Limited is my favorite Magic the Gathering format, mostly because I love deckbuilding with narrow resources and card pools, but dislike the redundancy of Constructed; being forced to play a low-powered spell makes for interesting games. Al's Evaluate Everything Project was key to developing my current cube.
Basic Information:
Cube Size: 400 cards
Breakdown: 63 each color, 45 colorless, 40 multicolor
Keep it up! I really like this cube, and I really like the fact that you're keeping it up to date. I really want to see how it progresses into M13 and Return to Ravnica.
Just curious about the lack of Wei Strike Force? The card is nuts in Pauper cubes.
Zombie Cutthroat -> Darkling Stalker = Cutthroat just costs too much life for only 3/4. Darkling Stalker fills a role I'd like to see in black while also being able to defend against most removal.
Deprive -> Echo Tracer = Another weak counter out for a interesting creature.
Red
Goblin Bushwacker -> Martyr of Ashes = The ability to sweep so easily is just way more valuable than the rare super alpha strike.
Bloodcrazed Neonate -> Goblin Skycutter = Losing control of your creatures just isn't worth it. Goblin Skycutter is a 2/1 with a decent ability.
Village Ironsmith -> Fault Riders = Werewolves are just too random; they need to be good in both forms to have a spot. Fault Riders is another card that is all the rage.
Erdwal Ripper -> Stingscourger = Erdwal Ripper is weak at 3cc, while Stingscourger can be interesting, particularly when combined with reanimation.
Macetail Hystrodon -> Rock Slide = Trying to cull some of the higher cost creatures and Rock Slide looks promising.
Green
Lignify -> Utopia Vow = Strictly a swap for a superior removal spell.
MAAAAAAJOR update! Many changes took place with the last few sets and I have them documented below. I'll be eliminating much of the Reserves section. With the influx of playable cards, I don't see these guys really making it in. I'm also taking out the creature type debate; it's not as relevant as I thought it would be.
White
Akrasan Squire swap Blinding Souleater - Blinding Souleater is decent, but not as dominating as I thought it would be. Exalted actually comes in handy with all the small evasive guys.
Makindi Griffin demoted Seraph of Dawn - Makindi is moved to the 27; he is great, but I needed room for Seraph of Dawn and they are close enough to swap.
Spare From Evil -> Attended Knight - Attended Knight has always shined in M13 draft. Spare From Evil just never delivers the dream of a perfect alpha strike.
Keep it up! I really like this cube, and I really like the fact that you're keeping it up to date. I really want to see how it progresses into M13 and Return to Ravnica.
Just curious about the lack of Wei Strike Force? The card is nuts in Pauper cubes.
Do you mean Wei Ambush Force? Wei Strike Force doesn't look very strong.
As I've been reading discussions and perusing other cubes, I have been working on revamping mine. Part of that process has been a large review project. I figure I'll share my results with a few thoughts to gather more insight.
Bomb: Blacks BEST cards. Disturbed Burial – This card takes over games. Bomb Evincar’s Justice – Black has Wrath of God in Pauper. Bomb Pestilence – Absolute control of the field is what this card offers. Bomb
Staple: The cards you cube before cubing any others. Carnophage – Classic 2/2 for B that sets the bar for aggressive Black cards. Staple Duress – A versatile answer to many things Black cannot handle in play. Staple Unearth – Most creatures in Pauper are 2 to 3 mana, particularly in Black. Staple Vampire Lacerator – Another 2/2 for B with a twist that puts it on par with Carnophage. Staple Vendetta – One of Black’s biggest strengths is a strong removal sweet. It begins at 1 mana. Staple Dauthi Horror – One of Black’s solid evasive attackers that even bypasses White’s own Shadows. Staple Dauthi Slayer – Peak of aggressive 2 power attackers in Black. Staple Death Denied – An incredible game-changing card to close out a game. Staple Doom Blade – The bar by which all Black removal spells are set. Staple Fledgling Djinn – Continues the trend of 2 power 2 mana evasive creatures in Black. Staple Grim Harvest – This can be a very problematic card for your opponent to deal with, particularly in stalls. Staple Hymn to Tourach – A brutal card in a format without much real card draw. Staple Nezumi Cutthroat – Close to a second Dauthi Horror. Staple Terror – Sharing the podium as the best removal spell in Black. Staple Undertaker – This card is so good it is often a lightning rod. Staple Vampire Interloper – The second best 2 mana 2 power flyer in Black is still very good. Staple Blind Zealot – Another evasive creature that can eliminate a threat in a pinch for value. Staple Crypt Rats – Pestilence number 2, this card keeps coming back with Black’s recursion. Staple Dauthi Marauder – Perfect 3 power for 3 mana evasive attacker that demands an answer. Staple Phyrexian Rager – Incremental advantage in a 2 power body that is easy to cast. Staple Faceless Butcher – There are many uses for this card, making it more than a just removal. Staple Gravedigger – Recursion is Black’s best strength, and a 2 power body makes this card a bit better. Staple Snuff Out – Versatile removal spell. Free makes things so much better. Staple Warren Pilferers – Gravedigger’s bigger brother that pairs well with Black’s ally. Staple Twisted Abomination – Not many cube creatures can cost 6, but there is no reason not to play this powerhouse. Staple
Playable: The best cards to fill out your cube with. Dead Weight – Great for killing early creatures or neutering larger ones. Playable Disfigure – Instant speed enhances this card as a combat trick if needed. Playable Fume Spitter – Great for removing your opponents utility creatures without spending a full removal spell. Playable Lose Hope – Card quality is an important part of pauper cube, but -1/-1 on a creature isn’t much. Playable Grasp of Darkness – Black has many removal spells with a lot of variety in how they work. Playable Highborn Ghoul – One of the weakest 2 power evasive attackers, but an attacker nonetheless. Playable Last Gasp – Another great instant in a long line of removal in Black. Playable Morgue Theft – A powerful recursion spell in Black with late game promise. Playable Nameless Inversion – A very versatile removal or buff spell. Playable Sign in Blood – One of best ways to gain advantage next to Hymn. Playable Skittering Skirge – Aggressive air power that can be built around. Playable Skulking Ghost – Any effect that would kill it generally kills it anyway, and it is immune to most Black removal. Playable Victim of Night – Removal that is narrow in its own environment usually becomes pretty good in Pauper. Playable Ashes to Ashes – High cost with very high payoff. Playable Chittering Rats – A 2 power body that offers incremental advantage. Playable Crippling Fatigue – A great 2-for-1 removal spell. Playable Dark Banishing – Black continues its line of solid removal into 3 mana. Playable Death’s Duet – Black’s Divination. Playable Eyeblight’s Ending – Another solid 3 mana removal spell. Playable Liliana’s Spector – Evasion, 2 power, and a decent ability for low mana; the bar for playable Black creatures. Playable Ravenous Skirge – Another unsuspecting threat that can end a game quickly. Playable Rend Flesh – The few Spirits in Pauper make this incredibly versatile. Playable Stab Wound – This card main use is not to kill a creature, but end the game. Playable Bloodhunter Bat – One of the better 4 mana Flyers Black can get. Playable Demon’s Jester – Another good 4 mana Flyer with a late game upside. Playable Mark of the Vampire – Few Aura’s change a game like this card. Playable Okiba-Gang Shinobi – Black specializes in sneaking creatures in, and this can tilt a game in your way in one hit. Playable
Borderline: Narrow cards that may fill in some blanks. Carrion Feeder – Not being able to block in Pauper is a big drawback, but permanently growing is attractive. Borderline Crippling Blight – For B there are better options, but removing a blocker can be game changing. Borderline Dark Ritual – The best burst mana ability available in pauper, but often not worth the card. Borderline Ostracize – Some creatures need to be dealt with before they hit play. Borderline Paralyze – Surprisingly effective if you need more low cost removal. Borderline Predator’s Gambit – Low cost power boosts like this can be very effective, but Aura’s tend to be bad. Borderline Raven’s Crime – Bulk discard is generally good in Pauper, and Retrace is very powerful. Borderline Stir the Grave – This card functions like a Zombify for its best low cost creatures. Borderline Tormented Soul – Black’s creature advantage is evasion; this card is innocuous AND threatening. Borderline Tortured Existence – The biggest drawback of this card is the requirement to discard a creature. Borderline Tragic Slip – A good card for mopping up a messy combat. Eventually it will kill anything. Borderline Undying Evil - Comparable to Eel Umbra for countering removal. Borderline Vile Rebirth – A pseudo 2/2 for [mana]B[mana] with a tricky drawback. Borderline Augur of Skulls – When it comes to discard, 2 mana for 2 is a great deal. Borderline Child of Night – With no drawback, a 2 power for 2 mana is welcome, particularly with the swing in life totals. Borderline Cruel Edict – A narrow answer to untouchable creatures. Borderline Diabolic Edict – Black has few tools to deal with Hexproof and Shroud. This is the best direct answer. Borderline Distress – This expands on what Duress does for Black. Borderline Dregscape Zombie – If more 2/1’s for 2 are needed, there are a few to choose from. Borderline Duskhunter Bat – In aggressive decks, this can function as the second Fledgling Djinn. Borderline Echoing Decay – A narrow sweeper versus any token strategies, which exist in Pauper believe it or not. Borderline Erg Raiders – Many of Black’s creatures come with the price of not blocking. This one can in a pinch. Borderline Foul Imp – Prohibitive cost, but low cost 2/2 Flyers are very strong. Borderline Pit Keeper – Early aggression with a late game upside. Borderline Rathi Trapper – In Black’s world of weak creatures, this can be very handy to sneak damage in. Borderline Sinister Strength – Black can make a very threatening creature at the risk of an Aura. Borderline Sinkhole – Black’s best tool for dealing with problematic lands. Borderline Surrakar Marauder – Another 2 power 2 mana creature with a conditional upside. Borderline Vault Skirge – Another card that offers early life swings for a nominal cost. Borderline Wrench Mind – As close to a second Hymn in Pauper as you can get. Borderline Wretched Anurid – The best beefy creature for 2 mana in Black, but the cost can be pretty high. Borderline Bloodrite Invoker – A 3 power creature for 3 mana in Black with a costly alternate way to win the game. Borderline Bog Down – A solid discard spell with a small upside if you need more. Borderline Cadaver Imp – Another Gravedigger creature for those who want more. Borderline Choking Sands - Black has a luxury of cards to deal with problematic lands. Borderline Dauthi Jackal – A 2 power evasive creature that isn’t as well cost as its brethren. Borderline Dead Reveler – A 2/3 for 3 isn’t incredible, but a 3/4 for 3 that can’t block is very good in Black. Borderline Dread Warlock – Chances are this is a 2/2 unblockable creature, but the chances aren’t great. Borderline Ghoulraiser – Since there aren’t a lot of Zombies in Pauper, it makes the random not as bad as it appears. Borderline Hideous End – At 3 mana, there are several removal spells to get the job done. Borderline Markov Patrician – Child of Night’s bigger sister that is still well costed. Borderline Morbid Plunder – Slightly prohibitive cost for a second Death’s Duet. Borderline Murder – If you need your removal without restrictions, this is it. Borderline Organ Grinder - 3 power creature for 3 mana in Black with a alternate way to win the game, again. Borderline Oubliette – Another unrestricted removal spell at 3 mana. Borderline Seal of Doom – Small advantage can be had by investing the mana for a Dark Banishing early. Borderline Shade’s Form – A decent “Umbra” Aura in Black. Borderline Skittering Horror – Without evasion, this isn’t quite as good as its brethren. Borderline Darkling Stalker – The ability to protect itself without needing several mana available is key for Shades. Borderline Drifting Shade/Dungeon Shade – Carrying the best evasion available could make it worthy. Borderline Driver of the Dead – Black has a plethora of 2 or less power creatures, and I would bring them back for free. Borderline Liliana’s Shade – Incremental advantage is good on creatures, even if they have no evasion. Borderline Mortis Dogs – Aggressive creature with a nice final swing. Borderline Perilous Shadow – A road block that can crush the late game. Borderline Tendrils of Corruption – This card is usually good an rarely dead. Borderline Cruel Revival – There aren’t very many Zombies in Pauper that are playable, but the ones that are you want. Borderline Pith Driller – Not incredibly powerful, but the large body isn’t something Black has great access to. Borderline Rotting Legion – A small drawback for such a large body. Borderline Soul Scourge – A 3 power Flyer that can make the clock tick faster. Borderline Urborg Uprising – A late game card to refill your hand. Borderline Violent Pall – A 1/1 Flyer is either nothing or everything, particularly when it comes with a removal spell. Borderline Weed-Pruner Poplar – The continual afflictions can tilt a game your way. Borderline Zombie Boa – Another card that can conditionally give you an advantage. Borderline Pull Under – There aren’t many creatures that can survive this spell. Borderline Terrus Wurm – Coming back from the grave to make another huge threat can be potent in Pauper. Borderline
Anything that I didn't think was at least Borderline playable I didn't include. A couple things of note though:
I placed the land destruction spells as Borderline as their application is very narrow. They are mostly there to deal with problematic lands, not really to gain a huge advantage in the game. Lands in pauper don't really take over games, and if Black reliably needs an answer, you end up needing to run four our more spells that aren't great any other time.
Cruel Edict and Diabolic edict I also consider Borderline, as they only deal with a small fraction of threats reliably. Again, if Black NEEDS these answers, you would need to run both of these and possibly Geth's Verdict and Imperial Edict to really keep Black competitive.
Of course, Creature/Spell balance means that you may end up playing Borderline cards in places where there aren't enough Playable cards, but that's the fun of Pauper.
I agree with you at the most cases, for example I see Edicts and LD Spells the same way. They can be good in constructed (Infect/Cloudpost), but in limited they are just aweful.
Cards I don't agree:
-Dark Banishing: You can't call this card playable and say that Murder, Hideous End and especially Victim of Night are unplayable. You nearly never want to use your hard removal in turn 2, but it's a big advantage when you play it, that it costs as less mana as possible. nonblack is a way to high restriction for a cc3 hard removal, I would coun't each of them apart from Eyeblight's Ending and Rend Flesh borderline, but the Victim should definitely be played.
-Highborn Ghoul: The mana costs are a problem with this guy, but I play him either and I came to the conclusion, that intimidate/fear is often even better then flying, so I would definitely call him playable.
-Tormented Soul: He is definitely not playable, because he is no threat. He was already bad in his editions, where it was just playable with a bunch of auras, but in would never play it in a pauper cube, where you got way less useful things to make him playable. I would always try to play as less power 1 creatures as possible.
-Lose Hope: I tried this card and I'm more convinced of it, then Fume Spitter, because I think that Scry 2 is in the most cases better then a 1/1 body, that even dies, when you use it. Aswell it can not just kill X/1 guys, it can even trade bigger creatures, when you use it as a combat trick. If it trades for anything it did a similar job as Preordain, trading 1/1 and getting cardquality.
-Dead Reveler: Lanxal said something very true about this guy:
To clear up confusion, [b]Borderline[/b] cards aren't unplayable, they are just the least powerful cards you should be considering for Pauper. I see your point on Victim of Night, but for the others, 1BB is just much harder to cast than 2B to kill just about the same number of creatures.
I like Highborn Ghoul too, but I still think Flying is better than Intimidate/Fear for blocking purposes. As an early attacker, though, he is very good.
I've seen games end because of Tormented Soul too often, even without Auras, but it may be more as a support attacker than a champion.
I'm a fan of Lose Hope too; I think I'll try that swap.
Dead Reveler hasn't tested as well as Splatter Thug for me. I just feel he's missing something when a 2/3 AND when unleashed.
Just to reiterate, I didn't rate cards I think are unplayable. All the cards in that list I think are playable in some way or another. I'll make adjustments based on the points you made.
