Edit with minor comments:
Khenra Scrapper is borderline playable without exert I think.
Marauding Boneslasher is another Courser with minor downside.
Eternalize seems to have the same problem as embalm at common - too expensive and slow.
Cycling lands might see a bump in value if more desert-related stuff like Gilded Cerodon appears - there's already bouncelands in cube but also a ton of incidental cards waiting for the right time to shine (Deprive, Stoic Builder, Gush, Grim Discovery, Zendikons...)
Marauding Boneslayer is a 3/3, not a 3/4. And even then, strictly worse than Dead Reveler, except when you support subtypes.
Eternalize doesn't seem too expensive for me, at least in Steadfast Sentinel. A 4/4 vigilance for 4WW is fine in my book. And this comes with a body before at 4cmc, and can be played from the graveyard.
Cycling deserts won't be a thing in cubes. I mean, we already have lands that cycle for 1 less and few use them.
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My 490 Pauper Cube
Modern frame only- Common on paper only - no functional copies, no strictly-betters - no subtype-matters
Strictly worse does not necessarily mean uncubeable. A 3/3 for three is one of the lynchpins that pauper games revolve around.
Deserts look like Gates 2.0 - a land-based mechanic that can be balanced at common due to drafting multiples in Limited, but isn't much use in a singleton cube. Still, the Cerodon already seems slightly better than the payoff that Gates had at common (Armory Guard, Gatecreeper Vine, Ogre Jailbreaker, Way of the Thief). As an attacking 5, I think Kuldotha Ringleader plays the role much better, but I'm holding out for a card that has a decent baseline before adding the Desert effect.
Steadfast Sentinel's eternalize actually seems very well-costed - I just find it hard to swallow the terrible front end
Zealot of the God-Pharaoh (3R for a 4/3 creature with "4R: deal 2 damage to target opponent") vs. Flamewave Invoker. Flamewave seems terrible, but Zealot might have a place?
Lowland Giant is not a particularly good benchmark for pauper cube. It trades down with 3 drops and even some 2 drops these days. Which means you're going to be sitting back on a very expensive mana sink
Is one point of toughness really worth it over Vulpine Goliath, which is cubed by exactly no one? At this point, six drops don't need extra points of P/T, they need something to guarantee value so you don't get tempoed out of the game by Doom Blade
Of course, what I ment was that, as Planeswalker decks are pseudo-core sets, a 6/6 trample for 6cmc is now the standard powerlevel for a common, and that is a good sign of what they could print in the future.
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My 490 Pauper Cube
Modern frame only- Common on paper only - no functional copies, no strictly-betters - no subtype-matters
In powered pauper cubes that is never going to change unless they get hexproof or some form of recursion when they die, which I don't see happening at common anytime soon. 2 mana kill spells warp card selection massively if you decide to include them in your pauper cube.
I also think the extra point of toughness does matter. It gets it out of the range of nearly all damage based removal spells as well as power five creatures which are often the upper limit of most other colour's creatures.
I'm currently putting together a Masters Cube and it feels like I've been set free to pick and choose whatever I want to include that maximises fun. There is no pressure to include the most powerful cards in every slot.
We've gotten hexproof and a dies trigger in the last two sets (Bastion Inventor and Soulstinger). The designs are interesting and it seems likely to me we'll get cubeables if they keep printing them at this rate. Maybe you were referring specifically to six-drops, but I'm speaking generally about the higher end of pauper creatures.
As for the cost of kill spells, I invite you to revisit the Limited environment of Theros - following the idea that overcosted removal is better made it miserable to lose in. Efficient kill spells increase interactivity and decision points by asking players to assess threats correctly - is it correct to Doom Blade the bear rushing you down in an aggro deck, or is it better to wait for a potential bigger target? There is no such decision making when your removal costs five mana.
I'll give you the extra point of toughness on Brambleweft Behemoth though. I don't think toughness-based removal matters at this point - nothing besides X-spells can take either one down (let me know if there are other spells tho!) but tangling with 5/X creatures is an important consideration.
There is definitely lots of middle ground between theros block removal and pauper cube removal
Over 90% of creatures in most pauper cubes have toughness 3 or less. IMO this makes something like lightning bolt far, far too strong. In my opinion a card like yamabushi's flame/barbed lightning (just random 3cmc burn spells for example) is a lot more reasonable. It's still perfectly playable, it just seems awful if you're cubing a bunch of lightning strikes and incinerates
But yeah, the quantity of removal seems to be an even more common and egregious issue in pauper cubes than the quality
Personally I also really like getting tempo though cheap combat tricks, so replacing some removal with stuff like unnatural endurance makes things more fun too. Also as the format designer you can mess with removal density by including ones that are fine for aggro but unplayable for control, for example crippling blight, or the reverse, like hobble. YMMV.
