Well the full spoiler is up, but I didn't notice much more. I very much dislike Party as a mechanic so this set is pretty bad for me. I'm not supporting tribes so I want to avoid misleading players that I support tribal unless the card supports itself like Cloudgoat Ranger. The kicker cards and DFC also seem mostly weak this time around.
Cards I'm interested in: Fearless Fledgling - Wish it always had flying but it gets to a reasonable size quickly, especially if it comes down on curve. Bubble Snare - Contender for best Blue aura-based removal. The 1 mana mode is quite reasonable, and the backup 4 mana mode is only slightly over-costed. Malakir Rebirth - The most efficient DFC. Might replace Supernatural Stamina or Undying Evil Rockslide Sorcerer - Wish it was just non-creature instead of including wizards. Seems pretty strong though in the spell-slinger deck. Adventure Awaits - Whiff insurance is the only reason this interests me. Bala Ged Recovery - Regrowth at 3 mana still seems reasonable. Green decks are usually the most land-hungry decks. Gnarlid Colony - Another decent but not particularly strong +1/+1 counter support card.
I'll need to think about these more but I wouldn't be surprised if only 2-3 of these make it into my cube.
Went through the whole spoiler, and I don't think I'll be adding anything from this set. There are a couple of considerations like Merfolk Windrobber and Bubble Snare, but I'm not sure; I am most unhappy with my blue section, so I might change my mind. Most of the other cards are just overcosted, too weak, DFC, or a combination of all three.
They are in the process of depowering Standard, so it's no surprise that we have less for Peasant Cube, but in the year of the never-ending spoilers, that's not a bad thing.
I'm pretty sure the worst card I am considering is Akoum Warrior, just to see if my theory about it is correct or not. I'm not currently running Ghitu encampment, but turning into a Youthful knight every time might be worse than turning into a reasonable monster some of the time.
Is Vastwood Surge better than Migration Path in a dedicated ramp deck? I can imagine still wanting lands 9 and 10, and the counters are worth a card.
I personally would prefer Migration Path. Vastwood Surge is only better if you have eight mana, a board of creatures, and still want two more land. How many creatures does it require to make that worth it? If you've run into removal and have 0-1 creatures, I'm pretty sure I'd rather cycle and draw into something else. 2-3 creatures? Depending on what they are, and what is facing you from the opposite side of the board, that may or may not make a difference. Sure, it might end a game sometimes, but I can imagine too many situations where I just don't want to cast it, let alone kick it. Having eight mana with nothing better to do hurts.
Nothing we got access to feels remotely pushed. There's some alright cards, but a lot of them are not really worth going out of the way for unless you already support their archetype. Mdfcs are somewhat novel, but the cards themselves are unexciting unless you are super into value lands.
Fearless Fledgling - I dislike most white aggro 2s and this seems solid Skyclave Geopede - Decent aggro threat with some respectable synergies Bloodchief's Thirst - Cards that might be able to diversify hard removal suites don't come around often, even if I have some doubts about this one Bubble Snare - Very reasonable card all around
fearless fledgling: i feel like this is good enough. not always having flying is definitely not ideal, but it just gets bigger so easily that it'll hit a point where it doesn't necessarily need the evasion. sejiri shelter: this may compare favourably with shelter but i have no way of knowing until i play with it. so please, give feedback y'all. skyclave cleric: everything about this card is what control decks want to do, so it may actually just be a good card.
bubble snare: i like the flexibility, and if the 1 mana mode comes up enough, it's super efficient. silundi vision: this helps progress your game plan in two different ways, but might be a little too weak on the spell side. digging six deep is a lot though. windrider wizard: i think this has really good upside for a wind drake, since i wanna push both spells and wizards.
acquisitions expert: second point of toughness on this is good, and this is good enough without other party members as well. blackbloom rogue: 2/3 menace is fine, and letting an aggressive deck cheat on lands a little might be a big selling point. as a 5/3 this is obviously disgusting but 8 cards is a ton. bloodchief's thirst: targeting planeswalkers is now relevant, and the flexibility of this card is great. sorcery speed hurts but it's still a fine option. feed the swarm: definitely not the most powerful creature removal option we have, but a maindeckable enchantment removal option in black is nice if you want it. malakir rebirth: compares well with undying evil imo. having the land mode for a card which is slightly niche is a nice upside to have, especially since this still costs 1.
akoum warrior: feels great, honestly. again, no idea how well it will actually play, but i'm very optimistic about it. skyclave geopede: if this can consistently attack as a 5/3 trampler, i feel like that's good for 3 mana. the floor of a 3/1 trampler isn't ideal, though. cautiously optimistic?
bala ged recovery: 3 mana for regrowth still feels fair, and being a land also is just a fine edge case. i definitely like it.
the set feels slightly weak and also slightly parasitic, so i'm not surprised we don't get much in the way of super good includes. but as always, we have enough to think about with interesting new cards, which is all i can ask for.
