A cycle of fetchlands that could only fetch basics. Example:
Common Verdant Catacombs
Land
T, pay 1 life, Sacrifice Common Verdant Catacombs: Search your library for a basic Swamp or Forest card and put it onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library
Maybe not even with the life clause: it's not either strictly better than Evolving Wilds (cannot get all the type of basics so it might not get the one you need when you draw it) nor strictly worse (lands fetched for enter untapped). We're in dire need of duals that enter untapped for multicolor aggro decks, and while not a dual at heart, this still fills the role.
Whenever ~ deals combat damage to a player, you may pay 1. If you do, that player loses 1 life and you gain 1 life.
3/3
Boros Dragon3RW
Creature - Dragon
Flying, First strike.
Whenever ~ deals combat damage to a player, you may put a Red and White 1/1 Hatchling token with Flying onto the battlefield.
3/3
Izzet Dragon3UR
Creature - Dragon
Flying, Haste.
Whenever ~ deals combat damage to a player, you may return target instant or sorcery spell from your graveyard to your hand.
3/3
Simic Dragon3GU
Creature - Dragon
Flying, Flash.
Whenever ~ deals combat damage to a player, you may return target creature that player controls to it's owner's hand.
3/3
Golgari Dragon3BG
Creature - Dragon
Flying.
1B: Regenerate ~.
Whenever ~ deals combat damage to a player, you may return target creature from your graveyard to your hand.
3/3
I think the land needs the life cost; otherwise it is strictly better than a basic (outside of extremely narrow scenarios where the deck no longer has the relevant basics to search for). But I'd play these for sure.
Azorius Dragon – Flying and hexproof pretty complementary. Add 3 toughness and I expect this guy to be tough to deal with, but certainly not unfair.
Dimir Dragon – This card looks fine. Kills pesky spiders and what not that can block it all day.
Rakdos Dragon – While not the most aggressive stats for Rakdos, I really like the digging ability, particularly to draw into your reach spells and finish off the opponent.
Gruul Dragon – As above, not the most aggressive of stats, but I think the abilities make up for that. Block with your Drake token? Ok, I’ll trample over and then kill your Man-o-War too.
Orzhov Dragon – I feel like this guy needs something else. The combat trigger is almost just an extension of lifelink. Not sure what that something else is though.
Izzet Dragon – It doesn’t seem too powerful, but re-using burn/bounce every turn might be a little unfun to play against.
Simic Dragon – Maybe too good? Gatherer search shows only 1 creature (at any rarity) that has this ability; Mistblade Shinobi. This guy gets flying, reasonable stats, and can flash in end of opponents turn so they can’t plan to block. I think this guy might end up being unfun to play against.
Golgari Dragon – I like this guy. Solid value. Surprisingly this only shows up on 1 existing creature; Woebearer.
yeah tempo dragon should probably cost 4. fair call.
dredge dragon 1BG
creature - dragon
flying
scavenge 1BG
when you pay ~'s scavenge cost, put two 1/1 green saproling creature tokens onto the battlefield.
2/2
Dredge Dragon - Nothing flashy on the front end, but like most good Golgari cards, provides some nice value once he bites the dust.
Aggro Dragon - I feel like this guy is just a smidge too good for his cost, but I don't really know how to evaluate double strike.
Evolve Dragon - I like this ability set. Wondering if it might be undercosted? Doesn't seem particularly unfair thouhg, and take a few turns to get the toughness up to something respectable.
Spikeshot Upgrade
Cost : 3R
1/1 R, t : Deal damage equal to ~this~ power to another target creature or player.
Undying
Don't recall seeing Spikeshot Goblin in any lists. Maybe could be costed 2R or 1RR? I figure it wouldn't be too difficult to get it killed first time around, and being able to deal 2 damage is pretty solid, so didn't want to undercost it.
I run Spikeshot Goblin. Ironically, I would not run that card because albeit Undying is sweet, it seems to do much too little for 4 mana. But I like the design of combining Spikeshot Goblin with Undying.
I'm pretty sure you would have to pay a fair bit more than 3 for that effect, getting the free creature is a pretty neat upgrade on already fairly powerful spells.
