I think that Skyspawner is a must-include. I get that it's not the most interesting to have three cards that do very similar things in three different colours. However, if you're going to not play one of them then you shouldn't exclude the best one! And it's not just the best one by a small margin - this is better than the others by a lot.
I would say at the bare minimum, buy Eldrazi Skyspawner, Makindi Sliderunner, and Snapping Gnarlid. Those are the main 3 cards I see potentially staying in the cube for the long haul. I am also a big fan of Reclaiming Vines. If you want another fatty, Eldrazi Devastator is solid too (I think its better than Crusher).
I think Sheer Drop is underrated and better than it looked at first glance, now that the whole set is out. Pauper doesn't really get removal on a stick. What do people run? Faceless Butcher? Pith Driller? Ghitu Slinger? The options really bottom out after that. Sheer Drop does a decent impression of Shriekmaw at common. It should probably be in people's cubes.
(Incidentally, how would you rate Silumgar Butcher and Predatory Nightstalker? I'm looking for another 187 creature and the Nightstalker in particular looks appealing )
Predator Nightsalker is probably the best of the bunch, along with Faceless Butcher. I just added Silumgar Butcher to support a small B/x sacrifice archetype. Haven't been able to test it yet, but I have high hopes for the card.
I was initially excited for sheer drop, but the problem I have with it is its 3 cost mode is really bad. If it were an instant, I would play it, but as is I don't think its quite good enough.
Predatory nightstalker is really good. Silumgar butcher is extremely niche as it's only playable if you have something you explicitly want to sacrifice like perilous myr/mudbutton torchrunner/rukh egg/pacified creature etc. Or I guess something EXTREMELY inconsequential like a vanilla 1/1 token. But I love the sacrifice archetype so I play the ***** out of him.
Sheer drop makes me want to look into adding more explicitly control-oriented bits to white. Like hobble. Just throwing sheer drop into your typical pauper white section seems bad though.
Anyone have a chance to make it to the prelease and test some of the new cards out? (unfortunately, grad school means I don't have too much time for Magic right now outside a bit of cube ...)
All that I've heard so far is that Eldrazi Skyspawner is absolutely insane (as expected).
I was on the pre-Release and luckily draw a Scalding Tarn.
To your question: Eldrazi Skyspawner is really good, he won several games. Also "Ingest" and "processors" is a way better mechanic than expected. And the discussed landfall beasts, were pretty annoying when sitting on the other side of the battlefield (land drop, attack for 4, land drop, attack for 4 etc.). Sheer drop was okay, I think. Other cards I can't remember right now. Maybe later, when I'm at home.
That's encouraging news for Valakut Predator, but I think the two beasts are just slightly too overcosted for pauper. Depends on the value of first strike.
Okay, other cards I know at least something about:
Outnumber - I didn't see it perform, but people told me, it was doing great. Looming Spires - This one is good, I think cubeable Sheer Drop - As said before it's okay, but not very exited, although in Awaken decks it was pretty good. Sure Strike - This thing is brutal. It kills a lot and leave your creature unharmed. Goblin War Paint - It's okay, but the haste is almost never relevant. Nettle Drone - Evil in a colorless deck. In Cube maybe not. Sandstone Bridge - Also very good, I think cubeable as all lands from this cycle. Sludge Crawler - Pump is to expensive, not very good. Silent Skimmer - Performs very well, getting 2 damage to your opponent in the air before blocking is cool. If can get an enchantment on him, it's almost like Double strike. The high toughness does the rest. Maybe it becomes part of my cube. Kozilek's Channeler - Either a big body, or tons of mana. Mostly it was the first part, but I think, if I had more expenisve Eldrazi it would have used it for it's mana. Mind Raker - It's okay, but only if you get to exile a card from your opponent. In this meta it's easy, but in cube you have to support it. Murk Strider - Pretty cool, but same Problem as Mind Raker. Eldrazi Skyspawner - Awesome, can win you games, or as my opponents were saying: "Not again this dude! Come on!" Mist Intruder - Not very exciting, but okay and can trigger your ingest very easy. Benthic Infiltrator - This card was build for Ingest. Not very exciting, if you can't use the exiled cards. But in this meta, useable. Grave Birthing - I don't know for cube, but in BFZ this thing is really awesome. Cantrip with card to exile and you get a creature as instant. Really great. I love that card Ruin Processor - This thing just ends games. The five life are only a topping, but a really tasty one. Complete Disregard - Very useful in this set, in Cube maybe not, but it exiles very much. Rush of Ice - Opponents hate this card.^^ As instant it would be bonkers. This way, it's good. Coralhelm Guide - As expected not exciting, but bringing in your unblockable 7/8 Eldrazi is really exciting (there are maybe better cards un history, but still, I liked it). Salvage Drone - My personal favorite. Comes in in first round, triggers your Ingest and if you don't need it anymore you either jump-block or sacrifice to something like Bone Splinters or Altar's reap and put loot 1 on top.
