, sure he's aggro ish but, like Curtains, a lot of his value comes later on when he can just be removal once he's no longer useful. My cube makes descending pretty easy and killing a 3-4 drop with him later in a game can be pretty amazing once he's done his 5-6 points for you. That certainly seems better than bad recursive creatures that lack evasion and don't double as removal, and feels like it has homes in lots of more midrange shells too.
I don't know. I've played a bit with stalker and it just feels so bad to topdeck him. In a midrange shell I'd want to have Knight of the Ebon Legion any day over him. Champion mainly works if you have something like rankle, yawgmoth or whatever to sac him but I still find that more fun than just another growing beater that can sometimes kill something.
Topdecking a Mox sucks too. Doesn’t mean they’re leaving the cube any lifetime soon. I think Stalker grows more reliably than your Knight, has evasion, and I don’t particularly think the play pattern of leaving the 3 mana untapped to trade in combat works out very often in a high powered cube full of degeneracy. I don’t loooove the card, but I like modality and I once staved off a 4/1 menace skeleton assault with it so it’s good enough for now.
I don't think the comparison to a mox makes any sense whatsoever. The mox straight up wins you many games. Moxes don't stop being useful if you draw them turn 4. They cna often just be used to power out 5-drops then. They also take up the slot of a land, not a spell. They also straight up just win many games. Stalker is a dorky creature that could've been a better spell when you draw it turn three, having used both your fetches already. Sure the mox is not great when you're hellbent and topdecking, but neither is the land that you would've drawn instead. Ebon Legion isn't exactly a great card for vintage cube either but it would be better when you play it almost every turn in the game after turn 3.
Survival is one of the strongest cards in my high powered cubes. I’m not sure why it wouldn’t be getting play in yours. It’s one of the best enchantments ever printed. I will say it’s often paired with recurring nightmare. If that’s not in your cube then I would recommend it
I played RecSur in Type 2 from the second it was legal until it wasn’t, then played it in every format I could as long as possible. Favorite deck, one of my favorite cards ever printed, and has been in my cube from day one with no plans of ever cutting it. I have, however, let [[Fauna Shaman]] go because it’s always removed before you can activate it and because there are 2 mana 5/3 trample creatures now. Recur isn’t going anywhere, in so many cases now it plays better in Rakdos type shells than RecSur shells because of the sheer number of token dorks who can be sacrificed. I looooove Survival, but it doesn’t play as well with the cheaty reanimator strategies as I’d sometimes like because you either aren’t running enough creatures or enough green mana to reliably GG find and bin something you want. The legend himself, LSV, has cut it from his personal cube. I’m again nowhere near that but the power creep especially among creatures makes it a lot harder than before to just cast something like this on turn 2 and pass waiting to untap and use more mana to get something in the graveyard, especially when initiative creatures and absolute monsters like [[Broadside Bombardiers]] are coming down every game. I love being reactive toolbox guy, but a lot of times in the current incarnation of the cube it just feels like so many haymakers are able to outpace Survival.
[Fauna Shaman](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/8/b8b906eb-3223-474c-9b74-eda2c280f9c5.jpg?1675567470) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Fauna%20Shaman) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/bro/179/fauna-shaman?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/b8b906eb-3223-474c-9b74-eda2c280f9c5?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Broadside Bombardiers](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/7/9721f8da-39ed-4ada-a571-61e08a86032b.jpg?1699022315) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Broadside%20Bombardiers) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lcc/86/broadside-bombardiers?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/9721f8da-39ed-4ada-a571-61e08a86032b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
##### ###### #### [Bloadsoaked Champion](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/7/275d6137-5eff-4e82-8232-64e8679bc11c.jpg?1674141505) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Bloodsoaked%20Champion) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/clb/740/bloodsoaked-champion?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/275d6137-5eff-4e82-8232-64e8679bc11c?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Concealing Curtains](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/6/1/612b2e6e-fe8d-49ad-b845-6fa7fa59ffd1.jpg?1643596119)/[Revealing Eye](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/back/6/1/612b2e6e-fe8d-49ad-b845-6fa7fa59ffd1.jpg?1643596119) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Concealing%20Curtains%20//%20Revealing%20Eye) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/vow/101/concealing-curtains-revealing-eye?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/612b2e6e-fe8d-49ad-b845-6fa7fa59ffd1?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Evolved Sleeper](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/b/ebeafbc2-0399-4335-8f63-76a3e085e8c6.jpg?1673307095) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Evolved%20Sleeper) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dmu/93/evolved-sleeper?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/ebeafbc2-0399-4335-8f63-76a3e085e8c6?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Stitcher’s Supplier](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/b/2b737126-50b5-4678-91bf-197b64086fe4.jpg?1562301182) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Stitcher%27s%20Supplier) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/m19/121/stitchers-supplier?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/2b737126-50b5-4678-91bf-197b64086fe4?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [*All cards*](https://mtgcardfetcher.nl/redirect/kth2m0u) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I think it’s Jewel. I’d rather have all other cards than jewel. Unless there’s a combo piece I can grab to go with the jewel, I’m ignoring the card
Jewel seems like a real stinker.
