it was funny that that card got a decent grade while bloodlust inciter got an F. inciter is just behind green monument in cards that make me worry for my life every turn after it's played.
re: trials, i'm kinda close to wanting the green one for my enchantments matters theme, but i dont feel like there's the critical mass needed for that yet (in modern), as well as having tokens be my gw subthemeish. the white trial is actually interesting as one of the better one shot anthems, only really weak because it's a sorcery. i currently play great teacher's decree as my inspired charge of choice, but perhaps the trial is actually better than that since needing to flunge twice is both rare and risky.
Yeah, why would he rate similar cards differently in different sets lol. Obviously he's got to have every rating right all the time. Anything else would be unreasonable.
Yeah, why would we hold people accountable for doing their job poorly?
If you tell me Bloodlust Inciter is somehow MULTIPLE TIERS below a vanilla 2/1 for 2 (Curio Vendor got a 1.5/5 in Kaladesh), I'm not that excited to keep listening to your analysis for future formats.
Like... it's not even a matter of "every rating right", either. The first 90% of C/U cards can be snap-evaluated with 'good enough' accuracy (nobody is up in arms if a writer calls Final Reward a 2.5/5 but it's actually a 3.5/5), so when you just completely botch something like the Inciter it really stands out.
It stands out, sure, but I don't think a major miss on one card is really doing his job poorly when his set reviews are extensive, thorough, and often mostly right/close. Plus his track record speaks for itself. I don't know, nobody is perfect?
It's almost like you shouldn't take LSV's or anyone's word as gospel. Read the article, figure out where you disagree, and try to get an edge by exploiting people that just read the articles mindlessly. Marshall and LSV literally tell you to do this in their set review shows.
When LSV starts telling me to drink bleach or cut my arms with the cards or eat them until I explode and then turn on that and say it's actually bad, then yeah **** him, but that's a logic fallacy to say something is awful because another more-extreme version of that analogy proves a point based on the circumstances of that example while ignoring the application of that analogy to another.
He's missing the mark on a couple cards, frankly he does a good job with it otherwise and reading the reviews he always says the reason for the scores is more important than the score. Yes, he missed here, but I think it's less outrageous for him to miss here when he's hitting the mark on a lot of other analysis.
But what is he hitting on that the average learned player wouldn't?
I don't follow his stuff religiously during spoiler seasons, but it seems like I could have listened to my friends and gotten just as much out of it.
Like io said, most cards are easy to evaluate. And then things drift as the format gets more solved. But what's the point in elevating his opinion if it's not much more valuable than just that of a good player? Years ago, I would struggle with understanding how fast a format is by eye and I would use stuff like LR to try and get a handle on it before jumping in. But now I want to go back into all of their reviews to see how accurate those calls were as well.
Oh, and I would listen to reviews of weird cards like shadows of the past. But my faded impression of his review there is that he wss just as unsure as I was. Or maybe it was Marshall. Can't remember.
But this is the hullabaloo here: People like feeling as good as if not better than a pro about something, and this seems to be a pretty weak spot here.
His reasoning for giving bloodlust inciter a fast F is that it's a 1/1 for 1. Insightful. But sacred cat is solid "value", if I remember.
He sure has something to teach me about playing tighter and mulligans and more, but I'm not inclined to weigh his pre-release thoughts heavily now.
Which is probably normal. Hearthstone "pros" are notoriously terrible at predicting a meta.
I think it's important to understand who is reading these too. Not everyone is great at magic, or understands the game, or can look at a set and realize, hey it's going to play out this way or that way. For all the mistakes LSV makes, him (and marshall and whoever) do a pretty OK job at the scores, but they do a *great* job of explaining why a certain card is valuable or not, and what to look for. On top of that, these guys have put in the work to break down the set and try to figure out things, and it's good to have that as an intro for someone like me who loves magic but doesn't frankly have the time to look at a set up and down and try to figure out what's going on. That's a huge task for any player of any caliber, and to expect it to be perfect and to expect zero mistakes is asking a lot. Unless I'm having a memory bias of sorts, they also do a good job of saying certain cards might play out better depending on the speed of the format, certain archetypes might be overdrafted, etc etc etc.
When I first started playing magic, there was really nothing like LR out there, and I would've killed to have an actual renown pro break down the sets and explain why certain things work, why certain removal is good and others isn't, why etc etc etc. I've gone back and looked over sets and some things they miss on, and other things they really hit. And the good thing about their mistakes is that, if you're playing the format, you'll learn *quick* when certain things do or don't work.
I don't know, maybe I'm crazy but I think the reviews are more good and helpful than bad and awful.
EDIT: Interesting to see this, at least he admits his mistakes quickly after the fact:
Oh, he does do the most intellectually honest thing anyone can do in his position: going back and reviewing his reviews.
I don't think he doesn't do a great job, it's just not good as I would have assumed a prodfessional opinion would be. I guess what I'm saying is that a "great job" is "only" great.
