here are some proposed changes that I've made in cubetutor....I'm not too sure how I feel about it after doing several rounds of draft sims. I think a 3 card guild section might be too much, and I'm not sure how I feel about increasing the size. I'm posting it to get some feedback on what people think of the changes before I go and change it IRL.
meh...pretty much undoing those last changes and bringing it back to 280. empty the warrens is a cool idea that i may return to in the future, but i don't want to increase my cube size yet.
-master of diversion, +banisher priest: similar in function, but i think the priest is just stronger and i was tired of the fiend hunter vs priest debate.
-miscalculation, +arcane denial: with mana leak and condescend, miscal seemed a little redundant. I'm not sure if arcane denial will stay, but i'd like to test it.
-carrion feeder, +thoughtpicker witch: i'd considered this switch for a while, but after doing a few test drafts on leelue's cube, i really dug how it changed the vibe of the golgari deck. it feels like a surgical resource denial deck.
-ancient hydra, +stalking yeti: forgot about yeti, and i just really don't like hydra. it's so mana intensive and having anything else in the cube with dividable damage made me cringe. i feel like i'm at max capacity for those effects. almost became bloodfray giant or lava hounds. not sure this is the change i want to make...this slot bounces around a lot for me.
-indrik stomphowler, +sylvok replica: another change i'd contemplated for a while. Indrik felt redundant with wickerbough and acidic slime. replica fills a good spot in the curve for green and provides a different dynamic.
-imperious perfect, +squirrel nest: imperious has not been performing. it was between squirrel nest, bestial menace, and reach of branches. squirrel nest is a bit of a pet card for me, so back in it goes.
-tower above, vines of vastwood: tower always feels like it occupies a weird spot in the curve for what it does. i almost considered revisiting overrun, but i just don't think that's the kind of card my green section wants right now.
-unburial rites, +zealous persecution: a hard switch, but unburial rites so often felt out of place in the orzhov decks. persecution provides a pseudo +2/+2 in combat...which is good for both orzhov weenie decks and token decks.
the only definite JOU change once cubetutor is updated:
-tormented hero, +gnarled scarhide: pretty much a strict upgrade.
still debating on hour of need. perhaps some fellow cubers test results will sway my decision. nyx weaver seems awesome, but I haven't made up my mind whether it's worth cutting either of my current golgari cards.
I've been thinking about these lackluster feeling 2 drops in my cube:
I've always hated extort. I initially put them in because of their versatility. They feel really underwhelming in comparison to the rest of the cards in the cube.
A couple CC cards which are always a little difficult in a small cube.
Soltari Priest seems worth bringing in for its evasion. I'm almost considering bringing both it and soltari monk in. I've been thinking about how I can equip fencing ace with a grafted wargear and deal 10 damage...to a token...or i could just strap it to a priest and kill them in 4 turns.
Ember Hauler brings some fun to the R/B recursion deck and is a little reach when needed.
Not sure what I'm going to do yet. Just recording some thoughts.
I don't mind protection creatures at all. I do like the idea of the knights....allowing your one drop to swing for 3 on turn 2 or swinging for 3 by themselves is pretty decent. Although, I'm not sure if they're any better than the extorters.
The screecher seems to deal.more per game. Not sure why the flying makes up for the half power but it seems to be the case in these colors for some reason
I guess that makes sense. Bears don't seem to do as much for me anymore, they need to be pumped or evasive. I'll probably just leave them both in for now. I haven't figured out an alternative that I prefer.
I think extort is just a powerful ability regardless of what type of creature it's on. Obviously, the Screecher may get in for more damage in a game, but a 2 drop extorter is enough for me to play both.
the extorters made it through this round of changes, but only barely.
I've been looking at MagnetMan's cube a lot lately. I like Magnet's because it's a no nonsense build with less niche archetypes and is more combat oriented. It's the way a lot of the peasant cubes were about a year ago or so ago. It's something I appreciated about Peasant and that set it apart from other Cube formats. In my last several updates I have leaned towards a lot of cute interactions. While I don't intend to push my cube quite as far as Magnet's, with this update I'm trying to bring in a little more "no non-sense."