The closest parallel I could think about would be Electrickery but even that card only hits the opponent's creatures and has an alternative mode where it only hits one creature.
I can see some penalizing plays coming from it (drop this first turn on the play, opponent drops Jackal Pup and Mardu Woe-Reaper) but maybe that is the worst case scenario. If you drop this in early turns, it does give your opponent strong options to plan how to sequence their plays though.
The discussion around Night's Whisper and friends got me thinking that I'd enjoy more black card draw on creatures:
Black gate Oracle 1B
When ~enters the battlefield, look at the top two cards of your library. Put one of them into your hand and one of them into your graveyard. You loose two life.
2/1
Visionary of Deep Shadow 1B
When ~enters the battlefield or leaves the battlefield, draw a card and lose one life.
1/1
This last one is too wordy, and would probably end up as rare.. but something along these lines:
One-shot Scry-bob 1B
When ~ enters the battlefield, look at the top two cards of your library. Put any number of these cards into your graveyard, and the rest on top of your library in any order.
Then reveal the top card of your library and put it into your hand. You lose life equal to its converted mana cost.
2/1
Black-Gate Oracle is the nuts high. It's like Night's Whisper but one of your draws is a 2/1 that you get to put into play for free. And it gives you an opportunity to dump a reanimator target or something else relevant in your yard. Looks great, but probably too good.
Visionary of Deep Shadow good enough for aggro? It's a pretty awesome speedbump in any control deck.
You could make scry-bob true scry to make it cleaner, unless you are looking for the graveyard interaction.
How about;
Brain Scrape
Cost : B2
As an additional cost to play ~this~, discard a card.
Draw 3 cards and lose 3 life.
Hmm. Original thought was to cost it at B1, but probably better than Night's Whisper the vast majority of the time. Is it worth B2? I'd say so. Get rid of your weakest card, or drop a reanimator target to see 3 new cards seems worth it.
In the same way though, Sea Gate Oracle is a Divination where one of the cards is a free 1/3. But they way you wrote it, it does sound strong.
I like the idea of Brain scrape.
According to Tormenting Voice, discarding a card is equal to a two-life payment when compared to Night's Whisper. And neither of these cards are insanely pushed, so I don't think it is over the top to tack "pay 3 life: Draw a card" onto Tormenting Voice, or "Pay one life: red-loot 1" onto Night's Whisper.
Well, I believe the existence of Phyrexian Rager and Phyrexian Gargantua is a hint that that particular card will not see play. The difference between Naturalize being attached to a body and Night's Whisper being attached to a body also relates to the fact that only the first one is an instant. Thus, limiting the effect to sorcery speed allows leeway in the mana cost of the creature.
I pondered on Brain Scrape after posting, and it is similar to some of blues 'draw 3, discard 1' options with some life payment, so by that comparison it isn't amazing. Not sure how to tweak it. At BB probably still too good.
For black gate oracle:
1 point of toughness and 1 life for: 1 less mana and increased card selection.
For Mystic of Deep Shadow:
1 point of power and toughness for: 1 less mana and and a delayed card for a life.
For Night's Whisperer:
1 point of toughness and 1 life for: 1 extra card.
(As an aside, I don't believe the card draw would not be optional, as it isn't very black)
I don't think that Phyrexian Rager and Night's Whisper represent the upper limit of black card draw. They are both "fine" cards, just like Divination and Naturalize are "fine" cards, and these have had more pushed creature-versions printed.
Divination even has a strictly better version in Mulldrifter, and we just saw the "fine" card Infest receive a strict upgrade. Shouldn't therefore the Night's Whisper-effect also be printable in a slightly more pushed version?
Or am I wrong?
-----
On Brain Scrape: The discard to draw is actually more red than black (Waste Away was the only black spell I found with discard as an additional cost, they do use it to activate abilities on blackcreatures from time to time though). So what about making it cost BR? Obvious comparison would be to Tormenting Voice where you would gain one additional card at the cost of more restrictive mana and three life. Unfortunately, at this point the card is much less desirable as an early game play. So perhaps a more powerful and costlier version at 2BR-4BR? Not sure how to balance the life paid, cards discarded and cards drawn though.
