To avoid the same debate, I suggest putting it at 1, with caveats that it's a fine card, but probably only worth considering for redundancy reasons.
Putting cards like this and Terror to an automatic 1 or 2 depending on the likelihood of the redundancy mattering seems like a fine practice in general, putting cards that have strictly, or even just clearly, better options on offer. As long as you make it clear in the description what the better option is, I don't see what the big deal is.
In the case of Briarpack Alpha, Simic Flash-Go is another archetype that you might want this for. After you've already included Briarhorn and a few others, Briarpack Alpha is still above average for green Flash creatures available at Peasant. Getting to flash it in as a blocker, eat any attacker that's 4/5 or smaller, and still have a 3/3 left over is pretty big game. To my mind, that makes it worth at least a 1 if not a 2.
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465 card Unpowered cube thread. Draft it here and I'll be happy to return the favor.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
I tried Centaur chieftain in my dredge-supportive cube. Even there, it's just not that impactful to get +!/+! on the team once ofr all that work (especially since graveyard synergy and go wide don't tend to be great bedfellows in my experience)
I like Briarpack as a 2, but I haven't played it in forever. Grain of salt, there.
But If I saw briarpack in a pack, I'd assume it's in the cube to be the second briarhorn. Easy.
It's still real; good and only the second-place option.
But If I saw briarpack in a pack, I'd assume it's in the cube to be the second briarhorn. Easy.
It's still real; good and only the second-place option.
This. Briarpack is not redundant in the same way that Ostracize is redundant.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good. 3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect. 2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds). 1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect. No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Druid's Familiar - 3 Description - When it works, it is the equivalent of 6/6 worth of stats for 4 mana. It has some vulnerabilities if your opponent interacts with it or its partner mid-combat, but it can threaten 2 hasty power the turn it comes down (or effectively more if you couldn't have attacked otherwise), or threaten to grow to a 4/4 at a moments notice if it is unpaired, which can make your opponent nervous. Fine for pushing aggro or midrange, with some cute synergies with 'power matter' cards like Spikeshot Goblin or doublestrikers. Anchors - Supports - Doublestrikers
Emperor Crocodile - 1 Description - Solid stats, so you need to make sure you can mitigate the downside. The easiest way is with go wide decks or midrange decks that can protect their decks. It might be too risky to run in some decks, or be sideboarded out in certain matchups. Anchors - Supports -
Festerhide Boar - 1 Description - A 5/5 trampler for 4 mana isn't bad. It doesn't really stand out from the crowd, but if you support sacrifice themes (to more easily enable morbid) and play +1/+1 counter 'lords', this goes up in value. Karstoderm is likely a more reliable beater, but this does have trample. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters, sacrifice
Gamekeeper - 1 Description - It's not on the best body, but it's a guaranteed 2 for 1, and it is likely to put a few cards in your graveyard for decks that like that. Setting up a big play is difficult, but there are a few playable or fringe cards; Sensei's Divining Top, Brainstorm, Crystal Ball etc. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters, sacrifice
Ivy Lane Denizen - 1 Description - It needs to provide 2 counters to be on the curve, so it has a bit of setup cost, but being able to distribute the counters where you like has upside. Only triggering off green creatures is a negative, but if you've got some token creators or recursion it can go up in value. It's only for slower cubes where you are likely to get 3+ counters of it though. Anchors - Supports - Tokens
Karstoderm - 2 Description - A 5/5 for 4 is solid, and even if you get a single counter it is still decent. If you support any sort of artifact theme or a higher count than normal, it isn't worth it. Anchors - Supports -
Kozilek's Predator - 2 Description - It's not really for aggressive decks, but it is 3 bodies for sacrifice decks, and might make it into ramp decks as a way to trade off with something or hold back some aggro creatures while using the spawn tokens to accelerate into something the following turn. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice, Ramp
LLanowar Empath - 1 Description - There isn't a compelling reason to go out of your way to play it, but the effect itself is fine. Anchors - Supports -
Darba - May as well play Wild Leotau (don't play Wild Leotau).
