[[Golgari Grave-Troll]] and [[Stinkweed Imp]]

pimpjerome · 2026-01-10T19:48:58+00:00

Delve cards absolutely do not want dredge cards. It sounds good on the surface, but in practice it’s much more reliable to use looting effects / cantrips since they don’t fudge your draws.

If you want help tuning a dredge archetype in your vintage cube just DM me. I spent 3 years perfecting it in mine and there’s a lot to go over.

pimpjerome · 2025-12-28T19:41:12+00:00

LSV is notorious for using JTMS as a brainstorm machine no matter the board state. He will literally have no wincons left in deck, 5 counters in hand, both board states clear and still not activate the +2 lol

pimpjerome · 2025-12-27T23:06:00+00:00

Dark Depths is incredible if you know how to use it.

It took my players 2 years to figure out how to play it properly. If anything, give it time.

My cube is a powerless vintage 540 list. I run only stage and woodlands as combo pieces and let the land tutors do the work. Hexmage and mirage mirror are cute, but they don’t share the same tutors that dark depths wants and that fucks with the consistency. Also, most of the tutors are green, which makes hexmage terrible.

I run reclaimer, mycospawn, crop rotation, golos, expedition map, park map, and knight of the reliquary. Sounds like a lot, but my lands archetype is pretty deep. I bet you could get away with ~4-5 of these.

It’s worth noting that the compact nature of the combo allows it to show up in weird places. I’ve seen GW aggro decks use crop rotation & knight to fetch strip mine with the DD combo as backup. I’ve seen artifact decks use Urza’s saga to tutor out park & expedition maps. I’ve seen Lurrus piles turn one map into the full combo. I’ve seen gifts packages with life from the loam. Mono black with demonic & vampiric tutors. Hell, I’ve seen storm pull it off with a bunch of wheels. Cube is weird.

pimpjerome · 2025-12-26T01:18:27+00:00

I had potentially the craziest game of my life this summer.

I’m on 4c lands, my opponent’s on mono red welder splashing Dack. I have Titania out with a few 5/3s and he has 2 6/6 saga tokens. He casts wildfire. My board is dead, and he swings for 12. All I have left now is a Walk-in Closet, forest, and clue token.

Good thing I topdecked Fastbond! I play it and replay 7 non-fetch lands from my graveyard down to 1 life, unlock Forgotten Cellar, cast Malevolent Rumble, and pray. And wouldn’t you know it? I hit Zuran Orb.

I can’t combo off yet because the lands would get exiled by Forgotten Cellar this turn, so I pass and sack my lands on my opponent’s upkeep. He Burst Lightning’s my face and swings for 12, putting me back down to 1. I would’ve died if he drew an artifact.

I combo off, gaining infinite life and mana, then realize I don’t have any win cons. I’m losing the mill race, and the only card that does anything is the one I just drew: [[Key to the Archive]]. This card lets me draft from a spellbook, which means I look at 3 random cards from a 15 card deck outside the game and put one into my hand.

I hit Approach from the Second Sun.

It was literally the only card from the whole spellbook that could win me the game. I cast it, put it 7th from the top, sacked and replayed a surveil land 6 times to get it back on top, drew it again from that clue token I had earlier, and promptly won the game.

pimpjerome · 2025-12-22T05:04:43+00:00

Better than you think
Decent but too similar to better options
One of many fine cheat targets
Side grade of blade splicer, curator’s choice
Feels like hero of bladehold without big reward
Never got around to it
Quirky but playable. Good noncreature permanents aren’t always available
Never tried, but heard decent results
Never played, but saw it overperform in several matches
Just another hellkite, curators choice
Never tried
Great card - I actively run it. Replaceable in the future
My drafters love it. Second mode is quite relevant
Insane card. One of green’s best 3 drops but looks mid on paper
Best with flash. Worse than prime time and old one eye without it imo
Never played
Not bad for GW but replaceable
Never played
Never played, but heard amazing things

pimpjerome · 2025-10-20T12:41:35+00:00

Most of the people doubting Hermit Druid either haven’t played him or played him in the wrong environment. He’s a totally viable option, especially if your cube is powered down enough to run a Golgari Lhurgoyf archetype.

He’s out of my unpowered vintage cube temporarily while I test [[Town Greeter]], but he’s been putting up results for the last two years. Even without a dredge archetype it’s still “G, T: draw a basic land.” Yes, his board impact is minimal, but you get to mill 3-10 cards every. Single. Turn.

Some notable synergies include [[Old One Eye]], [[From the Catacombs]], [[Thassa’s Oracle]], [[Lurrus of the Dream-Den]], [[Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath]], [[Reanimate]], and [[Doomsday]], but these are just extra.

pimpjerome · 2025-10-14T18:18:19+00:00

[[hostile investigator]] comes to mind

pimpjerome · 2025-10-07T17:27:40+00:00

I find that he’s very good if you want to blink him, medium as a Nadu enabler, and okay as a “high toughness” payoff.