It's interesting that a cheap sorcery speed removal is probably considered too good by modern/future limited designers but not good enough to be played in cube. I like the idea but probably wouldn't play it.
Something I want.
Nantuko/Bloodthrone Bear - 1B
Sacrifice a creature: Nantuko Bear gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
2/2
Nantuko Husk just costs too much and Bloodthrone Vampire is just too small by itself. I could see this card at uncommon.
Was thinking about Feat of Resistance... I know it isn't a card that makes most lists, but it's one I like, and I think the effect would be well used in green. Something like:
Feat of Endurance 1G
Instant
Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature. Regenerate it.
or
Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature. It gains hexproof until end of turn.
I think the land needs the life cost; otherwise it is strictly better than a basic (outside of extremely narrow scenarios where the deck no longer has the relevant basics to search for). But I'd play these for sure.
Azorius Dragon – Flying and hexproof pretty complementary. Add 3 toughness and I expect this guy to be tough to deal with, but certainly not unfair.
Dimir Dragon – This card looks fine. Kills pesky spiders and what not that can block it all day.
Rakdos Dragon – While not the most aggressive stats for Rakdos, I really like the digging ability, particularly to draw into your reach spells and finish off the opponent.
Gruul Dragon – As above, not the most aggressive of stats, but I think the abilities make up for that. Block with your Drake token? Ok, I’ll trample over and then kill your Man-o-War too.
Orzhov Dragon – I feel like this guy needs something else. The combat trigger is almost just an extension of lifelink. Not sure what that something else is though.
Izzet Dragon – It doesn’t seem too powerful, but re-using burn/bounce every turn might be a little unfun to play against.
Simic Dragon – Maybe too good? Gatherer search shows only 1 creature (at any rarity) that has this ability; Mistblade Shinobi. This guy gets flying, reasonable stats, and can flash in end of opponents turn so they can’t plan to block. I think this guy might end up being unfun to play against.
Golgari Dragon – I like this guy. Solid value. Surprisingly this only shows up on 1 existing creature; Woebearer.
Dredge Dragon - Nothing flashy on the front end, but like most good Golgari cards, provides some nice value once he bites the dust.
Aggro Dragon - I feel like this guy is just a smidge too good for his cost, but I don't really know how to evaluate double strike.
Evolve Dragon - I like this ability set. Wondering if it might be undercosted? Doesn't seem particularly unfair thouhg, and take a few turns to get the toughness up to something respectable.
Cost : 3R
1/1
R, t : Deal damage equal to ~this~ power to another target creature or player.
Undying
Don't recall seeing Spikeshot Goblin in any lists. Maybe could be costed 2R or 1RR? I figure it wouldn't be too difficult to get it killed first time around, and being able to deal 2 damage is pretty solid, so didn't want to undercost it.
Oh, and albeit it is situational, there *is* Gloomdrifter. Also, Bloodfire Kavu, to an extent.
I found Subterranean Shambler and Thundercloud Shaman, but they are more Dry Spell than Pyroclasm.
By the way, is there really no spell that just "Deals 1 damage to each creature", beyond P3K's Desert Sandstorm?
Cubetutor Peasant'ish-Funbox
Project: Khans of Tarkir Cube (cubetutor)
THAT I could definitely get into, although it needs to have Goblins and/or Atogs operating a huge vault door in the art.
EDIT: or they could be diving into a pile of gold 'Scrooge McDuck' style (!!!)
I can see some penalizing plays coming from it (drop this first turn on the play, opponent drops Jackal Pup and Mardu Woe-Reaper) but maybe that is the worst case scenario. If you drop this in early turns, it does give your opponent strong options to plan how to sequence their plays though.
Black gate Oracle 1B
When ~enters the battlefield, look at the top two cards of your library. Put one of them into your hand and one of them into your graveyard. You loose two life.
2/1
Visionary of Deep Shadow 1B
When ~enters the battlefield or leaves the battlefield, draw a card and lose one life.
1/1
This last one is too wordy, and would probably end up as rare.. but something along these lines:
One-shot Scry-bob 1B
When ~ enters the battlefield, look at the top two cards of your library. Put any number of these cards into your graveyard, and the rest on top of your library in any order.
