I don't think you should consider "strictly better" cards when grading. Isn't this about power level in a vacuum, with second consideration given to archetype support?
Sedge Scorpion is definitely better than Ghazban Ogre, for example, and at least worth the same score as Quirion Ranger.
It's an interesting balance to find. Any card (almost) can shine if you put it in the right environment, and you have the opportunity to make whatever environment you want in cube. But I think its fine to regard some strictly worse cards as unplayable, because generally we want the most powerful effect for cost. Usually I'm considering if you would need more redundancy for that type of effect, or the role that you would intend it to play. If a deck is happy to play Sedge Scorpion, there is no reason it doesn't want the upgrade to Wasteland Viper. Do we want another of that effect? Maybe? I'd probably be more inclined to move on to something like Thornweald Archer so there isn't a direct comparison for strictly worse or better. But that is heading more towards cube design than card evaluation.
It's impossible to draw an exact line in the sand. Which is why I enjoy discussing it with you folks, to figure out what level of redundancies or similar cards are considered playable in the wider community before we reach the drop off point in value.
I have been doing that for some cards, mostly in the unplayables section at this point. It probably doesn't come up as much at the 1-mana spot as higher mana costs.
On that basis, should I 'retrieve' Sedge Scorpion and give it a 1 or 0.5?
I think it deserves whatever score was given to Typhoid Rats. The colors are quite different but they both appreciate the effect (green probably a bit more, though) and both also contain strictly better alternatives (Ruthless Ripper and Wasteland Viper, respectively).
I usually give all of the cards in a category a review before I start commenting on them, which I haven't done this time around. So maybe there are some 'strictly' better or other comparable cards I haven't considered for some of these reviews which might need to be updated. Maybe I'm being a bit too generous calling some of these playable?
Abundant Growth - 1.5 Description - It doesn't accelerate, but draws a card. Not a terrible card if you want fixing as opposed to acceleration, though I suspect most cubes prefer to get both out of a single card. Anchors - Supports -
Ancient Stirrings - 1
Description - Finds lands and the occasional artifact / Eldrazi. Caravan Vigil is going to be the better card in vast majority of cubes because it gets you exactly which (basic) land you need. You probably want to upgrade to Mulch, but this does help find early lands at the cheapest cost. Has more value in a cube that has strong artifacts or artifact creatures.
Aspect of Hydra - 1.5 Description - You need to build around it to some degree (by drafting more green), but can be good bang for buck. More effective in green ramp decks that tend to use more creatures that have double green in their cost. Anchors - Supports - Green Ramp
Berserk - 3 Description - Solid in most aggro/midrange decks that are the beatdown to break through and deal that final blow. Can also do work in green ramp, particularly with non-trample guys getting chumped by tokens. It's very situational, but the extra damage you take might be worth using this as removal sometimes. Anchors - Supports -
Burst of Strength - 0.5
Description - Of itself, it can be not only a surprise blocker, but leave behind something stronger. To make it worth it, it really needs to be able get value out of the untap, which is going to be very situational, and the upside is not that high. Maybe suits more combat-heavy cubes, or those with a strong +1/+1 theme going on. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Caravan Vigil - 1.5 Description - Grabs you whatever land you need for only a single mana. You probably want to upgrade to Mulch, but this does help find early lands at the cheapest cost. Morbid is going to hard to trigger in early turns, especially as this is a sorcery, which limits the effectiveness. Later in the game the morbid is easier to trigger, but even if you don't you can probably just play the land from your hand anyway. May get a bit more value if you support Eldrazi spawn-making creatures. Anchors - Supports -
Choking Vines - 1 Description - It might be narrow, but is a way for green to deal instant damage to attackers while potentially preventing some damage. Value increases depending on the number of creatures with 1 toughness in your cube. Anchors - Supports -
Commune With Nature - 2 Description - Played early it can set up your curve, and as a top deck you can go digging for the best creature for the current board state. Occasionally you will whiff, and worth noting there are similar cards that dump the remaining cards in your graveyard if you are pursuing graveyard matters strategies. Anchors - Supports -
Unplayables Animate Land - It can set up a surprise blocker, or a hasty attacker, but is situational and doesn't have enough impact on most games. Autumn's Veil - Far too narrow. Avoid Fate - Not goo enough; Vines of Vastwood strictly better. Battlegrowth - Burst of Strength strictly better. Bequeathal - Unplayable Skullclamp. Blossoming Wreath - Better options like Gnaw to the Bone. Briar Shield - The +1/+1 on its own isn't good enough. And the trouble with the +3/+3 option is that you have already committed it to the creature, so there is no surprise value. Camouflage - Too much text to read, confusing and no skill. Canopy Claws - Bad. Carapace - Bad. Carpet of Flowers - Too narrow. Chatter of the Squirrel - 3 mana to put 2 1/1 tokens onto the battlefield is not a good deal. Cocoon - Bad. Corrosive Gale - While it is ok against decks with lots of flyers, not going to be worth it in general.
