conclave tribunal: we have so many variations of this effect now. i guess since i push tokens i should be running this now that i think about it. inspiring unicorn: if i wasn't running soltari champion and pianna, nomad captain this would be a snap include. sunhome stalwart: seems like a lot of value for a 1c two drop, so i'm very interested. our white 2s are getting tight though. chemister's insight: probably not as good as some other options in blue that dig deeper initially, but this is a good card still, especially at instant speed. murmuring mystic: i'm a big fan of redundancy for young pyromancer, and one that's less squishy but costs twice as much is still interesting for me. evasive tokens is also a big deal too, when you consider i run favorable winds and thunderclap wyvern. i think this will slot in nicely. vedalken mesmerist: is this a unique effect? it actually seems reasonably powerful. of course evasion and can't block effects are just better, but i think this is reasonable. pilfering imp: early flying man that can cash in for a card is not bad at all, especially (mostly) unrestricted discard. electrostatic field: not as good as thermo-alchemist, which i don't even run at this point. probably our fourth of four options for this effect. goblin banneret: this seems like a good late-game one-drop, which is appealing. goblin cratermaker: i like maindeckable artifact hate, and a less colour intensive ember hauler is nice. being both at the same time might just be good enough. golgari raiders: is this a good enough card for the spider spawning deck? maybe not. kraul harpooner: this has a lot of text for a two-drop 3/2. being a plummet but also not really seems good, since flying toughness in cube tends to cap out at 4, so you really only need one creature in the bin to kill mostly anything. baseline 3/2 is really good too. boros challenger: good value on a two-drop. it's a shame boros is stronger than this. conclave cavalier: it's colour intensive sure, but god damn does this have a lot of value for 4 mana. 4/4 vigilance for 4 is perfectly fine, and then dying into basically the same card is pretty ridiculous. selesnya is just so ridiculously strong that this doesn't even get a look in though. molderhulk: if you cast this for 5 you're getting a good deal imo, which is only two creatures in the bin. but does golgari even want this? not really. nightveil predator: colour intensive again, but this has a lot of good keywords on it. dimir isn't that strong either, but i don't think this has a place in my cube. thought erasure: two mana thoughtseize with a surveil? cool. worth a gold slot? nah. if this cost bb i'd be keen. discovery // dispersal: a bad preordain + a bad dinrova horror = not actually a bad card? it smooths your draws early, and deals with something big later (if only temporarily sometimes). seems actually fine. integrity // intervention: i feel like this card isn't as overcosted as the rest of the split cards in this set. the halves of the card actually play really well together as well. i think this card is legit good, but has the problem of being a gold card. invert // invent: i love invent, even if it is expensive. invert is so narrow that being half of a split card suits it, too. but alas, i will not be cubing it.
i don't know how much i will end up running, but seems like a decent set for cube overall tbh.
I have a bit of downtime at work tonight, so I put together a classic "Too Early Top 20" for Guilds of Ravnica. I would have loved to have gotten more guild cards from this set but when I look back, I only got 2 guild cards from Return to Ravnica and 3 each from Gatecrash and Dragon's Maze. Even my larger sections are hard to break into.
My list is based on my personal excitement to CUbe, so I tend to overrank interesting cards compared to good cards. Anyway, the list:
Honorable Mention- Demotion- I play Gelid Shackles since I have snow lands, and I really think turning off blocking and activated abilities is 80% of what aggro decks want at 33% of the price of an Arrest. Definitely worth considering this non-snow version.
20) Nightveil Sprite- I like the potential graveyard upside here, but I do not want to count on attacking with an below-rate blue two-drop to get that upside.
19) Vedalken Mesmerist- Speaking of blue attackers, this has a very interesting attack trigger to unlock attacks for your creatures. I just do not think it does enough to unlock those attacks for itself, and will almost always die in combat.
18) Pilfering Imp- I love one-drops with late game utility, and this fits that bill. I think that both parts are probably overcosted compared to what you want, but I could be totally wrong and the flexibility makes this a great card for CUbe.
17) Hypothesizzle- I want this to be Izzet Ribbons of Night, but missing the lifegain means much more to the card's quality than the other upsides of Hypothesizzle.
16) Invert // Invent- I have no idea how much utility the P/T switching gives us, but the Invent half of this feels worse than other expensive blue card draw type effects.
15) Discovery // Dispersal- Discovery is interesting as a potential graveyard support card, but seems underpowered next to similar blue or black card draw. Dispersal is pretty expensive for what it does, especially compared to Dinrova Horror, for example.
14) Chemister's Insight- I am personally a little down on blue card draw that does not have additional upside for decks that are not strict control. It feels like a good option if that is what you want, but give me something a little more interesting, like Careful Consideration.