Maybe would have been decent if the front side had a slightly bigger body/cost that was reasonable then it could be interesting. Otherwise, it might as well just be a 6 mana 4/4 because a 1/1 for 1 isn't really going to do much if anything.
I pretty much agree with everything said on the removal front. I actually think the most important thing is getting the removal density right. I also don't think removal ruins pauper cube, it can warp what archetypes are viable though.
I've been listening to Ben Stark on limited resources and his draft videos when I can and I very much agree with his philosophy on what makes for a fun drafting experience. I generally prefer longer games with a lot of important decisions, including a lot of decent removal. I also subscribe to having a couple of powerful aggro decks possible to keep everyone honest.
I won't sidetrack the hour of devastation discussion further.
I guess guys like Proven Combatant have some sac synergies, which again; aren't really there in pauper yet. This is especially the case for blue.
Also, a general comment about a lot of the uncommons in the set, I am loving the modal nature of cards. I'm sure there will be detractors who don't dig on having more expensive but flexible cards, but in the case of some blue modal cards; it is helping balance the weaker counterspell options and the requirement to leave up to three mana available and then not being able to use it if your opponent doesn't cast as spell. I don't want to see a return to permission decks, but I feel they have struggled a bit over the last few years creating cards that make it worthwhile to risk specifically leaving mana up for a more expensive counter spell. It seems blue decks will often have something to do with any mana left up.
Maybe would have been decent if the front side had a slightly bigger body/cost that was reasonable then it could be interesting. Otherwise, it might as well just be a 6 mana 4/4 because a 1/1 for 1 isn't really going to do much if anything.
I think I would like this a teensy bit better if it came out as a 1/2. Something like Thraben Inspector that doesn't die to tokens or pingers. This looks like a spin on Thraben Inspector because it gives you that tiny value add to ensure the weak body is worth a full card.
It's too bad they couldn't find more interesting ways to cost Eternalize like Sinuous Striker, instead of overcosting it into oblivion.
I think I would like this a teensy bit better if it came out as a 1/2. Something like Thraben Inspector that doesn't die to tokens or pingers. This looks like a spin on Thraben Inspector because it gives you that tiny value add to ensure the weak body is worth a full card.
It's too bad they couldn't find more interesting ways to cost Eternalize like Sinuous Striker, instead of overcosting it into oblivion.
Yeah, even something extra like an extra toughness or bonus effect and it would be a reasonable amount better. It seems like the main issue with the card is that they put eternalize on such a irrelevant body which makes the back-half of eternalize, which is worse than the typical rate for a 4/4, seem like the only relevant text. This in turn, doesn't elicit excitement for common cards with eternalize but I think this might just be the worse one of the group in Hour of Devastation.
Eternalize seems like an okay mechanic, though I think it would have been fine if all of them were costed at 5 mana. Even though Proven Combatant is underpowered, more so than probably needed, the rest should be better, hopefully to the degree of being somewhat playable and at a good power level for cube.
I kind of like Frontline Devastor. It not fantastic but it seems like it could be better than it looks. The 3/3 body for 4 isn't the greatest but the firebreathing ability helps it out. Even the threat of activing it and becoming a 4-6/3 is decent. Either way you manage to get damage in with afflict and pump as needed. Probably on the high end of the 2-bordline section of red 4 drops.
God-Pharoh's Faithful is one of the better white one-drop defensive creatures, being strictly better than Yoked Ox and sort of comparable to Pride Guardian. Overall though, still not very exciting.
I like both of them. I'm trying to shift to a slowed down cube w/ more control and both of these sort of fit that bill. I like how Frontline Devastator just wants to get damage through no matter what.
Where's the payoff for afflict though? I'm still waiting for the engine card that triggers whenever an opponent loses life. No opponent is going to care about afflict because they can usually afford the life-loss to kill the afflicter, and every afflicter printed so far has been overcosted or under-curved in stats. The keyword is not evasive enough to be considered evasive since it gives opponents the choice.
