Limited Resources: MTGO Cube Draft #1

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Limited Resources

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  3. Awakening zone is an excellent follow up to first pick skullclamp. Clamp all the 0/1 dudes for massive card draw.

  6. I’m sitting here listening to the commentary and you’re just all over the place. Talking about taking green cards when you don’t have a single green card in the deck. Taking a terror over careful consideration and oona prowler just did it for me. Sorry bro. Not feeling this one.

  7. desertion over meloku man this gets more painful to watch each week but this guy is literally all thats left online w mtgovideos dead

  8. cj, theres another limited resources person who posts vids on youtube. dont remember name but he’s decent

  9. I think you did fairly well with this. There were a few things that made me shake my head, like almost not floating mana with upheaval with the two drop in hand.

    Pick non basics a little higher. You’ll always have enough playable . So taking non basics may take a pick out of the draft initially, but it will also allow for the splashing of bombs that you open down the line. Non basics also improve the power level of your deck. Where some people will play 15 basics 2 non, you could play 10 and 7. For example if you go back and look, i believe in pack 1, when you pass the tropical island. You took a dissapate but counters are easily replaced, but your mana fixing becomes much better because you have the Verdant Catacombs so you can search for blue or black there. Just something to think about.

  10. If you’re already in U/b and looking for a way to win, i’m not sure you pick FoW over recurring nightmare? Perhaps it’s closer than I think though!

  11. Skullclamp into Awakening Zone into Deranged Hermit? Not sure why you wanted to first pick skullclamp, and then completely ignore it immedately?

  12. You should really work on not missing some basic plays like R1G1 where you fetch underground sea and then realize a turn later you can’t get UU with verdant. Just plan ahead and fetch the right lands. R3G2 you can keep open dissipate+forbid but misstap and deon’t keep open UUUU.

  14. Just a quick note. M1G1 you made a pretty serious play mistake IMO. Your deck has more demand for early blue than for early black. Once you drew the swamp you should have played out your second fetch land and used that to get the underground sea and used your original fetch land to get an island. Thus giving you double both rather than triple black and single blue available.

  15. I like the countermagic archetypes quite a bit. When you get enough of the right cards, these kinds of decks seem to have the highest top-end of any deck type. I think kira and skullclamp would both probably have served you better in a fish-type deck (small blue dudes, high utility, counters) but the blue-black style deck is fine. You got hurt by the mana-intensive costs of your cards (sorin and crusader seemed to be particular sticking points). There might have been some opportunity to move into white in the second pack, and i like the pairing of U/W better than U/B when you are playing this kind of deck (because you get to play wrath effects). Also, U/R is a nice combination for this style of deck (fireballs and burn help a lot to bulk out your removal and also act as a finisher)

    *spoiler alert*
    Congratulations on holding onto the win in round 2 – that was a real nail biter and a lot of players wouldn’t have made it out of that situation.

    I loved the modo cube. I think they did a really good job with designing it. I am glad to see you drafting it, i hope it comes back soon!

  16. this was pretty painful to watch, much more practice needed I suppose…
    lol’ed at “I don’t think this does a whole lot in the cube” about awakening zone after just first-picking skullclamp :D

  17. Haven’t seen the videos of the matches yet, and I have paused the draft with you picking future sight and not understanding what it does.

    I have been playing these cube events too, and i’ve experienced future sight going a lot later than it should. Dunno if we get to see how powerfull this enchantment is in the videos, but when future sight is in play, any card you play basically cycles, which is obv a very powerfull effect. you get to see so many new cards each turn, that you can just bury your opponent in card advantage almost no matter what.

  18. I love the clowns on here that rip Marshall, lolz. The ones that don’t have videos on MTGO Academy and who aren’t going to Barcelona.

  20. The fact that he passed a memory jar without even mentioning it makes me sad.

    He should have gone blue/green though. He passed a lot of good green, especially early.

  22. It’s pretty hilarious listening to you try to reason out how powerful cards you’ve never played with are. And I don’t mean that in a negative way, it’s interesting to hear your thought processes.