Good calls. Avoid Fate looks ok in a vacuum, but the hexproof cards obviously blow it out of the water, forgot about them. Happy to make changes suggested. 0.5 for Burst unless someone wants to give it more of a leg up. I'll further emphasise that it needs a combat heavy cube to be worthwhile.
Corrosive Gale - 1 Description - It's targets are limited so it is pretty situational, but can be used in a pinch if you need to off some fliers. In certain circumstances, against Skies decks for example, can be a blowout, or undo a Lingering Souls. Anchors - Supports -
Earthlore - 0.5 Description - Only works on defense, which limits its usefulness. Can make attacking into a bit more tricky, so only suits defensive control decks. Anchors - Supports - Control
Elephant Grass - 1.5 Description - A poor man's Propaganda… or maybe a fairer one. It's not a lockdown because it will eventually go away, but might be worth it in the midgame to either hold off or minimise your opponents attack for a few turns, or hold off their board development while they attack. Extra hosing on black might turn some cube designers away. Anchors - Supports -
Fog - 0.5 Description - It's the classic Fog effect, but not very good as is; other options like Constant Mists or Momentary Peace are worth paying a higher mana cost. Only for purists or if you need maximum redundancy. Anchors - Supports -
Gaea's Might / Might of Alara - 0.5 Description - Not likely to be better than Giant Growth majority of the time, with more chance for downside. Only if you want to push domain as a thing. Anchors - Domain Supports -
Gather Courage - 1.5 Description - ok as a pump for free. Upside that a creature with summoning sickness can block, and then benefit from this before combat damage is dealt. Mutagenic Growth not strictly better, but probably better in most situations as a free pump spell. Anchors - Supports -
Genju of the Cedars - 3 Description - Solid card, giving you the opportunity to attack with a 4/4 as early as turn 3, while also being very resilient. Playable in a wide variety of decks, though perhaps most at home in green aggro/midrange decks. Anchors - Supports -
Giant Growth - 2 Description - The old standby. ok, but not spectacular. Ideally you want to maintain card parity while impacting the board (changing a trade into a kill), or put the opponents life total within reach. Anchors - Supports -
Unplayables Corrosive Gale - While it's ok against decks with lots of flyers, not going to be worth it in general. If you support a Skies deck, you might include this as a sweeper, but you likely don't want something that is a blowout against another deck you are supporting.
Crop Rotation - Not enough good nonbasics to make this worthwhile, given that it doesn't accelerate you. Crossbow Ambush - Too narrow to be consistent enough. Crumble - Green has better options for artifact removal. Divergent Growth - This is not worth spending a card on. Dryad's Favor - Too narrow. Dwell On The Past - This effect is likely to only matter if you have a graveyard matters theme that likes dumping cards from your library into your graveyard. In which case, you want a version that has flashback. Elven Fortress - Not good enough. Elven Palisade - Too many restrictions to be any good (single land type, only works if you are being attacked). Elvish Fury - If you wait to buy it back, it is probably too late. Emerald Charm - None of the modes do enough. Explosive Growth - Become Immense going to be better most of the time. False Mourning - Card disadvantage not worth it. One more mana for Regrowth. Font of Fertility - Not good enough. Forced Adaptation - Takes too long to matter. Forgotten Lore - Will nearly always cost more than Regrowth etc. to get what you want. Frog Tongue - Even as a cantrip, this is not worth the card. Fruition - Not good enough.
I compared Elven Palisade to Troubled Healer, which was discussed in the general thread. It prevents 3 instead of 2, with downsides of only works for combat, is stumped by hexproof / shroud, and is not a creature. I figure in a longer game, you can get some value out of it.
I'll drop Earthlore and Gaea's Might to 0.5, and change the other Leelue's suggested. I think those cards have a place; a very situational or extremely specific deck you want to push, but a place nonetheless. Maybe there is a strictly better (or better in nearly all situations) for Earthlore?
It only works with forests.
It only works on defense. Troubled Healer is not particularly good either, but at least you have a choice as to which land you use (waste) and can improve your combat when you're attacking into their creatures. It also has a body which is nice. Costing two more mana is a strike against it but I'd never play Palisade over Healer if I were GW and I'd hope to never ever play healer anyway.