not sure about Eyeless Watcher, I might test it in my tier2, but compared to Kozilek's Predator it looks like trash.
a friend convinced me Swell of Growth is pretty bad, so i have another slot.
not sure what to think about Silent Skimmer. black doesnt have much flyer, and is missing the generic azure drake yet. This is the closest we can get a the big butt helps the pestilence deck.
It's less NWO and more the decision to make creatures better.
NWO is about making commons simple, because they had trouble after Time Spiral with complexity.
The new set is boss, though obviously all the processor stuff isnt good in cube because of the one-of nature of it.
I wouldn't cut Mardu Scout. Looking at your list, I would cut any of your red one drops first. If you want to cut a two drop, Torch Fiend, Stingscourger, Goblin Bushwacker, and Kruin Stiker are all worse that the Scout.
I would personally cut Goblin Bushwhacker. That card is much better in constructed than limited. I don't see any 3 drop I would cut for Valakut Predator in your cube (except I personally don't like Wall of Heat, but it is a solid card for red control). Maybe consider cutting another of the afformentioned two drops, or one of the weaker one drops. I would probably cut Goblin patrol, but I don't have much experience with the card.
Edit: On an unrelated note, the people in the Powered cube thread have been discussing Clutch of Currents, which makes me think that we are underrating it. As far as blue's bounce creatures go, I think its the 3rd or 4th best one, after Man-o'-war, Mist Raven, and maybe Aether Adept. It is essentially a smaller Aethersnipe (with haste potentially) with evoke for 1 instead of 3.
Idk if there's a deck in my cube that really wants to play clutch of currents. I guess having access to the 1 mana mode makes it better for a tempo deck than aven surveyor. But I feel like something like vapor snag or silent departure would just be better. Like realistically how often are you going to cast it for 5 mana instead of for 1. I think it makes more sense to just count on it being mostly cast for 1 mana.
I think the three Awaken cards in pauper (Clutch of Currents, Sheer Drop and Rush of Ice) are underrated with the lack of attention they've gotten. It's weird, since the Lorwyn evokers are pretty highly regarded, aren't they? Sheer Drop in particular is a common Shriekmaw, which should go in every white deck
The difference between Shriekmaw and Sheer Drop (asides from Drop costing one more) is that Terror is a good card (even at sorcery speed), and Assassinate is trash.
I'm not sure aboute Mire's Malice. I mean, is way better than Mournwhelk, and the idea of discarding the possible responses against the 3/3 land is appealing, but I don't think is the kind of versatility that we need.
I think that Rakshasa's Secret is better if you have heavy graveyard investment, Strands of Undeath could be even better with a bomb already in place (even when it can turn it 1x2 against you) and Unburden is more versatile.
I think that I even like Nightsnare better, I just realized that, unlike Splitting Headache, you look the hand BEFORE choosing discard-1-at-will or discard-two.
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My 490 Pauper Cube
Modern frame only- Common on paper only - no functional copies, no strictly-betters - no subtype-matters
The difference between Shriekmaw and Sheer Drop (asides from Drop costing one more) is that Terror is a good card (even at sorcery speed), and Assassinate is trash.
I dunno, man. Assassinate is trash, but stapled to a body it's card advantage and a threat. Unsummon is trash, but stapled to a body it's a cube staple!
