A Cube topic that has been on my mind a lot lately is "How good are enter the battlefield tapped lands and how many should I put in my Cube?"
I mostly started thinking about this as a way to conceptualize Abundant Harvest, which I eventually started treating as a land that enters the battlefield tapped (since you pay a single mana to put a land drop in your hand) with the attached spell of "G- Reveal cards from your library until you hit a nonland and put that into your hand." I then immediately starting thinking about how that compares to other mono-green lands that also ETBT and have "spell" like upside- Tranquil Thicket, Memorial to Unity, Bala Ged Recovery and more.
Then I started thinking about how Zendikar Rising was less than a year ago and I have ZERO Modal Double Face Cards in my Cube. I only started with two (Bala Ged and Blackbloom Rogue) to being with. In my mind, I always thought about how universally unplayed most similar cards were and dismissed adding newer variants. As of the 2020 Cube Survey two people are playing the Tranquil Thicket cycle, the Dominaria Memorial cycle maxes out at 3 copies for the white and blue ones, and (outside of Bala Ged Recovery) none of the Zendikar MDFCs have more than 9 people playing them.
I wanted to ask people's opinions of these cards- which ones they play, if there is a maximum feasible amount to put into a Cube, and how successful these cards have been in their Cubes.
While I think MDFC's are good, I don't think their value outweighs the value of the card on the front side, if that makes sense. Like I wouldn't play Blackboom Rogue just as a 2/3 Menace for three just for the added value of replacing a land in my deck. However, a card like Bala Ged Recovery, a slightly nerfed Regrowth, is actually really good and the ability to play it as a land is just added value. Recovery is currently the only MDFC in my 360.
Abundant Harvest is kind of in it's own lane since it can basically be whatever your green decks need at the time. Flooding out? Name creature. Need to hit that next land drop? Name land. The card is really good and I wouldn't categorize it with other ETBT lands.
The only ETBT utility lands I'm running at 360 are the OG blue and green man lands. They're still great after all these years. Newer versions of mono colored utility lands just haven't been pushed enough, IMO, to be all that viable in cube. Activation costs have just been too much to justify the effect. I'm also not a huge fan of cycling lands, although I could see arguments for them in cubes that can make room. Cube slots are just too valuable nowadays.
With that said, I am running the full cycle of ETBT Gain Lands as well as the Tri Lands and the Thriving Lands for fixing. Something about these fixing options just feels "peasant" to me. Of course this can be a hindrance to two color aggressive decks, but it really makes the format feel more like a powered up retail limited format to me and that's a lot of what I love about peasant cube.
I run Bala Ged Recovery and Sejiri Shelter. I have at some point tested Jwari Disruption and Malakir Rebirth. I love the flexibility of reactionary Zendikar MDFCs. These are effects that are sometimes dead in your hand in the early game but can be played as land and don't use a card slot in your deck. Some thoughts on the cards I tested or still play: Bala Ged Recovery: Great. Think I'll sooner cut Regrowth than this. Sejiri Shelter: I like this more than Shelter as Shelter can't cycle without a creature on your side of the board. Jwari Disruption: I think this card is good enough for my cube but I prefer Censor which is stronger and fills a similar role. Malakir Rebirth: I cut this for something but it is still on my "maybe list". I am just looking for something to cut to put it back in.
I've been pretty on the fence about MDFCs for now, because of the problem of flipping cards during the draft portion. As Zendikar Rising ages, more and more people will not remember exactly how they work. I'm basically worried people might get spotted into certain colors simply by flipping cards. It's a shame though because Bala Ged Recovery, Sejiri Shelter and Malakir Rebirth seems like awesome cards to have in a cube.
I play both Bala Ged Recovery and Tangled Florahedron. Recovery was out for a short time, but is coming back in. Flipping them is a minor issue, but not an insurmountable one.
It's got a high ceiling but the average case scenario is still rather lackluster. The land side makes it a pretty good deal, yes, but it is hard to justify a spot for what all too often stays a 2/3 Menace for 3. Even if it might be better than some of my cards at this time, those that fall below it in terms of power tend to be roleplayers for archetypes.
I remain tempted by it but get pushed back by the realities of slot availability.
I don't run any DFCs in my cube (though I do enjoy them in Commander).
I used to run my cube in clear sleeves and didn't like the aesthetic of just a couple cards without a Magic back. I also didn't like the idea of running a checklist/helper card that would necessitate people digging through a side pile of cards to see what the checklist/helper does before picking it.
Now that I have my cube in opaque sleeves, I dislike the thought of other people constantly sliding the card out to see the backside and potentially stretching/wearing out the sleeve.
