A Look Back at Some Cube Blowouts

I was playing against Tony Yates sometime back in Season 2. I had drafted some sort of green/red or Jund deck, and Tony was on a black control deck of some kind (probably blue/black or Esper). We were on turn 5 or 6. I was stuck on three lands, and Tony had countered or killed all of my early plays. If I remember correctly, Tony had been using Pack Rat to defend himself, and I had been trading aggressively with the tokens so that it wouldn't spiral out of control before I drew the mana needed to cast my more impactful spells. Tony ended his turn with one Pack Rat on the battlefield, two cards in hand, and his only available mana was a single untapped Swamp.

I untapped and drew my card, dismayed that it was yet another nonland card. I added it to my hand, which was overflowing with expensive spells alongside a Bonfire of the Damned. I had managed to whittle him down to a single copy of Pack Rat, so this was my only chance to get it off the field before Tony could untap and infest the place with a rat army. With only an untapped Swamp for mana, I figured Tony would have to have a free counterspell of some sort to stop it, and the chances of that were very low. I tapped out and announced Bonfire for X=1, putting it into my graveyard, grabbing my pen, and motioning that I was done with my turn after that.

Unfortunately for me, Tony had the one card that I had neglected to consider: Dark Ritual. He responded by casting it and using the mana to activate Pack Rat's ability, pitching the last card in his hand. Instead of finally ridding myself of the rodent nuisance, I was now facing down a pair of 2/2s that immediately grew to 3/3s on Tony's turn, who wasted no time attacking into my empty board. I drew my last card and conceded, and if I know myself like I think I do, I'm sure I complained about it the rest of the night.

Tony later told me it was the first time he had ever gotten to make that play in Cube, but he has done it many times since then, including several more incidents during that very draft.

Bullshit.

In round 3 of Thursdaddy 78, Clayton Long and Nick Nalley had settled in for a scrapfest. Clayton had drafted mono-red, as always, and Nick was playing a green/black midrange deck of sorts. Despite Nick's excellent start, Clayton managed to put him in the dirt. Let's see how it all went down, shall we?

Nick's Turn 1: Library of Alexandria. Pass.

Clayton's Turn 1: Mountain. Firedrinker Satyr. Pass.

Nick's Turn 2: Draw for turn. Tap Library to draw an additional card. Overgrown Tomb tapped. Pass.

Clayton's Turn 2: Attack with Firedrinker Satyr. Nick falls to 18. Mountain. Plated Geopede. Pass.

Nick's Turn 3: Land. Farhaven Elf, fetching a Forest. Pass.

Clayton's Turn 3: Mountain, triggering landfall on Plated Geopede. Attack with both creatures. Nick blocks the Firedrinker Satyr with his Farhaven Elf. First strike damage deals 3 to Nick, who falls to 15. The elf and satyr trade. Clayton takes 1 from Firedrinker Satyr's trigger, leaving him at 19. Clayton casts Gore-House Chainwalker unleashed during his second main phase. Pass.

Nick's Turn 4: Draw for turn. Tap Library to draw an additional card. Land. Polukranos, World Eater. Pass.

Nick Nalley: 15 life. 6 cards in hand.

Clayton Long: 19 life. 3 cards in hand.

Now, on an average day, I would say that things aren't looking good for Clayton. His opponent has one of the best possible creatures against him in play with enough mana to kill one of his guys without spending another card (and even draw an extra card or cast a cheap spell with his leftover lands). Though he could easily spend cards if he wanted to, since he's already drawn two additional cards this game. Clayton doesn't really have any good attacks here; if he swings with both of his creatures, Nick can block the Gore-House Chainwalker, forcing him to 2-for-1 himself with a burn spell if he wants to get Polukranos off the table. If Clayton plays a land and only attacks with the 3/3 Plated Geopede, Nick can easily just take 3, since that isn't enough pressure at this point to risk losing his Polukranos to first strike damage plus a burn spell. If Nick gets to untap with the Polukranos in play, there's a good chance he can cast either a haymaker or multiple spells next turn to start taking over the game. Clayton is going to need some good cards in order to press his advantage. Let's see what's in his hand.

