I think it was Caleb Durward who employed Farsight Mask fairly well in a Mirrodin throwback draft, but I find it hard to argue with Bacchus' description from a peasant environment perspective.
I actually like Farsight Mask as a card and is second on my list if I had to include something after Aradara Express. But as Jovian said, in a peasant cube context I don't think it will do enough, consistently enough. It needs to trigger twice before you are ahead, and to do that, you need to let your opponent deal damage to you. Aggro decks that have already applied pressure will love the fact that you invested 5 mana not developing the board, and some control decks can probably just shrug and keep working on their game plan until they are ready to attack or do whatever it is they are doing.
Moving on to the 5-drop gold creatures.
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.
Cloudblazer - 3 Description - It's great value. The biggest 'downside', if you want to consider it one, is that it's pretty close to a multi-colour version of Mulldrifter. Anchors - Supports -
Decimator Beetle - ??? Description - It seems ok, but does it really have a place? Anchors - Supports -
Fleetfeather Cockatrice - 2 Description - It's passable at 5 mana, but you really want to get it monstrous to make it really worthwhile. That makes it well suited for ramp decks (and probably signals that is what you want ug to be doing), but it can still help when you are behind by being able to take out most incoming attackers at instant speed when needed. Anchors - Supports - Ramp
Fusion Elemental - 1 Description - You need to be all in on 5-colour. You probably don't need this, but if your cube has enough color mana rocks, ramp spells and colour fixing that you can get this out around turn 5 with reasonable consistency, an 8/8 vanilla is still a good size threat. Anchors - Supports -
Haunter of Nightveil - 2 Description - If you want to support Dimir control, this is a reasonable option to hold off opposing creatures assaults, while potentially increasing the profitable attacks you have, especially against go wide decks. Anchors - Supports -
Jelenn Sphinx - ??? Description - I think this is a no, but at least it is an anthem that has decent toughness plus evasion, so is likely to survive for repeated attacks? Anchors - Supports -
Juniper Order Ranger - 2 Description - The base isn't great for the cost, but it only takes a few more creatures to become decent itself, while beefing up those creatures at the same time. Fine for midrange, and gets better if you have +1/+1 lord support. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Kulrath Knight - ??? Description - I'm not confident -1/-1 counters matters is a thing that has quite enough support, but this could be added to that pile? Anchors - Supports -
Maverick Thopterist - 1 Description - It's no Whirler Rogue, but even without discount it isn't a bad deal. That said, the main reason to cube it would be in support of an artifact theme, given plenty of other Izzet playables. Anchors - Supports - Artifact Matters
Maw of the Obzedat - 2 Description - Instant speed team pump without requiring mana is powerful. You need to be going wide for it to be really doing much, but it doesn't take much to be able to threaten for lethal damage, or throw away your worst creature to turn combat around. Anchors - Supports -
Agent of Masks - Drana's Emissary is a much better version.
For aesthetics; I'm going to redo this post at the top of a new page.
I actually like Farsight Mask as a card and is second on my list if I had to include something after Aradara Express. But as Jovian said, in a peasant cube context I don't think it will do enough, consistently enough. It needs to trigger twice before you are ahead, and to do that, you need to let your opponent deal damage to you. Aggro decks that have already applied pressure will love the fact that you invested 5 mana not developing the board, and some control decks can probably just shrug and keep working on their game plan until they are ready to attack or do whatever it is they are doing.
Moving on to the 5-drop gold creatures.
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.
Cloudblazer - 3 Description - It's great value. The biggest 'downside', if you want to consider it one, is that it's pretty close to a multi-colour version of Mulldrifter. Anchors - Supports -
Decimator Beetle - 2 Description - It doesn't need to remove a -1/-1 counter to be able to place one, so it can be a decent midrange card, attacking as a 4/5 while making something smaller on their side of the board. Fine, but most cubes aren't going to have a lot of synergies it can take advantage of. Anchors - Supports -
Fleetfeather Cockatrice - 2 Description - It's passable at 5 mana, but you really want to get it monstrous to make it really worthwhile. That makes it well suited for ramp decks (and probably signals that is what you want ug to be doing), but it can still help when you are behind by being able to take out most incoming attackers at instant speed when needed. Anchors - Supports - Ramp
Fusion Elemental - 1 Description - You need to be all in on 5-colour. You probably don't need this, but if your cube has enough color mana rocks, ramp spells and colour fixing that you can get this out around turn 5 with reasonable consistency, an 8/8 vanilla is still a good size threat. Anchors - Supports -
Haunter of Nightveil - 2 Description - If you want to support Dimir control, this is a reasonable option to hold off opposing creatures assaults, while potentially increasing the profitable attacks you have, especially against go wide decks. Anchors - Supports -
Juniper Order Ranger - 2 Description - The base isn't great for the cost, but it only takes a few more creatures to become decent itself, while beefing up those creatures at the same time. Fine for midrange, and gets better if you have +1/+1 lord support. It does have some infinite combos with persist creatures, especially if you have a free sacrifice outlet. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Kulrath Knight - 1 Description - You can use other cards that put counters on your opponents creatures, like -1/-1 counters, but it also shuts down any of your opponents creatures with counters, including their own +1/+1 counters, fading or levelling counters etc. It might be effective in some scenarios, but it might generate 'feel bads' for players drafting a synergistic +1/+1 counter deck for example. Anchors - Supports -
Maverick Thopterist - 1 Description - It's no Whirler Rogue, but even without discount it isn't a bad deal. That said, the main reason to cube it would be in support of an artifact theme, given plenty of other Izzet playables. Anchors - Supports - Artifact Matters
Maw of the Obzedat - 3 Description - Instant speed team pump without requiring mana is powerful. You need to be going wide for it to be really doing much, but it doesn't take much to be able to threaten for lethal damage, or throw away your worst creature to turn combat around. Anchors - Tokens / Go Wide Supports -
Agent of Masks - Drana's Emissary is a much better version.