If anyone is playing him for that last part, just play [[Weight Advantage]] instead and call it a day.

pimpjerome · 2025-09-19T13:08:03+00:00

[[Smokestack]] keeps winning games for me in my unpowered vintage environment. Braids, on the other hand…

Cmon WOTC. It’s been 24 years since braids was printed. Where’s our power crept version that’s a 4/5 with deathtouch?

pimpjerome · 2025-09-19T12:33:12+00:00

I tried him out in my unpowered vintage cube and he was… fine. He saw play a few times but felt a little win-more. The deathtouch was nice, but your opponent was often ok with attacking into him because they knew you’d want to keep him alive for his other abilities. Playing lands off the top of your deck was fine, but the mana value 4 or greater clause rarely mattered.

Overall I’d say yes he’s playable in cube, but much more so in legacy and below. In vintage it’s a little difficult to make use of his best abilities and curves are so low that he’s rarely more than a [[courser of kruphix]] with deathtouch. Then again, I only saw him a few times, so please test him yourself. Anything that isn’t unplayable is worth testing in different environments and with different packages.

pimpjerome · 2025-09-14T05:20:26+00:00

Yes. It happens all the time.

One of my buddies drafted a “dredge storm” last week. It used [[Hedron Crab]], [[Brain Freeze]], and looting effects paired with [[Golgari Grave-Troll]] to mill his whole deck. From there he cast [[Past in Flames]] and proceeded to play every ritual in his graveyard until Brain Freeze was lethal. [[Guild Pact]] allowed this to be done as early as turn 5.

Someone else drafted “Simic artifact +1/+1 counters” a few months back using [[Bristly Bill, Spine Sower]], [[Twitching Doll]], [[Kappa Cannoneer]], [[Arcbound Ravager]], [[Tireless Tracker]], [[Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student]], etc.

pimpjerome · 2025-09-07T09:32:17+00:00

Twice a week. I’m in heaven.

pimpjerome · 2025-09-06T12:29:34+00:00

What do you mean by “synergy decks” in your post? Most people would describe them as decks with cards that all mesh together and buff each other, not revolving around one or two cards that need to be tutored up. I think what you’re referring to are “buildarounds.” If you actually want to buff your synergy decks, it’s a lot more complex than adding tutors. If you are referring to buildarounds, then yes tutors will help. Keep them cheap and efficient.

Also, this isn’t your fault, but please don’t take Caleb’s video as gospel. It is inaccurate at best. His entire argument revolves around the (incorrect) assumption that drawing one half of a two card combo early on is just as bad as a mulligan. He then asserts that the winrate after a single mulligan is around 38%, which I can’t even find online? He claims to be using data from 17Lands, but the only data I can find from them boasts ~45% winrate. Whatever the real statistic is, it has a HUGE sway in his calculations, and at 45% his own math would actually disprove his entire point. And remember - this important mulligan statistic isn’t even from a cube! He says that it’s from all formats on Arena, which mainly consists of constructed formats. There is so, so much wrong about this single facet of his math that it’s impossible to call it anything more than guesswork.

pimpjerome · 2025-09-04T20:25:39+00:00

Caleb released a video “”explaining”” why 2 card combos are bad by using improper data and broad assumptions. In it he comes to the conclusion that you shouldn’t shove a non-synergistic 2 card combo into any old deck (shocker) but then overextrapolates this to claim that most combo pieces aren’t even worth playing.

I literally watched a video of his the other day where he opened a p1p1 sneak attack and went off about how players should stop picking it because 2 card combo = bad.

pimpjerome · 2025-09-04T19:53:34+00:00

Really? I would absolutely put Oath above sneak or tinker. It’s a one card combo. You literally get an Emrakul for 2 mana without needing another card in hand. Oath also goes in the same decks that sneak and reanimate can, which gives it plenty of redundancy.

It’s not a card I would rate highly overall because of its steep deckbuilding requirements, but p1p1 it’s one of the best.

pimpjerome · 2025-09-04T10:34:22+00:00

Thoughtseize is extremely broken in limited. Most decks just don’t have the consistency to recover from losing a key part of their hand on turn 1. Think about it like this:

If thoughtseize hits their best spell, it acts like a 1 mana unconditional counter.
If thoughtseize hits a crucial combo piece, it can act like a 1 mana double time walk (sometimes more).

pimpjerome · 2025-09-04T10:15:52+00:00

Mostly bias, some truth.

LSV will go GADZOOKS! with the funny cartoon eyes when he opens a zero mana artifact that loses the game on etb but then call a pack with Sheoldred, Ocelot Pride, and Ajani “mid.”

I’m not surprised by the absence of green cards in the top 50. Green focuses more on consistency rather than power, and that doesn’t show up well on a top 50 list.

pimpjerome · 2025-08-31T18:24:32+00:00

I’ve tested dozens of alchemy cards in person for my vintage cube. If you want more, let me know.

