I've been lurking on the forums and studying lists from the most active users for some time now. I've play tested the cube several times with my friends, but since we aren't as experienced in drafting, I figure you guys/girls could lend me some additional advice or suggestions.
Here are a few thoughts I have:
- I've considered putting in either Hurricane or Harmony of Nature because sometimes green needs a bit more help stabilizing from all the evasion.
- I'm not entirely sure whether Twisted Abomination or Phyrexian Gargantua is still viable, but I put them in as reanimate and blink support respectively.
- I really want to support a Dredge archetype (that can possibly work with reanimate), but I'm not sure if there are enough viable cards for it.
- Green aggro doesn't seem that appealing. The main reason why I put in several green drops is to support aggressive Gruul decks.
- I'm not sure where to put cards like Burning-tree Emissary or Snakeform. I understand they can be considered hybrids, but I'm not sure how to balance them.
Welcome to the cube forum! Most of my cube experience with cubing is with rare cubes, but I can still answer some of your specific questions.
I definitely wouldn't run Harmony of Nature, tapping down your own creatures to gain life isn't something I imagine you're ever going to want to do. Hurricane is a versatile card because it can wipe out multiple fliers or act as a finisher, if you're trying to decide between the two you should definitely run Hurricane.
I don't think green aggro is worth running yet, but with one or two more decent green 1-drops we probably will be.
There's a lot of disagreement about exactly how to classify hybrid cards. It looks like you're running some of them as mono-colored cards and some as colorless cards, and many people run them as gold. I don't think there's any way to run hybrids without creating a certain amount of imbalance, as some guilds have great options for hybrids, and others don't. On CT I'm classifying my hybrids as guild cards, but because I keep my mono-colored sections balanced and don't run an equal number in each guild, the reality is that they're taking the place of colorless cards. This isn't that bad of a thing to do, either, as the flexibility of hybrids allows them to be played in almost as many kinds of decks as colorless cards. Here's a CFB article that explains the math and reasoning behind this. I think it's worth prioritizing quality hybrids, and running as many as you can. Speaking of hybrids, one more you should probably consider running is Tattermunge Maniac, you'll need all the red aggro creatures you can get.
Hope this helps, and happy cubing!
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465 card Unpowered cube thread. Draft it here and I'll be happy to return the favor.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
I'll go through the list when it's not 6:25am but I'd like to refute the claim that red needs 1 drops so badly that it's willing to stoop low enough and pick up tattermunge maniac. Is it an option? Yes, it isn't completely without merit.
But red aggro does not want for early game pressure or reach, and being forced to trade into the abundance of 1 and 2 drops in the format sometimes makes it a 1 drop that's even bad on turn 1.
Tattermunge is fairly weak compared to some of the other red 1-drops, but I do like that it's a hybrid. I like trying to support some green aggro, and it helps to have it fill that role. I generally classify it as more of a Red card for numbers sake though.
I've been trying out Great Oak Guardian as well, just curious if you think it's too powerful for Peasant? That's the conclusion I'm quickly coming to.
"Too powerful" is a hard sell for a 6 drop, but in my very limited experience with the card it is possibly a top 5 option. It is fairly absurd but at the same time green was short on tentpole cards to first or second pick as is.
I'm just not a huge fan of cards that swing the game to that degree.
It's consistently been a one-sided board wipe + 6-10 damage that saves all of your creatures in combat.
Ahh, sorry I forgot to post a response, Spike Rogue. I've been busy with the holidays.
@Spike Rogue: I think you're correct on the Hurricane part. The fact that it can give green reach does it make it much more versatile. I thought Harmony of Nature was going to be good because of all the token generators that sometimes sit untapped because they swing in yet.
About green aggro, it makes me sad that there aren't enough viable cards because it makes Gruul or any other aggro decks that splash green suffer. Oh and thanks for the link! I'm slowly reading it when I have time. I currently have a small break so I'll definitely be reading it, especially because of the math!
