I also thought of Typhoid Rats, which I think I'd prefer. But it is neat that Uncle Fester (strictly good nickname) can threaten a two-for-one or take out utility X/1-s.
Is there a creature with a Perilous Myr/Festering Goblin/Goblin Arsonist-type ability but with acceptable offensive stats? So that it could be pseudo-evasive by threatening to take out something important?
I also thought of Typhoid Rats, which I think I'd prefer.
I can get behind that. A 1-power deathtoucher for one mana may not hit as hard as some of the better aggro 1-drops, but they scale much better into the late game than the overwhelming majority of 1-drops, so they often slot well into more controlling decks that need something to do early, and aren't the worst early drop for more aggressive decks, either. I run Ruthless Ripper, Gnarlwood Dryad, and Wasteland Viper in my Peasant cube, but even if there were no version available with upside, I'd still run Typhoid Rats. I'm actually surprised not to see this kind of creature in more Peasant lists.
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Shambling Goblin will never force you to target your own creatures, though. Both are niche upsides over the other, but I think Shambling is better (though worse in name and art).
Shambling Goblin isn't strictly better than Festering Goblin. It's the other way around. Festering Goblin can hit any creature.
Not entirely irrelevant if you have graveyard recursion or Lust for War in your cube. Ha
I specifically used the words "pretty much" to cover silly corner cases like that. Usually you won't want to be forced to destroy one of your own creatures.
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I don't currently run it, but I think I was thinking about the card all wrong when I had it in my cube previously. Base case for this guy should be cycling, with the creature being a backup plan, not the other way around. It should get another shot at some point.
Same thoughts, pretty much. While it doesn't specifically ramp you, cards that help you hit land drops and fix your mana early while also being relevant late have a lot of value.
It's great. Like an instant-speed Divination which can also sometimes be the biggest creature on board if you want that late-game. Or you can T4 make a 6/5 with some reanimate effect.
Nice, _i0! Gotta love those old frame foils. Krosan Tusker's a great, versatile card as mana fixing and card advantage, flood insurance in the late game, and a reanimation target that bins itself. I'm happy to have it in my cube.
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Single-target is important (you're even on mana to kill a Soltari Trooper or Hypnotic Specter), but the other two points I don't care at all about. Neither card is good enough to be splashable, and the odds of hitting someone in the fact for X=9 instead of X=10 mattering are so miniscule.
It's definitely an iconic card, but we don't have a problem cutting the likes of Sengir Vampire, White Knight, Serra Angel and whatnot when they no longer stack up to the 23+ years of cards printed since Alpha.
Kaervek's Torch was an X spell, and it was so powerful that players splashed red just to play it. The next large set was Tempest, and I was leading the design (it was my first design lead, and interestingly my first design team). I was determined to correct that mistake, so my common red X spell had two red mana in its cost to make it harder to splash.
Okay, I could have moved it up to uncommon or not made it capable of killing multiple creatures, but I was trying to advance our design, and the idea of using double colored mana on powerful low-rarity cards did prove to be a valuable strategy.
Now he was talking about the effect of Kaervek's Torch in Mirage limited, which is a "different" format than Peasant Cube, but still. I think the splashability is something to take into account.
As for the cards, I could see running either option. Is it also ok to consider Heat Ray (if, say your total mix of other burn-spells dictate that your X-slot should be an instant) or would Volcanic Geyser or Ravaging Blaze be better? I don't like the idea of paying 2RR for a shock though..
Heat Ray seems wildly unplayable. The reason you're willing to put up with a three-mana Shock is that sometimes it'll be a Lava Axe or double Lava Axe to win the game out of nowhere.
Geyser is OK, but it's so much harder to get 1RR/2RR than 1R/2R early to kill some small aggro threat that being an instant is definitely not enough upside.
Ravaging Blaze also stumbles in enough ways that I still put it way behind actual Blaze (or Fireball, etc). Still quite bad for X=1 or 2, and late-game sometimes you'll not have spell mastery or the damage-to-the-face part will be thwarted by a sacrifice outlet or protection effect.
A few years ago Yavimaya Ants may have been playable, but green four-drops are one of the most stacked slots at common/uncommon rarity that I don't think it's good enough any more.
Keldon Champion is an almost-staple red 4, and this is reasonably close to that.
Of course, even with more good low drops to support green aggro printed in recent sets, this type of body is still much more in-demand for red decks than green.
I ran the card to decent success like a year ago, and it could possibly work in a green section looking to be like 70% as aggro as a typical red section.
Against not a 1/1 or a 2/2, it threatens waaay too much damage. Against those, it's like 4 mana edict that bolts the face. Bad removal spell but passable for green I suppose as a low low end floor. You just have to be seriously on the sideways plan.