    Palinchron is awesome because in addition to a free flying beater, it’s an easy infinite mana engine with a number of other cards. Mirari’s Wake, Gaea’s Cradle, Cabal Coffers, etc etc.

  23. Any comment on Force of Will (marginal) over Recurring Nightmare, best black card in the cube, and is another reason for you to draft more creatures which make your first pick skullclamp (best card in the cube) better.

  24. @billy and Mike They are working on it.

    @Will I dunno, is that right? Awakening Zone is a card I love, but I still don’t really see what it does in this cube. Is Skullclamp really enough reason to take it? I can’t imagine it is.. maybe I’m wrong. I’m no cube expert that’s for sure.

    @M No, just don’t know these cards :)

    @Nick I am told it was a standard deck at some point. Would have been cool to know that before but hey, still fun.

    @Chris I am ok with this.

    @cj I’m not sure what you are saying. Thanks for watching I think?

    @daniel It’s Kenji aka Numotthenummy. He is an excellent limited player in my opinion, and I recommend his videos highly.

    @Eric Thanks. I am obviously a cube novice so this kind of constructive help is beneficial. I do know I enjoy playing it at least :)

    @StealthBadger I don’t know, you might be right. I just don’t have experience with the cards so I lack the context to know what is awesome and what isn’t :( I just make it up as I go and hope it works out.

    @Dj Mira I guess I don’t see Skullclamp as a build around me card. I don’t want to take mediocre cards like Awakening Zone just becasue I have one Skullclamp. I’ve never played Deranged Hermit so I don’t know there. He seems kind of nonbo with Clamp though, right?

    @nymerion Well ya… those were just mistakes, nothing more. Still learning these cards and interactions as you could tell by watching :)

    @grischa this is not helpful :)

    @Sean Agreed!

    @madmanquail Thanks for the useful feedback, it is appreciated. I am obviously learning cube so this kind of info is great for me!

    @anonymous Painful is a weird word to use I think.. I still also don’t think that Zone is good here, do you?

    @Jesse Ha, don’t sweat it, it’s part of putting the content out to the world :) I think the people that watch my videos understand that I know what I am good at, and disclaim what I am still learning (like I did on this video). I had a great time with the cube and will do it again next time, even if I am still learning it :)

    @unfamiliar Well I hope it was enjoyable anyway. Cube is hard!

    @anonymous Sorry, I just don’t konw those cards. I have to read half of them, and not obvioulsy easy to use cards like Jar get lost between the cracks pretty easily. I mean I had never played Upheaval before… Cube is hard like I have said :) I’ll try Jar next time maybe?

    @anonymous That’s correct, these are phantom drafts where the cards just disappear after the event.

    @mannequin Ha, I’m sure it is. I have all these crazy options I am largely unfamiliar with, plus the clock, recording, and talking about it all. It’s a lot to process, and sure to get some entertainment value going :) Thanks for the summary on Palinchron, that makes perfect sense now!

  25. @korla I haven’t played with Recurring Nightmare and didn’t know it was the best card in the cube? (is it really? that is a big statement!) I just haven’t played with most of the cards so I have to make stuff up as I go :P

  27. @Limited Resources. Well, I’m probably just as new to cube as you, just feels like with the insane power of skullclamp, it’s worth tilting your deck in a direction where you can take advantage of it. At least felt it would be worth considering those cards.

    I feel Hermit is always awesome, either you get 9 power for 5 mana, which is insane, or they kill your hermit and you are left with 4 power… or draw 8 cards :D

  28. Marshall, hermit and awakening zone with skullclamp is so powerful the rest of your deck hardly matters. Hermit & clamp = 5 mana draw 10 cards. Awakening zone = draw 2 per turn, and can help you ramp to whatever you’re looking to get to.

    Skullclamp is powerful enough that you don’t have to build around it, but if you pick it up early and you’re in the right colors then there are certain cards you don’t want to pass.

  29. Marshall the trick w/ recurring nightmare is to never pass priority making it tough to deal with. You play it, then immediately use it. Therefore it is immune to enchantment/ permanent removal. You can swap an awakening zone token w/ the best creature in your yard and the only thing they can really do to stop it is counterspell/ discard.

