Morbid and hexproof does seem hard to squeeze into common.
I really want to include Maul Splicer in my cube for the potential ETB fun, but I can't bring myself to drop anything at 7 CMC for it. I think it is my own bias of wanting something huge when I spend 7 mana.
How do people feel about Spidersilk Armor? I like it for the support it gives token decks with the +1 toughness, but does it hose flying decks too much? I generally try and avoid cards that completely ruin an archetype present in the cube. Another example is Night Soil, it's great if you have it in your graveyard deck, but if an opponent gets it you are screwed.
I guess I've been looking at it in the situations where it shines rather than the situations where it has almost no impact. It is handy vs burn or flyer heavy decks and that is about it. I definitely want to avoid sideboard only cards in my cube.
i tried the red one for a while but there were no archetypes interested in this kind of effect. most of the time you dont want to wipe your own board or youre in a situation were you dont have enough red cards in your hand. with the recent printings of divideable burn id play one of them.
The others are even worse, but i can see the blue one having an interesing mind game effect.
The white one was part of a few incredibly frustrating decks some years ago in T2. Not really a "fun cube card". More like a "good on turn 1 only to gain a bucket of life" card.
The potential to deal 2-3 damage to each creature without flying for 2R (or at any mana cost, really) is noteworthy, and it's reusable with creature recursion.
I ended up getting rid of it for not being reliable enough, because it requires you to draw 2+ other red cards. It's rare for a deck that would want a sweeper to have red as its main color.
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What do you folks think about Gatstaf Arsonists? Has anyone seen it in action? Do flip cards typically play better in control decks? What kind of cubes favour these sort of cards? I want to include some in my cube but have never really played with them. I've been in and out of Magic since 1996.
The vanilla check makes it perfectly acceptable, but unexciting compared to something like a Cinder Hellion. Often people prefer hasted creatures in their cube's 5 mana slot, like Thundering Giant or Flurry of Horns; although I like to include one card that fits more into a midrange deck not so obsessed with running your opponent over as soon as possible. Once the card is flipped it becomes amazing value with a form of evasion that will be better than trample in some instances and worse in others. At the top of the curve in a typical deck there is a good chance that letting this flip isn't a big deal as you or your opponent might only be holding onto a card or two that you don't really want to cast anyway. This seems to make the transformation a lot less of a negative compared to similar cards earlier in the curve.
Edit: It's also interesting to see Red getting acceptable creatures in common these days. With all their anti-blocking abilities it seems you don't have to let the burn side of things do all the heavy lifting to allow your crumby creatures through to do damage.
I consider them staple because the front side is already the best 5-drop we currently have. I used to run Fire Elemental for a while because red was lacking big finisher. The 5 power are crucual, because they finish a turn faster and trade with the x/5s.
In my experiences with Villagers of Estwald that they work in all kind of decks, because a 4/6 on turn 4 can be problematic on offense and on defense. Control and tempo often have the option skip a turn or to cast it spells on the opponents turn (which might reflip it though) and aggro loses steam so they flip naturally.
Red always got nice aggrocreatures, but lately wotc filled the missing fatties in red, black and blue. Only white is missing one for a reasonable manacost.
Yesterday I drafted Calcite Snapper and was a little disapointed, seemed like its stats where underwhelming for the actual powerlevel of my cube. Anyone had the same experience?
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My 490 Pauper Cube
Modern frame only- Common on paper only - no functional copies, no strictly-betters - no subtype-matters
Calcite Snapper is not an exciting card. He simply does his job extremely well, which is block up the board. The only way to get rid of him is with a combat trick or deathtouch. He is also versatile enough to be able to swing for 4 when your opponent has no blockers. He is about as exciting as a big early defensive creature is going to get.
At first glance Byway Courier and Expose Evil seem the most interesting to me. This is simply because there are so few card draw options available in those colours at common. Byway Courier also has to die which limits ETB chicanery. Blue has a few more investigate cards, but there are better options in blue if drawing cards is what you're after. Expose Evil seems pretty solid for aggro decks. Tap a couple of blockers and you can crack a clue and get another threat out.
Thraben Inspector doesn't seem that exciting on its own. Three mana to draw a card and get a 1/2 creature is mighty meh. I don't follow constructed play, however it might be getting used there as a cheap way of building clue tokens early for a later payoff. In pauper it could be a solid creature to sacrifice. You've got a card in the bank when you need it and can happily sacrifice the Thraben Inspector to Angelic Purge type cards. It also provides an early block that can still kill a lot of two drops in most cubes. Importantly, you also get the clue token when it enters the battlefield which allows you to get some real value out of the card with a lot of white's creatures and instants that temporarily exile creatures or return them to your hand.
Press for Answers seems like a weaker version of Frost Lynx or Stitched Mangler in most situations. If you are building a deck that loves instants and sorcery spells it may definitely be the better option. Most cubes would favour the creature versions of the card because it will allow more interaction with many of the other cards in the cube.