@haganbmj: Thanks! I studied your list, Leelues, Browns, Inscho, and a few others before I actually assembled mine. Great Oak Guardian has been solid, but not overpowered. My drafters and I have felt that green has been fairly weak compared to the other colors so even if Great Oak Guardian can be swingy at times, it gives them that burst that I feel green should have. I'm currently running it with Overrun and Great Oak is often superior. I might even cut Overrun because of it's heavy green cost.
@Leelue: I look forward to your input, Leelue! Feel free to rip into the list if you feel some cards are whack! I noticed that your cube has a Dredge archetype going on, how has that been for you? It's one of my favorite archetypes to play, but I feel like it's too difficult in a limited setting because you might self-mill key cards.
There are a few thoughts on my mind ATM:
- Gruul felt kinda weak when it was drafted. Has Fires of Yavimaya been good for you guys? I had it in at one point, but no one picked it so I took it out for Boggart Ram-Gang because there weren't a lot of haste creatures in the cube.
- I'll just try out the Maniac since I can get it for a quarter or less.
- I'm not sure if I want to keep the green boas in ATM. At times, they were so good because of their stickiness and the landwalk was just icing on the cake. However, green has felt pretty weak so I'm down to keep crazy 2 CC drops. But I'm a little concerned by all the creatures that just go through and don't interact with the board (shadow, fear, etc.)
- Most green players just felt so bad getting their beefy creatures killed as soon as they played them because they spent so much time ramping into them. I'm not sure if this is an issue with the players (misplays or overlooks in deck construction) or just the archetype itself. To remedy this issue, I want to give green more replayability for their cards such as Beast Attack or Call of the Herd.
All you need for the graveyard centric deck to take off is a critical mass, and a variety, of cards that capitalize. Sure it sucks to have your diabolic servitude milled away, but that's why I wouldn't make it specifically a reanimator deck. If you jam as much as possible between reanimation, regrowth, some way to abuse reassembling skeleton, delve, threshold, and nemesis of mortals in the same deck, then it doesn't matter what cards get milled. Some subset of your hand is going to be happy inevitably.
And these cards get better exponentially with more copies: eternal witness into regrowth is much better than eternal witness into not regrowth.
I had a long day at work today so I can't offer too much right now, but I will later.
First glance: Looks quite good.
Few things I noticed:
1) Careful with your double mana costed cards (e.g. Samurai of the Pale Curtain. They are hard to cast reliably on turn 2, so my advice would not be to avoid them, but be very selective on the ones you add. The Samurai, imo, is just not solid enough to warrant its mana cost. Same with Dauthi Slayer.. he's just meh, and there are plenty of 2 drop evasive guys for 1B available to us already.
2)Battle Brawler seems out of place as a black card, and is somewhat underwhelming as a multi-color card at that.
Thanks for the reply BrownDog5117, I studied your cube as well before I actually constructed mine.
The Samurai is just a pet card of mine because I love the artwork and the theme of the set. Do you have any other white card you would suggest?
I agree with the Battle Brawler and the Dauthi Slayer, I just didn't know what else to put in. Maybe Mardu Skullhunter? There's no Hymn to Tourach because some of my friends found it unfun to play against.
I actually own all the cards that you have suggested in your third point so I could just swap them in to test them. Booster Tutor is suppose to be Demonic Tutor, but I just kept in Booster just for fun. I'm not sure if Briarhorn or Vines of Vastwood is better. Jilt is a great card, but I don't know where to place it exactly, is it a blue, guild, or hybrid card? I actually removed Grafted Wargear because some players felt it wasn't fun to play against and with Darksteel Sentinel, I put Deathless Behemoth in instead because it could destroy almost all threats in the cube, while the Sentinel would get stuck behind walls or anything above 3 health. How has the Sentinel been for you?
Don't take out Samurai. I am a big proponent of pet cards... I'm looking at you Bloodhunter Bat!!!
Briarhorn is leagues ahead of Vines and Jilt is best utilized in Izzet. I'd consider it a guild card for sure.
Wargear has been fine in my group. It's obviously super strong, but you can chump the creature or destroy the wargear (2 for 1'ing your opponent). There are other cards that you're running that I've had issues with over Wargear, but I'll let you find that out on your own since each cube/playgroup is different.
Hymn is dumb... it's banned in my cube for fun factor.
