my reason as always. If it offers a 2:1 is at least borderline. Its not a big deal to add the U and B capsule to enable that.
same applies to crypt lurker, which either cycles away an outclassed drop or a pacified creature. might bump it to cubable actually. only the cmc5 might hold it back since spots are scarce there.
but didnt we get rid of "staple" and kept cubable, borderline, bad? im confused. if not. lurker is def. cubable
Drowsing Tyrannodon doesnt become a 4/4 which would be insane.
same applies to crypt lurker, which either cycles away an outclassed drop or a pacified creature. might bump it to cubable actually. only the cmc5 might hold it back since spots are scarce there.
but didnt we get rid of "staple" and kept cubable, borderline, bad? im confused. if not. lurker is def. cubable
We got rid of "bomb" and "terrible". Staple still seperates the auto includes from the average cubeables. I think Vulturous Aven outclasses the Lurker. Sure you can't discard for it, but a 2/3 flying and drawing 2 instead of 1 is so much better in the right deck.
Drowsing Tyrannodon doesnt become a 4/4 which would be insane.
I wrote there are ways to make it 4/4, was that misunderstanding? I can reformulate it. I mean effects like Trusted Forcemage which is bascially the perfect follow up for this and auras. There is also the option to play a Giant Growth on it, in some situations to simply attack for 7 on turn 3.
i c.
how is adding a capsule a giant obstacle? with the black one. it offers an easy 3:1 then. having a fringe but strong interaction is the main definition of borderline.
dont agree aven is better. it costs life, asks for a sac everytime and dies to bolt. evasive 2 isnt a huge threat either.
i c.
how is adding a capsule a giant obstacle? with the black one. it offers an easy 3:1 then. having a fringe but strong interaction is the main definition of borderline.
Well we are talking about a combination of 3 specific cards in a big cube of which at least 2 have to end up in your deck in 2 specific colors. Then you must draw both and in the best case in a specific order. I think this qualifies as an unnecessary obstacle just to enable a 2/3.
mancer + capsule are 2 cards. if you run both capsules thats 3 cards in the cube either monocolored or UB. considering you draft the whole cube its not tough to collect either combination. once you drafted them its only a 40 card deck. the capsules are perfectly playable on their own.
mancer is also a piece in the uw artifact deck.
with your logic, any 2 card synergy is unplayable.
but whatevs, i will play the card and dont really care about your evaluations anyway. there are already tons of playables in the bad category.
its just sad for new builder coming here and ignoring all those cool interactions.
So I'm currently in the process of re-building my Pauper cube from the ground up and am going through all the various lists for ideas (huge props and thank yous to the people involved in maintaining it).
I do want to point out what I think is an error though, in the 2 CMC Green Non-Creature spells list, it has Pounce in the "cubeable" section with the comment "Instant speed Prey Upon is solid", but then lists Titanic Brawl in the "bad" section as "counters matter fight". Titanic Brawl is literally a strictly better Pounce, they are both 2 CMC instant Fight Spells, but Titanic Brawl has the upside of costing just 1 mana if your creature has a +1/+1 counter on it. Unless I am missing something obvious (it wouldn't be the first time....)?
My guess is that the OP assumed Titanic Brawl was a bad Prey Upon, not realizing it was instant speed.
with your logic, any 2 card synergy is unplayable.
In a cube, without any or only little redundant pieces, Yes. You could make an exception for Midnight Guard/Presence of Gond since it at least wins the game in the rare cases, when it happens.
I do want to point out what I think is an error though, in the 2 CMC Green Non-Creature spells list, it has Pounce in the "cubeable" section with the comment "Instant speed Prey Upon is solid", but then lists Titanic Brawl in the "bad" section as "counters matter fight". Titanic Brawl is literally a strictly better Pounce, they are both 2 CMC instant Fight Spells, but Titanic Brawl has the upside of costing just 1 mana if your creature has a +1/+1 counter on it. Unless I am missing something obvious (it wouldn't be the first time....)?
My guess is that the OP assumed Titanic Brawl was a bad Prey Upon, not realizing it was instant speed.