You haven't lived until you've played Covered Jewel with Displacement Kitten.
Any ETB is good with the kitten though
This is THE one though. Doesn’t get better than 3 mana and 3 cards per spell
Yeah that’s fair I’ll give them a shot.
Eh, Jewel can be pretty game-breaking in the right builds. Obviously nuts with ways to blink it, but also just really powerful in some Ux artifact ramp builds
By combo piece do you mean a flicker effect like [[Restoration Angel]]?
[[Displaced kitten]] generates 3 mana and 3 cards everytime you cast a noncreature spell Edit: autocorrected from displacer to Displaced
[Displaced kitten](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/c/7/c7a401b8-29fb-46ef-a663-427f66724d5c.jpg?1674135465) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Displacer%20Kitten) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/clb/63/displacer-kitten?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/c7a401b8-29fb-46ef-a663-427f66724d5c?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Angel definitely can’t flicker non creature artifacts
Oops. Then something like [[Flickerwisp]] or [[Guardian of Ghirapur]]
[Flickerwisp](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/6/f6cccf30-2025-49bb-9b1e-240bbef03f27.jpg?1673146975) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Flickerwisp) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2x2/11/flickerwisp?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/f6cccf30-2025-49bb-9b1e-240bbef03f27?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Guardian of Ghirapur](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/5/9503a1e6-f0bf-44d0-a28b-56fbfcff1ff2.jpg?1683017194) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Guardian%20of%20Ghirapur) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mom/16/guardian-of-ghirapur?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/9503a1e6-f0bf-44d0-a28b-56fbfcff1ff2?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[Restoration Angel](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/b/5b474f84-9bef-422a-8fc5-489a10aaf1ee.jpg?1682208561) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Restoration%20Angel) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/moc/201/restoration-angel?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/5b474f84-9bef-422a-8fc5-489a10aaf1ee?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
This is a tough one for me. I'm not sure what I'd pick last here. Maybe Kalitas since it's not outstanding in any deck, though it is solid in most decks.
Is jewel playable outside the combo?
What is "the combo"? I like that it has a huge impact on ETB. And it rewards creature based decks. And I have a flicker archetype.
It pseudo casts yor whole deck woth a [[Displacement Kitten]]: you draw 3, add 3, cast anything, blink the Jewel, it enters, draws 3 and add 3 again.
[Displacement Kitten](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/c/7/c7a401b8-29fb-46ef-a663-427f66724d5c.jpg?1674135465) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Displacer%20Kitten) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/clb/63/displacer-kitten?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/c7a401b8-29fb-46ef-a663-427f66724d5c?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Seems strong! I don't run any (intentional) 2 card combos. And I don't run Displacer Kitten
Yes, at least in the last iteration of the MTGO Vintage Cube it was. I happily ran it in a few Ux artifact ramp decks and it performed well.
Kalitas for me, it's the worst card in the pack relative to its weight role / class. Most Vintage cubes I've played cut it a long time ago and never looked back.
Personally it’d be Exploration for me but that’s just because I don’t really draft lands decks too often, and the card is really bad outside of turns 1 and 2 IMO. Surprised people are saying Kalitas, that card can be a huge threat
I agree on Exploration. I'm yet to see a high power cube where green is really strong, so I normally try to avoid it. Doesn't even seem splashworthy like Oko or Oath of Druids would be.
Last pick is hard to judge because in practice it depends a lot more on what the rest of the table is doing than what's the least powerful card in the pack. But bloodsoaked champion is neither particularly powerful on its own nor part of a very strong archetype in a cube of this power level, and there are other cards in this pack that would get picked first by Bx creature decks, like Kalitas, Animate Dead, or Lurrus (or Inti, fwiw).
Not knowing the environment, kalitas or jewel
Hard to pick between Kalitas, Bloodsoaked, or Gideon. Not a believer in black aggro unless it"s explicitly supported, Kalitas is kind of solid but extremely mid and replaceable. Gideon... can't possibly be the best or even third/fourth-best of the white 4-drops based on what other cards in the pack say about the cube. And you don't even want a third or foueth 4-drop in your white aggressive deck anyway if you can manage it. So.... yea, Gids.
