I'll try Epic Confrontation over Utopia Vow. No one in my group seems to want to pick that card and fight is more interesting than another Pacifism - adjacent
I wouldnt say, card filtering doesnt support archetypes. They are most useful in spells matters obv. but can also help to assemble some of the available combos.
But you have to run a bunch of them to decrease the landcount in your draftdeck and help finding the keyspells. That probably takes too much slots in standard cubes.
In standard cubes, looter and real draw like think twice seems much better.
for example, I run 4 filterspells in tempo oriented tier1 and none in tier2
Im glad to see a pumpspell in white. You dont need prowess or heroic to abuse it. White has a bunch of evasive guys with shadow and flying and some good first striker. Although the rebound spell lacks the surprise factor its still 4 dmg for CC2.
I dont know where to add it, but I think it has potential.
It's a pretty strong effect and a reasonable trick if you're looking for such things. It's not clear that the +2/+2 on the following attack step is going to be better than the lifelink offered by Moment of Heroism. Situational choices make for interesting deck- and cube-building. Likely a pass for me, though.
This guy having 2 power is a huge point in its favor over other colorless defensive options, but i think coming into play tapped is just too much of a problem for it.
How good is a colorless Wall of Heat? Probably good enough. Tapped puts it under the threshold though I agree.
If this didn't have the tapped clause I would definitely play it. Very hard to 1-for-1 with in combat and it eats a surprisingly high percentage of attackers. Spending 3 mana to do nothing for a turn against the kind of deck this card is strong against is not really feasible a lot of the time, though. Unlike similar defensive options like Wall of Spears this thing just survives everything, though.
Butcher’s Glee very interesting for black. this can gain a good amount if life Vulturous Aven I wonder how good or bad exploit is. but its like a black mulldrifter
some of the other commons are also looking good for fringe archetypes. overall i get the impression they´re pushing cthe powerlevel at common. not sure what will end in my cubes yet. Spellsmatters got some really good additions.
I don't think I'm experienced enough yet to instantly notice what is cubeable and what isn't, but there are probably well over a dozen of these new commons that I'm pretty excited about for my 450 Pauper Cube.
Getting Fire as a common is sweet. But just more burn. The 2/3 Dash I like.
I see Black and Blue as the real winners. Exploit has a few choice guys, there are some decent bodies in there, and it promotes the sacrifice theme some wanted, while also branching into blue for a Grixis Sac theme.
The pseudo unblockable, pseudo prowess may be the saturation point for spells matter, and the possible megamorph add on is acceptable.
There may not be too many rock solids, but I see most of my excitement in Black.
Getting Fire as a common is sweet. But just more burn. The 2/3 Dash I like.
I see Black and Blue as the real winners. Exploit has a few choice guys, there are some decent bodies in there, and it promotes the sacrifice theme some wanted, while also branching into blue for a Grixis Sac theme.
The pseudo unblockable, pseudo prowess may be the saturation point for spells matter, and the possible megamorph add on is acceptable.
There may not be too many rock solids, but I see most of my excitement in Black.
Still no autoinclude, but some cards that grasped my attention.
- Center Soul is not a Shelter, but Shelter is a really high point of comparison.
- Glaring Aegis is a white Hammerhand.
- Contradict seems powerfull, but it's too costly.
- Elusive Spellfist seems interesting, but still conservative.
- Monastery Loremaster is not good per se, but is attractive for being a pretty nice blue morph.
- Foul-tonge Shriek is tooooo archetype-dependant.
- Hand of Silumgar is a strictly better sickle ripper, right??
- Vulturous Aven seems like it could be very strong, but on the right deck.
- Hardened Berserker is like a bigger generator servant, i like it.
- Kolaghan Stormsinger could give haste to a 3 drop on turn 4, an aggro deck could want it.
- Lose Calm doesn't seem better than a Act of Treason, Opponents normally don't want to block their own creatures.
- Sabertooth Outrider is Ok just because red has High power creatures.
- Sarkhan's Rage seems really good, even if there are not dragons in cube. Instant-speed, creature affecting lava-axe.
- Twin Bolt is good. Versatile.
- Volcanic Rush is something swarm wants, but may be too costly. Is it better than Rouse the mob?
- Guardian Shield-Bearer is not good,but like Monastery Loremaster, is atractive because of the quality of green morphs (besides Nantuko vigilante).