Thank you. Stuff like this happens, because different people did the evaluations at different points in time. They are booth borderline now.
If you want to run any fight spells in green the best ones are probably Savage Swipe and Ram Through.
mancer + capsule are 2 cards. if you run both capsules thats 3 cards in the cube either monocolored or UB. considering you draft the whole cube its not tough to collect either combination. once you drafted them its only a 40 card deck. the capsules are perfectly playable on their own.
mancer is also a piece in the uw artifact deck.
with your logic, any 2 card synergy is unplayable.
but whatevs, i will play the card and dont really care about your evaluations anyway. there are already tons of playables in the bad category.
its just sad for new builder coming here and ignoring all those cool interactions.
I'd throw perilous myr and possibly serrated arrows in with the synergies too, however I wouldn't put archaeomender above borderline, as I'd only pick it after I had the other cards.
but whatevs, i will play the card and dont really care about your evaluations anyway. there are already tons of playables in the bad category.
its just sad for new builder coming here and ignoring all those cool interactions.
As someone who is in that category (a brand new builder), I do want to point out that I am using these awesome lists as a guidepost or a starting off point, not some end all and be all "one true list". It's great for pointing out cards that I don't know about (newer magic player here), and talking about why some cards are good or not good.
It isn't stopping me from using some cards listed as "bad" though, if they are supporting my themes/archetypes. I still dig through the lists looking for nuggets of synergy, which is great. One example is Final Payment, which while I agree it is not a great removal spell, it points toward the aristocrats archetype for W/B in my cube, which is exactly what I want. I get that Pillory of the Sleepless is just a generically better removal spell for that color pair, but I want most of my Gold cards to both point toward and reward certain kinds of decks, so I'm using Final Payment over Pillory.
On a side note, in my (extremely inexpert opinion), Archeomender is probably at least a borderline card. I have been assuming that "borderline", means "mostly bad, but usable in the right cube if you have the support for it", judging off of the image on the original post. There are plenty of artifacts that this can get back relatively easily, many of which have already been mentioned, others including things that sac themselves (Mind Stone or Witching Well), or just any generic artifact creature (getting back a Skyscanner, or Pilgrim's Eye or whatever is never bad). While it is a more narrow and conditional Gravedigger, in the right cube it is a 3 mana 2/3 Gravedigger, which is pretty great IMHO (remember, new to cube, in no way claiming to be an experienced expert). Also, even it's "floor" of "Oh crap, I'm dying to a beatdown deck, let's just jam out the vanilla 2/3" is fine for 3 mana.
On another note, one card I was looking for a rating for and did not find one was Bladebrand.
I think the card rates at least at Borderline, but even if it is just "Bad" it should probably be added to that section with a comment. I'll probably be cubing with it just for the fun of it, so hopefully I'll see how it shakes out in actual testing.
First of all, let's start with the floor. Combat Tricks are dead draws when you don't have any creatures to use them on or the stats on the board don't line up right for them to be good. But Bladebrand essentially has Cycling for 2 provided there is at least a creature somewhere on the board. I would say this makes it's "floor" higher than the typical combat trick.
Secondly there is then the "typical use case" which is "let my token trade up and kill something bigger without spending a card". Since Pauper cubes typical have lots of various small tokens running around, this seems acceptable (if unexciting) as a combat trick.
Finally, we have Magical Christmas Land, or basically the "ceiling" of the card. It combos with any pinger to become a Doom Blade that draws a card. Since cards like Viridian Lonbow, Vulshok Sorcerer, Fireslinger, Fanatical Firebrand, Mogg Fanatic, etc. are frequently run in cubes anyway, this isn't actually that hard to pull off, especially in a Red/Black deck. The crazy high game winning blowout combos are with Goblin Arsonist or Footlight Fiend getting a 2 for 1 by killing both the creature they are in combat with and another with the ping effect on death. Or with any large creature that gets double/triple blocked. Or allowing a Trample creature to deal more damage than was expected. Or perhaps the most fun one, with a 1 mana Crypt Rats activation becoming a full board clear, something typically unheard of in Pauper.