Decimator Beetle is a machine once it gets going. You don't have to remove counters to be able to add, so you just get to crash in and keep shrinking their dudes. Downside that if it is answered immediately you not only have nothing to show for it, but you might be down a -1/-1 counter on one of your own dudes.
I am in doubt about Fusion Elemental. I don't know, the raw stats of 8/8 for 5 are obviously appealing, but if you are playing enough fixing to have five colours reasonably early, isn't there a chance that some of that fixing has come in the form of ramp (Cultivate, signets, etc.) so it is just as easy to play a higher CMC, less colour-intensive threat on turn 5? Still, it is a novelty and a signal that a five colour deck exists I suppose.
I don't think Jelenn Sphinx quite gets there without haste or a permanent pump.
Juniper order ranger could mention the infinite combo potential with persist creatures.
Kulrath Knight sees any counter, so it can work as a hate card for +1/+1 counters if that is something you would ever want. Sounds miserable. Also means that it doesn't work with any unleash creatures.
From the praise I have seen heaped on it, I anticipate strong voices incoming demanding a higher grade for Maw.
I thought Decimator Beetle needed to remove a counter to work, but it looks like you are correct (It mustn't have been programmed correctly in Magic Duels which was my basis :mad:) Maybe a 2.
I don't have an issue with Fusion Elemental at 1. It seems unnecessary, in that you can have a 5-colour deck without putting in a 5 colour card, but it is at least a strong signal.
Jelenn Sphinx can go to no reason to cube.
Updated Juniper Order Ranger description, and Kulrath Knight.
I hovered on Maw of the Obzdedat, so it can go up to 3.
If you want 5c cards, play paragon of amesha and dragonsoul knight. Fusion elemental is bad. My second peasant cube has a 5 color element and a vanilla creature just doesn't do it.
I wouldn't necessarily *advocate* for maw being a 4, but if someone said so I wouldn't bother disagreeing. It's a very good 3 as far as I can tell.
Not sure how to describe it, but it does need you to be running a higher than average amount of creatures. Including obviously all the bird/spirit tokens you can get a hand on.
Maybe it also worked out so well because I was running less removal than usual, but Im pretty sure it was doing fantastically well for me back before I made that change.
I've omitted Maw from a good amount of my BW decks because it didn't quite fit (wasn't aggressive/lower creature count/consistent win condition). It's always been incredible whenever I've seen it. I don't see it too often, but I think that's more of it being undervalued than impossible to put in a deck (I've had to explain that I was dead to it a few times).
If I just drafted BW tokens 3 times in a row I would probably give it a 4, but I'm not slam 1st picking it, so it's probably a 3.
I've given Maw a 3. I've never had it in my cube, but in theorycubing I had the same reservations as maijikin; I wasn't sure how often you would really have enough creatures to sacrifice. I've never cubed it though, so I am happy to go with 3.
The rest of the gold 5cc creatures.
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.
Pharika's Mender - 2 Description - Solid value. It’s stats aren’t the biggest bang for buck, but it will still trade with a decent amount of creatures, while getting you back a relevant card. Good anchor card for graveyard recursion decks for Golgari. If you don't want to cube both this and Baloth Null, this might be your choice if you care about enchantments, particularly allowing you to recurse enchantment based reanimator spells. Anchors - Supports - Creature Recursion, Enchantment Matters
Possessed Skaab - 1 Description - It hits a range of targets, but even then a 3/2 for 5 mana is underwelming. You might cube it if you want more 'value' cards for your Dimir section. Anchors - Supports -
Resolute Blademaster - 1 Description - It's worth noting as the ceiling can be decent if you've got enough mid-sized creatures on the board, but as a one-shot effect something like Rally the Peasants is going to be more consistent. If you've got some other incidental Allies you might consider it. Anchors - Supports -
Sky Hussar - 1 Description - It's a mana free draw engine in the right situation, though tapping creatures on your own upkeep is a bit of a downside. It can come with a free draw the turn you play it if you have the creatures available, as they will untap on the ETB ability. If you have the sort of control decks that are likely to be able to draw multiple cards from this (that don't need them to protect you while you are spinning your wheels) then consider cubing it; otherwise there are lots of other Azorius options which would be better includes. Anchors - Supports -
Zhur-Taa Swine - 1 Description - It doesn't weigh up against other Gruul options, but if you want to go all in on aggro, throwing an extra 5 damage on an unblocked creature might win you the game, and if blocked your creature will nearly always be able to win the combat. Anchors - Supports -
Scuzzback Marauders - It can run over a few tokens, but the fact that it still dies pretty easily both times means it probably isn’t going to find a home in most decks.
