A fun year-end discussion for us all to have regarding new 2017 Peasant cards. We had 8 total releases in 2017 (AEther Revolt, Modern Master 2017, Amonkhet, Hour of Devastation, Commander 2017, Ixalan, Iconic Masters, and Unstable, but NOT Rivals of Ixalan) that contributed new cards to the Peasant card pool. If you want to participate, just rank your top 3 cards in each color, along with multi-colored and colorless (lands and artifacts). I will do my best to update this initial post with results when everyone has contributed, though I likely would not have the time to run detailed statistical analyses, more of "here are the votes" sort of compilation.
My personal votes will be after this post, as to minimize confusion.
My personal picks for best Peasant cards of 2017, with some brief descriptions for each.
3)Trial of Solidarity- White did not have a great 2017, let me say that. But I chose Trial for giving vigilance on an effect that typically does not grant it, allowing some different combat options.
2) Adanto Vanguard- A card I did not even add initially, but was very powerful in vanilla Ixalan draft for being a highly-resilient beater.
1) Sunscourge Champion- A very good mid-range option that also represents multiple threats for aggro decks. Kind of a white Call of the Herd.
3) More or Less- A card I expect to be highly entertaining in Peasant cubes while also having universal utility.
2) Skyship Plunderer- Our first 2/1 flier at 1U with no drawbacks. Sure to be a staple for years to come.
1) Chart a Course- It is so hard for blue card draw spells to crack our lists these days, so I am placing Chart a Course slightly above Plunderer.
3) Wasp of the Bitter End- Our first 2/1 flier at 1B without downside, albeit without any real upside.
2) Gifted AEtherborn- Despite the double black, a very solid two-drop that handles almost all other two-drops.
1) Curse of Disturbance- A better version of a card that was already insanely good. Easy #1.
3) Bloodlust Inciter- Red also got a lot of solid two- and five-drops this year, but I will go with this one-drop, since this is the first one in a while I am excited for.
2) Ahn-Crop Crasher- Extremely strong attacker with or without exert that is very frustrating to play defense against.
1) Abrade- Something we have wanted for years- maindeckable artifact removal. Another staple for years to come.
3) Gaea's Anthem- A global pump enchantment we have not seen before, strong in various aggro/token decks.
2) Sifter Wurm- Another ramp target that helps to keep you alive while also impacting card quality.
1) Ridgescale Tusker- 5-drop that usually represents 7/7 in stats on the board. Excellent in all types of green decks.
3) Winding Constrictor- An interesting card that may unlock a new variety of Golgari decks.
2) Enigma Drake- Great addition to the spells-matter decks that also can play decent defense early.
1) Honored Crop-Captain- Exactly what the aggro Boros decks want, which I believe is all Boros decks.
3) Proper Laboratory Attire- Not a strong year for colorless, so I will go with another decent piece of equipment with this nearly identical silver-bordered Trusty Machete.
2) Untethered Express- An all-star from its native draft format that also works great in all colors of aggro decks.
1) Heirloom Blade- The literally best Peasant equipment in 8 years that not only pumps aggro beaters, but has a built-in card advantage engine.
3. Cast Out -- very good, flexible removal at a fair cost. Cycling is basically an emergency button if you’re missing land drops early, but it’s still helpful and relevant upside. You can’t have infinite slots in your cube dedicated to removal, but I’m always more willing to add cards if they do more than just hit creatures.
2. Gust Walker -- how many creatures in your cube can block a 3/3 flyer? The number is super low, and most come at four or five or more mana. To get that size of a threat on a 2-drop creature is absurd; yes, when souped up it only hits every-other turn, but that’s still a great rate. It’s ALSO a totally fine blocker when you need it on defense, which is very relevant for a lot of white decks.
1. Knight of the Kitchen Sink -- obviously the caveat here is “... if you play Un- cards,” but in that world this is just incredible. If all you want is power level, go for the originally spoiled “black borders” version; for a slightly toned down option, try “two-word names”. The only downside is how damn hard it is to find the right version in foil!
3. Curse of Verbosity -- cute and fun, though certainly not consistent. Has a high ceiling, though, and is immensely less replaceable than other “pretty good” cards that work better in control and midrange decks.