13) Smelt-Ward Minotaur- A bit of a mis-matched effect, since it wants both creatures to attack and instants/sorceries to cast, but the upside here feels greater than a generic "deal 1 whenever you cast an instant or sorcery."
12) Electrostatic Field- That said, this fits much better into most of my low-creature, high-spell synergy decks. I would have it still behind Guttersnipe, Weaver of Lightning, and Thermo-Alchemist, but 4th place ain't bad.
11) Sinister Sabotage- I think this is our 1st or 2nd best 1UU counterspell, which you may or may not want.
10) Nightveil Predator- For just 4 mana, this is a heck of a potential finisher that alternatively can kill a dangerous attacker as well. I really hope that card selection and a couple of duals makes this above 60% to cast turn 4.
9) Conclave Cavalier- It is very hard to not get heaps of value from Cavalier *if* you cast it. With that said, if you have some duals and/or mana fixing, it could be very castable. Might try over Enlisted Wurm.
8) Gird for Battle- I love having cheap spells for my aggro decks to push through damage. Well, they do not get any cheaper than one-mana and representing two extra damage per turn is a great potential return on that investment.
7) Sunhome Stalwart- I like my existing 2/2 first strikers for two to also play this one. Mentor is a small, but appreciated upside.
6) Conclave Tribunal- Like my blue card draw, I like whenever my other control cards have upside elsewhere. This having extra upside in creature decks and token decks makes me more excited for this than Cast Out.
5) Murmuring Mystic- Another interesting payoff for the spells-matter decks. Hope it fits in well on turn 4, whereas most payoffs get cast early to take advantage of future spells or late to take advantage of all the spells already cast.
4) League Guildmage- Having the option to copy cheap, powerful spells or draw more spells is the flexibility I like on two-drops.
3) Goblin Banneret- Red one-drops are so bleh that I get excited for any strange new ones. I think you will occasionally pump on turn 2, occasionally pump on turn 3 to also get a mentor counter, and often pump on turn 4 or 5 to trade and get a mentor counter. Those options pique my interest, even if it gets cut 3 sets from now.
2) Kraul Harpoonist- Three different upsides on a card I already played (Terrain Elemental). Reach will matter most of those upsides, but every time this has haste and can attack for 5 it will be the sweetest play of the game.
1) Goblin Cratermaker- A red two-drop that can trade with a very large percentage of the cards in my cube (my guess is 25% to 30%) and some powerful ones at that. Even if just attacks until it gets outclassed, it will remain relevant. Very excited to play for a very long time in CUbe.
I mean, mostly. Although, I do not even run the 2 mana Lightning Bolt variants. However, it still acts a type of Azure Mage in the absence of decent targets to copy and once you have the mana to spare, something like a copied Reanimate or Hordeling Outburst would be living the dream. Though, looking at my list, a few too many (lower cost) instants and sorceries would not even benefit that much from being copied (tutors, counters, discard because of the mana cost delaying timing).
... something like a copied Hordeling Outburst would be living the dream.
4RRR for a bunch of tokens hmm. That doesn't seem like a dream to me. Even my proposed 1RR for two Lightning Bolts to clear a board or 6 to the dome seems.... mediocre.
However, it still acts a type of Azure Mage in the absence of decent targets to copy and once you have the mana to spare.
While not very common at all, I have drawn 2 cards in one turn during an opponent's endstep from Azure Mage, which wouldn't be allowed from League Guildmage.
I'm not feelin' this card.
EDIT: Fixed mana costs, still not feelin' the card.
Yeah I don't understand the hype for the guild-mage... I think I'll be putting in adeliz, the cinder wind instead because she been nuts in standard for me (and adjust the cube for more wizards). Bloodwater entity is a bit disappointing.
I cut some good stuff cards for more synergy cards I know everyone loves skyspawner but it has 0 syngery... there have been so many good wizards printed recently I want to try out sage of fables. I considered cutting some of my clunkier wizards but I want to keep my numbers high.
Opt could be any other can trip, anticipate, serum visions even slip through space I wanted just one more instant to help with delver decks and adeliz. ongoing has won me games but its a little too subtle in its power.
... something like a copied Hordeling Outburst would be living the dream.
3RRR for a bunch of tokens hmm. That doesn't seem like a dream to me. Even my proposed 2RR for two Lightning Bolts to clear a board or 6 to the dome seems.... mediocre.
However, it still acts a type of Azure Mage in the absence of decent targets to copy and once you have the mana to spare.
While not very common at all, I have drawn 2 cards in one turn during an opponent's endstep from Azure Mage, which wouldn't be allowed from League Guildmage.