-Fiend Hunter, +Aven Riftwatcher: The ever-rotating slot. After looking at the draft analysis of cubes that run both banisher priest and fiend hunter, it seems that priest is unanimously picked over hunter. It makes sense in hindsight as aggro is more tempo oriented, controllier builds would rather have a more permanent answer to a creature. So out hunter goes, and in Riftwatcher comes again. I'm not in love with this slot either way...I looked at Emancipation Angel, as well as various 1-drops in white, and neither appealed to me more.
-Mystical Tutor, +Ponder: Has some similar functionality, but Ponder has more universal applications. The honeymoon phase with combo in my cube is starting to wane and I'm trying to trim some of the less important durdle cards.
-Entomber Exarch, +Carnophage: I'm running tons of recursion as it is. I've avoided carnophage due to it being essentially a functional reprint to vampire lacerator, but I have no plans to remove savannah lions/elite vanguard
-Fallen Angel, +Liliana's Specter: Angel really only belongs in 2 decks...orzhov tokens and golgari tokens, and it's not even crucial in those decks. It's sideboarded in all other decks, and that isn't good enough for 280.
-Zealous Persecution, +Gerrard's Verdict: Not really sure what I want this slot to be. I'm going to re-try verdict as I know it's a really great card and I haven't had it in my cube in a long time. It's a little boring for a guild slot, but I'm not sure I want either Tidehollow Sculler or Unburial Rites more.
-Juggernaut, +Mutagenic Growth: Got carried away with the 4 drops in colorless, so I'm bringing back mutagenic growth...a card that I once considered a 25th-26th pick for an aggro deck, but now as the power level of my cube has increased, I rate it more highly.
Fortunately, none of these cuts hurt any of the existing archetypes in the cube. If anything, I think archetypes are being aided in bringing in flexible cards like Lilliana's specter and ponder over narrow options like mystical tutor and fallen angel.
The peasant cube will still be my primary focus for now, but I'm looking forward to testing how the expansion transforms the drafting experience. It's nice to have this in case I find myself with an 8-man pod, and it's good to shake things up.
With 300 + 60 you can just mix everything together if you have an 8-person draft, so that's cool. If it matters, you'd only need 336 in the main part of the cube if you wanted to do packs of 14 C/U cards + 1 rare for 8 drafters.
What motivated you to cut the gold cards from the rares section?
yeah the 300 + 60 for 8-man was what I had in mind. I hadn't considered the one rare per pack amounts, but I don't think I want my core cube to be that big at the moment. I also like that the cube transforms quite a bit with 60 rares being added.
Hammer of Purphoros and Ratchet Bomb came in after seeing your post and thinking they were just plain better than Words of War and Mindless Automaton.
With the release of vintage masters and m15, I finally feel that there is enough strength in the peasant card pool to bump my list back up to 360. I'm still considering the rare expansion, but it will probably be an occasional rare slotted into each pack kind of deal.
I'm no longer running any proxies. Instead, I've doubles-sleeved my cube to keep the more expensive cards safe.
Storm is now supported.
I included Force of Will, because I brought in both Gush and Standstill and I think there's some good synergy there. Plus I like the vibe of running a card as iconic as Force of Will. I think Reanimator will appreciate the free countermagic to protect its fatties. Using a similar logic as those had used with Arcane Denial when thinking about Force of Will really turned me onto the idea..Turning their Curse of the Shallow Graves or Skullclamp into a Mind Rot seems reasonable.
Another mildly controversial inclusion is Mogg Fanatic. I want to see its value for myself. It has quite a bit of flexibility and can shoot down those early mother of runes or elves in a pinch. I'm not really feeling Frenzied Goblin although it's possibly better.
Generator Servant is a hesitant include, but I don't have any other red cards I want to add right now. I'm open to suggestions.
That's my rationale with both exclude and capsize. I feel like hour of need took capsize's place at being the go to blue late game spell, and the scariest things in my cube are oftentimes not creatures so exclude seems a little less great here.
I like Fireblast a lot, it does what it does better than stoke the flame although the latter is more flexible. Fireblast is clutch for the Hail Mary aggro deck which tend to be the most successful aggro decks in my cube.