Anyway, I just feel that for a card that has that high of a floor (just cycle it), a decent use case (make my token trade up without spending a card), and so many crazy high "combo" scenarios with a wide variety of different cards which are Cubeable or Staples, it's worth discussing. Even if you disagree, I'd add it to the Bad section with your reasoning. I'd also point to the fact that Rush of Vitality is listed as Borderline, and I think Bladebrand is at least as good as it.
With regards to M21 evaluations, I think Blood Glutton is just outright Bad. Like you said, Scrounger of Souls is just better, Blood Glutton dies to bolt, trades down in Mana frequently, and even if you are doing the whole "Lifegain matters" thing, the new stuff all works with gaining 3 in a turn anyway.
Edit: Is Trufflesnout actually that good? That card seems borderline at best, and only if you are running a Counters or a Lifegain archetype (preferably both). Centaur Courser is not a good card and Centaur Courser that can sometimes be a Grey Ogre that gives 4 life doesn't seem amazing. I can't see putting this into a Cube unless there was a Lifegain or a Counters archetype and even then I think it would be kinda iffy.
Also, Ornery Dilophosaur seems atrociously bad. 4 mana for a 2/2 Deathtouch is a terrible card, and even when it's "on" (which can only be on your turn and only with the right synergy) it's a very underwhelming 4/4 with Deathtouch (which it doesn't really need as a 4/4). That card has proven to be incredibly "meh" in the draft environment of Core 21 Limited (not always the best idea to judge cube cards by, I realize), but I don't see it getting any better in a cube. Even if I was running a "4 Power Matters" archetype in my cube I wouldn't use this, when a card is outright awful without its synergy and merely "meh" with it, I think that is the definition of not a cube card (my .02).
@Kartigan:
A late Welcome. I'm glad this is work of some help to you. It's always good to hear, that more than 5 people are actually using this.
The whole idea of this project is to show people options. Otherwise a Borderline category wouldn't be needed. The borderline rating is mostly for card, which are fine to play, but often have better alternatives in cubeable. This project is not meant to rate every card corresponding their specific archetype. There are a lot of narrow archetypes (e.g. Infect or many of the 1-set-only mechanics) which simply don't have enough pieces to be viable, so there is no use in ranking them into borderline. That would just make things confusing.
The artifact archetype is kind of problematic, IMO. It's obviously one of the biggest archetypes there is, but many of the actual payoffs need a lot of commitment, which is why I actually went ahead and straight up build a completely artifact focused cube. Archaeomender as a lonely, medium powered "payoff", which requires a bunch of artifacts, that frequently go to the graveyard is still not a viable option for 99% of the cubes, but since everyone seems to be super stoked about it, I can move it to borderline.
Edit:
I don't know why Bladebrand wasn't listed. It's probably from the era where Night_Hydra and I implemented a whole bunch of sets at the same time, because the forum was supposed to shut down and he didn't want this to end completely outdated. I just added it and I agree that borderline seems like the right spot.
There are bigger cubes than 360 and if they already have Scrounger of Souls they might look for similar 5 drop. It's not like the Glutton is outright bad it mostly loses in direct comparison.
Coursers aren't bad. 3/2s are bad. A few years ago Nessian Courser was in most lists, simply because there weren't many better alternatives. Also your life total doesn't need to be tied to any specific archetype. Against a super aggressive red deck I would sometimes love to simply gain 4 life which requires more than 1 burn spell to the face to get rid of. It's the flexiblity that makes this card cubeable.
The list has definitely been a huge help, thanks again for all the work in maintaining it. I am building my cube from the ground up and it is an amazing resource.
I get what you are saying regarding options and Bloodglutton, makes sense. It may make sense to list them together as you frequently do with similar cards, which is very helpful. You are also good about cross-referencing though, which is really helpful.
You've convinced me on Trufflesnout, 4 life is a lot and flexibility is nice. I may even try to find room for him myself, as I am trying to get Selesnya Counters to work.