Shame on not being any common gold card.
Private Mod Note
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Holiday Armadillo... Cloak
My 490 Pauper Cube
Modern frame only- Common on paper only - no functional copies, no strictly-betters - no subtype-matters
Artful Maneuver isn't a bad combat trick, especially for an aggressive deck. Other existing tricks have a bit more versatility though. It is superb with Prowess if you are pushing that, though. Center Soul is pretty bad. The rebound will only really help you avoid a blocker. The one mana variants of this card are better. Dromoka Warrior is probably better than some two drops people are running. I'm sure it'll sneak in peoples lists even though it's pretty boring. Glaring Aegis has a neat tap effect. It's a little awkward that the effect is good in aggressive decks, while the buff it gives isn't ideal for aggressive decks. Still, it's very comparable to Hammerhand and you can put synergies in that this works with (heroic, enchantment/aura, vigilance). Tough to judge this one. Herald of Dromoka I don't really like. Vigilance doesn't really do much for weenies. I'd run the 3/1 over this. Lightwalker is awesome! A superb enabler for +1/+1 counter cards. I love cards that have synergy like this, and will try to support this guy since the payoff is huge. Misthoof Kirin is just good value. People probably have a handfull of 2/1 fliers for 3 in their cubes, and the 3/2 version of this is just better. I also like adding morph cards to the cube because they make all the other morphs play better (more uncertainty for your opponent). This is the best white common and should go straight in everyone's cubes. Sandcrafter Mage is a pretty good workhorse card. the 3/3 for 3 worst case is actually pretty good for white, and there's a lot of upside. I'd be surprised if people didn't use this. Sandstorm Charger is a good fatty, which I think is pretty important in pauper cube to keep it from being aggro-infested. It's better than War Behemoth to boot. Student of Ojutai is interesting. The life gain will add up and it supports slower archetypes which I count as a good thing. Worth trying out.
Anticipate isn't good in this format. I agree with the previous posts about how card selection is weak in pauper cube. Card advantage spells should be run instead. I don't run Impulse and I don't runBrainstorm. Ponder you can at least use on turn 1 when you wouldn't do anything else, and it can smooth out your draws. And then Preordain is awesome because sometimes you bin two lands with it late game and it's basically like drawing 3 cards (and Impulse has the opposite problem where you see four cards you want but only get one). Contradict isn't the worst. Counter + draw a card is pretty sweet, and Exclude is one of the better blue cards. I run Traumatic Visions and use it as a counter pretty often. I doubt I'll end up adding this, but it's closer than people are giving it credit for. Ojutai Interceptor is decent. Some 3/1 fliers for 4 sneak in to my cube. The 4/2 option hits pretty hard, too. Ojutai's Summons has some neat synergy with Archaeomancer type cards. Doesn't look amazing, but worth trying out. Reduce in Stature is probably worse than other similar cards, but does have a unique angle. Sidisi's Faithful is a strict improvement to Kraken Hatchling. I think this card is much better than it looks if an 0/4 wall is something some players would want in your cube.
Butcher's Glee might be a worthwhile trick. A pretty easy 1-for-1 trade and you gain a ton of life. Coat with Venom meanwhile is much more situational to get a 1-for-1 trade and has no upside. It's bad. Defeat looks like it would cost 1 mana in most sets. Too narrow compared to the removal that is available throughout history (though it will be good in limited for this set). Flatten is obviously less efficient also while we're at it. Dutiful Attendant is one of the better cards to use with sacrifice outlets. There's a few cards like this now that are adding up and it might make for an archetype. Hand of Silumgar is a superb two drop. Works in both aggro and control. Not exciting but I'd be surprised if people didn't run this. Don't be blinded by cards that are *slightly* better in aggro. The fact that this is good in any black deck really makes it a better inclusion for your cube. Kolaghan Skirmisher probably doesn't cut it. I think having a better two drop would outweigh the dash option, however I could be completely wrong. Worth trying out. Marsh Hulk is huge, but black has some pretty good expensive stuff already, so I'm not sold on it. Reckless Imp is awesome. I've seen people run Deepcavern Imp before, and this card puts that to shame. This should be an auto-include if there's any semblance of black aggro in your cube. Shambling Goblin is better than it's festering brother, but I don't think either are all that great. Silumgar Butcher is solid if you're supporting exploit. Vulturous Aven is amazing, and is 100% going to make me support exploit. Powerful effects like this make pauper cube intersting. Taking the card that is great situationally over the card that is just solid all the time is a good move IMO. Best black common in the set.
