Magic 2011 is Bat$#!% Insane(ly Awesome)

Magic 2011 has a little grouping of worldwide parties called Prerelease Events going on this Saturday. While my local TO asked me to gunsling a few weeks back she just recently found out that the man, myth, and legend Scott Larabee was also coming to join in the fun (check it here). As an avid fan of EDH I'm sure he'll bring some solid decks to rock out with. If you're near the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area I hope you can make it out for what's shaping up to be an epic day of Magic goodness!


Of course, I blog (or 'formally document my thoughts' as I like to put it) about my cube here. Last week I shared a whole series of potential changes outside of M11 considerations. This week I handle the greatest core set yet.

But first thing's first, I forgot to cover one proposed change last week:

MULTICOLOR:

SWAP:
-Jhessian Zombies, +Architects of Will
I originally had Architects in when I started my cube. Now it's clear that landcyclers aren't that hot but mild "griefing" effects are actually very good. Locking your opponent out of something relevant seems amazing - and something that will surprise a lot of players when it happens to them.

Now, I'll handle my Magic 2011 thoughts. Since it's not in the Gatherer yet please use both the Visual Spoiler as well as my crude, shortcut notes to understand what the cards I'm referring to do.

Example Note:
CARDNAME [MANA COST] {Abilities} POWER/TOUGHNESS

WHITE:
+Assault Griffin [3W] {Flying} 3/2
+Cloud Crusadter [2WW] {Flying, First Strike} 2/3
-Akrasan Squire
-Master Decoy
There are a few too many tappers and the Squire hasn't done much exciting. More fliers gives midrange and control decks difficult to answer creatures once they are in control of the game.

BLUE:
+Æther Adept [1UU] {ETB Unsummon} 2/2
+Augury Owl [1U] {Flying, ETB Scry 3} 1/1
+Diminish [U] {Instant, Target creature becomes 1/1 until EOT}
+Scroll Thief [2U] {When ~ deals combat damage to a player, draw 1} 1/3
-Fowl Play
-Thought Courier
-Merfolk Looter
-Echo Tracer
Fowl Play wants to be Diminish. I like the "loses all abilities" part but blue removal is at a premium. The looters never performed as well as hoped, but an extra, fixed Ophidian and some scry on flying legs looks very promising. Tracer is tricky but expensive. Adept gets the job done much more efficiently.

BLACK:
+Liliana's Specter [1BB] {Flying, ETB opponent discards 1} 2/1
-Dirge of Dread
Dirge has had it's time to shine: it hadn't yet. Specter hits the board with evasion and disruption.

RED:
+Act of Treason (it's a common in M11)
+Chandra's Outrage [2RR] {Instant, Deals 4 damage to target creature and 2 to it's controller}
+Manic Vandal [2R] {ETB Shatter} 2/2
-Prodigal Pyromancer
-Aftershock
-Keldon Vandals
Treason is amazing and will likely make the cut in place of Pyromancer. Manic Vandal is a nice tempo upgrade over the Keldon variety - echo really rubs red the wrong way. Outrage costs like Aftershock, kills creatures almost just as well, and tacks a little player burn onto it too.

GREEN:
+Cultivate (it's a function reprint of Kodama's Reach)
+Garruk's Companion [GG] {Trample} 3/2
+Hornet Sting [G] {Instant, 1 damage to target creature/player}
+Sylvan Ranger [1G] {ETB seach for a basic land into your hand} 1/1
-Edge of Autumn
-Wirewood Guardian
-Centaur Courser
-Land Aid '04
There's a lot of good stuff in M11 for green. Cultivate and Sylvan Ranger feel so much smoother than Edge of Autumn and Land Aid '04. I hate cutting any of the Un-set cards but here is makes sense. Wirewood Guardian is the landcycler hanger-on that makes more sense as a curve-bust 3/2 trample for just two. Hornet Sting is going to blow people out just as often as Brute Force does in red - no one will miss the plain Centaur Courser.

So there you have it: my M11 cube changes. Let me know what you think of the cumulative changes soon - I'll be desperately updating my cube for the Saturday showdown against the Magic world!