A petition is probably not the best description of this as I am not after signatures or anything but I feel quite strongly about a few things cube related and with even the remotest chance of having an effect I feel compelled to voice my opinion and justifications for it. It was all sparked while drafting my first Modo cube since the new changes. I happened to be mono black and so I was reading the new list while making my picks to see if that would be changing any of my priorities and to my horror realised that Death Cloud had been cut. Had I bothered to study the list before jumping into a draft there is no way I would have made the picks I did leading me to mono black had I known there was no chance of getting the linchpin card.
While I love the card and so might slightly overrate it I can be sure I overrate it far less than it is generally underrated. In a 40 card deck one copy will make such a difference to you odds across all the matchups. Black is one of the weaker colours in cube but this is a strength in many ways as it is a known thing. It makes it much easier to go black and end up with a mono deck, for which black is the best colour. As Death Cloud is underrated and a little bit harder to play and build around than other cards it can be left out of lots of decks, the casting cost adds to this problem as well. I am sure statistical analysis went into the choices about what to cut from the Modo cube and I am not wholly surprised that using those methods the Cloud got cut.
My argument is that this kind of statistical method to cut cards will lead to a cube lacking in synergy or interesting card interaction when used on a new and un-established format. Magic is a game based on the interaction of cards, a good general rule is the more interaction the better the games. Black is under drafted and Death Cloud is a heavily black card making it much less commonly picked than the power level of the card should warrant. By removing the option to ever pick up the card, ideally nice and late, then you remove incentive to play black and so exacerbate the problem of black being under drafted.
There are a selection of key cards for a lot of strategies that are absent from the Modo cube that I would love to see added as it would enhance the quality of the games. None of these cards fail to deserve a slot based on their power level either. Overrun would have been on this list but I am pleased to say it was at least added to compensate for the loss of Death Cloud as it is a similarly key card for the mono green deck and very good in any green/x agro deck.
Death Cloud
Carrion Feeder
Zuran Orb
Grand Architect
Faithless Looting
Life from the Loam
Chromatic Star
Bonesplitter
Any way, those are the most notable omissions that are clearly not over powered, like Mana Vault could be accused of, but that really aid a cube. Obviously I think cubes should look a lot like mine and so I can suggest loads of cuts and additions but variety is the spice of life and so I shall accept and appreciate the lesser differences and speak out only against those that I feel add the very most to a cube. While I am about petitioning for changes to the Modo cube it might be nice to get the virtual cube boosters rather than unsellable Legions booters for those of us that wish to exclusively cube. If only nice and profitability were synonymous in the world.
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