Imperiosaur - On curve it's decent, but you can't accelerate it out and the density of nonbasics in your deck might impact when you can cast it. Maybe if you just need a creature with stats, but there are better 4-drops or more reliable 5-drops with the same stats.
I disagree with Emperor Crocodile as a unplayable. It might be me but the fact that he is so splashable and fits so well in many green decks I like him. He has fantastic efficency for the amount of mana you are paying for him. While his downside requires you to have another creature look at your average peasant cube and then look at the amount of creatures most decks using green run. The numbers are there for him and while removing everything else just to kill him is bad I still feel the good outwieghts the bad.
In my opnion he deserves a 1 if not a 2 as 2 is playable and it is dependant on cube composition and mostly requires a bit of draft composition to run effecttivly. In my cube he is a monster and he slots perfectly into the Fires archetype that Red/Green holds in my cube I would never cut him unless they printed a more efficent 5/5 for 4 mana in green.
But I know I have differing opnions on a lot of cards values with other users here so Im intrested in hearing your experince with him.
Festerhide Boar is bad, morbid is a clunky and unreliable mechanic.
Gamekeeper is also pretty meh (1). You're not going to build an Oath of Druids deck that always flips over a great creature, and it's very clunky to actually get the dumb thing to die.
Big Croc is fine, not THAT hard to avoid getting blown out. A vanilla 5/5 for 4 also isn't some insane payoff, but it's certainly still above-curve and worth a 1.
I cube Llanowar Empath, but I don't think there is a good reason to do so other than really liking Sea Gate Oracle-type effects. It's not embarrassing, but there are a ton of better green four drops. Not sure how many of them draw cards though, but I guess the answer is just "play Harmonize".
My initial reaction on seeing Harvester Troll's rating was also to compare it to Erhnam Djinn. I like bacchus's comments though, but I think it needs to be the best/only delirium and +1/+1-counter enabler at 4 in green before it deserves a 1. Is it?
I'm intrigued by Drumhunter's design. I like how it ramps you to big creatures and then rewards you for playing them. Shame it is awful.
Karstoderm fills the roll of "sizeable idiot with +1/+1 counters", and there's no delirium payoff strong enough that you would want a 4/5 for 4 that requires you to sacrifice a land.
Harvester Troll could also be a fringe card for token decks or Spider Spawning/Worm Harvest decks, I don't think delirium or counters is the only direction you can go with it. Granted, it's not great in any of those decks, but it is a green sac outlet and it does have synergy in a couple of ways.
I'll drop Festerhide Boar to 1. Discussion of other 5/5's for 4 (or close enough) does move this down a little, but if you are pushing certain themes might still make it. It is the only one with trample that I recall, though.
Emperor Crocodile to 1. It seems risky to me, but then I suppose it isn't designed to go in every deck.
I was trying to find a home for Harvester Troll, but as i0 said, you can get the payoff without having to jump through hoops. So down to 0.
Harvester Troll could also be a fringe card for token decks or Spider Spawning/Worm Harvest decks, I don't think delirium or counters is the only direction you can go with it. Granted, it's not great in any of those decks, but it is a green sac outlet and it does have synergy in a couple of ways.
You can jump through hoops to think of times where sacrificing something is beneficial, but in the vast majority of decks you're playing a 4/5 for 4 with a huge downside.
True "delirium decks" where you care about having all the card types in the yard aren't really a thing, are they? Token decks, BG sac and BG self-mill on the other hand are, so there are few actual hoops required. I don't think the troll is worth playing, but if you wanted to play it, those would be the decks it could slot into right away.
I feel the need to stick up for Erhnam Djinn and Imperiosaur, too. Ernie's drawback is still pretty minimal, and the fact that it's sppashable makes the drawback potentially completely irrelevant. There's nothing else splashable at this cost that's this big without a much worse drawback. I've run it, and it was fine. In a 2 color deck, it's not hard to run so few non basics that it can always be cast on time. Neither is terribly exciting, but they're efficient beaters with easy to mitigate drawbacks. I think each deserves a 1.