The only card I will certainly add from this set is Fearless Fledgling because I have enough room in white and because I'm quite sure it will be an awesome card if played on curve, similar to Experiment One and in many cases even better than that. Natural +1/+1 counters support in white isn't bad either.
Bubble Snare is efficient and very playable, but I simply don't look for removal in blue.
Windrider Wizard is a nice flyer, but there are so many good 3 cmc creatures with evasion in blue that it won't make the cut.
Bala Ged Recovery is probably the best of the modal lands. If it wasn't a flip card I'd maybe, just maybe consider it. A problem I often run into with green decks is that if you run Arbor Elf and/or Utopia Sprawl it's hard to get the critical amount of forests into the deck if you run a lot of ramp cards and thus only run 14-16 lands total. So a non-forest is always a bit less useful than a non-basic is in other colors.
Akoum Warrior isn't super terrible, but the only reason I still run Ghitu Encampment is because it fills a role in the sweeper control deck where you play it early and then deal a few points of damage every once in a while with in-built protection against sorcery speed removal. Akoum Warrior doesn't offer anything in that regard and from my pov it's just a very mediocre and boring midrange only card.
Malakir Rebirth doesn't look exciting to me. Etb tapped lands are a no-go in aggro decks and >50% of decks that want Undying Evil are aggro. Plus if you have a deck full of creatures and don't need Undying Evil you're winning anyway, so I'd rather take the +1/+1 bonus than a mostly useless land mode.
Bloodchief's Thirst isn't bad, but overall it's worse than a lot of other black removal from my pov. Plus I don't run any Planeswalkers, so that part is just flavor text for me.
Skyclave Geopede isn't bad, but at 3 mana in an aggro deck it may be a problem a bit too often to attack as a 5/3 even if played on curve. Still, I like it and would give it a try if there was a shortage of red aggro creatures.
Now that we have a full spoiler, time for a Way Too Early Top 20 from Zendikar Rising! I agree with a lot of the sentiment so far about this set being very parasitic and having very little to offer to most Peasant CUbes. That said, mine is a little bit larger than most (512 cards), and I was able to find a lot of interesting cards. First, some broad thoughts on the set:
Party- Like most people, I have relatively few of these classes (2 Clerics, 4 Rogues, 14 Wizards, and 27 Warriors) among the creatures in my CUbe. That said, there are a far number of Warriors (4 white, 1 blue, 4 black, 8 red, 3 green, 6 multi, and 1 colorless), so there is a tiny bit of appeal in non-Warriors with the party mechanic. Speaking of Warriors...
Warriors- My main issue with Warrior tribal is that it is pretty evenly spread between white, black, red, and green. While I can see making room for a few more Warriors in red, I do not see a significant upside in power for adding them.
MDFCs- I evaluate these on a case-by-case basis, since we have so many ETBT lands with spell effects and spells with cycling abilities. That said, I think having a land backside is better than generic cycling. I also value the spell side more if they have potentially swingy effects at their mana cost (so no 1/3s that gain 2 life, for example)
With that said, here is my top 20 for Zendikar Rising.
20) Marauding Blight-Priest- The cheapest version of this effect for Peasant, and reasonably statted.
19) Kitesail Cleric- A generic 1/1 flier with some late-game upside. Peasant is littered with these.
"Lower" Class Cards
18) Ardent Electromancer and 17) Goma Fada Vanguard- With another red Warrior in play, Electromancer generates RR immeditaely and Vanguard can keeps blockers away, both of which can keep the tempo rolling.
16) Windrider Wizard and 15) Rockslide Sorcerer- I tend to want my blue spells-matter cards to have game-winning potential and for my red spells-matter to be more aggressive. Neither is awful though.
Maybe Double-Faced Cards (MDFCs)
14) Khalni Ambush- Both sides are good for a ramp deck, just not sure I want this effect for a ramp deck.
13) Silundi Vision- A potentially powerful card for control, but really hurt by the fact that Peasant has few high-powered spells.
12) Song-Mad Treachery- Even at 5-mana, Threaten effects can win games for aggro decks, so this qualifies based on power, although I do not like most Threatens for CUbe.
11) Kabira Takedown- An unique effect for white on its face, with the additional benefit of a ETBT land as well. I could see this outperforming expectations.
10) Makindi Stampede- Another effect that can win games at 5-mana. Unlike Song-Mad Treachery, I like having mass pump effects in white.
Various Solid Cards
9) Skyclave Pick-Axe- A very poor man's Rancor that can give +2 power and be moved around later. You might get a double pump sometimes, but I think the deck that wants this equipment does not play land ramp.