I feel like I always underestimate how good the Life half of Life // Death is. Because you frequently have more lands than the opponent has blockers, it is very easy to get in quick damage with Life just by tapping out. It's almost like an X-spell to the opponent's dome.
Of course, Death is a solid, but low-tier reanimation spell, due to the life loss and the targeting restrictions. Whenever I think about maybe replacing Life // Death because of Death being a little weak, I remember the overall picture and keep it in.
It was almost shut out of the Peasant Power Rankings, which is surprising to me. I think it shares a tier with Putrefy, Dreg Mangler, and Catacomb Sifter, which are all solid cards that also have a lot of decent mono-color analogues that can squeeze them out of guild sections.
Is there a creature with a Perilous Myr/Festering Goblin/Goblin Arsonist-type ability but with acceptable offensive stats? So that it could be pseudo-evasive by threatening to take out something important?
Cubetutor Peasant'ish-Funbox
Project: Khans of Tarkir Cube (cubetutor)
I can get behind that. A 1-power deathtoucher for one mana may not hit as hard as some of the better aggro 1-drops, but they scale much better into the late game than the overwhelming majority of 1-drops, so they often slot well into more controlling decks that need something to do early, and aren't the worst early drop for more aggressive decks, either. I run Ruthless Ripper, Gnarlwood Dryad, and Wasteland Viper in my Peasant cube, but even if there were no version available with upside, I'd still run Typhoid Rats. I'm actually surprised not to see this kind of creature in more Peasant lists.
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Not entirely irrelevant if you have graveyard recursion or Lust for War in your cube. Ha
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I specifically used the words "pretty much" to cover silly corner cases like that. Usually you won't want to be forced to destroy one of your own creatures.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Probably my favorite red card behind Flametongue.
My Peasant Cube thread !!! (380 cards)
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Krosan Tusker
I don't currently run it, but I think I was thinking about the card all wrong when I had it in my cube previously. Base case for this guy should be cycling, with the creature being a backup plan, not the other way around. It should get another shot at some point.
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Fireball
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It's definitely an iconic card, but we don't have a problem cutting the likes of Sengir Vampire, White Knight, Serra Angel and whatnot when they no longer stack up to the 23+ years of cards printed since Alpha.
Now he was talking about the effect of Kaervek's Torch in Mirage limited, which is a "different" format than Peasant Cube, but still. I think the splashability is something to take into account.
As for the cards, I could see running either option. Is it also ok to consider Heat Ray (if, say your total mix of other burn-spells dictate that your X-slot should be an instant) or would Volcanic Geyser or Ravaging Blaze be better? I don't like the idea of paying 2RR for a shock though..
(Aside: Mirage had Kaervek's Torch at common, Volcanic Geyser at uncommon, and Torrent of Lava at rare. Add green for Tropical Storm and Savage Twister, both at uncommon, and that is a lot of X-damage spells.)
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Geyser is OK, but it's so much harder to get 1RR/2RR than 1R/2R early to kill some small aggro threat that being an instant is definitely not enough upside.
Ravaging Blaze also stumbles in enough ways that I still put it way behind actual Blaze (or Fireball, etc). Still quite bad for X=1 or 2, and late-game sometimes you'll not have spell mastery or the damage-to-the-face part will be thwarted by a sacrifice outlet or protection effect.
Cubetutor Peasant'ish-Funbox
Project: Khans of Tarkir Cube (cubetutor)
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Thread: http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=512410
Keldon Champion is an almost-staple red 4, and this is reasonably close to that.
Of course, even with more good low drops to support green aggro printed in recent sets, this type of body is still much more in-demand for red decks than green.
Against not a 1/1 or a 2/2, it threatens waaay too much damage. Against those, it's like 4 mana edict that bolts the face. Bad removal spell but passable for green I suppose as a low low end floor. You just have to be seriously on the sideways plan.
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430, Peasant, Very Unpowered
Why you should take your hybrids out of your gold section
Manamath Article
Of course, Death is a solid, but low-tier reanimation spell, due to the life loss and the targeting restrictions. Whenever I think about maybe replacing Life // Death because of Death being a little weak, I remember the overall picture and keep it in.
It was almost shut out of the Peasant Power Rankings, which is surprising to me. I think it shares a tier with Putrefy, Dreg Mangler, and Catacomb Sifter, which are all solid cards that also have a lot of decent mono-color analogues that can squeeze them out of guild sections.
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/peasantsnowcube
-- Updated with Outlaws of Thunder Junction
The PioneWer Peasant CUbe
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/pionewer
-- Updated with Murders at Karlov Manor