Atarka Efreet is a great card. Red has a strong morph theme going already, and the possibility to unmorph this and slam for 6 damage is huge. And then it randomly pings something? This is my favorite common in the set. Windmill slam it into the cube and don't look back. Hardened Berserker is also great. 3/2 for 3 is fine on the vanilla test, and then the ability on it is great. Another auto-include. Kolaghan Aspirant is good but there's too much competition in red. Probably won't make the cut. Kolaghan Stormsinger is decent. I would never play it in raging goblin mode, but the ability to give something else haste for one mana isn't bad. The bonus points for morph variety might get me to try it out. Magmatic Chasm is great. People should be running Falter already, and this is a second one. Auto-include. Sabertooth Outrider is interesting. Is it better than the 4/3s for 2RR that fill out the cube? I'm not sure, but if it is, then it'll make it. If it isn't, then it won't, since there are so many of those. I'm going to guess it is, since the first strike makes it pretty brutal. Sprinting Warbrute is pretty good. There's a few other fat haste beaters like this in red, TBD which are the best. Twin Bolt is an auto-include. Two damage for two mana is fine, and if you kill two things with 1 toughness (which people chock their cubes full of), then the card becomes an insane advantage.
Aerie Bowmasters is great. I'm not sure why people are so iffy about it. 3/4 reach for 2GG is good enough to make people's cubes as-is. The morph path isn't going to be used too much, but it's still upside. Sometimes you need a 2/2 on turn 3, sometimes you have so much mana this is just a 4/5. Good reach cards are important in pauper cube, and this blanks most of the fliers you're going to go up against. Atarka Beastbreaker isn't going to make my cube, since green doesn't want bears. If you are running aggressive bears, though, then this is a decent one. Conifer Strider is one of the better hexproof creatures. The one toughness doesn't really matter here because of the hexproof. Slap an aura on it and go to town, or just get lucky and have your opponent not have anything efficient to trade with it. If you play this is green/red and burn away little blockers it hits like a truck. Worth giving a shot, especially if you run auras. Dragon-Scarred Bear has a great formidable ability. If formidable becomes reasonable to assemble, then this card should be used. Epic Confrontation is great green removal. I don't see why anyone wouldn't include this. Glade Watcher is a very interesting card. It works really well with big green archetypes. Some people run Acridian, and this is way better IMO. Guardian Shield-Bearer is great. It's not too hard to make the +1/+1 counter be worth a card, and then you're left with a 3/2 which is worth a card. Having the option to just play this on turn 2 to beat down or trade is what makes it great, though. Add on the morph uncertainty factor (more morphs makes them all better) and I think this is a card people should be using. Segmented Krotiq is a good fatty. There's a couple good green fatties now, but I think the morph ones (and Krosan Tusker) are the best. I will be using this. Sheltered Aerie is a good ramp card. I am running Dawn's Reflection, and this is just better. The ability to on turn for cast this and a 3 drop is a pretty big swing. I think this is better than Rampant Growth. Edit: Misread this. It only ramps 1, making it worse than tons of existing options. Stampeding Elk Herd is a good card. 5/5 for 5 is the type of thing that green wants, and it can give trample to fatties who lack it. It looks like a premier 5 drop to me.
Ancestral Statue is good. If you have ETB effects abound, I can see this being great. Though even just casting it on turn 4 as your first creature in a control deck is fine. Custodian of the Trove is pretty bad. There isn't enough late game power for this to be good in pauper cube, and the archetypes who would be interested in something like this will generally have something stronger in their colors. Vial of Dragonfire is ok. One mana more than the existing options, but I run the existing options, and they see play sometimes. I think it's a nice effect to round out your cube with. There's some artifact matters cards that work with it to boot.