I'm not feelin' this card.
uhm. a copied Outburst is RRR4 and a copied Bolt is RR1 which seems quite good.
Tacking a Lightning Strike onto a Lightning Bolt is fine, but hardly amazing. For a lot of the other one and two mana spells (which is what we'd copy most of the time) it's just not worth it imo.
The Good: Conclave Tribunal - Will swap if there's an O-Ring varient I'm not in love with (maybe O-ring?) Sunhome Stalwart - Will swap if there's a white 2drop valuedude who's not carrying their weight. Plaguecrafter - Press F to pay your respects to Fleshbag Marauder. Solid powercreep, though certainly not the most extreme in this set. Goblin Cratermaker - This is one of two cards that I expect to be staples for years to come. Remember when red got its first vanilla bear a few years back? How far we've come. It's very rare you'll lose this card without generating some kind of value. Gravitic Punch - How much damage do you have to get out of this for it to be worth it as a finisher? Nobody is lining up to use Soul's Fire, but being able to burn a land to get a second shot out of this seems like major game. Even if your best creature has 3 power, that's still 6 points of burn which is solid in an aggro deck. Yes it targets and the creature can get shot in response. I'm still optimistic. Crushing Canopy - How many decks run neither enchantments or creatures with flying. It has to be some % but having 3cmc instant speed removal in green still seems pretty OK if it diversifies answers to enchantments. Kraul Harpooner - POWER CREEP! People here added Terrain Elemental even though it "wasn't a real card" and was vanilla just because the stats were so good for the mana. And this has strong upside?! Invert // Invent - I can see Invert being a potential 2for1 in some boards. Invent is an instant tutor that will always be a 2for1 that can be an important tool for some decks (Rise from the Tides.dec). I'm surprised this isn't on more people's radar. Maybe it's the weird hybrid/gold/split nature of the card that's putting people off it, or making it hard for people to decide where it fits in their lists.
The Bad: Murmuring Mystic - 4 mana to have a potentially relevant defensive impact the board, and how many more turns until you've got a free Spectral Procession? I'm skeptical. Pilfering Imp - A Flying Man that can actually trade for a relevant card could be better than most, but I'm not convinced. Maybe one day we'll finally get a good version. Undercity Necrolist - This is probably sweet if you push Aristocrats, but costing mana and not being able to stack activations makes it worse in edge cases where the Nantuko Husks of the world can shine. This is probably the best of what I'm calling the "bad" cards (I really just wanted to use TGTB&TU to classify the cards, don't read too much into the names). Ornery Goblin - This thing has shades of Acolyte of the Inferno but I think 1 damage is irrelevant often enough that it's not good enough. Whisper Agent - FLASH! A-AAAAAAH! I think this is worth testing but I wouldn't be shocked if it's not good enough.
-----------
OK I've read what others are saying. House Guildmage - Decent card in a STACKED guild. I don't have room for it and you'd need a pretty large guild section to fit it over better options (Strix, Tog, Ribbons...) Thought Erasure - Fine but unexciting guild card. Lotleth Giant - 7 mana is a lot. If you push dredge this could be a solid game ender, but that's all it will ever be. Trades 1for1 on cards but you'll typically come out well behind on mana. Molderhulk - I'd need at least 3 creatures in the yard before I felt like I wasn't paying above rate. How often you get to cast this ahead of the curve will dictate weather it gets or keeps a place. Golgari is also another guild with plenty of depth so I don't think it deserves it.
AABB cards - This mana cost is too unreliable with peasant mana bases. Avoid. Goblin Banerett - Maybe I'm sleeping on this and it's good. The threat of activation from turn2 onward is real, but having to chose between developing your board and trading your 1drop at card parity is not where I want to be on turn 2 in an aggro deck. I'll be interested to see how many lists are still playing it in 6 months. Nightveil Sprite - Could be good but compares so badly with Looter il-Kor that I'm not sold. I wouldn't compare it to looters in general and I don't like it aggressively over the 2 power competition. Kraul Swarm - This probably wins the game in a board stall, but it will take a while and probably a few hopefully irrelevant creatures to get there. League Guildmage - Decent card, but I think there's better guild options. Discovery // Dispersal - The hybrid option isn't strong enoguh, the gold option costs too much (and UB is stacked). Boros Challanger - Boros is probably the softest guild to break into, but I'm not sold on this guy. What deck is he meant to make me draft, how good is it in that deck? Status // Statute - Could make the cut as a hybrid card, but not very exciting there. As a gold card, it's efficient gold removal spell #47. Integrity // Invention - A Mild Growth + Warlightning Helix could only hope to make the cut in Boros. Sinister Sabotage - Probably the best Cancel variant, but who wants to brag about being head of the dunce-class? Electrostatic Field - Nah, not better than any of its competition.