Here is Blue:
Bomb Capsize – This card will take over a game the more mana you have. [b]Bomb[/b] Flood – This card can rule the ground game. [b]Bomb[/b]
Staple Brainstorm – All other U card quality spells try to imitate Brainstorm. [b]Staple[/b] Counterspell – The OG counter. [b]Staple[/b] Impulse – Great card to find what you need. [b]Staple[/b] Looter il-Kor – A great Looter you will want to play every time. [b]Staple[/b] Mana Leak – A soft counter that works like a hard counter. [b]Staple[/b] Narcolepsy – Premium removal for Blue. [b]Staple[/b] Think Twice – A solid way to draw two cards in Pauper. [b]Staple[/b] Waterfront Bouncer – A great card to control the field. [b]Staple[/b] Calcite Snapper – An excellent blocker with good attack potential. [b]Staple[/b] Claustrophobia – Another great removal spell in Blue. [b]Staple[/b] Compulsive Research – A solid draw three in Blue. [b]Staple[/b] Exclude – A great counter at three mana. [b]Staple[/b] Man-o’-War – A value creature with multiple applications. [b]Staple[/b] Spined Thopter – A 2/1 Flyer for “two”. [b]Staple[/b] Stitched Drake – Huge threat that isn’t difficult to play. [b]Staple[/b] Stormbound Geist – A Flying threat that is hard to get rid of. [b]Staple[/b] Thalakos Scout – Evasive threat that is hard to kill. [b]Staple[/b] Aven Fleetwing – A very difficult creature to deal with. [b]Staple[/b] Deep Analysis – For one card, you gain four others. [b]Staple[/b] Foresee – Digs deep for two cards. [b]Staple[/b] Illusionary Forces – Huge Flyer at an inexpensive cost. [b]Staple[/b] Shimmering Glasskite – Blue has a lot of difficult to deal with creatures. [b]Staple[/b] Mulldrifter – Versatile card for Blue that does everything Blue wants. [b]Staple[/b] Errant Ephemeron – Great game ending creature. [b]Staple[/b]
Playable Condescend – A scalable counter with a significant upside. [b]Playable[/b] Force Spike – Versatile soft counter that can put you a step ahead. [b]Playable[/b] Phantasmal Bear – Solid attacker for blue that is surprisingly effective. [b]Playable[/b] Ponder – Brainstorm’s cousin. [b]Playable[/b] Preordain – Another, younger cousin of Brainstorm’s. [b]Playable[/b] Repeal – A bouncing cantrip for Blue’s tempo game. [b]Playable[/b] Arcane Denial – Hard counters at two mana are few, but solid. [b]Playable[/b] Daze – “Free” spells are usually good. [b]Playable[/b] Deprive – I compare this to Arcane Denial; a hard counter that works well. [b]Playable[/b] Into the Roil – Great bounce card for Blue. [b]Playable[/b] Memory Lapse – A great tempo counter. [b]Playable[/b] Merfolk Looter/Thought Courier – The standard Looter utility creature. [b]Playable[/b] Miscalculation – Mana Leak’s versatile cousin. [b]Playable[/b] Soratami Cloudskater – Looting that can still attack. Turning excess lands in play into cards is also a benefit. [b]Playable[/b] Welken Tern – Aggressive two power Flyer for two mana. [b]Playable[/b] Withdraw – A two-for-one at two mana most often. [b]Playable[/b] Aether Adept – The second Man-o’-War for Blue. [b]Playable[/b] Cloud Spirit/Rishadan Airship/Skywinder Drake – Very aggressive Flyer. [b]Playable[/b] Dream Cache – Another draw three that is fairly useful. [b]Playable[/b] Encrust – A good way to deal with equipment or a creature. [b]Playable[/b] Headless Skaab – Huge body with small downsides. [b]Playable[/b] Pestermite – Tempo is Blue’s best ally in creatures. [b]Playable[/b] Repulse – Great three mana bounce. [b]Playable[/b] Sea Gate Oracle – A solid creature for control decks. [b]Playable[/b] Spiketail Drakeling – More playable than its hatchling. [b]Playable[/b] Stealer of Secrets – Mimics Ninja of the Deep Hours. [b]Playable[/b] Undo – A board changer for three mana. [b]Playable[/b] Wormfang Drake – Like a Stitched Drake that can be cast earlier. [b]Playable[/b] Fencer Clique/Wayward Soul – A game finisher that is difficult to deal with. [b]Playable[/b] Makeshift Mauler – A nice big creature for Blue. [b]Playable[/b] Mist Raven – A flying Man-o’-War. [b]Playable[/b] Nephalia Seakite/Sentinels of Glen Elendra – An ambusher with a good body. [b]Playable[/b] Ninja of the Deep Hours – When you can sneak him in, he is great. [b]Playable[/b] Ray of Command – Another fine trick in Blue’s arsenal. [b]Playable[/b] Windrider Eel – With just a few lands this can be scary. [b]Playable[/b] Faerie Invaders/Spire Monitor – Easy to cast three power Flyers that can ambush your opponent. [b]Playable[/b] Shoreline Ranger – Solid creature with great upside. [b]Playable[/b]
Borderline Delver of Secrets – It takes a specific deck to reliably flip Delver of Secrets, and then he can be killed. [b]Borderline[/b] Drifter il-Dal – Very aggressive creature if you can afford to spend the mana. [b]Borderline[/b] Gigadrowse – This card as several uses, combined with being difficult to counter. [b]Borderline[/b] Mind Games – For a hefty price you can lock down specific permanents of your opponents. [b]Borderline[/b] Piracy Charm – Blue gets a few ways to kill creatures outright and this has a few bonuses. [b]Borderline[/b] Portent – Ponder’s cousin, who peeks over the fence. [b]Borderline[/b] Power Sink – An interesting counter that can steal a turn from your opponent. [b]Borderline[/b] Serum Visions – Preordain’s older sibling. [b]Borderline[/b] Silent Departure – Unsummon isn’t great, but doing it twice can tilt a game. [b]Borderline[/b] Sleight of Hand – The last of the useful cantrips in Blue. [b]Borderline[/b] Spell Pierce – Offers a lot of the functionality of Force Spike. [b]Borderline[/b] Spindrift Drake – Another two power creature if you can afford the tempo. [b]Borderline[/b] Wind Zendikon – A two power Flyer at the cost of tempo. [b]Borderline[/card] Wingcrafter – When cast on the first turn, this card is incredible. [b]Borderline[/b] Augury Owl – There are a lot of two mana 1/1 Flyers in blue with small upsides. [b]Borderline[/b] Boomerang – Effective bounce for anything. [b]Borderline[/b] Briarberry Cohort – Flying at two mana with two power is good. [b]Borderline[/b] Cloud of Faeries – “Free” creatures are usually good. [b]Borderline[/b] Confound – Saving creatures from removal is common in Pauper. [b]Borderline[/b] Downpour – Multiple uses at a bargain price. [b]Borderline[/b] Cloud Elemental/Scrapskin Drake – Blue has several low cost Flyers at its disposal. [b]Borderline[/b] Dreamscape Artist – This card has a lot of value, but not much of it directly effects the game. [b]Borderline[/b] Echoing Truth – Great for those pesky tokens. [b]Borderline[/b] Eel Umbra – Mostly used to indirectly counter creature removal. [b]Borderline[/b] Essence Scatter/Remove Soul/False Summoning/Preemptive Strike – Narrow counters have few uses in Pauper; these are useful. [b]Borderline[/b] Gossamer Phantasm – Not quite Skulking Ghost, but can be useful. [b]Borderline[/b] Halimar Wavewatch – A nice dual purpose control card. [b]Borderline[/b] Inaction Injunction – A nice tempo card to buy a turn. [b]Borderline[/b] Muddle the Mixture – The counter part is secondary to the Tutoring ability. [b]Borderline[/b] Snap – A “Free” creature-bounce spell. [b]Borderline[/b] Spectral Flight – Not quite Mark of the Vampire, but pretty good for two mana. [b]Borderline[/b] Spellstutter Sprite – Counters with a creature attached. [b]Borderline[/b] Spiketail Hatchling – Keep your opponent on their heels. [b]Borderline[/b] Spreading Seas – The way for Blue to deal with lands. [b]Borderline[/b] Stoneybrook Angler – Blue’s way of getting a tapper. [b]Borderline[/b] Treasure Hunt – A good way to dig to the next spell. [b]Borderline[/b] Volrath’s Curse – Reusable removal for Blue is rare. [b]Borderline[/b] Convolute – Counters at three mana generally aren’t great but this can be splashed. [b]Borderline[/b] Drift of Phantasms – A decent wall that can go find something else if needed. [b]Borderline[/b] Echo Tracer – A delayed Man-o’-War that can start swinging in and still go off. [b]Borderline[/b] Frantic Search – Another “Free” spell, this one cycles through cards. [b]Borderline[/b] Frost Breath – Another card to buy a turn or turn the tide. [b]Borderline[/b] Kathari Screecher – A 2/2 Flyer with an upside. [b]Borderline[/b] Neurok Invisimancer – At three mana, a 2/1 unblockable isn’t stellar, but with other creatures it gets better. [b]Borderline[/b] Oona’s Grace – Another Looting type card for Blue. [b]Borderline[/b] Rhystic Deluge – Depending on how it’s used, you can keep an opponent tapped out of creatures or mana. [b]Borderline[/b] Rhystic Study – Puts your opponent back either way. [b]Borderline[/b] Rushing River – Getting two-for-one in bounce is good. [b]Borderline[/b] Scroll Thief – Small but efficient. [b]Borderline[/b] Shaper Parasite – Expensive, but it is Blue removal. [b]Borderline[/b] Skywing Aven – Comparable to Thalakos Scout. [b]Borderline[/b] Slow Motion – Can constantly tax your opponent. [b]Borderline[/b] Traveler’s Cloak – Cantrips and creates a clock. [b]Borderline[/b] Trinket Mage – Most of the good artifacts can be found with him. [b]Borderline[/b] Amass the Components – Fairly robust card drawing spell. [b]Borderline[/b] Aven Augur – Having and Undo in your back pocket isn’t bad. [b]Borderline[/b] Churning Eddy – A good card to get an extra attack out of your early creatures. [b]Borderline[/b] Crookclaw Transmuter – Ambushing your opponent is a Blue strength. [b]Borderline[/b] Elgaud Shieldmate – A bit slow, but Hexproofing an evasive threat can be a game winner. [b]Borderline[/b] Ghost Ship – Regeneration often doesn’t matter, but is great when you need it. [b]Borderline[/b] Griptide/Repel – Taking a turn and draw step at instant speed. [b]Borderline[/b] Impaler Shrike – Refilling your hand and attacking big. [b]Borderline[/b] Mystic Restraints – Instant speed removal for a moderate cost. [b]Borderline[/b] Primal Plasma – Blue gets Primal Clay versatility. [b]Borderline[/b] Rewind – Pretty good when combined with Flash creatures. [b]Borderline[/b] Sift – Another draw spell with potential. [b]Borderline[/b] Tricks of the Trade – Can make an evasive threat out of anything. [b]Borderline[/b] Chasm Drake – An Flying attacker that can bring a friend. [b]Borderline[/b] Drelnoch – For aggressive Blue decks the upside is excellent. [b]Borderline[/b] Gryff Vanguard – Another aggressive Blue top end attacker. [b]Borderline[/b] Infiltrator il-Kor – Decent finisher that can come down early. [b]Borderline[/b] Mnemonic Wall – Can be useful in the right deck. [b]Borderline[/card] Quicksilver Geyser – A slightly high cost trick for Blue with good potential. [b]Borderline[/b] Sky Ruin Drake – The Flying Fortress of Blue. [b]Borderline[/b] Aethersnipe – Much like Voidweilder, but this card is more versatile. [b]Borderline[/b]
Blue has an abundance of Playable cards, making it a little less likely Borderline cards will make it in. I don't have anything real specific other than I think you could swap several Playable cards for Borderline cards and still have a powerful Blue section.
Just some thoughts to your blue rating:
-Brainstorm: In limited and even in constructed, this can be the worse version of Ponder and Preordain when you have no possibilities to shuffle your library.
-Soratami Cloudskater: The abilities costs are very high and can slow you hard, aswell a 1/1 body is mostly redundant, I would decrease it to borderline.
-I wouldn't call Cloud Elemental/Scrapskin Drake, Encrust or Dream Cache playable. They got all better relatives, for example are Sentinels of Glen Elendra and Nephalia Seakite very interesting for blue, because they got flash, so they can keep mana for counter and be used as a combat trick, where a 2/3 body is quite interesting. Encrust can't tap on it's own, so I would always prefer Claustrophobia. Dream Cache is just bad and maybe even worse then Divination.
-Spiketail Drakeling: I know, that this card doesn't have so much friends, but I wouldn't underrate it. Nearly always when it was played, it was a great advantage for the blue deck. The deck can play a creature, without needing to keep mana for a counter and your opponent nearly always tries to play around it and gets very hard slowed. It has a similar effect as Seal of Doom or Seal of Fire. No matter if you could have a Doom Blade or Shock instead, your opponent don't want to have such an obvious 1/1 trade and mostly try to play around them, which can slow him hard. This advantage can only be seen when you play this card and then you'll see, that it can be huge.
Thank you for the input, its been very helpful. I made a couple more adjustments:
Brainstorm - Optimally you want a shuffle effect maybe half the time. I still feel this card is never bad.
Sorotami Cloudskater - Seeing your point, I agree its not a staple, but I do feel its at least as playable as Merfolk Looter or Thought Courier.
Encrust - My argument for this card is that its one of the few ways Blue can deal with an Artifact that is also usable for Creatures. I have used this to shut down Bonesplitter and Volshok Morningstar and never regretted it.
Dream Cache - I compare this card to Compulsive Research; the main difference is when your hand is empty, Compulsive Research can potentially give you two cards, but with Dream Cache you at least don't lose those cards unless you want to.
Spiketail Drakeling - Looking at it that way, I think he is better than initially thought.
Here is Green:
Bomb Rancor – Makes every creature significant. Bomb Sprout Swarm – With all of Green’s mana, you can build a great army. Bomb
Staple Arbor Elf – Green has the ability to get to three mana on turn two and a step ahead each turn. Staple Fyndhorn Elves/Llanowar Elves – The OG accelerator. Staple Jungle Lion – Great aggressive creature for Green. Staple Prey Upon – Very fine Green removal. Staple Utopia Sprawl – Fix your mana and accelerate without risking a creature. Staple Vines of Vastwood – Make sure your trick goes off. Staple Wild Growth – Another land accelerant. Staple Darkthicket Wolf – Great two mana investment creature. Staple Mire Boa – Great two power creature. Staple River Boa – Ditto. Staple Wall of Roots – Best Wall in the game, perfect for Green. Staple Utopia Vow – Nullify a creature, or even turn. Staple Arachnus Web – Great removal in Green. Staple Simian Grunts – Large ambushing creature. Staple Trusted Forcemage – Very effective three power creature. Staple Blastoderm – Grade A Premium Beef. Staple Festerhide Board – Solid creature with incredible potential. Staple Penumbra Spider – Excellent resilience. Staple Wickerbough Elder – Effective problem solver. Staple Sentinel Spider – Perfect combination of Stats and abilities. Staple Krosan Tusker – Few cards do so much. Staple
Playable Avacyn’s Pilgrim – Another accelerator that fixes. Playable Basking Rootwalla – A decent threat with some investment. Playable Boreal Druid – Colorless accelerator. Playable Elves of Deep Shadow – Slightly painful accelerating fixer. Playable Giant Growth – Green wins battles with its creatures, wars with its combat tricks. Playable Groundswell – The potential upside is huge. Playable Mutagenic Growth – Free pump spells are good. Playable Pouncing Jaguar – Another creature to support aggressive Green. Playable Wild Dogs – A two power for one mana that can cycle. Playable Acridian – Creatures this big usually cost four. Playable Ambush Viper – Great removal spell that can attack. Playable Dawntreader Elk – A two power two mana creature that can “cycle” for a land. Playable Garruk’s Companion – Solid two mana threat. Playable Predator’s Strike – Another great combat trick. Playable Silhana Ledgewalker – Hexproof and Evasion are powerful together. Playable Thornweald Archer – A two power two mana creature with two upsides. Playable Werebear – Potential 4/4 for two mana, or accelerator. Playable Centaur Courser/Nessian Courser – Solid creatures at three mana. Playable Ferocious Charge – Huge bonus with a great upside. Playable Grazing Gladehart – While not imposing, the life gain over time is great. Playable Hungry Spriggan – Vicious on attack. Playable Nantuko Shaman - Not a bad power-to-mana ratio for drawing a card. Playable Overgrowth – This card takes you two turns ahead in mana. Playable Snake Umbra – A decent source of card advantage and protection. Playable Wildsize – This buff is all upside. Playable Yavimaya elder – Lots of advantage built in to this card. Playable Korozda Monitor – A solid creature with benefits. Playable Mold Shambler – Deal with just about any problem. Playable Monstrify – Turn excess land into threat potential. Playable Nantuko Vigilante – Another problem solver. Playable Ondu Giant – A significant body and a land. Playable Primal Huntbeast – Solid body and Hexproof. Playable Tangle Mantis – Bigger body and trample. Playable Wild Leotau – Huge creature for nominal cost. Playable Hollowhenge Beast – Giant creature few can contend with. Playable Rubbleback Rhino – Larger body with Hexproof. Playable Winding Wurm – Unmatched Stats at five mana. Playable Havenwood Wurm – An huge ambushing Trampler. Playable Oakgnarl Warrior – Huge body that plays both sides of the ball. Playable
Borderline Bequeathal – A decent way to get something out of a fallen creature. Borderline Hunger of the Howlpack – Morbid can be awkward but the upside is good. Borderline Hunt Down – Pinpoint assault on an opposing creature. Borderline Leaf Arrow – Will take down most flyers. Borderline Vitality Charm – Several tricks packed into one card. Borderline Young Wolf – Resilient creatures are usually good. Borderline Ashcoat Bear – Ambush bear. Borderline Deadly Recluse – The Green Doom Blade. Borderline Drudge Beetle – Small creature that can help late in the game. Borderline Earthbrawn – Versatile combat trick. Borderline Edge of Autumn – Ramping with a backup plan. Borderline Evolution Charm – Good utility card. Borderline Fertile Ground – Ramp card that’s usable this turn. Borderline Gaea’s Touch – Developing your mana quickly. Borderline Gatecreeper Vine – A reverse Sakura-Tribe Elder. Borderline Leaf Gilder – Multipurpose two power creature. Borderline Leeching Bite – A small Consume Strength. Borderline Lignify – Make your opponents best creature a Wall. Borderline Moment’s Peace – The premier Fog. Borderline Multani’s Acolyte – A two power creature that keeps you going. Borderline Naturalize – Decent Sideboard answer. Borderline Nature’s Lore/Three Visits – Another Ramp that is useable this turn. Borderline Nest Invader – A two power creature with expendable burst mana. Borderline Night Soil – Put dead creatures to work. Borderline Nightshade Peddler – Can combine with creatures to make incredible threats. Borderline Nissa’s Chosen – A decent body that may come back on its own. Borderline Plummet – Green is equipped to deal with Flyers. Borderline Sakura-Tribe Elder – Rampant Growth stick. Borderline Symbiosis – Quite a surprise when used. Borderline Thallid Shell-Dweller – A wall that produces a slow stream of attackers. Borderline Titanic Growth – Huge bonus for two mana. Borderline Viridian Emissary – Small upside for a two power two mana creature. Borderline Wild Mongrel – Has potential but at a high cost. Borderline Wrap in Vigor – Can break combat open. Borderline Anurid Barkripper – Potential 4/4 for three mana. Borderline Borderland Ranger/Civic Wayfinder – Decent bodies with built in mana fixing. Borderline Brindle Boar – Life gain is pretty good at common. Borderline Citanul Woodreaders – A blocker and two cards for six mana. Borderline Crushing Vines – Combines two sideboard cards into one. Borderline Cultivate/Kodama’s Reach – Decent board development. Borderline Gift of the Gargantuan – Closest Green gets to Divination. Borderline Gilt-Leaf Seer – A Crystal Ball on a 2/2 body. Borderline Gnarled Mass/Trained Armodon – Another 3/3 for three mana. Borderline Harrow – While sacrificing a land isn’t great, you do get Instant speed and the lands untapped. Borderline Krosan Avenger – Trample and three power, plus potential regeneration. Borderline Natural End – A slightly more profitable Naturalize. Borderline Phantom Tiger - Resilient creature. Borderline Presence of Gond – Make a token army. Borderline Rootwalla – Another investment creature. Borderline Savage Siluette/Trollhide – A decent Aura to make a big creature. Borderline Spidery Grasp – A versatile combat trick. Borderline Spore Cloud – A blowout Fog when played correctly. Borderline Ulvenwald Bear – Potential 4/4 for three mana. Borderline Ambassador Oak – Two creatures for the price of one. Borderline Dawn’s Reflection – Another accelerant that puts you two mana ahead. Borderline Elephant Ambush – Two creatures, one card. Borderline Gorilla Chieftain/Skyshroud Troll – A solid body that’s hard to kill. Borderline Kozilek’s Predator – A solid body with burst mana. Borderline Krosan Vorine – Hunt down your opponents creatures. Borderline Llanowar Empath – Decent card quality in Green. Borderline Skyshroud Claim – Get two lands ahead. Borderline Springing Tiger – Great size in two stages of the game. Borderline Stalking Tiger – It’s difficult for other colors to beat a 3/3 one-on-one. Borderline Sudden Strength – Cantrip and buff. Borderline Wildheart Invoker – Solid power that can help end a game. Borderline Woodland Sleuth – Not quite Gravedigger, but most creatures in Pauper are quality. Borderline Giant Dustwasp – A three power Flyer that can come down cheap. Borderline Gorilla Berserkers – Pseudo-evasion on a Trampler. Borderline Ronom Hulk – Large creature that stays for a while. Borderline Silverglade Elemental – Another solid body with a land. Borderline Sporoloth Ancient – Slowly build your forces. Borderline Stampeding Rhino – Solid body and Trample. Borderline Thresher Beast – You can run them out of resources with this card. Borderline Durkwood Baloth – Large creature that can come down cheap. Borderline Giant Warthog/Moss Kami – Large bodies with Trample. Borderline Horncaller’s Chant – Two solid Tramplers in one card. Borderline Maul Splicer – Horncaller’s limerick. Borderline Rootbreaker Wurm – Huge body with Trample that is a bit pricy. Borderline Thunderling Tanadon – Large Trampler that can come down early for a heavy price. Borderline Yavimaya Wurm – Huge power on a Trampler that is slightly more affordable. Borderline
Here some thoughts to the green part:
-Boreal Druid/Avacyn's Pilgrim/Elves of Deep Shadow: They are not the same level as the other 3, because they are offcolor. Playable but not staple.