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450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
My unplayable for Imperiosaur is off the back of me previously running it in my cube. I felt that it was too often in my hand with 5 lands on the table, including a Vivid and a triland or something, waiting to draw my next basic. It seems like we have enough similar options; Blastoderm is king, but Karstoderm etc seem more reliable) that are. Perhaps it can go to 1.
I didn't actually read Erhnam Djinn, just thought I remembered what it did... Iwas thinking Erhnam Djinn made all of your opponents creatures get Forestwalk, not just one, and you get a turns grace. So I'm find with moving this up to 1.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good. 3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect. 2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds). 1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect. No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Lumberknot - 1 Description - 4 mana for a 1/1 is pretty bad, but you can support a deck that plays attrition wars where this could work. It's bad top deck, but in the right deck (and therefore cube) it could turn into a massive beater that can't be dealt with by spot removal. This is the better version because you can target it, but you could play Algae Gharial as well if you want redundancy. Anchors - Supports - Pants
Masked Admirers - 2 Description - This is a grindy card that packs some value, but the game has to go long to realise all the value. The baseline of creature plus draw a card is fine, but against some decks the body might be outclassed, but if it trades and you can get it back multiple times that is gravy. Costing double green to get it back is probably harder than you might think though, particularly when casting other green creatures. Also fine for graveyard based decks, or with appropriate sequencing with discard outlets. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Ondu Giant - 2 Description - It can fit the midrange ramp category, helping ramp decks block in the mid game while still ramping, and potentially holding back a few aggro creatures that can't attack into it. Anchors - Supports - Ramp
Pack Guardian - 2 Description - The base stats plus flash is ok, though that alone only matters if you are looking specifically for flash creatures. The extra ability does give it a bit of extra play, potentially letting you put 6/5 worth of stats on the board, which can be fine as a surprise aggro curve topper cast at the end of the opponents turn, or just to mount a surprise defense. Marginal support for delirium and threshold. Anchors - Supports -
Paragon of Eternal Wilds - 1 Description - As a 2/2 for 4, it isn't really good enough in a generic deck with green cards. The only reason to cube it is if you have multiple token creators in green. E.g. Imperious Perfect, Sprout Swarm. The trample is fairly throwaway, but could matter sometimes. Anchors - Supports -
Peema Outrider - 2 Description - While looking somewhat 'filler' on the surface, a 4/4 trampler for 4 serves the role of beef well enough, with the fabricate providing some flexible synergy options. Anchors - Supports - tokens, +1/+1 counters, artifact matters
Penumbra Spider - 3 Description - Solid spider; sometimes they might have the board or removal to trade with the first body, but have trouble getting through the second. Solid in recursive decks. Anchors - Supports -
Phantom Centaur - 4 Description - The protection from black might turn some people off as a random hoser, but the rest of the card does something fairly unique. 5 starting power makes it likely to threaten trades with something, and if you are on defense it can 'trade' multiple times. Plays well with cards that provide +1/+1 counters, and dodges black and most red removal. The damage prevention works even if there are no +1/+1 counters to remove, so if you can boost its toughness (e.g. Trusty Machete, Elephant Guide, Gaea's Anthem) it becomes nearly indestructible. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Roaring Primadox - 1 Description - You get a decent body for the price. The 'drawback' needs to be a feature of your cube, with enough ETB effects to abuse. The forced timing is a negative compared to other options, but the repeatability with no additional mana investment is nice. Could backfire depending on the board state, but at the very least you'll get a 4/4 blocker, even if you have to recast it until you draw something else. Anchors - Supports -
Saber Ants - 1 Description - The body is unimpressive, but it could be difficult to attack into. Maybe if you want to push controlling green decks; the most likely outcomes are either preventing attacks while your opponent waits to draw a non-damage answer, or they trade with it and leave you a handful of 1/1's. Anchors - Supports - Tokens
Locust Swarm - Way too inefficient for what it does.