I also think Byway Courier and Thraben Inspector are the best of the clue-producing commons. Courier did a very good job for me in SOI limited and Inspector is just value. The fact, that you can spare the card draw until you need it makes it way better than a 3 mana 1/2. It just didn't make it to my cube, because I didn't want to have too much one-drops in white. Press for Answers is killed for me by the fact, that it's a sorcery.
Yeah no. The uncommons that are legal for the pauper format on modo shouldn't be in pauper cubes. I ran them and have since cut them, not because they're bad or because they're oppressive, but they aren't true commons.
T2 powpercube Value https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/37t
I really want to include Maul Splicer in my cube for the potential ETB fun, but I can't bring myself to drop anything at 7 CMC for it. I think it is my own bias of wanting something huge when I spend 7 mana.
My singleton Masters Cube
I know it's all too narrow, but there are a lot of first-strike-granting buffs that are kind of hilarious on sacred wolf, conifer strider or whirlwind adept
Imagine if someone played a conifer strider against you and then followed up with asha's favor. I'd just have to laugh.
Lots of people do already run ethereal armor or hyena umbra though...
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Click here and check out my Formerly Pauper Cube.
check out my EDH and Pauper EDH decks here
http://www.cubetutor.com/cubeblog/47487
My 360 Pauper Cube
CubeTutor
My 360 Core Set Cube
CubeTutor
My singleton Masters Cube
T2 powpercube Value https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/37t
My singleton Masters Cube
i tried the red one for a while but there were no archetypes interested in this kind of effect. most of the time you dont want to wipe your own board or youre in a situation were you dont have enough red cards in your hand. with the recent printings of divideable burn id play one of them.
The others are even worse, but i can see the blue one having an interesing mind game effect.
T2 powpercube Value https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/37t
I ended up getting rid of it for not being reliable enough, because it requires you to draw 2+ other red cards. It's rare for a deck that would want a sweeper to have red as its main color.
Knowledge is power, money is power, time is money, you are actually gaining time by reading my posts
Click here and check out my Formerly Pauper Cube.
check out my EDH and Pauper EDH decks here
The vanilla check makes it perfectly acceptable, but unexciting compared to something like a Cinder Hellion. Often people prefer hasted creatures in their cube's 5 mana slot, like Thundering Giant or Flurry of Horns; although I like to include one card that fits more into a midrange deck not so obsessed with running your opponent over as soon as possible. Once the card is flipped it becomes amazing value with a form of evasion that will be better than trample in some instances and worse in others. At the top of the curve in a typical deck there is a good chance that letting this flip isn't a big deal as you or your opponent might only be holding onto a card or two that you don't really want to cast anyway. This seems to make the transformation a lot less of a negative compared to similar cards earlier in the curve.
Edit: It's also interesting to see Red getting acceptable creatures in common these days. With all their anti-blocking abilities it seems you don't have to let the burn side of things do all the heavy lifting to allow your crumby creatures through to do damage.
My singleton Masters Cube
In my experiences with Villagers of Estwald that they work in all kind of decks, because a 4/6 on turn 4 can be problematic on offense and on defense. Control and tempo often have the option skip a turn or to cast it spells on the opponents turn (which might reflip it though) and aggro loses steam so they flip naturally.
Red always got nice aggrocreatures, but lately wotc filled the missing fatties in red, black and blue. Only white is missing one for a reasonable manacost.
T2 powpercube Value https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/37t
My 490 Pauper Cube
Modern frame only- Common on paper only - no functional copies, no strictly-betters - no subtype-matters
Or are you interested in a Fiora flavor cube? Conspire and win!
Level 2 Judge
My singleton Masters Cube
T2 powpercube Value https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/37t
Thraben Inspector doesn't seem that exciting on its own. Three mana to draw a card and get a 1/2 creature is mighty meh. I don't follow constructed play, however it might be getting used there as a cheap way of building clue tokens early for a later payoff. In pauper it could be a solid creature to sacrifice. You've got a card in the bank when you need it and can happily sacrifice the Thraben Inspector to Angelic Purge type cards. It also provides an early block that can still kill a lot of two drops in most cubes. Importantly, you also get the clue token when it enters the battlefield which allows you to get some real value out of the card with a lot of white's creatures and instants that temporarily exile creatures or return them to your hand.
Press for Answers seems like a weaker version of Frost Lynx or Stitched Mangler in most situations. If you are building a deck that loves instants and sorcery spells it may definitely be the better option. Most cubes would favour the creature versions of the card because it will allow more interaction with many of the other cards in the cube.
My singleton Masters Cube
Press for Answers is killed for me by the fact, that it's a sorcery.
Or are you interested in a Fiora flavor cube? Conspire and win!
Level 2 Judge
Or are you interested in a Fiora flavor cube? Conspire and win!
Level 2 Judge
My 490 Pauper Cube
Modern frame only- Common on paper only - no functional copies, no strictly-betters - no subtype-matters
My singleton Masters Cube
Or are you interested in a Fiora flavor cube? Conspire and win!
Level 2 Judge
My 360 Pauper Cube
CubeTutor
My 360 Core Set Cube
CubeTutor