Noah starts off this Legacy Cube draft with three inexpensive blue card-draw spells. But after a relatively conservative start, Noah formulates an exciting and effective Cube deck.
You can find Noah on Twitter @Novasandler.
Draftcandy #26: Legacy Cube Draft #1
Posted on October 2, 2015 by NovaSandler
NovaSandler Noah Sandler is a Magic Online veteran originally known for founding ModoSharks.com. He's been infinite from drafting for over a decade, won 36 consecutive matches in Odyssey Block flashbacks, and has eclipsed 2000 Limited rating on MTGO twice. He streams on Twitch as modogrinder1 and offers draft coaching via Skype.
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It’s so quite I literally can’t hear anything
Thanks for the excellent content, very useful commentary as usual. Can’t wait to see the BFZ drafts!
It was a bit quiet but everything else was top quality as per usual
Your evaluation and comments about Vampire Hexmage is laughable and down right retarded. “If they play a planeswalker and I kill it the next turn they are already winning”.
Err…no. How do you get to be so dense and still post on MTGO? Planeswalkers become powerful when they get to stick around and do things for multiple turns. Jace, the most feared and arguably the most powerful planeswalker, is considered powerful because he NEEDS to be answered IMMEDIATELY. If he sits there for a couple of turns, you lose the game.
However, if your opponent casts jace, uses either the brainstorm ability or bounce ability and you kill the jace using hexmage, your opponent basically just casted a 4 mana brainstorm or disperse. Hexmage is AWESOME against planeswalkers. If you KNOW he has a few powerful planeswalkers in his deck, hexmage is a VERY good card. Even when he doesn’t drop a planeswalker and you drop a hexmage on turn 2, just the threat of the hexmage is excellent because either he pays 4 mana for a spell/effect worth 1 or 2 mana at most, OR he has to interact and deal with the hexmage first.
Seriously, do you even Magic?
@Annoynymous – it’s very good you posted this as ‘Annoynymous’ rather than your usual complaining nickname because once again you have made a fool of yourself.
See what Nova here is saying, and rightfully so, is that hexmage as a planeswalkers spot-removal is negative value to you.
Let’s use your example, opponent casts jace and brainstorm or disperse, that’s a card worth of effect.
You cast hexmage and pop it, opponent lose jace and you lost the mage.
End result: opponent lost a card cast disperse or brainstorm so he in reality didn’t lose a card, he only lost mana.
You actually did lose a full card and the mana gap that your opponent had to use to cast the ‘overpriced’ effect. (you are only 1 mana ahead if this was brainstorm, but you are a card behind and 1 mana ahead, that’s not a place you want to be)
As a creature hex is a joke.
So in conclusion, if the only reason you take it is to answer planeswalkers, its a terrible card that always grants card advantage to your opponent and is a blank if your opponent doesn’t cast the said planeswalker in that game.
Meanwhile things like heroes downfall which also see little play in cube are virtually never blanks and can hit other targets if need be.
The optimal way to deal with planeswalkers is and always has been to either attack it with creatures or ignore them completely if your plan can work around them.
And this IS cube so you should have either of those.
Nova is obviously correct here figuring its better to improve his plan rather than pick up a very conditional, card disadvantage spot removal for a certain type of card.
Please study the game a little bit so you won’t make a fool out of yourself.
Annoynymous, your comments and blatant ableism are ignorant, stupid and really pathetic. Idk if you saw the matches where he went 3-0? I think he knew what kind of deck he was drafting and how to sideboard it. He was literally drafting a reanminator deck plus some value cards which does not include vampire hexmage no matter what your juvenile mind may think. In a reanimator deck, on turn 2 he very much does not want to be playing boring creatures; he wants to churn through his deck with his filtering or discard card to reanimate later. Against all other decks aside from mono red, hexmage seems average as a creature. Double black is also a mana issue for so early in the game. I hope you noticed that in cube removal is prioritised less; case in point the hero’s downfall which was not picked highly because there are just too many cool things to be doing than wasting a turn removing something unless you are the control player. His very point is that trading vampire hexmage for a card is not worth a slot in his 23.
Furthermore with vampire hexmage, it’s ok in fair blue black control decks with creatures in a normal limited format but is just boring in comparison to the power of legacy cube. Your analysis with Jace the Mindsculptor is flawed. Supposed you trade one for one with your hexmage killing the jace after a brainstorm off. The opponent remains up a card considering he has drawn a card from the brainstorm + manipulated his library favourably whilst you are down a 2/1. Idk about you, but all I hear is straight value. A best case scenario with the hexmage is that your opponent 2 for 1s you. Worst case scenario, it’s a terrible top deck, weak at best, and you never draw it on the turn you need to kill a planeswalker. 1 turn later and they start 3 -for 1ing you. And even on curve does not advance his deck’s strategy.
Go and learn some manners. Terms like retard and the way you interact with someone literally providing his opinion (which goes 3-0) in a game are disgusting and beneath people in the 21st century. I hope you don’t treat people you play against like that although I’m not holding my breath. Good day. Get good.
lol @Finks good job, I didn’t express myself as clearly as you. Does this person comment like this often?
@A. Fan – I might be wrong but I am assuming this guy isn’t some random visitor but rather a guy who usually names himself ‘kezzerdrix’, the manners, the way he constructs his comments as well as the ‘impressive’ knowledge seem to support this assumption.
Of course I could be wrong, it could be his twin brother or something.
Anyway that guy is commenting on all the streamers here, always telling them they are bad players, always trying to show off and always making a fool of himself.
I assume he tried to get a stream into the site and was rejected or something, it’s beyond me why would someone be so obsessive otherwise.
@Finks – fair enough, thanks for letting me know. Although then again, maybe it’s just that all pointless trolls sound the same?
Hey Noah, thanks for the great draft. Always appreciate getting to hear you think through the options/lines before making your decision. One request – as others mentioned this video (and some of your others) is really quiet, is it possible to check your levels at the start of recording and increase the volume somehow if necessary? Thanks again.
Sorry about the sound. I think my headphone volume was high when I first tested it. I’ll be more careful in the future.