Groundswell - 2 Description - In decks that like to be the beatdown, this is likely to be better than Giant Growth more often than not, and you'll usually know when the +2/+2 will be sufficient for the situation anyway. Still playable in a deck that intends to go long, but a little less good on the defense. Anchors - Supports -
Hunger of the Howlpack - 1.5 Description - Without morbid, it isn't very good. But giving something +3/+3 permanently is good upside. Still situational due to the morbid trigger, sometimes preventing the opportunity to boost mid-combat, but can be cast after a trade or block. Sometimes your opponent will answer it before you get any benefit, but if they can't you have a creature that should hit pretty hard.
Anchors -
Supports -
Hurricane - 2 Description - The biggest effect that matters here is the damage to each player, giving green some reach. Flyers is greens weakness, but not hitting ground creatures makes it less desirable. Anchors - Supports -
Keen Sense - 1 Description - Works well on pingers or evasive creatures. Suffers from aura 2 for 1 problem; has strong upside but harder to trigger with base green, as green has less evasion than most other colours. Anchors - Supports -
Mutagenic Growth - 3 Description - Having the opportunity to pay 0 mana makes this a card to respect. Allows winning a combat out of nowhere, or sealing the deal on a game when an opponent would otherwise be able to alpha strike back. The surprise factor is usually worth giving up that extra point of damage compared to Giant Growth. Anchors - Supports -
Nature's Claim - 1.5 Description - Cheap, instant, and uncondtional removal and hits both artifacts and enchantments. All adds up to good stuff, but unless you really want this effect to be at the 1 mana spot, Naturalize is probably going to be worth paying the extra 1 for to not give your opponent the 4 life. Anchors - Supports -
Unplayables Gift of the Woods - Not sure why you would play this over another blocker. Surviving some combats is not going to change much and the life gain won't matter. Glyph of Reincarnation - Bad. Healing Leaves - Bad. Hidden Guerrillas - Only in a heavy artifact theme. Hidden Spider - Turn 1 play would be a beating against a skies deck. But it might not even trigger against some decks. Hornet Sting - Yay, green direct damage! But no. Hunger of the Howlpack - No going to be consistent enough. Hunt Down - Just use fight effects instead. Hunt the Hunter - Too narrow targets. Instil Energy - Doesn't do enough. Irresistible Prey - Not having the option of choosing which creature is going to block limits its applications. Joint Assault - Not going to get the extra benefit most of the time. Kodama's Might - Splicing too narrow. Lay of the Land - Better ways to find or fix mana. Leaf Arrow - Narrow removal. Lush Growth - Abundant Growth fixes all colours and draws a card. Magnify - Doesn't do enough. Mending Touch - Not going to matter enough. Metamorphosis - Too much setup and not worth the effort. Just ramp! Might of Old Krosa - You don't want to play this main phase, you want to play it mid-combat. Mirran Mettle - Not going to be better than Giant Growth except for an artifact heavy cube. Mobilize - Sorcery speed kills it. There aren't many creatures with amazing tap effects that you would want to use on your turn. There might be a few cards that convoke or otherwise ask you to tap your creatures for effects, but by and large they aren't going to be numerous enough in a single cube to make this worth it. Molder - Having to pay X makes this too costly. Mortal Wound - Bad removal. Multani's Harmony - This requires 2 cards just to make one fixer. Paradise Mantle is better if you need the effect. Multani's Presence - Way too narrow. Mutant's Prey - Instant is nice; having your creature choice options extremely limited is not. Nature's Chosen - Not enough creatures that tap for great effect, and not an effective tool to use to untap an attacker and be able to block. Too easy to get 2 for 1'd. And white restriction. Nature's Panoply - Flexibility doesn't make up for too high a cost. Compare Incremental Growth.
1.5 for nature's claim
0 for mending touch
0 for lay of the land
0 for the ???s
1 for keen sense since green doesn't have any way for normal green creatures to get in
Bam. Slash and burn those cards! Happy with those changes. Unless anyone wants to chime in before then to challenge any of these, I'll jump straight into the next lot tomorrow.
Made the changes suggested; I looked again at Hunger of the Howlpack. While situational, it seems like it could be good in the right deck. Golgari aggro seems like a good fit. Dropping an evasive 2 drop (e.g. Vampire Interloper)on turn 3 after a combat trade and following with Howlpack seems like a pretty strong clock. I've not played with it and it might not play out as frequently as I'm expecting in practice so will leave it as unplayable unless someone wants to explore it further.
