The biggest problem with red midrange is that in general red creatures are worst than other colors to make up for the fact that red has burn that can be thrown at the opponents face. This is why white gets Dauntless Bodyguard while red gets Scorch Spitter for example.
And then burn in general will just be less powerful in a midrange deck than it is in an aggro deck, because being able to go face is less impactful (it's still good to have). There just unfortunately aren't many incentives to play red midrange instead of red aggro or red control where you focus on just killing creatures exclusively.
However, one card that hasn't been mentioned is the cascade version of Garbage Elemental, that is very powerful in a red midrange deck.
You're not playing red midranged for the creatures, you're playing it for the spells. There are definitely some really good red midranged creatures, but there's not really a reason to go out of your way to add mediocre midranged stuff when the other colour you're playing will have better options.
Okay so there is RW tokens, RU Spells, RB aggro, RG? atm. Basically, without the beefier creatures, I can't really make Red-green work, There is a +1/+1 counter theme that is strong in RG but it is definitely Gr or even Gur.
The problem with those removal spells is that they are hard to justify over their 1 mana counterparts, why not just have more 1 mana spells that do the same thing instead of a 3 mana shock?
I have pyroclasm but for most Red decks it kills all their creatures which is why I am kind of looking for 3 toughness creatures so I can add more of the clasm effects.
I don't play silver-bordered or cards from commander sets or any of the non-modern bonus sets.
I think Reckless racer is my favourite but I will also look into that alpine guide as an option since its effect is unique. 3 toughness advantage effects ticking both boxes for a 3 mana midrange card.
Today I realized that the new Drannith Stinger could be a good midrange red 2 drop. Fine as a turn to play to either put a little bit or pressure on or trade off, and then when you draw it later in the game you can cycle it away, and because your midrange, your average card quality will be stronger than an aggro deck, so the cycle will on average be more valuable.
I am, but I also didn't realize we had access to Meteor Blast. CCC isn't great, but not as bad as I thought: with 6 lands you're 90% with 10 sources, 82% with 9, which is pretty reasonable.
But you can cast Shower on five and kill three creatures which can make a big difference against an aggro deck.
I think both of them have merrits and I wouldn't call Shower of Coals obsolete because of Meteor Blast.
Yeah I prefer Shower of Coals, because triple red is really steep for an effect that you really need to be able to cast at the right time. And yeah being able to kill 3 creatures on turn 5 is also a pretty big difference maker against aggro.
I also prefer Shower of Coals for the reasons already stated. I also run Slice and Dice and Rolling Thunder both over Meteor Blast as "mass removal" in red.
I think Meteor Blast Is the superior card and I rarely have trouble casting it. 4 damage kills a lot of things. I do run a ~540 card cube though, and I don’t run commons, so I have plenty of room for both.
When I see Healing Salve, I'm often like "Oh girl, I wish I could turn every card into this." Thanks they removed the gain life part, otherwise this would have been broken.
I run Flamebreak because the art is ******* metal and I found it in a foil binder for a dollar or two. It's a rare I guess but it's in the same vein of cards as Shower of Coals or Meteor Blast.
None of those three is legal in my modern peasant cube, unfortunately. I think the second of the effect I want it would have to whipflare. I can't use the non-flying ones because there is a lot of flying tokens a deck I want to clean up, which is how I came to choose Dagger caster in the first place as a warth effect.
Tangentially related to Peasant Cube since Bazaar of Baghdad is legal in our format even if no one plays it because of its price and niche application but...
Today, I encountered someone who genuinely called Bazaar of Baghdad 'the worst land in MtG' and thought it was only *any* good because of Dredge. They doubled down on this even after I linked Sorrow's Path.
Earlier the same day, another hot take by the same person had been that colourless does everything that white does better than white.
It was on Discord but yes, I also considered the possibility it might be the same person.
I don't use discord, it's not me.
I play with Bazaar anyways. I paid $2-$3 for one a few months ago. It is good with graveyard stuff and in a pinch you can use it as a crummy cantrip. I imagine it's also good with the "Owling Mine" combo I support in my cube since you'll have a bunch of extra cards in hand to pitch to it. It also has nice art, from before 2008~ when the cards looked nice and weren't 99% generic garbage, 1% Seb McKinnon.
Also, in my cube I purposefully keep my white section's power level low so I can run a bunch of Crusade/Honor of the Pure effects so Imaginary Friends is playable. I think Banding is the quintessential white ability. I don't have a problem with white's power level.
Unfortunately there is so much multicolor that the packs are almost dead after 7-8 picks and only 3+ color good stuff decks are viable...
Agreed. There are a lot of questionable cards that could easily be swapped for something better. This list feels like a someone's first peasant list with not much work put into trying to develop themes or archetypes. It's the kind of cube someone posts here or on Reddit and gets lists of recommended swaps to help fill it out and make it more cohesive. Also, there's a metric ton of multicolor cards, but not really a multicolor theme, so it feels like he just likes gold cards and wanted to include a bunch.