Afflict is a non-mechanic. It might as well have been printed as a death trigger, because that's how it'll play out. Print a creature with high afflict to power ratio to make it meaningful, or high defense to afflict ratio to make it repeatable, or print it on an aggressively costed card (just one, not a critical mass that might make a deck too strong) or print a creature that does something whenever somebody loses life, like Hefner the Heifer.
I dig on mana sinks like Frontline Devastator, but I would much prefer Ill-Tempered Cyclops. It sometimes gets damage through with trample when it trades and it turns into a great threat when you hit six mana.
Edit with minor comments:
Khenra Scrapper is borderline playable without exert I think.
Marauding Boneslasher is another Courser with minor downside.
Eternalize seems to have the same problem as embalm at common - too expensive and slow.
Cycling lands might see a bump in value if more desert-related stuff like Gilded Cerodon appears - there's already bouncelands in cube but also a ton of incidental cards waiting for the right time to shine (Deprive, Stoic Builder,
Gush, Grim Discovery, Zendikons...)My Cube (DeckStats)
My Pauper Cube: 540 (CubeTutor link!)
Level 1 Judge
A 3/4 cannot block for 3cc is fine.
Eternalize needs testing.
Cyxling Deserts is a maybe with more support.
Overall, I am intrigued.
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Eternalize doesn't seem too expensive for me, at least in Steadfast Sentinel. A 4/4 vigilance for 4WW is fine in my book. And this comes with a body before at 4cmc, and can be played from the graveyard.
Cycling deserts won't be a thing in cubes. I mean, we already have lands that cycle for 1 less and few use them.
My 490 Pauper Cube
Modern frame only- Common on paper only - no functional copies, no strictly-betters - no subtype-matters
Deserts look like Gates 2.0 - a land-based mechanic that can be balanced at common due to drafting multiples in Limited, but isn't much use in a singleton cube. Still, the Cerodon already seems slightly better than the payoff that Gates had at common (Armory Guard, Gatecreeper Vine, Ogre Jailbreaker, Way of the Thief). As an attacking 5, I think Kuldotha Ringleader plays the role much better, but I'm holding out for a card that has a decent baseline before adding the Desert effect.
Steadfast Sentinel's eternalize actually seems very well-costed - I just find it hard to swallow the terrible front end
My Cube (DeckStats)
My Pauper Cube: 540 (CubeTutor link!)
Level 1 Judge
Something we expected for a long time. I don't know if it's good enough, but at least gives us hope for better green 6-drops.
My 490 Pauper Cube
Modern frame only- Common on paper only - no functional copies, no strictly-betters - no subtype-matters
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Still, Zealot is an interesting card. 4/3 for 4 is a fine starting point, and 5 is wayyyy easier to activate than 8 mana.
My Cube (DeckStats)
My Pauper Cube: 540 (CubeTutor link!)
Level 1 Judge
My singleton Masters Cube
My Cube (DeckStats)
My Pauper Cube: 540 (CubeTutor link!)
Level 1 Judge
My 490 Pauper Cube
Modern frame only- Common on paper only - no functional copies, no strictly-betters - no subtype-matters
I also think the extra point of toughness does matter. It gets it out of the range of nearly all damage based removal spells as well as power five creatures which are often the upper limit of most other colour's creatures.
I'm currently putting together a Masters Cube and it feels like I've been set free to pick and choose whatever I want to include that maximises fun. There is no pressure to include the most powerful cards in every slot.
My singleton Masters Cube
As for the cost of kill spells, I invite you to revisit the Limited environment of Theros - following the idea that overcosted removal is better made it miserable to lose in. Efficient kill spells increase interactivity and decision points by asking players to assess threats correctly - is it correct to Doom Blade the bear rushing you down in an aggro deck, or is it better to wait for a potential bigger target? There is no such decision making when your removal costs five mana.
I'll give you the extra point of toughness on Brambleweft Behemoth though. I don't think toughness-based removal matters at this point - nothing besides X-spells can take either one down (let me know if there are other spells tho!) but tangling with 5/X creatures is an important consideration.
My Cube (DeckStats)
My Pauper Cube: 540 (CubeTutor link!)