Noxious Revival - 1.5 Description - Trades selective card quality for card disadvantage, and possibly for no mana. Worldly Tutor etc have the advantage of searching your entire library, where this requires a card to already be in your graveyard which is more limiting. Can be more useful in a graveyard matters theme that puts more cards in your graveyard, though by paying a little more mana you can maintain card parity (Regrowth) or obtain advantage (Eternal Witness). Anchors - Supports -
Prey Upon - 2 Description - It's always situational. You need a creature that should preferably win the fight. You might win the fight, but the damage dealt to your creature might now make it unwise to attack into whatever is left remaining. It’s sorcery speed, which means no mid-combat tricks. On the plus side, if you have creatures of a decent size (which green has) for a single mana you can take out large creatures on the opposing side of the board. Anchors - Supports -
Primal Bellow - 1 Description - Probably only better than most growth effects if you are playing mono-green or green based ramp; as it narrows down the number of decks it can be played in, majority of cubes will want something more flexible or that they can splash for. If you support mono-green in other ways then you might consider it. Anchors - Mono-green Supports -
Rancor - 4 Description - Excellent value as a power booster, trampler, and gets around the usual aura drawback (unless creature is removed while it is on the stack of course). Every speed of deck is happy to play this. Fringe applications if you can benefit from sacrificing or recasting it. Anchors - Supports -
Ranger's Guile - 2 Description - The stat bonus is secondary to having hexproof, which can be used at instant speed to counter removal or other undesirable effects. While not strictly better, Vines of Vastwood is likely to be the more desirable card most of the time. This is a reasonable second if you want this effect. Anchors - Supports -
Rofellos's Gift - 0.5 Description - Very narrow application, but could be useful in the decks that wants it. Enchantment Matters or Aura-based Voltron might want this if those decks skew towards green. Absolutely need the right support to consider it though. Anchors - Supports - Enchantment Matters, Voltron
Sandstorm - 1 Description - Green doesn't get a lot of ways to damage creatures. It's more effective against tokens or 'go wide' strategies, so its use will depend on your cube construction. You probably want to avoid having it being a complete blowout against other decks you might support. Anchors - Supports -
Serene Sunset - 0.5 Description - If you have an empty board, it's an expensive Fog. If you have some creatures, it has the potential to be strong, either aggressively or defensively. Turning two trades into two kills, or triple blocking Pelakka Wurm without losing a dude is good times. So situational based on board state, but potential for upside. Anchors - Supports -
Spider Umbra - 1 Description - The pump and reach is not significant, but with protection of the totem armor can provide enough to be up for consideration.
Anchors -
Supports -
Unplayables One With Nature - You could put this on an evasive creature, and start thinning out your deck. It's not a reliable card if ramping/fixing is your aim, and other combat trigger auras like Keen Sense are likely going to provide you better advantage. Oxidize - For when you absolutely must kill that artifact. There are unlikely to be many artifacts that naturally regnerate in most cubes, making more flexible options (Naturalize or Reclamation Sage) more desirable. Piper's Melody / Renewing Touch - Self-mill decks might like this effect to prevent running out of cards, but in those decks you generally want this type of effect to have flashback. In a vacuum, the improved likelihood of drawing creatures isn't going to make up for playing this card for a number of turns and isn't worth the effect. Predatory Hunger - Bad. Primal Cocoon - Terrible. Primal Frenzy - Rancor exists. Reclaim - Noxious Revival strictly better. Run Wild - Neither effect is exciting enough to matter. Rust - Too narrow. Salvage - Sorcery speed Noxious Revival? No. Scent of Ivy - In practice, the pump is likely to be worse than other pump effects, with the downside of revealing your hand. Pumps of 4 or more are going to be rare if you are playing properly. Seal of Strength - By being an enchantment, you miss out on the surprise factor that is often a critical timing factor for pump spells. In an enchantment matters theme, this is not good enough to waste time on recursion. Seedling Charm - Too situational.
Serene Remembrance - Decks that want this effect are usually graveyard matters themes, and want flashback versions. Shrink - Doesn't do enough. Silk Net / Snare the Skies - Doesn't do enough. Simplify - If you were to draft this, it would mean not playing your own enchantments, or being extra careful about how you play them. And when your opponent has more than 1, they choose what they want to sacrifice. The more flexible options are much better than this at getting rid of enchantments. Slime Molding - Not going to provide you an efficient enough creature at nearly all points of the curve. Maybe if you REALLY want green/x spells matters to be a thing. Spider Climb - Doesn't do enough. Spreading Algae - Too narrow. Sprout - 1/1 with flash is not enough for 1 mana. Storm Front - Too narrow a way to deal with fliers. Stream of Life - This type of life gain is not good. Street Savvy - Bad. Subdue - Each side of this card seems at odds with when you would want the other half to matter. Sylvan Echoes - Clash is not a mechanic to make into a thing in cube. Sylvan Paradise - Has no place in cube.
Thinking about it more I feel like natures claim is probably a 2. It's not worse than these fringe pump spells and rando effects that are getting 2.5s and 2s.