I think this set is great. Everyone but blue made out like a bandit. Lots of powerful cards, and none of the mechanics don't translate well to cube. Exploit pushes that a bit (you really have to run enablers), but there's enough cards throughout Magic's history that play into this that I don't think it's an issue.
edit:
Some cards I didn't mention but should have: Elusive Spellfist isn't a Kiln Fiend. Only getting +1 power does not make you want to spam a bunch of spells and hit big, because you're only getting 1 damage per spell. I don't see this as a win condition in a spell heavy deck, because it's just so slow. What it is actually pretty good at, though, is blocking. 1/3 two drops aren't too far from being usable in defensive blue decks. And this guy can kill bears instead of just walling them, as well as poke through board stalls late. I don't think this is great, but it's interesting and could be worth a try. I like prowess more, though. Jeskai Sage is way better than this guy, for instance. Palace Familiar isn't exciting at all, but it's a good filler card. I can imagine decks that would be happy to slot this in, and it'll be great in Dragon's limited with exploit and bolster. Large cubes may want to use this, especially if they aren't trying to support blue aggro. Foul-Tongue Shriek is awful. I see some people rating it, but please don't play it. Life gain isn't good in a deck that wants this, and it's so much worse than the Trumpet Blasts of the world. Sarkhan's Rage is a card I glossed over at first, but after taking another look at the burn options it has potential. The only thing keeping it in the game is being an instant. The cards in the same realm as this, expensive instant speed burn, are Lightning Blast and Riddle of Lightning. I think both of those are stronger, as usually even just 3 damage is enough to deal with what you need to. All that said, I like having some variety in my burn spells. Just putting a bunch of Incinerates in makes things boring (and if you put too much in makes red just too good). I'll be giving this a try. Volcanic Rush is a card I think is bad. Five mana is too much for this kind of effect. Play the three mana variants or the falters.
But you have to run a bunch of them to decrease the landcount in your draftdeck and help finding the keyspells. That probably takes too much slots in standard cubes.
In standard cubes, looter and real draw like think twice seems much better.
for example, I run 4 filterspells in tempo oriented tier1 and none in tier2
T2 powpercube Value https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/37t
An expensive Prey's Vengeance, but in a colour that benefits more for it, I think.
Opinions? I think that as I don't have any heroic or prowess creature in my cube, is not that great.
My 490 Pauper Cube
Modern frame only- Common on paper only - no functional copies, no strictly-betters - no subtype-matters
Im glad to see a pumpspell in white. You dont need prowess or heroic to abuse it. White has a bunch of evasive guys with shadow and flying and some good first striker. Although the rebound spell lacks the surprise factor its still 4 dmg for CC2.
I dont know where to add it, but I think it has potential.
T2 powpercube Value https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/37t
Level 1 Judge
EDH Decks:
BWR Alesha, Who Smiles at Death BWR
BUG Tasigur, the Golden Fang BUG
BRU Mishra, Artificer Prodigy BRU
R Jaya Ballard, Task Mage R
U Hakim, Loreweaver U
Loose Change Pauper Cube-cast
Pauper Cube Article #1
Pauper Cube Article #2
Personal Enjoyment Cube
Level 1 Judge
If this didn't have the tapped clause I would definitely play it. Very hard to 1-for-1 with in combat and it eats a surprisingly high percentage of attackers. Spending 3 mana to do nothing for a turn against the kind of deck this card is strong against is not really feasible a lot of the time, though. Unlike similar defensive options like Wall of Spears this thing just survives everything, though.
Level 1 Judge
Vial of Dragonfire colorless damage, but we have better alternatives
Wandering Tombshell 1 power sucks
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
My 490 Pauper Cube
Modern frame only- Common on paper only - no functional copies, no strictly-betters - no subtype-matters
My 490 Pauper Cube
Modern frame only- Common on paper only - no functional copies, no strictly-betters - no subtype-matters
at first glance i noticed potential additions
Dromoka Warrior another functional reprint of Blade of the Sixth Pride.
Glaring Aegis +1+3 for W is quite good, and its a combar trick, too.
Herald of Dromoka Finally a Warrior tribal "lord" at common. Very interesting for Boros.
Sandstorm Charger You never hardcast it, so its a 4/5 for 5 (+3). Thats very big for white.
Student of Ojutai Very solid lifegain.
Elusive Spellfist Very interesting for spells matters
Ojutai Interceptor Seems fine in a morphthemed cube
Ojutai’s Breath Soft removal for 2 turns and triggers spellsmatters
Taigam’s Strike an upgraded Distorion Strike, might be too costly
Butcher’s Glee very interesting for black. this can gain a good amount if life
Vulturous Aven I wonder how good or bad exploit is. but its like a black mulldrifter
Impact Tremors very nice for swarm archetype
Kolaghan Stormsinger very flexible
Lose Calm another playable threaten effect. looks very strong
Screamreach Brawler not as impressive as the other dash dudes, but solid
Twin Bolt Fire wihtout Ice is still good
Volcanic Rush looks like a common overrun
Colossodon Yearling 2/4 for CC3 can be really annoying
Sheltered Aerie overgrowth with color fixing, very nice.
some of the other commons are also looking good for fringe archetypes. overall i get the impression they´re pushing cthe powerlevel at common. not sure what will end in my cubes yet. Spellsmatters got some really good additions.