2. Striped Riverwinder -- I fell in love with this as I imagine a T1 cycle followed by a T2 Reanimate, but instead it’s “just” been a generally better Jetting Glasskite… in low threat-count control decks, Kite’s “bubble” is actually pretty easy to pop, and evasion isn’t super important since so much else in your deck is removal. Riverwinder is more expensive, but will never rot in your hand when you need other action to even GET to the late-game, and that’s been a great improvement.
1. Skyship Plunderer -- the pseudo-proliferate dream hasn’t really played out yet for me, but it HAS blocked many a 2/1 or 3/2 aggro idiot in cases where a Welkin Tern would be almost totally useless. That difference isn’t glamorous, but it’s enough to make Plunderer an aggro staple and a solid playable for midrange and even control decks.
3. Gifted Aetherborn -- double-symbol mana on a two drop is pretty rough, but it can also be a strong payoff for heavily playing a color, and this Aetherborn certainly is worth the hassle for black decks. In all-in aggro decks you’d still prefer a Dauthi Slayer or Inkfathom Infiltrator, but for every other deck its great combination of stats and abilities make it a very welcoem addition.
2. Fatal Push -- it’s almost subtly amazing, which is a weird thing for a $7 uncommon card from a new set that was instantly heralded as a constructed staple. I can’t imagine playing a deck with multiple Swamps in it and not wanting a copy of Fatal Push.
1. Curse of Disturbance -- always a bit lame to give a top spot to what’s basically a reprinted old card, but the only way that this Curse will ever leave your cube is that you decide it’s too strong.
3. Burning-Fist Minotaur -- there’s close competition with a lot of solid cards here, including the vastly disappointing but still quite playable Monstosaur. I like Minotaur the most by a slight margin, due to the power of its threat of activation.
2. Abrade -- kills a lot of stuff, also saves you from losing single-handedly to some busted artifact you otherwise can’t answer. Just an incredible card.
1. Ahn-Crop Crasher -- the easy comparison is Goblin Heelcutter… and while Cutter is a justified staple, I think Crasher is just better. The scary games are when you get an attack in WITHOUT using the exert trigger!
3. Sifter Wurm -- solidly worse than Pelakka Wurm, still a very welcome addition for ramp decks. When it hits into another six or seven drop and the corresponding chunk of lifegain, you feel like a million bucks.
2. Gaea’s Anthem -- never thought this would show up in the Peasant card pool, but it’s been about as great as expected since. Just making your mana dorks into 2/2s is great, and it’s obviously insane with any sort of go-wide or token deck.
1. Ridgescale Tusker -- likely the single strongest booster draft uncommon since Origins provided both Whirler Rogue AND Sentinel of the Eternal Watch, and the Tusker hasn’t disappointed at all in cube context.
Gold
3. Winding Constrictor -- SNEK gets a vote here due to the inevitability of some more mono-black playables that use +1/+1 counters. As-is, it’s basically a hard-to-cast Selesnya card, and nowhere near cube contention for me. There really aren’t any other gold cards I’d consider using from 2017, though… lots of mediocrity ranging from Renegade Rallier to River Hoopoe to, uh, whatever else.
2. Enigma Drake -- cute "spells" build-around with a decent floor and high ceiling. Rarely worse than an Azure Drake, reasonable to get it to a late-game Air Elemental, and sometimes even more. The only problem is that it’s in the same cardpool as a lot of other very good Izzet cards.
1. Honored Crop-Captain -- the +0/+1 compared to Accorder Paladin is certainly relevant, but what’s more important is that every other Boros card is a pile of flaming garbage. Nice attacker for a color pair that usually (not always) wants to do just that.
3. Proper Laboratory Attire -- Trusty Machete is fine, so this is fine too.
2. Untethered Express -- oddly underperforming for me, after a whole year of having it sleeved up… probably still great just on raw stats, but I’ve yet to really see it in action.
1. Heirloom Blade -- very good just as “vanilla” equipment, downright absurd as recurring card advantage. Don’t worry about dedicating yourself to a certain tribe; overlap of random soldier/knight/warrior “class” types is way more than enough to turn this into an instant staple.
There are a few on these top threes that make me want to look at them again and maybe give them a shot. What a good thread.
My only honorable mention for white is Knight of the Kitchen Sink. I include it here instead of in my top 3 because I don't run Un cards. If I did, it'd be the clear number one.
