Ashling, the totally-unfair-with-a-warhammer

So yesterday or so, Justin had Ashling, the Pilgrim wearing a Warhammer, and totally popped that thing for 7 damage to everything and gained 35 life. Sweet.

I actually ended up winning the game thanks to sweet Pristine Angel/Behemoth Sledge (I know! same draft!) action, but basically it gave me nightmares.

4/26/09 Changes

Wall of Denial in for Sky Spirit

Qasali Pridemage in for Watchwolf

Upgrade like whoa.

Behemoth Sledge in for Knight of the Reliquary

Dauntless Escort in for Saffi Eriksdotter

Mycoid Shepherd in for Phantom Nishoba

I'm excited to get this a little (a lot?) lower-end.

Soul Manipulation in for Blizzard Specter

Short little foray into the cube, sorry buddy.

Arashi, the Sky Asunder in for Krosan Tusker

If you are going to be overcosted AND not trample, at least cycle for colorless or something, mmkay?

Bloodbraid Elf in for Savage Twister

Spellbreaker Behemoth in for Burning-Tree Shaman

Maelstrom Pulse in for Nath of the Gilt-Leaf

Spellbound Dragon in for Izzet Chronarch

Thraximundar in for Grixis Charm

Uril, the Miststalker in for Meglonoth

Empyrial Archangel in for Rafiq of the Many

Sphinx of the Steel Wind in for Tower Gargoyle

Hybrid vs. Things That Are Good

Hey guys! I've been contemplating things. This is apparently my constant battle, but I want to find a way to make hybrid good without actually being a total cheater. This is what I was thinking- what if we allow cards with off-color activations in for hybrid, or possibly just for one, hybrid spot? I think this fits in the sense of "hybrid cards are playable with one color, but better with two". The analogy isn't perfect, since Kird Ape, for example isn't possible without red, but it's also not terrible far off. And some cards in hybrid spots aren't actually playable with one color- I'm looking at you, Mistmeadow Witch.

Look, I'm just trying to figure out how to get Momentary Blink back in. What do you think?

Here is what I think could be replaced. Keep in mind that I don't see this as a permanent thing. In 20 years when there have been like 8 more hybrid sets I'm sure we can find stuff that is decent. But goddamn do I have to keep seeing Ass Wizards in the meantime?

Mistmeadow Witch -> Momentary Blink. Oh. Or Mirror Sigil Sergeant, hey buddy.

Noggle Hedge-Mage -> Ogre Savant

Noggle Bandit -> ??

Wilt-Leaf Liege

Finally got to use the discard ability, off of a Recoil. Score! I'm so excited.

Rules Clarity

On the off chance that someone other than the four of us looks at this- I thought I would enumerate the rules we are using, so that no one has to lose sleep over the fact that we don't include Fire//Ice.

1. Multicolor has to require both colors; hence, no split cards.

2. Nothing with off-color activations- this includes things like Mirror Sigil Sergeant or Kird Ape.

3. This is a cube for limited- so no combo pieces, and if there could be a decent curve, that would be nice.

4. Each color should not do just one thing. Blue should have creatures and red should have some non-burn spells and such.

Alara Reborn Changes - Summary

All of Alara Reborn is spoiled now- so we can start making some awesome, awesome swaps. Please comment with your thoughts!

White/Blue

Current	Possible Inclusions
Sky Spirit	Wall of Denial
Deft Duelist
Iridescent Angel
Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
Ith, High Arcanist

White/Green

Current	Possible Inclusions
Saffi Eriksdotter	Dauntless Escort
Watchwolf	Qasali Pridemage
Phantom Nishoba	Behemoth Sledge
Loxodon Hierarch	Mycoid Shepherd
Knight of Reliquary

Blue/Black

Current	Possible Inclusions
Agony Warp	Nemesis of Reason
Shadowmage Infiltrator
Moroii
Wydwen, the Biting Gale
Blizzard Specter

Blue/Red

Current	Possible Inclusions
Izzet Chronarch	Spellbound Dragon
Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
Prophetic Bolt
Suffocating Blast
Electrolyze