-Silhana Ledgewalker: The same thing as the Soul, but with worse evasion. 1 power is no threat at all, this card is totally depending on equipments or auras. Definitely not staple.
-Prey Upon: A green removal, but I wouldn't overrate it, because it can only trade very weak creatures, because if you trade similar strong creatures, you trade 2/1 and when your opponent has some kind of trick you got the same problem even with weaker creatures. Aswell you often has to chose if you want to attack or to trade with the upon, because if your creature was blocked before it will mainly die, if you trade before attacking, your creature got to weak to attack.
-Utopia Vow: The best green removal in my opinion. In many cases it just says: "target creature becomes a land." I pick it nearly as high as Pacifism, because in limited lands are often useless, why I don't play any LD spell.
-Nantuko Shaman: One of my favourite cards in green. For cc4, you don't just get a 3/2, it's aswell +1 on your hand. This advantage on the board and the hand can decide games. Think that it can normally attack in the second turn, because it get's haste. With a second ability, this card would be rare (Masked Admirers).
-Trusted Forcemage: This card is maybe better then a cc3 4/4, because it can split it's power. I would count it as staple.
-Hungry Spriggan: cc3 4/4 trample unleash. That could be the text aswell. The only problem, why I wouldn't call it staple is, that it dies very easy to Lava Dart or Lose Hope. This low shots are corner cases, but still a threat. A 4/4 trample is such a huge threat, that I would still call it playable and rate it over the 3/3 centaurs, which I like aswell, because they are super solid.
I think I agree with everything you said, particularly on Utopia Vow; you basically take an opponents turn if they cast a threat and you Vow it. Nantuko Shaman has been very good to me; it may end up being a Staple if it keeps up.
Here is Red:
Bomb Fireball – Can wreck the board and finish the game. Bomb Rolling Thunder – Extremely versatile and devastating. Bomb
Staple Burst Lightning – Great at two stages of the game. Staple Chain Lightning – Basically another Lightning Bolt. Staple Firebolt – Solid two-for-one burn. Staple Goblin Patrol – Very aggressive creature in the color of aggression. Staple Lightning Bolt – All burn must decide their place behind Lightning Bolt. Staple Ashmouth Hound – As good a 2/1 that Red can get. Staple Fireslinger – Can whittle the board how you want. Staple Incinerate – Almost as good as the original burn spell. Staple Nightbird’s Clutches – This card wins so many games. Staple Searing Spear – Incinerate’s cousin. Staple Torch Fiend – A 2/1 creature that can remove an obstacle. Staple Arc Lightning – Versatile removal. Staple Blood Ogre – Such a beating this can be. Staple Brimstone Volley – Another all upside card. Staple Splatter Thug – A full on beating. Staple Staggershock – Value burn. Staple Bladetusk Boar – Great closer for your game. Staple Gorehorn Minotaurs – Very scary threat. Staple Pyrotechnics – So close to a Bomb. Staple
Playable Disintegrate – A great X spell. Playable Faithless Looting – Cycling through cards is a potent ability for Red. Playable Flame Slash – Dealing with four toughness can be tricky. Playable Kaervek’s Torch – Can catch even the control player off balance. Playable Lava Dart – Almost always kills two creatures. Playable Mogg Fanatic – Useful utility creature. Playable Reckless Charge – Incredible buff for an aggressive deck. Playable Adder-Staff Boggart – A possible 3/2 on turn two and a peek at your library. Playable Emberwilde Augur – One way or another, he deals damage to the opponent. Playable Fire Ambush/Volcanic Hammer – Three damage is still good at Sorcery speed. Playable Gore-House Chainwalker – Very solid 3/2 creature. Playable Hearth Kami – Eliminates problems. Playable Lash Out – Great creature removal that peeks at your library and can sting your opponent. Playable Plated Geopede – Such high potential. Playable Searing Blaze – More double duty removal. Playable Skirk Marauder – Creature removal on a stick. Playable Sparksmith – Fireslinger number two with extra potential. Playable Fault Riders – Nearly unbeatable in combat with a land. Playable Ghitu Slinger – Shock on a stick. Playable Hanweir Lancer – First Strike is potent in Pauper. Playable Rift Bolt – Delay blast Lightning Bolt. Playable Skirk Shaman – With so many smaller creatures, evasion is useful. Playable Vithian Stinger – Can sneak back in for a damage. Playable Vulshok Sorcerer – Immediate use once it hits the ground. Playable Heirs to Stromkirk – Not quite Bladetusk Boar, but close. Playable Fire Elemental – A large creature in Red with no drawbacks. Playable Gathan Raiders – Another creature that can be a game buster. Playable Slash Panther – Large Hasty threat. Playable Chartooth Cougar – Not a bad fit in any Red deck. Playable Fireblast – “Free” four damage if you want. Playable
Borderline Brute Force – While a fine card, Red does better with burn. Borderline Dynacharge – Great for the alpha strike. Borderline Electrickery – A small sweeper. Borderline Flame Jab – Retrace is solid in Pauper, but one damage doesn’t kill everything. Borderline Forge Devil – A slow two-for-one. Borderline Frostling – Fairly good at killing utility creatures. Borderline Geistflame – Decent way to spread out two damage. Borderline Jackal Familiar – Aggressive buddy-system creature. Borderline Lava Burst – A decent X spell with a small upside. Borderline Martyr of Ashes – Red has a decent set of sweepers with complicated costs. Borderline Rock Slide – Can clear the board of pesky attackers. Borderline Seal of Fire – Investing in a Shock can give a small advantage. Borderline Skitter of Lizards – Scalable hasty attacker. Borderline Blades of Velis Vel – Additional four power on an attack. Borderline Falter – Can be a swing card in the right circumstance. Borderline Fire Whip – Make a pinger out of any creature, and not feel a wasted on an Aura. Borderline Flaming Sword – Decent combat trick that can get a card back out of an Aura. Borderline Fury Charm – A Sideboard card with an alternate use. Borderline Goblin Furrier – Nominally a 2/2 for two mana in Red. Borderline Goblin Shortcutter – Aggressive two power attacker. Borderline Goblin Skycutter – Two power creature that can take out small Flyers. Borderline Grotag Seige-Runner – Not many Walls in Pauper, but you won’t like the ones that are there. Borderline Headlong Rush – First Strike is potent in Pauper. Borderline Keldon Marauders – A multistage, multidirectional Lava Axe. Borderline Kruin Striker – For the all in creature deck. Borderline Mogg Flunkies – Great with their pet jackals. Borderline Mogg War Marshall – A burst of 1/1 creatures. Borderline Rustrazor Butcher – With all the two power creatures in Pauper, he can be brutal. Borderline Sluggishness – Always keep your opponent a blocker down. Borderline Smash to Smithereens – The best Sideboard artifact removal. Borderline Soulbright Flamekin – Like an Invoker in that it can give your whole team Trample. Borderline Stingscrouger – A lot like Goblin Shortcutter. Borderline Thunder Strike – Bury a creature in combat. You’ve been…Thunderstruck! Borderline Barbed Lightning – High potential. Borderline Brothers of Fire – A machine gun with enough mana. Borderline Crossway Vampire – Another creature to keep the early assault going. Borderline Ember Beast – Another creature for the Buddy System. Borderline Erdwal Ripper – Hasty creature that gets more threatening. Borderline Fervent Cathar – Not particularly big, but still keeps the attack going. Borderline Flamewave Invoker – Can end the game with mana. Borderline Goblin War Drums – Push the opponent further with your attacks. Borderline Keldon Vandals – Usually a sideboard card who works like a Sorcery. Borderline Lightning Talons – Makes a creature huge and almost unbeatable in combat. Borderline Lunge – While not Staggershock, it is four damage for three mana. Borderline Manic Vandal – Not great Stats, but good at solving problems. Borderline Molten Rain – Best Land removal in Red. Borderline Puncture Blast – Can remove Regenerators and neuter large creatures. Borderline Rally the Forces – Useful combat trick for large assaults. Borderline Riot Ringleader – A small bonus for any other Humans you attack with. Borderline Ronin Houndmaster – Hasty creature with a small upside. Borderline Seething Song – Like Dark Ritual, you net two mana. Borderline Slaughter Cry – A great combat trick. Borderline Soul’s Fire – Like a one sided Prey Upon. Borderline Suq’Ata Lancer – Another Hasty aggressor. Borderline Thunderclap – “Free” spells are generally good. Borderline Unforge – For Pauper, half of the artifacts are equipment. Borderline Viashino Outrider – Big power for low cost. Borderline Aftershock – For those cards you just have to blow up. Borderline Cackling Flames – Another great game finisher. Borderline Chandra’s Outrage – Punishing card for burning away a creature. Borderline Flamecore Elemental – Huge creature. Borderline Highland Giant – Decent Stats for Red. Borderline Lightning Blast – One damage per mana. Borderline Magma Burst – Having to split the targets reduces the awesomeness quite a bit. Borderline Mogg Bombers – He is big enough to swing in and at least hits once. Borderline Raging Minotaur/Talruum Minotaur – Nice Hasty attackers. Borderline Rukh Egg – An interesting card. Borderline Ruthless Invasion – A great tool in the right circumstance. Borderline Traitorous Instinct – Great for the all in aggressive deck. Borderline Viashino Fangtail – A nice solid body that can get through stalls. Borderline Chandra’s Fury – Decent spell to punch your opponent. Borderline Emrakul’s Hatcher – Can fill the board up for Red’s all out attack spells. Borderline Flowstone Crusher – Can get in for serious damage. Borderline Gerrard’s Irregulars – Trample and Haste is good for Red. Borderline Lava Storm – High cost, but can wreck an opponent’s board. Borderline Pitchburn Devils – Eager to go down swinging. Borderline Talruum Champion – Interesting creature in combat. Borderline Turn to Slag – Can kill just about anything and take its pretty stuff. Borderline Explosive Impact – Instant speed is the bonus. Borderline Macetail Hystrodon – Another Hasty big guy that wins most combats. Borderline Tenement Crasher – Nice Hasty creature to swing a game. Borderline
Exactly, Hoojo. Most websites use a "deckbuilder" so I can just copy/paste your long list and it's done. It's actually quite a good service for other people looking to build your cube.
Borderline Akrasan Squire – A decent one drop to start the attack. Borderline Caravan Escort – An investment creature that is well cost. Borderline Doomed Traveler – Resilient creature that has a bonus when he dies. Borderline Ethereal Armor – The synergy of this card makes it almost playable. Borderline Infantry Veteran – Another utility one drop to improve combat. Borderline Kirtar’s Desire – One mana removal that has a late game upside. Borderline Martyr of Sands – Probably the best straight life gain card in Pauper. Borderline Mosquito Guard – Not fantastic, but has other uses. Borderline Smite – Only slightly better than a combat trick. Borderline Soltari Foot Soldier – A 1/1 unblockable can be useful. Borderline Stand Firm – The ability to Scry makes this a card. Borderline Ajani Sunstriker – A decent 2/2 creature. Borderline Angelic Wall – A big stop sign. Borderline Apostle’s Blessing – A slightly better Stave Off. Borderline Avacynian Priest – Decent tapper for two color decks. Borderline Benalish Cavalry – White has a lot of 2/2 creatures with small abilities. Borderline Brilliant Halo – It’s no Rancor, but it can be significant. Borderline Carom – Small combat trick or weenie killer. Borderline Concordia Pegasus – Upsides to players needing to get to the middle game. Borderline Dawn Charm – A decent collection of minor effects. Borderline Disenchant – Premium Sideboard card. Borderline Fledgling Griffin – Conditional evasion on a 2/2. Borderline Kami of Ancient Law/Keening Apparition/Ronom Unicorn – Decent attackers that solve problems. Borderline Order of the Golden Cricket – A possible evasive 2/2. Borderline Phantom Nomad – Resilient creature. Borderline Skillful Lunge – A less zealous strike. Borderline Soul Parry – An interesting trick with a few uses. Borderline Spare from Evil – Almost a Falter in White. Borderline Wall of Glare – This Wall has mad blocking skills. Borderline Whitemane Lion – Ambush lion with small tricks built in. Borderline Amrou Seekers – “Fear” on a 2/2 creature in White. Borderline Apex Hawks – Scalable Flyer. Borderline Attended Knight – Two creatures, one card. Borderline Cessation – Turn creatures into chumps, over and over. Borderline Combat Medic – With enough mana, you can nullify a lot. Borderline Dawnglare Invoker – With eight mana, you can lock your opponent out. Borderline Empyrial Armor – With patience, you can make a creature huge. Borderline Floating Shield – Interesting multiuse Aura. Borderline Icatian Crier – Create a token army with excess land. Borderline Kabuto Moth – Play with combat math. Borderline Kemba’s Skyguard – Small game tilt effect. Borderline Knight of Valor – Interesting ability on a Flanker. Borderline Marshaling Cry – Small effect that’s there when you need it. Borderline Niblis of Mist – Not as savvy as Pestermite, but not bad. Borderline Nightguard Patrol – Not a bad stack of abilities. Borderline Opal Champion – Pretty good when he changes. Borderline Pegasus Charger/Voiceless Spirit – Decent aggressor. Borderline Pentarch Ward – A protective Aura that replaces itself. Borderline Rebuke – Narrow answer at Instant speed. Borderline Repel the Darkness – Decent tempo swing. Borderline Safe Passage – Similar to Fortify, but with no offense. Borderline Shackles – A reusable Paralyzing Grasp if you really need one. Borderline Shu Cavalry – Not great, but being unblockable is nice. Borderline Soltari Lancer – Aggressive Shadow creature with a useless perk. Borderline Veteran Swordsmith – Small upside to an aggressive creature. Borderline Village Bell-Ringer – White has many defensive tricks. Borderline Zealous Inquisitor – Kind of an interesting way to attack. Borderline Assault Griffin – Aggressive Flying power. Borderline Battlewise Aven – Average four mana Flyer with a late game upside. Borderline Breath of Life/False Defeat – Zombify is White in Pauper. Borderline Cloud Crusader/Skyhunter Patrol – Good set of Stats and abilities. Borderline Flickering Spirit – Interesting 2/2 Flyer that can almost never die. Borderline Griffin Protector – A beating with a steady flow of creatures. Borderline Kinsbaile Balloonist – Offers a helping hand to attackers. Borderline Makindi Griffin – Reliable Flyer. Borderline Moorish Cavalry – Rare Trampler in White Pauper. Borderline Sanctum Gargoyle – Interesting card with the right artifacts. Borderline Spirit En-Kor – Almost unbeatable in combat as long as there is help. Borderline Castle Raptors – Very large on defense. Borderline Knightly Valor – Decent Aura makes a threat and a chump. Borderline Peregrine Griffin – Large body and aggressive abilities. Borderline Plover Knights – Big and aggressive but not enough body. Borderline Second Thoughts – Two for one at Instant speed. Borderline Daru Lancer – Can be brought down early. Borderline Voice of the Provinces – Hard to ignore two creatures for one card, even if one of them is just a 1/1. Borderline
White is very powerful in Pauper. I believe it has a lot of first picks and a lot of synergy. I hope to get Colorless and Multicolor done soon.
Playable Azorius First-Wing – Nice 2/2 Flyer that is immune to most White removal. Playable Deft Duelist – Decent attacker. Playable Silkbind Faerie – Intriguing way to occupy two attackers and attack yourself. Playable Silver Drake – With Blue and White’s repertoire of ETB effects, this has a lot of synergy. Playable
Borderline Beckon Apparition – Like Vile Rebirth except any card but smaller. Borderline Harvest Gwyllion – Large creature that is difficult to attack into. Borderline Mourning Thrull – Like a Vault Skirge for both colors. Borderline Unmake – Harder to cast and three mana removal. Borderline Vectis Dominator – Interesting way to put the opponent between a rock and a hard place. Borderline
Bomb Armadillo Cloak – One of the few Bombs in Multicolor, it is a must answer card. Bomb
Staple Qasali Pridemage – A problem solver with good Stats and a small bonus. Staple Travel Preparations – Steady growth for your creatures. Staple
Playable Pale Recluse – Covers a lot of the basics for a six mana creature. Playable Thrill of the Hunt – Instant speed makes this a much more beneficial card. Playable Centaur Healer – Power to mana ratio is correct with a good bonus. Playable Sigil Blessing – Extremely one sided boost. Playable
Borderline Steel Leaf Paladin – Not quite as good as other bouncing creatures. Borderline Knight of the Skyward Eye – A little more investment for a little more size. Borderline Rune-Cervin Rider – Like a Shade for White. Borderline Safehold Elite – Resilient creature becomes a chump. Borderline Seeds of Strength – A nice way to spread out some bonuses. Borderline Steward of Valeron – Acceleration that can attack. Borderline Sundering Growth – From a Cube building perspective, this could replace two Sideboard cards. Borderline
Bomb
Staple
Playable Agony Warp – Often a two for one. Playable Consult the Necrosages – What you need when you need it. Playable Dimir Infiltrator – Evasion or whatever two mana card in your library you need. Playable Recoil – Decent set of effects. Playable Soul Manipulation – Narrow but effective. Playable
Playable Izzet Chronarch – May seem weak until you realize how good Red and Blue spells are. Playable Jilt – Four mana can remove two creatures. Playable Frostburn Weird – Serves two purposes in Control decks. Playable Noggle Bandit – Generally an unblockable attacker. Playable Razorfin Hunter – The second Fireslinger. Playable
Borderline Steamcore Weird – Worst Shock on a stick is still a Shock on a stick. Borderline Torch Drake – Aggressive Flyer to be had. Borderline Chemister’s Trick – Weird card that can have interesting effects. Borderline Goblin Electromancer – Pauper decks are mostly creatures, but this could be useful in the right deck. Borderline Quicksilver Dagger – If you can keep it active it is very good. Borderline
Bomb
Staple Assault Zeppelid – Big aerial assault for four mana. Staple
Borderline Agonizing Demise – Powerful but Black Red is stacked. Borderline Auger Spree – A way to deal with bigger threats. Borderline Kathari Bomber – Intriguing army builder. Borderline Lava Zombie – A decent Firebreather. Borderline Plague Spores – Big mana cost for a big effect. Borderline
Bomb
Staple Consume Strength – Combat trick that is usually a two for one. Staple
Playable Kird Ape – A turn two 2/3 is great for one mana. Playable Wild Hunger – Nice boost and Trample. Playable Branching Bolt – Can be a two for one. Playable Horned Kavu – Rarely is this a drawback. Playable
[card]Scuzzback Mauraders[/cards] – Trample and Persist together is pretty good. Playable
Borderline Foxfire Oak – Huge Firebreather. Borderline Tin Street Hooligan - A nice problem solver. Borderline Colossal Might – Big combat trick. Borderline Gorger Wurm – Power to mana ratio is great. Borderline Morsel Hoarder – Puts you ahead two mana with a huge body. Borderline Rhox Brute – A 4/4 for four mana. Borderline Scab-Clan Mauler – A 3/3 with Trample on turn two or three is very scary. Borderline
Staple Flayer Husk – A creature and a bonus. Staple The Signets - Fixing and acceleration for everyone. Staple Serrated Arrows – Very good at staunching an opponent’s offense. Staple Ulamog’s Crusher – Huge and must be dealt with or the game is over. Staple
Playable Haunted Fengraf – In a well built deck, all your creatures should be good enough to come back. Playable Rupture Spire/Transguild Promenade – “Casting” a land isn’t fun, but it is great for fixing. Playable The Panoramas – Fetches that can tap the turn they come down. Playable Onslaught Cyclers – Sometimes you’d rather have a different card. Playable
Borderline Halimar Depths – I’m not sure I would pay U for a weak Index. Borderline Kabira Crossroads – Combined with the Bouncelands, you can get a lot of mileage out of it. Borderline Quicksand – It’s tough to give up a land to kill a small creature. Borderline Sejiri Steppe – To sneak in that last swing. Borderline Soaring Seacliff – Ditto. Borderline Teetering Peaks – Small boost for aggressive decks. Borderline Turntimber Grove – Smaller boost. Borderline The Borderposts – With the advent of the Guildgates, I think these have fallen out of favor. Borderline Urza’s Cyclers – If you really want less land in your cube. Borderline Depleters – Burst mana in Land form. Borderline
I figured I would do Master's Editions because there are cards that tempt me.