    And yes that card is nuts, we banned it in our cube at home.

  30. It was all fun and games, until you cut Future Sight.

    It’s definitely a control-y card and is sort of expensive without signnets and such, but it basically draws you a card, and then lets you draw a card for every card you play off the top (lands, random spells…). It’s sweet. I would have probably cut one of the counterspells for it.

  32. In my experience the thing that wins in cube is rediculous 2 card synergies with cards that are good on their own. Got skullclamp get token makers. Got upheaval, get psychatog. Basically, go for the big game. Get greedy. Get the cards that are 2 or more for 1. And, understand you are going to have enough playables.

    As for your second pick … I think it had to be between Awakening Zone and Looter Il-Kor. The zone helps you ramp to crazy finishers and has good synergy with the clamp and looter doesn’t get any better than it does in cube because getting to your best stuff or your answers is so important.

  34. Your round 3 opponent’s “awkward” comment probably referred to the fact that he failed to find a creature off his survival.

  35. IMO Recurring Nightnmare is only the second best Black Card in the Cube, after Bitterblossom.

    Also, IMO Skullclamp is the best card in the cube.

  36. @AlphaChannel. Yep, you’re right. That was me.

    I could have played around upheaval a lot better (I didn’t scout, so I didn’t know he had it) by keeping animate dead in play, and made a couple of other errors (like forgetting to use Jace). Mostly I needed to play a bit faster; cube takes so much more thinking than block.

    My deck wasn’t great. I needed some better tutor targets for Survival. Maybe a couple more bombs.

  37. Marshal, we need to get you caught up on these old sets. every pick i was like oh that card is awesome, and u were like, hum maybe this works somehow? good video, love me some cube, but wheres your history man? heh.

  38. Videos are not appearing for me – a shame because I really like the content here (and watching Marshal cube should be awesome!!!). Is this a known problem? just having blank spaces where the videos usualy are?

  40. No the issue still presist. The first 2 flash videos come up half the time and I am unable to download the mp4 format. Even when the 2 flash videos show up I can not access the third or forth flash video. I have tried changing to different browsers and the unavailability of videos still exist. Default browser is enternet explore, but I have also tried on fire fox and safari.

  41. actually I just tried safari and fire fox again and everything is working fine. The problem seems to be with enternet explore. I have had similar problems with explore in the past.

  43. In m2g2, transmuting Tolaria West into Island lets you play it right off, keep Desertion mana up, and get a virtual draw 1 by shuffling away that Swamp.

    Cube is nail-biting to play, and fun to watch.

  45. Marshall first of all I want to thank you for the incredible work you do in uploading all the limited video’s. I have been watching you for a while and your strongest point is the play by play decision making. However your weakest point is evaluation of cards, which sometimes becomes glaringly painfull in new formats such as this.
    My recommendation for future formats is that you go over the complete cardlists once or twice before you start these events off. The preparation itself might cost you about 1-2 more hours, but that is a worthwhile investment since you have to do this only every 2 months or so.
    An example of this draft:

    Skullclamp p1p1 is a very valid pick, its power value is high up there and its colourless.
    However after that your picks are very sketchy, and completely opposite of your skullclamp pick. Skullclamp obviously requires creatures to be effective. It gives card draw to creature based decks which normally dont have access to it.
    P1p2 you open: Huntmaster of the Fells, Ranger of Eos and Awakening Zone. Three cards with incredible powerlevel on their own in limited, but also incredible synergy with Skullclamp.
    Instead you pick a blue card (the colour which already has access to card draw) which relies on your opponents playing a creature?

    P1p3 there is a deranged hermit. This is an old card so you are probably not familiar with it, but it has again incredible powerlevel on its own. Again insane synergy with skullclamp.
    Instead you pick Kyra which is a complete nonbo with skullclamp.