Curious to hear more on the Ornery Deathtouch guy though, he still seems so low power even when he works, though I agree activating him is trivial. I would way rather he was just a 4/4, though I don't know if vanilla 4/4s for 4 are a thing, so maybe that means nothing.
Curious to hear more on the Ornery Deathtouch guy though, he still seems so low power even when he works, though I agree activating him is trivial. I would way rather he was just a 4/4, though I don't know if vanilla 4/4s for 4 are a thing, so maybe that means nothing.
Curious to hear more on the Ornery Deathtouch guy though, he still seems so low power even when he works, though I agree activating him is trivial. I would way rather he was just a 4/4, though I don't know if vanilla 4/4s for 4 are a thing, so maybe that means nothing.
Yeah, those look nicer. I especially like the cross-synergy of something like Peema Outrider which helps Counters, 4 Power Matters, Tokens, and is just a solid creature overall, all in one card. Ornery Dino wanting to go in the 4 Power deck, but not really helping rigger anything in it is a little lame.
maybe we have to re-establish what the categories meant, because im under the impression al changed their definitions.
staple=best in slot card in their group (cmc/creature/spell) you will not find something similiar
cubable=above curve and overall very solid card, but has a lot of cards of the same powerlevel in its slot, so its interchangable.
borderline=on curve at best in a vaccuum, but in the right combination/meta, can become even staple.
bad= absolutely unplayable trash in any given scenario.
its also totally wrong youre unable to draft and play 2 card combos in cubes, unless you draft against bots or noobs who pick random cards or dont draft the whole 360 because you lack players or whatevs.
if theyre unplayabe in cube where its guaranteed you find the counterpiece, you should never pick it in limited, where packs are random...
heck, i had players assemble tron+eldrazi on t5 against me when i ran it in my cube (as 1ofs).
running fringe synergies also mitigates the problem players end with too many playables and cant find cuts for their decks. a slighty variance in powerlevel also makes more interesting draft, because you just cant or shouldnt just autopick the cards in your color.
when it comes to coursers, ive never been a big friend and they were the first cards axed again when i tried to include them. its forever ago when Cathodion got rarity shifted and pretty much outclassed all the green coursers for good. and at that point rw already had 3/3 first strikers for 3.
besides getting infinite 3/x for cmc2 across the colors a 3/3 is barely any better than a 3/2 nowadays.
The Trufflesnout is great in limited, but kinda crappy in cube, because we have both better lifegain and better bodies. Its borderline at best and more of a sb card against burn and we all agreed sb only cards are rather meh and should be avoided.
Ornery Dilophsaur is horrible, even Rumbling Baloth is better.
Another card I didn't find a rating for was Callous Dismissal. It's basically a baby Man-O'-War and personally I think that makes it Cubeable.
Edit:Slimebind is in the 4CC section, not the 2 where it should be.
im surprised the card is missing, but i think we agreed on borderline, because a 1/1 token isnt a real card 1/1s in general are pretty useless and being a token makes it too fragile.
Dismissal is quite good in spells matters, because it offers a body being a spell and removes a blocker. That also makes it quite useful in the all bounce deck, where you just run a manowar in every slot.
main problem is its sorcery speed.
Another card I didn't find a rating for was Callous Dismissal. It's basically a baby Man-O'-War and personally I think that makes it Cubeable.
Edit:Slimebind is in the 4CC section, not the 2 where it should be.
im surprised the card is missing, but i think we agreed on borderline, because a 1/1 token isnt a real card 1/1s in general are pretty useless and being a token makes it too fragile.
Dismissal is quite good in spells matters, because it offers a body being a spell and removes a blocker. That also makes it quite useful in the all bounce deck, where you just run a manowar in every slot.
main problem is its sorcery speed.
I agree that it is a worse Man-o'-War, though a 2/2 isn't a whole lot better than a 1/1. I get what you're saying about it being too small to be worth a card though.