Then again, I guess sports analysts basically guessing as much as an armchair fan. And I made that comparison to hearthstone "pros" that don't seem to know much of anything without croudsourcing hundreds of games. Maybe it's just unknowable.
Oooh I should do my own reviews and get torn apart by schmoes lol
(not to be too kind to LSV in this post. Those two 1 drops were egregious (almost novice-level) misses.
White: Gust Walker has been solid; it's just about what I expected. Vizier of Deferment has been medium so far, but I haven't managed to get it in a good flicker shell. Cast Out is about what you expect; a solid inclusion. Haven't been able to test Devoted Crop-Mate and Oketra's Attendant yet.
Blue: Labyrinth Guardian has been unimpressive so far, it's not bad by any means, but unimpressive (also, embalm combos with Standstill). Censor has been good. I think Angler Drake costs a bit too much, but it still needs more testing. Still need to test Cryptic Serpent.
Red: Bloodrage Brawler has been relatively insane for me. I haven't seen it against a removal heavy deck, but in the 4 or 5 games where it landed turn 2 it dealt 8+ damage really easily. Ahn-Crop Crasher has been one of my best red creatures. Warfire Javelineer has been consistent enough for me, and I like that spells decks can more easily get an FTK. I'm trying out Deem Worthy as an attempt to diversify red removal, but haven't played with it yet. Is Bloodlust Inciter considered an insta-add at this point? I'll test it, but I don't play many 2 mana 3/2s, so I'm a bit hesitant.
Green: Scaled Behemoth has been a welcome inclusion to the green high drops. Shefet Monitor has been solid. I think I've played Exemplar of Strength once, and it just traded, so more testing is required.
I think the only cards I would strongly advocate for are Bloodrage Brawler, Ahn-Crop Crasher, and maybe Scaled Behemoth. I've added a lot of cards from the set, but most have been good, not amazing.
Damn, I forgot embalm doesn't count as a cast, might test Labyrinth Guardian just as a blue roadblock for standstill.dec now that you mention it... 3 toughness goes a long way in my cube. Also, I thought Censor would be too slow for what it was, does the worst case cycling in late game help the card? I guess it is decent spells matter support in any case.
I feel similarly regarding Bone Picker, morbid is surprisingly hard to trigger when you want it, even in black... I guess that's why Tragic Slip isn't in every cube. The few times where it's been landed early though it's been brutal. I guess it's just another of those cards that are objectively not amazing, but make for fun stories. Which is cool for anyone who wants that.
Regarding Bloodrage Brawler and Bloodlust Inciter, I run the whole gamut of decent red 3/2s, so the Inciter has consistently represented a decent amount of damage. I was wary about the Brawler because I was worried it was just trade down and not be worth the extra card, but now I'm realizing that all my 3/2s are in red, so if it's been a solid beater for you I'll definitely give it a test. Also, I don't run FTK, so if Warfire Javelineer can consistently be 3 damage, it might warrant inclusion. I'll test in a few decks too, thanks!
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
~400 Peasant++ : List : Draft
Warning: Not for the durdly-hearted!
If you really love Standstill then the value of Stir the Sands goes up... I think (without doing any actual research) it's the first cycling at Peasant than can make a creature, a la Decree of Justice from Standstill's heyday.
A single blue to cycle is just not really a cost. I'm typically happily cycling Miscalculation on turn 7+, but you can cycle Censor on turn 5 and not have it affect your turn. If your opponent plays on curve Censor is good, and if your opponent has a more mana heavy hand there just isn't a relevant cost to cycle.
Adding a bit to Bone Picker being okay. I kind of like the spot it's in a lot tbh. It gets better with a critical mass of removal, in more aggressive decks, and in sac decks. You can't throw it into just any black deck and have it be great, but it is stronger with a variety of support or even playing differently.
I've had, I think 3 drafts so far with the new set?
My quick thoughts:
- The best card in the set for us in my opinion is Ahn-Crop Crasher. This card has been absolutely insane for me so far. I played it last draft and it was just very very solid. Getting in your first attack without exerting sets up for a seriously good turn next turn.
- Honored Crop-Captain is the 2nd best card in the set. Just a 3/2 for 2 with battle-cry. He's done everything I've wanted so far.
- Bloodlust Inciter has been good. Leads to explosive turns. Giving my Untethered Express haste last draft was pretty disturbing for my opponent.
- Bloodrage Brawler has been good as well. Being way above curve has made up for the card disadvantage. Would you mull to 6 if you could cast this turn 2 for no discard? That's essentially what it feels like... and I probably would.
- Scaled Behemoth. I'e had this resolved on me and its in a nice spot where it's big enough and dependable as a finisher in ramp decks, while not being overly oppressive... It can be chumped. If it had trample.. not sure if I could include it. Ramp is very happy with this card.. and so am I.
- Cast Out, Angler Drake, Cryptic Serpent have seen a little play and are just good.
- Bone Picker has been reliably cast on 1 mana. You just have to make sure you build your deck correctly. I actually think Morbid is WAY easier to pull off than previously mentioned in the thread. Having creatures die in combat triggers this guy for Main Phase 2 pretty easily.