Longshot Squad - If you want a +1/+1 lord, this isn't the one you want.
Lumbering Satyr - The drawback is going to cause you to either lose games or just not be able to cast it.
Murasa Ranger - I can see some best case scenarios, but you can get some 5/5's with minor drawbacks at this cost, that don't demand 4 mana the following turn. Sure, it can get to 9/9 or something silly, but how often is that going to happen?
Phantom Centaur's a house. It's really hard to deal with even for non-black decks as it's hard to trade with and it would take multiple burn spells to kill it. With toughness boosting Equipment or Aura's, it's almost indestructible. It also incidentally supports +1/+1 counters. I like it at 3.
Rooting around in the trash, I think Ondu Giant could be worth playing in cubes that are bigger and/or want to go deeper in ramp. In a ramp deck this will often come down on T3, and its stats let it brick wall a lot of opposing boards while ramping into even bigger things. That's gotta be worth at least a 3. Pre-emptively, I'd make a similar case for Wild Wanderer. The stats aren't quite as good, but a 3/2 still trades off with a lot while protecting your life total.
I wonder about Penumbra Spider. It is such an easy and obvious 2-for-1, so that makes me think it deserves a 3. But on the other hand, I know from experience that I don't pick this too highly. Perhaps I am just bad at draft?
I'm not sure if I agree that Acidic Slime automatically renders Mold Shambler obsolete. The ability to just be a hill giant when you are waiting for your fift land, or if there are no targets and you have other ways to spend extra mana late game. Curve-issues and so on also.
Once again I find myself cubing a questionable card, in this case Ondu Giant. I haven't looked too carefully into what the "better cards" are, but this plays a good role in 4/5-colour-green and mega-ramp, both of which often have good use for the 2/4.
Yeah, Phantom Centaur is sick. There are some auras that make it completely immune to damage, so sometimes it's just broken.
edit: due to this ruling: The damage prevention ability works even if it has no counters, as long as some effect keeps its toughness above zero. (2004-10-03)
Green 4 drops are loaded with good and interesting cards compared to the amount of slots I have for them in my cube, but I'm worried that too many of them require two green mana.
Phantom Centaur can be a 3. Most cubes already have incidental ways to boost its toughness without trying too hard, and even if you don't it is still good.
I probably underrated Ondu Giant, it does fill a role for ramp decks a little different from other options. The cheap accelerators either have to tap for mana, have zero power so opponent can safely go wide, or just trade with most stuff. At least a 1. As for Wildwood Wanderer, how often would you want it over Borderland Ranger?
I'm not really sold on Mold Shambler being good enough, but it can go to 1 unless someone else wants to argue it down.
I find Penumbra Spider not to a super early pick, but still up there. It is almost always groan worthy when I face it.
In any ramp deck with a lot of 2CMC accelerants, or one that's actively trying to ramp to 6+ mana ASAP. Putting that extra land onto the battlefield instead of your hand is a pretty big deal.
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450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
I don't wanna compare Wild Wanderer to Borderland Ranger, I want to compare it to Ondu Giant. And in that comparison I think most ramp decks want the 2/4 over the 3/2. Possibly trading "up" but most likely trading down seems worse than just eating 3/2s and smaller.
I'd agree with this, a dedicated ramp deck is going to be more interested in the more defensive body at 4 mana, and the Wild Wanderer will often be trading even further down than Goblin Piker. That 4 toughness on Ondu Giant is way more important than the 3rd toughness on Wanderer. If Ondu Giant deserves a 2 (and I'm not sure if it does, JovianHomarid, since you've been running it, what do you think?), Wild Wanderer deserves a 1.
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450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
I'd probably say they deserve a 1 and a 0, respectively. Could argue for 2 and 0..
A 2 is " These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds)."
A 1 is "Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect."