You don't necessarily have to add in another 2-drop to replace the Brawler. Perhaps you just add in another noncreature spell. Inquisition? or Dance of the Dead? Or Murderous Cut? I just think the Brawler is not best utilized in a black section and is even not that great as a guild card.
Same with Dauthi Slayer.. he's just meh, and there are plenty of 2 drop evasive guys for 1B available to us already.
Slayer is insanely good and a solid reason to be heavy black. Vampire Interloper can be blocked by 70 things that either just eat it or trade with it. Nezumi Cutthroat has that number at 60-something. Slayer has five blockers, and another two cards in my cube that can chump it. On T2, it does a pretty good impression of a one-sided Sulfuric Vortex.
- Battle Brawler got swapped for Inquisition of Kozilek
- Standstill seems kinda lame at times. It's either dead or it'll just win you the game if you're even slightly ahead. It'll probably be replaced for Miscalculation
- I put in a lot of Golgari support that I based off of Leelue's cube. I haven't been able to draft any G/B deck yet, but my initial concern is that Dredge might be too clunky, and G/B midrange might just perform better.
- ATM, I'm okay with Dauthi Slayer because BB can be hard to get out at in time, so it usually drops turn 3-5 which I'm okay with. If it comes out turn 2, I'm usually okay too because it doesn't interact with the board and the opponent can actually develop the board with bigger threats.
EDIT: Pianna, Nomad Captain was a bit disappointing so I'm going to try Timely Hordemate instead.
Seismic elemental: Eh, too inconsistent for a 5 drop. Can work, can be a waste of time.
Keldon halberdier: Fine enough. It's like drawing a 0 mana 4 power haste first striker on turn 5. I have been surprisingly pleased. But it could be sample size.
Reckless charge is a card I keep not valuing and when I finally do play it it generates so much damage I don't know why I don't value it. If you play it on an evasive guy late, like the dauthi, it was 1 mana deal 5 damage (with flashback maybe more damage). It's quite good.
Gruul war chant and fires I haven't seen enough of to have an opinion. Both should be "fine". Fires needs big 4s and 5s though (like seismic elemental, I suppose. Or blastoderm or Druid's familiar.). The ceiling is high but it may be hard to get there.
I wouldn't count darksteel sentinel as a card that's shocking to be missing. It's fine, but not a staple.
Grafted wargear got banned on power reasons for my cube.
Jilt does however deserve staple status on a 3+ guild size. The only reason why I am not running it is because I felt as though I needed the effect of izzet staticaster for cube health.
Briarhorn is outstanding.
Dauthi slayer is I'm sure fine, but the sentiment about running too many CC cards is very true.
Man... going through the next exercise reminds me that I haven't updated my cubetutor in a while.
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Card I think are actually missing from the list
Haha, I actually went to watch Star Wars yesterday night.
- I'll try the Keldon Halberdier over the Seismic Elemental, but I just thought the elemental would be pretty cool with blink as well.
- Ghiarpur Gearcrafter was actually replaced by Suq'ata Lancer because Ghiarpur felt very slow at times. What's the problem with the lancer? It has haste and can fight X/3s, right? I was also considering adding in Ashmouth Hound because of how well it can trade with X/3s.
- I'll sub in Jilt in place of Quicksliver Dagger.
One concern of mine ATM is the overabundance of creatures that don't interact with the board, so I'm not sure how the Latch Seeker or additional shadow creatures are going to play out. I can give them a whirl and try them. Another concern ATM is whether or not I have too much removal so I'm a little hesitant to put in any more such as Reckless Spite or Shower of Coals. They're quality cards, but from my 4 man grid-drafting experience, the amount of removal was plenty. However, I suspect that with 6-8 players, it'll be a different story.
The 2 most common problems with newer cubes almost always tend to be:
1) Too much removal
And
2) usually leading from point one, games that are stuck in value wars.