8) Malakir Rebirth- Could be anywhere from 5 to 20 on this list. I play both Supernatural Stamina and Undying Evil currently. Not sure how much benefit the land gives over the worse spell effect.
7) Roil Eruption- The kicker upside is really nice and 5 damage is a great way to finish games. Has a lot of competition for this effect though.
6) Bloodchief's Thirst- Probably better than Fatal Push, but that card is not an All-Star anyway.
5) Skyclave Geopede- Could attack for 5 with trample on turn 4 and can easily survive for multiple attacks. Powerful, but unreliable.
Cards I Will Play
4) Blackbloom Rogue- A 2/3 menace for 2B is certainly below average, but between the land backside and the +3/+0 potential, this is a card that can either help you survive to the late-game or help win the late-game.
3) Akoum Hellhound- I am on record as not liking red 1 drops, but here is one of the few that can easily attack for 2 on turn 2.
2) Bala Ged Recovery- Regrowth is exactly the type of card that can be situationally really, really good, so bumping the mana up by one and giving an ETBT land as a fallback plan is worth it for me.
1) Fearless Fledgling- I consider this better than the 1W 2/1 fliers (Mistral Charger and Stormfront Pegasus) if you can cast it on turn 4 or prior. In most aggro decks, you will see more than half of your total cards for that game by turn 4. With that said, I expect Fledgling to be good enough while potentially dominating on turn 2.
Somehow completely missed Akoum Hellhound. Red has a shortage of good aggro one drops and while Steppe Lynx may not be good enough for white it doesn't have that much competition in red. Will most likely find room for it.
I still think that Landfall and Kicker are staple mechanics in the sense that they are minimally parasitic - they don't impose much in terms of deckbuilding restrictions. But this set is definitely overall a bit disappointing, I will admit. Mostly because I *hate* the 'party' mechanic which seems to have received the most love overall.
To be included: Fearless Fledgling: Good use of Landfall. Strong card overall. Akoum Hellhound: Red's 1-drops still mainly lack good stats; this provides during turns where you most need them.
Under consideration: Kor Blademaster: Marginally better Fencing Ace is still a marginally better version of a card which had just barely slipped under the cutting board. Bubble Snare: Good blue removal at an enticing cost; especially when blue wants to keep mana up whenever possible; modal, too. Merfolk Windrobber: Flying Men that can be relevant in the late game but probably still not good enough. Bloodchief's Thirst: The less incidentally unable to work properly I can make my black removal suite, the better. Dreadwurm: Basically becomes 'Landfall: target opponent sacrifices an untapped creature or loses 5 life'. Feed the Swarm: See above; the enchantment removal aspect is also not irrelevant. Fireblade Charger: I like equipment; but the second ability is where it's at in terms of utility and benefiting from incidental synergies. Skyclave Centipede: Rather decent stats if you can still hit your land drops. Scale the Heights: It's a decent suite of minor effects. Spare Supplies: Simple and clean colourless CA with a stepped, bearable cost. Makindi Stampede: I like this more than most white Overrun effects since those are always so dependent on your field presence. Sejiri Shelter: Similarly, a bit of a situational card with a good alt form. Skyclave Creric: Initially, I was not sold but I think I've grown to like it a decent bit. Jwari Disruption: Strong within a limited time window; can be played as a land if you lose that window. Blackbloom Rogue: Not an ideal play but not terrible; has real potential to be terrifying if the condition is met and always has a fallback. Malakir Rebirth: A bit conditional with a good fallback. Bala Ged Recovery: I think Regrowth effects enable so much - especially in terms of strategies reliant on specific cards - that I'd gladly play this one.
Interesting: Attended Healer: Lifegain decks will probably never be a serious thing but it's another semi-decent payoff. Canyon Jerboa: If you can trigger this multiple times a turn, it becomes rather interesting. Ruin Crab: More mill crabs; though, this does not have the important ability to mill yourself. Zulaport Duelist: Some possible surprises; probably too reliant on the board state. Lithoform Blight: 'Cantrip to turn a land to a City of Brass' is not terrible when used on yourself; can also counter some of the more powerful lands like Maze of Ith and Library of Alexandria. Scyclave Shadowcat: Some potential for interesting interactions and not a *terrible* base rate. Thwart the Grave: Unlikely to work but could be interesting if incidental party members comes together easily enough. Adventure Awaits: Insurance against whiffing is nice to see. Roiling Regrowth: Less risky Harrow with drawbacks is still interesting. Cliffhaven Kitesail: The auto-attach is pretty nice for tempo with this kind of effect.