I don't know that Ondu Giant is really a "good card". I guess it fits interchangeable (lots of green ramp). I also don't think the reason to run it is to "support some obscure arhcetype". But for the 3/2, I think the effect is narrow enough that you don't need two dudes like this, so that makes it get a redundancy-zero.
Putting cards like this and Terror to an automatic 1 or 2 depending on the likelihood of the redundancy mattering seems like a fine practice in general, putting cards that have strictly, or even just clearly, better options on offer. As long as you make it clear in the description what the better option is, I don't see what the big deal is.
In the case of Briarpack Alpha, Simic Flash-Go is another archetype that you might want this for. After you've already included Briarhorn and a few others, Briarpack Alpha is still above average for green Flash creatures available at Peasant. Getting to flash it in as a blocker, eat any attacker that's 4/5 or smaller, and still have a 3/3 left over is pretty big game. To my mind, that makes it worth at least a 1 if not a 2.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
I like Briarpack as a 2, but I haven't played it in forever. Grain of salt, there.
But If I saw briarpack in a pack, I'd assume it's in the cube to be the second briarhorn. Easy.
It's still real; good and only the second-place option.
Also, that 4 mana untap 2 lands guy is terrible.
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
This. Briarpack is not redundant in the same way that Ostracize is redundant.
Added Briarpack Alpha at 2, and Crowned Ceratok at 1.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Druid's Familiar - 3
Description - When it works, it is the equivalent of 6/6 worth of stats for 4 mana. It has some vulnerabilities if your opponent interacts with it or its partner mid-combat, but it can threaten 2 hasty power the turn it comes down (or effectively more if you couldn't have attacked otherwise), or threaten to grow to a 4/4 at a moments notice if it is unpaired, which can make your opponent nervous. Fine for pushing aggro or midrange, with some cute synergies with 'power matter' cards like Spikeshot Goblin or doublestrikers.
Anchors -
Supports - Doublestrikers
Emperor Crocodile - 1
Description - Solid stats, so you need to make sure you can mitigate the downside. The easiest way is with go wide decks or midrange decks that can protect their decks. It might be too risky to run in some decks, or be sideboarded out in certain matchups.
Anchors -
Supports -
Festerhide Boar - 1
Description - A 5/5 trampler for 4 mana isn't bad. It doesn't really stand out from the crowd, but if you support sacrifice themes (to more easily enable morbid) and play +1/+1 counter 'lords', this goes up in value. Karstoderm is likely a more reliable beater, but this does have trample.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters, sacrifice
Gamekeeper - 1
Description - It's not on the best body, but it's a guaranteed 2 for 1, and it is likely to put a few cards in your graveyard for decks that like that. Setting up a big play is difficult, but there are a few playable or fringe cards; Sensei's Divining Top, Brainstorm, Crystal Ball etc.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters, sacrifice
Ivy Lane Denizen - 1
Description - It needs to provide 2 counters to be on the curve, so it has a bit of setup cost, but being able to distribute the counters where you like has upside. Only triggering off green creatures is a negative, but if you've got some token creators or recursion it can go up in value. It's only for slower cubes where you are likely to get 3+ counters of it though.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens
Karstoderm - 2
Description - A 5/5 for 4 is solid, and even if you get a single counter it is still decent. If you support any sort of artifact theme or a higher count than normal, it isn't worth it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Kozilek's Predator - 2
Description - It's not really for aggressive decks, but it is 3 bodies for sacrifice decks, and might make it into ramp decks as a way to trade off with something or hold back some aggro creatures while using the spawn tokens to accelerate into something the following turn.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice, Ramp
LLanowar Empath - 1
Description - There isn't a compelling reason to go out of your way to play it, but the effect itself is fine.
Anchors -
Supports -
In my opnion he deserves a 1 if not a 2 as 2 is playable and it is dependant on cube composition and mostly requires a bit of draft composition to run effecttivly. In my cube he is a monster and he slots perfectly into the Fires archetype that Red/Green holds in my cube I would never cut him unless they printed a more efficent 5/5 for 4 mana in green.
