Yes, it might sound like an oxymoron, and probably is. But there are many reasons why you would want to expand your peasant cube with rares. This thread exists for the discussion of what rares could be included to meet specific goals, and to discuss experiences and theorycraft about the possible effect of certain rares on an environment.
Since trying to define or narrow down "Peasant with rares" seems pointless, this thread is open for any type of cube. However, keep adding enough rares to your peasant cube and the environment will be further and further removed from that typically encountered in a peasant draft. Now that journey might be fun, shaping your cube from a peasant to a no-restrictions cube sounds like it could be rewarding in and of itself. But the advice you will be able to obtain in the Peasant forum might become less and less relevant (unless several cubers end up taking the journey together). For these reasons, it is a good idea to describe your goals when asking questions/initiating discussions, so that the community is as well armed as possible to help you out.
Some reasons to break peasant include:
Lands This is, in many peoples opinion, not really breaking peasant. We all want to let our players cast their spells, and particularly aggro decks suffer in peasant from the lack of comes into play untappedfixing lands. I have seen this form of cube being described as "landed gentry", and there is a separate old thread about it here.
Rare expansion. Maybe you want to preserve your peasant cube for the most part, but play with rares from time to time for variety's sake. A small pool of rares that are added to the cube every once in a while to spice things up may accomplish this.
Fill holes. Perhaps you are pretty happy with your cube, but you are lacking that certain X-drop in colour Y. If the perfect answer exists but is printed at rare, why not run it if you think your cube would benefit from it?
Push Archetypes Most of us want to push certain draft archetypes in our cubes, but some archetypes have a bit too narrow support at Un/Common to be worth it.
Push tribes. Similar to the above. This could involve pushing a tribe as a given archetype, but it could also just involve throwing in a lord or two to create a sub-archetype for tribes that are already reasonably represented in your cube.
Play with fun cards. Some cards are personal favourites. Some have unique effects. Some have hilarious artwork. If you believe a card will increase the average number of fun points per player per draft, it is hard to argue against its inclusion. You might want to be careful though, as rares often have base stats that are strong enough to make them push the envelope of peasant power level, regardless of the uniqueness of any other abilities.
Include specific effects not typically seen in peasant. This might be controversial. Perhaps you would like your cube to have access to board wipes, but many would argue that the lack of effects like that is a key part of what "makes peasant Peasant". Still, it's your cube, and seeking advice here about what to expect from a certain card might help you accommodate it in the best possible fashion.
Some things to keep in mind when considering what rares to run (A lot of this is taken from bacchus2):
Un/commons typically do not have access to unconditional 3 for 1s or more (That affect your opponent's board. There is Concentrate).
Un/commons that generate "infinite card advantage" typically only does so on a one-per-turn basis, or requires additional set up/is conditional.
Peasant typically do not have cards that are auto-wins unless answered, or that even if answered within a few turns, have swung the game so massively that a comeback is unlikely (A card of this calibre that is already in Peasant is Skullclamp, which many have banned. If you are not banning Un/commons on power level, you may view this guideline differently).
If you plan to seed your rares into your packs on a 1-per pack basis, like in a normal draft, it is important that you balance the power level of your rares with the rest of your cube so that they are not always the correct first pick.
I built a rare expansion to my Peasant cube a little while back, to add a little variety every now and then. Here are the cards that I used. They generally worked well, but some were a little more/less powerful than I was hoping. I generally like the idea of including a few rares here and there to fill specific gaps in cards available at the Peasant level (red 5-drops comes to mind).
Hornet Queen was such a beating, that's what I remember most from that draft.
I've been looking into rares a lot recently, but before settling on my card selection I think it's important to figure out what my goals are. Peasant is a fantastic cube format already, why mess with it? For me there are a few potential reasons:
First and foremost, there exist cards that I feel would be fun to play and fit very well into the environment of a Peasant cube, but happened to be printed at rare.
Some archetypes feel like they would play well in a Peasant cube, but may need support from particular rare cards to be truly fun and/or viable.
Rares may be able to help balance cube sections where one color has a deficiency at a curve slot, e.g. what revengeanceful mentioned about red 5s.