T2 powpercube Value https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/37t
I see Black and Blue as the real winners. Exploit has a few choice guys, there are some decent bodies in there, and it promotes the sacrifice theme some wanted, while also branching into blue for a Grixis Sac theme.
The pseudo unblockable, pseudo prowess may be the saturation point for spells matter, and the possible megamorph add on is acceptable.
There may not be too many rock solids, but I see most of my excitement in Black.
Loose Change Pauper Cube-cast
Pauper Cube Article #1
Pauper Cube Article #2
Personal Enjoyment Cube
Vulturous Aven = black Mulldrifter?
Still no autoinclude, but some cards that grasped my attention.
- Center Soul is not a Shelter, but Shelter is a really high point of comparison.
- Glaring Aegis is a white Hammerhand.
- Contradict seems powerfull, but it's too costly.
- Elusive Spellfist seems interesting, but still conservative.
- Monastery Loremaster is not good per se, but is attractive for being a pretty nice blue morph.
- Foul-tonge Shriek is tooooo archetype-dependant.
- Hand of Silumgar is a strictly better sickle ripper, right??
- Vulturous Aven seems like it could be very strong, but on the right deck.
- Hardened Berserker is like a bigger generator servant, i like it.
- Kolaghan Stormsinger could give haste to a 3 drop on turn 4, an aggro deck could want it.
- Lose Calm doesn't seem better than a Act of Treason, Opponents normally don't want to block their own creatures.
- Sabertooth Outrider is Ok just because red has High power creatures.
- Sarkhan's Rage seems really good, even if there are not dragons in cube. Instant-speed, creature affecting lava-axe.
- Twin Bolt is good. Versatile.
- Volcanic Rush is something swarm wants, but may be too costly. Is it better than Rouse the mob?
- Guardian Shield-Bearer is not good,but like Monastery Loremaster, is atractive because of the quality of green morphs (besides Nantuko vigilante).
Shame on not being any common gold card.
My 490 Pauper Cube
Modern frame only- Common on paper only - no functional copies, no strictly-betters - no subtype-matters
My 490 Pauper Cube
Modern frame only- Common on paper only - no functional copies, no strictly-betters - no subtype-matters
I think its a solid morph, if you want to add some more. Otherwise its to fragile for me. ALthough its a pseudo Ball Lightning
T2 powpercube Value https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/37t
Center Soul is pretty bad. The rebound will only really help you avoid a blocker. The one mana variants of this card are better.
Dromoka Warrior is probably better than some two drops people are running. I'm sure it'll sneak in peoples lists even though it's pretty boring.
Glaring Aegis has a neat tap effect. It's a little awkward that the effect is good in aggressive decks, while the buff it gives isn't ideal for aggressive decks. Still, it's very comparable to Hammerhand and you can put synergies in that this works with (heroic, enchantment/aura, vigilance). Tough to judge this one.
Herald of Dromoka I don't really like. Vigilance doesn't really do much for weenies. I'd run the 3/1 over this.
Lightwalker is awesome! A superb enabler for +1/+1 counter cards. I love cards that have synergy like this, and will try to support this guy since the payoff is huge.
Misthoof Kirin is just good value. People probably have a handfull of 2/1 fliers for 3 in their cubes, and the 3/2 version of this is just better. I also like adding morph cards to the cube because they make all the other morphs play better (more uncertainty for your opponent). This is the best white common and should go straight in everyone's cubes.
Sandcrafter Mage is a pretty good workhorse card. the 3/3 for 3 worst case is actually pretty good for white, and there's a lot of upside. I'd be surprised if people didn't use this.
Sandstorm Charger is a good fatty, which I think is pretty important in pauper cube to keep it from being aggro-infested. It's better than War Behemoth to boot.
Student of Ojutai is interesting. The life gain will add up and it supports slower archetypes which I count as a good thing. Worth trying out.