Segmented Wurm - You can get 5/5's without downside in mono-green, so I don't know why you want this.
Sky Hussar has always been a puzzle to me. The base case is a two-color 4/3 flier for 5, which is a 0. The next best case is if you have two creatures out when you cast it, it's a Gryff Vanguard with +1/+1, which is at least a 1. The absolute best case is that you have a deck that's simultaneously looking for a long game but also has enough creatures that you can afford to tap two of them a turn to bury your opponent in card advantage. I don't see that being a common situation in most cubes, so I'd guess it's about a 1 overall.
With no real experience with either card: I like valgatiag's comment, and I think Blademaster is just worse than rally the peasants. Not even sure if it is better than Dawnfeather Eagle.
I agree with the rest, and could find nothing salvageable in the no-section this time round.
Err... where is my post from yesterday? It basically said 1's for Sky Hussar and Resolute Blademaster.
All of the 5cmc gold spells in one go. I need to update my Excel spreadsheet with recent sets, so Migratory Route is the obvious missing card here. Now that Ixalan is out, we'll do Hour of Devastation and whatever other supplemental sets I've missed after this lot.
After that, bunching 6+ together seems appropriate. I think there is little value in splitting out 6, 7, 8 etc.
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.
Aether Mutation - 2 Description - Bouncing an opponent's midrange creature, or better yet a ramp target, and getting 4+ tokens can be a decent tempo hit; get something through this turn, then go wide it next turn after they recast it. Also decent when you are behind, and in the right board state can target your own creature. Anchors - Supports - Tokens
Bituminous Blast - 2 Description - The tempo gained can be impressive. Cast in response to an attack, you might take out something while also putting a profitable blocker on the table. Anchors - Supports -
Leafdrake Roost - 1 Description - Creating an army of flyers is appealing, though it is essentially 8 mana before your get your first drake. Probably only if you are looking for a win condition for UG control decks. Anchors - Supports - Tokens
Prophetic Bolt - 3 Description - Excellent value. Kills creatures, can hit players, doesn't cost a card, and you get card selection for the replacement. There are few Izzet decks (if any) that wouldn't want this. Anchors - Supports -
Slave of Bolas - 1 Description - It's ok as a way to kill their creature while getting a hit in, but when you view it as 5-mana creature kill it doesn't sound as good. If you have multiple ways in your cube to sacrifice it for value it gets a bit better. It does have a weird colour identity; probably calling it black is fine. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Torrent of Souls - 2 Description - You would consider this a Rakdos card rather than hybrid; you are never casting the red side alone, and there are better reanimation options. Getting both though can be fine if you've got a few others creatures to throw into combat, potentially acting as an aggro finisher. Fine, but doesn't stand out. Anchors - Supports -
Worm Harvest - 1 Description - It's an interesting win condition for cubes that support self-mill and similar graveyard themes, allowing it to go wide over several turns. It doesn't take too many of those types of cards to make this decent, and if you can start casting this with 4 lands already in your graveyard it's a good start. Often counted as a Golgari card rather than hybrid given the mana commitment, and that those two colours have the best support cards. (You technically don't NEED to support self-mill and other graveyard themes for this to be a win condition, but I'd like to see the control deck that survives long enough). Anchors - Graveyard Matters / Self-mill Supports -
Ethereal Ambush - Worst case scenario is you get a couple of 2/2's for 5 mana, which is not great for a gold card, even at instant speed. Given how much it will cost you to manifest into something, not worth it.
Extract from Darkness - It's probably fine to put in a deck, but not worth a gold slot for when you can just play mono coloured reanimator spells.
Palliation Accord - It only prevents damage to you, and it is probably doing nothing when you are behind. There a probably a few obscure combos that essentially prevent you from losing the game, but not enough to consider cubing it.
Primal Visitation - Doesn't do enough for what you are paying. In what world are you paying 5 mana for this and playing a creature that you are giving haste?
Thoughtflare - It sees more cards than Jace's Ingenuity, but the pure card advantage there seems more relevant.