I'm trying to run lighter amounts of removal and more tempo-y/disrupt-y cards to act like pseudo removal without actually needing the removal to achieve most of the same goals. You're running a lot of the can't block effects, tappers, and bouncers already. Which I agree with. So you could perhaps lower the amount of removal you're running and centralize the power of your removal in fewer but stronger cards. So, for example, I run incremental blight and ghostly prison and they are very strong, but I didn't suggest you run them because it compounds the problem of a removal heavy environment. (I only suggested shower of coals because oftentimes people don't know the card exists/is as good as it is). But you could drop something like 5 spot removal spells for 3 reckless spites/shower of coals/rolling thunder/incremental blight/red sweeper. This would free up an extra deckslot here and there for the combat or combo side of magic which people tend to enjoy more.
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The reason why I don't like the lancer is because it is almost like skyknight legionnaire. 2 damage a turn until they find a way to impede its ability to attack is just below mediocre for a 3 drop in my opinion. Ashmouth hound at least costs 2 and does nearly the same thing.
Ghirapur gearcrafter is good in slower decks and gives red an aggressive way to take advantage of board-level buffs and so forth, which red doesn't give you a lot of access to.
Oh and as for your hybrid question in the OP, you can balance 2 hybrids that share a color with a third that shares both of the missing colors. Izzet signet is a card I think of most often as a hybrid card and is red/blue. I'd consider it to balance the burning tree emissary and snakeform.
You could also use two more hybrids that are red/x and blue/x, where x is the same color in both cases. So.. Uh... Inkfathom infiltrator and murderous redcap would be an example.
What did you mean when you said Ghirapur Gearcrafter takes advantage of board-level buffs? Like Intangible Virtue? I'm not sure if I have a lot of buffs.
And thanks for the hybrid answer. I removed those cards completely for now, but I'll probably tweak it a bit and reintroduce them.
I'm going to cut Standstill, but I want to add a draw card in its place. Which do you guys think is best?
I play opportunity for people who want to play reactive control decks
And I mean cards like rally the peasants, yes. I am not home, so checking your list manually is not convenient at this time which means I'm just making broad statements.
I'd play Opportunity and Jace's Ingenuity over Tidings.
Instant speed is super relevant with these draw spells. Being able to keep up counters and removal, while keeping up a spell to reload your hand is exactly what the control decks want to be doing. I play Ingenuity, but I sometime get the slight urge to play Opportunity as well, or in place of.
Ah, I see. I have a copy of Opportunity lying around so I'll probably just run that and see how it is, although six mana seems kinda pricey.
What is the appeal of Spiteful Returned? I don't understand it. Is the Bestow THAT good? And just to confirm, many people don't like running River Boa or Mire Boa for the fun factor, right?
I don't run the boas because I don't agree with color-targeted hate.
Spiteful returned is like... 4 mana for what's usually no less than 4 damage (bestow, get one trigger, bestowed creature dies soon thereafter, spiteful returned gets to attack, trigger). If the bestowed creature gets to actually hit, then it's 5 damage. It could be that the +1/+1 is why the creature went unblocked in the first place because it is no longer trading, where now it's generating 6 or 7 or 8 damage. Lastly, when it attacks on its own after the bestowed creature dies, it draws a block. This could generate more damage since there may now be an additional unblocked creature.
But I usually think of it as a 4 mana lava axe that can be occasionally played on turn 2 with removal backup so it's a 2 mana lava axe instead.
Ah, I see about Spiteful Returned. I'll probably test that card as well.
In the last few days, I've been play testing my cube and its been an absolute blast. I was even able to get off a Golgari value deck with Nyx Weaver , Victimize, and even Nezumi Graverobber to get mad value. That said, I have come to realize that aggro decks seem weaker than midrange decks and I'm looking to improve them. I read wtwlf123's article "Cube Design Philosophy" and he had an ideal ratio of creatures cards for aggro:midrange:control, 3:2:1. But he also said that different colors should have differing ratios as well based on how you want the cube to be. Which got me to ask, what exactly are the control cards? And also, do you guys follow some sort of ratio or have tips for improving aggro?
IMO, the big problem with aggro in peasant cubes is the lands. With a few exceptions, if an eligible land taps for more than one color, it EtB tapped. That costs the aggro deck big with respect to turns. For aggro, I try to make sure I have enough early threats in the colors that easily support them. I also try to have those threats be easier to cast in general (i.e. 1W vs. WW).