I always sleeve the other side of a DFC as a "token" and whoever drafts the card just has both available to them for gameplay purposes.
The only time it gets weird is when people need to see the card during the draft and want to take the card out of its sleeve.
I've never understood the apprehension toward flipping a sleeved DFC. I would never have multiple copies or proxies to represent the other side of the card. I mean, you do you, no hate here, but it just seems like so much more trouble to do that than to just, y'know, flip the card over. Personally, I just pull it out of the sleeve, flip it over and slide it back in. Some of my players will pull it out and lay it on top of the sleeve. The only true negative I've experienced in the years that we've played with flip cards across multiple cubes is sometimes people forget to flip them back, but even that's not really a big deal.
As far as the draft goes, this isn't a Worlds draft and we aren't playing for the Kitchen Table Cup. If I flip a card during the draft to read it, then take it and my friend then knows that I took the flip card, I don't see that as a big deal. We're gonna build across from each other and often ask for opinions on builds and final cuts. My group is super relaxed when it comes to cube night.
I mostly started thinking about this as a way to conceptualize Abundant Harvest, which I eventually started treating as a land that enters the battlefield tapped (since you pay a single mana to put a land drop in your hand) with the attached spell of "G- Reveal cards from your library until you hit a nonland and put that into your hand." I then immediately starting thinking about how that compares to other mono-green lands that also ETBT and have "spell" like upside- Tranquil Thicket, Memorial to Unity, Bala Ged Recovery and more.
Then I started thinking about how Zendikar Rising was less than a year ago and I have ZERO Modal Double Face Cards in my Cube. I only started with two (Bala Ged and Blackbloom Rogue) to being with. In my mind, I always thought about how universally unplayed most similar cards were and dismissed adding newer variants. As of the 2020 Cube Survey two people are playing the Tranquil Thicket cycle, the Dominaria Memorial cycle maxes out at 3 copies for the white and blue ones, and (outside of Bala Ged Recovery) none of the Zendikar MDFCs have more than 9 people playing them.
I wanted to ask people's opinions of these cards- which ones they play, if there is a maximum feasible amount to put into a Cube, and how successful these cards have been in their Cubes.
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
Abundant Harvest is kind of in it's own lane since it can basically be whatever your green decks need at the time. Flooding out? Name creature. Need to hit that next land drop? Name land. The card is really good and I wouldn't categorize it with other ETBT lands.
The only ETBT utility lands I'm running at 360 are the OG blue and green man lands. They're still great after all these years. Newer versions of mono colored utility lands just haven't been pushed enough, IMO, to be all that viable in cube. Activation costs have just been too much to justify the effect. I'm also not a huge fan of cycling lands, although I could see arguments for them in cubes that can make room. Cube slots are just too valuable nowadays.
With that said, I am running the full cycle of ETBT Gain Lands as well as the Tri Lands and the Thriving Lands for fixing. Something about these fixing options just feels "peasant" to me. Of course this can be a hindrance to two color aggressive decks, but it really makes the format feel more like a powered up retail limited format to me and that's a lot of what I love about peasant cube.
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
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Bala Ged Recovery: Great. Think I'll sooner cut Regrowth than this.
Sejiri Shelter: I like this more than Shelter as Shelter can't cycle without a creature on your side of the board.
Jwari Disruption: I think this card is good enough for my cube but I prefer Censor which is stronger and fills a similar role.
Malakir Rebirth: I cut this for something but it is still on my "maybe list". I am just looking for something to cut to put it back in.
My C/Ube on Cube Cobra
My C/Ube on Cube Cobra
WiJ
Peasant 540 Cube
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.
I remain tempted by it but get pushed back by the realities of slot availability.
I used to run my cube in clear sleeves and didn't like the aesthetic of just a couple cards without a Magic back. I also didn't like the idea of running a checklist/helper card that would necessitate people digging through a side pile of cards to see what the checklist/helper does before picking it.
Now that I have my cube in opaque sleeves, I dislike the thought of other people constantly sliding the card out to see the backside and potentially stretching/wearing out the sleeve. This sounds like a solution that I could get behind. How did you lay out the proxies? Like split cards? Kamigawa flip cards? Something else?
I'm just not sure if 2-3 cards are worth it.
2023 Average Peasant Cube|and Discussion
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The only time it gets weird is when people need to see the card during the draft and want to take the card out of its sleeve.
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
As far as the draft goes, this isn't a Worlds draft and we aren't playing for the Kitchen Table Cup. If I flip a card during the draft to read it, then take it and my friend then knows that I took the flip card, I don't see that as a big deal. We're gonna build across from each other and often ask for opinions on builds and final cuts. My group is super relaxed when it comes to cube night.
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
Follow me. I tweet.