Bomb
Staple Exile – White – Solid creature removal. Staple
Playable Aeolipile – Colorless – Damage that threatens the table. Playable Foul Spirit – Black – Good Stats for a three power Black Flyer. Playable Armored Griffin – White – Solid Stats and excellent abilities. Playable Phantom Monster – Blue – Solid Flying creature. Playable Primal Clay – Colorless – Versatile creature. Playable Brilliant Plan – Blue – Great refill spell. Playable Ironhoof Ox – Green – Not many creatures can take on a 4/4 one on one. Playable
Borderline Death Spark – Red – Not quite as good as Lava Dart or as reliable as Flame Jab, but it is an Instant. Borderline Goblin Firestarter – Red – Not Mogg Fanatic number two, but not bad. Borderline Fellwar Stone – Colorless – Decent mana excel that can fix occasionally. Borderline Telekinesis – Blue – Put a creature on hold for a while. Borderline Phantasmal Forces – Blue – Big power and Flying. Borderline Roots – Green – Narrow answer to ground threats. Borderline Shu General – White – Unblockable and can block. Borderline Hyalopterous Lemure – Black – Easy to cast big threat that can Fly if needed. Borderline Shu Elite Companions – White – Unblockable 3/3 creature. Borderline Wei Elite Companions – Black – Ditto. Borderline Ebony Rhino – Colorless – Big Trampling creature. Borderline
Just some more thougts:
White:
-Noble Templar: Definitly not staple. This card can be played, but 3 power and not even evasion is even bad with Cycling. It's not Shoreline Ranger, which es fair, because it can decide many games with a 3/4 body in the air, but a 3/6 on the ground can't attack very often, because it can't climb over the opponent's defense.
-Azorius Arrester: White has a bunch of really awesome cc2 creatures, this isn't one of them. It's ok, but over all detain is very bad and it's way worse, than Porcelain Legionnaire or Loyal Cathar.
-Soltari Lancer: cc3 2 power evasion, that's bad. The first Strike has so less use, that this card is borderline to me.
-Icatian Javelineers: Hornet Sting with a 1/1 body, which is mostly redundant is ok, but never staple.
-Ethereal Armor: This card is aweful in limited. If you got enough enchantments to make it good, you make something wrong, because mainly a limited deck should consist of Creatures and Removal.
-Castle Raptors: No good card. cc5 is too much for just 3 power in the air. It can't even beat the bunch of 3 power flyer for less mana. Even the Plover Knights aren't very solid.
-Troubled Healer: An awesome card, that can dominate the whole board. Whenever you are able to trade a land against a creature or removal/burnspell, you got an advantage, because mainly you will get enough lands in the lategame and this card has won so many matches for me. Maybe staple, but definitly playable.
-Hobble: Great card. It's not jsut a possible removal, it's just making a creature nearly useless and don't even get any disadvantage. Aswell there are so many cards, that can't block anyways, for example everything with shadow or unleash and 1/5 colors is also quite much, especially when you don't play black on your own, it increases the chance to see black creatures.
Multicolor:
-Fire at Will: A great card. Cardadvatange is cardadvtange and this card kills nearly always 2 creatures, when I play it. I like it way more, than Skyknight Legionnaire, which doesn't fit in R/W, because it's a kind of overcoasted Leonin Skyhunter and low mana costs should be more important, than haste, especially when it's just about 2 damage.
-Travel Preparations: This card is staple for sure. It's a kind of Giant Strength for two creatures, but the the flexibility to be something like Cave Sense aswell. I'm not so sure with the Cloak, because it's not hard to answer it and disadvantage often looses games. I think 2 creatures with each +2/+2 can be harder than just 1 with lifelink aswell.
-Probe: Mulldrifter is aswell better, when you cast it normal and not for evoke. This card is similar, because a nearly guaranteed cardadvtange of 2 is very rare in magic.
-Izzet Chronarch: In no way better than Jilt or Frostburn Weird, so either each staple or each playable.
-Snakeform: An extremly good card. It's not just a removal, that can be played mono G, it's aswell one of the very few cards, that can handle Guardian of the Guildpact. Stealing Abilities is often very useful.
I made several adjustments based on your comments. I do still think Noble Templar is a Staple because of how dominating he can be on the table. Not many creatures can take him down in combat, and I've never been unhappy with him in my deck. I'll keep testing though.
I still think Probe is really a 3BU spell. It's potent, but there are just too many good cards in Black/Blue.
I look forward to your input on Red, Colorless, and the rest.
Made a variety of changes to include some archetypes for us Johnny magic players out there. I managed to fit in quite a few cards and synergies without removing any staples or bombs.
Examples:
BR Morbid/Bloodthrist
BG Morbid
RG Morbid/Bloodthrist
WG Voltron
WU Voltron
UG Voltron
WU Blink
WB Blink
UB Blink
BG Dredge
WG Tokens
RG Tokens
UR Spells
There are plenty of more traditional Aggro/Control/Aggro Control Archetypes available as well like WB Extort/Pestilence, UG Capsize Ramp, MonoB, UW Prison, RG Zoo, All-In R, etc. Take a look and give me your input!
I think this is a really great idea that is gaining more and more traction in general. Past the obvious staple cards Cubes really can be created to taste. The biggest challenge, I think, is discovering which archetypes are the most fun, integrate with the existing Cube structure, etc etc
Will be very interested to hear your feedback as you test some of this stuff out. Wish I had more opportunities to do the same!
Limited is my favorite Magic the Gathering format, mostly because I love deckbuilding with narrow resources and card pools, but dislike the redundancy of Constructed; being forced to play a low-powered spell makes for interesting games. Al's Evaluate Everything Project was key to developing my current cube.
Basic Information:
Cube Contents
BBlackB
1 Carnophage
1 Fume Spitter
1 Tormented Soul
1 Vampire Lacerator
cmc 2
1 Dauthi Horror
1 Dauthi Slayer
1 Fledgling Djinn
1 Highborn Ghoul
1 Nezumi Cutthroat
1 Skittering Skirge
1 Undertaker
1 Vampire Interloper
1 Wretched Anurid
1 Blind Zealot
1 Chittering Rats
1 Crypt Rats
1 Dauthi Marauder
1 Liliana's Specter
1 Phyrexian Rager
1 Ravenous Skirge
cmc 4
1 Faceless Butcher
1 Driver of the Dead
1 Gravedigger
1 Okiba-Gang Shinobi
1 Pith Driller
1 Dross Golem
1 Warren Pilferers
cmc 6
1 Twisted Abomination
1 Snuff Out
cmc 1
1 Dead Weight
1 Disfigure
1 Duress
1 Lose Hope
1 Tortured Existence
1 Unearth
1 Vendetta
cmc 2
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Doom Blade
1 Grasp of Darkness
1 Grim Harvest
1 Hymn to Tourach
1 Last Gasp
1 Nameless Inversion
1 Sign in Blood
1 Terror
1 Victim of Night
1 Ashes to Ashes
1 Crippling Fatigue
1 Death's Duet
cmc 4
1 Evincar's Justice
1 Mark of the Vampire
1 Pestilence
cmc 5
1 Disturbed Burial
cmc X
1 Death Denied
1 Stir the Grave
1 Vault Skirge
cmc 2
1 Augur of Skulls
1 Barrow Ghoul
1 Rathi Trapper
1 Skulking Ghost
1 Surrakar Marauder
1 Wei Ambush Force
1 Cadaver Imp
1 Dauthi Jackal
1 Dread Warlock
1 Skittering Horror
1 Darkling Stalker
1 Ostracize
1 Raven's Crime
1 Tragic Slip
1 Vile Rebirth
cmc 2
1 Geth's Verdict
1 Morgue Theft
1 Sinkhole
1 Bog Down
1 Choking Sands
1 Dark Banishing
1 Eyeblight's Ending
1 Hideous End
1 Murder
1 Rend Flesh
1 Tendrils of Corruption
UBlueU
1 Delver of Secrets
1 Phantasmal Bear
1 Wingcrafter
cmc 2
1 Errant Ephemeron
1 Looter il-Kor
1 Soratami Cloudskater
1 Spined Thopter
1 Waterfront Bouncer
1 AEther Adept
1 Calcite Snapper
1 Headless Skaab
1 Man-o'-War
1 Pestermite
1 Sea Gate Oracle
1 Stitched Drake
1 Stormbound Geist
1 Thalakos Scout
1 Wormfang Drake
1 Aven Fleetwing
1 Illusionary Forces
1 Mist Raven
1 Shimmering Glasskite
1 Wayward Soul
cmc 5
1 Mnemonic Wall
1 Mulldrifter
1 Daze
cmc 1
1 Brainstorm
1 Flood
1 Force Spike
1 Ponder
1 Preordain
1 Silent Departure
cmc 2
1 Arcane Denial
1 Counterspell
1 Impulse
1 Into the Roil
1 Mana Leak
1 Memory Lapse
1 Miscalculation
1 Narcolepsy
1 Think Twice
1 Withdraw
1 Compulsive Research
1 Encrust
1 Exclude
1 Frost Breath
1 Repulse
1 Rushing River
1 Undo
cmc 4
1 Deep Analysis
1 Foresee
1 Ray of Command
1 Capsize
cmc X
1 Condescend
1 Repeal
1 Flying Men
cmc 2
1 Gossamer Phantasm
1 Merfolk Looter
1 Spiketail Hatchling
1 Stonybrook Angler
1 Welkin Tern
1 Cloud Spirit
1 Echo Tracer
1 Scrapskin Drake
1 Shaper Parasite
1 Spiketail Drakeling
1 Trinket Mage
1 Aven Augur
1 Ghost Ship
1 Makeshift Mauler
1 Windrider Eel
cmc 5
1 Drelnoch
1 Spire Monitor
1 Shoreline Ranger
1 Spire Golem
1 Claustrophobia
1 Dream Cache
1 Frantic Search
1 Tricks of the Trade
cmc 5
1 Quicksilver Geyser
1 Broken Ambitions
1 Power Sink
GGreenG
1 Arbor Elf
1 Avacyn's Pilgrim
1 Basking Rootwalla
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Pouncing Jaguar
1 Wild Dogs
cmc 2
1 Ambush Viper
1 Darkthicket Wolf
1 Garruk's Companion
1 Mire Boa
1 River Boa
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Silhana Ledgewalker
1 Thornweald Archer
1 Wall of Roots
1 Werebear
1 Wild Mongrel
1 Civic Wayfinder
1 Grazing Gladehart
1 Hungry Spriggan
1 Nantuko Vigilante
1 Simian Grunts
1 Sylvok Replica
1 Trusted Forcemage
1 Yavimaya Elder
cmc 4
1 Blastoderm
1 Festerhide Boar
1 Penumbra Spider
1 Primal Huntbeast
1 Wickerbough Elder
1 Sentinal Spider
1 Hollowhenge Beast
cmc 6
1 Citanul Woodreaders
1 Mold Shambler
cmc 7
1 Havenwood Wurm
1 Krosan Tusker
1 Mutagenic Growth
cmc 1
1 Giant Growth
1 Groundswell
1 Prey Upon
1 Rancor
1 Utopia Sprawl
1 Edge of Autumn
1 Moment's Peace
1 Predator's Strike
1 Provoke
1 Utopia Vow
1 Vines of Vastwood
1 Arachnus Web
1 Crushing Vines
1 Cultivate
1 Harrow
1 Snake Umbra
cmc 5
1 Sprout Swarm
1 Rootgrapple
1 Boreal Druid
1 Jungle Lion
cmc 2
1 Acridian
1 Dawntreader Elk
1 Nest Invader
1 Viridian Emissary
1 Daggerback Basilisk
1 Giant Turtle
1 Nessian Courser
1 Treetop Rangers
1 Ulvenwald Bear
1 Villagers of Estwald
1 Kozilek's Predator
1 Llanowar Empath
1 Thundering Tanadon
1 Wild Leotau
cmc 5
1 Thresher Beast
1 Winding Wurm
1 Hunger of the Howlpack
cmc 2
1 Evolution Charm
1 Symbiosis
1 Ferocious Charge
1 Gift of the Gargantuan
1 Natural End
1 Wildsize
1 Elephant Ambush
1 Feral Contest
RRedR
1 Goblin Patrol
1 Martyr of Ashes
1 Mogg Fanatic
cmc 2
1 Adder-Staff Boggart
1 Ashmouth Hound
1 Emberwilde Augur
1 Fireslinger
1 Hinterland Hermit
1 Kruin Striker
1 Mogg War Marshall
1 Plated Geopede
1 Sparksmith
1 Torch Fiend
1 Blood Ogre
1 Fault Riders
1 Gathan Raiders
1 Ghitu Slinger
1 Keldon Vandals
1 Manic Vandal
1 Skirk Marauder
1 Spin Engine
1 Vithian Stinger
1 Vulshok Sorcerer
1 Bladetusk Boar
1 Gorehorn Minotaurs
1 Slash Panther
cmc 5
1 Fire Elemental
1 Flowstone Crusher
1 Fireblast
cmc 1
1 Burst Lightning
1 Chain Lightning
1 Faithless Looting
1 Firebolt
1 Flame Slash
1 Lava Dart
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Rift Bolt
1 Incinerate
1 Lash Out
1 Nightbird's Clutches
1 Searing Blaze
1 Searing Spear
1 Volcanic Hammer
cmc 3
1 Arc Lightning
1 Brimstone Volley
1 Molten Rain
1 Staggershock
1 Stone Rain
1 Aftershock
1 Magma Burst
cmc 5
1 Pyrotechnics
cmc X
1 Fireball
1 Kaervek's Torch
1 Rock Slide
1 Rolling Thunder
1 Frostling
cmc 2
1 Goblin Skycutter
1 Hearth Kami
1 Keldon Marauders
1 Hanweir Lancer
1 Skirk Shaman
1 Vulshok Replica
cmc 4
1 Heirs of Stromkirk
1 Stingscourger
1 Talruum Minotaur
1 Viashino Fangtail
1 Gerrard's Irregulars
cmc 6
1 Chartooth Cougar
1 Oxidda Golem
1 Brute Force
1 Flame Jab
1 Geistflame
1 Reckless Charge
1 Falter
1 Fire Whip
1 Smash to Smithereens
cmc 3
1 Puncture Blast
1 Chandra's Outrage
1 Lightning Blast
cmc 5
1 Lava Storm
cmc X
1 Disintegrate
1 Lava Burst
WWhiteW
1 Akrasan Squire
1 Deftblade Elite
1 Doomed Traveler
1 Goldmeadow Harrier
1 Icatian Javelineers
1 Soltari Foot Soldier
1 Steppe Lynx
cmc 2
1 Blade of the Sixth Pride
1 Knight of Cliffhaven
1 Kor Line-Slinger
1 Kor Skyfisher
1 Leonin Skyhunter
1 Lone Missionary
1 Loyal Cathar
1 Soltari Trooper
1 Stormfront Pegasus
1 Attended Knight
1 Aven Riftwatcher
1 Ballynock Cohort
1 Blinding Souleater
1 Kitsune Blademaster
1 Kor Hookmaster
1 Porcelain Legionnaire
1 Shu Cavalry
1 Soltari Visionary
1 Troubled Healer
cmc 4
1 Coalition Honor Guard
1 Daru Lancer
1 Guardian of the Guildpact
1 Heavy Ballista
1 Kor Sanctifiers
1 Seraph of Dawn
1 Totem-Guide Hartebeest
cmc 6
1 Razor Golem
1 Mana Tithe
1 Sunlance
cmc 2
1 Bonds of Faith
1 Cho-Manno's Blessing
1 Disenchant
1 Journey to Nowhere
1 Pacifism
1 Shelter
1 Temporal Isolation
1 Arrest
1 Cage of Hands
1 Embolden
1 Fortify
1 Kor Chant
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Prismatic Strands
1 Recumbent Bliss
1 Repel the Darkness
1 Blinding Beam
1 Breath of Life
1 Cenn's Enlistment
1 Faith's Fetters
1 Infantry Veteran
cmc 2
1 Ajani's Sunstriker
1 Fledgling Griffin
1 Order of the Golden Cricket
1 Squall Drifter
1 Temple Acolyte
1 Veteran Armorer
1 Wall of Glare
1 Youthful Knight
1 Amrou Seekers
1 Blinding Souleater
1 Chapel Geist
1 Soltari Lancer
1 Zealous Inquisitor
cmc 4
1 Griffin Protector
1 Makindi Griffin
1 Castle Raptors
cmc 6
1 Noble Templar
1 Apostle's Blessing
1 Hyena Umbra
1 Kirtar's Desire
1 Dawn Charm
1 Puncturing Light
cmc 3
1 Empyrial Armor
1 Hobble
1 Safe Passage
1 Marshaling Cry
XColorlessX
1 Shimmering Grotto
1 Boros Garrison
1 Dimir Aqueduct
1 Golgari Rot Farm
1 Selesnya Sanctuary
1 Gruul Turf
1 Izzet Boilerworks
1 Orzhov Basilica
1 Azorius Chancery
1 Rakdos Carnarium
1 Simic Growth Chamber
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Desert
1 Quicksand
1 Halimar Depths
1 Bant Panorama
1 Esper Panorama
1 Grixis Panorama
1 Jund Panorama
1 Naya Panorama
1 Fieldmist Borderpost
1 Firewild Borderpost
1 Mistvein Borderpost
1 Veinfire Borderpost
1 Wildfield Borderpost
1 Phyrexian War Beast
1 Ulamog's Crusher
1 Prismatic Lens
1 Pristine Talisman
1 Azorius Signet
1 Boros Signet
1 Dimir Signet
1 Golgari Signet
1 Gruul Signet
1 Izzet Signet
1 Orzhov Signet
1 Rakdos Signet
1 Selesnya Signet
1 Simic Signet
1 Bonesplitter
1 Flayer Husk
1 Kitesail
1 Leonin Bola
1 Strider Harness
1 Sylvok Lifestaff
1 Viridian Longbow
1 Vulshok Morningstar
1 Whispersilk Cloak
1 Tumble Magnet
1 Hickory Woodlot
1 Peat Bog
1 Sandstone Needle
1 Saprazzan Skerry
1 Khalni Garden
1 Sejiri Steppe
1 Smoldering Spires
1 Soaring Seacliff
1 Teetering Peaks
1 Turntimber Grove
1 Haunted Fengraf
1 Pilgrim's Eye
1 Coiled Tinviper
1 Scuttlemutt
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Bone Saw
1 Copper Carapace
1 Leonin Scimitar
1 Opaline Bracers
1 Vulshock Gauntlets
1 Moonglove Extract
WUBRGMulticolorWUBRG
1 Curse of Chains
1 Deft Duelist
1 Feeling of Dread
BW
1 Shrieking Grotesque
1 Pillory of the Sleepless
1 Unmake
RW
1 Goblin Legionnaire
1 Skyknight Legionnaire
1 Wild Nacatl
GW
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Armadillo Cloak
1 Travel Preparations
1 Agony Warp
1 Probe
1 Recoil
UR
1 Izzet Chronarch
1 Noggle Bandit
1 Jilt
UG
1 Assault Zeppelid
1 Snakeform
1 Temporal Spring
BR
1 Blightning
1 Strangling Soot
1 Terminate
1 Putrid Leech
1 Desecrator Hag
1 Consume Strength
GR
1 Horned Kavu
1 Kird Ape
1 Branching Bolt
1 Azorius First-Wing
1 Silkbind Faerie
BW
1 Mourning Thrull
RW
1 Fire at Will
GW
1 Guardian of Vitu-Ghazi
1 Sigil Blessing
1 Crystallization
1 Dimir Infiltrator
1 Consult the Necrosages
UR
1 Razorfin Hunter
UG
1 Winged Coatl
BR
1 Agonizing Demise
1 Shadow Guildmage
1 Sangrite Backlash
GR
1 Gorger Wurm
1 Tin Street Hooligan
1 Granger Guildmage
1 Wild Hunger
Just curious about the lack of Wei Strike Force? The card is nuts in Pauper cubes.