I agree that Spells Matter is where it has its best home, being a spell that makes a body and all that. All the Man-o'-Wars are Sorcery speed I guess, this is just a tinier one. I think the interesting comparison is actually to Aether Adept if you're already using Man-o'-War and looking for a 2nd one, sometimes that extra Blue Pip can be a big pain and I am not sure the extra CMC and mana requirement is worth +1/+1.
a 2/2 is a card. it blocks 1/x and can attack into those and kills in 10 turns, not in 20. if it actually was a 1/1 that bounces it would be worsse in spells matters but more useful all around, since you can bounce it and stuff. i probably wouldnt still run it.
I also don't see a rating for Toll of the Invasion. I assume it is mostly just bad, Memory Leak is probably better with Cycling for 1 and the ability to hit the opponents GY if need be, a 1/1 just isn't doing a whole lot, though with all the Black Sacrifice in my cube it still might be worth considering I guess.
maybe we have to re-establish what the categories meant, because im under the impression al changed their definitions.
staple=best in slot card in their group (cmc/creature/spell) you will not find something similiar
cubable=above curve and overall very solid card, but has a lot of cards of the same powerlevel in its slot, so its interchangable.
borderline=on curve at best in a vaccuum, but in the right combination/meta, can become even staple.
bad= absolutely unplayable trash in any given scenario.
Staples to me are cards that should be the framework of your cube. There are cards marked as Staple I would personally put as Cubeable, as while they may be the strongest in class, they aren't necessarily universal. For example, Green stables to me are cards that make the best of what Green does well:
1. Break the "Play one land per turn" rule.
2. Creatures always being above curve in power and toughness to CMC ratio.
For Borderline I would say something along the lines of "Powerful effects that need or provide support for strategies, but not necessarily powerful on their own." There are a lot of cards in the Bad section I would personally rank Borderline in accordance to my personal definition, but I think overall this guide gives a great look at what to look for in a card to add to your cube.
For the most part these two definitions seem to be the most debatable, but again this guide is extremely useful for helping players new and old shape their cubes.
In regards to two card combos, I think it is necessary to include them if you want to keep your cube exciting for the J personality players.
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I will wait with the implementation, until you gave me some feedback and we can see if some changes are necessary.
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my reason as always. If it offers a 2:1 is at least borderline. Its not a big deal to add the U and B capsule to enable that.
same applies to crypt lurker, which either cycles away an outclassed drop or a pacified creature. might bump it to cubable actually. only the cmc5 might hold it back since spots are scarce there.
but didnt we get rid of "staple" and kept cubable, borderline, bad? im confused. if not. lurker is def. cubable
Drowsing Tyrannodon doesnt become a 4/4 which would be insane.
powpercube Johnny https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/37t
We got rid of "bomb" and "terrible". Staple still seperates the auto includes from the average cubeables. I think Vulturous Aven outclasses the Lurker. Sure you can't discard for it, but a 2/3 flying and drawing 2 instead of 1 is so much better in the right deck.
I wrote there are ways to make it 4/4, was that misunderstanding? I can reformulate it. I mean effects like Trusted Forcemage which is bascially the perfect follow up for this and auras. There is also the option to play a Giant Growth on it, in some situations to simply attack for 7 on turn 3.
Pauper Cube & Artifact Pauper Cube & Multiplayer Cube
Interested in building your own Pauper Cube? Take a look at some of the lists and the following project: The "Evaluate Everything" Project (updated to M21/JMP)
how is adding a capsule a giant obstacle? with the black one. it offers an easy 3:1 then. having a fringe but strong interaction is the main definition of borderline.
dont agree aven is better. it costs life, asks for a sac everytime and dies to bolt. evasive 2 isnt a huge threat either.
powpercube Johnny https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/37t
@Marl Karx:
Ty. Fixed
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mancer is also a piece in the uw artifact deck.
with your logic, any 2 card synergy is unplayable.
but whatevs, i will play the card and dont really care about your evaluations anyway. there are already tons of playables in the bad category.
its just sad for new builder coming here and ignoring all those cool interactions.
powpercube Johnny https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/37t
I do want to point out what I think is an error though, in the 2 CMC Green Non-Creature spells list, it has Pounce in the "cubeable" section with the comment "Instant speed Prey Upon is solid", but then lists Titanic Brawl in the "bad" section as "counters matter fight". Titanic Brawl is literally a strictly better Pounce, they are both 2 CMC instant Fight Spells, but Titanic Brawl has the upside of costing just 1 mana if your creature has a +1/+1 counter on it. Unless I am missing something obvious (it wouldn't be the first time....)?