But I know I have differing opnions on a lot of cards values with other users here so Im intrested in hearing your experince with him.
Gamekeeper is also pretty meh (1). You're not going to build an Oath of Druids deck that always flips over a great creature, and it's very clunky to actually get the dumb thing to die.
There's no way Erhnam Djinn is worse than Harvester Troll.
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Big Croc is fine, not THAT hard to avoid getting blown out. A vanilla 5/5 for 4 also isn't some insane payoff, but it's certainly still above-curve and worth a 1.
My initial reaction on seeing Harvester Troll's rating was also to compare it to Erhnam Djinn. I like bacchus's comments though, but I think it needs to be the best/only delirium and +1/+1-counter enabler at 4 in green before it deserves a 1. Is it?
I'm intrigued by Drumhunter's design. I like how it ramps you to big creatures and then rewards you for playing them. Shame it is awful.
Ernham Djinn-> Erhnam Djinn
Fibrous Entangler should probably point to something else entirely?
Golgari Chieftain->Gorilla Chieftain
Greehilt Tainee->Greenhilt Trainee
Intepid Provisioner ->Intrepid Provisioner
Krosa Constrictor ->Krosan Constrictor
Cubetutor Peasant'ish-Funbox
Project: Khans of Tarkir Cube (cubetutor)
Emperor Crocodile to 1. It seems risky to me, but then I suppose it isn't designed to go in every deck.
I was trying to find a home for Harvester Troll, but as i0 said, you can get the payoff without having to jump through hoops. So down to 0.
Llanowar Empath to 1.
You can jump through hoops to think of times where sacrificing something is beneficial, but in the vast majority of decks you're playing a 4/5 for 4 with a huge downside.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
I didn't actually read Erhnam Djinn, just thought I remembered what it did... Iwas thinking Erhnam Djinn made all of your opponents creatures get Forestwalk, not just one, and you get a turns grace. So I'm find with moving this up to 1.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Lumberknot - 1
Description - 4 mana for a 1/1 is pretty bad, but you can support a deck that plays attrition wars where this could work. It's bad top deck, but in the right deck (and therefore cube) it could turn into a massive beater that can't be dealt with by spot removal. This is the better version because you can target it, but you could play Algae Gharial as well if you want redundancy.
Anchors -
Supports - Pants
Masked Admirers - 2
Description - This is a grindy card that packs some value, but the game has to go long to realise all the value. The baseline of creature plus draw a card is fine, but against some decks the body might be outclassed, but if it trades and you can get it back multiple times that is gravy. Costing double green to get it back is probably harder than you might think though, particularly when casting other green creatures. Also fine for graveyard based decks, or with appropriate sequencing with discard outlets.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Ondu Giant - 2
Description - It can fit the midrange ramp category, helping ramp decks block in the mid game while still ramping, and potentially holding back a few aggro creatures that can't attack into it.
Anchors -
Supports - Ramp
Pack Guardian - 2
Description - The base stats plus flash is ok, though that alone only matters if you are looking specifically for flash creatures. The extra ability does give it a bit of extra play, potentially letting you put 6/5 worth of stats on the board, which can be fine as a surprise aggro curve topper cast at the end of the opponents turn, or just to mount a surprise defense. Marginal support for delirium and threshold.
Anchors -
Supports -
Paragon of Eternal Wilds - 1
Description - As a 2/2 for 4, it isn't really good enough in a generic deck with green cards. The only reason to cube it is if you have multiple token creators in green. E.g. Imperious Perfect, Sprout Swarm. The trample is fairly throwaway, but could matter sometimes.
Anchors -
Supports -
Peema Outrider - 2
Description - While looking somewhat 'filler' on the surface, a 4/4 trampler for 4 serves the role of beef well enough, with the fabricate providing some flexible synergy options.