Traitor's Roar - It looks like it could serve as an aggro topper, getting rid of a blocker while doming the opponent, but it isn't going to be consistent enough. At 5 mana you could cube better burn spells or other effects that achieve the goal more consistently.
Urban Evolution - It looks most suited to UG ramp, but there are several mono-blue draw spells that probably just as much or better in 90% of situations.
My first thought on Traitor's Roar was that it is often worse than Delirium, even though that can't take out a blocker the turn you draw it. My next thought was that often it will just play very similarly to a Threaten. My third thought was that the conspire part can't really come up that often, can it? And my final thought was that we have Slave of Bolas in this same section, and that is probably better too?
In my experience Worm Harvest is only a 1. It takes quite some setup (as opposed to Spider Spawning since lands don't go naturally to your graveyard.
Death Frenzy definitely has potential, but you may be right in that it just lacks a home, or is just too expensive compared to stuff like Drown in sorrow. Similarly for Twinstrike-probably good, but just worse than Reckless spite?
Leafdrake roost 0
Prophetic bolt 3?
And Urban evolution the ramp isn't consistent enough to warrant paying +1 from concentrate (which nobody plays) and a gold slot.
but this is a debate we have
I don't like Death Frenzy because the life gain doesn't really add an interesting angle compared to anything you can get for cheaper in mono-black, so it doesn't make sense to use up a gold on it. My comment was probably a bit lazy, and I should update it.
I'm a personal fan of Wurm Harvest, though I know opinion is divided on it. I don't think it is that hard (and I assume quite common) to cube graveyard fillers so that you don't need to commit a bunch of extra slots to support it. They need to be there, but most of those support cards are good elsewhere. I'm reluctant to drop it to 1, but I will do so unless someone else wants to fight for it.
Twinstrike I don't think is actually a bad card, but as you've said, just doesn't compare to other better cards.
Is there something else you'd rather cube that serves the same purpose as Leafdrake Roost? Maybe even just Centaur Glade is better, particularly as it doesn't take up a gold slot?
Prophetic Bolt I gave a 4 based on other feedback, but I don't actually cube it myself. So 3 is fine. I suppose it is good, but doesn't really add anything specific.
I can see Urban Evolution being better than Concentrate in specific games (ramp from 3 to 5, play Urban Evolution, play another land, untap with 7 mana on turn 5) but you are probably right, a number of mono-blue card draw is probably going to be better 90% of the time.
I play Slave of Bolas in my black section. It's a kill spell mixed with act of treason and has been disgusting every time I have seen it played. Take their best creature, swing with it, and then kill it plays incredibly well in a limited. It plays well if you are ahead, behind or at parity. It does have a somewhat restrictive mana cost and not everyone would agree it belongs in a black section like I do so I would give it a 2.
Slave of Bolas is miles worse than plain old Murder, which is currently a 2. I guess a 1 for it? It's five mana removal, which no deck really prioritizes highly, at least unless you get some superb upside as you do from Prophetic Bolt or Ribbons of Night.
btw Bacchus2, in the Black section of 1CC creatures, you have a few 2CC creatures in that section. Just been catching up on all of what you had posted earlier
btw Bacchus2, in the Black section of 1CC creatures, you have a few 2CC creatures in that section. Just been catching up on all of what you had posted earlier
I noticed this a little while back, went to do some edits, and they didn't stick for some reason. Made me really frustrated and so I didn't go back and re-do it at the time. I'm a bit behind in adding some of the classifications, and I'm up to adding Amonkhet to the front page, which means inserting stuff to the already existing categories, so I'll do it then.
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.