JovianHomarid, I'm going to steal your mission statement since I think it encapsulates my feelings as well:
"A cube that is mostly Un/Commons, but runs a few rares without breaking the overall feel or power-level of a peasant cube environment"
With that in mind, I see this project as a variant of my existing Peasant cube instead of a wholly separate cube. I plan to maintain it as Peasant primarily, but have the option to swap some rares in, like-for-like, to create a new experience for certain drafts. I plan to work under the following restrictions:
Cube size: 360-390 range
All cards printed at C/U in Modern-legal sets are allowed. (No online rarities, no timeshifted, etc.)
Rares from Modern-legal sets will be included at a one-per-pack ratio, so 1 in 15 cards, or 24 total for a 360 cube.
I think the third point is important for a few reasons. One, it means that the cube will always still play primarily as a Peasant cube, ensuring that C/U cards are the meat of the experience and rares are just some additional spice - 1 in 15 cards changed will not be enough to significantly alter the power level. Two, having a hard rule on the number of rares avoids the "slippery slope" tendency others have mentioned, where it might be the case that over time the cube drifts to something else entirely, whether that be a budget cube or just a lower-powered cube with no rarity restriction. And three, it helps the rares that do get included to actually feel like something special.
I'm also working to hold myself to more subjective rules about the power level of the rares that I choose to include. Mostly, I don't want anything completely game-warping, including board wipes, easily repeatable removal or card advantage, etc. The kind of cards that interest me the most are ones that have a complexity low enough that they could have been printed at C/U, like solid creatures with good ETB effects that are already all over Peasant. I'm also trying to be generally conscious of raw power level - for instance, Restoration Angel as a creature with an attached flicker effect is something I'd love to have another copy of, but the stats + flash + flicker for that low, splashable mana cost put it too far ahead of the typical Peasant curve.
So with all that in mind, it looks like I'll be shooting for 4 cards of each color, with the remainder split among colorless/lands/gold. Here are some of the ones I've been eyeing:
Top-end Creatures: Luminate Primordial, Sphinx of Uthuun, Rune-Scarred Demon, ??? for red
One weakness of Peasant is that there really only seem to be one, maybe two cards of each color at 6+ mana that work as big finishers for more controlling decks. Pelakka Wurm is the gold standard of 7-drops, so I want to give other colors some remotely comparable options if they want to play the long game (or ramp). Red is difficult here, as Bogardan Hellkite is probably the best option, but 8 mana is often much harder to get to than 7, and in many cube games I already feel like surviving to untap with a 7-drop is a stretch against more aggressive decks.
Black: Fallen Angel, Smothering Abomination, ??? - Two good options to support a sacrifice-centric deck, not sure whether the last slot should go towards aggro, or maybe a solid attrition/recursion style card.
Green: Genesis Hydra, Managorger Hydra, ??? - Not settled on green as much. Managorger gives us a real threat at 3, and Genesis is just a fun card for ramp decks, should be good value at 7+ - compares most closely to Enlisted Wurm, I think.
I tried the rare expansion, but they didn't feel very integrated. My favorite thing about adding rares is the archetypes they inspire...which requires a lot more structure throughout the entire cube. I ultimately scrapped my peasant cube, and just built a regular cube with a lower power level. I really enjoy the flexibility of working with any card ever printed rather than sticking to common and uncommons. Here's my current build:
They generally worked well, but some were a little more/less powerful than I was hoping.
Could you comment on what specific cards were problematic? Also, I am interested in your experiences with Talrand, Sky Summoner, Runechanter's Pike and Surrakar Spellblade. I run Talrand and the pike as rewards for the Kiln Fiend-deck, and Talrand has been good but not problematic. (He is a 4 mana 2/2 that requires two additional spells before it is better than his invocation in terms of bodies on board. The pike on the other hand has been lackluster. I never want to pick or run it. Maybe I should? I have also had a look at the spellblade, but it seems to me to take too much work to be worth it. I guess a good scenario is you play it on turn 3 and then force him through with a spell on turn 4 and get to draw a card. But what then? He is still only a 2/1 for 3 with double U casting cost and no evasion.
I'm also trying to be generally conscious of raw power level - for instance, Restoration Angel as a creature with an attached flicker effect is something I'd love to have another copy of, but the stats + flash + flicker for that low, splashable mana cost put it too far ahead of the typical Peasant curve.
I agree. That's the problem with a lot of rares. They have cool effects that I'd love to run in the cube, but since they are pushed to be constructed playable the basic stats are typically so strong on their own that the whole package becomes too much.