Serene sunset 0 (Safe passage isn't good and the second you hit 3 mana this card is all downside compared to it.
Predatory hunger 0
I don't like hunger of the howlpack because you don't get to benefit from even one attack's worth of the card if you have to use the morbid after a trade on your turn. Like... would I play an aura that gave +3/+3 for a single green? Probably. But that card has a pretty high chance of getting me at least 3 damage in. If they have an answer on their turn at least I've done something. I think making it so much less consistent makes it unplayable... despite being really good when it's good. I don't know, it's hard. Like it's a card tht can win you a game but one that I am just never going to even play in my deck if I have 24 other decent cards.
I agree that spider umbra is better than unplayable. The totem armor ability is great in my experience, and giving green the option to put reach on any of their creatures is nice too.
It's an interesting balance to find. Any card (almost) can shine if you put it in the right environment, and you have the opportunity to make whatever environment you want in cube. But I think its fine to regard some strictly worse cards as unplayable, because generally we want the most powerful effect for cost. Usually I'm considering if you would need more redundancy for that type of effect, or the role that you would intend it to play. If a deck is happy to play Sedge Scorpion, there is no reason it doesn't want the upgrade to Wasteland Viper. Do we want another of that effect? Maybe? I'd probably be more inclined to move on to something like Thornweald Archer so there isn't a direct comparison for strictly worse or better. But that is heading more towards cube design than card evaluation.
It's impossible to draw an exact line in the sand. Which is why I enjoy discussing it with you folks, to figure out what level of redundancies or similar cards are considered playable in the wider community before we reach the drop off point in value.
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 think this is the best solution.
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.
On that basis, should I 'retrieve' Sedge Scorpion and give it a 1 or 0.5?
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.
Abundant Growth - 1.5
Description - It doesn't accelerate, but draws a card. Not a terrible card if you want fixing as opposed to acceleration, though I suspect most cubes prefer to get both out of a single card.
Anchors -
Supports -
Ancient Stirrings - 1
Description - Finds lands and the occasional artifact / Eldrazi. Caravan Vigil is going to be the better card in vast majority of cubes because it gets you exactly which (basic) land you need. You probably want to upgrade to Mulch, but this does help find early lands at the cheapest cost. Has more value in a cube that has strong artifacts or artifact creatures.
Aspect of Hydra - 1.5
Description - You need to build around it to some degree (by drafting more green), but can be good bang for buck. More effective in green ramp decks that tend to use more creatures that have double green in their cost.
Anchors -
Supports - Green Ramp
Berserk - 3
Description - Solid in most aggro/midrange decks that are the beatdown to break through and deal that final blow. Can also do work in green ramp, particularly with non-trample guys getting chumped by tokens. It's very situational, but the extra damage you take might be worth using this as removal sometimes.
Anchors -
Supports -
Burst of Strength - 0.5
Description - Of itself, it can be not only a surprise blocker, but leave behind something stronger. To make it worth it, it really needs to be able get value out of the untap, which is going to be very situational, and the upside is not that high. Maybe suits more combat-heavy cubes, or those with a strong +1/+1 theme going on.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Caravan Vigil - 1.5
Description - Grabs you whatever land you need for only a single mana. You probably want to upgrade to Mulch, but this does help find early lands at the cheapest cost. Morbid is going to hard to trigger in early turns, especially as this is a sorcery, which limits the effectiveness. Later in the game the morbid is easier to trigger, but even if you don't you can probably just play the land from your hand anyway. May get a bit more value if you support Eldrazi spawn-making creatures.
Anchors -
Supports -
Choking Vines - 1
Description - It might be narrow, but is a way for green to deal instant damage to attackers while potentially preventing some damage. Value increases depending on the number of creatures with 1 toughness in your cube.
Anchors -
Supports -
Commune With Nature - 2
Description - Played early it can set up your curve, and as a top deck you can go digging for the best creature for the current board state. Occasionally you will whiff, and worth noting there are similar cards that dump the remaining cards in your graveyard if you are pursuing graveyard matters strategies.
Anchors -
Supports -
Animate Land - It can set up a surprise blocker, or a hasty attacker, but is situational and doesn't have enough impact on most games.
Autumn's Veil - Far too narrow.
Avoid Fate - Not goo enough; Vines of Vastwood strictly better.
Battlegrowth - Burst of Strength strictly better.
Bequeathal - Unplayable Skullclamp.
Blossoming Wreath - Better options like Gnaw to the Bone.
Briar Shield - The +1/+1 on its own isn't good enough. And the trouble with the +3/+3 option is that you have already committed it to the creature, so there is no surprise value.
Camouflage - Too much text to read, confusing and no skill.
