![\"\"](\"http:\/\/ajmtg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/appetite-for-brains1.jpg\")
<\/a>Appetite for Brains<\/p>\nThis is not Duress<\/a> or Thoughtseize<\/a>.\u00a0 I can see it making larger cubes, but it doesn’t seem useful enough for my mid-size cube.\u00a0 I don’t run Inquisition of Kozilek<\/a> either.<\/p>\n This is a fantastic reprint for Innistrad block.\u00a0 It is also a decent cube card.\u00a0 It is often a Damnation<\/a> and works great to get you back into a game if you fall behind.\u00a0 It is also capable of cementing your creature advantage if you are ahead.\u00a0 I prefer playing Barter in Blood with cards like Bitterblossom<\/a> or Sorin, Lord of Innistrad<\/a>.\u00a0 These creature machines allow me to easily stay above the two creature threshold.\u00a0 I am more fond of the original art<\/a> from Mirrodin, however.<\/p>\n Activated, permanent creature exile is a powerful ability.\u00a0 The mana cost is a little high for cube, but I am excited to test its mettle. Black needs all the help it can get in cube, nowadays.\u00a0 It is the least powerful color to draft.<\/p>\n I prefer Profane Command<\/a> by a wide margin here.\u00a0 It’s worth the additional black mana and sorcery speed. I mention this card in the review only because I feel it may be playable in some Pauper<\/a> cube lists because of its common rarity.\u00a0 With enough mana, it can kill just about anything, even indestructible creatures.<\/p>\n \u00a0 I’ve notice in my personal cube’s games, that unless you are playing tokens, there are, typically, only one to three creatures on the battlefield at any given time.\u00a0 The removal in the cube is top notch and sets up leaner battlefield conditions.\u00a0 This creature could dominate in this environment.\u00a0 I will be testing this one.<\/p>\n This is not quite, Reveillark<\/a>. I feel as though, Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed<\/a> is a stronger choice with a similar ability and stats. The timing is more restrictive, but you are not limited to smaller creatures, and you don’t have to find a way to kill it first. They both can be quite interesting in Recurring Nightmare<\/a> decks.<\/p>\n This card reminds me of Arc-Slogger<\/a> in some respects, but I don’t feel black aggro is worth it enough to run this card. Each card you draft in cube is precious.\u00a0 You will lose more value with this in cube than any other format. This one will stay on the sidelines.<\/p>\n Neat art. Neat ability. Not Spike-y enough of a mana cost for cube, however.<\/p>\n Despite the quadruple black, I will be running this card for a while to see how it works out.\u00a0 The Necropotence<\/a>-like ability is worth the awkward mana cost.\u00a0 Also, there are enough reanimator elements in the cube to make him playable. Griselrand’s lifelink ability can reset the card draw, turn after turn.\u00a0 Griselbrand’s activated ability is reminiscent of Contract from Below<\/a>, the most powerful card ever printed! I really want this card to rock! Black could really use the boost.<\/p>\n Killing Wave is yet another “punisher” card.\u00a0 These types of cards tend to be terrible because they allow your opponent to pick the best option for themselves.\u00a0 Arguably, Browbeat<\/a> was a decent “punisher” choice, back in the Stone Age of cube. I don’t run these types of cards at all because there are plenty of all upside cards to choose from or those with more reasonable drawbacks. The only cards similar to these effects that I run currently are Fact or Fiction<\/a> and Gifts Ungiven<\/a>. And what-do-you-know? They are both blue cards!<\/p>\n RED<\/p>\n Lightning Blast<\/a> with free buyback, this is a solid addition to the cube.\u00a0 Red, four-drop creatures are quite populated already, but this plays more like a spell.\u00a0 It’s fantastic against board sweepers and plays nicely with reanimation. I run many of these Ball Lightning<\/a> variants in the red section of my cube.\u00a0 They are a strong facet of what makes Red exciting and powerful to play.<\/p>\n I have had some success with this card in Avacyn Restored sealed and draft.\u00a0 The triple red will make it tough to cast, but I feel that drawback is manageable.\u00a0 With only three creatures, you can deal nine damage! This card is a fantastic red finisher and gives the color even more reach late game.