Blue/Green

Current	Possible Inclusions
Simic Sky Swallower	Sages of the Anima
Assault Zeppelid	Lorescale Coatl
Trygon Predator
Mystic Snake
Jhessian Infitrator

Black/Green

Current	Possible Inclusions
Pernicious Deed	Maelstrom Pulse
Nath of the Gilt-Leaf
Putrefy
Grave-Shell Scarab
Spiritmonger

Black/Red

Current	Possible Inclusions
Shambling Remains	Lightning Reaver
Wrecking Ball
Void
Terminate
Blazing Specter

Green/Red

Current	Possible Inclusions
Savage Twister	Spellbreaker Behemoth
Sarkhan Vol	Bloodbraid Elf
Burning-Tree Shaman	Vithian Renegades
Branching Bolt
Rumbling Slum

White/Blue/Green

Current	Possible Inclusions
Rafiq of the Many	Empyrial Archangel

White/Blue/Black

Current	Possible Inclusions
Tower Gargoyle	Sphinx of the Steel Wind
	Enigma Sphinx

Blue/Black/Red

Current	Possible Inclusions
Grixis Charm	Thraximundar

Red/Green/White

Current	Possible Inclusions
Meglonoth	Uril, the Miststalker

More Alara Reborn

Behemoth Sledge

Hi.

Also this guy, with no image yet:

Dauntless Escort
1{g}{w}

Sacrifice Dauntless Escort: Creatures you control are indestructible this turn.

3/3


And another one, getting ready to kick Deft Duelist in the face, in my opinion.

Wall of Denial
1{w}{u}

Defender, Flying, Shroud

0/8

Possible Alara Reborn inclusions

Just throwing this out stuff out there. I'll keep updating this one.

Thraximundar

Sphinx of the Steel Wind

On one hand, everything shouldn't cost a million. On the other hand, tricolor is probably where it is more acceptable for things to cost a million, since you should have all your colors by turn million. You know?

Spellbound Dragon

Have I mentioned how much I hate Izzet Chronarch? Also, it's like Knollspine Invocation on a stick. For free. Kind of. I'm into it.

Maelstrom Pulse

I'm not opposed to including another non-red way to deal with planeswalkers.

Spellbreaker Behemoth

For Burning-Tree Shaman, probably?

Qasali Pridemage

Mycoid Shepherd

I'm a sucker for any card with "Shepherd" in the name. Laters, Saffi and/or Watchwolf.

Lightning Reaver

Competition is tough in this slot. Blazing Specter probably stays, but I love the Razerunner effect.

Uril, the Miststalker

OMG forever.

Retaliator Griffin

Also charming, but less so.

Enigma Sphinx

What do you think about this vs. Sphinxkroma?

Aaaaand... probably not for the cube but it's literally blowing my mind:

Sen Triplets

4/15/09 Changes

foil Blizzard Specter in for Recoil

It's my blog and I'll write what I want.

4/14/09 Changes

Mask of Memory in for Prismatic Lens

We thought the lens wasn't really necessary. Thoughts??

L4D Photos

Off subject!





I'm trying to look the poster where Zoey is practically rolling her eyes at all this zombie bullshit.

4/12/09 Changes

Etched Oracle in for Epochrasite

Something less lame.

4/11/09 Changes

Heat Ray in for Urza's Rage

No one ever gets to Kicker mana on Urza's Rage.

Blistering Firecat in for Goblin Razerunners

Everyone else with a cube can't be wrong. Or at least might not be wrong. Sorry for dismantling your dream team, Joe.

Artifacts

So we've been thinking that the artifact sector needs a bit of a reboot. Specifically I am sad every time I see Epochrosite in a draft, and maybe Dolmen Gate isn't right either. Thoughts? More equipment?

Nucklavee

I just wanted to comment on this. I complain about Nucklavee probably more than any other human. However! A few drafts ago, I used a Nucklavee to get back a Pact of Negation and Banefire, and was not complaining about it. Little dude has his moments.

4/5/09 Changes

Cradle Guard in for Rhox Charger

"Rhox Charger wasn't getting the job done."