Then reveal the top card of your library and put it into your hand. You lose life equal to its converted mana cost.
2/1
Cubetutor Peasant'ish-Funbox
Project: Khans of Tarkir Cube (cubetutor)
Visionary of Deep Shadow good enough for aggro? It's a pretty awesome speedbump in any control deck.
You could make scry-bob true scry to make it cleaner, unless you are looking for the graveyard interaction.
How about;
Brain Scrape
Cost : B2
As an additional cost to play ~this~, discard a card.
Draw 3 cards and lose 3 life.
Hmm. Original thought was to cost it at B1, but probably better than Night's Whisper the vast majority of the time. Is it worth B2? I'd say so. Get rid of your weakest card, or drop a reanimator target to see 3 new cards seems worth it.
I like the idea of Brain scrape.
According to Tormenting Voice, discarding a card is equal to a two-life payment when compared to Night's Whisper. And neither of these cards are insanely pushed, so I don't think it is over the top to tack "pay 3 life: Draw a card" onto Tormenting Voice, or "Pay one life: red-loot 1" onto Night's Whisper.
Cubetutor Peasant'ish-Funbox
Project: Khans of Tarkir Cube (cubetutor)
EG:
When Night Whisperer enters the battlefield you may draw two cards, if you do you loose 2 life.
2/1
I don't think it's unreasonable that black could get a creature version of Night's Whisper to mirror Blue's creature version of Divination.
Comparing to Phyrexian Rager, you are trading:
For black gate oracle:
1 point of toughness and 1 life for: 1 less mana and increased card selection.
For Mystic of Deep Shadow:
1 point of power and toughness for: 1 less mana and and a delayed card for a life.
For Night's Whisperer:
1 point of toughness and 1 life for: 1 extra card.
(As an aside, I don't believe the card draw would not be optional, as it isn't very black)
I don't think that Phyrexian Rager and Night's Whisper represent the upper limit of black card draw. They are both "fine" cards, just like Divination and Naturalize are "fine" cards, and these have had more pushed creature-versions printed.
Divination even has a strictly better version in Mulldrifter, and we just saw the "fine" card Infest receive a strict upgrade. Shouldn't therefore the Night's Whisper-effect also be printable in a slightly more pushed version?
Or am I wrong?
-----
On Brain Scrape: The discard to draw is actually more red than black (Waste Away was the only black spell I found with discard as an additional cost, they do use it to activate abilities on black creatures from time to time though). So what about making it cost BR? Obvious comparison would be to Tormenting Voice where you would gain one additional card at the cost of more restrictive mana and three life. Unfortunately, at this point the card is much less desirable as an early game play. So perhaps a more powerful and costlier version at 2BR-4BR? Not sure how to balance the life paid, cards discarded and cards drawn though.
Cubetutor Peasant'ish-Funbox
Project: Khans of Tarkir Cube (cubetutor)
1B - Removal Spell
Sorcery, Destroy target Creature
Or if that won't work, BB then
[Discard Spell Name]
B
Sorcery
Target opponent discards a card. If a land card is discarded in this way, that player loses 2 life.
Blood Insight
BB
Sorcery
Target player discards two cards and gains 2 life.
'Please, take your mind off your troubles.' - Liliana Vess
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/peasantsnowcube
-- Updated with Outlaws of Thunder Junction
The PioneWer Peasant CUbe
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/pionewer
-- Updated with Murders at Karlov Manor
Something I want.
Nantuko/Bloodthrone Bear - 1B
Sacrifice a creature: Nantuko Bear gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
2/2
Nantuko Husk just costs too much and Bloodthrone Vampire is just too small by itself. I could see this card at uncommon.
My 540 CU/be thread
Feat of Endurance
1G
Instant
Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature. Regenerate it.
or
Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature. It gains hexproof until end of turn.
My cube discussion thread
what's wrong with wrench mind?
I can't run two of them.
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/peasantsnowcube
-- Updated with Outlaws of Thunder Junction
The PioneWer Peasant CUbe
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/pionewer
-- Updated with Murders at Karlov Manor