\u00a0 I feel this card will perform well in testing.<\/p>\n This could be good, but I think keeping Red’s spells primarily burn is the way to go. Wheel of Fortune<\/a> and Faithless Looting<\/a> are still the better cards here in most situations despite the sorcery speed.<\/p>\n Yes! A strong, splashable, red, two drop, this is just what the doctor ordered.\u00a0 The two power is crucial for aggro. It can give any of your future creatures haste or pair with your one-drop and attack right away.\u00a0 This card is a staple card for cube.\u00a0 It will be in my cube for many years to come.<\/p>\n I really feel that cubes should just run Lightning Bolt<\/a> or Beacon of Destruction<\/a> for these effects.\u00a0 There’s a lot more I’d rather do in cube than spend six mana for five damage.\u00a0 Fireblast<\/a> is a much better card that is often castable for free and is a fantastic topdeck late in the game.\u00a0 Fireblast is a miracle on its own without the mana cost monkey business.<\/p>\n Tibalt is a decent enough card, but most red decks in my cube will not be able to utilize him early making his two mana cost almost irrelevant.\u00a0 I will reiterate that Wheel of Fortune<\/a> and Faithless Looting<\/a> are better choices for digging for the burn you need.\u00a0 The Sudden Impact<\/a> and Insurrection<\/a> abilities are rarely going to matter with him.\u00a0 Waiting for these abilities to happen, one turn at a time, is not really what Red wants to be doing.<\/p>\n Oh my goodness, I’m going to receive rants on my evaluation of this card!\u00a0 This card is being debated for inclusion in multiple formats right now.\u00a0 I’m not digging the hype on it.\u00a0 My status on these types of cards is clear: No Thank You! The opponent will always pick the most advantageous aspect of the card to use.\u00a0 The creature form is pretty weak. Most of the cube removal is great at killing creatures of three toughness or less.\u00a0 I don’t feel a singleton format is where Vexing Devil is going to shine.\u00a0 I do expect to play it in other cubes, however. It will be merely okay, even in tight red builds.<\/p>\n I’ve tried for quite a while to find a powerful, Threaten<\/a>-like spell for my cube.\u00a0 Word of Seizing<\/a>, Conquering Manticore<\/a>. and Act of Aggression<\/a> are a few cards I’ve tried and later ejected. Wizards has printed the card I’ve been looking for! Haste makes this creature top-notch. I can’t wait to steal fully loaded planeswalkers and awesome fatties with this creature.\u00a0 It’s a slam dunk!<\/p>\n Join me next time for the conclusion of my Avacyn Restored review with Green, Artifacts, Multicolor, and Lands!<\/p>\n Signing off,<\/p>\n DJ<\/p>\n cuberdj@gmail.com<\/p>\n All images owned by Wizards of the Coast\/Hasbro and its affiliates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Here we are for round 2 of the Avacyn Restored set review!\u00a0 Let’s get to it!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8,12],"tags":[22,53,41,149,54,52,51],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ajmtg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/675"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ajmtg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ajmtg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ajmtg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ajmtg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=675"}],"version-history":[{"count":54,"href":"http:\/\/ajmtg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/675\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":906,"href":"http:\/\/ajmtg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/675\/revisions\/906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ajmtg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ajmtg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ajmtg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>Barter in Blood<\/p>\n<\/a>Dark Impostor<\/p>\n<\/a>Death Wind<\/p>\n<\/a>Demonic Taskmaster<\/p>\n<\/a>Driver of the Dead<\/p>\n<\/a>Gloom Surgeon<\/p>\n<\/a>Grave Exchange<\/p>\n<\/a>Griselbrand<\/p>\n<\/a>Killing Wave<\/p>\n<\/a>Archwing Dragon<\/p>\n<\/a>Burn at the Stake<\/p>\n<\/a>Dangerous Wager<\/p>\n<\/a>Lightning Mauler<\/p>\n<\/a>Thunderous Wrath<\/p>\n<\/a>Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded<\/p>\n<\/a>Vexing Devil<\/p>\n<\/a>Zealous Conscripts<\/p>\n