Anticipate isn't good in this format. I agree with the previous posts about how card selection is weak in pauper cube. Card advantage spells should be run instead. I don't run Impulse and I don't runBrainstorm. Ponder you can at least use on turn 1 when you wouldn't do anything else, and it can smooth out your draws. And then Preordain is awesome because sometimes you bin two lands with it late game and it's basically like drawing 3 cards (and Impulse has the opposite problem where you see four cards you want but only get one).
Contradict isn't the worst. Counter + draw a card is pretty sweet, and Exclude is one of the better blue cards. I run Traumatic Visions and use it as a counter pretty often. I doubt I'll end up adding this, but it's closer than people are giving it credit for.
Ojutai Interceptor is decent. Some 3/1 fliers for 4 sneak in to my cube. The 4/2 option hits pretty hard, too.
Ojutai's Summons has some neat synergy with Archaeomancer type cards. Doesn't look amazing, but worth trying out.
Reduce in Stature is probably worse than other similar cards, but does have a unique angle.
Sidisi's Faithful is a strict improvement to Kraken Hatchling. I think this card is much better than it looks if an 0/4 wall is something some players would want in your cube.
Butcher's Glee might be a worthwhile trick. A pretty easy 1-for-1 trade and you gain a ton of life.
Coat with Venom meanwhile is much more situational to get a 1-for-1 trade and has no upside. It's bad.
Defeat looks like it would cost 1 mana in most sets. Too narrow compared to the removal that is available throughout history (though it will be good in limited for this set). Flatten is obviously less efficient also while we're at it.
Dutiful Attendant is one of the better cards to use with sacrifice outlets. There's a few cards like this now that are adding up and it might make for an archetype.
Hand of Silumgar is a superb two drop. Works in both aggro and control. Not exciting but I'd be surprised if people didn't run this. Don't be blinded by cards that are *slightly* better in aggro. The fact that this is good in any black deck really makes it a better inclusion for your cube.
Kolaghan Skirmisher probably doesn't cut it. I think having a better two drop would outweigh the dash option, however I could be completely wrong. Worth trying out.
Marsh Hulk is huge, but black has some pretty good expensive stuff already, so I'm not sold on it.
Reckless Imp is awesome. I've seen people run Deepcavern Imp before, and this card puts that to shame. This should be an auto-include if there's any semblance of black aggro in your cube.
Shambling Goblin is better than it's festering brother, but I don't think either are all that great.
Silumgar Butcher is solid if you're supporting exploit.
Vulturous Aven is amazing, and is 100% going to make me support exploit. Powerful effects like this make pauper cube intersting. Taking the card that is great situationally over the card that is just solid all the time is a good move IMO. Best black common in the set.
Atarka Efreet is a great card. Red has a strong morph theme going already, and the possibility to unmorph this and slam for 6 damage is huge. And then it randomly pings something? This is my favorite common in the set. Windmill slam it into the cube and don't look back.
Hardened Berserker is also great. 3/2 for 3 is fine on the vanilla test, and then the ability on it is great. Another auto-include.
Kolaghan Aspirant is good but there's too much competition in red. Probably won't make the cut.
Kolaghan Stormsinger is decent. I would never play it in raging goblin mode, but the ability to give something else haste for one mana isn't bad. The bonus points for morph variety might get me to try it out.
Magmatic Chasm is great. People should be running Falter already, and this is a second one. Auto-include.
Sabertooth Outrider is interesting. Is it better than the 4/3s for 2RR that fill out the cube? I'm not sure, but if it is, then it'll make it. If it isn't, then it won't, since there are so many of those. I'm going to guess it is, since the first strike makes it pretty brutal.
Sprinting Warbrute is pretty good. There's a few other fat haste beaters like this in red, TBD which are the best.
Twin Bolt is an auto-include. Two damage for two mana is fine, and if you kill two things with 1 toughness (which people chock their cubes full of), then the card becomes an insane advantage.
Aerie Bowmasters is great. I'm not sure why people are so iffy about it. 3/4 reach for 2GG is good enough to make people's cubes as-is. The morph path isn't going to be used too much, but it's still upside. Sometimes you need a 2/2 on turn 3, sometimes you have so much mana this is just a 4/5. Good reach cards are important in pauper cube, and this blanks most of the fliers you're going to go up against.
Atarka Beastbreaker isn't going to make my cube, since green doesn't want bears. If you are running aggressive bears, though, then this is a decent one.
