Cubing with Big Nass #7

Posted on January 6, 2013

Welcome back for another edition of Cubing with Big Nass. I drafted a pretty sweet deck full of ridiculous bombs this time. Read on to find out more. As always, a text recap follows the video links. Enjoy!

Draft

Match 1, Game 1

Match 1, Game 2

Match 1, Game 3

Match 2, Game 1

Match 2, Game 2

Match 3, Game 1

Match 3, Game 2

Pack 1, Pick 1:

My Pick:

Time Walk is better than any of the Moxes in most decks.

Pack 1, Pick 2:

My Pick:

Library of Alexandria is among the most unfair cards in the Cube, and seeing one right off the bat will inform my future decisions. It’s best in a control deck, so that’s what I’m looking at drafting here.

Pack 1, Pick 3:

My Pick:

Speaking of unfair cards, Mind Twist is up there. With all the artifact mana floating around, it isn’t that difficult to Twist away an opponent’s whole hand early in the game.

Pack 1, Pick 4:

My Pick:

Recurring Nightmare is also a solid pick here, but I have far more experience with the planeswalker. Even if I do decide to go with a reanimator strategy, Liliana of the Veil is a pretty good enabler.

Pack 1, Pick 5:

My Pick:

Strip Mine is good and all, but I think it’s best in an aggressive deck. Sorin, Lord of Innistrad is among the better planeswalkers in the Cube and is capable of winning the game by himself.

Pack 1, Pick 6:

My Pick:

Some sort of combo deck is there if I want it, as both Show and Tell and Corpse Dance can do some broken things. I don’t really like drafting combo that much, and I highly value having good mana in my control decks.

Pack 1, Pick 7:

My Pick:

Board sweepers are plentiful in Cube, but Damnation and Wrath of God are the best ones. Now that I have a copy, I don’t really need to pick up other cards like this.

Pack 1, Pick 8:

My Pick:

I certainly wouldn’t make fun of you for taking Shriekmaw here, but this is how much I value having good mana. Aggro decks are less good in the powered Cube, so I don’t need all that much spot removal. Also, Dimir Aqueduct works very well with Library of Alexandria and Shelldock Isle.

Pack 1, Pick 9:

My Pick:

If I had a dual land, I’d pick the Verdant Catacombs here. I don’t really want to speculate on an off-color fetch land. It’s just that if I don’t manage to find a black dual land, it will be a wasted pick.

Pack 1, Pick 10:

My Pick:

Pack 1, Pick 11:

My Pick:

Pack 1, Pick 12:

My Pick:

Pack 1, Pick 13:

My Pick:

Pack 1, Pick 14:

My Pick:

Pack 1, Pick 15:

My Pick:

Pack 2, Pick 1:

My Pick:

Tinker is much better now with the large increase in cheap artifacts. I don’t have anything to Tinker into yet, but there’s a good chance this Myr Battlesphere will come back.

Pack 2, Pick 2:

My Pick:

I know I said that I highly value good mana, but Swords to Plowshares is hard to compete with.

Pack 2, Pick 3:

My Pick:

Pack 2, Pick 4:

My Pick:

A fourth-pick Upheaval is a nice gift. By the way, you shouldn’t pass this card in most cases.

Pack 2, Pick 5:

My Pick:

Pack 2, Pick 6:

My Pick:

Brainstorm isn’t actually that good in Cube. You need a lot of shuffle effects to make it work. I think it’s more likely that I play with it than that I play with Time Spiral, though.

Pack 2, Pick 7:

My Pick:

I easily could have had a reanimator deck if I wanted. I’m fine with where this Draft is going, so it’s not a big deal.

Pack 2, Pick 8:

My Pick:

I’m kind of surprised to be passed a Crucible of Worlds since I passed a Strip Mine last pack. Epochrasite is a good pick for this deck. It gives me some sort of inevitability, can be Tinkered away, and works well with Upheaval.

Pack 2, Pick 9:

My Pick:

Tinker is now online.

Pack 2, Pick 10:

My Pick:

I think it’s close between the Duress and the Mishra's Factory, but the fact that I have Tinker gives the land the edge.

Pack 2, Pick 11:

My Pick:

Pack 2, Pick 12:

My Pick:

Tinkering into Memory Jar is a pretty big game, but I need ways of actually winning the game.

Pack 2, Pick 13:

My Pick:

Pack 2, Pick 14:

My Pick:

Pack 2, Pick 15:

My Pick:

Pack 3, Pick 1:

My Pick:

He really is better than all.

Pack 3, Pick 2:

My Pick:

This pack isn’t great for me. I don’t have any ways of abusing Vesuvan Shapeshifter, so Venser, Shaper Savant it is.

Pack 3, Pick 3:

My Pick:

Ooh, third-pick Coalition Relic? Don’t mind if I do. Had I not picked up that Damnation earlier, this would have been a tough pick.

Pack 3, Pick 4:

My Pick:

Pack 3, Pick 5:

My Pick:

I would normally take one of the fetch lands here, but I can’t really pass up an on-color Signet when I have Tinker in my deck.

Pack 3, Pick 6:

My Pick:

Vampiric Tutor is not usually that good, but in this deck with a crazy number of situational bombs, it’s going to be quite effective.

Pack 3, Pick 7:

My Pick:

This was a pretty hard pick, and I’m still not sure if it was right. I went with the Baleful Strix because of its versatility: It’s not dead against any deck, and it doubles as a cheap artifact for Tinker.

Pack 3, Pick 8:

My Pick:

Old Man of the Sea is a pet card of mine, but even I have to admit it’s not the pick here. Worn Powerstone is going to be a lot better than Thran Dynamo. Vampire Nighthawk is fine, but it would be more of a sideboard card in this deck.

Pack 3, Pick 9:

My Pick:

Had I known I was going to pick up an Azorius Signet this late, I might have taken one of those fetch lands earlier. Oh well—no big deal.

Pack 3, Pick 10:

My Pick:

Pack 3, Pick 11:

My Pick:

Pack 3, Pick 12:

My Pick:

Pack 3, Pick 13:

My Pick:

Pack 3, Pick 14:

My Pick:

Pack 3, Pick 15:

My Pick:

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Here’s what I submitted:

"Crazy Bomb Cube"

Obviously, the deck is full of crazy bombs that can win the game by themselves, but I was pleasantly surprised by how well Epochrasite worked out in this deck. I even timed a suspended Epochrasite to come in the turn after an Upheaval. The other MVPs were Mind Twist, Damnation, and Library of Alexandria.

After a nail-biter of a match against an aggressive red deck first round, I easily won my next two rounds. Hope you guys enjoyed the recap, and I’ll see you again next week for another Cube Draft. Until then, take care.

Nassim Ketita

arcticninja on Magic Online

http://www.youtube.com/nketita

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