-Exclude, +Daze: Exclude is solid, but has become significantly worse as of late. The non-creature spells tend to often be the "must-counter" cards in my cube.
-Generator Servant, +Chartooth Cougar: It was either this or Ghitu Slinger. I've missed the Cougar so I'm giving it another shot. Not sure if having it and Volcanic Dragon is a good thing. Not sold on this slot.
-Spike Jester, + Blightning: Red and Black have enough big early creatures as it is. Jester feels redundant. I really dig the disruption + burn of Blightning and I've never really given it a chance in my cube before.
The decks were Boros Aggro, Simic Ramp, Rakdos Machinehead, Gruul Aggro, Izzet Control, Orzhov Pestilence Combo (me).
I seeded the draft with all the new flashy cards just to see what kind of impact they'd have. It proved to be a killer night of swingy power plays and close matches all around. Highlight moment of the night for me: The Simic ramp deck put 3 Eldrazi into play by turn 7 against me in our second game of the match. I got steamrolled that game even with all of my removal.
At the end of the night Boros Aggro came out on top and my Pestilence deck came in 2nd.
I could've built my pool a million ways. I think there was a Esper Scepter deck in the cards that might've been stronger than my Pestilence build, but I got all the pieces and wanted to showcase them for the group. I also got to cast Juzám Djinn for the first (and only) time in my 17 years of playing magic. My pool was ridiculous:
My only match loss was due to mana issues. I mulled a couple times and got stuck on 3 lands. Pretty disappointing, but the deck was a blast. Any ideas on how I could've built the deck better?
I think twisted abomination is the right choice over angel. I was black mana starved a bit in my games. I ran 9 plains and 6 swamps iirc. I thought it was enough with vivid, core, and sphere. Abomination would've really helped my mana situation.
Etched oracle rarely comes together but I keep it in as 5-color signal and it's really strong with imperial recruiter. It's a bit of a pet card, but is entirely cuttable.
-careful consideration, +frantic search
-ashmouth hound, +faithless looting
-edge of autumn, +utopia sprawl
-worn powerstone, +everflowing chalice
-transguild promenade, +gitaxian probe
+seaside citadel
+crumbling necropolis
+jungle shrine
+arcane sanctum
+savage lands
+basilica guards
+deep analysis
+liliana's specter
+empty the warrens
+wild nacatl
+lyev skyknight
+ribbons of night
+spike jester
+flinthoof boar
+qasali pridemage
+tidehollow sculler
+putrid leech
+horizon chimera
+gelectrode
+boros charm
so ultimately the changes are:
-incremental blight, +ribbons of night (as black)
-murder of crows, +propaganda
-truefire paladin, +boros charm
-ashmouth hound, +ghitu encampment
-worn powerstone, +everflowing chalice
-miscalculation, +arcane denial: with mana leak and condescend, miscal seemed a little redundant. I'm not sure if arcane denial will stay, but i'd like to test it.
-carrion feeder, +thoughtpicker witch: i'd considered this switch for a while, but after doing a few test drafts on leelue's cube, i really dug how it changed the vibe of the golgari deck. it feels like a surgical resource denial deck.
-ancient hydra, +stalking yeti: forgot about yeti, and i just really don't like hydra. it's so mana intensive and having anything else in the cube with dividable damage made me cringe. i feel like i'm at max capacity for those effects. almost became bloodfray giant or lava hounds. not sure this is the change i want to make...this slot bounces around a lot for me.
-indrik stomphowler, +sylvok replica: another change i'd contemplated for a while. Indrik felt redundant with wickerbough and acidic slime. replica fills a good spot in the curve for green and provides a different dynamic.
-imperious perfect, +squirrel nest: imperious has not been performing. it was between squirrel nest, bestial menace, and reach of branches. squirrel nest is a bit of a pet card for me, so back in it goes.
-tower above, vines of vastwood: tower always feels like it occupies a weird spot in the curve for what it does. i almost considered revisiting overrun, but i just don't think that's the kind of card my green section wants right now.