A factor in favor of aggro is that the rare sweepers, a la Wrath of God, don't exist in peasant. Midrange and control decks have more work to do to remove early threats. You still have mini-sweepers like Pyroclasm and similar cards, Infest, Drown in Sorrow, and cards like Incremental Blight. There are also cards that help you stabilize like Feudkiller's Verdict (uncommon in one of the MTGO sets) and Timely Reinforcements, plus the usual suspects in Blue, etc.
I've been lurking on the forums and studying lists from the most active users for some time now. I've play tested the cube several times with my friends, but since we aren't as experienced in drafting, I figure you guys/girls could lend me some additional advice or suggestions.
The List:
http://www.cubetutor.com/viewcube/44109
Here are a few thoughts I have:
- I've considered putting in either Hurricane or Harmony of Nature because sometimes green needs a bit more help stabilizing from all the evasion.
- I'm not entirely sure whether Twisted Abomination or Phyrexian Gargantua is still viable, but I put them in as reanimate and blink support respectively.
- I really want to support a Dredge archetype (that can possibly work with reanimate), but I'm not sure if there are enough viable cards for it.
- Green aggro doesn't seem that appealing. The main reason why I put in several green drops is to support aggressive Gruul decks.
- I'm not sure where to put cards like Burning-tree Emissary or Snakeform. I understand they can be considered hybrids, but I'm not sure how to balance them.
Thank you for your input!
450 Unpowered Cube Cobra
I definitely wouldn't run Harmony of Nature, tapping down your own creatures to gain life isn't something I imagine you're ever going to want to do. Hurricane is a versatile card because it can wipe out multiple fliers or act as a finisher, if you're trying to decide between the two you should definitely run Hurricane.
I don't think green aggro is worth running yet, but with one or two more decent green 1-drops we probably will be.
There's a lot of disagreement about exactly how to classify hybrid cards. It looks like you're running some of them as mono-colored cards and some as colorless cards, and many people run them as gold. I don't think there's any way to run hybrids without creating a certain amount of imbalance, as some guilds have great options for hybrids, and others don't. On CT I'm classifying my hybrids as guild cards, but because I keep my mono-colored sections balanced and don't run an equal number in each guild, the reality is that they're taking the place of colorless cards. This isn't that bad of a thing to do, either, as the flexibility of hybrids allows them to be played in almost as many kinds of decks as colorless cards. Here's a CFB article that explains the math and reasoning behind this. I think it's worth prioritizing quality hybrids, and running as many as you can. Speaking of hybrids, one more you should probably consider running is Tattermunge Maniac, you'll need all the red aggro creatures you can get.
Hope this helps, and happy cubing!
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
But red aggro does not want for early game pressure or reach, and being forced to trade into the abundance of 1 and 2 drops in the format sometimes makes it a 1 drop that's even bad on turn 1.
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
Tattermunge is fairly weak compared to some of the other red 1-drops, but I do like that it's a hybrid. I like trying to support some green aggro, and it helps to have it fill that role. I generally classify it as more of a Red card for numbers sake though.
I've been trying out Great Oak Guardian as well, just curious if you think it's too powerful for Peasant? That's the conclusion I'm quickly coming to.
[Developing] 430+ Peasant Cube Thread --- [and on Cube Cobra]
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
It's consistently been a one-sided board wipe + 6-10 damage that saves all of your creatures in combat.
[Developing] 430+ Peasant Cube Thread --- [and on Cube Cobra]
@Spike Rogue: I think you're correct on the Hurricane part. The fact that it can give green reach does it make it much more versatile. I thought Harmony of Nature was going to be good because of all the token generators that sometimes sit untapped because they swing in yet.
About green aggro, it makes me sad that there aren't enough viable cards because it makes Gruul or any other aggro decks that splash green suffer. Oh and thanks for the link! I'm slowly reading it when I have time. I currently have a small break so I'll definitely be reading it, especially because of the math!
@haganbmj: Thanks! I studied your list, Leelues, Browns, Inscho, and a few others before I actually assembled mine. Great Oak Guardian has been solid, but not overpowered. My drafters and I have felt that green has been fairly weak compared to the other colors so even if Great Oak Guardian can be swingy at times, it gives them that burst that I feel green should have. I'm currently running it with Overrun and Great Oak is often superior. I might even cut Overrun because of it's heavy green cost.