Canopy Claws - Bad.
Carapace - Bad.
Carpet of Flowers - Too narrow.
Chatter of the Squirrel - 3 mana to put 2 1/1 tokens onto the battlefield is not a good deal.
Cocoon - Bad.
Corrosive Gale - While it is ok against decks with lots of flyers, not going to be worth it in general.
Caravan Vigil could use a mention to the green Eldrazi Spawn-making creatures.
I'd call burst of strength a 0 or a .5 at best.
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
Otherwise all good to me.
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.
Description - It's targets are limited so it is pretty situational, but can be used in a pinch if you need to off some fliers. In certain circumstances, against Skies decks for example, can be a blowout, or undo a Lingering Souls.
Anchors -
Supports -
Earthlore - 0.5
Description - Only works on defense, which limits its usefulness. Can make attacking into a bit more tricky, so only suits defensive control decks.
Anchors -
Supports - Control
Elephant Grass - 1.5
Description - A poor man's Propaganda… or maybe a fairer one. It's not a lockdown because it will eventually go away, but might be worth it in the midgame to either hold off or minimise your opponents attack for a few turns, or hold off their board development while they attack. Extra hosing on black might turn some cube designers away.
Anchors -
Supports -
Fog - 0.5
Description - It's the classic Fog effect, but not very good as is; other options like Constant Mists or Momentary Peace are worth paying a higher mana cost. Only for purists or if you need maximum redundancy.
Anchors -
Supports -
Gaea's Might / Might of Alara - 0.5
Description - Not likely to be better than Giant Growth majority of the time, with more chance for downside. Only if you want to push domain as a thing.
Anchors - Domain
Supports -
Gather Courage - 1.5
Description - ok as a pump for free. Upside that a creature with summoning sickness can block, and then benefit from this before combat damage is dealt. Mutagenic Growth not strictly better, but probably better in most situations as a free pump spell.
Anchors -
Supports -
Genju of the Cedars - 3
Description - Solid card, giving you the opportunity to attack with a 4/4 as early as turn 3, while also being very resilient. Playable in a wide variety of decks, though perhaps most at home in green aggro/midrange decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Giant Growth - 2
Description - The old standby. ok, but not spectacular. Ideally you want to maintain card parity while impacting the board (changing a trade into a kill), or put the opponents life total within reach.
Anchors -
Supports -
Corrosive Gale - While it's ok against decks with lots of flyers, not going to be worth it in general. If you support a Skies deck, you might include this as a sweeper, but you likely don't want something that is a blowout against another deck you are supporting.
Crop Rotation - Not enough good nonbasics to make this worthwhile, given that it doesn't accelerate you.
Crossbow Ambush - Too narrow to be consistent enough.
Crumble - Green has better options for artifact removal.
Divergent Growth - This is not worth spending a card on.
Dryad's Favor - Too narrow.
Dwell On The Past - This effect is likely to only matter if you have a graveyard matters theme that likes dumping cards from your library into your graveyard. In which case, you want a version that has flashback.
Elven Fortress - Not good enough.
Elven Palisade - Too many restrictions to be any good (single land type, only works if you are being attacked).
Elvish Fury - If you wait to buy it back, it is probably too late.
Emerald Charm - None of the modes do enough.
Explosive Growth - Become Immense going to be better most of the time.
False Mourning - Card disadvantage not worth it. One more mana for Regrowth.
Font of Fertility - Not good enough.
Forced Adaptation - Takes too long to matter.
Forgotten Lore - Will nearly always cost more than Regrowth etc. to get what you want.
Frog Tongue - Even as a cantrip, this is not worth the card.
Fruition - Not good enough.
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
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.
I'll drop Earthlore and Gaea's Might to 0.5, and change the other Leelue's suggested. I think those cards have a place; a very situational or extremely specific deck you want to push, but a place nonetheless. Maybe there is a strictly better (or better in nearly all situations) for Earthlore?
It only works on defense.
Troubled Healer is not particularly good either, but at least you have a choice as to which land you use (waste) and can improve your combat when you're attacking into their creatures. It also has a body which is nice. Costing two more mana is a strike against it but I'd never play Palisade over Healer if I were GW and I'd hope to never ever play healer anyway.
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.
Groundswell - 2
Description - In decks that like to be the beatdown, this is likely to be better than Giant Growth more often than not, and you'll usually know when the +2/+2 will be sufficient for the situation anyway. Still playable in a deck that intends to go long, but a little less good on the defense.
Anchors -
Supports -
Hunger of the Howlpack - 1.5
Description - Without morbid, it isn't very good. But giving something +3/+3 permanently is good upside. Still situational due to the morbid trigger, sometimes preventing the opportunity to boost mid-combat, but can be cast after a trade or block. Sometimes your opponent will answer it before you get any benefit, but if they can't you have a creature that should hit pretty hard.