Battle Screech is not close to Lingering Souls. What did I just prove? Only that I can quote cards too, not whether it's useful in a pauper context. Fact is, you get removal on a stick with Sheer Drop, and that's something that's still basically nonexistent in pauper. It's always gonna be a (admittedly bad) removal, or a blowout play. It's always going to have a target and it should always make my final 40, because removal on a stick that happens to be castable for cheaper is just nutty. Unless you are somehow so full up on removal that you find yourself needing to cut some from your decks?
What the heck man that's not even a good comparison. First of all you didn't even pick two pauper cube legal cards lol? Additionally, I don't even run battle screech in my cube because I think it's unreasonably good in pauper. IMO it's really close to as strong as lingering souls, and doesn't even require a second color! As long as you have a single white creature already, you can make four flying tokens for 2WW. That's insane.
Anyway, since this is a pauper cube thread, you should take my comment to mean that IN THE CONTEXT OF PAUPER CUBE assassinate is much worse than terror. Sheer drop is okay, but not that good, because removal restricted to a tapped creature is extremely unappealing to an aggro deck in this format. As I said before, I like sheer drop in the context of a white control package, but just slotted into your typical pauper cube, it will not be very good.
I think awaken for 6 mana is close enough to being card advantage that I feel comfortable calling it that. In this format lands after #5 are really just gravy unless your deck explicitly needs them for big stuff.
It gets more complicated if you have multiple cards that want to cash in on your lands to get other cards/effects, though.
By the way this is part of why bouncelands are amazing.
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Draft it on Cubetutor!
T1:
Clutch of Currents > Separatist Voidmage
T2:
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
(Incidentally, how would you rate Silumgar Butcher and Predatory Nightstalker? I'm looking for another 187 creature and the Nightstalker in particular looks appealing )
My Cube (DeckStats)
My Pauper Cube: 540 (CubeTutor link!)
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I was initially excited for sheer drop, but the problem I have with it is its 3 cost mode is really bad. If it were an instant, I would play it, but as is I don't think its quite good enough.
My Cube (DeckStats)
My Pauper Cube: 540 (CubeTutor link!)
Level 1 Judge
Sheer drop makes me want to look into adding more explicitly control-oriented bits to white. Like hobble. Just throwing sheer drop into your typical pauper white section seems bad though.
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All that I've heard so far is that Eldrazi Skyspawner is absolutely insane (as expected).
To your question: Eldrazi Skyspawner is really good, he won several games. Also "Ingest" and "processors" is a way better mechanic than expected. And the discussed landfall beasts, were pretty annoying when sitting on the other side of the battlefield (land drop, attack for 4, land drop, attack for 4 etc.).
Sheer drop was okay, I think. Other cards I can't remember right now. Maybe later, when I'm at home.
Or are you interested in a Fiora flavor cube? Conspire and win!
Level 2 Judge
My Cube (DeckStats)
My Pauper Cube: 540 (CubeTutor link!)
Level 1 Judge
Outnumber - I didn't see it perform, but people told me, it was doing great.
Looming Spires - This one is good, I think cubeable
Sheer Drop - As said before it's okay, but not very exited, although in Awaken decks it was pretty good.
Sure Strike - This thing is brutal. It kills a lot and leave your creature unharmed.
Goblin War Paint - It's okay, but the haste is almost never relevant.
Nettle Drone - Evil in a colorless deck. In Cube maybe not.
Sandstone Bridge - Also very good, I think cubeable as all lands from this cycle.
Sludge Crawler - Pump is to expensive, not very good.
Silent Skimmer - Performs very well, getting 2 damage to your opponent in the air before blocking is cool. If can get an enchantment on him, it's almost like Double strike. The high toughness does the rest. Maybe it becomes part of my cube.
Kozilek's Channeler - Either a big body, or tons of mana. Mostly it was the first part, but I think, if I had more expenisve Eldrazi it would have used it for it's mana.
Mind Raker - It's okay, but only if you get to exile a card from your opponent. In this meta it's easy, but in cube you have to support it.
Murk Strider - Pretty cool, but same Problem as Mind Raker.
Eldrazi Skyspawner - Awesome, can win you games, or as my opponents were saying: "Not again this dude! Come on!"
Mist Intruder - Not very exciting, but okay and can trigger your ingest very easy.