@Leelue: I look forward to your input, Leelue! Feel free to rip into the list if you feel some cards are whack! I noticed that your cube has a Dredge archetype going on, how has that been for you? It's one of my favorite archetypes to play, but I feel like it's too difficult in a limited setting because you might self-mill key cards.
There are a few thoughts on my mind ATM:
- Gruul felt kinda weak when it was drafted. Has Fires of Yavimaya been good for you guys? I had it in at one point, but no one picked it so I took it out for Boggart Ram-Gang because there weren't a lot of haste creatures in the cube.
- I'll just try out the Maniac since I can get it for a quarter or less.
- I'm not sure if I want to keep the green boas in ATM. At times, they were so good because of their stickiness and the landwalk was just icing on the cake. However, green has felt pretty weak so I'm down to keep crazy 2 CC drops. But I'm a little concerned by all the creatures that just go through and don't interact with the board (shadow, fear, etc.)
- Most green players just felt so bad getting their beefy creatures killed as soon as they played them because they spent so much time ramping into them. I'm not sure if this is an issue with the players (misplays or overlooks in deck construction) or just the archetype itself. To remedy this issue, I want to give green more replayability for their cards such as Beast Attack or Call of the Herd.
Edit: Has anyone tried Spike Feeder?
450 Unpowered Cube Cobra
And these cards get better exponentially with more copies: eternal witness into regrowth is much better than eternal witness into not regrowth.
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 had a long day at work today so I can't offer too much right now, but I will later.
First glance: Looks quite good.
Few things I noticed:
1) Careful with your double mana costed cards (e.g. Samurai of the Pale Curtain. They are hard to cast reliably on turn 2, so my advice would not be to avoid them, but be very selective on the ones you add. The Samurai, imo, is just not solid enough to warrant its mana cost. Same with Dauthi Slayer.. he's just meh, and there are plenty of 2 drop evasive guys for 1B available to us already.
2)Battle Brawler seems out of place as a black card, and is somewhat underwhelming as a multi-color card at that.
3) Cards I noticed your not playing that I feel obligated to have you go pick up: Demonic Tutor, Briarhorn, Jilt, Darksteel Sentinel, and Grafted Wargear. Those are the ones that jumped out at me that you aren't running.
Great list. You definitely did your research and I bet this cube will play out great! Let us know how it goes.
My Peasant Cube thread !!! (380 cards)
Draft my Peasant Cube on Cube Cobra !!!
The Samurai is just a pet card of mine because I love the artwork and the theme of the set. Do you have any other white card you would suggest?
I agree with the Battle Brawler and the Dauthi Slayer, I just didn't know what else to put in. Maybe Mardu Skullhunter? There's no Hymn to Tourach because some of my friends found it unfun to play against.
I actually own all the cards that you have suggested in your third point so I could just swap them in to test them. Booster Tutor is suppose to be Demonic Tutor, but I just kept in Booster just for fun. I'm not sure if Briarhorn or Vines of Vastwood is better. Jilt is a great card, but I don't know where to place it exactly, is it a blue, guild, or hybrid card? I actually removed Grafted Wargear because some players felt it wasn't fun to play against and with Darksteel Sentinel, I put Deathless Behemoth in instead because it could destroy almost all threats in the cube, while the Sentinel would get stuck behind walls or anything above 3 health. How has the Sentinel been for you?
450 Unpowered Cube Cobra
Briarhorn is leagues ahead of Vines and Jilt is best utilized in Izzet. I'd consider it a guild card for sure.
Wargear has been fine in my group. It's obviously super strong, but you can chump the creature or destroy the wargear (2 for 1'ing your opponent). There are other cards that you're running that I've had issues with over Wargear, but I'll let you find that out on your own since each cube/playgroup is different.
Hymn is dumb... it's banned in my cube for fun factor.
You don't necessarily have to add in another 2-drop to replace the Brawler. Perhaps you just add in another noncreature spell. Inquisition? or Dance of the Dead? Or Murderous Cut? I just think the Brawler is not best utilized in a black section and is even not that great as a guild card.