- Oketra's Monument has been absurd for us so far. I played it to great effect the other night. I was Firespouted and Pyroclasmed and was still able to build a board afterwards. Very important card to survive wraths. I like it a lot.
Handful of thoughts, mostly based on playing AKH limited, a few of the cards have shown up in Cube:
White
Cast Out: just great. Pretty close to P1P1 material in Cube. At less than 540 I wouldn't really want to keep piling in O-Ring effects, but on the other hand it's another piece that interacts with hard-to-beat stuff like Curses and my best Equipment, and at four mana it's not TOO stifling for aggro.
Devoted Crop-Mate: meh, pretty hit-or-miss. I made the easy swap of this for Timely Hordemate, but getting this killed by a random Shock effect is pretty annoying, as is the fact that your 2-drop target won't attack until T5.
Gust Walker: Good stuff, a more consistent version of Daring Skyjek though obviously with a lower ceiling. Doesn't do anything amazing, but eminently playable aggro card that can also block decently well.
Oketra's Attendant: not having actual "flashback" is far more annoying than I thought it would be -- you just can't ever have two 3/3 bodies on the field at the same time. Still nice with dredge and looting, but there really isn't any of that in white. Don't think it quite stands up to the "not Cloudgoat Ranger" tier of white 5's like Elite Scaleguard and Radiant, Archangel and Custodi Squire. Cycling is nice when you're missing land drops against the slow decks but does little or nothing if you spend your entire T2 cycling it against aggro.
Tah-Crop Elite: good-to-great in draft, useless for us here.
Trial of Solidarity: very close to the generally unplayable Ethereal Guidance in most instances. Maybe 10% of the time the vigilance will be very important, but still nahhhhh.
Unwavering Initiate: it's like 65% of Call of the Herd, which is pretty sweet for a new common. Definitely short of my Cube's standards still, but it's been consistently a headache when I see it across the table in AKH limited.
Vizier of Deferment: I was very down on this to start, and have since come around to be more like "meh" about it. It'll feel insane when you successfully blink a Mulldrifer, but that's so much harder to do than it is with Cloudshift; I don't want a huge pile of blink effects, and it's not even like you're "getting away" with much by putting a 2/2 on the table.
Vizier of Remedies: we're getting a reasonable amount of redundancy for Persist combo with all common-uncommon cards; I'm still not interested, but it's at least a nagging thought in the back of my mind.
Blue
Angler Drake: it's just fine. Plays out significantly better on offense than defense, which is not really what I want out of a blue 6-drop. Gets some extra wiggle room / testing time since I like the art.
Aven Initiate: hasn't been added to my Cube yet but I'm really close. It's so much worse than Talrand's Invocation, but that card is strong enough that its inferior versions still have a lot of room to be playable. I doubt it would actually hold up in Cube, but still love the feeling of having the 7-drop sitting in your graveyard and a 3/2 flyer is big enough to be a legit attacking win-con.
Cartouche of Knowledge: nice card. Turns your random Omenspeaker-type dork into a solid board presence, and two mana is a sweet spot for finding a time to resolve your aura without getting blown out by removal.
Censor: not added due to just too much competition of other great counters, but this is certainly fine. Foils are annoyingly expensive to justify paying cash for, but would love to trade for a copy.
Cryptic Serpent: haven't cast in Cube, but has been a little underwhelming in AKH. Still, adding it to a format with actual quality cantrips/counters/draw spells should certainly up its power level considerably.
Hieroglyphic Illumination: not added, still a little tempted. Only a fairly slow control deck would consider the Inspiration mode enough upside to be playable, but if you've got stuff like Rise with the Tides or Elixir of Immortality this could be a nice piece for those decks. A little annoying that cycling it for one mana doesn't trigger Young Pyro and friends, though.
Labyrinth Guardian: ??? Haven't cubed, has been OK in limited. I like that it can hold a Bonesplitter, dislike that it plays differently than all the other Illusion creatures.
Lay Claim: still seems way too expensive to Cube, I think I'd rather have just Confiscate.
Open into Wonder: meh? It's definitely no Sleep though still might have a little potential. Very skeptical, but it's not a total zero.
Baleful Ammit: fine enough. I don't play infinite copies of Sultai Emissary and friendly, but if you can ship off the -1/-1 counter for decent effect then four lifelink power is a sweet reward. Even still fine into an empty board... we've literally never seen a 3/2 lifelinker for 3 before.
Bone Picker: I somehow have failed to acquire a copy yet for Cube, so mostly just echoing other folks' thoughts and sticking to my initial reaction of it being super sweet for 1 mana and passable enough as a 4-drop "fail mode".
Cartouche of Ambition: killing a 2/1 and getting even just one sizeable lifelink swing in feels so good. On the other hand... it's a 3-drop aura. I'm not cubing it but wouldn't be completely against the idea.
Doomed Dissenter: unless you get extra mileage out of the Zombie type, you'll be better off with Sultai Emissary. Some cubes could want both (or even more copies of the effect), but mine definitely doesn't.