-bonda
My Tribal cube
My 93/94 old school cube
My Artifact cube
My Hearthstone Quiz App for iOS
Black
- Zombie Cutthroat -> Darkling Stalker = Cutthroat just costs too much life for only 3/4. Darkling Stalker fills a role I'd like to see in black while also being able to defend against most removal.
- Markov Patrician -> Surrakar Marauder = 3 power isn't better than evasion in this spot.
- Rotting Legion -> Death's Duet = Fat just isn't that good in black.
- Expunge -> Lose Hope = 3cc removal needs to be really good to be worth it.
White- Village Bell-Ringer -> Veteran Armorer = Moved to reserves to make room for a card I've been dying to try.
- Voiceless Spirit -> Wall of Glare = Moved to reserves to test if a purely defensive Wall has a place.
- Peregrine Griffin -> Troubled Healer = Troubled Healer is all the rage, and for 5 mana, I'd like to have more than 2 power whenever possible.
- Thraben Sentry -> Zealous Inquisitor = I wanted to try Inquisitor out, and I couldn't reliably "Live the Dream" and get a 5/4 trampler for 4.
- Plover Knights -> Castle Raptors = Being bolt-proof is highly valued, which is too bad. I really like Plover Knights.
- Opal Champion -> Marshaling Cry = Opal Champion was a lot like Thraben Sentry, but worse.
Blue- Neurok Invisomancer -> Thalakos Scout = Swapping Evasive attackers to test strength.
- Scroll Thief -> Spiketail Hatchling = I want to give Spiketail Hatchling a go over a somewhat mediocre creature with a great ability.
- Turn Aside -> Spire Monitor = Narrow counter for a great creature.
- Confound -> Soratami Cloudskater = Weak counter for another looter.
- Deprive -> Echo Tracer = Another weak counter out for a interesting creature.
Red- Goblin Bushwacker -> Martyr of Ashes = The ability to sweep so easily is just way more valuable than the rare super alpha strike.
- Bloodcrazed Neonate -> Goblin Skycutter = Losing control of your creatures just isn't worth it. Goblin Skycutter is a 2/1 with a decent ability.
- Village Ironsmith -> Fault Riders = Werewolves are just too random; they need to be good in both forms to have a spot. Fault Riders is another card that is all the rage.
- Erdwal Ripper -> Stingscourger = Erdwal Ripper is weak at 3cc, while Stingscourger can be interesting, particularly when combined with reanimation.
- Macetail Hystrodon -> Rock Slide = Trying to cull some of the higher cost creatures and Rock Slide looks promising.
GreenMAAAAAAJOR update! Many changes took place with the last few sets and I have them documented below. I'll be eliminating much of the Reserves section. With the influx of playable cards, I don't see these guys really making it in. I'm also taking out the creature type debate; it's not as relevant as I thought it would be.
White
- Akrasan Squire swap Blinding Souleater - Blinding Souleater is decent, but not as dominating as I thought it would be. Exalted actually comes in handy with all the small evasive guys.
- Makindi Griffin demoted Seraph of Dawn - Makindi is moved to the 27; he is great, but I needed room for Seraph of Dawn and they are close enough to swap.
- Hyena Umbra swap Troubled Healer - I want to give Troubled Healer more time and Hyena Umbra is ok.
- Spare From Evil -> Attended Knight - Attended Knight has always shined in M13 draft. Spare From Evil just never delivers the dream of a perfect alpha strike.
- Caravan Escort -> Ajani's Sunstriker - Caravan Escort is bleh.
- Spirit en-Kor -> Griffin Protector - Griffin Protector was solid in M13, where Spirit en-Kor's ability wasn't as useful as I'd like.
- Benalish Lancer -> Empyrial Armor - Benalish Lancer isn't good. Empyrial Armor can be.
- Angelic Renewal out Nothing - Hyena Umbra does basically the same thing, but with a bonus.
Red- Forge Devil -> Martyr of Ashes - Forge Devil just isn't that good.
- Kruin Striker -> Crusher Zendikon - Mana is too valuable to occupy with a creature enchantment.
- Mogg War Marshall demoted Vulshok Replica - The constant stream of creatures form Mogg War Marshall is tempting.
- Fault Riders -> Viashino Outrider - Viashino Outrider is never worth the Echo cost.
- Anarchist -> Searing Spear - Recurring sorceries is good in Red, but not as good as cheap instant burn.
- Flameborn Hellion -> Fire Elemental - Same stats but cheaper.
- Ruthless Invasion -> Rock Slide - Ruthless Invasion just didn't work as well as I would like.
- Hanweir Lancer -> Flamewave Invoker - At 8 mana, I'd rather have a real burn spell. This is a decent Soulbond creature.
- Flamecore Elemental -> Heirs of Stromkirk - Testing an evasive creature for a so-so creature.
- Pouncing Kavu -> Chartooth Cougar - I gave Kicker a run. Now moving on.
- Fury Charm -> Flame Jab - Flame Jab seems great, and Fury Charm only has two mediocre options really.
- Oxidda Golem added - Going to try it out.
- Fire Whip added - Intrigued.
Green- Arbor Elf -> Young Wolf - Young Wolf just seemed like a chump blocker most of the time.
- Jungle Lion demoted Utopia Vow - A nonblocker to remove a blocker.
- Acridian demoted Sylvok Replica - Some equipment can be devastating.
- Dawntreader Elk demoted Civic Wayfinder - I never wanted to sacrifice Dawntreader Elk.
- Maul Splicer -> Viridian Emissary - Maul Splicer is interesting, but very expensive.
- Nessian Courser demoted Trusted Forcemage - Very similar cards.
- Kavu Primarch -> Citanul Woodreaders - For that much mana, the cards are better.
- Thundering Tanadon demoted Primal Huntbeast - 4 life may not be worth it, but apseudo-Blastoderm is.
- Rogue Elephant -> Wild Leotau - Losing Lands is only easy in very late game situations, but at least with Wild Leotau, you keep it in play.
- Winding Wurm demoted Sentinal Spider - I like Winding Wurm, but Sentinal Spider is awesome.
- Hunger of the Howlpack demoted Utopia Sprawl - More acceleration.
- Mwonvuli Acid-Moss -> Rootgrapple - More versatile card.
- Elves of Deep Shadow -> Yavimaya Granger - True acceleration.
- Naturalize -> Natural End - Just an upgrade.
- Vitality Charm -> Nothing. - Effects were just not good enough at each stage of the game.
- Leaf Arrow -> Nothing. - Sentinal Spider took its job.
Blue- Thought Courier demoted Soratami Cloudskater - More versitile card of the same ability.
- Shaper Parasite demoted Wormfang Drake - Just haven't been able to morph Shaper Parasite.
- Makeshift Mauler demoted Mist Raven - Make way for a new staple.
- Spire Golem demoted Wingcrafter - Want to give Soulbond its due.
- Shorline Ranger demoted Silent Departure - Two unsummons in one may be good enough.
- Eel Umbra -> Memory Lapse - I prefer counters.
- Remove Soul -> Think Twice - Removing Narrow counters from the cube.
- Claustrophobia demoted Encrust - Encrust can stop Equipment; hopefully that is enough.
- Frantic Search demoted Undo - Better card in Undo.
- Wind Zendikon -> Flying Men - Mana is precious in limited.
- Ninja of the Deep Hours -> Nothing. - Trying different creatures.
- Psychic Barrier -> Gossamer Phantasm - Removing narrow counters.
- Piracy Charm -> Tricks of the Trade - Better tricks.
Black- Skittering Horror demoted Tormented Soul - Tormented Soul is better than most people think.
- Dark Ritual -> Driver of the Dead - Marginal card for another recursion card.
- Ostracize demoted Mark of the Vampire - A so-so discard for the nuts of an Aura.
- Innocent Blood demoted Lose Hope - I think Lose Hope would be just as good in most cases.
- Tendrils of Corruption demoted Death's Duet - More recursion.
- Bloodrite Invoker -> Dauthi Jackal - Finally going to test Dauthi Jackal.
- Skinthinner -> Murder - Black doesn't need to pay 8 for killing creatures.
- Funeral Charm -> Raven's Crime - A better discard spell.
- Corrupted Zendikon -> Morgue Theft - More recursion.
- Oubliette -> Vile Rebirth - Much better card.
Colorless- Khalni Garden,Teetering Peaks,Haunted Fengraf,Leonin Scimitar,Darksteel Ingot demoted Panoramas - Want to try them for mana fixing.
- Accorder's Shield -> Vulshok Gauntlets - Better equipment.
MulticolorDo you mean Wei Ambush Force? Wei Strike Force doesn't look very strong.
Bomb: Blacks BEST cards.
Disturbed Burial – This card takes over games. Bomb
Evincar’s Justice – Black has Wrath of God in Pauper. Bomb
Pestilence – Absolute control of the field is what this card offers. Bomb
Staple: The cards you cube before cubing any others.
Carnophage – Classic 2/2 for B that sets the bar for aggressive Black cards. Staple
Duress – A versatile answer to many things Black cannot handle in play. Staple
Unearth – Most creatures in Pauper are 2 to 3 mana, particularly in Black. Staple
Vampire Lacerator – Another 2/2 for B with a twist that puts it on par with Carnophage. Staple
Vendetta – One of Black’s biggest strengths is a strong removal sweet. It begins at 1 mana. Staple
Dauthi Horror – One of Black’s solid evasive attackers that even bypasses White’s own Shadows. Staple
Dauthi Slayer – Peak of aggressive 2 power attackers in Black. Staple
Death Denied – An incredible game-changing card to close out a game. Staple
Doom Blade – The bar by which all Black removal spells are set. Staple
Fledgling Djinn – Continues the trend of 2 power 2 mana evasive creatures in Black. Staple
Grim Harvest – This can be a very problematic card for your opponent to deal with, particularly in stalls. Staple
Hymn to Tourach – A brutal card in a format without much real card draw. Staple
Nezumi Cutthroat – Close to a second Dauthi Horror. Staple
Terror – Sharing the podium as the best removal spell in Black. Staple
Undertaker – This card is so good it is often a lightning rod. Staple
Vampire Interloper – The second best 2 mana 2 power flyer in Black is still very good. Staple
Blind Zealot – Another evasive creature that can eliminate a threat in a pinch for value. Staple
Crypt Rats – Pestilence number 2, this card keeps coming back with Black’s recursion. Staple
Dauthi Marauder – Perfect 3 power for 3 mana evasive attacker that demands an answer. Staple
Phyrexian Rager – Incremental advantage in a 2 power body that is easy to cast. Staple
Faceless Butcher – There are many uses for this card, making it more than a just removal. Staple
Gravedigger – Recursion is Black’s best strength, and a 2 power body makes this card a bit better. Staple
Snuff Out – Versatile removal spell. Free makes things so much better. Staple
Warren Pilferers – Gravedigger’s bigger brother that pairs well with Black’s ally. Staple
Twisted Abomination – Not many cube creatures can cost 6, but there is no reason not to play this powerhouse. Staple
Playable: The best cards to fill out your cube with.
Dead Weight – Great for killing early creatures or neutering larger ones. Playable
Disfigure – Instant speed enhances this card as a combat trick if needed. Playable
Fume Spitter – Great for removing your opponents utility creatures without spending a full removal spell. Playable
Lose Hope – Card quality is an important part of pauper cube, but -1/-1 on a creature isn’t much. Playable
Grasp of Darkness – Black has many removal spells with a lot of variety in how they work. Playable
Highborn Ghoul – One of the weakest 2 power evasive attackers, but an attacker nonetheless. Playable
Last Gasp – Another great instant in a long line of removal in Black. Playable
Morgue Theft – A powerful recursion spell in Black with late game promise. Playable
Nameless Inversion – A very versatile removal or buff spell. Playable
Sign in Blood – One of best ways to gain advantage next to Hymn. Playable
Skittering Skirge – Aggressive air power that can be built around. Playable
Skulking Ghost – Any effect that would kill it generally kills it anyway, and it is immune to most Black removal. Playable
Victim of Night – Removal that is narrow in its own environment usually becomes pretty good in Pauper. Playable
Ashes to Ashes – High cost with very high payoff. Playable
Chittering Rats – A 2 power body that offers incremental advantage. Playable
Crippling Fatigue – A great 2-for-1 removal spell. Playable
Dark Banishing – Black continues its line of solid removal into 3 mana. Playable
Death’s Duet – Black’s Divination. Playable
Eyeblight’s Ending – Another solid 3 mana removal spell. Playable
Liliana’s Spector – Evasion, 2 power, and a decent ability for low mana; the bar for playable Black creatures. Playable
Ravenous Skirge – Another unsuspecting threat that can end a game quickly. Playable
Rend Flesh – The few Spirits in Pauper make this incredibly versatile. Playable
Stab Wound – This card main use is not to kill a creature, but end the game. Playable
Bloodhunter Bat – One of the better 4 mana Flyers Black can get. Playable
Demon’s Jester – Another good 4 mana Flyer with a late game upside. Playable
Mark of the Vampire – Few Aura’s change a game like this card. Playable
Okiba-Gang Shinobi – Black specializes in sneaking creatures in, and this can tilt a game in your way in one hit. Playable
Borderline: Narrow cards that may fill in some blanks.
Carrion Feeder – Not being able to block in Pauper is a big drawback, but permanently growing is attractive. Borderline
Crippling Blight – For B there are better options, but removing a blocker can be game changing. Borderline
Dark Ritual – The best burst mana ability available in pauper, but often not worth the card. Borderline
Ostracize – Some creatures need to be dealt with before they hit play. Borderline
Paralyze – Surprisingly effective if you need more low cost removal. Borderline
Predator’s Gambit – Low cost power boosts like this can be very effective, but Aura’s tend to be bad. Borderline
Raven’s Crime – Bulk discard is generally good in Pauper, and Retrace is very powerful. Borderline
Stir the Grave – This card functions like a Zombify for its best low cost creatures. Borderline
Tormented Soul – Black’s creature advantage is evasion; this card is innocuous AND threatening. Borderline
Tortured Existence – The biggest drawback of this card is the requirement to discard a creature. Borderline
Tragic Slip – A good card for mopping up a messy combat. Eventually it will kill anything. Borderline
Undying Evil - Comparable to Eel Umbra for countering removal. Borderline
Vile Rebirth – A pseudo 2/2 for [mana]B[mana] with a tricky drawback. Borderline
Augur of Skulls – When it comes to discard, 2 mana for 2 is a great deal. Borderline
Child of Night – With no drawback, a 2 power for 2 mana is welcome, particularly with the swing in life totals. Borderline
Cruel Edict – A narrow answer to untouchable creatures. Borderline
Diabolic Edict – Black has few tools to deal with Hexproof and Shroud. This is the best direct answer. Borderline
Distress – This expands on what Duress does for Black. Borderline
Dregscape Zombie – If more 2/1’s for 2 are needed, there are a few to choose from. Borderline
Duskhunter Bat – In aggressive decks, this can function as the second Fledgling Djinn. Borderline
Echoing Decay – A narrow sweeper versus any token strategies, which exist in Pauper believe it or not. Borderline
Erg Raiders – Many of Black’s creatures come with the price of not blocking. This one can in a pinch. Borderline
Foul Imp – Prohibitive cost, but low cost 2/2 Flyers are very strong. Borderline
Pit Keeper – Early aggression with a late game upside. Borderline
Rathi Trapper – In Black’s world of weak creatures, this can be very handy to sneak damage in. Borderline
Sinister Strength – Black can make a very threatening creature at the risk of an Aura. Borderline
Sinkhole – Black’s best tool for dealing with problematic lands. Borderline
Surrakar Marauder – Another 2 power 2 mana creature with a conditional upside. Borderline
Vault Skirge – Another card that offers early life swings for a nominal cost. Borderline
Wrench Mind – As close to a second Hymn in Pauper as you can get. Borderline
Wretched Anurid – The best beefy creature for 2 mana in Black, but the cost can be pretty high. Borderline
Bloodrite Invoker – A 3 power creature for 3 mana in Black with a costly alternate way to win the game. Borderline
Bog Down – A solid discard spell with a small upside if you need more. Borderline
Cadaver Imp – Another Gravedigger creature for those who want more. Borderline
Choking Sands - Black has a luxury of cards to deal with problematic lands. Borderline
Dauthi Jackal – A 2 power evasive creature that isn’t as well cost as its brethren. Borderline
Dead Reveler – A 2/3 for 3 isn’t incredible, but a 3/4 for 3 that can’t block is very good in Black. Borderline
Dread Warlock – Chances are this is a 2/2 unblockable creature, but the chances aren’t great. Borderline
Ghoulraiser – Since there aren’t a lot of Zombies in Pauper, it makes the random not as bad as it appears. Borderline
Hideous End – At 3 mana, there are several removal spells to get the job done. Borderline
Markov Patrician – Child of Night’s bigger sister that is still well costed. Borderline
Morbid Plunder – Slightly prohibitive cost for a second Death’s Duet. Borderline
Murder – If you need your removal without restrictions, this is it. Borderline
Organ Grinder - 3 power creature for 3 mana in Black with a alternate way to win the game, again. Borderline
Oubliette – Another unrestricted removal spell at 3 mana. Borderline
Seal of Doom – Small advantage can be had by investing the mana for a Dark Banishing early. Borderline
Shade’s Form – A decent “Umbra” Aura in Black. Borderline
Skittering Horror – Without evasion, this isn’t quite as good as its brethren. Borderline
Darkling Stalker – The ability to protect itself without needing several mana available is key for Shades. Borderline
Drifting Shade/Dungeon Shade – Carrying the best evasion available could make it worthy. Borderline
Driver of the Dead – Black has a plethora of 2 or less power creatures, and I would bring them back for free. Borderline
Liliana’s Shade – Incremental advantage is good on creatures, even if they have no evasion. Borderline
Mortis Dogs – Aggressive creature with a nice final swing. Borderline
Perilous Shadow – A road block that can crush the late game. Borderline
Tendrils of Corruption – This card is usually good an rarely dead. Borderline
Cruel Revival – There aren’t very many Zombies in Pauper that are playable, but the ones that are you want. Borderline
Pith Driller – Not incredibly powerful, but the large body isn’t something Black has great access to. Borderline
Rotting Legion – A small drawback for such a large body. Borderline
Soul Scourge – A 3 power Flyer that can make the clock tick faster. Borderline
Urborg Uprising – A late game card to refill your hand. Borderline
Violent Pall – A 1/1 Flyer is either nothing or everything, particularly when it comes with a removal spell. Borderline
Weed-Pruner Poplar – The continual afflictions can tilt a game your way. Borderline
Zombie Boa – Another card that can conditionally give you an advantage. Borderline
Pull Under – There aren’t many creatures that can survive this spell. Borderline
Terrus Wurm – Coming back from the grave to make another huge threat can be potent in Pauper. Borderline
Anything that I didn't think was at least Borderline playable I didn't include. A couple things of note though:
I placed the land destruction spells as Borderline as their application is very narrow. They are mostly there to deal with problematic lands, not really to gain a huge advantage in the game. Lands in pauper don't really take over games, and if Black reliably needs an answer, you end up needing to run four our more spells that aren't great any other time.