Wasp of the Bitter End - 3 Description - It's the only black 2/1 flyer for 2 mana without a drawback, making it solid support for aggro decks. Power level aside, the Bolas line might be too inelegant for some, and Dauthi Horror is a better pure aggro creature (but can't block). Anchors - Supports -
Banewhip Punisher - 1 Description - It's floor is a sorcery speed kill spell for 2BB which is not something you'd play, but it has some additional flexibility by being a creature, and it might affect the board state before you have to sacrifice it. It can kill a 1 toughness creature, or just stall the board. Anchors - Supports -
Torment of Scarabs - 2 Description - It's an oddball card. It can fit as an aggro curve topper; by the time you've cast it, ideally you've pressured their life total and they have to start sacrificing their board presence which can start sealing the game. If you are seeding it as a control card, make sure your cube has enough other ways of pressuring their resources. Anchors - Supports -
Razaketh's Rite - 1 Description - 5 mana isn't really what you want to be paying for a tutor, and Demonic Tutor is the gold standard. However you can always cycle this at instant speed if you just need to draw a card or don't need to find a specific answer. You may want to give it more consideration if you have a significant amount of build arounds and want to add in some redundancies. Anchors - Supports -
Aerial Guide - 2 Description - It isn't too flashy, but pairing it with a solid midrange grounded creature can push through some damage, particularly green and red beef. Anchors - Supports -
Ominous Sphinx - 1 Description - You probably want to be fairly heavy on looters and other discard effects, but if you can activate those effects at instant speed this can help change combat math. Murder of Crows is probably more universally playable and you would cube that if you don't have sufficient ways to trigger this, but a 4/4 flyer for 5 is still a decent baseline if you don't get the trigger. Anchors - Supports -
Feral Prowler - 1 Description - It's probably ok as a defensive card for control decks in environments chock full of 2/1's and 2/2's and get a card back later. Even if you just play it and it chumps you still get the card back. It doesn't really add much, so inclusion should be based on whether you think green control / ramp decks need this early interaction to survive a little longer. Anchors - Supports -
Oasis Ritualist - 2 Description - This can fill the role of being an accelerant while also being a defensive creature when needed in a ramp deck. The 4 toughness can help stem aggro early, ramp you by 2 if you aren't under pressure, and just be an attacker late in the game when you don't need the ramp any more. Ondu Giant is an alternative; it ramps you less, but the ramp effect is permanent. Anchors - Ramp Supports -
Tenacious Hunter - 1 Description - 4/4 for 4 is a decent starting point, but you would have to make -1/-1 counters a theme if you really want to get the advantage. If you can turn it on, deathtouch and vigilance are a decent combo, particularly if they don't have something already on board that can trade 1 for 1 with it. You should probably expect it be just a vanilla 4/4 more frequently though. Anchors - Supports -
Bitterbow Sharpshooters - 1 Description - Reasonable combo of stats and abilities, allowing it to attack while still putting up air defense. Fine, though there are a number of alternatives for mid-large sized reach creatures and you don't need them all and can choose the ones that suit your curve (Penumbra Spider, Seed Guardian, and Skysnare Spider are solid alternatives). Anchors - Supports -
Merciless Eternal - In some board states it might be able to threaten a bunch of damage early in the game, but if it's the first thing you cast you still won't kill them if they don't block, and if you curve out, you won't have cards to threaten this being big enough to end the game.
Eternal of Harsh Truths - The downside of blocking isn't big enough. It's going to be a 3 mana creature that makes them lose 2 life and gets eaten by something bigger far too often.
Seer of the Last Tomorrow - At least it has the decency to have a big butt if you are going to the effort of supporting mill. But even if you support mill, you don't want something that costs you a card each time you activate it.
Sinuous Striker - I thought the Eternalise side might just maybe get there, until I realised it also costs you another card… Nope.
Hope Tender - The first ability doesn't accelerate, it just fixes or maybe costs a mana to re-use a utility land. Exerting only accelerates by 1. Bouncelands seem like the time to consider it more highly, but even there, you probably want 2 bouncelands in play to really feel like you are getting away with something, which doesn't seem that likely.
blanket zero
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
Cubetutor Peasant'ish-Funbox
Project: Khans of Tarkir Cube (cubetutor)
Moving on to the 5-drop gold creatures.
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.
Cloudblazer - 3
Description - It's great value. The biggest 'downside', if you want to consider it one, is that it's pretty close to a multi-colour version of Mulldrifter.
Anchors -
Supports -
Decimator Beetle - ???
Description - It seems ok, but does it really have a place?
Anchors -
Supports -
Fleetfeather Cockatrice - 2
Description - It's passable at 5 mana, but you really want to get it monstrous to make it really worthwhile. That makes it well suited for ramp decks (and probably signals that is what you want ug to be doing), but it can still help when you are behind by being able to take out most incoming attackers at instant speed when needed.
Anchors -
Supports - Ramp
Fusion Elemental - 1
Description - You need to be all in on 5-colour. You probably don't need this, but if your cube has enough color mana rocks, ramp spells and colour fixing that you can get this out around turn 5 with reasonable consistency, an 8/8 vanilla is still a good size threat.
Anchors -
Supports -
Haunter of Nightveil - 2
Description - If you want to support Dimir control, this is a reasonable option to hold off opposing creatures assaults, while potentially increasing the profitable attacks you have, especially against go wide decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Jelenn Sphinx - ???
Description - I think this is a no, but at least it is an anthem that has decent toughness plus evasion, so is likely to survive for repeated attacks?
Anchors -
Supports -
Juniper Order Ranger - 2
Description - The base isn't great for the cost, but it only takes a few more creatures to become decent itself, while beefing up those creatures at the same time. Fine for midrange, and gets better if you have +1/+1 lord support.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Kulrath Knight - ???
Description - I'm not confident -1/-1 counters matters is a thing that has quite enough support, but this could be added to that pile?
Anchors -
Supports -
Maverick Thopterist - 1
Description - It's no Whirler Rogue, but even without discount it isn't a bad deal. That said, the main reason to cube it would be in support of an artifact theme, given plenty of other Izzet playables.