Those are certainly some good cards. If he manages to rip a mountain, some of you may already be able to see what line Clayton could take to seal the game. Here's what happened:

Clayton's Turn 4: Draw for turn (it's a Mountain!). Mountain, triggering landfall on Plated Geopede. Koth of the Hammer. Activate Koth's -2, adding RRRR to his mana pool. Spend all of that mana to cast both Searing Blood and a landfall-pumped Searing Blaze targeting Polukranos, World Eater. Polukranos takes 5, and when it dies, Nick takes 6 down to 9. Attack with both creatures. Nick takes another 6 down to 3. Pass.

With only lands in play against two lethal creatures and the best red planeswalker mana can buy, there was no way Nick could recover from that devastating turn. Clayton went on to win that game, the match, and eventually the whole tournament.

Schuyler Slack, fresh off of his round 1 bye, was facing off against Clayton Long in the second round of Thursdaddy 82. During this game, Schuyler was on the play, and while I can't remember the exact sequencing that led us to this point, the battlefield should paint a pretty clear picture.

Schuyler Slack: 20 life.

Clayton Long: 20 life.

Clayton has just untapped for his turn, and any red mage can tell you that this is not the spot you want to be in. A Mother of Runes to protect Polukranos, World Eater is bad enough, but when your opponent also has a couple of chump blockers, you're generally thinking about how to sideboard for the next game. Looking at Clayton's hand, however, we can see that there's a faint glimmer of hope on the horizon.

Much like the previous game I described, Clayton need to draw a Mountain this turn to even have a shot. Unlike the other game, however, the line of play is a bit less straightforward this time, and it depends heavily on how Schuyler blocks. Here's what happened:

 

After all this came to pass, the board now looks like this:

Schuyler Slack: 13 life.

Clayton Long: 19 life.

Suddenly, Clayton is in a favorable position! The only way that turn could have gone any better was if Schuyler had blocked the Boros Reckoner with his Wall of Blossoms. Personally, I think that is what he should have done, and I'm not sure why he didn't. But luckily for him, he gets to start his turn with a creature in play because of his decision. Had he correctly blocked, the Wall of Blossoms would have also died to a combination of combat damage and Rolling Earthquake. I'm sure there is a parallel universe in which the plant wall met its demise alongside the rest of Schuyler's creatures.

Clayton went on to win this game from here, and he eventually won the whole tournament.

In the first round of Thursdaddy 80, I was battling against Devin McBride. We were both jamming blue-based control decks, so we were in for the long haul. Devin was on an Esper build, and my deck was just blue/white with an Unexpected Potential allowing me to play Vindicate. The play I'll be discussing takes place in game two or three, but it's worth noting some things from the previous game(s). I knew Devin had Ætherling in his deck, and for those of you who aren't already aware, that card is almost impossible for a control deck to beat once it hits the table.

I had managed to beat Ætherling in a previous game by casting Vindicate on his mana rock, resolving an Armageddon, and then using a kill spell while Devin didn't have any blue mana. That's a very roundabout solution and a lot of effort, but it's really the only way I can deal with that fucking guy. Hopefully this offers some perspective as to why this next play was so sweet. Let's set the scene.

Devin McBride: 20+ life. 1 card in hand.

Me: 14ish life. Several cards in hand.

It's fairly late in the game, we've been trading spells and permanents for a while now. Devin has kept his Sorin, Lord of Innistrad alive for probably 4 or 5 turns at this point (the Vindicate I pointed at it met a counterspell), and he has just resolved Ætherling with access to one blue mana. He was forced to attack the Gideon Jura I cast last turn with his two vampire tokens. He made a new vampire token and shipped the turn. I have drawn my card and am pondering my options with this hand:

I have written off Armageddon as a pipe dream at this point. It can't be used as an answer to Ætherling while Devin has two mana rocks that produce blue. With Vindicate already in my graveyard, I can only flash it back once (Momentary Blink + Snapcaster Mage) to potentially kill a mana rock, which still leaves him with one (plenty to win the game with). So that's out.