I know I am responding to a lot of people in regards to League Guildmage, so I might be mixing up my points, but I am a little surprised at the lukewarm response on it. First off, it is a 2/2 creature for UR that can tap and draw a card for 3U. I know that part is not particularly good, especially for a guild spell, but I mention it because it is the baseline no matter what happens with anything else.
About 4.5% of the cards in my CUbe are blue, red, or colorless two-mana instants/sorceries that I would be very happy to copy with League Guildmage. Being able to turn a Lightning Bolt into an extra Lightning Strike seems bonkers to me. Heck, even turning a Lightning Strike into an Open Fire feels really good. In both scenarios, you spend some extra mana and no extra cards to kill two opposing creatures and majorly impact the board. We have all decided that it is worth paying one-mana and spending a card for spells like Ponder, Vapor Snag, Faithless Looting or Firebolt. I mean, that is why they are in our CUbes. The idea then that it is not also worth spending 1R, a creature tap, and no additional cards to copy that spell does not make a lot of sense to me. I also know that copying spells above two-mana can be a little expensive, but there are a lot of three-mana spells, especially the instant speed ones, that I would be happy spending 3R and no additional cards to copy at EOT. Heck, I can easily see boards where spending 1 card and 4RRR to make six 1/1 goblins is pretty darn good.
In regards to specific cards mentioned as a replacement, I will say I am cutting Bloodwater Entity for League Guildmage. I always thought the ideal use of Bloodwater Entity was to get back a cheap, powerful spell to take advantage of the fact that it cannot directly gain your card advantage. (Ex: Since I am replacing a random card draw with its abitlity, I better be getting back a spell much better than a random card left in my iibrary.) For those purposes, I would rather have League Guildmage for those spells. With the comparison to Nivix Guildmage, I do see that those abilities can be used multiple times per turn. But given the common complaint here that League Guildmage is too expensive for copying even cheap spells, I do not want to be locked into having to spend 2UR to copy spells.
Given that the baseline creature is below average for a guild spell, I totally understand if your complaint is that you need exactly the right mix of cards at the right times with the right mana to use the copy ability of League Guildmage. I do not understand the complaint that 1RR and one card for two Chain Lightnings is not amazing.
I should read the discussion in full (cant, working) but paying 2 extra mana for a lightning strike is an excellent deal.
The problem is then that there just arent enough excellent deals. It's still decent next to an incinerate, but is it worth the effort if you get unkicked burst lightnings? Ponders? Eh, not as much. I think it's too spotty.
I also don't see azure mage as that great anymore, and wouldn't spend a guild spot on a slightly better one. It can't even be topdecked and used, which is some percentage points off.
It turns any shock into a Staggershock, which I think is definitely worthwhile. Any blue cantrip is also excellent in the later stages of the game. If you copy a Ponder you're getting a significantly better Azure Mage activation at half the cost, which seems very worthwhile to me.
I am barely even evaluating the Azure Mage mode of it. All I want to do is copy 1-2cmc spells, since that gets me my value at basically a third the cost. If I get to the phase where Azure Maging would be good I'm probably also at the point where I can copy 3 drops, which get even more value.
If you can copy one spell it's worthwhile, and if you copy two you're way ahead. This is in addition to being able to just kill your opponent with an EoT activation on burn -> activation. And this is on a 2 mana 2/2, so really easy on the curve and not a horrendous floor.
2 drop doesn't get immediate value when topdecking? Must be unplayable. Also, if you are topdecking, there is always the Azure Mage mode, which I hear isn't bad when you have spare mana. I can see the argument that you can't get enough good targets in a deck, but saying copying a 1-2cmc spell isn't worth it is crazy to me.
Also as an FYI, copied kicked spells are also kicked.
Someone on Reddit ran a bunch of simulations to determine probabilities of casting the AABB cards over multiple turns with varying land ratios. My 46% estimate for casting on turn 4 was pretty much on the money, but this gives a much more detailed breakdown.
Ya'll can test it out between now and .... a year from now.. and let me know how it goes. I'll keep it out for now. If it turns out to be bombtastic and all things amazing, i'll slide it in.
For my kids cube, cut down abilities, so no cards with Surveil, Mentor, Convoke, Jump-Start or Undergrowth.