Anchors -
Supports -
Hurricane - 2
Description - The biggest effect that matters here is the damage to each player, giving green some reach. Flyers is greens weakness, but not hitting ground creatures makes it less desirable.
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Supports -
Keen Sense - 1
Description - Works well on pingers or evasive creatures. Suffers from aura 2 for 1 problem; has strong upside but harder to trigger with base green, as green has less evasion than most other colours.
Anchors -
Supports -
Mutagenic Growth - 3
Description - Having the opportunity to pay 0 mana makes this a card to respect. Allows winning a combat out of nowhere, or sealing the deal on a game when an opponent would otherwise be able to alpha strike back. The surprise factor is usually worth giving up that extra point of damage compared to Giant Growth.
Anchors -
Supports -
Nature's Claim - 1.5
Description - Cheap, instant, and uncondtional removal and hits both artifacts and enchantments. All adds up to good stuff, but unless you really want this effect to be at the 1 mana spot, Naturalize is probably going to be worth paying the extra 1 for to not give your opponent the 4 life.
Anchors -
Supports -
Gift of the Woods - Not sure why you would play this over another blocker. Surviving some combats is not going to change much and the life gain won't matter.
Glyph of Reincarnation - Bad.
Healing Leaves - Bad.
Hidden Guerrillas - Only in a heavy artifact theme.
Hidden Spider - Turn 1 play would be a beating against a skies deck. But it might not even trigger against some decks.
Hornet Sting - Yay, green direct damage! But no.
Hunger of the Howlpack - No going to be consistent enough.
Hunt Down - Just use fight effects instead.
Hunt the Hunter - Too narrow targets.
Instil Energy - Doesn't do enough.
Irresistible Prey - Not having the option of choosing which creature is going to block limits its applications.
Joint Assault - Not going to get the extra benefit most of the time.
Kodama's Might - Splicing too narrow.
Lay of the Land - Better ways to find or fix mana.
Leaf Arrow - Narrow removal.
Lush Growth - Abundant Growth fixes all colours and draws a card.
Magnify - Doesn't do enough.
Mending Touch - Not going to matter enough.
Metamorphosis - Too much setup and not worth the effort. Just ramp!
Might of Old Krosa - You don't want to play this main phase, you want to play it mid-combat.
Mirran Mettle - Not going to be better than Giant Growth except for an artifact heavy cube.
Mobilize - Sorcery speed kills it. There aren't many creatures with amazing tap effects that you would want to use on your turn. There might be a few cards that convoke or otherwise ask you to tap your creatures for effects, but by and large they aren't going to be numerous enough in a single cube to make this worth it.
Molder - Having to pay X makes this too costly.
Mortal Wound - Bad removal.
Multani's Harmony - This requires 2 cards just to make one fixer. Paradise Mantle is better if you need the effect.
Multani's Presence - Way too narrow.
Mutant's Prey - Instant is nice; having your creature choice options extremely limited is not.
Nature's Chosen - Not enough creatures that tap for great effect, and not an effective tool to use to untap an attacker and be able to block. Too easy to get 2 for 1'd. And white restriction.
Nature's Panoply - Flexibility doesn't make up for too high a cost. Compare Incremental Growth.
0 for mending touch
0 for lay of the land
0 for the ???s
1 for keen sense since green doesn't have any way for normal green creatures to get in
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
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.
Noxious Revival - 1.5
Description - Trades selective card quality for card disadvantage, and possibly for no mana. Worldly Tutor etc have the advantage of searching your entire library, where this requires a card to already be in your graveyard which is more limiting. Can be more useful in a graveyard matters theme that puts more cards in your graveyard, though by paying a little more mana you can maintain card parity (Regrowth) or obtain advantage (Eternal Witness).
Anchors -
Supports -
Prey Upon - 2
Description - It's always situational. You need a creature that should preferably win the fight. You might win the fight, but the damage dealt to your creature might now make it unwise to attack into whatever is left remaining. It’s sorcery speed, which means no mid-combat tricks. On the plus side, if you have creatures of a decent size (which green has) for a single mana you can take out large creatures on the opposing side of the board.
Anchors -
Supports -
Primal Bellow - 1
Description - Probably only better than most growth effects if you are playing mono-green or green based ramp; as it narrows down the number of decks it can be played in, majority of cubes will want something more flexible or that they can splash for. If you support mono-green in other ways then you might consider it.
