Blue: Snapcaster by a healthy margin. I like both of the other two, and I think they're worth adding when you can, but if you can only get one, it's Snapcaster.
Black: Vampiric Tutor. Another case where I'd work on getting them all over time.
Red: Goblin Guide.
Green: I would go with Rofellos narrowly over the Hierarch. However, if you have a large multicolor section, you might want the Hierarch instead. Natural Order would be worth picking up at some point. I wouldn't prioritize Nissa, but YMMV.
I appreciate the feedback, everyone. These choices aren't easy because ideally the right answer is "all of the above". Based on your opinions on playability and the differences in price, I feel pretty good about what to get in every color except black. I'd like to hear a bit more about why some of you would choose Bitterblossom over Vampiric Tutor or vice versa.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
465 card Unpowered cube thread. Draft it here and I'll be happy to return the favor.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Bitterblossom for me, I think because it's a card with does something active to the board, it can kill the opponent on it's own (althought not as well as it did in standard). Also you look to support pox/braids which BB supports nicely. Vampiric Tuuor is an excellent card but tutors always feel a bit dull to me, dispite basically making every deck better.
Sorry. Little late to this party. You may have already made up your mind on most of this, but I'll add a slightly different perspective for your consideration.
Vendilion Clique would be my choice and for me it's not close. I don't run power though, so you can't live the Time Walk / Ancestral Recall dream in my cube. Snapcaster is a powerful card for sure, but clique does so much more IMO. Clique can disrupt your opponent or you can use it on yourself to filter a card (or put your tinker target back into your deck, etc.), it's a surprise blocker when you need it, it't wonderful in tempo, it's great in control. It's one of the best designed cards of all time IMO. If I'm playing blue and this card comes up in a pack, I always pick it. That's how highly I rank it. Snapcaster is awesome and you can't go wrong with that either, but I feel like clique is the better choice.
Bitterblossum is a great card for all the reasons others have stated. Without question my choice here.
Guide vs Sneak Attack… it depends on your playgroup. If you guys like drafting aggro, it's a no-brainer. Guide is an amazing aggro card. Maybe the best ever printed. If your group tends more towards midrangy type decks, then Sneak Attack will get you more mileage IMO. For my group, Sneak Attack is the one I'd choose.
I'd go with Hierarch, though it's close between him and Rofellos. If you get heavy green builds though, the elf is slightly better.
Thanks for all the feedback on some tough calls. My final choices:
White: Land Tax - There wasn't anything else I could think of I needed except for maybe Elesh Norn, and Angel of Serenity has been working quite nicely as a replacement.
Blue: Snapcaster Mage - It's close, so I'm letting the price tag make the call for me here. Clique costs almost twice as much, and there seems to be a decent chance it will be reprinted in MM2. Snapcaster won't. My cube is unpowered, but it still seems like a really flexible and powerful card even without Time Walks and Ancestral Recalls to flashback.
Black: Bitterblossom - This might be a mistake because of MM2, but it's the more interesting card and it can win games on its own. Plus I've been trying to push Pox/Stax, and this helps give that a boost. Plus I might be able to pick up a World Championship edition of Vampiric Tutor for a fraction of the price.
Red: Goblin Guide - I have a few players that are hardcore aggro fans, and it's been a great gateway archetype for newer players. My playgroup sees a lot of turnover, so I think it's especially important to keep aggro strong in my cube.
Green: Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary - The raw power level of Rofellos seems way more exciting than Noble Hierarch, even if it does require a heavy green commitment. I have one regular drafter who will make that commitment every chance he gets. Also, it's 1/4 the price of Hierarch.
I'm having trouble finding a Scalding Tarn or a Sword of Fire and Ice at any price, so that may end up giving me a bit more to play with, and I may end up picking up some of those second choices after all, particularly Vampiric Tutor and Clique.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
465 card Unpowered cube thread. Draft it here and I'll be happy to return the favor.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Unless you run an unusual amount of hexproof or artifacts, I'd definitely cut the Edict. It's a great card, but I feel GFtT is definitely something to keep in over it, since you can remove what you want instead of what your opponent wants.
That's what I'm leaning towards right now. It always feels like a power move when you wipe out whoever is slapping on a Sword, or the Jitte...and while Edict is amazing, against aggro, you're usually just getting their worst dude.
I like Edict more than the targeted removal. I think there are better options for terror effects and Edict effects are rarer. I also support reanimation, fatty-cheating and tinker/natural order strategies where scary monsters can hit play early, and I want to have outs available to those kinds of plays.
Arena>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Underworld Connections. The 1 life/ability to not use Underworld Connections if you might die is way worse than effortless cards a turn for a 1-time cost. Arena is sweet and a card I would never cut at this point. My avatar may be an Arena art, but in this comparison there is no bias, Arena is far superior.
Though I still love a good Edict effect, they are falling out of favor with me lately. I think it's mostly because they aren't that great against heavy aggro decks, especially decks that can churn out a ton of tokens.
I think Go For the Throat is the best 2-drop black removal spell bar none. How tight is your section that you consider cutting it?
If I'm being honest the cut is probably Sinkhole or Curse of Shallow Graves, but I enjoy having both of those cards in my cube. I run reanimation also, but aggro is more common, and I still have Chainer's Edict in.
Conclave is probably my favorite of the bunch. And then Impulse is better for combo/control support, and Daze is better for tempo support ...depending on what you need.
Blue: Snapcaster by a healthy margin. I like both of the other two, and I think they're worth adding when you can, but if you can only get one, it's Snapcaster.
Black: Vampiric Tutor. Another case where I'd work on getting them all over time.