My Peasant Cube thread !!! (380 cards)
Draft my Peasant Cube on Cube Cobra !!!
Slayer is insanely good and a solid reason to be heavy black. Vampire Interloper can be blocked by 70 things that either just eat it or trade with it. Nezumi Cutthroat has that number at 60-something. Slayer has five blockers, and another two cards in my cube that can chump it. On T2, it does a pretty good impression of a one-sided Sulfuric Vortex.
edit: blocker numbers are from my cube
- Battle Brawler got swapped for Inquisition of Kozilek
- Standstill seems kinda lame at times. It's either dead or it'll just win you the game if you're even slightly ahead. It'll probably be replaced for Miscalculation
- I put in a lot of Golgari support that I based off of Leelue's cube. I haven't been able to draft any G/B deck yet, but my initial concern is that Dredge might be too clunky, and G/B midrange might just perform better.
- ATM, I'm okay with Dauthi Slayer because BB can be hard to get out at in time, so it usually drops turn 3-5 which I'm okay with. If it comes out turn 2, I'm usually okay too because it doesn't interact with the board and the opponent can actually develop the board with bigger threats.
EDIT: Pianna, Nomad Captain was a bit disappointing so I'm going to try Timely Hordemate instead.
I'm actually not sure how about I feel about the following cards: Seismic Elemental, Keldon Halberdier, Reckless Charge, Gruul War Chant, and Fires of Yavimaya. What has your experience been like with those cards?
450 Unpowered Cube Cobra
Keldon halberdier: Fine enough. It's like drawing a 0 mana 4 power haste first striker on turn 5. I have been surprisingly pleased. But it could be sample size.
Reckless charge is a card I keep not valuing and when I finally do play it it generates so much damage I don't know why I don't value it. If you play it on an evasive guy late, like the dauthi, it was 1 mana deal 5 damage (with flashback maybe more damage). It's quite good.
Gruul war chant and fires I haven't seen enough of to have an opinion. Both should be "fine". Fires needs big 4s and 5s though (like seismic elemental, I suppose. Or blastoderm or Druid's familiar.). The ceiling is high but it may be hard to get there.
I wouldn't count darksteel sentinel as a card that's shocking to be missing. It's fine, but not a staple.
Grafted wargear got banned on power reasons for my cube.
Jilt does however deserve staple status on a 3+ guild size. The only reason why I am not running it is because I felt as though I needed the effect of izzet staticaster for cube health.
Briarhorn is outstanding.
Dauthi slayer is I'm sure fine, but the sentiment about running too many CC cards is very true.
Man... going through the next exercise reminds me that I haven't updated my cubetutor in a while.
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Card I think are actually missing from the list
Cards that I think are too bad to consider
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Don't listen to Browndog, he likes bad cards
Stick with me kid
You'll be fine
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 Peasant Cube thread !!! (380 cards)
Draft my Peasant Cube on Cube Cobra !!!
- I'll try the Keldon Halberdier over the Seismic Elemental, but I just thought the elemental would be pretty cool with blink as well.
- Ghiarpur Gearcrafter was actually replaced by Suq'ata Lancer because Ghiarpur felt very slow at times. What's the problem with the lancer? It has haste and can fight X/3s, right? I was also considering adding in Ashmouth Hound because of how well it can trade with X/3s.
- I'll sub in Jilt in place of Quicksliver Dagger.
One concern of mine ATM is the overabundance of creatures that don't interact with the board, so I'm not sure how the Latch Seeker or additional shadow creatures are going to play out. I can give them a whirl and try them. Another concern ATM is whether or not I have too much removal so I'm a little hesitant to put in any more such as Reckless Spite or Shower of Coals. They're quality cards, but from my 4 man grid-drafting experience, the amount of removal was plenty. However, I suspect that with 6-8 players, it'll be a different story.
450 Unpowered Cube Cobra
1) Too much removal
And
2) usually leading from point one, games that are stuck in value wars.