I am intrigued by wrath-effects. What would be the best level to aim for? I feel that maybe Wrath of God/Damnation/Day of Judgment will be too strong at 4 CMC. I also feel that something like Phyrexian Rebirth would feel unfair, in both clearing the table and creating a threat. Perhaps the same is true for Planar Outburst, but at least you have to live to 8 mana with that one to get the full effect. It should also probably be mentioned that Wrath-effects are traditionally strictly (mythic) rare effects, so by including them you might be taking a pretty sharp turn away from the righteous path of peasant asceticism.
Wrath effects feel off to me, provided you actually want to maintain a peasant-like cube. That's one of the really significant lines to cross, because of the implications it has for the rest of the cube.
Random peasant-like cards I can think of right now:
Wrath effects feel off to me, provided you actually want to maintain a peasant-like cube. That's one of the really significant lines to cross, because of the implications it has for the rest of the cube.
I agree, one of the key strategic aspects of Peasant to me is that unconditional sweepers aren't a thing. There are only a fewselectcards you need to know about, and they're all conditional on the toughness of your creatures. I can see where some people would view this as a deficiency that can be remedied when rares are mixed in, but to me it's a core part of what makes Peasant Peasant and I'm not inclined to change that.
If there was 1 card I'd want to bring into my Peasant Cube.. it would be Goblin Guide
I've thought about this as well, I really don't think it would be overpowered, though it would clearly be the best aggro 1-drop and maybe even best aggro creature overall. Speaking of cards I'd like to try but are too expensive though, I could see running Snapcaster Mage, it's a very good card but kind of scales to its environment, in the sense that the spells available to you in a format dictate its actual power level.
They generally worked well, but some were a little more/less powerful than I was hoping.
Could you comment on what specific cards were problematic? Also, I am interested in your experiences with Talrand, Sky Summoner, Runechanter's Pike and Surrakar Spellblade. I run Talrand and the pike as rewards for the Kiln Fiend-deck, and Talrand has been good but not problematic. (He is a 4 mana 2/2 that requires two additional spells before it is better than his invocation in terms of bodies on board. The pike on the other hand has been lackluster. I never want to pick or run it. Maybe I should? I have also had a look at the spellblade, but it seems to me to take too much work to be worth it. I guess a good scenario is you play it on turn 3 and then force him through with a spell on turn 4 and get to draw a card. But what then? He is still only a 2/1 for 3 with double U casting cost and no evasion.
Your takes on Talrand, Pike, and Spellblade mirrored my experience with them. Talrand was totally fine, and exactly the power level I was looking for. Pike was actually underpowered, as was Spellblade. They both required too much work for the payoff.
Cards that were a little problematic were ones that generated a ton of value off of a single card. Hornet Queen, Wolfbriar Elemental, and Rakka Mar were the most egregious offenders.
Speaking of cards I'd like to try but are too expensive though, I could see running Snapcaster Mage, it's a very good card but kind of scales to its environment, in the sense that the spells available to you in a format dictate its actual power level.
I can't believe Snap would be fine. It can be argued that it is borderline oppressive in Modern (but let's not argue about that here), and a lot of the time he is snapping back peasant stuff like Serum Visions, Remand or Lightning Bolt. An Ambush Viper would probably almost be serviceable in a lot of decks (if an unexiting late pick) in and of itself. Adding that much value to it would push it too much I believe.
Another thing I've come across which is not 'peasant with rares' as the thread title indicates, but what about shaving some mana off some cards? I've heard of others doing the same. So not full on customs, just fudging some existing cards. Sometimes there are interesting effects at peasant, they just aren't competitive.
People lament that green doesn't have any great 3's. What if Centaur Omenreader cost 3? If it can get in unopposed, which will be easier if it can swing earlier, in aggro or even midrange you can drop multiple creatures, or pump out a fatty (also plays well with flash creatures). Does Gamekeeper become good enough at 3? Or Somberwald Alpha?
It certainly wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea, but something to consider. At least you can just sharpie up actual peasant cards
I'd much rather push the envelope on including some rares than on modifying existing cards. At that point, you're no longer playing with real Magic cards, which is something I'd rather not dabble in.
Whether Snapcaster is broken or not really depends on the density of good cheap instants and sorceries in your cube. If you don't run cards like Lightning Bolt, Path/Swords, or Serum Visions/Ponder/Preordain, it's a much more fair card.