Grim Strider: better than I thought by a good margin. Hard to imagine it being smaller than a 4/4 in a Carnophage deck... though I'm not sure if I really want an aggro-only black 4. If you're playing something like Bellowing Saddlebrute now, this is certainly a possible swap.
Horror of the Broken Lands: even ignoring the +2/+1 upside, it's a Barkhide Mauler with better cycling. Not exciting, but it's reasonably similar to something like Chartooth Cougar (less damage potential, but also less mana)... which I still have sleeved up.
Lay Bare the Heart: not bad, not great. IOK is my only Coercion effect... and it will probably stay that way.
Lord of the Undead: not really a card for a straightforward review like this. Either you want to go with from-the-ground-up tribal support or you don't; relying on incidental Zombies to show up naturally doesn't work well enough, so you need to go out of your way to add cards like Shambling Ghoul and friends.
Miasmic Mummy: unless you do something to break the parity of the discard (and there aren't many great options to do so at Peasant), you come out way behind at the player who spent two mana to get a 2/2.
Stir the Sands: we don't really like Bestial Menace, and this is the same P/T and number of bodies... for one more mana. Yes, you can cast it as a Striped Bears, but that's super clunky and not enough to make me want to Stir anything.
Supernatural Stamina: Undying Evil is a very good combat trick, this is your second copy. I can see not wanting both, but I personally am very happy with this as an addition.
Wander in Death: great card for grindy situations. Cycling is a little help for when it doesn't work, but as mentioned earlier if you're spending two mana to hope to find early action against an aggro deck that's probably enough of a stumble that you'll lose anyway. Still, might be the best Raise Dead spell out there... though I didn't add this and have exactly zero spells like that in black.
Bloodlust Inciter: absolutely superb card for aggro decks. With any sort of curve-out after this guy, he can easily creature 6 or 8 or 10 points of extra attacking damage. A useless top-deck, sure, but so is the 100% staple Rakdos Cackler.
Bloodrage Brawler: Just the right size to ignore the various value 2/2's for 3 (Civic Wayfinder, etc). Still a steep cost, can go wrong, and I don't give it any extra points for supporting a Reanimate deck, but undeniably powerful.
Deem Worthy: 5-mana Murder mixed with a more narrow Electrolyze probably isn't (close to) enough, but I still really enjoy casting this card in AKH limited.
Desert Cerodon: one-mana cycling is so much more likely to semi-smoothly fit into an early curve that I'm at least a little interested in the Cerodon while I've ignored many of the older, similar options. You're not thrilled about a vanilla 6/4 body, but when you have time to cast it it'll certainly make a sizable impact on the board.
Emberhorn Minotaur: I don't think anyone has really talked about or discussed this card, but it's a pretty beefy midrange dude or aggro curve-topper. I don't really want to add it to cube, but I definitely overlooked and underestimated its potential in AKH drafts.
Thresher Lizard: unlikely to work as a 4/4 on-curve even in a super aggressive deck, but will be an above-rate creature a little later in the game. I'd probably still rather have my current aggro 3's, but this guy is not too far behind.
Warfire Javelineer: obviously it can't hold up to FTK, but I think I'd also rather just have Brutalizer Exarch which will more reliably do its job on turn four.
Crocodile of the Crossing: BEATER. Gets way better when you have a 2+ toughness mana creature (Wall of Roots, etc), but even four hasty power for four is totally fine. I think it's a staple; no Blastoderm, but fairly close.
Exemplar of Strength: a little underwhelming. "Sacrificing" a creature to get an insta-4/4 is rarely your right play, and if it's starting as a 1/1 it's just a more clunky Longtusk Cub. The 'dream' of targeting a Sakura-Tribe Elder is sweet, but otherwise I haven't been overly impressed.
Greater Sandwurm: not too shabby. Colorless cycling means it can go into non-green decks to pick back up with Necromancy, and it's fine enough as a ramp target with evasion and flexibility. Nothing insane, but you need some number of "lesser" stuff to ramp into after the crazy good Pelakka Wurm tier of cards.
Initiate's Companion: cute card for the deck that wants Jungle Lion. If it hits (hard to do with green's removal / tempo options), you can do something like two 2-drop on T3. Only for those who REALLY want green aggro, though, as a baseline Blade of the Sixth Pride is a little underwhelming (but obviously not awful).
Quarry Hauler: worse enough body compared to the 3/3 for 3 from Aether Revolt that I haven't tested in Cube, but if you're chock full of +1/+1 counters then it's a passable four drop... if you don't mind it being nearly a strictly worse Cytoplast Root-Kin.
Scaled Behemoth: doesn't die to Doom Blade! But seriously, with Peasant ramp effects, this is a pretty great card. Not sure I love the play-style it creates, but on power level it's absolutely excellent.
Shefet Monitor: four mana to ramp/fix your mana is SO MUCH WORSE than Krosan Tusker, and cycling is by far more relevant than the hard-cast body. It's still an OK card, but I honestly would rather cube the 7/7 for 7 than this.