I have two goals I need to accomplish in order to have a chance at winning this game. First, I need to prevent Sorin from activating his ultimate. Even if it were to only target Gideon, I'm fairly certain I can't beat my own planeswalker at this point. If it were to also nab Snapcaster Mage and/or the Dungeon Geists in my hand, then there's really no hope. I need to deal damage to it this turn.

The second goal is to neutralize Ætherling, buying enough time for me to find an answer for it or line up an alternate route to victory. Devin has me on a two turn clock with that thing left unchecked, and without a way to get it off the table, I need to stall. Luckily for me, I have a few cards that let me do that.

So here's the plan: I'm going to use Dungeon Geists and Momentary Blink to target Ætherling for a few turns while I try to kill Sorin and draw better cards. Conveniently, this also helps remove Ætherling as a blocker this turn, allowing me to attack Sorin more effectively. Once Dungeon Geists is in play and Sorin isn't threatening to ultimate, killing it is pretty trivial since I'll have the only creature with flying. This also prevents me from getting swarmed by vampire tokens, as Dungeon Geists makes for an effective blocker even if Devin elects to make an emblem. I'm satisfied with my line, but we all know what they say about the best laid plans, so let's see how things actually went down.

I tap four mana to cast Dungeon Geists. In this case, I elected to tap Mind Stone and all three of my Islands, leaving just two Plains as my available mana. It doesn't matter too much, but it helps reinforce the idea that I don't have access to a counterspell since I'm not leaving any blue mana up. This has a chance of giving Devin more confidence about casting a removal spell next turn, which might let me get some extra value out of my Momentary Blink, and at this stage, I need all the help I can get.

Dungeon Geists resolves, and I target Ætherling with its ability. Devin considers his options and lets it happen, tapping down his Ætherling. This makes sense because he can still blink it at any point to break it free from the tap lock, and whether he does that now or later doesn't change the fact that it won't be blocking this turn. With that out of the way, I animate Gideon with his 0 ability and attack Sorin with the whole team.

Devin blocks Snapcaster Mage with his untapped Vampire token. I pass priority praying that combat damage resolves here. Devin goes into the tank for a minute, which indicates that he might have a Path to Exile or Swords to Plowshares. I get a little excited at the idea because if he does indeed have a removal spell here, I get to supremely blow him out with my Momentary Blink, assuming he targets what I want him to.

He did.

Devin comes out of the tank with something along the lines of, "I'm not sure what you could have here, so I'm guess I'm gonna Path your Gideon," tapping his lone Tundra to pay the mana cost. All of my dreams came true. In response, I tap out to cast my Momentary Blink targeting Gideon Jura, who blinks back in untapped with 6 loyalty counters, fizzling the Path to Exile. Combat damage resolves, trading Snapcaster Mage for the Vampire token and knocking Sorin, Lord of Innistrad down to 4 loyalty, out of ultimate range.

In my second main phase, I get to activate Gideon again thanks to it being a new object. I choose his -2 ability, targeting his now-tapped Ætherling, and since Devin doesn't have any more available blue mana after casting Path to Exile, it just died like any other random creature. I've never felt so relieved to get a guy off the table.

That turn, I went from my opponent having two distinct cards that I probably couldn't beat to a very advantageous board position, all without having to take a ridiculous line involving Armageddon. I'll probably never draft Momentary Blink again because it will never again live up to the standard I created for it in this game.

To wrap up this article, I would like to share the worst thing that's ever happened to me in Cube. It was at the hands of Dalton Culbertson during round 2 of Thursdaddy 75. I was on the play, and since the sequence of events is essentially seared into my memory for eternity, let me take you through it turn by turn.

My turn 1: Pay 2 life to play Stomping Ground untapped, going to 18. Orcish Lumberjack. Pass.

Dalton's Turn 1: Tundra. Suspend Ancestral Vision. Pass.

My turn 2: Attack for 1, dropping Dalton to 19. Mountain. Lotus Cobra. Pass.

Dalton's turn 2: Remove a time counter from Ancestral Vision (now at 3). Swamp. Azorius Signet. Pass.