It's unfortunate because peasant cube is kind of what showed me that cube doesn't have to always be about big flashy plays and can be just a really fun custom limited environment using some of the limited all stars you've loved from the past. It'd be nice to be able to convey that to the masses. I have seen a few streamers open things like Ridgescale Tusker and be like, "Wow, remember this guy? He's a house!" That's the type of feelings I want my peasant cubers to have when they draft my own peasant list, and I think there's just too much chaff in the list on MTGO to fully replicate that.
And then burn in general will just be less powerful in a midrange deck than it is in an aggro deck, because being able to go face is less impactful (it's still good to have). There just unfortunately aren't many incentives to play red midrange instead of red aggro or red control where you focus on just killing creatures exclusively.
However, one card that hasn't been mentioned is the cascade version of Garbage Elemental, that is very powerful in a red midrange deck.
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/djredpeasant
In midranged you can actually play all the higher cost red removal (Arc Lightning, Staggershock, Super-Duper Death Ray (or the black border version), Firebolt, Burst Lightning kicker, Shower of Coals, Savage Alliance, etc.) without it being questionable with your curve. You also get access to Frenzied Fugue and Lust for War, both of which play well in midranged since you're still going to have more aggressive pressure than any non-aggro deck. Pyroclasm is another notable card that you get access to.
I've also been using the battle cry version of Garbage Elemental and setting the amount of tokens it gives to 2 (iirc it gives 1.96 on average).
The problem with those removal spells is that they are hard to justify over their 1 mana counterparts, why not just have more 1 mana spells that do the same thing instead of a 3 mana shock?
I have pyroclasm but for most Red decks it kills all their creatures which is why I am kind of looking for 3 toughness creatures so I can add more of the clasm effects.
I don't play silver-bordered or cards from commander sets or any of the non-modern bonus sets.
I think Reckless racer is my favourite but I will also look into that alpine guide as an option since its effect is unique. 3 toughness advantage effects ticking both boxes for a 3 mana midrange card.
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/djredpeasant
In my mind that's mostly obsoleted by Meteor Blast
I think both of them have merrits and I wouldn't call Shower of Coals obsolete because of Meteor Blast.
My C/Ube on Cube Cobra
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/djredpeasant
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
Follow me. I tweet.
_____________________________________________________________________________
I'm thinking of adding some custom cards to my cube. Looking to get some thoughts on them.
Ignoring what Magic players say isn't the answer, it's listening to what they have to say and doing the exact opposite that's correct.
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
Today, I encountered someone who genuinely called Bazaar of Baghdad 'the worst land in MtG' and thought it was only *any* good because of Dredge. They doubled down on this even after I linked Sorrow's Path.
Earlier the same day, another hot take by the same person had been that colourless does everything that white does better than white.
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.
I don't use discord, it's not me.
I play with Bazaar anyways. I paid $2-$3 for one a few months ago. It is good with graveyard stuff and in a pinch you can use it as a crummy cantrip. I imagine it's also good with the "Owling Mine" combo I support in my cube since you'll have a bunch of extra cards in hand to pitch to it. It also has nice art, from before 2008~ when the cards looked nice and weren't 99% generic garbage, 1% Seb McKinnon.
Also, in my cube I purposefully keep my white section's power level low so I can run a bunch of Crusade/Honor of the Pure effects so Imaginary Friends is playable. I think Banding is the quintessential white ability. I don't have a problem with white's power level.
Ignoring what Magic players say isn't the answer, it's listening to what they have to say and doing the exact opposite that's correct.
https://scryfall.com/sets/sld?order=spoiled
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.
Cubetutor Peasant'ish-Funbox
Project: Khans of Tarkir Cube (cubetutor)
I kind of want the the bird ones just because they are beautiful.
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.
The FNM style promos never really did much for me
Unfortunately there is so much multicolor that the packs are almost dead after 7-8 picks and only 3+ color good stuff decks are viable...
My Peasant Cube: @ mtgsalvation---- @ cubecobra
Agreed. There are a lot of questionable cards that could easily be swapped for something better. This list feels like a someone's first peasant list with not much work put into trying to develop themes or archetypes. It's the kind of cube someone posts here or on Reddit and gets lists of recommended swaps to help fill it out and make it more cohesive. Also, there's a metric ton of multicolor cards, but not really a multicolor theme, so it feels like he just likes gold cards and wanted to include a bunch.
It's unfortunate because peasant cube is kind of what showed me that cube doesn't have to always be about big flashy plays and can be just a really fun custom limited environment using some of the limited all stars you've loved from the past. It'd be nice to be able to convey that to the masses. I have seen a few streamers open things like Ridgescale Tusker and be like, "Wow, remember this guy? He's a house!" That's the type of feelings I want my peasant cubers to have when they draft my own peasant list, and I think there's just too much chaff in the list on MTGO to fully replicate that.
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
Follow me. I tweet.