Even though I suppose this card does try and pull a think twice impression
I'd say the fact that you get a card for the initial investment already puts it *way* ahead anything like the pyramid, especially since you can also bounce or flicker it for value in the absence of better targets. It's 2x2 mana to draw 2 vs. 3x2. And the fact that you get an immediate draw can easily be relevant for stuff like hitting land drops.
I wouldn't say either card is better than the other, they're just different. Sunset Pyramid gives a lot more value than Spare Supplies in the long run, but I also agree that not getting anything for the initial investment of two mana at sorcery speed can be problematic. It's much more realistic to play Spare Supplies early in a CU/be game than Sunset Pyramid. Don't think flicker/bounce matters much for non-creature permanents though as only very few cards can do that.
Personally I wouldn't play either. Think Twice didn't impress me and that's certainly better than both of these cards. Sure, it's blue, but I'm not that desperate for card advantage in other colors.
I'm becoming more fond of these colorless card advantage cards. It's a cool way to support some of the nonblue control archetypes. I'm going to be adding cards like Bonder's Ornament, Sunset Pyramid, and Arcane Encyclopedia in my next update.
With that being said, I like this Spare Supplies card. Not sure if I like it more than the previous 3 I mentioned, but I'm not going to just gloss over these type of effects anymore like I used to.
Release draft is tomorrow if I draft it maybe I'll see how it plays.
I reconnected with my cube players at prerelease, a combination of virus and work commitments meant I hadn't seen them in a while, I intend to give my cube a draft in another week.
I decided that the whole colorlessthink twice thing is better than I thought and will try it. I love decks like boros control. The instant speed on, say, the front half of a white version of think twice isn't *that* much of a big deal, but being able to fit in 2 mana instead of 3 on a second turn might be more valuable than it seems.
If Harmonize is good enough to be a staple I think a colorless version of a different reasonable standard playable would make a decent number of naya colored decks.
I couldn't imagine running arcane encyclopedia. What is the gameflow that allows this card to be good? And I'm the guy who is re-adding capsize.
I decided that the whole colorlessthink twice thing is better than I thought and will try it. I love decks like boros control. The instant speed on, say, the front half of a white version of think twice isn't *that* much of a big deal, but being able to fit in 2 mana instead of 3 on a second turn might be more valuable than it seems.
If Harmonize is good enough to be a staple I think a colorless version of a different reasonable standard playable would make a decent number of naya colored decks.
I couldn't imagine running arcane encyclopedia. What is the gameflow that allows this card to be good? And I'm the guy who is re-adding capsize.
I've never played a card like the Encyclopedia before. It seems a bit clunky, but I like the concept of repeatable colorless draw. It may end up being way too slow, but my interest in these effects make me want to at least try them and see how they work in the nonblue decks.
I started drafting most of the DFCs in ZNR higher than *most* solid commons and uncommons and want to have 2-4 in every deck. Chopping down the variance by being able to simultaneously play with 19 lands and also 25 nonlands in my 40 card deck is quite good.
When looking at cards like Sejiri Shelter or Akoum Warrior I wonder: Are they really better than Secluded Steppe or Forgotten Cave. I think I rather have a random card from my deck then a 4/5 trampler for 6 most of the time.
The only exception might be Bala Ged Recovery although I can think of situations where your graveyard is (near) empty and you would still rather have a random card from your deck.
Agree with Arbor, most of the modal lands are simply very weak cards on the front and cycling for a random card would most likely be the better option in >50% of cases. The main reason why I play Striped Riverwinder is because it's a powerful finisher for control decks and a great card for reanimator, not because it's a random crap creature or spell with cycling. If it was for example a vanilla 7/7 I wouldn't even think about playing it.
Also, I think retail limited and CU/be can't be compared at all since the drawback of having an etb tapped land is far, far smaller in retail limited. Not only is the overall power level lower and thus the environment slower, you also often don't get a perfect curve for your deck since there is so much variance in card power that it's often a good idea to play eg fewer two drops and more three drops than you normally would just because you happened to draft a lot of high quality three drops and/or a lot of low quality two drops. In CU/be the difference between the best and the worst cards isn't nearly as big.
An etb tapped land can fill the gap when you don't have a two drop to play and wait to cast your quality three drop next turn. But in CU/be that happens far less often than in retail limited.
Are they really better than Secluded Steppe or Forgotten Cave. I think I rather have a random card from my deck then a 4/5 trampler for 6 most of the time.
Well that's the rub, isn't it. Yes, we would rather have a random card instead of a 4/5 trampler for 6 most of the time. But most of the time that I would rather have a random card than a 4/5, I would be in the market for a land even if it has to etbt. By the time I am no longer in the market for lands, around 5+, I am much happier with 4 mana's worth of stats even if I have to pay 6 for them than I am with a random card. Because almost half of my random cards are themselves lands.