Anchors -
Supports - Artifact Matters
Maw of the Obzedat - 2
Description - Instant speed team pump without requiring mana is powerful. You need to be going wide for it to be really doing much, but it doesn't take much to be able to threaten for lethal damage, or throw away your worst creature to turn combat around.
Anchors -
Supports -
I actually like Farsight Mask as a card and is second on my list if I had to include something after Aradara Express. But as Jovian said, in a peasant cube context I don't think it will do enough, consistently enough. It needs to trigger twice before you are ahead, and to do that, you need to let your opponent deal damage to you. Aggro decks that have already applied pressure will love the fact that you invested 5 mana not developing the board, and some control decks can probably just shrug and keep working on their game plan until they are ready to attack or do whatever it is they are doing.
Moving on to the 5-drop gold creatures.
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.
Cloudblazer - 3
Description - It's great value. The biggest 'downside', if you want to consider it one, is that it's pretty close to a multi-colour version of Mulldrifter.
Anchors -
Supports -
Decimator Beetle - 2
Description - It doesn't need to remove a -1/-1 counter to be able to place one, so it can be a decent midrange card, attacking as a 4/5 while making something smaller on their side of the board. Fine, but most cubes aren't going to have a lot of synergies it can take advantage of.
Anchors -
Supports -
Fleetfeather Cockatrice - 2
Description - It's passable at 5 mana, but you really want to get it monstrous to make it really worthwhile. That makes it well suited for ramp decks (and probably signals that is what you want ug to be doing), but it can still help when you are behind by being able to take out most incoming attackers at instant speed when needed.
Anchors -
Supports - Ramp
Fusion Elemental - 1
Description - You need to be all in on 5-colour. You probably don't need this, but if your cube has enough color mana rocks, ramp spells and colour fixing that you can get this out around turn 5 with reasonable consistency, an 8/8 vanilla is still a good size threat.
Anchors -
Supports -
Haunter of Nightveil - 2
Description - If you want to support Dimir control, this is a reasonable option to hold off opposing creatures assaults, while potentially increasing the profitable attacks you have, especially against go wide decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Juniper Order Ranger - 2
Description - The base isn't great for the cost, but it only takes a few more creatures to become decent itself, while beefing up those creatures at the same time. Fine for midrange, and gets better if you have +1/+1 lord support. It does have some infinite combos with persist creatures, especially if you have a free sacrifice outlet.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Kulrath Knight - 1
Description - You can use other cards that put counters on your opponents creatures, like -1/-1 counters, but it also shuts down any of your opponents creatures with counters, including their own +1/+1 counters, fading or levelling counters etc. It might be effective in some scenarios, but it might generate 'feel bads' for players drafting a synergistic +1/+1 counter deck for example.
Anchors -
Supports -
Maverick Thopterist - 1
Description - It's no Whirler Rogue, but even without discount it isn't a bad deal. That said, the main reason to cube it would be in support of an artifact theme, given plenty of other Izzet playables.
Anchors -
Supports - Artifact Matters
Maw of the Obzedat - 3
Description - Instant speed team pump without requiring mana is powerful. You need to be going wide for it to be really doing much, but it doesn't take much to be able to threaten for lethal damage, or throw away your worst creature to turn combat around.
Anchors - Tokens / Go Wide
Supports -
I am in doubt about Fusion Elemental. I don't know, the raw stats of 8/8 for 5 are obviously appealing, but if you are playing enough fixing to have five colours reasonably early, isn't there a chance that some of that fixing has come in the form of ramp (Cultivate, signets, etc.) so it is just as easy to play a higher CMC, less colour-intensive threat on turn 5? Still, it is a novelty and a signal that a five colour deck exists I suppose.
I don't think Jelenn Sphinx quite gets there without haste or a permanent pump.
Juniper order ranger could mention the infinite combo potential with persist creatures.
Kulrath Knight sees any counter, so it can work as a hate card for +1/+1 counters if that is something you would ever want. Sounds miserable. Also means that it doesn't work with any unleash creatures.
From the praise I have seen heaped on it, I anticipate strong voices incoming demanding a higher grade for Maw.
Yeah, both 5 mana and 23 USD seems a bit steep.
Cubetutor Peasant'ish-Funbox
Project: Khans of Tarkir Cube (cubetutor)
I don't have an issue with Fusion Elemental at 1. It seems unnecessary, in that you can have a 5-colour deck without putting in a 5 colour card, but it is at least a strong signal.
Jelenn Sphinx can go to no reason to cube.
Updated Juniper Order Ranger description, and Kulrath Knight.
I hovered on Maw of the Obzdedat, so it can go up to 3.
I wouldn't necessarily *advocate* for maw being a 4, but if someone said so I wouldn't bother disagreeing. It's a very good 3 as far as I can tell.
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
Maybe it also worked out so well because I was running less removal than usual, but Im pretty sure it was doing fantastically well for me back before I made that change.