I have only branched into using lands, and so far it's been promising. I feel as though the only lands that I have to watch out for, in increasing order of danger, are
Raging ravine
Creeping tar pit
Oran rief the vastwood
Kessig wolf run
Gavony township
Here are some thoughts about what 'feels peasant' to me, and what I would think about when looking at rares. Just my opinion of course. I think one of the characteristics of peasant is incremental advantage instead of explosive advantage. It's hard to define; I had to look at some rares and then figure out what it was that didn't feel right.
- 2-for-1's that alter your opponents board are fine, preferably with some minor conditions / drawbacks / cost enough (we already have these at peasant, with Flametongue Kavu and Shriekmaw pushing the power level)
- 3 or more for 1's that alter your opponents board are only ok if they are conditional or require you to be tricky (Slice and Dice is fine, Wrath of God is not)
- Cards that generate 'infinite' card advantage are fine if it is only once a turn and requires some set up / conditional. Extra caution for those that interact with the opponent's hand / board. (no Necropotence, Debtor's Knell requires no investment beyond casting. Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni requires interaction and is fine. Mind Twist is dumb. Avatar of Woe too easily destroys your opponent's board, but Nettlevine Blight would be fine)
- No cards that are near auto-wins if the opponent doesn't have an answer (Ensnaring Bridge)
- Similar to the above, no cards that, even if answered within a few turns, generate enough advantage in that time to massively swing the game and make it difficult to recover (peasant already has some of these, Skullclamp, Loxodon Warhammer, arguablyCurse of Predation)
Obviously every card needs to be reviewed on a case by case basis, but those seem like reasonable quick reference guidelines for my view on what makes peasant feel the way it does.
We often lament the lack of a black 6+ control finisher, here are a few rares that could be ok.
Ascendant Evincar - It doesn't do anything too fancy, but punishes your opponent (unless they are also black) without being oppressive, while being an incentive to be heavy black.
Carnifex Demon - Possibly a bit much, but it does kill your other creatures too.
Cabal Patriarch - Probably pushing it a bit much, with enough other creatures in your deck, particularly paired with tokens, it might be a slow rolling Wrath.
Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni - Seems fine because it requires interaction to get the advantage, while being able to be protect itself.
Kokusho, the Evening Star - No inherent card advantage, but at least has insurance if it gets removed.
Necrosavant - looks fine to upgrade your worst creature to get a decent sized body on the board.
Void Maw - This looks pretty fun and probably my favorite from this list. It could be a huge trampler, but not without some work going into it first.
I don't think I'm gonna actually add any rares to my cube, but, I would really love it if the Pain Lands were reprinted at Uncommon. I don't feel that power level wise they are too bad. I just don't know that I would ever add a rare in since I wanted to run all commons and Uncommons. I won't even run Online only downshifts. Just how I wanted my cube to me.
Hey guys, long-time lurker here. This thread popped up as I was considering doing something similar (had a Dr. Strangelove moment where I wondered why I was worrying so much about WotC's designations as a strict rule), so I figured it was as good a time as any to introduce myself. A link to my (currently) Peasant cube should be below in my signature, assuming I've set everything up correctly.
My basic goals for adding a few rares are to:
1) Provide some additional support to certain archetypes (such as Spells Matter and +1/+1 Counters)
2) Smooth out some colors' mana curves
3) Increase the variance of available effects a bit (esp. to avoid duplicate/similar cards such as Pestilence/Pyrohemia)
I also like the idea of adding some more older cards to the cube that just fit the "feel" of Peasant, such as Call of the Herd and Mahamoti Djinn.
Anyway, I'm not interested in adding Wrath effects to my cube, but I've been going back and forth over cards like Earthquake and Starstorm. I'm really fond of Quake, but worry it's too splashable / easy to break symmetry on. Starstorm I kind of wish hit players. What do you guys think?
But now we're shooting Upheavals with Den Protectors and Morphlings at bus stations, assembling raggedy lean-tos with our *****ty cardboard card boxes and leftover doritos bags behind smokestacks, just looking to score our next good hit of retinally-injected rare-draft endorphines from the irreputable young ladies along the underpass.
I haven't been home in weeks - I think my landlord changed the locks. I just want to put Pandora back in her box, but she doesn't fit. She says she never did in the first place - but who you gonna believe?
