Really unexciting set; there are a good number of cards that are playable but there's not really a reason to cube them.
Including: Skymarcher Aspirant - Ascend won't come up much, but an upgrade regardless Ravenous Chupacabra - Sidegrade to Nekrataal; might switch the 2 every so often. Relentless Raptor - 2 mana 3/3 is a big boy. Adds interesting gameplay for an aggressive 2 drop too.
Considering: Expel from Orazca - Disperse isn't horrid and Ascended mode is real powerful. Probably will pay more attention to how often Ascend comes up before adding it. Charging Tuskodon - I really just want to Reckless Charge it, but I probably don't play enough pump for it to work. Raging Regisaur - Looks solid, but GR has so many good 4s already.
EDIT: Rather, the upside of having +1/+1 doesn't outweigh the downside of having to attack/block when possible when comparing Relentless Raptor to Truefire Paladin.
Maybe: Ravenous Chupacabra (I'm cautious about Nekrataal variants so if I play this I'd probably be swapping it with one of the few I play).
Will keep in mind going forward: Martyr of Dusk (Do we have these already?) Riverwise Augur (Brainstorm on a stick seems pretty good but I think it's generally worse than Sea Gate Oracle) Oathsworn Vampire (Could be cool if BW lifegain ever becomes a thing) Needletooth Raptor (not a conventional red 4drop but could find a home since it's not that hard to get a 2for1 or at least trade up in mana on defense) Reckless Rage (instant speed Flame Slash with real but not necessarily damaging downside) Crested Herdcaller (Do we have these already? decent stats+bodies/mana ratio)
I honestly think Reckless Rage is a lot worse than Strafe, because it has no real place in a u/r control deck, and not really in aggro either. Killing one of your own dudes or not having own dudes to target seems like a major strike against the card.
I think the best thing you can do with Curiosity is pingers, but obviously the new one is better with actual attacking dudes. Maybe that's enough. I had Curiosity in for a while, it just didn't really make that many decks.
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I'm genuinely baffled by anyone preferring Reckless Rage to Strafe. Yes, there's a variety of cases where you'd need or want Rage -- when you MUST kill an X/4... uh... when instant-speed matters... when you can only target red creatures. But then in the other 80% of games when you just want one mana, kill almost anything at 1-2-3 mana, boom, there's Strafe.
Even if you assume you have an X/3 creature on board so it's not a 1-for-2... which is clearly not a given, or even a 50% case... it's... four damage and creatures only? Your Bone Splinters can't even kill a 5/5?
Agreed on Relentless Raptor. I'd much rather have Honored Crop-Captain as a two mana three power beater in Boros and I'd probably include Truefire Paladin before the dino as well.
The only cards from this set that warrant inclusion in smaller lists, imo, are Skymarcher Aspirant and Ravenous Chupacabra. I can see some folks giving Thrashing Brontodon a shot, but I'm not convinced I need him in my 360. There's truly nothing interesting or exciting here for peasant, which is a bit of a bummer. It's unfortunate when sets have running themes that don't really translate well to cube.
Do you have an existing BW life gain archetype already? Just curious, because it looks like the cards you mentioned could push it pretty hard if there were already a few decent pieces available.
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Thrashing Brontodon is a card you can play if you want a beater who can destroy an artifact if it absolutely needs to. It's not something most cubes need, but some may.
I don't now, but I had an Orzhov life gain matters archetype for a while. I cubed some cards you wouldn't play elsewhere, but when it came together it could be good. There is the... 3/3 for 4 that gets a +1/+1 counter when you gain life? With a few extort and upkeep life gain triggers plus attacking lifelinkers I had an 8/8 after two turns that was impossible for my opponent to beat in combat. Oathsworm Vampire also piqued my interest for that archetype. it's pretty grindy due to the ETB tapped functionality, but also plays nice with the 'dies matters' cards (Falkenrath Noble etc).
Oathsworn Vampire and Sanguine Bond are certainly good for that archetype. Depends on the cube of course, but I don't think we're that far away from a lifegain archetpye being playable. We've also recently gotten cards that aren't made for but can fit into the archetype like Lone Rider.
It being a bit of a parasitic archetype is a problem though.
I assume you've seen Bond in a lifegain deck? If the deck has enough support Bond is not a do nothing anymore, it's the card that turbocharges everything you're doing. At some point you'll have to kill your opponent and Sanguine Bond does that very very quickly in the right deck, faster than most other cards we call finishers. Even trash like Debt to the Deathless for three costs you more than half your life total with Sanguine Bond on the table. Bond and Grey Merchant without anything else costs you eight life. With good support cards it's not hard at all to get obscene amounts of damage out of Bond.
That "eight life" doesn't come from sanguine bond, though. Four of it does. So the bond still needs to generate a batch of life loss to pay for itself. Probably another four?
That "eight life" doesn't come from sanguine bond, though. Four of it does. So the bond still needs to generate a batch of life loss to pay for itself. Probably another four?
I guess? Point is eight sounds a lot, but you won't need that much to get there. A Garry, a blood artist and a couple of tokens plus sac outlet isn't exactly magical christmas land. Gary and Lone Missionary, voila.
A lot of this is stuff we're doing already anyway, without building for a lifegain archetype. You'll find all of the cards above in black decks in many C/Ubes. We have a lot of playable creatures with lifelink as well, even if you don't count cards like Lone Rider which might work if the archetype works. Same for sac triggers or extort or enchantments like Vampiric Rites and Shadows of the Past. Sanguine Bonds is the only card among those that does not work in other decks. One parasitic card isn't that much of a cost for an archetype if we get a couple more cards which gain life and can be played outside of the deck.