I'm trying to run lighter amounts of removal and more tempo-y/disrupt-y cards to act like pseudo removal without actually needing the removal to achieve most of the same goals. You're running a lot of the can't block effects, tappers, and bouncers already. Which I agree with. So you could perhaps lower the amount of removal you're running and centralize the power of your removal in fewer but stronger cards. So, for example, I run incremental blight and ghostly prison and they are very strong, but I didn't suggest you run them because it compounds the problem of a removal heavy environment. (I only suggested shower of coals because oftentimes people don't know the card exists/is as good as it is). But you could drop something like 5 spot removal spells for 3 reckless spites/shower of coals/rolling thunder/incremental blight/red sweeper. This would free up an extra deckslot here and there for the combat or combo side of magic which people tend to enjoy more.
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The reason why I don't like the lancer is because it is almost like skyknight legionnaire. 2 damage a turn until they find a way to impede its ability to attack is just below mediocre for a 3 drop in my opinion. Ashmouth hound at least costs 2 and does nearly the same thing.
Ghirapur gearcrafter is good in slower decks and gives red an aggressive way to take advantage of board-level buffs and so forth, which red doesn't give you a lot of access to.
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
You could also use two more hybrids that are red/x and blue/x, where x is the same color in both cases. So.. Uh... Inkfathom infiltrator and murderous redcap would be an example.
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
And thanks for the hybrid answer. I removed those cards completely for now, but I'll probably tweak it a bit and reintroduce them.
I'm going to cut Standstill, but I want to add a draw card in its place. Which do you guys think is best?
Concentrate, Tidings, Jace's Ingenuity, or Opportunity or Serum Visions?
I'm kinda leaning on Tidings.
450 Unpowered Cube Cobra
And I mean cards like rally the peasants, yes. I am not home, so checking your list manually is not convenient at this time which means I'm just making broad statements.
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
Instant speed is super relevant with these draw spells. Being able to keep up counters and removal, while keeping up a spell to reload your hand is exactly what the control decks want to be doing. I play Ingenuity, but I sometime get the slight urge to play Opportunity as well, or in place of.
My Peasant Cube thread !!! (380 cards)
Draft my Peasant Cube on Cube Cobra !!!
What is the appeal of Spiteful Returned? I don't understand it. Is the Bestow THAT good? And just to confirm, many people don't like running River Boa or Mire Boa for the fun factor, right?
450 Unpowered Cube Cobra
Spiteful returned is like... 4 mana for what's usually no less than 4 damage (bestow, get one trigger, bestowed creature dies soon thereafter, spiteful returned gets to attack, trigger). If the bestowed creature gets to actually hit, then it's 5 damage. It could be that the +1/+1 is why the creature went unblocked in the first place because it is no longer trading, where now it's generating 6 or 7 or 8 damage. Lastly, when it attacks on its own after the bestowed creature dies, it draws a block. This could generate more damage since there may now be an additional unblocked creature.
But I usually think of it as a 4 mana lava axe that can be occasionally played on turn 2 with removal backup so it's a 2 mana lava axe instead.
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
In the last few days, I've been play testing my cube and its been an absolute blast. I was even able to get off a Golgari value deck with Nyx Weaver , Victimize, and even Nezumi Graverobber to get mad value. That said, I have come to realize that aggro decks seem weaker than midrange decks and I'm looking to improve them. I read wtwlf123's article "Cube Design Philosophy" and he had an ideal ratio of creatures cards for aggro:midrange:control, 3:2:1. But he also said that different colors should have differing ratios as well based on how you want the cube to be. Which got me to ask, what exactly are the control cards? And also, do you guys follow some sort of ratio or have tips for improving aggro?
450 Unpowered Cube Cobra
A factor in favor of aggro is that the rare sweepers, a la Wrath of God, don't exist in peasant. Midrange and control decks have more work to do to remove early threats. You still have mini-sweepers like Pyroclasm and similar cards, Infest, Drown in Sorrow, and cards like Incremental Blight. There are also cards that help you stabilize like Feudkiller's Verdict (uncommon in one of the MTGO sets) and Timely Reinforcements, plus the usual suspects in Blue, etc.
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I used to write for MTGS, including Cranial Insertion and cube articles. Good on you if you can find those after the upgrade.