What do people think of Scrounging Bandar (1G 0/0 w/ 2 +1/+1 counters, graft any# on upkeep)? +1/+1 counter synergy, not the worst thing to bounce/sac, good with evasion, can push through damage, and a 2 mana 2/2 with a small upside isn't the worst floor.
I haven't seen a lot of talk about Winding Constrictor, which I think is quite good (and put reasonably high on my top 10). Decent stats, neat ability, but I realize that my cube/guild section is bigger than most. Anybody else going to run it?
I think I'll definitely add this one. I've been toying with the idea of expanding my cube ten slots for ten more guild cards and if so this is one I would love to add as I'm a big fan of weird build around cards.
Gifted Aetherborn is a great card, but I wish he wasn't so similar to Vampire Nighthawk. I probably won't add him in for that reason. If he had been a 2/3 deathtouch menace or something like that, he'd be straight in.
Most of the cards from Squirrely's article look like they're at least worth testing, but there are two I have to take issue with.
I am not getting the love for Invigorated Rampage. Combat tricks that cost more than 1 are mediocre at best even in retail limited because it's harder to get the tempo swing of adding to your board after winning combat with your trick, and this doesn't even do anything to help save the creature you're pumping, so more often than not it's a 2-for-1 against you when you cast it if you're not winning the game immediately. Weapon Surge, Brute Force, or even Sure Strike are better as combat tricks. Since it can only target a maximum of 2 creatures this is also bad as an Anthem effect for decks looking to go wide, you're better off with Dynacharge.
Monstrous Onslaught looks way too clunky and conditional, and will do stone nothing when you need mass removal the most: when you're behind on board. That's not what I want to see in anything that costs 5 mana.
I'm also totally against Invigorated Rampage. All I see is a Tyrant's Choice that will 10% of the time be worth > 4 damage and some higher percentage of the time be way, way worse.
My quick top 20 from Æther Revolt, separated into tiers. For reference, I have a 512 card cube, 7 spells per guild. I generally rank by how likely I am to cube a card, not necessarily power level, but the two are mostly the same.
20) Renegade Rallier, 19) Rogue Refiner, 18) Renegade Wheelsmith- At this point, I feel like unless a card is very strong for the guild's theme, or very high value, I am not likely to cube it. So, I like all of these cards and would not object to anyone cubing them, but they don't specifically fit my cube.
17) Renegade Map- I was originally a bit higher on this card, but it does seem generally weaker than all of the land options available, like Crumbling Vestige or Mirrodin's Core.
16) Daredevil Dragster- I think the whole velocity counter thing is a drawback more than a benefit, since it requires specific level of interaction with your opponent and specific timing. And I would not be happy with a 3-mana, 4/4 vehicle with crew 2.
15) Wrangle- I do not play Threaten effects for sacrifice reasons, so this would be just a card for pure damage output. I have no idea if this is then generally better or worse than a deal 3 for 1R, but I presume worse.
13) Invigorated Rampage- I play pump spells in my cube to hopefully work like combo pieces. Whether that is with double-strikers, Berserk, Temur Battle Rage or other pump spells. I am also trying to make combat more interactive in general, so that is another benefit. My main concern is being two mana to cast instead of one.
12) Scrapper Champion- I am happy to have a strong red double striker, but I am not sure if it would be in my top 5 red four-drops, which means it is not a guarantee to stick around long term.
11) Fatal Push- I generally think this is a little worse for CUbe than both Disfigure and Tragic Slip, since it does not have either the general usefulness of Disfigure or the specific power of a morbid Tragic Slip. That said, it is another strong one-mana effect and I am happy to have it.
10) AEther Swooper- I think this card will find a lot of ways to be useful, and will almost always produce its servo. Making it kind of, sort of, a 1/2 flier and a 1/1 token for 1U, which is very nice.
9) Vengeful Rebel- I thought TyranidBill make an excellent point about Rebel being an aggro card more than a control card, which piqued my interest, since those types of cards can be hard to find for cube. There is a decent chance the Revolt is too hard to trigger frequently, making this more of a dud than stud.
8) Treasure Keeper- I think this will generally be a good value creature, kind of the bigger, more powerful cousin of Filigree Familiar, which had not excited me much at all as a CUbe card.
7) AEther Chaser- My only concern that is keeping this out of the top 5 is my concern that there will be some boards where it cannot safely attack, meaning the servo portion provides no upside. Unlike the Swooper, the base body is much stronger, meaning even a minimal upside should be worth it.
6) Winding Constrictor- Not a lot of synergy in black currently, but more than enough synergy in green to provide upside over the so-so 2/3 for BG body.
5) Maulfist Revolutionary- Very excited to have another trampler to cube, since they have strong synergy with pump spells. In addition, provides a lot of support for +1/+1 counters.
4) Gifted AEtherborn- Great stats for the mana cost, even though double black is a difficult early cost to pay. Should be very strong in all types of decks.
3) Ridgescale Tusker- Almost certainly going to provide 7 power and 7 toughness when it hits the board, and has extra upside with both token strategies and +1/+1 counter support. Great option for green sections.