Synchronized Strike: it's good trick if you like playing a decent number of tricks (i.e. you have fewer and worse removal spells), but I sure don't.
Mostly a joke, but it's certainly better than most people think in both AKH and in cube. If you'd play Phantasmal Bear, then this is definitely also worth considering.
For two silly hot takes
I have not been impressed with or threatened by the 3/2 vigilant guy in white. He comes across as very average and a reward for "getting there" late game.
Slitherblade is not quite unplayable. Playing dimir I've gone well last turn 20 multiple times. It can be boarded in conceivably
re: trials, i'm kinda close to wanting the green one for my enchantments matters theme, but i dont feel like there's the critical mass needed for that yet (in modern), as well as having tokens be my gw subthemeish. the white trial is actually interesting as one of the better one shot anthems, only really weak because it's a sorcery. i currently play great teacher's decree as my inspired charge of choice, but perhaps the trial is actually better than that since needing to flunge twice is both rare and risky.
"Oh, you thought this was bad? Guess you're a fraud"
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
for comparison here's LSV on Rakdos Cackler:
Limited: 3.0 ("archetype staple")
1-drops are always in short supply for aggro, so picking this guy up makes your nut draws just that much better.
If you tell me Bloodlust Inciter is somehow MULTIPLE TIERS below a vanilla 2/1 for 2 (Curio Vendor got a 1.5/5 in Kaladesh), I'm not that excited to keep listening to your analysis for future formats.
Like... it's not even a matter of "every rating right", either. The first 90% of C/U cards can be snap-evaluated with 'good enough' accuracy (nobody is up in arms if a writer calls Final Reward a 2.5/5 but it's actually a 3.5/5), so when you just completely botch something like the Inciter it really stands out.
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
CubeTutor: www.cubetutor.com/cubeblog/72
Thread: http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=512410
...
"oh uh, IDK, make up your mind for yourself about that bottle of bleach, it might actually be good for you"
He's missing the mark on a couple cards, frankly he does a good job with it otherwise and reading the reviews he always says the reason for the scores is more important than the score. Yes, he missed here, but I think it's less outrageous for him to miss here when he's hitting the mark on a lot of other analysis.
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
I don't follow his stuff religiously during spoiler seasons, but it seems like I could have listened to my friends and gotten just as much out of it.
Like io said, most cards are easy to evaluate. And then things drift as the format gets more solved. But what's the point in elevating his opinion if it's not much more valuable than just that of a good player? Years ago, I would struggle with understanding how fast a format is by eye and I would use stuff like LR to try and get a handle on it before jumping in. But now I want to go back into all of their reviews to see how accurate those calls were as well.
Oh, and I would listen to reviews of weird cards like shadows of the past. But my faded impression of his review there is that he wss just as unsure as I was. Or maybe it was Marshall. Can't remember.
But this is the hullabaloo here: People like feeling as good as if not better than a pro about something, and this seems to be a pretty weak spot here.
His reasoning for giving bloodlust inciter a fast F is that it's a 1/1 for 1. Insightful. But sacred cat is solid "value", if I remember.
He sure has something to teach me about playing tighter and mulligans and more, but I'm not inclined to weigh his pre-release thoughts heavily now.
Which is probably normal. Hearthstone "pros" are notoriously terrible at predicting a meta.
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
When I first started playing magic, there was really nothing like LR out there, and I would've killed to have an actual renown pro break down the sets and explain why certain things work, why certain removal is good and others isn't, why etc etc etc. I've gone back and looked over sets and some things they miss on, and other things they really hit. And the good thing about their mistakes is that, if you're playing the format, you'll learn *quick* when certain things do or don't work.
I don't know, maybe I'm crazy but I think the reviews are more good and helpful than bad and awful.
EDIT: Interesting to see this, at least he admits his mistakes quickly after the fact:
https://www.channelfireball.com/articles/the-7-most-underrated-cards-in-amonkhet-draft/
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
I don't think he doesn't do a great job, it's just not good as I would have assumed a prodfessional opinion would be. I guess what I'm saying is that a "great job" is "only" great.
Then again, I guess sports analysts basically guessing as much as an armchair fan. And I made that comparison to hearthstone "pros" that don't seem to know much of anything without croudsourcing hundreds of games. Maybe it's just unknowable.
Oooh I should do my own reviews and get torn apart by schmoes lol
(not to be too kind to LSV in this post. Those two 1 drops were egregious (almost novice-level) misses.
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
Warning: Not for the durdly-hearted!
Blue: Labyrinth Guardian has been unimpressive so far, it's not bad by any means, but unimpressive (also, embalm combos with Standstill). Censor has been good. I think Angler Drake costs a bit too much, but it still needs more testing. Still need to test Cryptic Serpent.
Black: Bone Picker has been okay; it gets cast for 4 more than I would like. Supernatural Stamina is just Undying Evil so far. Stir the Sands and Wander in Death both need more testing, though I think they are both fine.