My guess is that the OP assumed Titanic Brawl was a bad Prey Upon, not realizing it was instant speed.
Thank you. Stuff like this happens, because different people did the evaluations at different points in time. They are booth borderline now.
If you want to run any fight spells in green the best ones are probably Savage Swipe and Ram Through.
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Interested in building your own Pauper Cube? Take a look at some of the lists and the following project: The "Evaluate Everything" Project (updated to M21/JMP)
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Interested in building your own Pauper Cube? Take a look at some of the lists and the following project: The "Evaluate Everything" Project (updated to M21/JMP)
I'd throw perilous myr and possibly serrated arrows in with the synergies too, however I wouldn't put archaeomender above borderline, as I'd only pick it after I had the other cards.
As someone who is in that category (a brand new builder), I do want to point out that I am using these awesome lists as a guidepost or a starting off point, not some end all and be all "one true list". It's great for pointing out cards that I don't know about (newer magic player here), and talking about why some cards are good or not good.
It isn't stopping me from using some cards listed as "bad" though, if they are supporting my themes/archetypes. I still dig through the lists looking for nuggets of synergy, which is great. One example is Final Payment, which while I agree it is not a great removal spell, it points toward the aristocrats archetype for W/B in my cube, which is exactly what I want. I get that Pillory of the Sleepless is just a generically better removal spell for that color pair, but I want most of my Gold cards to both point toward and reward certain kinds of decks, so I'm using Final Payment over Pillory.
On a side note, in my (extremely inexpert opinion), Archeomender is probably at least a borderline card. I have been assuming that "borderline", means "mostly bad, but usable in the right cube if you have the support for it", judging off of the image on the original post. There are plenty of artifacts that this can get back relatively easily, many of which have already been mentioned, others including things that sac themselves (Mind Stone or Witching Well), or just any generic artifact creature (getting back a Skyscanner, or Pilgrim's Eye or whatever is never bad). While it is a more narrow and conditional Gravedigger, in the right cube it is a 3 mana 2/3 Gravedigger, which is pretty great IMHO (remember, new to cube, in no way claiming to be an experienced expert). Also, even it's "floor" of "Oh crap, I'm dying to a beatdown deck, let's just jam out the vanilla 2/3" is fine for 3 mana.
I think the card rates at least at Borderline, but even if it is just "Bad" it should probably be added to that section with a comment. I'll probably be cubing with it just for the fun of it, so hopefully I'll see how it shakes out in actual testing.
First of all, let's start with the floor. Combat Tricks are dead draws when you don't have any creatures to use them on or the stats on the board don't line up right for them to be good. But Bladebrand essentially has Cycling for 2 provided there is at least a creature somewhere on the board. I would say this makes it's "floor" higher than the typical combat trick.
Secondly there is then the "typical use case" which is "let my token trade up and kill something bigger without spending a card". Since Pauper cubes typical have lots of various small tokens running around, this seems acceptable (if unexciting) as a combat trick.
Finally, we have Magical Christmas Land, or basically the "ceiling" of the card. It combos with any pinger to become a Doom Blade that draws a card. Since cards like Viridian Lonbow, Vulshok Sorcerer, Fireslinger, Fanatical Firebrand, Mogg Fanatic, etc. are frequently run in cubes anyway, this isn't actually that hard to pull off, especially in a Red/Black deck. The crazy high game winning blowout combos are with Goblin Arsonist or Footlight Fiend getting a 2 for 1 by killing both the creature they are in combat with and another with the ping effect on death. Or with any large creature that gets double/triple blocked. Or allowing a Trample creature to deal more damage than was expected. Or perhaps the most fun one, with a 1 mana Crypt Rats activation becoming a full board clear, something typically unheard of in Pauper.
