Mardu Heart-Piercer would be fine without the restriction of needing raid. Of course, raid is made active quite easily but it still keeps the card off my radar for the most part. The fact that it can hit players is what makes it worth considering.
Bloodfire Enforcers is a card I think is worth considering if spells matter is supported because turning it on is hardly a task. In particular, phyrexian mana spells like Gitaxian Probe make it relatively trivial. However, this does not change the fact that the card is not completely trivially easy to turn playable. I really like it as an idea but most people here find it to be a trap, I think. It also dies to basically everything.
Terra Ravager is very much chump-blockable and against more aggressive decks, it is not even particularly effective. The fact that it is even worse on defense is the last strike against it although it may seem good enough at first look. However, I think Majikian had it in at one point and thus he should be able to provide a better supported argument for or against its inclusion.
The problem with Mindclaw Shaman is that basically none of Peasant level sorceries or instants are worth his combination of high mana cost and meager body. Also, they form a relatively small proportion of most limited decks, making the card particularly unreliable. A complete dud in Peasant, I would say.
I've enjoyed Phyrexian Warbeast in aggro decks with tight curves, with a few curve toppers at 4. That type of deck can usually shrug off that drawback in the face of removal, and I think the extra point of toughness is relevant. But Cathodian is playable in more decks.
So I"m on my third brew (Sculpin by Ballast Point if you're interested) and I might have tinted sunglasses but "clash" works like "scry" right?
I'm very interested in Lash Out, Research the Deep, Pollen Lullaby/Redeem the Lost. So for instance with Research the Deep, it's kinda like Draw 1, Scry 1 (with the added caveat that before you scry, if you have a higher CC card than your opponent you get to return RtD back to your hand). Am I totally missing value these cards?
Research the Deep is giving me feelings I never thought I could have for such an awful card. I need to test it. I won't actually, but I really do feel the urge.
It says "Draw one, each player scrys 1" and 1/3d or so of the time you get to do it later. Lash out is playable because 3 damage for 2 mana with "upside" is not a bad deal.
For such a small cube, I'd actually prefer path, because while I will play swords in my aggro decks I feel slightly bad about it. Path is also a slightly skill-test-y card.
Yeah, of those cards, only Lash Out seems interesting enough... But it might indeed be interesting enough because I do not play the other cards which hit both a creature and a player (Searing Blaze and Searing Blood) due to limitations on mono-color CC cards. If Research the Deep was an instant, it might be worth considering.
To the best of my knowledge, the reason why many of us don't run too many CC cards is because they're hard to play on turn two. If you're aggro, you shouldn't really be worried about playing searing something on 2 so it shouldn't be a real problem
Searing Blood has been amazing for me. I really enjoy how the aggro decks can wheel a burn spell once in a while instead of the R/x control deck just snatching them all.
Thank you all for the honest observations. I think I'm going to put in Lash Out (for Arc Trail) and keep an eye on the other ones and see if they gain any traction at a later date.
I added it in a recent update to my cube, but haven't gotten to draft with it irl since adding it.
I have however gotten it in a few draft simulations (both with others and with bots) on both tappedout.net and cubetutor.com, and it looks to play a solid role in the various W/x token strategies in my cube. If you can have a solid curve, you can have anywhere from 3-6 dudes on the board (dpending on what token makers you've cast) by the time you cast this on 4, which can close out a game considering you get to untap on five, rebound this, and smash in again with mana to either remove blockers, push through damage, or reset your board if most things traded.
Even if you cast it later in the game, it can tip a board stall in your favor and finish off the game.
The "issue" with this card is that it isn't instant speed like inspired charge or guardians' pledge, and thus they see it coming before deciding what to block, so you can't blow them out when they declare no blocks, but I think the rebound makes this a playable card in dedicated token or "go wide" strategies.
The Scarecrow has played solidly for me since I added it a few months ago. The drawback is relevant less than a quarter of the time, and when it sticks on-curve it's a huge beater.
I haven't touched my Peasant Cube in about a year, and coming back to it and trying to more strictly define some of the archetypes that are draftable in my cube. The two color pairs I am having the most trouble with are RW and GW.
For Boros, I had always thought of them as pure aggro, but honestly, I've tried drafting Boros aggro in my cube before and white usually brought very little to the table. Red-White aggro decks just didn't stack up to Red-Black or Red-Green aggro in terms of pure power, so I want to spice up RW a little bit, and I have two thoughts.