An etb tapped land can fill the gap when you don't have a two drop to play and wait to cast your quality three drop next turn. But in CU/be that happens far less often than in retail limited.
Looking at the curve of common creatures in ZNR, I am not convinced this is the case. But even if it was the case, I can't be sure of how stark the difference would be.
I am still looking at all the games where it's in my opener and I have no play on turn one (over 50% of the time even in a deck with three 1 drops), every topdeck situation, and every situation where I do have duplicate costs in my hand, etc.
But to the point I am trying to make, the relative difference between being a poor spell and the 23rd card in my deck in a situation where I want my 23rd spell is *likely* much lower than the difference between being a poor land and my 23rd spell when I want a land. Being modal means that I get to avoid the absolute failure case of being mana screwed some percentage of the time by replacing my 23rd card with it. So it's a matter of how often one case comes up compared to another, multiplied by the difference in expected outcome of the two situations.
Clearly I don't know what that is, but I think it's plausible.
Are they really better than Secluded Steppe or Forgotten Cave. I think I rather have a random card from my deck then a 4/5 trampler for 6 most of the time.
Well that's the rub, isn't it. Yes, we would rather have a random card instead of a 4/5 trampler for 6 most of the time. But most of the time that I would rather have a random card than a 4/5, I would be in the market for a land even if it has to etbt. By the time I am no longer in the market for lands, around 5+, I am much happier with 4 mana's worth of stats even if I have to pay 6 for them than I am with a random card. Because almost half of my random cards are themselves lands.
Yes, most of the time that I would rather have a random card than a 4/5, I would be in the market for a land even if it has to etbt but Forgotten Cave is exactly that. When you want a land Cave and Akoum Warrior are the same but when I don't want a land I rather cycle then have a 4/5 trampler.
Cards I'm interested in:
Fearless Fledgling - Wish it always had flying but it gets to a reasonable size quickly, especially if it comes down on curve.
Bubble Snare - Contender for best Blue aura-based removal. The 1 mana mode is quite reasonable, and the backup 4 mana mode is only slightly over-costed.
Malakir Rebirth - The most efficient DFC. Might replace Supernatural Stamina or Undying Evil
Rockslide Sorcerer - Wish it was just non-creature instead of including wizards. Seems pretty strong though in the spell-slinger deck.
Adventure Awaits - Whiff insurance is the only reason this interests me.
Bala Ged Recovery - Regrowth at 3 mana still seems reasonable. Green decks are usually the most land-hungry decks.
Gnarlid Colony - Another decent but not particularly strong +1/+1 counter support card.
I'll need to think about these more but I wouldn't be surprised if only 2-3 of these make it into my cube.
They are in the process of depowering Standard, so it's no surprise that we have less for Peasant Cube, but in the year of the never-ending spoilers, that's not a bad thing.
Still good cards for Commander, though.
2023 Average Peasant Cube|and Discussion
Because I have more decks than fit in a signature
Useful Resources:
MTGSalvation tags
EDHREC
ManabaseCrafter
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
2023 Average Peasant Cube|and Discussion
Because I have more decks than fit in a signature
Useful Resources:
MTGSalvation tags
EDHREC
ManabaseCrafter
Fearless Fledgling - I dislike most white aggro 2s and this seems solid
Skyclave Geopede - Decent aggro threat with some respectable synergies
Bloodchief's Thirst - Cards that might be able to diversify hard removal suites don't come around often, even if I have some doubts about this one
Bubble Snare - Very reasonable card all around
fearless fledgling: i feel like this is good enough. not always having flying is definitely not ideal, but it just gets bigger so easily that it'll hit a point where it doesn't necessarily need the evasion.
sejiri shelter: this may compare favourably with shelter but i have no way of knowing until i play with it. so please, give feedback y'all.
skyclave cleric: everything about this card is what control decks want to do, so it may actually just be a good card.
bubble snare: i like the flexibility, and if the 1 mana mode comes up enough, it's super efficient.
silundi vision: this helps progress your game plan in two different ways, but might be a little too weak on the spell side. digging six deep is a lot though.
windrider wizard: i think this has really good upside for a wind drake, since i wanna push both spells and wizards.
acquisitions expert: second point of toughness on this is good, and this is good enough without other party members as well.
blackbloom rogue: 2/3 menace is fine, and letting an aggressive deck cheat on lands a little might be a big selling point. as a 5/3 this is obviously disgusting but 8 cards is a ton.
bloodchief's thirst: targeting planeswalkers is now relevant, and the flexibility of this card is great. sorcery speed hurts but it's still a fine option.
feed the swarm: definitely not the most powerful creature removal option we have, but a maindeckable enchantment removal option in black is nice if you want it.
malakir rebirth: compares well with undying evil imo. having the land mode for a card which is slightly niche is a nice upside to have, especially since this still costs 1.
akoum warrior: feels great, honestly. again, no idea how well it will actually play, but i'm very optimistic about it.
skyclave geopede: if this can consistently attack as a 5/3 trampler, i feel like that's good for 3 mana. the floor of a 3/1 trampler isn't ideal, though. cautiously optimistic?
bala ged recovery: 3 mana for regrowth still feels fair, and being a land also is just a fine edge case. i definitely like it.
spare supplies: white card draw!
the set feels slightly weak and also slightly parasitic, so i'm not surprised we don't get much in the way of super good includes. but as always, we have enough to think about with interesting new cards, which is all i can ask for.