After narrowing that down, considering the following:
conclave tribunal: we have so many variations of this effect now. i guess since i push tokens i should be running this now that i think about it.
inspiring unicorn: if i wasn't running soltari champion and pianna, nomad captain this would be a snap include.
sunhome stalwart: seems like a lot of value for a 1c two drop, so i'm very interested. our white 2s are getting tight though.
chemister's insight: probably not as good as some other options in blue that dig deeper initially, but this is a good card still, especially at instant speed.
murmuring mystic: i'm a big fan of redundancy for young pyromancer, and one that's less squishy but costs twice as much is still interesting for me. evasive tokens is also a big deal too, when you consider i run favorable winds and thunderclap wyvern. i think this will slot in nicely.
vedalken mesmerist: is this a unique effect? it actually seems reasonably powerful. of course evasion and can't block effects are just better, but i think this is reasonable.
pilfering imp: early flying man that can cash in for a card is not bad at all, especially (mostly) unrestricted discard.
electrostatic field: not as good as thermo-alchemist, which i don't even run at this point. probably our fourth of four options for this effect.
goblin banneret: this seems like a good late-game one-drop, which is appealing.
goblin cratermaker: i like maindeckable artifact hate, and a less colour intensive ember hauler is nice. being both at the same time might just be good enough.
golgari raiders: is this a good enough card for the spider spawning deck? maybe not.
kraul harpooner: this has a lot of text for a two-drop 3/2. being a plummet but also not really seems good, since flying toughness in cube tends to cap out at 4, so you really only need one creature in the bin to kill mostly anything. baseline 3/2 is really good too.
boros challenger: good value on a two-drop. it's a shame boros is stronger than this.
conclave cavalier: it's colour intensive sure, but god damn does this have a lot of value for 4 mana. 4/4 vigilance for 4 is perfectly fine, and then dying into basically the same card is pretty ridiculous. selesnya is just so ridiculously strong that this doesn't even get a look in though.
molderhulk: if you cast this for 5 you're getting a good deal imo, which is only two creatures in the bin. but does golgari even want this? not really.
nightveil predator: colour intensive again, but this has a lot of good keywords on it. dimir isn't that strong either, but i don't think this has a place in my cube.
thought erasure: two mana thoughtseize with a surveil? cool. worth a gold slot? nah. if this cost bb i'd be keen.
discovery // dispersal: a bad preordain + a bad dinrova horror = not actually a bad card? it smooths your draws early, and deals with something big later (if only temporarily sometimes). seems actually fine.
integrity // intervention: i feel like this card isn't as overcosted as the rest of the split cards in this set. the halves of the card actually play really well together as well. i think this card is legit good, but has the problem of being a gold card.
invert // invent: i love invent, even if it is expensive. invert is so narrow that being half of a split card suits it, too. but alas, i will not be cubing it.
i don't know how much i will end up running, but seems like a decent set for cube overall tbh.
My list is based on my personal excitement to CUbe, so I tend to overrank interesting cards compared to good cards. Anyway, the list:
Honorable Mention- Demotion- I play Gelid Shackles since I have snow lands, and I really think turning off blocking and activated abilities is 80% of what aggro decks want at 33% of the price of an Arrest. Definitely worth considering this non-snow version.
20) Nightveil Sprite- I like the potential graveyard upside here, but I do not want to count on attacking with an below-rate blue two-drop to get that upside.
19) Vedalken Mesmerist- Speaking of blue attackers, this has a very interesting attack trigger to unlock attacks for your creatures. I just do not think it does enough to unlock those attacks for itself, and will almost always die in combat.
18) Pilfering Imp- I love one-drops with late game utility, and this fits that bill. I think that both parts are probably overcosted compared to what you want, but I could be totally wrong and the flexibility makes this a great card for CUbe.
17) Hypothesizzle- I want this to be Izzet Ribbons of Night, but missing the lifegain means much more to the card's quality than the other upsides of Hypothesizzle.
16) Invert // Invent- I have no idea how much utility the P/T switching gives us, but the Invent half of this feels worse than other expensive blue card draw type effects.
15) Discovery // Dispersal- Discovery is interesting as a potential graveyard support card, but seems underpowered next to similar blue or black card draw. Dispersal is pretty expensive for what it does, especially compared to Dinrova Horror, for example.
14) Chemister's Insight- I am personally a little down on blue card draw that does not have additional upside for decks that are not strict control. It feels like a good option if that is what you want, but give me something a little more interesting, like Careful Consideration.
13) Smelt-Ward Minotaur- A bit of a mis-matched effect, since it wants both creatures to attack and instants/sorceries to cast, but the upside here feels greater than a generic "deal 1 whenever you cast an instant or sorcery."
12) Electrostatic Field- That said, this fits much better into most of my low-creature, high-spell synergy decks. I would have it still behind Guttersnipe, Weaver of Lightning, and Thermo-Alchemist, but 4th place ain't bad.
11) Sinister Sabotage- I think this is our 1st or 2nd best 1UU counterspell, which you may or may not want.