-One is to push the "Can't Block" theme heavily. The cube already has cards like Firefist Striker and Fervent Cathar, but I was thinking of adding cards like Niblis of the Urn, Master of Diversion, and Elite Scaleguard to make it harder to block the RW decks. The idea is that maybe the pure power of the creatures will be weaker, but between burn spells and tappers, they will definitely be connecting.
-The other is to follow the example of MMA2 and make Double Strike a theme. I could add cards like Boros Swiftblade, Fencing Ace, and Hearthfire Hobgoblin, and maybe add a few more equipment or pump spells to make this deck viable. I'm worried that this deck will struggle since the cube is pretty high on removal, and it will go through effort to pump their double-strikers just to have them removed.
For Selesnya, there is definitely a tokens deck in place (though WB tokens is also a thing and I'm not sure which is more viable). I run Enlisted Wurm and Trostani's Summoner in my cube, but I'm not sure these actually belong in GW decks. Looking the the cube, my guess is that the deck that wants these cards is a GU or GB ramp deck that splashes white for these bombs, and that seems bad, since I want the multicolor cards to define the archetypes. I was thinking of adding Juniper Order Ranger and trying to add a GW +1/+1 counter deck. JOR is fine in a tokens deck, but along with enablers like Cytoplast Root-Kin, Abzan Falconer, and Abzan Battle-Priest I could imagine a +1/+1 counter deck being draftable. Feat of Resistance, Otherworldly Journey and Travel Preparations seem like good ways to spread some counters.
I guess I'm not really sure if these archetypes will be powerful enough to draft in a Peasant Cube, so I wanted to ask if anyone has any experience with them. As is, I see very little incentive to draft these two color combinations in my cube, which seems bad to me. Any thoughts?
Oh, and has anyone tried the card Skywise Teachings? It seems worse without the rebound support like in Dragons, but I could see a deck filled with Ponder, Preordain, and lots of removal just loving this card. I think I may try it. If nothing else it seems fun to build around.
I did a two-man draft a couple of weeks ago, and drafted Boros aggro, and my opponent drafted green ramp. I assumed I was going to blitz him before he could get online, but he beat me three games straight because I ran out of steam as soon as he stuck something with decent toughness. I drafted Boros aggro again last week and fared much better, because I focused more on the 'board disruption' cards like Azorius Arrester.
If your removal is really strong, I'd be careful about double-strike as a theme. You would want to reduce the chance of getting 2 for 1. In a removal heavy environment, you want on board options like Stonewright or dudes with battlecry like Accorder Paladin.
Skywise Teachings looks like a fun card to me, but the general consensus here is that it is too expensive compared to other options in the 'spells matter' decks.
4 mana get nothing. Six mana get a 2/2 flier. 8 and two other spells later mana get a talrand's invocation.
You need to cast 3 other noncreature spells and have 1U leftover to spend each of those times for it to be good. Doesn't work.
I'm in the process of giving my cube a big overhaul, getting rid of janky cards, filling in some obvious gaps, and reinforcing archetypes. I don't play Magic outside of my cube, so I'm going to have order a bunch of cards and wanted to get some feedback before I do.
If anyone is interested in taking a look, I've tagged the cards I'm intending to remove, and those I'm thinking of adding. It's not my intention to take over this thread; if you want to provide any feedback, you can do it in my thread here which includfes the archetypes I'm trying to support. My list on cubetutor is here, noting that there are currently more cards that I want to add than remove. Particularly need to make some cuts in the multi-colour cards.
I also added a bunch of red/white team pumps as I couldn't choose, so a few of those can go.
I dunno, it has the most powerful rules text word in Magic on the card (may). You can drop it turn 2 in preparation for your bombs and ignore the chaff triggers until you need it. Actually a pretty interesting card, might have to look into that.
Also looking at a few people's cubes, I notice alot of you run Unsummon over Vapor Snag. What's the general consensus between the two cards? I prefer Vapor Snag because it is a double edged blade of a card- more effective when used on an opponent's creature but makes you pay harder to bounce/protect/recur your own.
Unless you're recurring your own guy over half the time, the choice should be easy. I've often half considered vapor snag and the card does a job fairly well. Wouldn't be surprised to see it run occasionally.