3. Cast Out - A good addition for peasant cubes that have room for it. I opted for Faith's Fetters instead because I think the life gain is more important for the control decks that want this effect.
2. Adanto Vanguard - This is a solid 1W 3/1 variant for peasant cubes.
1. Forsake the Worldly - The only white card from the 2017 sets that made it into my 360 Peasant list. Honestly suprised to not even see it as an honorable mention so far. I chose to include this over the classic Disenchant in my cube because I felt that the ability to cycle it when it was useless would outweigh extra mana in the casting cost and so far it has.
My honorable mention for blue is Siren Stormtamer. It's been something good for blue decks to do on turn one. It gets in for a few points of evasive damage and acts a lot like a Flagbearer.
3. Skyship Plunderer - Probably the best Welkin Tern variant available. When looking through lists and threads for ideas as I was putting my peasant cube back together, I found that it seems like folks here on MTGS tend to value the blue 2/1 flyers much higher than I do. Plunderer is the only one of these that I'm running at 360 and I've honestly not been that impressed with him because his counters ability hasn't been relevant very often.
2. Supreme Will - A really great addition to blue's arsenal, imo. Most of the time this is an overpriced Mana Leak, however, tacking on the ability to Impulse when you need to dig is really great. I've been very happy with this card in pretty much any blue based deck.
1. Chart a Course - Possibly the best blue card to be released in 2017 for cubes of all shapes and sizes. It's subtlely powerful. You don't realize how powerful two mana draw two can be until you play it a few times. It's a fantastic card and one of the few true staples we received last year.
Black's honorable mention goes to Indulgent Tormentor. This card is not amazing, but it's a nice addition to a slot in black that's not exactly full of great options. I like that it gives black midrange and control decks and decent finisher.
3. Wasp of the Bitter End - While I think it's great that we're finally getting these types of dudes with no real drawbacks, I also think there are just more interesting cards for black's two drop section.
2. Gifted Aetherborn - Is Vampire Nighthawk good enough without flying? Turns out it's still pretty damn good.
1. Curse of Disturbance - Aside from the obvious upside of this being strictly better than Curse of Shallow Graves, this effect can easily just take over the game. It's very oppressive and your opponent will often not be able to deal with the card advantage it creates.
Red gets two honorable mentions because this is my list and I'll do what I want. First, Bloodlust Inciter, which is pretty good, but tends to be an honorary Gruul card instead of an aggro card. In a Fires style deck, it can really do some work, but it typically gets cut or ran as number 23 in pure aggressive builds. Second, Charging Monstrosaur. He's big and boring, but I love crashing with a big fast dino. Also red was short on a solid top end for midrange decks. This dino really helped to fill that hole.
3. Ahn-Crop Crasher - Without the exert ability, this guy would have been good enough as just a 2R 3/2 haster. Being able to shut off blockers, though, to push through damage has really made this guy a power house. He's great for red aggro decks of all kinds.
2. Aether Chaser - While red was not short on 1R three power options, this guy giving you that over two bodies and having first strike himself has really proved valuable.
1. Abrade - Red's Disenchant. This is just a really great utility spell. I'd play Abrade in any cube that allowed it no matter the size.
For green, my honorable mention goes to Sifter Wurm. I think this card had the unfortunate luck of being released after Pelakka Wurm and Plated Crusher, so it just isn't needed in smaller lists. Gaea's Anthem also deserves a mention, just because I never thought I'd see an effect like this at peasant. I honestly haven't included it in my 360 list, but it's a great card and I think it's a good sign to see this type of effect at uncommon.
3. Merfolk Branchwalker - I wish we'd have gotten more good explore cards because I really like the effect. Branchwalker is one of the better two mana two power options for green.
2. Scaled Behemoth - Peasant relying on targeted removal for the most part, especially when dealing with a 6/7 makes hexproof a little OP. Even though he gets chumped forever, acting as a green Abyss is actually fine.
1. Ridgescale Tusker - There's not much to say about how great this guy is. He often is just eight or more power for five mana. He's an amazing deal for the price. He just applies so much preasure.
I have no honorable mentions for multicolored cards. 2017 was not great for peasant guild sections.
3. Enigma Drake - While this is can be a powerful creature, my group and I preferred the 'trickiness' of Gelectrode in that slot. With that said, though, in that same deck Enigma Drake can end up being a huge beater.