-unburial rites, +zealous persecution: a hard switch, but unburial rites so often felt out of place in the orzhov decks. persecution provides a pseudo +2/+2 in combat...which is good for both orzhov weenie decks and token decks.
the only definite JOU change once cubetutor is updated:
-tormented hero, +gnarled scarhide: pretty much a strict upgrade.
other JOU changes I'm considering
-azorius arrester/syndic of tithes, +nyx-fleece ram
-propaganda/capsize, +hour of need: I think Hour of Need is bananas...but I'm not sure it really fits with my blue sections gameplan.
-dreg mangler, +nyx weaver: more for golgari archetype support than overt power. mangler is the better card obviously. if weaver came in, I'd likely bring in wild mongrel, reach of branches, moan of the unhallowed and roar of the wurm to support.
-azorius arrester, +nyx-fleece ram
still debating on hour of need. perhaps some fellow cubers test results will sway my decision. nyx weaver seems awesome, but I haven't made up my mind whether it's worth cutting either of my current golgari cards.
I've been thinking about these lackluster feeling 2 drops in my cube:
I've always hated extort. I initially put them in because of their versatility. They feel really underwhelming in comparison to the rest of the cards in the cube.
The pool of cards I'm considering are:
A couple CC cards which are always a little difficult in a small cube.
Soltari Priest seems worth bringing in for its evasion. I'm almost considering bringing both it and soltari monk in. I've been thinking about how I can equip fencing ace with a grafted wargear and deal 10 damage...to a token...or i could just strap it to a priest and kill them in 4 turns.
Ember Hauler brings some fun to the R/B recursion deck and is a little reach when needed.
Not sure what I'm going to do yet. Just recording some thoughts.
My CubeCobra (draft 20 card packs, 2 packs.)
430, Peasant, Very Unpowered
Why you should take your hybrids out of your gold section
Manamath Article
My CubeCobra (draft 20 card packs, 2 packs.)
430, Peasant, Very Unpowered
Why you should take your hybrids out of your gold section
Manamath Article
My Peasant Cube thread !!! (380 cards)
Draft my Peasant Cube on Cube Cobra !!!
I've been looking at MagnetMan's cube a lot lately. I like Magnet's because it's a no nonsense build with less niche archetypes and is more combat oriented. It's the way a lot of the peasant cubes were about a year ago or so ago. It's something I appreciated about Peasant and that set it apart from other Cube formats. In my last several updates I have leaned towards a lot of cute interactions. While I don't intend to push my cube quite as far as Magnet's, with this update I'm trying to bring in a little more "no non-sense."
-Fiend Hunter, +Aven Riftwatcher: The ever-rotating slot. After looking at the draft analysis of cubes that run both banisher priest and fiend hunter, it seems that priest is unanimously picked over hunter. It makes sense in hindsight as aggro is more tempo oriented, controllier builds would rather have a more permanent answer to a creature. So out hunter goes, and in Riftwatcher comes again. I'm not in love with this slot either way...I looked at Emancipation Angel, as well as various 1-drops in white, and neither appealed to me more.
-Mystical Tutor, +Ponder: Has some similar functionality, but Ponder has more universal applications. The honeymoon phase with combo in my cube is starting to wane and I'm trying to trim some of the less important durdle cards.
-Entomber Exarch, +Carnophage: I'm running tons of recursion as it is. I've avoided carnophage due to it being essentially a functional reprint to vampire lacerator, but I have no plans to remove savannah lions/elite vanguard
-Fallen Angel, +Liliana's Specter: Angel really only belongs in 2 decks...orzhov tokens and golgari tokens, and it's not even crucial in those decks. It's sideboarded in all other decks, and that isn't good enough for 280.
-Stalking yeti, +Bloodfray Giant: another rotating spot. today i want more big beef and trample for gruul.
-Zealous Persecution, +Gerrard's Verdict: Not really sure what I want this slot to be. I'm going to re-try verdict as I know it's a really great card and I haven't had it in my cube in a long time. It's a little boring for a guild slot, but I'm not sure I want either Tidehollow Sculler or Unburial Rites more.