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
Cubetutor Peasant'ish-Funbox
Project: Khans of Tarkir Cube (cubetutor)
If I just drafted BW tokens 3 times in a row I would probably give it a 4, but I'm not slam 1st picking it, so it's probably a 3.
The rest of the gold 5cc creatures.
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.
Pharika's Mender - 2
Description - Solid value. It’s stats aren’t the biggest bang for buck, but it will still trade with a decent amount of creatures, while getting you back a relevant card. Good anchor card for graveyard recursion decks for Golgari. If you don't want to cube both this and Baloth Null, this might be your choice if you care about enchantments, particularly allowing you to recurse enchantment based reanimator spells.
Anchors -
Supports - Creature Recursion, Enchantment Matters
Possessed Skaab - 1
Description - It hits a range of targets, but even then a 3/2 for 5 mana is underwelming. You might cube it if you want more 'value' cards for your Dimir section.
Anchors -
Supports -
Resolute Blademaster - 1
Description - It's worth noting as the ceiling can be decent if you've got enough mid-sized creatures on the board, but as a one-shot effect something like Rally the Peasants is going to be more consistent. If you've got some other incidental Allies you might consider it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sky Hussar - 1
Description - It's a mana free draw engine in the right situation, though tapping creatures on your own upkeep is a bit of a downside. It can come with a free draw the turn you play it if you have the creatures available, as they will untap on the ETB ability. If you have the sort of control decks that are likely to be able to draw multiple cards from this (that don't need them to protect you while you are spinning your wheels) then consider cubing it; otherwise there are lots of other Azorius options which would be better includes.
Anchors -
Supports -
Zhur-Taa Swine - 1
Description - It doesn't weigh up against other Gruul options, but if you want to go all in on aggro, throwing an extra 5 damage on an unblocked creature might win you the game, and if blocked your creature will nearly always be able to win the combat.
Anchors -
Supports -
My cube discussion thread
I agree with the rest, and could find nothing salvageable in the no-section this time round.
Cubetutor Peasant'ish-Funbox
Project: Khans of Tarkir Cube (cubetutor)
All of the 5cmc gold spells in one go. I need to update my Excel spreadsheet with recent sets, so Migratory Route is the obvious missing card here. Now that Ixalan is out, we'll do Hour of Devastation and whatever other supplemental sets I've missed after this lot.
After that, bunching 6+ together seems appropriate. I think there is little value in splitting out 6, 7, 8 etc.
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.
Aether Mutation - 2
Description - Bouncing an opponent's midrange creature, or better yet a ramp target, and getting 4+ tokens can be a decent tempo hit; get something through this turn, then go wide it next turn after they recast it. Also decent when you are behind, and in the right board state can target your own creature.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens
Bituminous Blast - 2
Description - The tempo gained can be impressive. Cast in response to an attack, you might take out something while also putting a profitable blocker on the table.
Anchors -
Supports -
Leafdrake Roost - 1
Description - Creating an army of flyers is appealing, though it is essentially 8 mana before your get your first drake. Probably only if you are looking for a win condition for UG control decks.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens
Prophetic Bolt - 3
Description - Excellent value. Kills creatures, can hit players, doesn't cost a card, and you get card selection for the replacement. There are few Izzet decks (if any) that wouldn't want this.
Anchors -
Supports -
Slave of Bolas - 1
Description - It's ok as a way to kill their creature while getting a hit in, but when you view it as 5-mana creature kill it doesn't sound as good. If you have multiple ways in your cube to sacrifice it for value it gets a bit better. It does have a weird colour identity; probably calling it black is fine.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Torrent of Souls - 2
Description - You would consider this a Rakdos card rather than hybrid; you are never casting the red side alone, and there are better reanimation options. Getting both though can be fine if you've got a few others creatures to throw into combat, potentially acting as an aggro finisher. Fine, but doesn't stand out.
Anchors -
Supports -
Worm Harvest - 1
Description - It's an interesting win condition for cubes that support self-mill and similar graveyard themes, allowing it to go wide over several turns. It doesn't take too many of those types of cards to make this decent, and if you can start casting this with 4 lands already in your graveyard it's a good start. Often counted as a Golgari card rather than hybrid given the mana commitment, and that those two colours have the best support cards. (You technically don't NEED to support self-mill and other graveyard themes for this to be a win condition, but I'd like to see the control deck that survives long enough).
Anchors - Graveyard Matters / Self-mill
Supports -
In my experience Worm Harvest is only a 1. It takes quite some setup (as opposed to Spider Spawning since lands don't go naturally to your graveyard.
Death Frenzy definitely has potential, but you may be right in that it just lacks a home, or is just too expensive compared to stuff like Drown in sorrow. Similarly for Twinstrike-probably good, but just worse than Reckless spite?
Cubetutor Peasant'ish-Funbox
Project: Khans of Tarkir Cube (cubetutor)
Prophetic bolt 3?