Red: Bloodrage Brawler has been relatively insane for me. I haven't seen it against a removal heavy deck, but in the 4 or 5 games where it landed turn 2 it dealt 8+ damage really easily. Ahn-Crop Crasher has been one of my best red creatures. Warfire Javelineer has been consistent enough for me, and I like that spells decks can more easily get an FTK. I'm trying out Deem Worthy as an attempt to diversify red removal, but haven't played with it yet. Is Bloodlust Inciter considered an insta-add at this point? I'll test it, but I don't play many 2 mana 3/2s, so I'm a bit hesitant.
Green: Scaled Behemoth has been a welcome inclusion to the green high drops. Shefet Monitor has been solid. I think I've played Exemplar of Strength once, and it just traded, so more testing is required.
Multi: Honored Crop-Captain is just a good card. I've been trying Destined // Lead, and I'm hopeful, but really not expecting much.
I think the only cards I would strongly advocate for are Bloodrage Brawler, Ahn-Crop Crasher, and maybe Scaled Behemoth. I've added a lot of cards from the set, but most have been good, not amazing.
I feel similarly regarding Bone Picker, morbid is surprisingly hard to trigger when you want it, even in black... I guess that's why Tragic Slip isn't in every cube. The few times where it's been landed early though it's been brutal. I guess it's just another of those cards that are objectively not amazing, but make for fun stories. Which is cool for anyone who wants that.
Regarding Bloodrage Brawler and Bloodlust Inciter, I run the whole gamut of decent red 3/2s, so the Inciter has consistently represented a decent amount of damage. I was wary about the Brawler because I was worried it was just trade down and not be worth the extra card, but now I'm realizing that all my 3/2s are in red, so if it's been a solid beater for you I'll definitely give it a test. Also, I don't run FTK, so if Warfire Javelineer can consistently be 3 damage, it might warrant inclusion. I'll test in a few decks too, thanks!
Warning: Not for the durdly-hearted!
Adding a bit to Bone Picker being okay. I kind of like the spot it's in a lot tbh. It gets better with a critical mass of removal, in more aggressive decks, and in sac decks. You can't throw it into just any black deck and have it be great, but it is stronger with a variety of support or even playing differently.
Bant sojourner would like a word with you
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
My quick thoughts:
- The best card in the set for us in my opinion is Ahn-Crop Crasher. This card has been absolutely insane for me so far. I played it last draft and it was just very very solid. Getting in your first attack without exerting sets up for a seriously good turn next turn.
- Honored Crop-Captain is the 2nd best card in the set. Just a 3/2 for 2 with battle-cry. He's done everything I've wanted so far.
- Bloodlust Inciter has been good. Leads to explosive turns. Giving my Untethered Express haste last draft was pretty disturbing for my opponent.
- Bloodrage Brawler has been good as well. Being way above curve has made up for the card disadvantage. Would you mull to 6 if you could cast this turn 2 for no discard? That's essentially what it feels like... and I probably would.
- Scaled Behemoth. I'e had this resolved on me and its in a nice spot where it's big enough and dependable as a finisher in ramp decks, while not being overly oppressive... It can be chumped. If it had trample.. not sure if I could include it. Ramp is very happy with this card.. and so am I.
- Cast Out, Angler Drake, Cryptic Serpent have seen a little play and are just good.
- Bone Picker has been reliably cast on 1 mana. You just have to make sure you build your deck correctly. I actually think Morbid is WAY easier to pull off than previously mentioned in the thread. Having creatures die in combat triggers this guy for Main Phase 2 pretty easily.
- Oketra's Monument has been absurd for us so far. I played it to great effect the other night. I was Firespouted and Pyroclasmed and was still able to build a board afterwards. Very important card to survive wraths. I like it a lot.
Cards that need more testing:
Cards that I don't think are making the cut:
My Peasant Cube thread !!! (380 cards)
Draft my Peasant Cube on Cube Cobra !!!
White
Cast Out: just great. Pretty close to P1P1 material in Cube. At less than 540 I wouldn't really want to keep piling in O-Ring effects, but on the other hand it's another piece that interacts with hard-to-beat stuff like Curses and my best Equipment, and at four mana it's not TOO stifling for aggro.
Devoted Crop-Mate: meh, pretty hit-or-miss. I made the easy swap of this for Timely Hordemate, but getting this killed by a random Shock effect is pretty annoying, as is the fact that your 2-drop target won't attack until T5.
Forsake the Worldly: not really needed if you're adding Cast Out as another Disenchant effect.
Gust Walker: Good stuff, a more consistent version of Daring Skyjek though obviously with a lower ceiling. Doesn't do anything amazing, but eminently playable aggro card that can also block decently well.
Oketra's Attendant: not having actual "flashback" is far more annoying than I thought it would be -- you just can't ever have two 3/3 bodies on the field at the same time. Still nice with dredge and looting, but there really isn't any of that in white. Don't think it quite stands up to the "not Cloudgoat Ranger" tier of white 5's like Elite Scaleguard and Radiant, Archangel and Custodi Squire. Cycling is nice when you're missing land drops against the slow decks but does little or nothing if you spend your entire T2 cycling it against aggro.