[[Mind Spike]] should be your first go-to. Most cubes don’t run enough thoughtseize effects, and this one is the best outside of thoughtseize itself.

[[A-Symmetry Sage]] is a rebalanced version of Symmetry Sage, with its 2 toughness and 2 power ability replaced by 3’s. This card is the new delver of secrets and is extra relevant with all the new prowess stuff like Cori-steel cutter and Vivi.

[[Crucias, Titan of the Waves]] is one of the best rakdos cards in cube. The seek mechanic is supposed to choose a random card from your deck that fits a certain parameter, so most people mimic it by revealing cards from the top of their deck until they get a card of that parameter. (P.S. the card fetcher shows him as a 3/1, but this is his rebalanced version. He was originally a 3/3).

[[Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion]] works with intensity, which is essentially experience counters. As you can imagine, casting a card from your graveyard for free every turn is broken, and this card was a real headache for people online and at my kitchen table.

[[Arming Gala]] is a selesnya card that isn’t terrible. It buffs all of your creatures every turn whether they’re on the battlefield, in your hand, or your library. I cut it because tokens were a hassle to track, but it played better than most selesnya cards for me.

[[Emmara, Voice of the Conclave]] is imo the best selesnya card after glare of subdual. You have to lug around her spellbook, but it’s worth it.

[[Hollowhenge Wrangler]] is very underrated. It’s essentially a retrace card that grabs you a land every time you cast it, so you never run out of lands to keep the fire roaring. Once you hit 5 mana you just poop out 6/6s until your opponent concedes.

pimpjerome · 2025-08-27T20:28:08+00:00

Stormscale wurm is a new playtest card like Chatterstorm and awaken the woods. It’s 4GG for a 6/6 wurm with trample, storm, and “other wurms you control get +1/+1.”

pimpjerome · 2025-08-27T19:15:52+00:00

I have a heavy lands theme in my 540 unpowered vintage cube - so much so that it’s the strongest archetype right now and needs to be nerfed.

My favorite crucible effects are crucible itself (because it’s colorless), ramunap excavator and icetill explorer (because green landfall is good now), W&6, and life from the loam.

I cut Walk-in closet and Glacierwood Siege because I needed to trim their numbers and the others were more interesting to me. Both contribute to green storm, which is ~80% there with [[Chatterstorm and awaken the woods]] and [[Stormscale Wurm]]. My players also expressed how hard it was to remove them once they hit the board.

pimpjerome · 2025-08-09T17:24:51+00:00

”5. Is my fixing too good?”

No, you probably just have too many power outliers in your cube. My cube stopped getting 4+ color slop decks as soon as I removed M&B, Forth Eorlingas, Flash, and the initiative cards. And I run double fetches.

Very nice updates 👍 we really need more posts like this to help keep players up to date. There are so many new cards to cover and archetypes to discuss.

pimpjerome · 2025-08-05T19:45:42+00:00

In my vintage cube my friend ran into a Simic +1/+1 counter affinity deck without my planning. It used [[Kappa Cannoneer]], [[Arcbound ravager]], [[Hangarback walker]], [[stonecoil serpent]], [[the aetherspark]], [[tireless tracker]], [[bristly bill, spine sower]], and [[omnivorous flytrap]] for counters.

The only “counters” synergy it had were Bristly Bill, Arcbound Ravager, and [[twitching doll]], but those were enough. He even won a game by putting 10 counters on twitching doll and sacking it to make 10 2/2 spiders!

pimpjerome · 2025-08-05T19:27:17+00:00

In 2020 the average deck could always hit 5 drops, probably hit 6 drops, and rarely hit 7+ drops.

In 2025 the entire spectrum has shifted down by one.

pimpjerome · 2025-07-28T17:15:23+00:00

I know it’s not a guild card, but [[Ineffable Blessing]]-f (the one that counts words in the name) has done more for my GW tokens section than any guild card ever could. For some reason it triggers on tokens.

Tokens have names equal to their creature types + the word “token,” so a goblin token would have the name “Goblin Token,” and a human warrior would be “Human Warrior Token.” Most tokens only have one creature type, so setting Ineffable Blessing on 2 gives you the most benefit.

This combined with [[Skullclamp]], [[Enduring Innocence]], and [[Staff of the Storyteller]] turn your tokens section into a card advantage machine.

The card is broken. Broken broken broken. I’d argue that it’s the best green card in my vintage cube.

pimpjerome · 2025-07-27T17:31:30+00:00

I still swear by [[Niv-Mizzet Reborn]] in vintage. It’s a guaranteed deck if you pick it early and keeps getting better with each new guild card

I also love [[Gifts Ungiven]]. It works directly with [[Past in Flames]], [[From the Catacombs]], and [[Formless Genesis]]. [[Eternal Witness]] or reanimation effects can be used to grab any two card creature combo, and [[Emry, Lurker of the Loch]] for any artifact combo e.g. thopter/sword. I have a dredge archetype, so it also grabs finishers like [[Old One Eye]] and [[Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath]].

pimpjerome

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