2. Winding Constrictor - I've actually considered including this over Catacomb Sifter because of how many cards it works well with in green. What ultimately keeps me from that is that there realy aren't many in black or artifacts. I do like this card, though, and maybe the sheer amount of synergy in green alone is worth it. Probably not.
1. Honored Crop-Captain - Battle Cry on a 3/2. In Boros. Exactly what the doctor ordered. This card is fantastic in Boros aggro decks and was a welcome inclusion. It's the only multicolor card I added that came from new sets in 2017.
For colorless, I'll again give my honorable mention to an Unstable card with Proper Laboratory Attire. As has been said above, Trusty Machete is good enough, so this probably is too. I just don't do silver borders. I'd also like to bring attention to Treasure Keeper. While not quite Bloodbraid Elf, he's been a solid inclusion for midrange decks of all flavors.
3. Pacification Array - If I were to go up in size this would be one of the first artifacts I'd be looking to include. Tapping potential attackers or blockers is powerful, but paying two mana to do it can be a real bummer.
2. Untethered Express - When a vehicle has a crew cost of only one, I think it's worth looking at. A 4/4 trample for four alone would probably have been good enough, but a 5/5 is amazing and potentially getting bigger than that is just icing on the already delicious cake.
1. Heirloom Blade - I've actually be surprised at how dense the tribes in peasant really are. A big problem I see with people (at least in my group) evaluating this card is putting too much emphasis on the big block of text in the middle and trying to warp their draft around it. A three mana equipment with equip one for +3/+1 is solid as is. No matter what colors your aggro deck is, it'll be tough to not get value from the death trigger and even if you don't, again, the equipment without that text would still be great.
I still like Icy the most by a good margin (with the Amonkhet brick version probably a distant third). Getting to lock down for a full turn + keep up most of your mana on T5-T6-T7 is great, and Bricky Manipulator can never "double-tap" to clear two blockers and win a game.
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My personal votes will be after this post, as to minimize confusion.
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
3)Trial of Solidarity- White did not have a great 2017, let me say that. But I chose Trial for giving vigilance on an effect that typically does not grant it, allowing some different combat options.
2) Adanto Vanguard- A card I did not even add initially, but was very powerful in vanilla Ixalan draft for being a highly-resilient beater.
1) Sunscourge Champion- A very good mid-range option that also represents multiple threats for aggro decks. Kind of a white Call of the Herd.
3) More or Less- A card I expect to be highly entertaining in Peasant cubes while also having universal utility.
2) Skyship Plunderer- Our first 2/1 flier at 1U with no drawbacks. Sure to be a staple for years to come.
1) Chart a Course- It is so hard for blue card draw spells to crack our lists these days, so I am placing Chart a Course slightly above Plunderer.
3) Wasp of the Bitter End- Our first 2/1 flier at 1B without downside, albeit without any real upside.
2) Gifted AEtherborn- Despite the double black, a very solid two-drop that handles almost all other two-drops.
1) Curse of Disturbance- A better version of a card that was already insanely good. Easy #1.
3) Bloodlust Inciter- Red also got a lot of solid two- and five-drops this year, but I will go with this one-drop, since this is the first one in a while I am excited for.
2) Ahn-Crop Crasher- Extremely strong attacker with or without exert that is very frustrating to play defense against.
1) Abrade- Something we have wanted for years- maindeckable artifact removal. Another staple for years to come.
3) Gaea's Anthem- A global pump enchantment we have not seen before, strong in various aggro/token decks.
2) Sifter Wurm- Another ramp target that helps to keep you alive while also impacting card quality.
1) Ridgescale Tusker- 5-drop that usually represents 7/7 in stats on the board. Excellent in all types of green decks.
3) Winding Constrictor- An interesting card that may unlock a new variety of Golgari decks.
2) Enigma Drake- Great addition to the spells-matter decks that also can play decent defense early.
1) Honored Crop-Captain- Exactly what the aggro Boros decks want, which I believe is all Boros decks.
3) Proper Laboratory Attire- Not a strong year for colorless, so I will go with another decent piece of equipment with this nearly identical silver-bordered Trusty Machete.
2) Untethered Express- An all-star from its native draft format that also works great in all colors of aggro decks.