Cruel Edict and Diabolic edict I also consider Borderline, as they only deal with a small fraction of threats reliably. Again, if Black NEEDS these answers, you would need to run both of these and possibly Geth's Verdict and Imperial Edict to really keep Black competitive.
Of course, Creature/Spell balance means that you may end up playing Borderline cards in places where there aren't enough Playable cards, but that's the fun of Pauper.
To clear up confusion, [b]Borderline[/b] cards aren't unplayable, they are just the least powerful cards you should be considering for Pauper. I see your point on Victim of Night, but for the others, 1BB is just much harder to cast than 2B to kill just about the same number of creatures.
I like Highborn Ghoul too, but I still think Flying is better than Intimidate/Fear for blocking purposes. As an early attacker, though, he is very good.
I've seen games end because of Tormented Soul too often, even without Auras, but it may be more as a support attacker than a champion.
I'm a fan of Lose Hope too; I think I'll try that swap.
Dead Reveler hasn't tested as well as Splatter Thug for me. I just feel he's missing something when a 2/3 AND when unleashed.
Just to reiterate, I didn't rate cards I think are unplayable. All the cards in that list I think are playable in some way or another. I'll make adjustments based on the points you made.
Here is Blue:
Bomb
Capsize – This card will take over a game the more mana you have. [b]Bomb[/b]
Flood – This card can rule the ground game. [b]Bomb[/b]
Staple
Brainstorm – All other U card quality spells try to imitate Brainstorm. [b]Staple[/b]
Counterspell – The OG counter. [b]Staple[/b]
Impulse – Great card to find what you need. [b]Staple[/b]
Looter il-Kor – A great Looter you will want to play every time. [b]Staple[/b]
Mana Leak – A soft counter that works like a hard counter. [b]Staple[/b]
Narcolepsy – Premium removal for Blue. [b]Staple[/b]
Think Twice – A solid way to draw two cards in Pauper. [b]Staple[/b]
Waterfront Bouncer – A great card to control the field. [b]Staple[/b]
Calcite Snapper – An excellent blocker with good attack potential. [b]Staple[/b]
Claustrophobia – Another great removal spell in Blue. [b]Staple[/b]
Compulsive Research – A solid draw three in Blue. [b]Staple[/b]
Exclude – A great counter at three mana. [b]Staple[/b]
Man-o’-War – A value creature with multiple applications. [b]Staple[/b]
Spined Thopter – A 2/1 Flyer for “two”. [b]Staple[/b]
Stitched Drake – Huge threat that isn’t difficult to play. [b]Staple[/b]
Stormbound Geist – A Flying threat that is hard to get rid of. [b]Staple[/b]
Thalakos Scout – Evasive threat that is hard to kill. [b]Staple[/b]
Aven Fleetwing – A very difficult creature to deal with. [b]Staple[/b]
Deep Analysis – For one card, you gain four others. [b]Staple[/b]
Foresee – Digs deep for two cards. [b]Staple[/b]
Illusionary Forces – Huge Flyer at an inexpensive cost. [b]Staple[/b]
Shimmering Glasskite – Blue has a lot of difficult to deal with creatures. [b]Staple[/b]
Mulldrifter – Versatile card for Blue that does everything Blue wants. [b]Staple[/b]
Errant Ephemeron – Great game ending creature. [b]Staple[/b]
Playable
Condescend – A scalable counter with a significant upside. [b]Playable[/b]
Force Spike – Versatile soft counter that can put you a step ahead. [b]Playable[/b]
Phantasmal Bear – Solid attacker for blue that is surprisingly effective. [b]Playable[/b]
Ponder – Brainstorm’s cousin. [b]Playable[/b]
Preordain – Another, younger cousin of Brainstorm’s. [b]Playable[/b]
Repeal – A bouncing cantrip for Blue’s tempo game. [b]Playable[/b]
Arcane Denial – Hard counters at two mana are few, but solid. [b]Playable[/b]
Daze – “Free” spells are usually good. [b]Playable[/b]
Deprive – I compare this to Arcane Denial; a hard counter that works well. [b]Playable[/b]
Into the Roil – Great bounce card for Blue. [b]Playable[/b]
Memory Lapse – A great tempo counter. [b]Playable[/b]
Merfolk Looter/Thought Courier – The standard Looter utility creature. [b]Playable[/b]
Miscalculation – Mana Leak’s versatile cousin. [b]Playable[/b]
Soratami Cloudskater – Looting that can still attack. Turning excess lands in play into cards is also a benefit. [b]Playable[/b]
Welken Tern – Aggressive two power Flyer for two mana. [b]Playable[/b]
Withdraw – A two-for-one at two mana most often. [b]Playable[/b]
Aether Adept – The second Man-o’-War for Blue. [b]Playable[/b]
Cloud Spirit/Rishadan Airship/Skywinder Drake – Very aggressive Flyer. [b]Playable[/b]
Dream Cache – Another draw three that is fairly useful. [b]Playable[/b]
Encrust – A good way to deal with equipment or a creature. [b]Playable[/b]
Headless Skaab – Huge body with small downsides. [b]Playable[/b]
Pestermite – Tempo is Blue’s best ally in creatures. [b]Playable[/b]
Repulse – Great three mana bounce. [b]Playable[/b]
Sea Gate Oracle – A solid creature for control decks. [b]Playable[/b]
Spiketail Drakeling – More playable than its hatchling. [b]Playable[/b]
Stealer of Secrets – Mimics Ninja of the Deep Hours. [b]Playable[/b]
Undo – A board changer for three mana. [b]Playable[/b]
Wormfang Drake – Like a Stitched Drake that can be cast earlier. [b]Playable[/b]
Fencer Clique/Wayward Soul – A game finisher that is difficult to deal with. [b]Playable[/b]
Makeshift Mauler – A nice big creature for Blue. [b]Playable[/b]
Mist Raven – A flying Man-o’-War. [b]Playable[/b]
Nephalia Seakite/Sentinels of Glen Elendra – An ambusher with a good body. [b]Playable[/b]
Ninja of the Deep Hours – When you can sneak him in, he is great. [b]Playable[/b]
Ray of Command – Another fine trick in Blue’s arsenal. [b]Playable[/b]
Windrider Eel – With just a few lands this can be scary. [b]Playable[/b]
Faerie Invaders/Spire Monitor – Easy to cast three power Flyers that can ambush your opponent. [b]Playable[/b]
Shoreline Ranger – Solid creature with great upside. [b]Playable[/b]
Borderline
Delver of Secrets – It takes a specific deck to reliably flip Delver of Secrets, and then he can be killed. [b]Borderline[/b]
Drifter il-Dal – Very aggressive creature if you can afford to spend the mana. [b]Borderline[/b]
Gigadrowse – This card as several uses, combined with being difficult to counter. [b]Borderline[/b]
Mind Games – For a hefty price you can lock down specific permanents of your opponents. [b]Borderline[/b]
Piracy Charm – Blue gets a few ways to kill creatures outright and this has a few bonuses. [b]Borderline[/b]
Portent – Ponder’s cousin, who peeks over the fence. [b]Borderline[/b]
Power Sink – An interesting counter that can steal a turn from your opponent. [b]Borderline[/b]
Serum Visions – Preordain’s older sibling. [b]Borderline[/b]
Silent Departure – Unsummon isn’t great, but doing it twice can tilt a game. [b]Borderline[/b]
Sleight of Hand – The last of the useful cantrips in Blue. [b]Borderline[/b]
Spell Pierce – Offers a lot of the functionality of Force Spike. [b]Borderline[/b]
Spindrift Drake – Another two power creature if you can afford the tempo. [b]Borderline[/b]
Wind Zendikon – A two power Flyer at the cost of tempo. [b]Borderline[/card]
Wingcrafter – When cast on the first turn, this card is incredible. [b]Borderline[/b]
Augury Owl – There are a lot of two mana 1/1 Flyers in blue with small upsides. [b]Borderline[/b]
Boomerang – Effective bounce for anything. [b]Borderline[/b]
Briarberry Cohort – Flying at two mana with two power is good. [b]Borderline[/b]
Cloud of Faeries – “Free” creatures are usually good. [b]Borderline[/b]
Confound – Saving creatures from removal is common in Pauper. [b]Borderline[/b]
Downpour – Multiple uses at a bargain price. [b]Borderline[/b]
Cloud Elemental/Scrapskin Drake – Blue has several low cost Flyers at its disposal. [b]Borderline[/b]
Dreamscape Artist – This card has a lot of value, but not much of it directly effects the game. [b]Borderline[/b]
Echoing Truth – Great for those pesky tokens. [b]Borderline[/b]
Eel Umbra – Mostly used to indirectly counter creature removal. [b]Borderline[/b]
Essence Scatter/Remove Soul/False Summoning/Preemptive Strike – Narrow counters have few uses in Pauper; these are useful. [b]Borderline[/b]
Gossamer Phantasm – Not quite Skulking Ghost, but can be useful. [b]Borderline[/b]
Halimar Wavewatch – A nice dual purpose control card. [b]Borderline[/b]
Inaction Injunction – A nice tempo card to buy a turn. [b]Borderline[/b]
Muddle the Mixture – The counter part is secondary to the Tutoring ability. [b]Borderline[/b]
Snap – A “Free” creature-bounce spell. [b]Borderline[/b]
Spectral Flight – Not quite Mark of the Vampire, but pretty good for two mana. [b]Borderline[/b]
Spellstutter Sprite – Counters with a creature attached. [b]Borderline[/b]
Spiketail Hatchling – Keep your opponent on their heels. [b]Borderline[/b]
Spreading Seas – The way for Blue to deal with lands. [b]Borderline[/b]
Stoneybrook Angler – Blue’s way of getting a tapper. [b]Borderline[/b]
Treasure Hunt – A good way to dig to the next spell. [b]Borderline[/b]
Volrath’s Curse – Reusable removal for Blue is rare. [b]Borderline[/b]
Convolute – Counters at three mana generally aren’t great but this can be splashed. [b]Borderline[/b]
Drift of Phantasms – A decent wall that can go find something else if needed. [b]Borderline[/b]
Echo Tracer – A delayed Man-o’-War that can start swinging in and still go off. [b]Borderline[/b]
Frantic Search – Another “Free” spell, this one cycles through cards. [b]Borderline[/b]
Frost Breath – Another card to buy a turn or turn the tide. [b]Borderline[/b]
Kathari Screecher – A 2/2 Flyer with an upside. [b]Borderline[/b]
Neurok Invisimancer – At three mana, a 2/1 unblockable isn’t stellar, but with other creatures it gets better. [b]Borderline[/b]
Oona’s Grace – Another Looting type card for Blue. [b]Borderline[/b]
Rhystic Deluge – Depending on how it’s used, you can keep an opponent tapped out of creatures or mana. [b]Borderline[/b]
Rhystic Study – Puts your opponent back either way. [b]Borderline[/b]
Rushing River – Getting two-for-one in bounce is good. [b]Borderline[/b]
Scroll Thief – Small but efficient. [b]Borderline[/b]
Shaper Parasite – Expensive, but it is Blue removal. [b]Borderline[/b]
Skywing Aven – Comparable to Thalakos Scout. [b]Borderline[/b]
Slow Motion – Can constantly tax your opponent. [b]Borderline[/b]
Traveler’s Cloak – Cantrips and creates a clock. [b]Borderline[/b]
Trinket Mage – Most of the good artifacts can be found with him. [b]Borderline[/b]
Amass the Components – Fairly robust card drawing spell. [b]Borderline[/b]
Aven Augur – Having and Undo in your back pocket isn’t bad. [b]Borderline[/b]
Churning Eddy – A good card to get an extra attack out of your early creatures. [b]Borderline[/b]
Crookclaw Transmuter – Ambushing your opponent is a Blue strength. [b]Borderline[/b]
Elgaud Shieldmate – A bit slow, but Hexproofing an evasive threat can be a game winner. [b]Borderline[/b]
Ghost Ship – Regeneration often doesn’t matter, but is great when you need it. [b]Borderline[/b]
Griptide/Repel – Taking a turn and draw step at instant speed. [b]Borderline[/b]
Impaler Shrike – Refilling your hand and attacking big. [b]Borderline[/b]
Mystic Restraints – Instant speed removal for a moderate cost. [b]Borderline[/b]
Primal Plasma – Blue gets Primal Clay versatility. [b]Borderline[/b]
Rewind – Pretty good when combined with Flash creatures. [b]Borderline[/b]
Sift – Another draw spell with potential. [b]Borderline[/b]
Tricks of the Trade – Can make an evasive threat out of anything. [b]Borderline[/b]
Chasm Drake – An Flying attacker that can bring a friend. [b]Borderline[/b]
Drelnoch – For aggressive Blue decks the upside is excellent. [b]Borderline[/b]
Gryff Vanguard – Another aggressive Blue top end attacker. [b]Borderline[/b]
Infiltrator il-Kor – Decent finisher that can come down early. [b]Borderline[/b]
Mnemonic Wall – Can be useful in the right deck. [b]Borderline[/card]
Quicksilver Geyser – A slightly high cost trick for Blue with good potential. [b]Borderline[/b]
Sky Ruin Drake – The Flying Fortress of Blue. [b]Borderline[/b]
Aethersnipe – Much like Voidweilder, but this card is more versatile. [b]Borderline[/b]
Blue has an abundance of Playable cards, making it a little less likely Borderline cards will make it in. I don't have anything real specific other than I think you could swap several Playable cards for Borderline cards and still have a powerful Blue section.
Thank you for the input, its been very helpful. I made a couple more adjustments:
Brainstorm - Optimally you want a shuffle effect maybe half the time. I still feel this card is never bad.
Sorotami Cloudskater - Seeing your point, I agree its not a staple, but I do feel its at least as playable as Merfolk Looter or Thought Courier.
Cloud Elemental/Scrapskin Drake - I like your perspective here and swapped them for Nephalia Seakite/Sentinels of Glen Elendra.
Encrust - My argument for this card is that its one of the few ways Blue can deal with an Artifact that is also usable for Creatures. I have used this to shut down Bonesplitter and Volshok Morningstar and never regretted it.
Dream Cache - I compare this card to Compulsive Research; the main difference is when your hand is empty, Compulsive Research can potentially give you two cards, but with Dream Cache you at least don't lose those cards unless you want to.
Spiketail Drakeling - Looking at it that way, I think he is better than initially thought.