Tah-Crop Elite: good-to-great in draft, useless for us here.
Trial of Solidarity: very close to the generally unplayable Ethereal Guidance in most instances. Maybe 10% of the time the vigilance will be very important, but still nahhhhh.
Trueheart Duelist: fine enough that I'll use the full-art promo in Cube for a while. Spending 3 for a 2/2 sounds bad, but we all love stuff like Man-O'-War and Civic Wayfinder and Kor Hookmaster.
Unwavering Initiate: it's like 65% of Call of the Herd, which is pretty sweet for a new common. Definitely short of my Cube's standards still, but it's been consistently a headache when I see it across the table in AKH limited.
Vizier of Deferment: I was very down on this to start, and have since come around to be more like "meh" about it. It'll feel insane when you successfully blink a Mulldrifer, but that's so much harder to do than it is with Cloudshift; I don't want a huge pile of blink effects, and it's not even like you're "getting away" with much by putting a 2/2 on the table.
Vizier of Remedies: we're getting a reasonable amount of redundancy for Persist combo with all common-uncommon cards; I'm still not interested, but it's at least a nagging thought in the back of my mind.
Blue
Angler Drake: it's just fine. Plays out significantly better on offense than defense, which is not really what I want out of a blue 6-drop. Gets some extra wiggle room / testing time since I like the art.
Aven Initiate: hasn't been added to my Cube yet but I'm really close. It's so much worse than Talrand's Invocation, but that card is strong enough that its inferior versions still have a lot of room to be playable. I doubt it would actually hold up in Cube, but still love the feeling of having the 7-drop sitting in your graveyard and a 3/2 flyer is big enough to be a legit attacking win-con.
Cartouche of Knowledge: nice card. Turns your random Omenspeaker-type dork into a solid board presence, and two mana is a sweet spot for finding a time to resolve your aura without getting blown out by removal.
Censor: not added due to just too much competition of other great counters, but this is certainly fine. Foils are annoyingly expensive to justify paying cash for, but would love to trade for a copy.
Cryptic Serpent: haven't cast in Cube, but has been a little underwhelming in AKH. Still, adding it to a format with actual quality cantrips/counters/draw spells should certainly up its power level considerably.
Hieroglyphic Illumination: not added, still a little tempted. Only a fairly slow control deck would consider the Inspiration mode enough upside to be playable, but if you've got stuff like Rise with the Tides or Elixir of Immortality this could be a nice piece for those decks. A little annoying that cycling it for one mana doesn't trigger Young Pyro and friends, though.
Labyrinth Guardian: ??? Haven't cubed, has been OK in limited. I like that it can hold a Bonesplitter, dislike that it plays differently than all the other Illusion creatures.
Lay Claim: still seems way too expensive to Cube, I think I'd rather have just Confiscate.
Open into Wonder: meh? It's definitely no Sleep though still might have a little potential. Very skeptical, but it's not a total zero.
Slither Blade: amazing in all formats.
Tah-Crop Skirmisher: no reason to play it over the 2/3 Illusion version listed just above.
Vizier of Tumbling Sands: still useless.
... more later.
Baleful Ammit: fine enough. I don't play infinite copies of Sultai Emissary and friendly, but if you can ship off the -1/-1 counter for decent effect then four lifelink power is a sweet reward. Even still fine into an empty board... we've literally never seen a 3/2 lifelinker for 3 before.
Bone Picker: I somehow have failed to acquire a copy yet for Cube, so mostly just echoing other folks' thoughts and sticking to my initial reaction of it being super sweet for 1 mana and passable enough as a 4-drop "fail mode".
Cartouche of Ambition: killing a 2/1 and getting even just one sizeable lifelink swing in feels so good. On the other hand... it's a 3-drop aura. I'm not cubing it but wouldn't be completely against the idea.
Cursed Minotaur: boringly playable.
Doomed Dissenter: unless you get extra mileage out of the Zombie type, you'll be better off with Sultai Emissary. Some cubes could want both (or even more copies of the effect), but mine definitely doesn't.
Grim Strider: better than I thought by a good margin. Hard to imagine it being smaller than a 4/4 in a Carnophage deck... though I'm not sure if I really want an aggro-only black 4. If you're playing something like Bellowing Saddlebrute now, this is certainly a possible swap.
Horror of the Broken Lands: even ignoring the +2/+1 upside, it's a Barkhide Mauler with better cycling. Not exciting, but it's reasonably similar to something like Chartooth Cougar (less damage potential, but also less mana)... which I still have sleeved up.
Lay Bare the Heart: not bad, not great. IOK is my only Coercion effect... and it will probably stay that way.
Lord of the Undead: not really a card for a straightforward review like this. Either you want to go with from-the-ground-up tribal support or you don't; relying on incidental Zombies to show up naturally doesn't work well enough, so you need to go out of your way to add cards like Shambling Ghoul and friends.
Miasmic Mummy: unless you do something to break the parity of the discard (and there aren't many great options to do so at Peasant), you come out way behind at the player who spent two mana to get a 2/2.