1) Heirloom Blade- The literally best Peasant equipment in 8 years that not only pumps aggro beaters, but has a built-in card advantage engine.
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
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
Honorable mention: Adanto Vanguard, Oketra’s Monument, Sunscourge Champion
3. Cast Out -- very good, flexible removal at a fair cost. Cycling is basically an emergency button if you’re missing land drops early, but it’s still helpful and relevant upside. You can’t have infinite slots in your cube dedicated to removal, but I’m always more willing to add cards if they do more than just hit creatures.
2. Gust Walker -- how many creatures in your cube can block a 3/3 flyer? The number is super low, and most come at four or five or more mana. To get that size of a threat on a 2-drop creature is absurd; yes, when souped up it only hits every-other turn, but that’s still a great rate. It’s ALSO a totally fine blocker when you need it on defense, which is very relevant for a lot of white decks.
1. Knight of the Kitchen Sink -- obviously the caveat here is “... if you play Un- cards,” but in that world this is just incredible. If all you want is power level, go for the originally spoiled “black borders” version; for a slightly toned down option, try “two-word names”. The only downside is how damn hard it is to find the right version in foil!
Honorable mention: Chart a Course, Supreme Will, Cryptic Serpent, Hieroglyphic Illumination
3. Curse of Verbosity -- cute and fun, though certainly not consistent. Has a high ceiling, though, and is immensely less replaceable than other “pretty good” cards that work better in control and midrange decks.
2. Striped Riverwinder -- I fell in love with this as I imagine a T1 cycle followed by a T2 Reanimate, but instead it’s “just” been a generally better Jetting Glasskite… in low threat-count control decks, Kite’s “bubble” is actually pretty easy to pop, and evasion isn’t super important since so much else in your deck is removal. Riverwinder is more expensive, but will never rot in your hand when you need other action to even GET to the late-game, and that’s been a great improvement.
1. Skyship Plunderer -- the pseudo-proliferate dream hasn’t really played out yet for me, but it HAS blocked many a 2/1 or 3/2 aggro idiot in cases where a Welkin Tern would be almost totally useless. That difference isn’t glamorous, but it’s enough to make Plunderer an aggro staple and a solid playable for midrange and even control decks.
Honorable mention: Indulgent Tormentor, Supernatural Stamina, Wasp of the Bitter End
3. Gifted Aetherborn -- double-symbol mana on a two drop is pretty rough, but it can also be a strong payoff for heavily playing a color, and this Aetherborn certainly is worth the hassle for black decks. In all-in aggro decks you’d still prefer a Dauthi Slayer or Inkfathom Infiltrator, but for every other deck its great combination of stats and abilities make it a very welcoem addition.
2. Fatal Push -- it’s almost subtly amazing, which is a weird thing for a $7 uncommon card from a new set that was instantly heralded as a constructed staple. I can’t imagine playing a deck with multiple Swamps in it and not wanting a copy of Fatal Push.
1. Curse of Disturbance -- always a bit lame to give a top spot to what’s basically a reprinted old card, but the only way that this Curse will ever leave your cube is that you decide it’s too strong.
Honorable mention: Aether Chaser, Garbage Elemental (Cascade and/or Battle Cry), Super-Duper Death Ray, Charging Monstosaur, Scrapper Champion
3. Burning-Fist Minotaur -- there’s close competition with a lot of solid cards here, including the vastly disappointing but still quite playable Monstosaur. I like Minotaur the most by a slight margin, due to the power of its threat of activation.
2. Abrade -- kills a lot of stuff, also saves you from losing single-handedly to some busted artifact you otherwise can’t answer. Just an incredible card.
1. Ahn-Crop Crasher -- the easy comparison is Goblin Heelcutter… and while Cutter is a justified staple, I think Crasher is just better. The scary games are when you get an attack in WITHOUT using the exert trigger!
Honorable mention: Scaled Behemoth, Merfolk Branchwalker
3. Sifter Wurm -- solidly worse than Pelakka Wurm, still a very welcome addition for ramp decks. When it hits into another six or seven drop and the corresponding chunk of lifegain, you feel like a million bucks.
2. Gaea’s Anthem -- never thought this would show up in the Peasant card pool, but it’s been about as great as expected since. Just making your mana dorks into 2/2s is great, and it’s obviously insane with any sort of go-wide or token deck.