Conifer Strider is one of the better hexproof creatures. The one toughness doesn't really matter here because of the hexproof. Slap an aura on it and go to town, or just get lucky and have your opponent not have anything efficient to trade with it. If you play this is green/red and burn away little blockers it hits like a truck. Worth giving a shot, especially if you run auras.
Dragon-Scarred Bear has a great formidable ability. If formidable becomes reasonable to assemble, then this card should be used.
Epic Confrontation is great green removal. I don't see why anyone wouldn't include this.
Glade Watcher is a very interesting card. It works really well with big green archetypes. Some people run Acridian, and this is way better IMO.
Guardian Shield-Bearer is great. It's not too hard to make the +1/+1 counter be worth a card, and then you're left with a 3/2 which is worth a card. Having the option to just play this on turn 2 to beat down or trade is what makes it great, though. Add on the morph uncertainty factor (more morphs makes them all better) and I think this is a card people should be using.
Segmented Krotiq is a good fatty. There's a couple good green fatties now, but I think the morph ones (and Krosan Tusker) are the best. I will be using this.
Sheltered Aerie is a good ramp card. I am running Dawn's Reflection, and this is just better. The ability to on turn for cast this and a 3 drop is a pretty big swing. I think this is better than Rampant Growth.Edit: Misread this. It only ramps 1, making it worse than tons of existing options.Stampeding Elk Herd is a good card. 5/5 for 5 is the type of thing that green wants, and it can give trample to fatties who lack it. It looks like a premier 5 drop to me.
Ancestral Statue is good. If you have ETB effects abound, I can see this being great. Though even just casting it on turn 4 as your first creature in a control deck is fine.
Custodian of the Trove is pretty bad. There isn't enough late game power for this to be good in pauper cube, and the archetypes who would be interested in something like this will generally have something stronger in their colors.
Vial of Dragonfire is ok. One mana more than the existing options, but I run the existing options, and they see play sometimes. I think it's a nice effect to round out your cube with. There's some artifact matters cards that work with it to boot.
I think this set is great. Everyone but blue made out like a bandit. Lots of powerful cards, and none of the mechanics don't translate well to cube. Exploit pushes that a bit (you really have to run enablers), but there's enough cards throughout Magic's history that play into this that I don't think it's an issue.
edit:
Some cards I didn't mention but should have:
Elusive Spellfist isn't a Kiln Fiend. Only getting +1 power does not make you want to spam a bunch of spells and hit big, because you're only getting 1 damage per spell. I don't see this as a win condition in a spell heavy deck, because it's just so slow. What it is actually pretty good at, though, is blocking. 1/3 two drops aren't too far from being usable in defensive blue decks. And this guy can kill bears instead of just walling them, as well as poke through board stalls late. I don't think this is great, but it's interesting and could be worth a try. I like prowess more, though. Jeskai Sage is way better than this guy, for instance.
Palace Familiar isn't exciting at all, but it's a good filler card. I can imagine decks that would be happy to slot this in, and it'll be great in Dragon's limited with exploit and bolster. Large cubes may want to use this, especially if they aren't trying to support blue aggro.
Foul-Tongue Shriek is awful. I see some people rating it, but please don't play it. Life gain isn't good in a deck that wants this, and it's so much worse than the Trumpet Blasts of the world.
Sarkhan's Rage is a card I glossed over at first, but after taking another look at the burn options it has potential. The only thing keeping it in the game is being an instant. The cards in the same realm as this, expensive instant speed burn, are Lightning Blast and Riddle of Lightning. I think both of those are stronger, as usually even just 3 damage is enough to deal with what you need to. All that said, I like having some variety in my burn spells. Just putting a bunch of Incinerates in makes things boring (and if you put too much in makes red just too good). I'll be giving this a try.
Volcanic Rush is a card I think is bad. Five mana is too much for this kind of effect. Play the three mana variants or the falters.
Auto include if you are putting anything
Fyi, Fire Imp is uncommon.
Loose Change Pauper Cube-cast
Pauper Cube Article #1
Pauper Cube Article #2
Personal Enjoyment Cube
Regarding Misthoof Kirin, I don't think is that good. 2 thoughness and vigilance don't go on very well.
My 490 Pauper Cube
Modern frame only- Common on paper only - no functional copies, no strictly-betters - no subtype-matters
Yes.