My turn 3: Forest, triggering landfall on Lotus Cobra, choosing to add a black mana. Tap all of my lands for mana. Activate Orcish Lumberjack, sacrificing Forest to add three red mana, bringing me to 7 total. Spend it all on a Rakdos's Return where X=5. If you did your math correctly, that's Dalton's entire hand, and he takes 5 down to 14. Attack with Lotus Cobra, dropping him further to 12. Pass.

I can't remember all of the cards that he had to pitch, but it was something like two lands, Ancestral Recall, Mana Leak, and a threat of some sort (maybe a Gilded Drake or Sower of Temptation). In any case, getting rid of Ancestral Recall and a counterspell left me in a damn good position as a green creature deck.

Now, at this point, you might be wondering how this story isn't about how I just crushed Dalton by emptying his hand and dealing 7 to him on turn 3. I'll admit that I was feeling pretty high and mighty about my position, and I couldn't see how I possibly lose from here. I didn't have a big haymaker in hand to lock the game up, but I was holding another land (a Mountain, I believe) and an Eternal Witness, so the plan was to bring back Rakdos's Return and then cast it again after he drew his cards from Ancestral Vision in a couple turns. The plan was clear and solid, so I went into autopilot from here to finish things off.

Dalton's turn 3: Remove a time counter from Ancestral Vision (now at 2). Draw for turn. Pass.

He missed his land drop. Good. I figured the only chance he had to stage a comeback was to hit lands and start casting multiple spells once his Ancestral Vision resolved.

My turn 4: Attack with my two creatures. Dalton casts the card he drew, Far // Away, choosing to Far my Lotus Cobra. He takes 1 damage down to 11. I re-cast my Lotus Cobra. I keep my land in hand in order to trigger landfall next turn. Pass.

Far // Away was a pretty good card for him to draw, all things considered. Sure, the board position is basically the same it was last turn, but with Ancestral Vision ticking down every upkeep, buying a turn is extra valuable. It's still two turns away from being cast, though, and my plan to Eternal Witness back my Rakdos's Return and re-cast it will still go off in time for me to make him discard his new cards.

Dalton's turn 4: Remove a time counter from Ancestral Vision (now at 1). Draw for turn. Pass.

Again no land for him. I just need to hit any land in my next two draw steps in order to execute my plan on schedule, and even if I whiff, I will still have 5 power in play constantly threatening his life total. And if I'm not drawing lands, it probably means I'm drawing spells that can help me close out the game. I remain confident about my position.

My turn 5: Draw for turn. It's not a land, but that's not the end of the world. Mountain, triggering landfall on Lotus Cobra to add a green mana to my mana pool. Eternal Witness, targeting Rakdos's Return with its triggered ability. Since all of that resolved, Dalton probably drew a card he couldn't cast and is praying for the Ancestral Vision to dig himself out of this. Attack with all of my creatures. During the declare attackers step, Dalton uses his Swamp to activate Azorius Signet and cast Snapcaster Mage, targeting Ancestral Recall with its triggered ability. He blocks Lotus Cobra with Snapcaster. They trade, and Dalton takes 3 down to 8. Pass. Dalton casts Ancestral Recall using flashback at the end of my turn.

Dalton's turn 5: Remove the last time counter from Ancestral Vision and cast it to draw 3 more cards. Draw for turn...

I was dumbfounded. In the span of a turn, I had gone from having an great board position against an opponent with no cards to a much more equal board against an opponent with 7 cards. And now I couldn't even cast my Rakdos's Return without getting lucky and drawing one of few black sources, as I was banking on Lotus Cobra surviving to my next turn. We went on to play many more turns, but Dalton eventually won that game (and later, the entire tournament). I have never felt worse about losing a game of Magic.

So there you have it, five of the most memorable blowouts in Cube throughout Thursdaddy history. There are definitely plenty of other games that came to mind (like the time Devin Booster Tutored into Ætherling as his only out), and I'm sure many of you have your own stories to share, but these should help illustrate why I love and hate Cube so damn much.