Angelic renewal can be quite good. And it's a perfectly fine turn 2 play sometimes, especially if you have some absurd followups, like kitchen finks for 8 life and 4 bodies total over time or mulldrifter for exceeding the hand size limit. It's just spotty and bad when you're very late in the game/need an actual body now.
Does anyone have any experience with Fool's Demise? It seems pretty slow but also looks to give a lot of advantage over time, so I was wondering if it would work in a control build in cube.
Far too slow for me, but if your cube is getting into frequent grindfests or removal heavy matches that drag on, it could be an ace in the hole. Slowly. Really slowly.
Sometimes, though, you just don't have a decent way to get your opponent's guy to die easily.
I'm in the process of giving my cube a big overhaul, getting rid of janky cards, filling in some obvious gaps, and reinforcing archetypes. I don't play Magic outside of my cube, so I'm going to have order a bunch of cards and wanted to get some feedback before I do.
If anyone is interested in taking a look, I've tagged the cards I'm intending to remove, and those I'm thinking of adding.
I see you're removing cryptic annelid. Was the scry often not good enough to offset his power poor P/T?
EDIT: Thanks Leelue for the feedback. I'm still in the process of building the cube, so unfortunately I don't know how grindy it will be yet. I think I'll leave it out for now.
I know it's great, but I'm not sure I want to give white two 1-mana removal spells that can target virtually anything in the cube, and I already have Swords to Plowshares in my collection and would need to order Path. I could be convinced otherwise though, either that I should include both, or swap Path for Swords.
Bloodfire Enforcers is a card I think is worth considering if spells matter is supported because turning it on is hardly a task. In particular, phyrexian mana spells like Gitaxian Probe make it relatively trivial. However, this does not change the fact that the card is not completely trivially easy to turn playable. I really like it as an idea but most people here find it to be a trap, I think. It also dies to basically everything.
Terra Ravager is very much chump-blockable and against more aggressive decks, it is not even particularly effective. The fact that it is even worse on defense is the last strike against it although it may seem good enough at first look. However, I think Majikian had it in at one point and thus he should be able to provide a better supported argument for or against its inclusion.
The problem with Mindclaw Shaman is that basically none of Peasant level sorceries or instants are worth his combination of high mana cost and meager body. Also, they form a relatively small proportion of most limited decks, making the card particularly unreliable. A complete dud in Peasant, I would say.
I'm very interested in Lash Out, Research the Deep, Pollen Lullaby/Redeem the Lost. So for instance with Research the Deep, it's kinda like Draw 1, Scry 1 (with the added caveat that before you scry, if you have a higher CC card than your opponent you get to return RtD back to your hand). Am I totally missing value these cards?
Also for a small cube [180 cards] would you rather see Swords to Plowshares or Path to Exile?
Swords to Plowshares, every time.
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.
For such a small cube, I'd actually prefer path, because while I will play swords in my aggro decks I feel slightly bad about it. Path is also a slightly skill-test-y card.
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 !!!
My C/Ube on Cube Cobra
I added it in a recent update to my cube, but haven't gotten to draft with it irl since adding it.
I have however gotten it in a few draft simulations (both with others and with bots) on both tappedout.net and cubetutor.com, and it looks to play a solid role in the various W/x token strategies in my cube. If you can have a solid curve, you can have anywhere from 3-6 dudes on the board (dpending on what token makers you've cast) by the time you cast this on 4, which can close out a game considering you get to untap on five, rebound this, and smash in again with mana to either remove blockers, push through damage, or reset your board if most things traded.
Something as simple as a T3 spectral procession T4 Great teacher's Decree can be enough to finish out the game.
Even if you cast it later in the game, it can tip a board stall in your favor and finish off the game.
The "issue" with this card is that it isn't instant speed like inspired charge or guardians' pledge, and thus they see it coming before deciding what to block, so you can't blow them out when they declare no blocks, but I think the rebound makes this a playable card in dedicated token or "go wide" strategies.
Gathering4Magic Peasant Cube (CubeTutor)
Find me on Twitter: @Gathering4Magic
For Boros, I had always thought of them as pure aggro, but honestly, I've tried drafting Boros aggro in my cube before and white usually brought very little to the table. Red-White aggro decks just didn't stack up to Red-Black or Red-Green aggro in terms of pure power, so I want to spice up RW a little bit, and I have two thoughts.