Anyway, I just feel that for a card that has that high of a floor (just cycle it), a decent use case (make my token trade up without spending a card), and so many crazy high "combo" scenarios with a wide variety of different cards which are Cubeable or Staples, it's worth discussing. Even if you disagree, I'd add it to the Bad section with your reasoning. I'd also point to the fact that Rush of Vitality is listed as Borderline, and I think Bladebrand is at least as good as it.
Edit: Is Trufflesnout actually that good? That card seems borderline at best, and only if you are running a Counters or a Lifegain archetype (preferably both). Centaur Courser is not a good card and Centaur Courser that can sometimes be a Grey Ogre that gives 4 life doesn't seem amazing. I can't see putting this into a Cube unless there was a Lifegain or a Counters archetype and even then I think it would be kinda iffy.
Also, Ornery Dilophosaur seems atrociously bad. 4 mana for a 2/2 Deathtouch is a terrible card, and even when it's "on" (which can only be on your turn and only with the right synergy) it's a very underwhelming 4/4 with Deathtouch (which it doesn't really need as a 4/4). That card has proven to be incredibly "meh" in the draft environment of Core 21 Limited (not always the best idea to judge cube cards by, I realize), but I don't see it getting any better in a cube. Even if I was running a "4 Power Matters" archetype in my cube I wouldn't use this, when a card is outright awful without its synergy and merely "meh" with it, I think that is the definition of not a cube card (my .02).
A late Welcome. I'm glad this is work of some help to you. It's always good to hear, that more than 5 people are actually using this.
The whole idea of this project is to show people options. Otherwise a Borderline category wouldn't be needed. The borderline rating is mostly for card, which are fine to play, but often have better alternatives in cubeable. This project is not meant to rate every card corresponding their specific archetype. There are a lot of narrow archetypes (e.g. Infect or many of the 1-set-only mechanics) which simply don't have enough pieces to be viable, so there is no use in ranking them into borderline. That would just make things confusing.
The artifact archetype is kind of problematic, IMO. It's obviously one of the biggest archetypes there is, but many of the actual payoffs need a lot of commitment, which is why I actually went ahead and straight up build a completely artifact focused cube.
Archaeomender as a lonely, medium powered "payoff", which requires a bunch of artifacts, that frequently go to the graveyard is still not a viable option for 99% of the cubes, but since everyone seems to be super stoked about it, I can move it to borderline.
Edit:
I don't know why Bladebrand wasn't listed. It's probably from the era where Night_Hydra and I implemented a whole bunch of sets at the same time, because the forum was supposed to shut down and he didn't want this to end completely outdated. I just added it and I agree that borderline seems like the right spot.
There are bigger cubes than 360 and if they already have Scrounger of Souls they might look for similar 5 drop. It's not like the Glutton is outright bad it mostly loses in direct comparison.
Coursers aren't bad. 3/2s are bad. A few years ago Nessian Courser was in most lists, simply because there weren't many better alternatives. Also your life total doesn't need to be tied to any specific archetype. Against a super aggressive red deck I would sometimes love to simply gain 4 life which requires more than 1 burn spell to the face to get rid of. It's the flexiblity that makes this card cubeable.
Pauper Cube & Artifact Pauper Cube & Multiplayer Cube
Interested in building your own Pauper Cube? Take a look at some of the lists and the following project: The "Evaluate Everything" Project (updated to M21/JMP)
The list has definitely been a huge help, thanks again for all the work in maintaining it. I am building my cube from the ground up and it is an amazing resource.
I get what you are saying regarding options and Bloodglutton, makes sense. It may make sense to list them together as you frequently do with similar cards, which is very helpful. You are also good about cross-referencing though, which is really helpful.
You've convinced me on Trufflesnout, 4 life is a lot and flexibility is nice. I may even try to find room for him myself, as I am trying to get Selesnya Counters to work.