We are getting afield of the spoiler thread, but I'd feel remiss not to add. If I was going to pursue this archetype again, no doubt I'd cube some of the strict 'life gain matters' cards, but I'd probably make it more like 'life as a resource' and support it with cards that use life payments. So cards that are probably good in other decks, but get better if you have ways to keep gaining life. Adanto Vanguard, Unspeakable Symbol, Slaughter, that sort of thing.
If Sanguine Bond was a 1 or 2 mana enchantment I would agree, but the problem is that you can't and don't want to play a 5 mana card that does nothing when it comes into play when you still have other cards in your hand that help to keep you alive. You can't wait to play Lone Missionary or Aven Riftwatcher until you've played Sanguine Bond. And you can't let that Blastoderm through just to keep Vampire Nighthawk alive.
Nobody said you had to wait, but you might draw your Lone Missionary late. I was merely pointing out that cards that we currently already play work well with Bond. The deck I have in mind doesn't want to wait to combo out with Bond, it's a card you'd play to help you finish the game. If you've constantly been gaining life while following your normal defensive gameplan you also shouldn't lose regularly if you take your turn 5 to play Bond.
Why would you let Blastoderm through? If you block Blastoderm with Nighthawk while Bond is on the battlefield you gain life and your opponent loses life as well as his Blastoderm. If there's no Bond you still gain life and get rid of a Blastoderm.
Including:
Skymarcher Aspirant - Ascend won't come up much, but an upgrade regardless
Ravenous Chupacabra - Sidegrade to Nekrataal; might switch the 2 every so often.
Relentless Raptor - 2 mana 3/3 is a big boy. Adds interesting gameplay for an aggressive 2 drop too.
Considering:
Expel from Orazca - Disperse isn't horrid and Ascended mode is real powerful. Probably will pay more attention to how often Ascend comes up before adding it.
Charging Tuskodon - I really just want to Reckless Charge it, but I probably don't play enough pump for it to work.
Raging Regisaur - Looks solid, but GR has so many good 4s already.
My Peasant Cube thread !!! (380 cards)
Draft my Peasant Cube on Cube Cobra !!!
EDIT: Rather, the upside of having +1/+1 doesn't outweigh the downside of having to attack/block when possible when comparing Relentless Raptor to Truefire Paladin.
Skymarcher Aspirant (easy swap with one of the 2/1 vanillas)
Maybe:
Ravenous Chupacabra (I'm cautious about Nekrataal variants so if I play this I'd probably be swapping it with one of the few I play).
Will keep in mind going forward:
Martyr of Dusk (Do we have these already?)
Riverwise Augur (Brainstorm on a stick seems pretty good but I think it's generally worse than Sea Gate Oracle)
Oathsworn Vampire (Could be cool if BW lifegain ever becomes a thing)
Needletooth Raptor (not a conventional red 4drop but could find a home since it's not that hard to get a 2for1 or at least trade up in mana on defense)
Reckless Rage (instant speed Flame Slash with real but not necessarily damaging downside)
Crested Herdcaller (Do we have these already? decent stats+bodies/mana ratio)
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.
WiJ
Peasant 540 Cube
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I'm genuinely baffled by anyone preferring Reckless Rage to Strafe. Yes, there's a variety of cases where you'd need or want Rage -- when you MUST kill an X/4... uh... when instant-speed matters... when you can only target red creatures. But then in the other 80% of games when you just want one mana, kill almost anything at 1-2-3 mana, boom, there's Strafe.
Even if you assume you have an X/3 creature on board so it's not a 1-for-2... which is clearly not a given, or even a 50% case... it's... four damage and creatures only? Your Bone Splinters can't even kill a 5/5?
The only cards from this set that warrant inclusion in smaller lists, imo, are Skymarcher Aspirant and Ravenous Chupacabra. I can see some folks giving Thrashing Brontodon a shot, but I'm not convinced I need him in my 360. There's truly nothing interesting or exciting here for peasant, which is a bit of a bummer. It's unfortunate when sets have running themes that don't really translate well to cube.
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
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Do you have an existing BW life gain archetype already? Just curious, because it looks like the cards you mentioned could push it pretty hard if there were already a few decent pieces available.
My 720 Peasant Cube
It being a bit of a parasitic archetype is a problem though.
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.
WiJ
Peasant 540 Cube
And that's on the regular
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 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 guess? Point is eight sounds a lot, but you won't need that much to get there. A Garry, a blood artist and a couple of tokens plus sac outlet isn't exactly magical christmas land. Gary and Lone Missionary, voila.
A lot of this is stuff we're doing already anyway, without building for a lifegain archetype. You'll find all of the cards above in black decks in many C/Ubes. We have a lot of playable creatures with lifelink as well, even if you don't count cards like Lone Rider which might work if the archetype works. Same for sac triggers or extort or enchantments like Vampiric Rites and Shadows of the Past. Sanguine Bonds is the only card among those that does not work in other decks. One parasitic card isn't that much of a cost for an archetype if we get a couple more cards which gain life and can be played outside of the deck.
Nobody said you had to wait, but you might draw your Lone Missionary late. I was merely pointing out that cards that we currently already play work well with Bond. The deck I have in mind doesn't want to wait to combo out with Bond, it's a card you'd play to help you finish the game. If you've constantly been gaining life while following your normal defensive gameplan you also shouldn't lose regularly if you take your turn 5 to play Bond.
Why would you let Blastoderm through? If you block Blastoderm with Nighthawk while Bond is on the battlefield you gain life and your opponent loses life as well as his Blastoderm. If there's no Bond you still gain life and get rid of a Blastoderm.