10) Nightveil Predator- For just 4 mana, this is a heck of a potential finisher that alternatively can kill a dangerous attacker as well. I really hope that card selection and a couple of duals makes this above 60% to cast turn 4.
9) Conclave Cavalier- It is very hard to not get heaps of value from Cavalier *if* you cast it. With that said, if you have some duals and/or mana fixing, it could be very castable. Might try over Enlisted Wurm.
8) Gird for Battle- I love having cheap spells for my aggro decks to push through damage. Well, they do not get any cheaper than one-mana and representing two extra damage per turn is a great potential return on that investment.
7) Sunhome Stalwart- I like my existing 2/2 first strikers for two to also play this one. Mentor is a small, but appreciated upside.
6) Conclave Tribunal- Like my blue card draw, I like whenever my other control cards have upside elsewhere. This having extra upside in creature decks and token decks makes me more excited for this than Cast Out.
5) Murmuring Mystic- Another interesting payoff for the spells-matter decks. Hope it fits in well on turn 4, whereas most payoffs get cast early to take advantage of future spells or late to take advantage of all the spells already cast.
4) League Guildmage- Having the option to copy cheap, powerful spells or draw more spells is the flexibility I like on two-drops.
3) Goblin Banneret- Red one-drops are so bleh that I get excited for any strange new ones. I think you will occasionally pump on turn 2, occasionally pump on turn 3 to also get a mentor counter, and often pump on turn 4 or 5 to trade and get a mentor counter. Those options pique my interest, even if it gets cut 3 sets from now.
2) Kraul Harpoonist- Three different upsides on a card I already played (Terrain Elemental). Reach will matter most of those upsides, but every time this has haste and can attack for 5 it will be the sweetest play of the game.
1) Goblin Cratermaker- A red two-drop that can trade with a very large percentage of the cards in my cube (my guess is 25% to 30%) and some powerful ones at that. Even if just attacks until it gets outclassed, it will remain relevant. Very excited to play for a very long time in CUbe.
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
Conclave Tribunal
Goblin Banneret
Goblin Cratermaker
Kraul Harpooner
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
Follow me. I tweet.
Sunhome Stalwart
Goblin Cratermaker
Kraul Harpooner
League Guildmage
are probably the only ones I'll start. Murmuring Mystic and Goblin Banneret will be kept in mind.
My Type 4 stack (Cube Tutor link)
I'm not feelin' this card.
EDIT: Fixed mana costs, still not feelin' the card.
White
In Sunhome Stalwart Out Knight of grace
In Gird to battle Out Cloudshift
In Conclave tribunal Out Oblivion Ring
Blue
In Murmuring Mystic Out Etherium sculptor
In Eldrazi Skyspawner Out Sage of Fables
In Opt Out Ongoing Investigation
Red
In Goblin Cratermaker Out Goblin Wardriver
In Electrostatic Field Out Goblin Rally
In Smelt-Ward Minotaur Out Warfire Javelineer
In Ghitu Lavarunner Out Kird Ape
In Weapon Surge Out Titan's strength
Green
In Kraul Harpooner Out Kujur seedsculptor
Multi
In Justice strike Out Sky terror
In Adeliz, the cinder wind Out Bloodwater entity
Hybrid
In Fresh-Faced Recruit Out Duergar Hedge-Mage
In Discovery // Dispersal Out Far // Away
I cut some good stuff cards for more synergy cards I know everyone loves skyspawner but it has 0 syngery... there have been so many good wizards printed recently I want to try out sage of fables. I considered cutting some of my clunkier wizards but I want to keep my numbers high.
Opt could be any other can trip, anticipate, serum visions even slip through space I wanted just one more instant to help with delver decks and adeliz. ongoing has won me games but its a little too subtle in its power.
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
uhm. a copied Outburst is RRR4 and a copied Bolt is RR1 which seems quite good.
T2 powpercube Value https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/37t
1RR for Hordeling Outburst, then 3R to duplicate, ya is as you said, 4RRR. That doesn't sound too amazing.
R for Lightning Bolt, then 1R to copy, totaling to 1RR. That also doesn't sound too amazing.
The Good:
Conclave Tribunal - Will swap if there's an O-Ring varient I'm not in love with (maybe O-ring?)
Sunhome Stalwart - Will swap if there's a white 2drop valuedude who's not carrying their weight.
Plaguecrafter - Press F to pay your respects to Fleshbag Marauder. Solid powercreep, though certainly not the most extreme in this set.
Goblin Cratermaker - This is one of two cards that I expect to be staples for years to come. Remember when red got its first vanilla bear a few years back? How far we've come. It's very rare you'll lose this card without generating some kind of value.