2) Untethered Express- I expect this to function as a very strong piece of aggro support, since it can attack as a 5/5 trampler as soon as turn 5 and only grows from there. Crew 1 is the main key to the power here.
1) Skyship Plunderer- I was already at the point where a 2/1 flier for 1U would immediately get played, but adding an additional and substantial upside pushes this over the top as my most hyped cube card for this set.
Just to nit-pick: I disagree with the statement that it does nothing when you're behind. It does nothing when your board is empty, but it can still stabilize the board against a couple of small fries when you have a single larger creature in play. The card is worse when you're behind, but there's a larger area of slightly below or above parity where this card can put you pretty far ahead.
I can totally see the card not working out, but as basically the first green non-flying sweeper effect we get I think it has a lot of potential.
Sure, if you have a creature that's as big as or bigger than one or more creatures your opponent controls, Monstrous Onslaught will do some work. However, in the same situation, so will Epic Confrontation, Nature's Way, or even Prey Upon, and for a fraction of the cost. If you don't have anything that's as big as what your opponent has, this is a blank. I wouldn't expect this card to act as a sweeper anywhere near often enough to justify the extra mana, or the times it will be useless compared to other options at 5 mana.
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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 like Wasteland Viper best, I think. If drawn late-game, I think the combat trick allowing a token or something to trade up is a bigger deal than a little extra P/T, although the restriction to attacking creatures is a little rough. I've found delirium to be hard to turn on outside of decks that are deliberately going for it, so I'm not so high on the Dryad, and the buff to Renegade is small enough that I don't think it makes it that much more relevant on a turn after T1 or T2 where Revolt gets active. Plus, you have to hold it in your hand if you want it to get pumped, unlike Dryad, which just turns on.
The guarantee of viper is worth so much. Guarantee is always a 1/2 death touch that can be an uncountable combat trick always when attacking, whereas there is definitely work that needs to be done to make the other two good. I'm skeptical the other two are even playable because of that real hurdle.
There's obviously some value in the flexibility of Wasteland Viper still, but I really don't have much overlap between "defensive decks that want a 1-power 1-drop with deathtouch" and "decks that want an attacking-creatures-only combat trick".
Then again, Revolt is ALSO not a good pairing with a primarily defensive creature.
The reason I considered Narnam Renegade is elf warrior that sometimes has a +1/+1 counter, its creature type is the main reason, its got three way synergy. For now sunblade elf, although narrower, is the more powerful 1 drop elf warrior.
Got a 5-man cube session in after the prerelease on Saturday. Based on very limited results, here's my observations: Scrapper Champion - Pretty great, especially with equipment Gifted Aetherborn - Solid, but not terribly exciting Untethered Express - A pretty savage beating, hitting for five on turn five and then growing from there is just bigger than most other things in the cube
No experience with the others yet, just didn't show up in the pool.
I just don't feel like Scrapper Champion has a big enough butt to be played. I want my red 4-drops to have immediate impact. That being said, I do run Embodiment of Fury...
EDIT: On second thought, after putting it in, I test-ran a few drafts to see if the guy came up, and managed to draft this: http://www.cubetutor.com/cubedeck/668831
Think I'd be happy to draft this thing irl...
While Scrapper Champion is a little susceptible to burn, it tangles with pretty much everything in combat well. Even if you never get to attack with it it eats attackers with 2 toughness and trades with anything with less than 5 toughness, which is decent for a floor. If you do get to attack with it, it puts serious pressure on your opponent without tying up any other resources. It made a very positive impression on me in the games I played it.
Daredevil Dragster and Mobile Garrison are alright. The other vehicles are just better and there are a lot of very good rares at 3cmc.
Mostly just worse than Kujar Seedsculptor.
I think I'll definitely add this one. I've been toying with the idea of expanding my cube ten slots for ten more guild cards and if so this is one I would love to add as I'm a big fan of weird build around cards.
I am not getting the love for Invigorated Rampage. Combat tricks that cost more than 1 are mediocre at best even in retail limited because it's harder to get the tempo swing of adding to your board after winning combat with your trick, and this doesn't even do anything to help save the creature you're pumping, so more often than not it's a 2-for-1 against you when you cast it if you're not winning the game immediately. Weapon Surge, Brute Force, or even Sure Strike are better as combat tricks. Since it can only target a maximum of 2 creatures this is also bad as an Anthem effect for decks looking to go wide, you're better off with Dynacharge.
Monstrous Onslaught looks way too clunky and conditional, and will do stone nothing when you need mass removal the most: when you're behind on board. That's not what I want to see in anything that costs 5 mana.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
tattered haunter -> aether swooper
vaporkin -> skyship plunderer
phyrexian gargantua -> gifted aetherborn
yavimaya elder -> maulfist revolutionary
triumph of ferocity -> ridgescale tusker
trusty machete -> treasure keeper
serrated arrows -> untethered express
20) Renegade Rallier, 19) Rogue Refiner, 18) Renegade Wheelsmith- At this point, I feel like unless a card is very strong for the guild's theme, or very high value, I am not likely to cube it. So, I like all of these cards and would not object to anyone cubing them, but they don't specifically fit my cube.