Stir the Sands: we don't really like Bestial Menace, and this is the same P/T and number of bodies... for one more mana. Yes, you can cast it as a Striped Bears, but that's super clunky and not enough to make me want to Stir anything.
Supernatural Stamina: Undying Evil is a very good combat trick, this is your second copy. I can see not wanting both, but I personally am very happy with this as an addition.
Wander in Death: great card for grindy situations. Cycling is a little help for when it doesn't work, but as mentioned earlier if you're spending two mana to hope to find early action against an aggro deck that's probably enough of a stumble that you'll lose anyway. Still, might be the best Raise Dead spell out there... though I didn't add this and have exactly zero spells like that in black.
Red
Ahn-Crop Crasher: exactly as great as it first looked.
Bloodlust Inciter: absolutely superb card for aggro decks. With any sort of curve-out after this guy, he can easily creature 6 or 8 or 10 points of extra attacking damage. A useless top-deck, sure, but so is the 100% staple Rakdos Cackler.
Bloodrage Brawler: Just the right size to ignore the various value 2/2's for 3 (Civic Wayfinder, etc). Still a steep cost, can go wrong, and I don't give it any extra points for supporting a Reanimate deck, but undeniably powerful.
Cartouche of Zeal: meh. Hammerhand isn't unplayable, but I also absolutely don't want two of them.
Consuming Fervor: basically same comment as the red Cartouche.
Deem Worthy: 5-mana Murder mixed with a more narrow Electrolyze probably isn't (close to) enough, but I still really enjoy casting this card in AKH limited.
Desert Cerodon: one-mana cycling is so much more likely to semi-smoothly fit into an early curve that I'm at least a little interested in the Cerodon while I've ignored many of the older, similar options. You're not thrilled about a vanilla 6/4 body, but when you have time to cast it it'll certainly make a sizable impact on the board.
Emberhorn Minotaur: I don't think anyone has really talked about or discussed this card, but it's a pretty beefy midrange dude or aggro curve-topper. I don't really want to add it to cube, but I definitely overlooked and underestimated its potential in AKH drafts.
Limits of Solidarity: meh. Another "playable" Threaten variant, none of which are particularly good outside of Blind with Anger.
Thresher Lizard: unlikely to work as a 4/4 on-curve even in a super aggressive deck, but will be an above-rate creature a little later in the game. I'd probably still rather have my current aggro 3's, but this guy is not too far behind.
Warfire Javelineer: obviously it can't hold up to FTK, but I think I'd also rather just have Brutalizer Exarch which will more reliably do its job on turn four.
Cartouche of Solidarity: I want 1-2 green fight effects, and I think the best two are Nature's Way and Clear Shot. This is fine, though.
Crocodile of the Crossing: BEATER. Gets way better when you have a 2+ toughness mana creature (Wall of Roots, etc), but even four hasty power for four is totally fine. I think it's a staple; no Blastoderm, but fairly close.
Exemplar of Strength: a little underwhelming. "Sacrificing" a creature to get an insta-4/4 is rarely your right play, and if it's starting as a 1/1 it's just a more clunky Longtusk Cub. The 'dream' of targeting a Sakura-Tribe Elder is sweet, but otherwise I haven't been overly impressed.
Greater Sandwurm: not too shabby. Colorless cycling means it can go into non-green decks to pick back up with Necromancy, and it's fine enough as a ramp target with evasion and flexibility. Nothing insane, but you need some number of "lesser" stuff to ramp into after the crazy good Pelakka Wurm tier of cards.
Initiate's Companion: cute card for the deck that wants Jungle Lion. If it hits (hard to do with green's removal / tempo options), you can do something like two 2-drop on T3. Only for those who REALLY want green aggro, though, as a baseline Blade of the Sixth Pride is a little underwhelming (but obviously not awful).
Manglehorn: zero reason to play an Oxidize creature when we have a bunch of playable Naturalize ones now.
Quarry Hauler: worse enough body compared to the 3/3 for 3 from Aether Revolt that I haven't tested in Cube, but if you're chock full of +1/+1 counters then it's a passable four drop... if you don't mind it being nearly a strictly worse Cytoplast Root-Kin.
Scaled Behemoth: doesn't die to Doom Blade! But seriously, with Peasant ramp effects, this is a pretty great card. Not sure I love the play-style it creates, but on power level it's absolutely excellent.
Shefet Monitor: four mana to ramp/fix your mana is SO MUCH WORSE than Krosan Tusker, and cycling is by far more relevant than the hard-cast body. It's still an OK card, but I honestly would rather cube the 7/7 for 7 than this.
Synchronized Strike: it's good trick if you like playing a decent number of tricks (i.e. you have fewer and worse removal spells), but I sure don't.
My Peasant Cube - CubeCobra
I have not been impressed with or threatened by the 3/2 vigilant guy in white. He comes across as very average and a reward for "getting there" late game.
Slitherblade is not quite unplayable. Playing dimir I've gone well last turn 20 multiple times. It can be boarded in conceivably
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