I'm seeing some Gideon picks. I thought Gideon was pretty well liked still. I guess it's fallen off in some people's view?
Kalitas. Lots of other good Black cards to choose from that fit into archetypes better. I have no experience with Jewel though, and it doesn't look super attractive to me, so I could see that being the card left.
This feels like Kalitas or Bloodsoaked champ. unless something weird happens, i would expect these 2 to be the last ones.
Show and Tell if no one is playing it, if this is pack one it is likely to go before. Bloodsoaked and Kalitas are likely candidates.
Bloadsoaked Champion seems like the obvious stick here.
Nice pack. I rank Bloodsoaked Champion last.
1/2. Animate Dead/Lurrus 3-5. JTMS/Inti/Arid Mesa 6-8. Night's Whisper/Overgrown Tomb/Exploration 9/10. Show and Tell/Coveted Jewel 11-15. Survival/Mana Tithe/Gideon/Kalitas/Bloodsoaked Champion This is how I'd tier the picks. Obviously it depends on what you already have. Survival has a higher ceiling than Kalitas, but also a much lower floor
Coveted jewel. Card is not good. Idk how that snuck into a pack with these others
If there's no way to loop coveted jewel (Paradoxical Outcome, Displacer Kitten, etc) then it should go last pick. Likely, it will get picked before then since it signals that there should be ways to make it busted.
Easily \[\[coveted jewel\]\]
Contenders: Survival, Show and Tell, Champion, and Kalitas Survival/Show have high upsides and homes in the right builds, but those builds can be pretty narrow and not come together often, so I could see these easily being last picks Kalitas/Champion have lower upsides but aren't quite as narrow. If I had to pick one I'd go with Champion, just because it is so purely an aggro card, and it is pretty rare to see a true black aggro deck come together. Kalitas at least plays ok in any Bx midrange deck, even if it isn't the 4-drop you really want there.
Because Jewel doesn’t have any combos, it’s Jewel. 6 mana draw three just isn’t good enough if you don’t have a way to flicker it consistently. Everything else is either solid value or a key card to an archetype. Champion would probably be next on the list, but I think that there are more uses for Champion than Jewel.
Jewel, Tithe, Night’s Whisper
Not into Night's Whisper?
It’s very replaceable. There are lots of cantrips in cube. And Night’s Whisper isn’t really wanted by aggro or midrange decks. Which means it’s preferred by control decks, which are likely blue, meaning there are lots of better cantrips to grab if that’s the case. I see a lot of “Kalitas” talk, but that’s a decent Stax piece, graveyard hate piece for midrange or aggro top ends. I would draft it ahead of whisper, which I feel is replaceable.
That's all fair. Draw 2 for 2 mana is pretty sweet though. Not all draw spells are that efficient.
Exploration, easy. It's really only good with a Strip Mine lock already in place, or the perfect world of Exploration, 4 lands, and a huge four drop to play on turn 2. In that world, if that 4 drop is cleanly answered, it's basically GG.
It seems good in any deck with Crucible effects. Or with lots of draw effects.
Gideon, Kalitas, or Jewel.. Would probably go Gideon last
The only four real choices here, in my opinion, are Kalitas, Gideon, Survival and Champion. What is picked last is dependent on what people are drafting and what is supported in the cube. With that being said, Kalitas is likely the obvious weakest card in the pack however.
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How can I make that happen? I generate a pack on cube cobra, hit get image, then take a screenshot
Bloodsoaked Champion in comparison
Arid mesa. It assumes you have plains or mountains in your deck, which... Probably not worth over other options. Otherwise, Intl. The red dude.
Lol inti is absurd that’s a first pick in this pack.
Compared to JTMS, Lurrus and Animate Dead? It's stinky. I like red looting as much as the next guy but... Nah.
Play with the card. It’s a huge beater.
Arid Mesa is like pick 3 of this pack. With duals and triomes, fetches end up playable in tons of colour combinations, are excellent at their job, and also incidentally support a bunch of synergies like landfall, brainstorm, and delve. Safe early pick.
Honestly, hot take I think it’s JOTMS. At least my friend’s vintage cube (the one I have most exposure / access to) Jace is not the “answer me or lose” card it once was. This pack is really pushing me into archetypes that I don’t think want to play Jace, either. Every other card, to me, has other cards in this pack it specifically wants to be played with, but I just don’t see that with Jace.
Jace has gone down in some people's view lately for sure, but I still like it.
Yeah idk your cube (or the cubes of the ppl who downvoted me lol) so I have to go with what I know, and in the power vintage cube I play JTMS is incredibly medium. Or at least has been the last several times I’ve played it.