Gravitic Punch - How much damage do you have to get out of this for it to be worth it as a finisher? Nobody is lining up to use Soul's Fire, but being able to burn a land to get a second shot out of this seems like major game. Even if your best creature has 3 power, that's still 6 points of burn which is solid in an aggro deck. Yes it targets and the creature can get shot in response. I'm still optimistic.
Crushing Canopy - How many decks run neither enchantments or creatures with flying. It has to be some % but having 3cmc instant speed removal in green still seems pretty OK if it diversifies answers to enchantments.
Kraul Harpooner - POWER CREEP! People here added Terrain Elemental even though it "wasn't a real card" and was vanilla just because the stats were so good for the mana. And this has strong upside?!
Invert // Invent - I can see Invert being a potential 2for1 in some boards. Invent is an instant tutor that will always be a 2for1 that can be an important tool for some decks (Rise from the Tides.dec). I'm surprised this isn't on more people's radar. Maybe it's the weird hybrid/gold/split nature of the card that's putting people off it, or making it hard for people to decide where it fits in their lists.
The Bad:
Murmuring Mystic - 4 mana to have a potentially relevant defensive impact the board, and how many more turns until you've got a free Spectral Procession? I'm skeptical.
Pilfering Imp - A Flying Man that can actually trade for a relevant card could be better than most, but I'm not convinced. Maybe one day we'll finally get a good version.
Undercity Necrolist - This is probably sweet if you push Aristocrats, but costing mana and not being able to stack activations makes it worse in edge cases where the Nantuko Husks of the world can shine. This is probably the best of what I'm calling the "bad" cards (I really just wanted to use TGTB&TU to classify the cards, don't read too much into the names).
Ornery Goblin - This thing has shades of Acolyte of the Inferno but I think 1 damage is irrelevant often enough that it's not good enough.
Whisper Agent - FLASH! A-AAAAAAH! I think this is worth testing but I wouldn't be shocked if it's not good enough.
The Ugly:
Vedalken Mesmerist - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68ugkg9RePc
-----------
OK I've read what others are saying.
House Guildmage - Decent card in a STACKED guild. I don't have room for it and you'd need a pretty large guild section to fit it over better options (Strix, Tog, Ribbons...)
Thought Erasure - Fine but unexciting guild card.
Lotleth Giant - 7 mana is a lot. If you push dredge this could be a solid game ender, but that's all it will ever be. Trades 1for1 on cards but you'll typically come out well behind on mana.
Molderhulk - I'd need at least 3 creatures in the yard before I felt like I wasn't paying above rate. How often you get to cast this ahead of the curve will dictate weather it gets or keeps a place. Golgari is also another guild with plenty of depth so I don't think it deserves it.
AABB cards - This mana cost is too unreliable with peasant mana bases. Avoid.
Goblin Banerett - Maybe I'm sleeping on this and it's good. The threat of activation from turn2 onward is real, but having to chose between developing your board and trading your 1drop at card parity is not where I want to be on turn 2 in an aggro deck. I'll be interested to see how many lists are still playing it in 6 months.
Nightveil Sprite - Could be good but compares so badly with Looter il-Kor that I'm not sold. I wouldn't compare it to looters in general and I don't like it aggressively over the 2 power competition.
Kraul Swarm - This probably wins the game in a board stall, but it will take a while and probably a few hopefully irrelevant creatures to get there.
League Guildmage - Decent card, but I think there's better guild options.
Discovery // Dispersal - The hybrid option isn't strong enoguh, the gold option costs too much (and UB is stacked).
Boros Challanger - Boros is probably the softest guild to break into, but I'm not sold on this guy. What deck is he meant to make me draft, how good is it in that deck?
Status // Statute - Could make the cut as a hybrid card, but not very exciting there. As a gold card, it's efficient gold removal spell #47.
Integrity // Invention - A Mild Growth + Warlightning Helix could only hope to make the cut in Boros.
Sinister Sabotage - Probably the best Cancel variant, but who wants to brag about being head of the dunce-class?
Electrostatic Field - Nah, not better than any of its competition.
Cards I'm excited about:
Plaguecrafter (cool card)
Goblin Cratermaker (2nd best in set)
Gravitic Punch (fight me)
Kraul Harpooner (best in set)
Invert // Invent (coolest card in the set)
Cards I may run:
Conclave Tribunal
Sunhome Stalwart
Murmuring Mystic
Whisper Agent
Cards I'll at least order:
Undercity Necrolist
Goblin Banerett
League Guildmage (would like this to be good)
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.