Anchors -
Supports - tokens, +1/+1 counters, artifact matters
Penumbra Spider - 3
Description - Solid spider; sometimes they might have the board or removal to trade with the first body, but have trouble getting through the second. Solid in recursive decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Phantom Centaur - 4
Description - The protection from black might turn some people off as a random hoser, but the rest of the card does something fairly unique. 5 starting power makes it likely to threaten trades with something, and if you are on defense it can 'trade' multiple times. Plays well with cards that provide +1/+1 counters, and dodges black and most red removal. The damage prevention works even if there are no +1/+1 counters to remove, so if you can boost its toughness (e.g. Trusty Machete, Elephant Guide, Gaea's Anthem) it becomes nearly indestructible.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Roaring Primadox - 1
Description - You get a decent body for the price. The 'drawback' needs to be a feature of your cube, with enough ETB effects to abuse. The forced timing is a negative compared to other options, but the repeatability with no additional mana investment is nice. Could backfire depending on the board state, but at the very least you'll get a 4/4 blocker, even if you have to recast it until you draw something else.
Anchors -
Supports -
Saber Ants - 1
Description - The body is unimpressive, but it could be difficult to attack into. Maybe if you want to push controlling green decks; the most likely outcomes are either preventing attacks while your opponent waits to draw a non-damage answer, or they trade with it and leave you a handful of 1/1's.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens
Rooting around in the trash, I think Ondu Giant could be worth playing in cubes that are bigger and/or want to go deeper in ramp. In a ramp deck this will often come down on T3, and its stats let it brick wall a lot of opposing boards while ramping into even bigger things. That's gotta be worth at least a 3. Pre-emptively, I'd make a similar case for Wild Wanderer. The stats aren't quite as good, but a 3/2 still trades off with a lot while protecting your life total.
Rabit Wombat --> Rabid Wombat
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
I wonder about Penumbra Spider. It is such an easy and obvious 2-for-1, so that makes me think it deserves a 3. But on the other hand, I know from experience that I don't pick this too highly. Perhaps I am just bad at draft?
I'm not sure if I agree that Acidic Slime automatically renders Mold Shambler obsolete. The ability to just be a hill giant when you are waiting for your fift land, or if there are no targets and you have other ways to spend extra mana late game. Curve-issues and so on also.
Once again I find myself cubing a questionable card, in this case Ondu Giant. I haven't looked too carefully into what the "better cards" are, but this plays a good role in 4/5-colour-green and mega-ramp, both of which often have good use for the 2/4.
(For pun-factor, you should consider swapping your comments on Pharika's Disciple and Pheres-Band Tromper)
Cubetutor Peasant'ish-Funbox
Project: Khans of Tarkir Cube (cubetutor)
edit: due to this ruling: The damage prevention ability works even if it has no counters, as long as some effect keeps its toughness above zero. (2004-10-03)
I probably underrated Ondu Giant, it does fill a role for ramp decks a little different from other options. The cheap accelerators either have to tap for mana, have zero power so opponent can safely go wide, or just trade with most stuff. At least a 1. As for Wildwood Wanderer, how often would you want it over Borderland Ranger?
I'm not really sold on Mold Shambler being good enough, but it can go to 1 unless someone else wants to argue it down.
I find Penumbra Spider not to a super early pick, but still up there. It is almost always groan worthy when I face it.
In any ramp deck with a lot of 2CMC accelerants, or one that's actively trying to ramp to 6+ mana ASAP. Putting that extra land onto the battlefield instead of your hand is a pretty big deal.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Cubetutor Peasant'ish-Funbox
Project: Khans of Tarkir Cube (cubetutor)
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
A 2 is " These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds)."
A 1 is "Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect."
I don't know that Ondu Giant is really a "good card". I guess it fits interchangeable (lots of green ramp). I also don't think the reason to run it is to "support some obscure arhcetype". But for the 3/2, I think the effect is narrow enough that you don't need two dudes like this, so that makes it get a redundancy-zero.
Cubetutor Peasant'ish-Funbox
Project: Khans of Tarkir Cube (cubetutor)