-One is to push the "Can't Block" theme heavily. The cube already has cards like Firefist Striker and Fervent Cathar, but I was thinking of adding cards like Niblis of the Urn, Master of Diversion, and Elite Scaleguard to make it harder to block the RW decks. The idea is that maybe the pure power of the creatures will be weaker, but between burn spells and tappers, they will definitely be connecting.
-The other is to follow the example of MMA2 and make Double Strike a theme. I could add cards like Boros Swiftblade, Fencing Ace, and Hearthfire Hobgoblin, and maybe add a few more equipment or pump spells to make this deck viable. I'm worried that this deck will struggle since the cube is pretty high on removal, and it will go through effort to pump their double-strikers just to have them removed.
For Selesnya, there is definitely a tokens deck in place (though WB tokens is also a thing and I'm not sure which is more viable). I run Enlisted Wurm and Trostani's Summoner in my cube, but I'm not sure these actually belong in GW decks. Looking the the cube, my guess is that the deck that wants these cards is a GU or GB ramp deck that splashes white for these bombs, and that seems bad, since I want the multicolor cards to define the archetypes. I was thinking of adding Juniper Order Ranger and trying to add a GW +1/+1 counter deck. JOR is fine in a tokens deck, but along with enablers like Cytoplast Root-Kin, Abzan Falconer, and Abzan Battle-Priest I could imagine a +1/+1 counter deck being draftable. Feat of Resistance, Otherworldly Journey and Travel Preparations seem like good ways to spread some counters.
I guess I'm not really sure if these archetypes will be powerful enough to draft in a Peasant Cube, so I wanted to ask if anyone has any experience with them. As is, I see very little incentive to draft these two color combinations in my cube, which seems bad to me. Any thoughts?
My current cube list is here, but I plan on changing a lot so I'm not sure how helpful it will be: http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/the-cube-forum/cube-lists/476933-400-peasant-modern-gm2s-cube-occupy-wall-cube
Oh, and has anyone tried the card Skywise Teachings? It seems worse without the rebound support like in Dragons, but I could see a deck filled with Ponder, Preordain, and lots of removal just loving this card. I think I may try it. If nothing else it seems fun to build around.
If your removal is really strong, I'd be careful about double-strike as a theme. You would want to reduce the chance of getting 2 for 1. In a removal heavy environment, you want on board options like Stonewright or dudes with battlecry like Accorder Paladin.
Skywise Teachings looks like a fun card to me, but the general consensus here is that it is too expensive compared to other options in the 'spells matter' decks.
You need to cast 3 other noncreature spells and have 1U leftover to spend each of those times for it to be good. Doesn't work.
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
If anyone is interested in taking a look, I've tagged the cards I'm intending to remove, and those I'm thinking of adding. It's not my intention to take over this thread; if you want to provide any feedback, you can do it in my thread here which includfes the archetypes I'm trying to support. My list on cubetutor is here, noting that there are currently more cards that I want to add than remove. Particularly need to make some cuts in the multi-colour cards.
I also added a bunch of red/white team pumps as I couldn't choose, so a few of those can go.
Thanks for any advice.
baccus, no love for Path to Exile?
Also looking at a few people's cubes, I notice alot of you run Unsummon over Vapor Snag. What's the general consensus between the two cards? I prefer Vapor Snag because it is a double edged blade of a card- more effective when used on an opponent's creature but makes you pay harder to bounce/protect/recur your own.
Angelic renewal can be quite good. And it's a perfectly fine turn 2 play sometimes, especially if you have some absurd followups, like kitchen finks for 8 life and 4 bodies total over time or mulldrifter for exceeding the hand size limit. It's just spotty and bad when you're very late in the game/need an actual body now.
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
Turn 3: Mulldrifter
Cubetutor Peasant'ish-Funbox
Project: Khans of Tarkir Cube (cubetutor)
Sometimes, though, you just don't have a decent way to get your opponent's guy to die easily.
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 see you're removing cryptic annelid. Was the scry often not good enough to offset his power poor P/T?
EDIT: Thanks Leelue for the feedback. I'm still in the process of building the cube, so unfortunately I don't know how grindy it will be yet. I think I'll leave it out for now.
I know it's great, but I'm not sure I want to give white two 1-mana removal spells that can target virtually anything in the cube, and I already have Swords to Plowshares in my collection and would need to order Path. I could be convinced otherwise though, either that I should include both, or swap Path for Swords.