About 4.5% of the cards in my CUbe are blue, red, or colorless two-mana instants/sorceries that I would be very happy to copy with League Guildmage. Being able to turn a Lightning Bolt into an extra Lightning Strike seems bonkers to me. Heck, even turning a Lightning Strike into an Open Fire feels really good. In both scenarios, you spend some extra mana and no extra cards to kill two opposing creatures and majorly impact the board. We have all decided that it is worth paying one-mana and spending a card for spells like Ponder, Vapor Snag, Faithless Looting or Firebolt. I mean, that is why they are in our CUbes. The idea then that it is not also worth spending 1R, a creature tap, and no additional cards to copy that spell does not make a lot of sense to me. I also know that copying spells above two-mana can be a little expensive, but there are a lot of three-mana spells, especially the instant speed ones, that I would be happy spending 3R and no additional cards to copy at EOT. Heck, I can easily see boards where spending 1 card and 4RRR to make six 1/1 goblins is pretty darn good.
In regards to specific cards mentioned as a replacement, I will say I am cutting Bloodwater Entity for League Guildmage. I always thought the ideal use of Bloodwater Entity was to get back a cheap, powerful spell to take advantage of the fact that it cannot directly gain your card advantage. (Ex: Since I am replacing a random card draw with its abitlity, I better be getting back a spell much better than a random card left in my iibrary.) For those purposes, I would rather have League Guildmage for those spells. With the comparison to Nivix Guildmage, I do see that those abilities can be used multiple times per turn. But given the common complaint here that League Guildmage is too expensive for copying even cheap spells, I do not want to be locked into having to spend 2UR to copy spells.
Given that the baseline creature is below average for a guild spell, I totally understand if your complaint is that you need exactly the right mix of cards at the right times with the right mana to use the copy ability of League Guildmage. I do not understand the complaint that 1RR and one card for two Chain Lightnings is not amazing.
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
The problem is then that there just arent enough excellent deals. It's still decent next to an incinerate, but is it worth the effort if you get unkicked burst lightnings? Ponders? Eh, not as much. I think it's too spotty.
I also don't see azure mage as that great anymore, and wouldn't spend a guild spot on a slightly better one. It can't even be topdecked and used, which is some percentage points off.
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
Sunhome Stalwart
Sinister Sabotage
Plaguecrafter
Price of Fame
Goblin Banneret
Goblin Cratermaker
Kraul Harpooner
Hypothesizzle
Whisper Agent
I am barely even evaluating the Azure Mage mode of it. All I want to do is copy 1-2cmc spells, since that gets me my value at basically a third the cost. If I get to the phase where Azure Maging would be good I'm probably also at the point where I can copy 3 drops, which get even more value.
If you can copy one spell it's worthwhile, and if you copy two you're way ahead. This is in addition to being able to just kill your opponent with an EoT activation on burn -> activation. And this is on a 2 mana 2/2, so really easy on the curve and not a horrendous floor.
2 drop doesn't get immediate value when topdecking? Must be unplayable. Also, if you are topdecking, there is always the Azure Mage mode, which I hear isn't bad when you have spare mana. I can see the argument that you can't get enough good targets in a deck, but saying copying a 1-2cmc spell isn't worth it is crazy to me.
Also as an FYI, copied kicked spells are also kicked.
https://www.reddit.com/r/magicTCG/comments/9hkx1r/on_casting_the_aabb_cycle_in_limited/
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.
After narrowing that down, considering the following:
My Stupidly Large Number of Current Decks
PucaTrade with me!
The Multiplayer Power Rankings
Cube: the Gittening (My Multiplayer Cube) - MTGS Cube List | @ CubeTutor
The N00b Cube (Peasant cube for new players) - MTGS Cube List | @ CubeTutor
Murmuring Mystic
Goblin Cratermaker
Maximize Velocity
Kraul Harpooner
Integrity // Invervention
Maybe List:
Sunhome Stalwart
Capture Sphere
Sinister Sabotage
Plaguecrafter
Hellkite Whelp
Vigorspore Wurm
Wojek Bodyguard
Commander: *Five Color Fun-Stuff *Grixis Artifacts *Beast Tribal
Brawl: To Be Decided At Eldraine Release!
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
Conclave Tribunal - Likely in, solid removal
Discovery // Dispersal - probably wont make it
Electrostatic Field easy in for Thermo-Alchemist
Gird for battle - Will likely be in, pushing counters matter
Glowspore Shaman - might test in place of nyx weaver
Goblin Cratermaker - just solid card, in for sure... somewhere
Integrity // Intervention - I think in for lightning helix , obviously worse, but I love the flexibility
Kraul Harpooner - solid card, in somewhere
Murmuring Mystic - not sure yet, i like it, might test
Notion Rain - might be in for baleful strix
Also, the plague guy, but no foil available right now... it will be bought
WiJ
Peasant 540 Cube