1. Ridgescale Tusker -- likely the single strongest booster draft uncommon since Origins provided both Whirler Rogue AND Sentinel of the Eternal Watch, and the Tusker hasn’t disappointed at all in cube context.
3. Winding Constrictor -- SNEK gets a vote here due to the inevitability of some more mono-black playables that use +1/+1 counters. As-is, it’s basically a hard-to-cast Selesnya card, and nowhere near cube contention for me. There really aren’t any other gold cards I’d consider using from 2017, though… lots of mediocrity ranging from Renegade Rallier to River Hoopoe to, uh, whatever else.
2. Enigma Drake -- cute "spells" build-around with a decent floor and high ceiling. Rarely worse than an Azure Drake, reasonable to get it to a late-game Air Elemental, and sometimes even more. The only problem is that it’s in the same cardpool as a lot of other very good Izzet cards.
1. Honored Crop-Captain -- the +0/+1 compared to Accorder Paladin is certainly relevant, but what’s more important is that every other Boros card is a pile of flaming garbage. Nice attacker for a color pair that usually (not always) wants to do just that.
Honorable mention: Renegade Map as a fourth-best Evolving Wilds effect I guess?
3. Proper Laboratory Attire -- Trusty Machete is fine, so this is fine too.
2. Untethered Express -- oddly underperforming for me, after a whole year of having it sleeved up… probably still great just on raw stats, but I’ve yet to really see it in action.
1. Heirloom Blade -- very good just as “vanilla” equipment, downright absurd as recurring card advantage. Don’t worry about dedicating yourself to a certain tribe; overlap of random soldier/knight/warrior “class” types is way more than enough to turn this into an instant staple.
My only honorable mention for white is Knight of the Kitchen Sink. I include it here instead of in my top 3 because I don't run Un cards. If I did, it'd be the clear number one.
3. Cast Out - A good addition for peasant cubes that have room for it. I opted for Faith's Fetters instead because I think the life gain is more important for the control decks that want this effect.
2. Adanto Vanguard - This is a solid 1W 3/1 variant for peasant cubes.
1. Forsake the Worldly - The only white card from the 2017 sets that made it into my 360 Peasant list. Honestly suprised to not even see it as an honorable mention so far. I chose to include this over the classic Disenchant in my cube because I felt that the ability to cycle it when it was useless would outweigh extra mana in the casting cost and so far it has.
My honorable mention for blue is Siren Stormtamer. It's been something good for blue decks to do on turn one. It gets in for a few points of evasive damage and acts a lot like a Flagbearer.
3. Skyship Plunderer - Probably the best Welkin Tern variant available. When looking through lists and threads for ideas as I was putting my peasant cube back together, I found that it seems like folks here on MTGS tend to value the blue 2/1 flyers much higher than I do. Plunderer is the only one of these that I'm running at 360 and I've honestly not been that impressed with him because his counters ability hasn't been relevant very often.
2. Supreme Will - A really great addition to blue's arsenal, imo. Most of the time this is an overpriced Mana Leak, however, tacking on the ability to Impulse when you need to dig is really great. I've been very happy with this card in pretty much any blue based deck.
1. Chart a Course - Possibly the best blue card to be released in 2017 for cubes of all shapes and sizes. It's subtlely powerful. You don't realize how powerful two mana draw two can be until you play it a few times. It's a fantastic card and one of the few true staples we received last year.
Black's honorable mention goes to Indulgent Tormentor. This card is not amazing, but it's a nice addition to a slot in black that's not exactly full of great options. I like that it gives black midrange and control decks and decent finisher.
3. Wasp of the Bitter End - While I think it's great that we're finally getting these types of dudes with no real drawbacks, I also think there are just more interesting cards for black's two drop section.
2. Gifted Aetherborn - Is Vampire Nighthawk good enough without flying? Turns out it's still pretty damn good.
1. Curse of Disturbance - Aside from the obvious upside of this being strictly better than Curse of Shallow Graves, this effect can easily just take over the game. It's very oppressive and your opponent will often not be able to deal with the card advantage it creates.
Red gets two honorable mentions because this is my list and I'll do what I want. First, Bloodlust Inciter, which is pretty good, but tends to be an honorary Gruul card instead of an aggro card. In a Fires style deck, it can really do some work, but it typically gets cut or ran as number 23 in pure aggressive builds. Second, Charging Monstrosaur. He's big and boring, but I love crashing with a big fast dino. Also red was short on a solid top end for midrange decks. This dino really helped to fill that hole.