Here is Green:
Bomb
Rancor – Makes every creature significant. Bomb
Sprout Swarm – With all of Green’s mana, you can build a great army. Bomb
Staple
Arbor Elf – Green has the ability to get to three mana on turn two and a step ahead each turn. Staple
Fyndhorn Elves/Llanowar Elves – The OG accelerator. Staple
Jungle Lion – Great aggressive creature for Green. Staple
Prey Upon – Very fine Green removal. Staple
Utopia Sprawl – Fix your mana and accelerate without risking a creature. Staple
Vines of Vastwood – Make sure your trick goes off. Staple
Wild Growth – Another land accelerant. Staple
Darkthicket Wolf – Great two mana investment creature. Staple
Mire Boa – Great two power creature. Staple
River Boa – Ditto. Staple
Wall of Roots – Best Wall in the game, perfect for Green. Staple
Utopia Vow – Nullify a creature, or even turn. Staple
Arachnus Web – Great removal in Green. Staple
Simian Grunts – Large ambushing creature. Staple
Trusted Forcemage – Very effective three power creature. Staple
Blastoderm – Grade A Premium Beef. Staple
Festerhide Board – Solid creature with incredible potential. Staple
Penumbra Spider – Excellent resilience. Staple
Wickerbough Elder – Effective problem solver. Staple
Sentinel Spider – Perfect combination of Stats and abilities. Staple
Krosan Tusker – Few cards do so much. Staple
Playable
Avacyn’s Pilgrim – Another accelerator that fixes. Playable
Basking Rootwalla – A decent threat with some investment. Playable
Boreal Druid – Colorless accelerator. Playable
Elves of Deep Shadow – Slightly painful accelerating fixer. Playable
Giant Growth – Green wins battles with its creatures, wars with its combat tricks. Playable
Groundswell – The potential upside is huge. Playable
Mutagenic Growth – Free pump spells are good. Playable
Pouncing Jaguar – Another creature to support aggressive Green. Playable
Wild Dogs – A two power for one mana that can cycle. Playable
Acridian – Creatures this big usually cost four. Playable
Ambush Viper – Great removal spell that can attack. Playable
Dawntreader Elk – A two power two mana creature that can “cycle” for a land. Playable
Garruk’s Companion – Solid two mana threat. Playable
Predator’s Strike – Another great combat trick. Playable
Silhana Ledgewalker – Hexproof and Evasion are powerful together. Playable
Thornweald Archer – A two power two mana creature with two upsides. Playable
Werebear – Potential 4/4 for two mana, or accelerator. Playable
Centaur Courser/Nessian Courser – Solid creatures at three mana. Playable
Ferocious Charge – Huge bonus with a great upside. Playable
Grazing Gladehart – While not imposing, the life gain over time is great. Playable
Hungry Spriggan – Vicious on attack. Playable
Nantuko Shaman - Not a bad power-to-mana ratio for drawing a card. Playable
Overgrowth – This card takes you two turns ahead in mana. Playable
Snake Umbra – A decent source of card advantage and protection. Playable
Wildsize – This buff is all upside. Playable
Yavimaya elder – Lots of advantage built in to this card. Playable
Korozda Monitor – A solid creature with benefits. Playable
Mold Shambler – Deal with just about any problem. Playable
Monstrify – Turn excess land into threat potential. Playable
Nantuko Vigilante – Another problem solver. Playable
Ondu Giant – A significant body and a land. Playable
Primal Huntbeast – Solid body and Hexproof. Playable
Tangle Mantis – Bigger body and trample. Playable
Wild Leotau – Huge creature for nominal cost. Playable
Hollowhenge Beast – Giant creature few can contend with. Playable
Rubbleback Rhino – Larger body with Hexproof. Playable
Winding Wurm – Unmatched Stats at five mana. Playable
Havenwood Wurm – An huge ambushing Trampler. Playable
Oakgnarl Warrior – Huge body that plays both sides of the ball. Playable
Borderline
Bequeathal – A decent way to get something out of a fallen creature. Borderline
Hunger of the Howlpack – Morbid can be awkward but the upside is good. Borderline
Hunt Down – Pinpoint assault on an opposing creature. Borderline
Leaf Arrow – Will take down most flyers. Borderline
Vitality Charm – Several tricks packed into one card. Borderline
Young Wolf – Resilient creatures are usually good. Borderline
Ashcoat Bear – Ambush bear. Borderline
Deadly Recluse – The Green Doom Blade. Borderline
Drudge Beetle – Small creature that can help late in the game. Borderline
Earthbrawn – Versatile combat trick. Borderline
Edge of Autumn – Ramping with a backup plan. Borderline
Evolution Charm – Good utility card. Borderline
Fertile Ground – Ramp card that’s usable this turn. Borderline
Gaea’s Touch – Developing your mana quickly. Borderline
Gatecreeper Vine – A reverse Sakura-Tribe Elder. Borderline
Leaf Gilder – Multipurpose two power creature. Borderline
Leeching Bite – A small Consume Strength. Borderline
Lignify – Make your opponents best creature a Wall. Borderline
Moment’s Peace – The premier Fog. Borderline
Multani’s Acolyte – A two power creature that keeps you going. Borderline
Naturalize – Decent Sideboard answer. Borderline
Nature’s Lore/Three Visits – Another Ramp that is useable this turn. Borderline
Nest Invader – A two power creature with expendable burst mana. Borderline
Night Soil – Put dead creatures to work. Borderline
Nightshade Peddler – Can combine with creatures to make incredible threats. Borderline
Nissa’s Chosen – A decent body that may come back on its own. Borderline
Plummet – Green is equipped to deal with Flyers. Borderline
Sakura-Tribe Elder – Rampant Growth stick. Borderline
Symbiosis – Quite a surprise when used. Borderline
Thallid Shell-Dweller – A wall that produces a slow stream of attackers. Borderline
Titanic Growth – Huge bonus for two mana. Borderline
Viridian Emissary – Small upside for a two power two mana creature. Borderline
Wild Mongrel – Has potential but at a high cost. Borderline
Wrap in Vigor – Can break combat open. Borderline
Anurid Barkripper – Potential 4/4 for three mana. Borderline
Borderland Ranger/Civic Wayfinder – Decent bodies with built in mana fixing. Borderline
Brindle Boar – Life gain is pretty good at common. Borderline
Citanul Woodreaders – A blocker and two cards for six mana. Borderline
Crushing Vines – Combines two sideboard cards into one. Borderline
Cultivate/Kodama’s Reach – Decent board development. Borderline
Gift of the Gargantuan – Closest Green gets to Divination. Borderline
Gilt-Leaf Seer – A Crystal Ball on a 2/2 body. Borderline
Gnarled Mass/Trained Armodon – Another 3/3 for three mana. Borderline
Harrow – While sacrificing a land isn’t great, you do get Instant speed and the lands untapped. Borderline
Krosan Avenger – Trample and three power, plus potential regeneration. Borderline
Natural End – A slightly more profitable Naturalize. Borderline
Phantom Tiger - Resilient creature. Borderline
Presence of Gond – Make a token army. Borderline
Rootwalla – Another investment creature. Borderline
Savage Siluette/Trollhide – A decent Aura to make a big creature. Borderline
Spidery Grasp – A versatile combat trick. Borderline
Spore Cloud – A blowout Fog when played correctly. Borderline
Ulvenwald Bear – Potential 4/4 for three mana. Borderline
Ambassador Oak – Two creatures for the price of one. Borderline
Dawn’s Reflection – Another accelerant that puts you two mana ahead. Borderline
Elephant Ambush – Two creatures, one card. Borderline
Gorilla Chieftain/Skyshroud Troll – A solid body that’s hard to kill. Borderline
Kozilek’s Predator – A solid body with burst mana. Borderline
Krosan Vorine – Hunt down your opponents creatures. Borderline
Llanowar Empath – Decent card quality in Green. Borderline
Skyshroud Claim – Get two lands ahead. Borderline
Springing Tiger – Great size in two stages of the game. Borderline
Stalking Tiger – It’s difficult for other colors to beat a 3/3 one-on-one. Borderline
Sudden Strength – Cantrip and buff. Borderline
Wildheart Invoker – Solid power that can help end a game. Borderline
Woodland Sleuth – Not quite Gravedigger, but most creatures in Pauper are quality. Borderline
Giant Dustwasp – A three power Flyer that can come down cheap. Borderline
Gorilla Berserkers – Pseudo-evasion on a Trampler. Borderline
Ronom Hulk – Large creature that stays for a while. Borderline
Silverglade Elemental – Another solid body with a land. Borderline
Sporoloth Ancient – Slowly build your forces. Borderline
Stampeding Rhino – Solid body and Trample. Borderline
Thresher Beast – You can run them out of resources with this card. Borderline
Durkwood Baloth – Large creature that can come down cheap. Borderline
Giant Warthog/Moss Kami – Large bodies with Trample. Borderline
Horncaller’s Chant – Two solid Tramplers in one card. Borderline
Maul Splicer – Horncaller’s limerick. Borderline
Rootbreaker Wurm – Huge body with Trample that is a bit pricy. Borderline
Thunderling Tanadon – Large Trampler that can come down early for a heavy price. Borderline
Yavimaya Wurm – Huge power on a Trampler that is slightly more affordable. Borderline
I'm looking to build your pauper cube but I'll need to paste it into the store's deckbuilder and a compiled list would be much appreciated.
Congratulations on an amazing effort. I've scanned the pauper cube lists on this forum and yours is the best by a wide margin IMO.
I think I agree with everything you said, particularly on Utopia Vow; you basically take an opponents turn if they cast a threat and you Vow it. Nantuko Shaman has been very good to me; it may end up being a Staple if it keeps up.
Here is Red:
Bomb
Fireball – Can wreck the board and finish the game. Bomb
Rolling Thunder – Extremely versatile and devastating. Bomb
Staple
Burst Lightning – Great at two stages of the game. Staple
Chain Lightning – Basically another Lightning Bolt. Staple
Firebolt – Solid two-for-one burn. Staple
Goblin Patrol – Very aggressive creature in the color of aggression. Staple
Lightning Bolt – All burn must decide their place behind Lightning Bolt. Staple
Ashmouth Hound – As good a 2/1 that Red can get. Staple
Fireslinger – Can whittle the board how you want. Staple
Incinerate – Almost as good as the original burn spell. Staple
Nightbird’s Clutches – This card wins so many games. Staple
Searing Spear – Incinerate’s cousin. Staple
Torch Fiend – A 2/1 creature that can remove an obstacle. Staple
Arc Lightning – Versatile removal. Staple
Blood Ogre – Such a beating this can be. Staple
Brimstone Volley – Another all upside card. Staple
Splatter Thug – A full on beating. Staple
Staggershock – Value burn. Staple
Bladetusk Boar – Great closer for your game. Staple
Gorehorn Minotaurs – Very scary threat. Staple
Pyrotechnics – So close to a Bomb. Staple
Playable
Disintegrate – A great X spell. Playable
Faithless Looting – Cycling through cards is a potent ability for Red. Playable
Flame Slash – Dealing with four toughness can be tricky. Playable
Kaervek’s Torch – Can catch even the control player off balance. Playable
Lava Dart – Almost always kills two creatures. Playable
Mogg Fanatic – Useful utility creature. Playable
Reckless Charge – Incredible buff for an aggressive deck. Playable
Adder-Staff Boggart – A possible 3/2 on turn two and a peek at your library. Playable
Emberwilde Augur – One way or another, he deals damage to the opponent. Playable
Fire Ambush/Volcanic Hammer – Three damage is still good at Sorcery speed. Playable
Gore-House Chainwalker – Very solid 3/2 creature. Playable
Hearth Kami – Eliminates problems. Playable
Lash Out – Great creature removal that peeks at your library and can sting your opponent. Playable
Plated Geopede – Such high potential. Playable
Searing Blaze – More double duty removal. Playable
Skirk Marauder – Creature removal on a stick. Playable
Sparksmith – Fireslinger number two with extra potential. Playable
Fault Riders – Nearly unbeatable in combat with a land. Playable
Ghitu Slinger – Shock on a stick. Playable
Hanweir Lancer – First Strike is potent in Pauper. Playable
Rift Bolt – Delay blast Lightning Bolt. Playable
Skirk Shaman – With so many smaller creatures, evasion is useful. Playable
Vithian Stinger – Can sneak back in for a damage. Playable
Vulshok Sorcerer – Immediate use once it hits the ground. Playable
Heirs to Stromkirk – Not quite Bladetusk Boar, but close. Playable
Fire Elemental – A large creature in Red with no drawbacks. Playable
Gathan Raiders – Another creature that can be a game buster. Playable
Slash Panther – Large Hasty threat. Playable
Chartooth Cougar – Not a bad fit in any Red deck. Playable
Fireblast – “Free” four damage if you want. Playable
Borderline
Brute Force – While a fine card, Red does better with burn. Borderline
Dynacharge – Great for the alpha strike. Borderline
Electrickery – A small sweeper. Borderline
Flame Jab – Retrace is solid in Pauper, but one damage doesn’t kill everything. Borderline
Forge Devil – A slow two-for-one. Borderline
Frostling – Fairly good at killing utility creatures. Borderline
Geistflame – Decent way to spread out two damage. Borderline
Jackal Familiar – Aggressive buddy-system creature. Borderline
Lava Burst – A decent X spell with a small upside. Borderline
Martyr of Ashes – Red has a decent set of sweepers with complicated costs. Borderline
Rock Slide – Can clear the board of pesky attackers. Borderline
Seal of Fire – Investing in a Shock can give a small advantage. Borderline
Skitter of Lizards – Scalable hasty attacker. Borderline
Blades of Velis Vel – Additional four power on an attack. Borderline
Falter – Can be a swing card in the right circumstance. Borderline
Fire Whip – Make a pinger out of any creature, and not feel a wasted on an Aura. Borderline
Flaming Sword – Decent combat trick that can get a card back out of an Aura. Borderline
Fury Charm – A Sideboard card with an alternate use. Borderline
Goblin Furrier – Nominally a 2/2 for two mana in Red. Borderline
Goblin Shortcutter – Aggressive two power attacker. Borderline
Goblin Skycutter – Two power creature that can take out small Flyers. Borderline
Grotag Seige-Runner – Not many Walls in Pauper, but you won’t like the ones that are there. Borderline
Headlong Rush – First Strike is potent in Pauper. Borderline
Keldon Marauders – A multistage, multidirectional Lava Axe. Borderline
Kruin Striker – For the all in creature deck. Borderline
Mogg Flunkies – Great with their pet jackals. Borderline
Mogg War Marshall – A burst of 1/1 creatures. Borderline
Rustrazor Butcher – With all the two power creatures in Pauper, he can be brutal. Borderline
Sluggishness – Always keep your opponent a blocker down. Borderline
Smash to Smithereens – The best Sideboard artifact removal. Borderline
Soulbright Flamekin – Like an Invoker in that it can give your whole team Trample. Borderline
Stingscrouger – A lot like Goblin Shortcutter. Borderline
Thunder Strike – Bury a creature in combat. You’ve been…Thunderstruck! Borderline
Barbed Lightning – High potential. Borderline
Brothers of Fire – A machine gun with enough mana. Borderline
Crossway Vampire – Another creature to keep the early assault going. Borderline
Ember Beast – Another creature for the Buddy System. Borderline
Erdwal Ripper – Hasty creature that gets more threatening. Borderline
Fervent Cathar – Not particularly big, but still keeps the attack going. Borderline
Flamewave Invoker – Can end the game with mana. Borderline
Goblin War Drums – Push the opponent further with your attacks. Borderline
Keldon Vandals – Usually a sideboard card who works like a Sorcery. Borderline
Lightning Talons – Makes a creature huge and almost unbeatable in combat. Borderline
Lunge – While not Staggershock, it is four damage for three mana. Borderline
Manic Vandal – Not great Stats, but good at solving problems. Borderline
Molten Rain – Best Land removal in Red. Borderline
Puncture Blast – Can remove Regenerators and neuter large creatures. Borderline
Rally the Forces – Useful combat trick for large assaults. Borderline
Riot Ringleader – A small bonus for any other Humans you attack with. Borderline
Ronin Houndmaster – Hasty creature with a small upside. Borderline
Seething Song – Like Dark Ritual, you net two mana. Borderline
Slaughter Cry – A great combat trick. Borderline
Soul’s Fire – Like a one sided Prey Upon. Borderline
Suq’Ata Lancer – Another Hasty aggressor. Borderline
Thunderclap – “Free” spells are generally good. Borderline
Unforge – For Pauper, half of the artifacts are equipment. Borderline
Viashino Outrider – Big power for low cost. Borderline
Aftershock – For those cards you just have to blow up. Borderline
Cackling Flames – Another great game finisher. Borderline
Chandra’s Outrage – Punishing card for burning away a creature. Borderline
Flamecore Elemental – Huge creature. Borderline
Highland Giant – Decent Stats for Red. Borderline
Lightning Blast – One damage per mana. Borderline
Magma Burst – Having to split the targets reduces the awesomeness quite a bit. Borderline
Mogg Bombers – He is big enough to swing in and at least hits once. Borderline
Raging Minotaur/Talruum Minotaur – Nice Hasty attackers. Borderline
Rukh Egg – An interesting card. Borderline
Ruthless Invasion – A great tool in the right circumstance. Borderline
Traitorous Instinct – Great for the all in aggressive deck. Borderline
Viashino Fangtail – A nice solid body that can get through stalls. Borderline
Chandra’s Fury – Decent spell to punch your opponent. Borderline
Emrakul’s Hatcher – Can fill the board up for Red’s all out attack spells. Borderline
Flowstone Crusher – Can get in for serious damage. Borderline
Gerrard’s Irregulars – Trample and Haste is good for Red. Borderline
Lava Storm – High cost, but can wreck an opponent’s board. Borderline
Pitchburn Devils – Eager to go down swinging. Borderline
Talruum Champion – Interesting creature in combat. Borderline
Turn to Slag – Can kill just about anything and take its pretty stuff. Borderline
Explosive Impact – Instant speed is the bonus. Borderline
Macetail Hystrodon – Another Hasty big guy that wins most combats. Borderline
Tenement Crasher – Nice Hasty creature to swing a game. Borderline
I will get one going. Would just a long list of cards be what you're looking for?
White
Bomb
Cenn’s Enlistment – The best token creator in Pauper. Bomb
Guardian of the Guildpact – When he comes out, it’s often a concession. Bomb
Staple
Gideon’s Lawkeeper/Goldmeadow Harrier – White makes great use of tapping. Staple
Sunlance – Generally kills what you need it to. Staple
Journey to Nowhere – White premium removal. Staple
Knight of Cliffhaven – All upside investment creature. Staple
Kor Skyfisher – The “drawback” can often be made a benefit. Staple
Pacifism – Simple and effective. Staple
Stormfront Pegasus – Effective two power attacker. Staple
Temporal Isolation – Instant speed removal for White. Staple
Arrest – Can do more than pacify. Staple
Aven Riftwatcher – Very effective creature. Staple
Ballynock Cohort – A beating most of the time. Staple
Blinding Beam – Lots of game tilting power in this card. Staple
Kor Hookmaster – Keep the attacker role. Staple
Oblivion Ring – Remove any problem. Staple
Porcelain Legionnaire – Absolute beating. Staple
Coalition Honor Guard – Provides such a tilt to the game, and just about ruins burn. Staple
Faith’s Fetters – Remove absolutely any problem. Staple
Seraph of Dawn – Can take over a game quickly. Staple
Totem-Guide Hartebeest – About every good removal spell in White is an Aura. Staple
Noble Templar – Another six cost creature worth every mana. Staple
Playable
Deftblade Elite – A way to lockdown the opponent’s best blocker. Playable
Hyena Umbra – A nice boost to an early attacker. Playable
Icatian Javelineers – Like Mogg Fanatic, but different. Playable
Mana Tithe – Can catch your opponent off guard. Playable
Steppe Lynx – A pure aggressive creature. Playable
Swift Justice – A stacked combat trick. Playable
Azorius Arrester – Not quite Kor Hookmaster, but close. Playable
Blade of the Sixth Pride – Great attacking power. Playable
Bonds of Faith – This card has some subtle versatilities with other creatures. Playable
Cho-Manno’s Blessing – Instant speed protection. Playable
Guided Strike – Another stacked combat trick. Playable
Kor Line-Slinger – There aren’t many cards this won’t tap. Playable
Leonin Skyhunter – Once an uncommon, always good. Playable
Lone Missionary – A way to win the combat race. Playable
Loyal Cathar – Resilient creature with decent Stats. Playable
Puncturing Light – Will kill a lot of creatures in Pauper. Playable
Shelter – Versatile card that cantrips. Playable
Soltari Trooper – Evasive attacker. Playable
Squall Drifter – A tapper with evasion. Playable
Temple Acolyte – A two mana creature that can tilt a game. Playable
Veteran Armorer – Another two mana creature that has a wide effect on the board. Playable
Youthful Knight – First Strike is potent. Playable
Zealous Strike – Big combat trick. Playable
Benalish Knight – First Strike ambush. Playable
Burrenton Bombardier – Multiuse creature with evasion. Playable
Cage of Hands – Reusable Pacifism. Playable
Chapel Geist/Sunspire Griffin – Big stats for three mana. Playable
Embolden – Very big surprise. Playable
Fortify – A large swing in combat. Playable
Hobble – Narrow, but effective two for one. Playable
Kitsune Blademaster – A stud in combat. Playable
Kor Chant – Pretty ridiculous turnabout. Playable
Kor Sanctifiers – Best problem solving creature in White. Playable
Prismatic Strands – A nice one way Fog. Playable
Recumbent Bliss – Small upside to Pacifism. Playable
Soltari Visionary – Versatile problem solver. Playable
Troubled Healer – Very good at making damage lopsided. Playable
Heavy Ballista – Very difficult for creatures to attack through. Playable
Borderline
Akrasan Squire – A decent one drop to start the attack. Borderline
Caravan Escort – An investment creature that is well cost. Borderline
Doomed Traveler – Resilient creature that has a bonus when he dies. Borderline
Ethereal Armor – The synergy of this card makes it almost playable. Borderline
Infantry Veteran – Another utility one drop to improve combat. Borderline
Kirtar’s Desire – One mana removal that has a late game upside. Borderline
Martyr of Sands – Probably the best straight life gain card in Pauper. Borderline
Mosquito Guard – Not fantastic, but has other uses. Borderline
Smite – Only slightly better than a combat trick. Borderline
Soltari Foot Soldier – A 1/1 unblockable can be useful. Borderline
Stand Firm – The ability to Scry makes this a card. Borderline
Ajani Sunstriker – A decent 2/2 creature. Borderline
Angelic Wall – A big stop sign. Borderline
Apostle’s Blessing – A slightly better Stave Off. Borderline
Avacynian Priest – Decent tapper for two color decks. Borderline
Benalish Cavalry – White has a lot of 2/2 creatures with small abilities. Borderline
Brilliant Halo – It’s no Rancor, but it can be significant. Borderline
Carom – Small combat trick or weenie killer. Borderline
Concordia Pegasus – Upsides to players needing to get to the middle game. Borderline
Dawn Charm – A decent collection of minor effects. Borderline
Disenchant – Premium Sideboard card. Borderline
Fledgling Griffin – Conditional evasion on a 2/2. Borderline
Kami of Ancient Law/Keening Apparition/Ronom Unicorn – Decent attackers that solve problems. Borderline
Order of the Golden Cricket – A possible evasive 2/2. Borderline
Phantom Nomad – Resilient creature. Borderline
Skillful Lunge – A less zealous strike. Borderline
Soul Parry – An interesting trick with a few uses. Borderline
Spare from Evil – Almost a Falter in White. Borderline
Wall of Glare – This Wall has mad blocking skills. Borderline
Whitemane Lion – Ambush lion with small tricks built in. Borderline
Amrou Seekers – “Fear” on a 2/2 creature in White. Borderline
Apex Hawks – Scalable Flyer. Borderline
Attended Knight – Two creatures, one card. Borderline
Cessation – Turn creatures into chumps, over and over. Borderline
Combat Medic – With enough mana, you can nullify a lot. Borderline
Dawnglare Invoker – With eight mana, you can lock your opponent out. Borderline
Empyrial Armor – With patience, you can make a creature huge. Borderline
Floating Shield – Interesting multiuse Aura. Borderline
Icatian Crier – Create a token army with excess land. Borderline
Kabuto Moth – Play with combat math. Borderline
Kemba’s Skyguard – Small game tilt effect. Borderline
Knight of Valor – Interesting ability on a Flanker. Borderline
Marshaling Cry – Small effect that’s there when you need it. Borderline
Niblis of Mist – Not as savvy as Pestermite, but not bad. Borderline
Nightguard Patrol – Not a bad stack of abilities. Borderline
Opal Champion – Pretty good when he changes. Borderline
Pegasus Charger/Voiceless Spirit – Decent aggressor. Borderline
Pentarch Ward – A protective Aura that replaces itself. Borderline
Rebuke – Narrow answer at Instant speed. Borderline
Repel the Darkness – Decent tempo swing. Borderline
Safe Passage – Similar to Fortify, but with no offense. Borderline
Shackles – A reusable Paralyzing Grasp if you really need one. Borderline
Shu Cavalry – Not great, but being unblockable is nice. Borderline
Soltari Lancer – Aggressive Shadow creature with a useless perk. Borderline
Veteran Swordsmith – Small upside to an aggressive creature. Borderline
Village Bell-Ringer – White has many defensive tricks. Borderline
Zealous Inquisitor – Kind of an interesting way to attack. Borderline
Assault Griffin – Aggressive Flying power. Borderline
Battlewise Aven – Average four mana Flyer with a late game upside. Borderline
Breath of Life/False Defeat – Zombify is White in Pauper. Borderline
Cloud Crusader/Skyhunter Patrol – Good set of Stats and abilities. Borderline
Flickering Spirit – Interesting 2/2 Flyer that can almost never die. Borderline
Griffin Protector – A beating with a steady flow of creatures. Borderline
Kinsbaile Balloonist – Offers a helping hand to attackers. Borderline
Makindi Griffin – Reliable Flyer. Borderline
Moorish Cavalry – Rare Trampler in White Pauper. Borderline
Sanctum Gargoyle – Interesting card with the right artifacts. Borderline
Spirit En-Kor – Almost unbeatable in combat as long as there is help. Borderline
Castle Raptors – Very large on defense. Borderline
Knightly Valor – Decent Aura makes a threat and a chump. Borderline
Peregrine Griffin – Large body and aggressive abilities. Borderline
Plover Knights – Big and aggressive but not enough body. Borderline
Second Thoughts – Two for one at Instant speed. Borderline
Daru Lancer – Can be brought down early. Borderline
Voice of the Provinces – Hard to ignore two creatures for one card, even if one of them is just a 1/1. Borderline
White is very powerful in Pauper. I believe it has a lot of first picks and a lot of synergy. I hope to get Colorless and Multicolor done soon.