And Urban evolution the ramp isn't consistent enough to warrant paying +1 from concentrate (which nobody plays) and a gold slot.
but this is a debate we have
My CubeCobra (draft 20 card packs, 2 packs.)
430, Peasant, Very Unpowered
Why you should take your hybrids out of your gold section
Manamath Article
I'm a personal fan of Wurm Harvest, though I know opinion is divided on it. I don't think it is that hard (and I assume quite common) to cube graveyard fillers so that you don't need to commit a bunch of extra slots to support it. They need to be there, but most of those support cards are good elsewhere. I'm reluctant to drop it to 1, but I will do so unless someone else wants to fight for it.
Twinstrike I don't think is actually a bad card, but as you've said, just doesn't compare to other better cards.
Is there something else you'd rather cube that serves the same purpose as Leafdrake Roost? Maybe even just Centaur Glade is better, particularly as it doesn't take up a gold slot?
Prophetic Bolt I gave a 4 based on other feedback, but I don't actually cube it myself. So 3 is fine. I suppose it is good, but doesn't really add anything specific.
I can see Urban Evolution being better than Concentrate in specific games (ramp from 3 to 5, play Urban Evolution, play another land, untap with 7 mana on turn 5) but you are probably right, a number of mono-blue card draw is probably going to be better 90% of the time.
My 540 CU/be thread
Slave of Bolas is miles worse than plain old Murder, which is currently a 2. I guess a 1 for it? It's five mana removal, which no deck really prioritizes highly, at least unless you get some superb upside as you do from Prophetic Bolt or Ribbons of Night.
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
Affinity
Legacy:
GBCombo Elves
EDH:
GEzuri, Renegade Leader's Elf Ball
Cube:
180 Peasant Micro Cube
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.
Wasp of the Bitter End - 3
Description - It's the only black 2/1 flyer for 2 mana without a drawback, making it solid support for aggro decks. Power level aside, the Bolas line might be too inelegant for some, and Dauthi Horror is a better pure aggro creature (but can't block).
Anchors -
Supports -
Banewhip Punisher - 1
Description - It's floor is a sorcery speed kill spell for 2BB which is not something you'd play, but it has some additional flexibility by being a creature, and it might affect the board state before you have to sacrifice it. It can kill a 1 toughness creature, or just stall the board.
Anchors -
Supports -
Torment of Scarabs - 2
Description - It's an oddball card. It can fit as an aggro curve topper; by the time you've cast it, ideally you've pressured their life total and they have to start sacrificing their board presence which can start sealing the game. If you are seeding it as a control card, make sure your cube has enough other ways of pressuring their resources.
Anchors -
Supports -
Razaketh's Rite - 1
Description - 5 mana isn't really what you want to be paying for a tutor, and Demonic Tutor is the gold standard. However you can always cycle this at instant speed if you just need to draw a card or don't need to find a specific answer. You may want to give it more consideration if you have a significant amount of build arounds and want to add in some redundancies.
Anchors -
Supports -
Aerial Guide - 2
Description - It isn't too flashy, but pairing it with a solid midrange grounded creature can push through some damage, particularly green and red beef.
Anchors -
Supports -
Ominous Sphinx - 1
Description - You probably want to be fairly heavy on looters and other discard effects, but if you can activate those effects at instant speed this can help change combat math. Murder of Crows is probably more universally playable and you would cube that if you don't have sufficient ways to trigger this, but a 4/4 flyer for 5 is still a decent baseline if you don't get the trigger.
Anchors -
Supports -
Feral Prowler - 1
Description - It's probably ok as a defensive card for control decks in environments chock full of 2/1's and 2/2's and get a card back later. Even if you just play it and it chumps you still get the card back. It doesn't really add much, so inclusion should be based on whether you think green control / ramp decks need this early interaction to survive a little longer.
Anchors -
Supports -
Oasis Ritualist - 2
Description - This can fill the role of being an accelerant while also being a defensive creature when needed in a ramp deck. The 4 toughness can help stem aggro early, ramp you by 2 if you aren't under pressure, and just be an attacker late in the game when you don't need the ramp any more. Ondu Giant is an alternative; it ramps you less, but the ramp effect is permanent.
Anchors - Ramp
Supports -
Tenacious Hunter - 1
Description - 4/4 for 4 is a decent starting point, but you would have to make -1/-1 counters a theme if you really want to get the advantage. If you can turn it on, deathtouch and vigilance are a decent combo, particularly if they don't have something already on board that can trade 1 for 1 with it. You should probably expect it be just a vanilla 4/4 more frequently though.
Anchors -
Supports -
Bitterbow Sharpshooters - 1
Description - Reasonable combo of stats and abilities, allowing it to attack while still putting up air defense. Fine, though there are a number of alternatives for mid-large sized reach creatures and you don't need them all and can choose the ones that suit your curve (Penumbra Spider, Seed Guardian, and Skysnare Spider are solid alternatives).
Anchors -
Supports -