Yes, it might sound like an oxymoron, and probably is. But there are many reasons why you would want to expand your peasant cube with rares. This thread exists for the discussion of what rares could be included to meet specific goals, and to discuss experiences and theorycraft about the possible effect of certain rares on an environment.
Since trying to define or narrow down "Peasant with rares" seems pointless, this thread is open for any type of cube. However, keep adding enough rares to your peasant cube and the environment will be further and further removed from that typically encountered in a peasant draft. Now that journey might be fun, shaping your cube from a peasant to a no-restrictions cube sounds like it could be rewarding in and of itself. But the advice you will be able to obtain in the Peasant forum might become less and less relevant (unless several cubers end up taking the journey together). For these reasons, it is a good idea to describe your goals when asking questions/initiating discussions, so that the community is as well armed as possible to help you out.
Some reasons to break peasant include:
Some things to keep in mind when considering what rares to run (A lot of this is taken from bacchus2):
Cubetutor Peasant'ish-Funbox
Project: Khans of Tarkir Cube (cubetutor)
1 Pianna, Nomad Captain
1 Geist-Honored Monk
1 Precinct Captain
1 Galepowder Mage
Blue:
1 Desertion
1 Talrand, Sky Summoner
1 Serra Sphinx
1 Surrakar Spellblade
1 Oona's Prowler
1 Undead Gladiator
1 Disciple of Bolas
1 Skeletal Vampire
Red:
1 Firedrinker Satyr
1 Rakka Mar
1 Ash Zealot
1 Char
1 Ulvenwald Tracker
1 Awakening Zone
1 Wolfbriar Elemental
1 Hornet Queen
Colorless:
1 Erratic Portal
1 Runechanter's Pike
1 Chimeric Mass
1 Staff of Nin
CubeTutor: www.cubetutor.com/cubeblog/72
Thread: http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=512410
I've been looking into rares a lot recently, but before settling on my card selection I think it's important to figure out what my goals are. Peasant is a fantastic cube format already, why mess with it? For me there are a few potential reasons:
JovianHomarid, I'm going to steal your mission statement since I think it encapsulates my feelings as well:
With that in mind, I see this project as a variant of my existing Peasant cube instead of a wholly separate cube. I plan to maintain it as Peasant primarily, but have the option to swap some rares in, like-for-like, to create a new experience for certain drafts. I plan to work under the following restrictions:
I'm also working to hold myself to more subjective rules about the power level of the rares that I choose to include. Mostly, I don't want anything completely game-warping, including board wipes, easily repeatable removal or card advantage, etc. The kind of cards that interest me the most are ones that have a complexity low enough that they could have been printed at C/U, like solid creatures with good ETB effects that are already all over Peasant. I'm also trying to be generally conscious of raw power level - for instance, Restoration Angel as a creature with an attached flicker effect is something I'd love to have another copy of, but the stats + flash + flicker for that low, splashable mana cost put it too far ahead of the typical Peasant curve.
So with all that in mind, it looks like I'll be shooting for 4 cards of each color, with the remainder split among colorless/lands/gold. Here are some of the ones I've been eyeing:
Top-end Creatures: Luminate Primordial, Sphinx of Uthuun, Rune-Scarred Demon, ??? for red
One weakness of Peasant is that there really only seem to be one, maybe two cards of each color at 6+ mana that work as big finishers for more controlling decks. Pelakka Wurm is the gold standard of 7-drops, so I want to give other colors some remotely comparable options if they want to play the long game (or ramp). Red is difficult here, as Bogardan Hellkite is probably the best option, but 8 mana is often much harder to get to than 7, and in many cube games I already feel like surviving to untap with a 7-drop is a stretch against more aggressive decks.
White: Glorious Anthem, Blade Splicer, Secure the Wastes - Mostly theme support for going wide and flickering.
Blue: Venser, Shaper Savant, Clone (only printed at rare in Modern) or Phantasmal Image, then maybe Sphinx of Lost Truths or Dungeon Geists? - My blue section is mostly about tempo or control, nothing too flashy here.
Black: Fallen Angel, Smothering Abomination, ??? - Two good options to support a sacrifice-centric deck, not sure whether the last slot should go towards aggro, or maybe a solid attrition/recursion style card.