17) Renegade Map- I was originally a bit higher on this card, but it does seem generally weaker than all of the land options available, like Crumbling Vestige or Mirrodin's Core.
16) Daredevil Dragster- I think the whole velocity counter thing is a drawback more than a benefit, since it requires specific level of interaction with your opponent and specific timing. And I would not be happy with a 3-mana, 4/4 vehicle with crew 2.
15) Wrangle- I do not play Threaten effects for sacrifice reasons, so this would be just a card for pure damage output. I have no idea if this is then generally better or worse than a deal 3 for 1R, but I presume worse.
14) Pacification Array- Mostly trying to see if it plays better than Icy Manipulator. Testing will prove it, one way or another.
13) Invigorated Rampage- I play pump spells in my cube to hopefully work like combo pieces. Whether that is with double-strikers, Berserk, Temur Battle Rage or other pump spells. I am also trying to make combat more interactive in general, so that is another benefit. My main concern is being two mana to cast instead of one.
12) Scrapper Champion- I am happy to have a strong red double striker, but I am not sure if it would be in my top 5 red four-drops, which means it is not a guarantee to stick around long term.
11) Fatal Push- I generally think this is a little worse for CUbe than both Disfigure and Tragic Slip, since it does not have either the general usefulness of Disfigure or the specific power of a morbid Tragic Slip. That said, it is another strong one-mana effect and I am happy to have it.
10) AEther Swooper- I think this card will find a lot of ways to be useful, and will almost always produce its servo. Making it kind of, sort of, a 1/2 flier and a 1/1 token for 1U, which is very nice.
9) Vengeful Rebel- I thought TyranidBill make an excellent point about Rebel being an aggro card more than a control card, which piqued my interest, since those types of cards can be hard to find for cube. There is a decent chance the Revolt is too hard to trigger frequently, making this more of a dud than stud.
8) Treasure Keeper- I think this will generally be a good value creature, kind of the bigger, more powerful cousin of Filigree Familiar, which had not excited me much at all as a CUbe card.
7) AEther Chaser- My only concern that is keeping this out of the top 5 is my concern that there will be some boards where it cannot safely attack, meaning the servo portion provides no upside. Unlike the Swooper, the base body is much stronger, meaning even a minimal upside should be worth it.
6) Winding Constrictor- Not a lot of synergy in black currently, but more than enough synergy in green to provide upside over the so-so 2/3 for BG body.
5) Maulfist Revolutionary- Very excited to have another trampler to cube, since they have strong synergy with pump spells. In addition, provides a lot of support for +1/+1 counters.
4) Gifted AEtherborn- Great stats for the mana cost, even though double black is a difficult early cost to pay. Should be very strong in all types of decks.
3) Ridgescale Tusker- Almost certainly going to provide 7 power and 7 toughness when it hits the board, and has extra upside with both token strategies and +1/+1 counter support. Great option for green sections.
2) Untethered Express- I expect this to function as a very strong piece of aggro support, since it can attack as a 5/5 trampler as soon as turn 5 and only grows from there. Crew 1 is the main key to the power here.
1) Skyship Plunderer- I was already at the point where a 2/1 flier for 1U would immediately get played, but adding an additional and substantial upside pushes this over the top as my most hyped cube card for this set.
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
Sure, if you have a creature that's as big as or bigger than one or more creatures your opponent controls, Monstrous Onslaught will do some work. However, in the same situation, so will Epic Confrontation, Nature's Way, or even Prey Upon, and for a fraction of the cost. If you don't have anything that's as big as what your opponent has, this is a blank. I wouldn't expect this card to act as a sweeper anywhere near often enough to justify the extra mana, or the times it will be useless compared to other options at 5 mana.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Turn 3: Thopter Engineer
Turn 4: Untethered Express, swing...
Thopter Engineer just gained some cred.
My Peasant Cube thread !!! (380 cards)
Draft my Peasant Cube on Cube Cobra !!!
So, for me, Viper >> Dryad > Renegade.
Draft my Peasant Cube.
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
Then again, Revolt is ALSO not a good pairing with a primarily defensive creature.
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
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/the-cube-forum/articles-podcasts-and-guides/767980-set-preview-top-20-commons-uncommons-of-aether
Scrapper Champion - Pretty great, especially with equipment
Gifted Aetherborn - Solid, but not terribly exciting
Untethered Express - A pretty savage beating, hitting for five on turn five and then growing from there is just bigger than most other things in the cube
No experience with the others yet, just didn't show up in the pool.
CubeTutor: www.cubetutor.com/cubeblog/72
Thread: http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=512410
EDIT: On second thought, after putting it in, I test-ran a few drafts to see if the guy came up, and managed to draft this:
http://www.cubetutor.com/cubedeck/668831
Think I'd be happy to draft this thing irl...
WiJ
Peasant 540 Cube
man invigorate is a card i should probably be cubing too...
CubeTutor: www.cubetutor.com/cubeblog/72
Thread: http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=512410
My Peasant Cube thread !!! (380 cards)
Draft my Peasant Cube on Cube Cobra !!!