Red: Goblin Guide.
Green: I would go with Rofellos narrowly over the Hierarch. However, if you have a large multicolor section, you might want the Hierarch instead. Natural Order would be worth picking up at some point. I wouldn't prioritize Nissa, but YMMV.
My Eternal Cube on CubeTutor| |My Reject Rare Cube on CubeTutor| |My Peasant Cube on CubeTutor
I used to write for MTGS, including Cranial Insertion and cube articles. Good on you if you can find those after the upgrade.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
My Eternal Cube on CubeTutor| |My Reject Rare Cube on CubeTutor| |My Peasant Cube on CubeTutor
I used to write for MTGS, including Cranial Insertion and cube articles. Good on you if you can find those after the upgrade.
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
Follow me. I tweet.
Thread Cubetutor
My Other Cubes
Pauper Cube
One-Drop Cube
Sorry. Little late to this party. You may have already made up your mind on most of this, but I'll add a slightly different perspective for your consideration.
Vendilion Clique would be my choice and for me it's not close. I don't run power though, so you can't live the Time Walk / Ancestral Recall dream in my cube. Snapcaster is a powerful card for sure, but clique does so much more IMO. Clique can disrupt your opponent or you can use it on yourself to filter a card (or put your tinker target back into your deck, etc.), it's a surprise blocker when you need it, it't wonderful in tempo, it's great in control. It's one of the best designed cards of all time IMO. If I'm playing blue and this card comes up in a pack, I always pick it. That's how highly I rank it. Snapcaster is awesome and you can't go wrong with that either, but I feel like clique is the better choice.
Bitterblossum is a great card for all the reasons others have stated. Without question my choice here.
Guide vs Sneak Attack… it depends on your playgroup. If you guys like drafting aggro, it's a no-brainer. Guide is an amazing aggro card. Maybe the best ever printed. If your group tends more towards midrangy type decks, then Sneak Attack will get you more mileage IMO. For my group, Sneak Attack is the one I'd choose.
I'd go with Hierarch, though it's close between him and Rofellos. If you get heavy green builds though, the elf is slightly better.
http://riptidelab.com/forum/threads/modular-cube-5-colors.800/
Retro combo cube thread
http://riptidelab.com/forum/threads/retro-combo-cube.1454/
White: Land Tax - There wasn't anything else I could think of I needed except for maybe Elesh Norn, and Angel of Serenity has been working quite nicely as a replacement.
Blue: Snapcaster Mage - It's close, so I'm letting the price tag make the call for me here. Clique costs almost twice as much, and there seems to be a decent chance it will be reprinted in MM2. Snapcaster won't. My cube is unpowered, but it still seems like a really flexible and powerful card even without Time Walks and Ancestral Recalls to flashback.
Black: Bitterblossom - This might be a mistake because of MM2, but it's the more interesting card and it can win games on its own. Plus I've been trying to push Pox/Stax, and this helps give that a boost. Plus I might be able to pick up a World Championship edition of Vampiric Tutor for a fraction of the price.
Red: Goblin Guide - I have a few players that are hardcore aggro fans, and it's been a great gateway archetype for newer players. My playgroup sees a lot of turnover, so I think it's especially important to keep aggro strong in my cube.
Green: Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary - The raw power level of Rofellos seems way more exciting than Noble Hierarch, even if it does require a heavy green commitment. I have one regular drafter who will make that commitment every chance he gets. Also, it's 1/4 the price of Hierarch.
I'm having trouble finding a Scalding Tarn or a Sword of Fire and Ice at any price, so that may end up giving me a bit more to play with, and I may end up picking up some of those second choices after all, particularly Vampiric Tutor and Clique.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Vendilion Clique
Liliana of the Veil
Goblin Guide
Noble Hierarch
If you decide to get either Sneak Attack or Natural Order you should probably get both for redundancy.
Bring to Light Scapeshift RUGB
Draft my cube! (630 cards)
My cube: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/9981
..........
Arena, and it's not close.
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
I like a diversity of removal spells, and having an edict is an important angle of defense in a removal heavy deck.
You don't need many in your cube, but definitly want at least 1-2.
If you don't have chainer's edict, then I'd certainly cut GFTT. Otherwise, couldn't fault you either way.
Last Updated 02/07/24
Streaming Standard/Cube on Twitch https://www.twitch.tv/heisenb3rg96
Strategy Twitter https://www.twitter.com/heisenb3rg
Arena>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Underworld Connections. The 1 life/ability to not use Underworld Connections if you might die is way worse than effortless cards a turn for a 1-time cost. Arena is sweet and a card I would never cut at this point. My avatar may be an Arena art, but in this comparison there is no bias, Arena is far superior.
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
Follow me. I tweet.
If I'm being honest the cut is probably Sinkhole or Curse of Shallow Graves, but I enjoy having both of those cards in my cube. I run reanimation also, but aggro is more common, and I still have Chainer's Edict in.
Edit: add Faerie Conclave to the mix.
Cheers,
rant
My Cube
CubeCobra: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5f5d0310ed602310515d4c32
Cube Tutor: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/1963
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
I like Go For the Throat. Very strong/reliable cheap removal.
Rank these:
Gitaxian Probe
Peek
Portent
Serum Visions
Sleight of Hand
---
And as we're already at it, please rank these:
Chainer's Edict
Diabolic Edict
Go for the Throat
Malicious Affliction
Ultimate Price
Cubecobra
---
Magic Cardmarket Profile
---
DCI Rules Advisor
You already have them in the correct order.
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
CUBE TOP 10 - Help us vote for the best cards in cube
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/3pq