Red: Zealous Conscripts, Goblin Dark-Dwellers, Zurgo Bellstriker, Pia and Kiran Nalaar or Siege-Gang Commander - Maybe I don't need a big finisher, there's a good mix of value cards and some aggro support (including a much-needed 1-mana 2/2, Modern misses Jackal Pup).
Green: Genesis Hydra, Managorger Hydra, ??? - Not settled on green as much. Managorger gives us a real threat at 3, and Genesis is just a fun card for ramp decks, should be good value at 7+ - compares most closely to Enlisted Wurm, I think.
Other: Solemn Simulacrum, Conjurer's Closet, City of Brass and/or Mana Confluence, Mystic Snake, Coalition Relic if it's not too good (it probably is)
My cube discussion thread
Blink: Deadeye Navigator
Reanimator in black: Scion of Darkness
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.
http://www.cubetutor.com/viewcube/45049
......
and Wrath of God
My Peasant Cube thread !!! (380 cards)
Draft my Peasant Cube on Cube Cobra !!!
Could you comment on what specific cards were problematic? Also, I am interested in your experiences with Talrand, Sky Summoner, Runechanter's Pike and Surrakar Spellblade. I run Talrand and the pike as rewards for the Kiln Fiend-deck, and Talrand has been good but not problematic. (He is a 4 mana 2/2 that requires two additional spells before it is better than his invocation in terms of bodies on board. The pike on the other hand has been lackluster. I never want to pick or run it. Maybe I should? I have also had a look at the spellblade, but it seems to me to take too much work to be worth it. I guess a good scenario is you play it on turn 3 and then force him through with a spell on turn 4 and get to draw a card. But what then? He is still only a 2/1 for 3 with double U casting cost and no evasion.
I agree. That's the problem with a lot of rares. They have cool effects that I'd love to run in the cube, but since they are pushed to be constructed playable the basic stats are typically so strong on their own that the whole package becomes too much.
I am intrigued by wrath-effects. What would be the best level to aim for? I feel that maybe Wrath of God/Damnation/Day of Judgment will be too strong at 4 CMC. I also feel that something like Phyrexian Rebirth would feel unfair, in both clearing the table and creating a threat. Perhaps the same is true for Planar Outburst, but at least you have to live to 8 mana with that one to get the full effect. It should also probably be mentioned that Wrath-effects are traditionally strictly (mythic) rare effects, so by including them you might be taking a pretty sharp turn away from the righteous path of peasant asceticism.
Cubetutor Peasant'ish-Funbox
Project: Khans of Tarkir Cube (cubetutor)
Random peasant-like cards I can think of right now:
Maybe Pain Seer or Pyrewild Shaman. Outland Colossus, Mantis Rider and Reaper of the Wilds also aren't too far off. Colfenor's Urn is whacky, but might fit as well.
Cubetutor Peasant'ish-Funbox
Project: Khans of Tarkir Cube (cubetutor)
My Peasant Cube thread !!! (380 cards)
Draft my Peasant Cube on Cube Cobra !!!
I've thought about this as well, I really don't think it would be overpowered, though it would clearly be the best aggro 1-drop and maybe even best aggro creature overall. Speaking of cards I'd like to try but are too expensive though, I could see running Snapcaster Mage, it's a very good card but kind of scales to its environment, in the sense that the spells available to you in a format dictate its actual power level.
My cube discussion thread
Cards that were a little problematic were ones that generated a ton of value off of a single card. Hornet Queen, Wolfbriar Elemental, and Rakka Mar were the most egregious offenders.
CubeTutor: www.cubetutor.com/cubeblog/72
Thread: http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=512410
I can't believe Snap would be fine. It can be argued that it is borderline oppressive in Modern (but let's not argue about that here), and a lot of the time he is snapping back peasant stuff like Serum Visions, Remand or Lightning Bolt. An Ambush Viper would probably almost be serviceable in a lot of decks (if an unexiting late pick) in and of itself. Adding that much value to it would push it too much I believe.
Cubetutor Peasant'ish-Funbox
Project: Khans of Tarkir Cube (cubetutor)
People lament that green doesn't have any great 3's. What if Centaur Omenreader cost 3? If it can get in unopposed, which will be easier if it can swing earlier, in aggro or even midrange you can drop multiple creatures, or pump out a fatty (also plays well with flash creatures). Does Gamekeeper become good enough at 3? Or Somberwald Alpha?