    If you continue this trend, you see you are not thinking of the cards you have drafted before aside from them being blue. Hypnotic spectre is very strong in a kyra/control magic shell, instead you pick Manequin.
    ou could have drafedt an incredible naya deck. Lightning helix, stonecloak. Green offers you enough manafixing, and since the powerlevel of your cards are already incredible you can prioritise dual lands in the other 2 packs. Also naya colours in cube is quite strong. StP, path to exile, elspeth, ayani vengeant, goyf, bolt, bloodbraid elf, etc..

  46. your on the fly card eva was pretty good i think actually. its more that you miss a lot of plays.
    you should watch these again and look for other plays..

    in a format like this playing is way more important than drafting.

  47. In M3G3 it might have been a better idea to rip apart his hand with the Shortfang then worrying about playing Kira, etc. After the Upheaval, the only thing you knew about that could wreck you was Sun Titan, and making him discard that would have pretty much been GG. Unless I’m missing something I’m pretty sure your opponent misplayed by not attacking with the Titan. He would have eventually gotten the Titan on the Mimic Vat which would have allowed him to completely take over that game, and he would have been recurring threats each time he attacked.

    Anyway, I won’t beat a dead horse by commenting on some of the cards/interactions since you’re not too familiar with cube. I loved the videos and commentary, it was interesting to watch, as your videos always are!

  48. I’ve been playing cube for the last 3 years once a week or more, and the deck you built was fine, but I just wanted to take a sec to tell you my thoughts.

    Cube (this one especially bc it’s unpowered) is less about having strong cards than a cohesive strategy/deck. Normally the eldrazi enchantment is not good in cube, but you saw all the cards that make it great, and how i think you should have built your deck – taking skullclamp into that enchantment, followed by opposition is quite strong. Combine with deranged hermit and the 7 mana landfall plant guy to lock your opponents out of the game. Recurring nightmare then gives your deck very strong lategame, with palinchron infinite mana and infinite creatures.

    Palinchron + recurring nightmare = tap 7, pay 3 untap 7 float 4, play nightmare float 11, etc while sacrificing deranged hermit/palinchron back and forth. Palinchron is only ok as a free finisher leaving counterspell mana (which would have been fine in your deck) but is only great with this combo.

    You saw how upheaval can be good, restarting the game and giving you parity in cards as well as first turn, plus the ability to float mana and play stuff first.

    I think forbid is only very good when you have multiple ways to draw cards, so that you can lock people (such as the horseman ship guy plus a jace or something).

    **reason you should play future sight – imagine casting mulldrifter and drawing two cards. you say yourself you like this effect. now imagine casting future sight. next turn you draw, and reveal a land on top. cast the land, reveal a three drop. cast a three drop, reveal a 3 mana counterspell. you’ve esentially just drawn 3 cards instead of two, and you get to keep doing this every turn of the game.

    only a few glaring missplays game 1 and three, such as not thinking about the mana you fetch or leave open ( g1 definitely bc you waited to draw before fetching and drew a swamp you should just fetch the island and play the other fetch to fetch underground to have BB or UU).

    You correctly countered jitte, which using wall of roots plus open land would kill all your creatures as you played them, and incorrectly did not counter sword of Fire and Ice and then countered library. Library is like a better top, but does not affect the board. by countering that with force you fell so far behind you couldn’t keep up. there are many times i’ve seen library go up and just not do anything because you have what you want, can’t cast spells, or can’t pay life (better top, where top is not that strong in cube).

  49. idk if someone has said this already but upheavel is better in green like Gae’s cradle + up = play one million creatures and opponent has nothing

  50. Am i missing something at the end of match 1 ? couldn’t you change the target of the 1 damage to spellskite instead of letting kyra die ?

  51. This probably means little to most people but in the 3rd game the awkward comment seems to have been caused by the other player using survival of the fittest then discovering that he had no more creatures in the deck. (had 5 cards, activated, had 4 cards, effect resolves, has 4 cards.)

  52. M1G2 you should have changed the target of the Spikeshot Elder activation to Spellskite. This way, it would have been countered, allowing you to chump with Kira and still draw the two cards, allowing you to untap the next turn with three extra cards.