Curious to hear more on the Ornery Deathtouch guy though, he still seems so low power even when he works, though I agree activating him is trivial. I would way rather he was just a 4/4, though I don't know if vanilla 4/4s for 4 are a thing, so maybe that means nothing.
Pauper Cube & Artifact Pauper Cube & Multiplayer Cube
Interested in building your own Pauper Cube? Take a look at some of the lists and the following project: The "Evaluate Everything" Project (updated to M21/JMP)
Yeah, those look nicer. I especially like the cross-synergy of something like Peema Outrider which helps Counters, 4 Power Matters, Tokens, and is just a solid creature overall, all in one card. Ornery Dino wanting to go in the 4 Power deck, but not really helping rigger anything in it is a little lame.
staple=best in slot card in their group (cmc/creature/spell) you will not find something similiar
cubable=above curve and overall very solid card, but has a lot of cards of the same powerlevel in its slot, so its interchangable.
borderline=on curve at best in a vaccuum, but in the right combination/meta, can become even staple.
bad= absolutely unplayable trash in any given scenario.
its also totally wrong youre unable to draft and play 2 card combos in cubes, unless you draft against bots or noobs who pick random cards or dont draft the whole 360 because you lack players or whatevs.
if theyre unplayabe in cube where its guaranteed you find the counterpiece, you should never pick it in limited, where packs are random...
heck, i had players assemble tron+eldrazi on t5 against me when i ran it in my cube (as 1ofs).
running fringe synergies also mitigates the problem players end with too many playables and cant find cuts for their decks. a slighty variance in powerlevel also makes more interesting draft, because you just cant or shouldnt just autopick the cards in your color.
when it comes to coursers, ive never been a big friend and they were the first cards axed again when i tried to include them. its forever ago when Cathodion got rarity shifted and pretty much outclassed all the green coursers for good. and at that point rw already had 3/3 first strikers for 3.
besides getting infinite 3/x for cmc2 across the colors a 3/3 is barely any better than a 3/2 nowadays.
The Trufflesnout is great in limited, but kinda crappy in cube, because we have both better lifegain and better bodies. Its borderline at best and more of a sb card against burn and we all agreed sb only cards are rather meh and should be avoided.
Ornery Dilophsaur is horrible, even Rumbling Baloth is better.
powpercube Johnny https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/37t
Edit: Slimebind is in the 4CC section, not the 2 where it should be.
im surprised the card is missing, but i think we agreed on borderline, because a 1/1 token isnt a real card 1/1s in general are pretty useless and being a token makes it too fragile.
Dismissal is quite good in spells matters, because it offers a body being a spell and removes a blocker. That also makes it quite useful in the all bounce deck, where you just run a manowar in every slot.
main problem is its sorcery speed.
powpercube Johnny https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/37t
I agree that it is a worse Man-o'-War, though a 2/2 isn't a whole lot better than a 1/1. I get what you're saying about it being too small to be worth a card though.
I agree that Spells Matter is where it has its best home, being a spell that makes a body and all that. All the Man-o'-Wars are Sorcery speed I guess, this is just a tinier one. I think the interesting comparison is actually to Aether Adept if you're already using Man-o'-War and looking for a 2nd one, sometimes that extra Blue Pip can be a big pain and I am not sure the extra CMC and mana requirement is worth +1/+1.
powpercube Johnny https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/37t
Staples to me are cards that should be the framework of your cube. There are cards marked as Staple I would personally put as Cubeable, as while they may be the strongest in class, they aren't necessarily universal. For example, Green stables to me are cards that make the best of what Green does well:
1. Break the "Play one land per turn" rule.
2. Creatures always being above curve in power and toughness to CMC ratio.
For Borderline I would say something along the lines of "Powerful effects that need or provide support for strategies, but not necessarily powerful on their own." There are a lot of cards in the Bad section I would personally rank Borderline in accordance to my personal definition, but I think overall this guide gives a great look at what to look for in a card to add to your cube.
For the most part these two definitions seem to be the most debatable, but again this guide is extremely useful for helping players new and old shape their cubes.
In regards to two card combos, I think it is necessary to include them if you want to keep your cube exciting for the J personality players.