Bubble Snare is efficient and very playable, but I simply don't look for removal in blue.
Windrider Wizard is a nice flyer, but there are so many good 3 cmc creatures with evasion in blue that it won't make the cut.
Bala Ged Recovery is probably the best of the modal lands. If it wasn't a flip card I'd maybe, just maybe consider it. A problem I often run into with green decks is that if you run Arbor Elf and/or Utopia Sprawl it's hard to get the critical amount of forests into the deck if you run a lot of ramp cards and thus only run 14-16 lands total. So a non-forest is always a bit less useful than a non-basic is in other colors.
Akoum Warrior isn't super terrible, but the only reason I still run Ghitu Encampment is because it fills a role in the sweeper control deck where you play it early and then deal a few points of damage every once in a while with in-built protection against sorcery speed removal. Akoum Warrior doesn't offer anything in that regard and from my pov it's just a very mediocre and boring midrange only card.
Malakir Rebirth doesn't look exciting to me. Etb tapped lands are a no-go in aggro decks and >50% of decks that want Undying Evil are aggro. Plus if you have a deck full of creatures and don't need Undying Evil you're winning anyway, so I'd rather take the +1/+1 bonus than a mostly useless land mode.
Bloodchief's Thirst isn't bad, but overall it's worse than a lot of other black removal from my pov. Plus I don't run any Planeswalkers, so that part is just flavor text for me.
Skyclave Geopede isn't bad, but at 3 mana in an aggro deck it may be a problem a bit too often to attack as a 5/3 even if played on curve. Still, I like it and would give it a try if there was a shortage of red aggro creatures.
My Old School Battlebox
My Premodern Battlebox
Fearless Fledgling - Topan FreeBlade both bad top decks Fledgling has higher upside
Windrider Wizard - Wingspan mentor The mentor wasn't ever good just waiting for a good 3 mana wizard to replace it
Fireblade Charger - Goblin Glory Chaser rip renown. Better late draw, equip not important but there are other ways to increase its power
Rockslide Sorcerer - weaver of lightning being a 1/4 in red always felt off as far as R strategies go, also is a wizard.
Maybe
Cliffhaven Kitesail - This actually looks quite good.
Skyclave Sentinel - the base is kind of bad but it is good with just one +1/+1 counter
Stonework Packbeast - a wizard and a warrior! seems good
Really not a lot in this set, a power downgrade from recent sets. the awkward party mechanic and the flip cards are all meh.
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
Party- Like most people, I have relatively few of these classes (2 Clerics, 4 Rogues, 14 Wizards, and 27 Warriors) among the creatures in my CUbe. That said, there are a far number of Warriors (4 white, 1 blue, 4 black, 8 red, 3 green, 6 multi, and 1 colorless), so there is a tiny bit of appeal in non-Warriors with the party mechanic. Speaking of Warriors...
Warriors- My main issue with Warrior tribal is that it is pretty evenly spread between white, black, red, and green. While I can see making room for a few more Warriors in red, I do not see a significant upside in power for adding them.
MDFCs- I evaluate these on a case-by-case basis, since we have so many ETBT lands with spell effects and spells with cycling abilities. That said, I think having a land backside is better than generic cycling. I also value the spell side more if they have potentially swingy effects at their mana cost (so no 1/3s that gain 2 life, for example)
With that said, here is my top 20 for Zendikar Rising.
20) Marauding Blight-Priest- The cheapest version of this effect for Peasant, and reasonably statted.
19) Kitesail Cleric- A generic 1/1 flier with some late-game upside. Peasant is littered with these.
"Lower" Class Cards
18) Ardent Electromancer and 17) Goma Fada Vanguard- With another red Warrior in play, Electromancer generates RR immeditaely and Vanguard can keeps blockers away, both of which can keep the tempo rolling.
16) Windrider Wizard and 15) Rockslide Sorcerer- I tend to want my blue spells-matter cards to have game-winning potential and for my red spells-matter to be more aggressive. Neither is awful though.