3. Ahn-Crop Crasher - Without the exert ability, this guy would have been good enough as just a 2R 3/2 haster. Being able to shut off blockers, though, to push through damage has really made this guy a power house. He's great for red aggro decks of all kinds.
2. Aether Chaser - While red was not short on 1R three power options, this guy giving you that over two bodies and having first strike himself has really proved valuable.
1. Abrade - Red's Disenchant. This is just a really great utility spell. I'd play Abrade in any cube that allowed it no matter the size.
For green, my honorable mention goes to Sifter Wurm. I think this card had the unfortunate luck of being released after Pelakka Wurm and Plated Crusher, so it just isn't needed in smaller lists. Gaea's Anthem also deserves a mention, just because I never thought I'd see an effect like this at peasant. I honestly haven't included it in my 360 list, but it's a great card and I think it's a good sign to see this type of effect at uncommon.
3. Merfolk Branchwalker - I wish we'd have gotten more good explore cards because I really like the effect. Branchwalker is one of the better two mana two power options for green.
2. Scaled Behemoth - Peasant relying on targeted removal for the most part, especially when dealing with a 6/7 makes hexproof a little OP. Even though he gets chumped forever, acting as a green Abyss is actually fine.
1. Ridgescale Tusker - There's not much to say about how great this guy is. He often is just eight or more power for five mana. He's an amazing deal for the price. He just applies so much preasure.
I have no honorable mentions for multicolored cards. 2017 was not great for peasant guild sections.
3. Enigma Drake - While this is can be a powerful creature, my group and I preferred the 'trickiness' of Gelectrode in that slot. With that said, though, in that same deck Enigma Drake can end up being a huge beater.
2. Winding Constrictor - I've actually considered including this over Catacomb Sifter because of how many cards it works well with in green. What ultimately keeps me from that is that there realy aren't many in black or artifacts. I do like this card, though, and maybe the sheer amount of synergy in green alone is worth it. Probably not.
1. Honored Crop-Captain - Battle Cry on a 3/2. In Boros. Exactly what the doctor ordered. This card is fantastic in Boros aggro decks and was a welcome inclusion. It's the only multicolor card I added that came from new sets in 2017.
For colorless, I'll again give my honorable mention to an Unstable card with Proper Laboratory Attire. As has been said above, Trusty Machete is good enough, so this probably is too. I just don't do silver borders. I'd also like to bring attention to Treasure Keeper. While not quite Bloodbraid Elf, he's been a solid inclusion for midrange decks of all flavors.
3. Pacification Array - If I were to go up in size this would be one of the first artifacts I'd be looking to include. Tapping potential attackers or blockers is powerful, but paying two mana to do it can be a real bummer.
2. Untethered Express - When a vehicle has a crew cost of only one, I think it's worth looking at. A 4/4 trample for four alone would probably have been good enough, but a 5/5 is amazing and potentially getting bigger than that is just icing on the already delicious cake.
1. Heirloom Blade - I've actually be surprised at how dense the tribes in peasant really are. A big problem I see with people (at least in my group) evaluating this card is putting too much emphasis on the big block of text in the middle and trying to warp their draft around it. A three mana equipment with equip one for +3/+1 is solid as is. No matter what colors your aggro deck is, it'll be tough to not get value from the death trigger and even if you don't, again, the equipment without that text would still be great.
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
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1. Cast Out
2. Adanto Vanguard
3. Dawnfeather Eagle
1. Skyship Plunderer
2. Supreme Will
3. Siren Stormtamer
1. Gifted Aetherborn
2. Fatal Push
3. Ravenous Chupacabra
1. Ahn-Crop Crasher
2. Abrade
3. Charging Monstrosaur
1. Ridgescale Tusker
2. Sifter Wurm
3. Merfolk Branchwalker
1. Honored Crop-Captain
2. Bloodwater Entity
3. Shapers of Nature
1. Untethered Express
2. Pacification Array
... If my cube wasn't Modern legal only, I might have considered Heirloom Blade.
edit: missed some cards!
My CubeCobra (draft 20 card packs, 2 packs.)
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