-Juggernaut, +Mutagenic Growth: Got carried away with the 4 drops in colorless, so I'm bringing back mutagenic growth...a card that I once considered a 25th-26th pick for an aggro deck, but now as the power level of my cube has increased, I rate it more highly.
The peasant cube will still be my primary focus for now, but I'm looking forward to testing how the expansion transforms the drafting experience. It's nice to have this in case I find myself with an 8-man pod, and it's good to shake things up.
Peasant Core Changes:
-Peregrine Drake, +Recall
-Duress, +Raven's Crime
-River Boa, +Wild Mongrel
-Jungle Weaver, +Roar of the Wurm
-Gerrard's Verdict, +Unburial Rites
Most of these changes are keeping in mind the new expansion and opening up some misc synergies with it.
The following cards have been added to the expansion:
1 Imposing Sovereign
1 Precinct Captain
1 Soltari Champion
1 Galepowder Mage
1 Reveillark
1 Eternal Dragon
1 Glorious Anthem
1 Mobilization
1 Solar Tide
1 Phantasmal Image
1 Rootwater Thief
1 Talrand, Sky Summoner
1 Tradewind Rider
1 Body Double
1 Mahamoti Djinn
1 Pulse of the Grid
1 Opposition
1 Desertion
1 Evacuation
1 Sarcomancy
1 Nantuko Shade
1 Oona's Prowler
1 Doomed Necromancer
1 Necroplasm
1 Phyrexian Scuta
1 Phyrexian Plaguelord
1 Skeletal Vampire
1 Consuming Vapors
1 Consume the Meek
1 Spikeshot Goblin
1 Ash Zealot
1 Ashling the Pilgrim
1 Chandra's Phoenix
1 Countryside Crusher
1 Skizzik
1 Magma Phoenix
1 Char
1 Words of War
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Ulvenwald Tracker
1 Kavu Titan
1 Boon Satyr
1 Gigapede
1 Mitotic Slime
1 Life from the Loam
1 Awakening Zone
1 Call of the Herd
1 Birthing Pod
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Shadowmage Infiltrator
1 Tymaret, the Murder King
1 Stormbind
1 Anurid Brushhopper
1 Death Grasp
1 Varolz, the Scar-Striped
1 Mystic Snake
1 Prophetic Bolt
1 Goblin Trenches
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Coalition Relic
1 Erratic Portal
1 Mindless Automaton
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Panoptic Mirror
1 Duplicant
1 Adarkar Wastes
1 Battlefield Forge
1 Brushland
1 Caves of Koilos
1 Karplusan Forest
1 Llanowar Wastes
1 Shivan Reef
1 Sulfurous Springs
1 Yavimaya Coast
1 Underground River
1 Grand Coliseum
1 Undiscovered Paradise
Up to 300, Ribbons of Night moved to Dimir
Removed:
Added
Changes to Expansion:
removed all multicolor and:
Added:
What motivated you to cut the gold cards from the rares section?
Hammer of Purphoros and Ratchet Bomb came in after seeing your post and thinking they were just plain better than Words of War and Mindless Automaton.
Then I need to work on unfoiling and getting English copies of everything.
Cards I'm currently looking to fit in are Daze and Gitaxian Probe.
I'm no longer running any proxies. Instead, I've doubles-sleeved my cube to keep the more expensive cards safe.
Storm is now supported.
I included Force of Will, because I brought in both Gush and Standstill and I think there's some good synergy there. Plus I like the vibe of running a card as iconic as Force of Will. I think Reanimator will appreciate the free countermagic to protect its fatties. Using a similar logic as those had used with Arcane Denial when thinking about Force of Will really turned me onto the idea..Turning their Curse of the Shallow Graves or Skullclamp into a Mind Rot seems reasonable.
Another mildly controversial inclusion is Mogg Fanatic. I want to see its value for myself. It has quite a bit of flexibility and can shoot down those early mother of runes or elves in a pinch. I'm not really feeling Frenzied Goblin although it's possibly better.
Generator Servant is a hesitant include, but I don't have any other red cards I want to add right now. I'm open to suggestions.
My CubeCobra (draft 20 card packs, 2 packs.)