Maybe Double-Faced Cards (MDFCs)
14) Khalni Ambush- Both sides are good for a ramp deck, just not sure I want this effect for a ramp deck.
13) Silundi Vision- A potentially powerful card for control, but really hurt by the fact that Peasant has few high-powered spells.
12) Song-Mad Treachery- Even at 5-mana, Threaten effects can win games for aggro decks, so this qualifies based on power, although I do not like most Threatens for CUbe.
11) Kabira Takedown- An unique effect for white on its face, with the additional benefit of a ETBT land as well. I could see this outperforming expectations.
10) Makindi Stampede- Another effect that can win games at 5-mana. Unlike Song-Mad Treachery, I like having mass pump effects in white.
Various Solid Cards
9) Skyclave Pick-Axe- A very poor man's Rancor that can give +2 power and be moved around later. You might get a double pump sometimes, but I think the deck that wants this equipment does not play land ramp.
8) Malakir Rebirth- Could be anywhere from 5 to 20 on this list. I play both Supernatural Stamina and Undying Evil currently. Not sure how much benefit the land gives over the worse spell effect.
7) Roil Eruption- The kicker upside is really nice and 5 damage is a great way to finish games. Has a lot of competition for this effect though.
6) Bloodchief's Thirst- Probably better than Fatal Push, but that card is not an All-Star anyway.
5) Skyclave Geopede- Could attack for 5 with trample on turn 4 and can easily survive for multiple attacks. Powerful, but unreliable.
Cards I Will Play
4) Blackbloom Rogue- A 2/3 menace for 2B is certainly below average, but between the land backside and the +3/+0 potential, this is a card that can either help you survive to the late-game or help win the late-game.
3) Akoum Hellhound- I am on record as not liking red 1 drops, but here is one of the few that can easily attack for 2 on turn 2.
2) Bala Ged Recovery- Regrowth is exactly the type of card that can be situationally really, really good, so bumping the mana up by one and giving an ETBT land as a fallback plan is worth it for me.
1) Fearless Fledgling- I consider this better than the 1W 2/1 fliers (Mistral Charger and Stormfront Pegasus) if you can cast it on turn 4 or prior. In most aggro decks, you will see more than half of your total cards for that game by turn 4. With that said, I expect Fledgling to be good enough while potentially dominating on turn 2.
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/peasantsnowcube
-- Updated with Fallout Commander
The PioneWer Peasant CUbe
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/pionewer
-- Updated with Murders at Karlov Manor
My Old School Battlebox
My Premodern Battlebox
I still think that Landfall and Kicker are staple mechanics in the sense that they are minimally parasitic - they don't impose much in terms of deckbuilding restrictions. But this set is definitely overall a bit disappointing, I will admit. Mostly because I *hate* the 'party' mechanic which seems to have received the most love overall.
To be included:
Fearless Fledgling: Good use of Landfall. Strong card overall.
Akoum Hellhound: Red's 1-drops still mainly lack good stats; this provides during turns where you most need them.
Under consideration:
Kor Blademaster: Marginally better Fencing Ace is still a marginally better version of a card which had just barely slipped under the cutting board.
Bubble Snare: Good blue removal at an enticing cost; especially when blue wants to keep mana up whenever possible; modal, too.
Merfolk Windrobber: Flying Men that can be relevant in the late game but probably still not good enough.
Bloodchief's Thirst: The less incidentally unable to work properly I can make my black removal suite, the better.
Dreadwurm: Basically becomes 'Landfall: target opponent sacrifices an untapped creature or loses 5 life'.
Feed the Swarm: See above; the enchantment removal aspect is also not irrelevant.
Fireblade Charger: I like equipment; but the second ability is where it's at in terms of utility and benefiting from incidental synergies.
Skyclave Centipede: Rather decent stats if you can still hit your land drops.
Scale the Heights: It's a decent suite of minor effects.
Spare Supplies: Simple and clean colourless CA with a stepped, bearable cost.
Makindi Stampede: I like this more than most white Overrun effects since those are always so dependent on your field presence.
Sejiri Shelter: Similarly, a bit of a situational card with a good alt form.
Skyclave Creric: Initially, I was not sold but I think I've grown to like it a decent bit.
Jwari Disruption: Strong within a limited time window; can be played as a land if you lose that window.
Blackbloom Rogue: Not an ideal play but not terrible; has real potential to be terrifying if the condition is met and always has a fallback.
Malakir Rebirth: A bit conditional with a good fallback.
Bala Ged Recovery: I think Regrowth effects enable so much - especially in terms of strategies reliant on specific cards - that I'd gladly play this one.
Interesting:
Attended Healer: Lifegain decks will probably never be a serious thing but it's another semi-decent payoff.
Canyon Jerboa: If you can trigger this multiple times a turn, it becomes rather interesting.