It certainly wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea, but something to consider. At least you can just sharpie up actual peasant cards
CubeTutor: www.cubetutor.com/cubeblog/72
Thread: http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=512410
I also cannot believe Snapcaster would be ok in Peasant.
CubeTutor: www.cubetutor.com/cubeblog/72
Thread: http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=512410
Raging ravine
Creeping tar pit
Oran rief the vastwood
Kessig wolf run
Gavony township
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
- 2-for-1's that alter your opponents board are fine, preferably with some minor conditions / drawbacks / cost enough (we already have these at peasant, with Flametongue Kavu and Shriekmaw pushing the power level)
- 3 or more for 1's that alter your opponents board are only ok if they are conditional or require you to be tricky (Slice and Dice is fine, Wrath of God is not)
- Cards that generate 'infinite' card advantage are fine if it is only once a turn and requires some set up / conditional. Extra caution for those that interact with the opponent's hand / board. (no Necropotence, Debtor's Knell requires no investment beyond casting. Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni requires interaction and is fine. Mind Twist is dumb. Avatar of Woe too easily destroys your opponent's board, but Nettlevine Blight would be fine)
- No cards that are near auto-wins if the opponent doesn't have an answer (Ensnaring Bridge)
- Similar to the above, no cards that, even if answered within a few turns, generate enough advantage in that time to massively swing the game and make it difficult to recover (peasant already has some of these, Skullclamp, Loxodon Warhammer, arguablyCurse of Predation)
Obviously every card needs to be reviewed on a case by case basis, but those seem like reasonable quick reference guidelines for my view on what makes peasant feel the way it does.
We often lament the lack of a black 6+ control finisher, here are a few rares that could be ok.
Legacy - GW Enchantress
Modern - U Urzatron (In construction)
Multiplayer - B ZOMBIES
Casual - B Suicide Black
Casual - WURx Krark-Clan Ironworks
Pauper - URBx Affinity
Pauper - B Pestilence
Pauper - W Steel Soldiers
EDH - W Isamaru, Hound of Konda 1V1
EDH - GRB Kresh the Bloodbraided
EDH - GW Trostani, Selesnya's Voice
EDH - UR Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
EDH - RB Lyzolda, The Blood Witch
EDH - UW Bruna, Light of Alabaster (Reworking)
EDH - UB Grimgrin, Corpse-Born
EDH - UG Vorel of the Hull Clade
EDH - WUG Phelddagrif
EDH - BGR Prossh, Skyraider of Kher
Pauper EDH - G Garruk's Packleader
Pauper EDH - RG Bloodbraid Elf
CUBE:
500 Peasant Cube (52% Foil) Cube Tutor Page
My basic goals for adding a few rares are to:
1) Provide some additional support to certain archetypes (such as Spells Matter and +1/+1 Counters)
2) Smooth out some colors' mana curves
3) Increase the variance of available effects a bit (esp. to avoid duplicate/similar cards such as Pestilence/Pyrohemia)
I also like the idea of adding some more older cards to the cube that just fit the "feel" of Peasant, such as Call of the Herd and Mahamoti Djinn.
Anyway, I'm not interested in adding Wrath effects to my cube, but I've been going back and forth over cards like Earthquake and Starstorm. I'm really fond of Quake, but worry it's too splashable / easy to break symmetry on. Starstorm I kind of wish hit players. What do you guys think?
(And nice to meet y'all!)
It started small, with a Verdant Force here, a Shivan Dragon or Mahamoti Djinn there; we had the best intentions on every visit from Call of the Herd or Rainbow Efreet.
Then, the taste of freedom in our mouths, we slinked onward to Stunted Growth, Jokulhaups and Wildfire. We slummed around alleyways with Spirit of the Night and Manabarbs, and didn't ever wonder why Evacuation was hanging out under that bridge.
But now we're shooting Upheavals with Den Protectors and Morphlings at bus stations, assembling raggedy lean-tos with our *****ty cardboard card boxes and leftover doritos bags behind smokestacks, just looking to score our next good hit of retinally-injected rare-draft endorphines from the irreputable young ladies along the underpass.
I haven't been home in weeks - I think my landlord changed the locks. I just want to put Pandora back in her box, but she doesn't fit. She says she never did in the first place - but who you gonna believe?
My Peasant Cube thread !!! (380 cards)
Draft my Peasant Cube on Cube Cobra !!!
My cube discussion thread