Benthic Infiltrator - This card was build for Ingest. Not very exciting, if you can't use the exiled cards. But in this meta, useable.
Grave Birthing - I don't know for cube, but in BFZ this thing is really awesome. Cantrip with card to exile and you get a creature as instant. Really great. I love that card
Ruin Processor - This thing just ends games. The five life are only a topping, but a really tasty one.
Complete Disregard - Very useful in this set, in Cube maybe not, but it exiles very much.
Rush of Ice - Opponents hate this card.^^ As instant it would be bonkers. This way, it's good.
Coralhelm Guide - As expected not exciting, but bringing in your unblockable 7/8 Eldrazi is really exciting (there are maybe better cards un history, but still, I liked it).
Salvage Drone - My personal favorite. Comes in in first round, triggers your Ingest and if you don't need it anymore you either jump-block or sacrifice to something like Bone Splinters or Altar's reap and put loot 1 on top.
Or are you interested in a Fiora flavor cube? Conspire and win!
Level 2 Judge
a friend convinced me Swell of Growth is pretty bad, so i have another slot.
not sure what to think about Silent Skimmer. black doesnt have much flyer, and is missing the generic azure drake yet. This is the closest we can get a the big butt helps the pestilence deck.
T2 powpercube Value https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/37t
NWO is about making commons simple, because they had trouble after Time Spiral with complexity.
The new set is boss, though obviously all the processor stuff isnt good in cube because of the one-of nature of it.
Edit: On an unrelated note, the people in the Powered cube thread have been discussing Clutch of Currents, which makes me think that we are underrating it. As far as blue's bounce creatures go, I think its the 3rd or 4th best one, after Man-o'-war, Mist Raven, and maybe Aether Adept. It is essentially a smaller Aethersnipe (with haste potentially) with evoke for 1 instead of 3.
Knowledge is power, money is power, time is money, you are actually gaining time by reading my posts
Click here and check out my Formerly Pauper Cube.
check out my EDH and Pauper EDH decks here
My Cube (DeckStats)
My Pauper Cube: 540 (CubeTutor link!)
Level 1 Judge
okay even though you're exaggerating that's just
no
not even close
assassinate is not close to terror
Knowledge is power, money is power, time is money, you are actually gaining time by reading my posts
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I think that Rakshasa's Secret is better if you have heavy graveyard investment, Strands of Undeath could be even better with a bomb already in place (even when it can turn it 1x2 against you) and Unburden is more versatile.
I think that I even like Nightsnare better, I just realized that, unlike Splitting Headache, you look the hand BEFORE choosing discard-1-at-will or discard-two.
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 dunno, man. Assassinate is trash, but stapled to a body it's card advantage and a threat. Unsummon is trash, but stapled to a body it's a cube staple!
Battle Screech is not close to Lingering Souls. What did I just prove? Only that I can quote cards too, not whether it's useful in a pauper context. Fact is, you get removal on a stick with Sheer Drop, and that's something that's still basically nonexistent in pauper. It's always gonna be a (admittedly bad) removal, or a blowout play. It's always going to have a target and it should always make my final 40, because removal on a stick that happens to be castable for cheaper is just nutty. Unless you are somehow so full up on removal that you find yourself needing to cut some from your decks?
My Cube (DeckStats)
My Pauper Cube: 540 (CubeTutor link!)
Level 1 Judge
Anyway, since this is a pauper cube thread, you should take my comment to mean that IN THE CONTEXT OF PAUPER CUBE assassinate is much worse than terror. Sheer drop is okay, but not that good, because removal restricted to a tapped creature is extremely unappealing to an aggro deck in this format. As I said before, I like sheer drop in the context of a white control package, but just slotted into your typical pauper cube, it will not be very good.
Knowledge is power, money is power, time is money, you are actually gaining time by reading my posts
Click here and check out my Formerly Pauper Cube.
check out my EDH and Pauper EDH decks here
It gets more complicated if you have multiple cards that want to cash in on your lands to get other cards/effects, though.
By the way this is part of why bouncelands are amazing.
Knowledge is power, money is power, time is money, you are actually gaining time by reading my posts
Click here and check out my Formerly Pauper Cube.
check out my EDH and Pauper EDH decks here