Ruin Crab: More mill crabs; though, this does not have the important ability to mill yourself.
Zulaport Duelist: Some possible surprises; probably too reliant on the board state.
Lithoform Blight: 'Cantrip to turn a land to a City of Brass' is not terrible when used on yourself; can also counter some of the more powerful lands like Maze of Ith and Library of Alexandria.
Scyclave Shadowcat: Some potential for interesting interactions and not a *terrible* base rate.
Thwart the Grave: Unlikely to work but could be interesting if incidental party members comes together easily enough.
Adventure Awaits: Insurance against whiffing is nice to see.
Roiling Regrowth: Less risky Harrow with drawbacks is still interesting.
Cliffhaven Kitesail: The auto-attach is pretty nice for tempo with this kind of effect.
I mean, sunset pyramid is much better. And I probably would prefer even something like crystal ball.
Even though I suppose this card does try and pull a think twice impression
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'd say the fact that you get a card for the initial investment already puts it *way* ahead anything like the pyramid, especially since you can also bounce or flicker it for value in the absence of better targets. It's 2x2 mana to draw 2 vs. 3x2. And the fact that you get an immediate draw can easily be relevant for stuff like hitting land drops.
Personally I wouldn't play either. Think Twice didn't impress me and that's certainly better than both of these cards. Sure, it's blue, but I'm not that desperate for card advantage in other colors.
My Old School Battlebox
My Premodern Battlebox
With that being said, I like this Spare Supplies card. Not sure if I like it more than the previous 3 I mentioned, but I'm not going to just gloss over these type of effects anymore like I used to.
My Peasant Cube thread !!! (380 cards)
Draft my Peasant Cube on Cube Cobra !!!
I reconnected with my cube players at prerelease, a combination of virus and work commitments meant I hadn't seen them in a while, I intend to give my cube a draft in another week.
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
If Harmonize is good enough to be a staple I think a colorless version of a different reasonable standard playable would make a decent number of naya colored decks.
I couldn't imagine running arcane encyclopedia. What is the gameflow that allows this card to be good? And I'm the guy who is re-adding capsize.
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've never played a card like the Encyclopedia before. It seems a bit clunky, but I like the concept of repeatable colorless draw. It may end up being way too slow, but my interest in these effects make me want to at least try them and see how they work in the nonblue decks.
My Peasant Cube thread !!! (380 cards)
Draft my Peasant Cube on Cube Cobra !!!
I started drafting most of the DFCs in ZNR higher than *most* solid commons and uncommons and want to have 2-4 in every deck. Chopping down the variance by being able to simultaneously play with 19 lands and also 25 nonlands in my 40 card deck is quite good.
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
The only exception might be Bala Ged Recovery although I can think of situations where your graveyard is (near) empty and you would still rather have a random card from your deck.
My C/Ube on Cube Cobra
Also, I think retail limited and CU/be can't be compared at all since the drawback of having an etb tapped land is far, far smaller in retail limited. Not only is the overall power level lower and thus the environment slower, you also often don't get a perfect curve for your deck since there is so much variance in card power that it's often a good idea to play eg fewer two drops and more three drops than you normally would just because you happened to draft a lot of high quality three drops and/or a lot of low quality two drops. In CU/be the difference between the best and the worst cards isn't nearly as big.
An etb tapped land can fill the gap when you don't have a two drop to play and wait to cast your quality three drop next turn. But in CU/be that happens far less often than in retail limited.
My Old School Battlebox
My Premodern Battlebox
Well that's the rub, isn't it. Yes, we would rather have a random card instead of a 4/5 trampler for 6 most of the time. But most of the time that I would rather have a random card than a 4/5, I would be in the market for a land even if it has to etbt. By the time I am no longer in the market for lands, around 5+, I am much happier with 4 mana's worth of stats even if I have to pay 6 for them than I am with a random card. Because almost half of my random cards are themselves lands.
Looking at the curve of common creatures in ZNR, I am not convinced this is the case. But even if it was the case, I can't be sure of how stark the difference would be.
I am still looking at all the games where it's in my opener and I have no play on turn one (over 50% of the time even in a deck with three 1 drops), every topdeck situation, and every situation where I do have duplicate costs in my hand, etc.
But to the point I am trying to make, the relative difference between being a poor spell and the 23rd card in my deck in a situation where I want my 23rd spell is *likely* much lower than the difference between being a poor land and my 23rd spell when I want a land. Being modal means that I get to avoid the absolute failure case of being mana screwed some percentage of the time by replacing my 23rd card with it. So it's a matter of how often one case comes up compared to another, multiplied by the difference in expected outcome of the two situations.
Clearly I don't know what that is, but I think it's plausible.
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 C/Ube on Cube Cobra