430, Peasant, Very Unpowered
Why you should take your hybrids out of your gold section
Manamath Article
I like Fireblast a lot, it does what it does better than stoke the flame although the latter is more flexible. Fireblast is clutch for the Hail Mary aggro deck which tend to be the most successful aggro decks in my cube.
-Exclude, +Daze: Exclude is solid, but has become significantly worse as of late. The non-creature spells tend to often be the "must-counter" cards in my cube.
-Generator Servant, +Chartooth Cougar: It was either this or Ghitu Slinger. I've missed the Cougar so I'm giving it another shot. Not sure if having it and Volcanic Dragon is a good thing. Not sold on this slot.
-Spike Jester, + Blightning: Red and Black have enough big early creatures as it is. Jester feels redundant. I really dig the disruption + burn of Blightning and I've never really given it a chance in my cube before.
-Pierce Strider, +Gitaxian Probe: Giving probe a test. Pierce Strider hasn't felt good enough in a hot minute.
EDIT: -Fettergeist, +Tandem Lookout: Finally found a slot to fit it in.
The decks were Boros Aggro, Simic Ramp, Rakdos Machinehead, Gruul Aggro, Izzet Control, Orzhov Pestilence Combo (me).
I seeded the draft with all the new flashy cards just to see what kind of impact they'd have. It proved to be a killer night of swingy power plays and close matches all around. Highlight moment of the night for me: The Simic ramp deck put 3 Eldrazi into play by turn 7 against me in our second game of the match. I got steamrolled that game even with all of my removal.
At the end of the night Boros Aggro came out on top and my Pestilence deck came in 2nd.
Here were the decks:
1 Elite Vanguard
1 Keldon Marauders
1 Cloistered Youth
1 Accorder Paladin
1 Gorehouse Chainwalker
1 Soltari Trooper
1 Stormfront Pegasus
1 Splatter Thug
1 Pianna, Nomad Captain
1 Keldon Champion
1 Bloodfray Giant
1 Calciderm
1 Cloudgoat Ranger
1 Chain Lightning
1 Burst Lightning
1 Lightning Helix
1 Boros Charm
1 Arc Lightning
1 Battle Screech
1 Fireblast
1 Rolling Thunder
16 Basics
1 Mishra's Factory
1 Land Tax
1 Firebolt
1 Dryad Militant
1 Journey to Nowhere
1 Pierce Strider (forgot to replace it with gitaxian probe)
I could've built my pool a million ways. I think there was a Esper Scepter deck in the cards that might've been stronger than my Pestilence build, but I got all the pieces and wanted to showcase them for the group. I also got to cast Juzám Djinn for the first (and only) time in my 17 years of playing magic. My pool was ridiculous:
1 Bone Shredder
1 Phyrexian Rager
1 Galvanic Juggernaut
1 Guardian of the Guildpact
1 Juzám Djinn
1 Custodi Squire
1 Serra Angel
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Banishing Light
1 Lashknife Barrier
1 Faith's Fetters
1 Pestilence
1 Guardian Idol
1 Shrine of Loyal Legions
1 Chimeric Idol
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Path to Exile
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Lingering Souls
1 Ribbons of Night
1 Feudkiller's Verdict
1 Vivid Meadow
1 Mirrodin's Core
15 Basics
1 Isochron Scepter
1 Harm's Way
1 Baleful Strix
1 Ghostly Prison
1 Reassembling Skeleton
1 Impulse
1 Repulse
1 Compulsive Research
1 Master Splicer
1 Curse of the Shallow Graves
1 Twisted Abomination
1 Read the Bones
1 Momentary Blink
1 Temporal Isolation
1 Diabolic Servitude
1 Glimmerpoint Stag
My only match loss was due to mana issues. I mulled a couple times and got stuck on 3 lands. Pretty disappointing, but the deck was a blast. Any ideas on how I could've built the deck better?
Etched oracle rarely comes together but I keep it in as 5-color signal and it's really strong with imperial recruiter. It's a bit of a pet card, but is entirely cuttable.
My Peasant Cube thread !!! (380 cards)
Draft my Peasant Cube on Cube Cobra !!!