Level 1 Judge
Over 90% of creatures in most pauper cubes have toughness 3 or less. IMO this makes something like lightning bolt far, far too strong. In my opinion a card like yamabushi's flame/barbed lightning (just random 3cmc burn spells for example) is a lot more reasonable. It's still perfectly playable, it just seems awful if you're cubing a bunch of lightning strikes and incinerates
But yeah, the quantity of removal seems to be an even more common and egregious issue in pauper cubes than the quality
Personally I also really like getting tempo though cheap combat tricks, so replacing some removal with stuff like unnatural endurance makes things more fun too. Also as the format designer you can mess with removal density by including ones that are fine for aggro but unplayable for control, for example crippling blight, or the reverse, like hobble. YMMV.
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Not good enough for us, mainly because of what we were just discussing about removal.
My 490 Pauper Cube
Modern frame only- Common on paper only - no functional copies, no strictly-betters - no subtype-matters
It's a work in progress
My 490 Pauper Cube
Modern frame only- Common on paper only - no functional copies, no strictly-betters - no subtype-matters
I've been listening to Ben Stark on limited resources and his draft videos when I can and I very much agree with his philosophy on what makes for a fun drafting experience. I generally prefer longer games with a lot of important decisions, including a lot of decent removal. I also subscribe to having a couple of powerful aggro decks possible to keep everyone honest.
I won't sidetrack the hour of devastation discussion further.
I guess guys like Proven Combatant have some sac synergies, which again; aren't really there in pauper yet. This is especially the case for blue.
Also, a general comment about a lot of the uncommons in the set, I am loving the modal nature of cards. I'm sure there will be detractors who don't dig on having more expensive but flexible cards, but in the case of some blue modal cards; it is helping balance the weaker counterspell options and the requirement to leave up to three mana available and then not being able to use it if your opponent doesn't cast as spell. I don't want to see a return to permission decks, but I feel they have struggled a bit over the last few years creating cards that make it worthwhile to risk specifically leaving mana up for a more expensive counter spell. It seems blue decks will often have something to do with any mana left up.
My singleton Masters Cube
I think I would like this a teensy bit better if it came out as a 1/2. Something like Thraben Inspector that doesn't die to tokens or pingers. This looks like a spin on Thraben Inspector because it gives you that tiny value add to ensure the weak body is worth a full card.
It's too bad they couldn't find more interesting ways to cost Eternalize like Sinuous Striker, instead of overcosting it into oblivion.
My Cube (DeckStats)
My Pauper Cube: 540 (CubeTutor link!)
Level 1 Judge
Yeah, even something extra like an extra toughness or bonus effect and it would be a reasonable amount better. It seems like the main issue with the card is that they put eternalize on such a irrelevant body which makes the back-half of eternalize, which is worse than the typical rate for a 4/4, seem like the only relevant text. This in turn, doesn't elicit excitement for common cards with eternalize but I think this might just be the worse one of the group in Hour of Devastation.
Eternalize seems like an okay mechanic, though I think it would have been fine if all of them were costed at 5 mana. Even though Proven Combatant is underpowered, more so than probably needed, the rest should be better, hopefully to the degree of being somewhat playable and at a good power level for cube.
It's a work in progress
Two more commons got spoiled.
I kind of like Frontline Devastor. It not fantastic but it seems like it could be better than it looks. The 3/3 body for 4 isn't the greatest but the firebreathing ability helps it out. Even the threat of activing it and becoming a 4-6/3 is decent. Either way you manage to get damage in with afflict and pump as needed. Probably on the high end of the 2-bordline section of red 4 drops.
God-Pharoh's Faithful is one of the better white one-drop defensive creatures, being strictly better than Yoked Ox and sort of comparable to Pride Guardian. Overall though, still not very exciting.
Edit: Fixed the links
It's a work in progress
GWUBRDraft my Old Border Nostalgia Cube! and/or The Little Pauper Cube That Could!RBUWG
Modern:WDeath & TaxesW | RUGRUG DelverRUG
Afflict is a non-mechanic. It might as well have been printed as a death trigger, because that's how it'll play out. Print a creature with high afflict to power ratio to make it meaningful, or high defense to afflict ratio to make it repeatable, or print it on an aggressively costed card (just one, not a critical mass that might make a deck too strong) or print a creature that does something whenever somebody loses life, like Hefner the Heifer.
My Cube (DeckStats)
My Pauper Cube: 540 (CubeTutor link!)
Level 1 Judge
My singleton Masters Cube
Worse impulse unless you push graveyard. I kinda like it.
I don't know if it's powerful enough for us (it may be), but man its art and flavour are gorgeous.
I don't know, could be good.
My 490 Pauper Cube
Modern frame only- Common on paper only - no functional copies, no strictly-betters - no subtype-matters