Bomb
Staple
Feeling of Dread – When this card is cast, usually the game is about to end. Staple
Curse of Chains – Narcolepsy that can tap Guardian of the Guildpact. Staple
Playable
Azorius First-Wing – Nice 2/2 Flyer that is immune to most White removal. Playable
Deft Duelist – Decent attacker. Playable
Silkbind Faerie – Intriguing way to occupy two attackers and attack yourself. Playable
Silver Drake – With Blue and White’s repertoire of ETB effects, this has a lot of synergy. Playable
Borderline
Dismantling Blow – Good Sideboard card. Borderline
Soulsworn Jury – Can be detrimental to an aggressive deck. Borderline
Whip-Spine Drake – Interesting that it can be played in either color by itself. Borderline
Esper Cormorants – A 3/3 Flyer for four mana. Borderline
Hussar Patrol – Large ambushing creature that can play defense and offense. Borderline
Minister of Impediments – Tap any creature without investing mana. Borderline
Sonomancer – Goblin Shortcutter in Blue White. Borderline
Talon Trooper – A different way to cast Chapel Geist/Sunspire Griffin. Borderline
Bomb
Staple
Blind Hunter – Life swings are incredibly potent in Pauper. Staple
Pillory of the Sleepless – Pacifism clock. Staple
Playable
Shrieking Grotesque – Like a second Liliana’s Spector. Playable
Borderline
Beckon Apparition – Like Vile Rebirth except any card but smaller. Borderline
Harvest Gwyllion – Large creature that is difficult to attack into. Borderline
Mourning Thrull – Like a Vault Skirge for both colors. Borderline
Unmake – Harder to cast and three mana removal. Borderline
Vectis Dominator – Interesting way to put the opponent between a rock and a hard place. Borderline
Bomb
Staple
Goblin Legionnaire – Multipurpose 2/2 creature. Staple
Playable
Squee’s Embrace – Decent boost that gets around the Aura problem. Playable
Fire at Will – Like an Instant speed Arc Lightning. Playable
Borderline
Orim’s Thunder – Another decent Sideboard card. Borderline
Screeching Griffin – Can sneak by a lot of Flyers. Borderline
Skyknight Legionnaire – Good for the aggressive deck. Borderline
Double Cleave – Give a creature a lot of punch. Borderline
Bomb
Armadillo Cloak – One of the few Bombs in Multicolor, it is a must answer card. Bomb
Staple
Qasali Pridemage – A problem solver with good Stats and a small bonus. Staple
Travel Preparations – Steady growth for your creatures. Staple
Playable
Pale Recluse – Covers a lot of the basics for a six mana creature. Playable
Thrill of the Hunt – Instant speed makes this a much more beneficial card. Playable
Centaur Healer – Power to mana ratio is correct with a good bonus. Playable
Sigil Blessing – Extremely one sided boost. Playable
Borderline
Steel Leaf Paladin – Not quite as good as other bouncing creatures. Borderline
Knight of the Skyward Eye – A little more investment for a little more size. Borderline
Rune-Cervin Rider – Like a Shade for White. Borderline
Safehold Elite – Resilient creature becomes a chump. Borderline
Seeds of Strength – A nice way to spread out some bonuses. Borderline
Steward of Valeron – Acceleration that can attack. Borderline
Sundering Growth – From a Cube building perspective, this could replace two Sideboard cards. Borderline
Bomb
Staple
Playable
Agony Warp – Often a two for one. Playable
Consult the Necrosages – What you need when you need it. Playable
Dimir Infiltrator – Evasion or whatever two mana card in your library you need. Playable
Recoil – Decent set of effects. Playable
Soul Manipulation – Narrow but effective. Playable
Borderline
Forbidden Alchemy – Not a bad twist on Impulse. Borderline
Mystical Teachings – Good Tutor. Borderline
Probe – Only good when Kicked. Borderline
Phantasmal Fiend – A lot like a Shade in some ways. Borderline
Tidehollow Strix – Intriguing 2/1 Flyer. Borderline
Parasitic Strix – Another life swing Flyer. Borderline
Bomb
Staple
Playable
Izzet Chronarch – May seem weak until you realize how good Red and Blue spells are. Playable
Jilt – Four mana can remove two creatures. Playable
Frostburn Weird – Serves two purposes in Control decks. Playable
Noggle Bandit – Generally an unblockable attacker. Playable
Razorfin Hunter – The second Fireslinger. Playable
Borderline
Steamcore Weird – Worst Shock on a stick is still a Shock on a stick. Borderline
Torch Drake – Aggressive Flyer to be had. Borderline
Chemister’s Trick – Weird card that can have interesting effects. Borderline
Goblin Electromancer – Pauper decks are mostly creatures, but this could be useful in the right deck. Borderline
Quicksilver Dagger – If you can keep it active it is very good. Borderline
Bomb
Staple
Assault Zeppelid – Big aerial assault for four mana. Staple
Playable
Coiling Oracle – A two mana 1/1 that cantrips or accelerates. Playable
Gaea’s Skyfolk – A 2/2 Flyer for two. Playable
Snakeform – Neutralize any creature. Playable
Temporal Spring – Put whatever away for a bit. Playable
Winged Coatl – The Blue Green “Murder.” Playable
Borderline
Sheilding Plax – A protective Aura that cantrips. Borderline
Bomb
Staple
Strangling Soot – Most often a two for one. Staple
Terminate – Pure and simple. Staple
Playable
Henchfiend of Ukor – Decent balance of Stats, cost, and abilities. Playable
Blightning – Great aggressive card. Playable
Goblin Deathraiders – Fragile but aggressive. Playable
Rakdos Shred-Freak – Haste can be valuable in Black Red decks. Playable
Borderline
Agonizing Demise – Powerful but Black Red is stacked. Borderline
Auger Spree – A way to deal with bigger threats. Borderline
Kathari Bomber – Intriguing army builder. Borderline
Lava Zombie – A decent Firebreather. Borderline
Plague Spores – Big mana cost for a big effect. Borderline
Bomb
Staple
Consume Strength – Combat trick that is usually a two for one. Staple
Playable
Desecrator Hag – A large body Gravedigger of sorts. Playable
Putrid Leech – Very aggressive creature. Playable
Sluiceway Scorpion – Decent creature that helps later on. Playable
Borderline
Gaze of the Gorgon – One way combat trick. Borderline
Golgari Longlegs – Beef. Borderline
Trestle Troll – An effective Wall. Borderline
Bomb
Staple
Playable
Kird Ape – A turn two 2/3 is great for one mana. Playable
Wild Hunger – Nice boost and Trample. Playable
Branching Bolt – Can be a two for one. Playable
Horned Kavu – Rarely is this a drawback. Playable
[card]Scuzzback Mauraders[/cards] – Trample and Persist together is pretty good. Playable
Borderline
Foxfire Oak – Huge Firebreather. Borderline
Tin Street Hooligan - A nice problem solver. Borderline
Colossal Might – Big combat trick. Borderline
Gorger Wurm – Power to mana ratio is great. Borderline
Morsel Hoarder – Puts you ahead two mana with a huge body. Borderline
Rhox Brute – A 4/4 for four mana. Borderline
Scab-Clan Mauler – A 3/3 with Trample on turn two or three is very scary. Borderline
Bomb
Staple
Playable
Sewn Eye Drake – Grixis - Aggressive and evasive with power. Playable
Sangrite Backlash – Jund – Mostly a removal spell. Playable
Crystallization – Bant – Removal. Playable
Wild Nacatl – Naya – Solid creature. Playable
Borderline
Stormscape Apprentice – Esper – It has abilities. Borderline
Shadow Guildmage – Grixis – It has abilities. Borderline
Keldon Mantle – Jund – Decent set of abilities. Borderline
Carrion Thrash – Jund – Expensive Gravedigger. Borderline
Granger Guildmage – Naya – It has abilities. Borderline
Thornscape Apprentice – Naya – It has abilities. Borderline
Trace of Abundance – Naya – Acceleration that’s protected. Borderline
Stormscape Familiar – Esper – A 1/1 Flyer that makes spells cheap. Borderline
Nightscape Familiar – Grixis – A 1/1 blocker that makes spells cheap. Borderline
I did Colorless Spells here and denoted cards I would play in color (i.e. Spin Engine is Red) in the commentary of the card.
Bomb
Bonesplitter – Every creature becomes significant. Bomb
Vulshok Morningstar – Ditto. Bomb
Pristine Talisman – This card excels at making a game longer than you’d expect. Bomb
Staple
Flayer Husk – A creature and a bonus. Staple
The Signets - Fixing and acceleration for everyone. Staple
Serrated Arrows – Very good at staunching an opponent’s offense. Staple
Ulamog’s Crusher – Huge and must be dealt with or the game is over. Staple
Playable
Adventuring Gear – Very good when equipped early. Playable
Leonin Bola – Lock down a creature. Playable
Leonin Scimitar – Small bonus for a low cost. Playable
Sylvok Lifestaff – Small bonus with a decent effect. Playable
Viridian Longbow – Make a pinger. Playable
Darksteel Pendant – A small Crystal Ball. Playable
Kitesail – Evasion and bonus. Playable
Mind Stone – Acceleration that gives a card later. Playable
Perilous Myr – Good for getting in there. Playable
Prismatic Lens – Filter and Acceleration. Playable
Blinding Souleater – White – Decent tapping ability. Playable
Moonglove Extract – Colorless damage potential. Playable
Phyrexian War Beast – Much harder to kill than you would think. Playable
Tumble Magnet – Shutting down a creature for a few turns can tilt a game. Playable
Opaline Bracers – You can make gigantic threats. Playable
Dross Golem – Black – Evasive creature for premium cost. Playable
Skyreach Manta – Often a 3/3 Flyer for five mana. Not bad at all. Playable
Tangle Hulk – Green – Big regenerating power. Playable
Razor Golem – White – Good size and plays both sides. Playable
Spire Golem – Blue – Usually better than Azure Drake. Playable
Borderline
Bonesaw – Cheap bonus. Borderline
Blazing Torch – Give a creature an Aeolipile. Borderline
Copper Carapace – Makes a mean threat. Borderline
Neurok Hoversail – Low cost evasion. Borderline
Pyrite Spellbomb – Red – Colorless Seal of Fire. Borderline
Wayfarer’s Bauble – A slow Rampant Growth for any color deck. Borderline
Alpha Myr – A 2/1 for any color deck. Borderline
Armillary Sphere – Grab some lands. Borderline
Cobbled Wings – Benefits of low cost equipping. Borderline
Glint Hawk Idol – White – Interesting creature that has many invulnerabilities. Borderline
Pentad Prism – Like a Dark Ritual artifact thingy. Borderline
Prophetic Prism – Filter and a cantrip. Borderline
Vulshok Gauntlets – Slowly make a giant threat. Borderline
Darksteel Ingot – Balanced mana fixing. Borderline
Moriok Replica – Black – A 2/2 that can give you some cards. Borderline
Scuttlemutt – Mana fixing that can attack. Borderline
Spin Engine – Red – Good for sneaking in damage when you need to. Borderline
Sylvok Replica – Green – Another Sideboard option. Borderline
Vulshok Replica – Red – Good power that can hit the opponent in the face. Borderline
Whispersilk Cloak – Create a clock out of anything. Borderline
Sisay’s Ring/Ur-Golem’s Eye – Another big mana boost in colorless. Borderline
Bomb
Staple
Evolving Wilds/Terramorphic Expanse – Fetches are good even at common. Staple
The Bouncelands – Essential mana development. Staple
The Guildgates – Common dual lands. Staple
Desert – Can kill a lot of attackers. Staple
Playable
Haunted Fengraf – In a well built deck, all your creatures should be good enough to come back. Playable
Rupture Spire/Transguild Promenade – “Casting” a land isn’t fun, but it is great for fixing. Playable
The Panoramas – Fetches that can tap the turn they come down. Playable
Onslaught Cyclers – Sometimes you’d rather have a different card. Playable
Borderline
Halimar Depths – I’m not sure I would pay U for a weak Index. Borderline
Kabira Crossroads – Combined with the Bouncelands, you can get a lot of mileage out of it. Borderline
Quicksand – It’s tough to give up a land to kill a small creature. Borderline
Sejiri Steppe – To sneak in that last swing. Borderline
Soaring Seacliff – Ditto. Borderline
Teetering Peaks – Small boost for aggressive decks. Borderline
Turntimber Grove – Smaller boost. Borderline
The Borderposts – With the advent of the Guildgates, I think these have fallen out of favor. Borderline
Urza’s Cyclers – If you really want less land in your cube. Borderline
Depleters – Burst mana in Land form. Borderline
I figured I would do Master's Editions because there are cards that tempt me.
Bomb
Staple
Exile – White – Solid creature removal. Staple
Playable
Aeolipile – Colorless – Damage that threatens the table. Playable
Foul Spirit – Black – Good Stats for a three power Black Flyer. Playable
Armored Griffin – White – Solid Stats and excellent abilities. Playable
Phantom Monster – Blue – Solid Flying creature. Playable
Primal Clay – Colorless – Versatile creature. Playable
Brilliant Plan – Blue – Great refill spell. Playable
Ironhoof Ox – Green – Not many creatures can take on a 4/4 one on one. Playable
Borderline
Death Spark – Red – Not quite as good as Lava Dart or as reliable as Flame Jab, but it is an Instant. Borderline
Goblin Firestarter – Red – Not Mogg Fanatic number two, but not bad. Borderline
Fellwar Stone – Colorless – Decent mana excel that can fix occasionally. Borderline
Telekinesis – Blue – Put a creature on hold for a while. Borderline
Phantasmal Forces – Blue – Big power and Flying. Borderline
Roots – Green – Narrow answer to ground threats. Borderline
Shu General – White – Unblockable and can block. Borderline
Hyalopterous Lemure – Black – Easy to cast big threat that can Fly if needed. Borderline
Shu Elite Companions – White – Unblockable 3/3 creature. Borderline
Wei Elite Companions – Black – Ditto. Borderline
Ebony Rhino – Colorless – Big Trampling creature. Borderline
I made several adjustments based on your comments. I do still think Noble Templar is a Staple because of how dominating he can be on the table. Not many creatures can take him down in combat, and I've never been unhappy with him in my deck. I'll keep testing though.
I still think Probe is really a 3BU spell. It's potent, but there are just too many good cards in Black/Blue.
I look forward to your input on Red, Colorless, and the rest.
Future Projects:
A Pauper Tribal Cube
A Pauper Artifact Cube
A Pauper Multicolor Cube
A Pauper Enchantment Cube
Thanks for all the help.
Examples:
BR Morbid/Bloodthrist
BG Morbid
RG Morbid/Bloodthrist
WG Voltron
WU Voltron
UG Voltron
WU Blink
WB Blink
UB Blink
BG Dredge
WG Tokens
RG Tokens
UR Spells
There are plenty of more traditional Aggro/Control/Aggro Control Archetypes available as well like WB Extort/Pestilence, UG Capsize Ramp, MonoB, UW Prison, RG Zoo, All-In R, etc. Take a look and give me your input!
Will be very interested to hear your feedback as you test some of this stuff out. Wish I had more opportunities to do the same!