Anchors - Mono-green
Supports -
Rancor - 4
Description - Excellent value as a power booster, trampler, and gets around the usual aura drawback (unless creature is removed while it is on the stack of course). Every speed of deck is happy to play this. Fringe applications if you can benefit from sacrificing or recasting it.
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Supports -
Ranger's Guile - 2
Description - The stat bonus is secondary to having hexproof, which can be used at instant speed to counter removal or other undesirable effects. While not strictly better, Vines of Vastwood is likely to be the more desirable card most of the time. This is a reasonable second if you want this effect.
Anchors -
Supports -
Rofellos's Gift - 0.5
Description - Very narrow application, but could be useful in the decks that wants it. Enchantment Matters or Aura-based Voltron might want this if those decks skew towards green. Absolutely need the right support to consider it though.
Anchors -
Supports - Enchantment Matters, Voltron
Sandstorm - 1
Description - Green doesn't get a lot of ways to damage creatures. It's more effective against tokens or 'go wide' strategies, so its use will depend on your cube construction. You probably want to avoid having it being a complete blowout against other decks you might support.
Anchors -
Supports -
Serene Sunset - 0.5
Description - If you have an empty board, it's an expensive Fog. If you have some creatures, it has the potential to be strong, either aggressively or defensively. Turning two trades into two kills, or triple blocking Pelakka Wurm without losing a dude is good times. So situational based on board state, but potential for upside.
Anchors -
Supports -
Spider Umbra - 1
Description - The pump and reach is not significant, but with protection of the totem armor can provide enough to be up for consideration.
Anchors -
Supports -
One With Nature - You could put this on an evasive creature, and start thinning out your deck. It's not a reliable card if ramping/fixing is your aim, and other combat trigger auras like Keen Sense are likely going to provide you better advantage.
Oxidize - For when you absolutely must kill that artifact. There are unlikely to be many artifacts that naturally regnerate in most cubes, making more flexible options (Naturalize or Reclamation Sage) more desirable.
Piper's Melody / Renewing Touch - Self-mill decks might like this effect to prevent running out of cards, but in those decks you generally want this type of effect to have flashback. In a vacuum, the improved likelihood of drawing creatures isn't going to make up for playing this card for a number of turns and isn't worth the effect.
Predatory Hunger - Bad.
Primal Cocoon - Terrible.
Primal Frenzy - Rancor exists.
Reclaim - Noxious Revival strictly better.
Run Wild - Neither effect is exciting enough to matter.
Rust - Too narrow.
Salvage - Sorcery speed Noxious Revival? No.
Scent of Ivy - In practice, the pump is likely to be worse than other pump effects, with the downside of revealing your hand. Pumps of 4 or more are going to be rare if you are playing properly.
Seal of Strength - By being an enchantment, you miss out on the surprise factor that is often a critical timing factor for pump spells. In an enchantment matters theme, this is not good enough to waste time on recursion.
Seedling Charm - Too situational.
Serene Remembrance - Decks that want this effect are usually graveyard matters themes, and want flashback versions.
Shrink - Doesn't do enough.
Silk Net / Snare the Skies - Doesn't do enough.
Simplify - If you were to draft this, it would mean not playing your own enchantments, or being extra careful about how you play them. And when your opponent has more than 1, they choose what they want to sacrifice. The more flexible options are much better than this at getting rid of enchantments.
Slime Molding - Not going to provide you an efficient enough creature at nearly all points of the curve. Maybe if you REALLY want green/x spells matters to be a thing.
Spider Climb - Doesn't do enough.
Spreading Algae - Too narrow.
Sprout - 1/1 with flash is not enough for 1 mana.
Storm Front - Too narrow a way to deal with fliers.
Stream of Life - This type of life gain is not good.
Street Savvy - Bad.
Subdue - Each side of this card seems at odds with when you would want the other half to matter.
Sylvan Echoes - Clash is not a mechanic to make into a thing in cube.
Sylvan Paradise - Has no place in cube.
Serene Remembrance - less than 0
Spider Umbra - 1
Hunger of the Howlpack also ~1.5, super powerful when you can Morbid it (basically get a 3-mana sorcery effect for 1 mana at instant speed)
Serene sunset 0 (Safe passage isn't good and the second you hit 3 mana this card is all downside compared to it.
Predatory hunger 0
I don't like hunger of the howlpack because you don't get to benefit from even one attack's worth of the card if you have to use the morbid after a trade on your turn. Like... would I play an aura that gave +3/+3 for a single green? Probably. But that card has a pretty high chance of getting me at least 3 damage in. If they have an answer on their turn at least I've done something. I think making it so much less consistent makes it unplayable... despite being really good when it's good. I don't know, it's hard. Like it's a card tht can win you a game but one that I am just never going to even play in my deck if I have 24 other decent cards.
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