EDIT: Why aren't we all playing Durkwood Baloth? I'm pretty sure that the Hollowhenge Beast vs Winding Wurm discussion is kind of irrelevant as I think that both Imperiosaur and the baloth seem quite a bit better.
Having all the best creatures be those that have ETB effects means that removal is less than a 1 for 1, so removal has to be that much more efficient to make up the loss of value. While that helps fight back against all the value creatures, it prevents other creatures from having as much of an impact. In order to let other creature based archetypes thrive in my cube, I removed creatures that had been Blink targets and also changed the removal suite to be less potent. The exact balance of creature effects and removal in my cube is still a work in progress, but it's an issue I only began addressing when I realized that including the easy archetype of Blink + ETB creatures may not be the best thing for my cube.
The fact that blink makes removal less good is actually a point in its favour. Removal is insane in Cube; this would be a way of making it more fair without removing removal.
This might be true, but I hesitate before cramming another burn spell into the cube. Mogg Fanatic is a bit more interesting, and I don't know if it's just coincidence over here, but it has been doing an indordinate amount of work with cards like Warren Pilferers and Death's Duet.
There are different possibilities. For 2W you will always get 4 life and then, you can either block up to 3 creatures, with power 2 or less, over 3 turns, chump 1 creature with power 3 or higher, or block once and deal up to 4 damage.
It's often strong on the board, but it has shown, that the card disadvantage can become really problematic, if the game takes very long afterwards.
I think the stall it provides more than mores up for the card disadvantage in most cases.
I see a lot more auras in pauper cubes than I see in rare cubes, where they're generally avoided because of the 2:1 potential. Pauper cubes aren't lacking in removal, however, so I'm wondering what makes auras more playable.
Auras are one of the few ways that big, explosive things can happen in Pauper Cube. Putting a Armadillo Cloak on a 2/2 always leads to a radical change in the gamestate, for instant. An Aura theme would be a natural progression of that in order to diversify the archetypes in the cube.
The Riftwatcher is quite strong. Very difficult to swing into since it's so easy to chump, if not eat a 2/2 or at least trade, with it.
Fume Spitter is my favourite black 1-drop. Seriously. I just love the utility that I get out of this guy. Mogg Fanatic is very similar in that respect.
Are people still playing Cabal Torturer? Has it been good? Whenever I draft the cube I get asked if it's good, no one ever plays it. I'm probably replacing it soon with something like a Death's Duet or Grim Harvest unless it's been good for others...
It hasn't really done that well over here. It's just kind of a bad pinger.
Edit: How would people rate Lingering Death? Just discovered it while perusing Scourge, and the slow death seems to be a good trade for killing everything.
I prefer Guided Strike, that has a better chance to save your creature, kill a bigger creature in combat and make card advantage that way.
I think Carom has shown itself to be a lot more versatile and with a greater potential for blow-outs (the rare 3-for-1) than the Strike. Burn is highly relevant and Carom is often a great answer to it.
Yeah, Carom has been surprisingly good over here. The draw means that it always has a relevant effect that's not terrible. It might be worth keeping in a little longer but next to the Journey and the Test, I'm not sure we have the room anymore.
I'm pretty unimpressed by imperiosaur to be honest. It seems like in normal games it will only come out at the same time as Hollowhenge Beast would, and bouncelands in particular make it pretty embarrassing.
This might be true, but given some of my recent experience, I've found that even 1 mana differences in the lategame can mean a lot, allowing you to cast two spells in a row/etc. I'll have to test to see how much of a difference this really makes, as well as how often the 'Saur comes down on T4.
Also, this is a ridiculously late reply to metaviolence's point on Essence Drain, but frankly I prefer Tendrils of Corruption and probably Corrupt as over over the Drain. Tendrils is cheaper and an instant with the potential for gaining more life, and Corruption is more expensive but has the ability to dome for 4/5 as a finisher. Not that I play either, although Tendrils could be interesting to try again for the control decks.
Primal Huntbeast is the worst 4-drop I still play and I'm not sure if Regen is better than Hexproof. Regen is better in combat and Hexproof is better against removal that doesn't kill or prevents Regeneration. Regen is also turned off if you play the creature it on curve.
It's fairly even, but the Huntbeast would have the edge if you were trying to support an aura theme.
On the aura topic, anyone have any experience with Triclopean Sight?
The structure for the aura decks that I have had come together has been G/w/x control. Using regenerators and hexproof guys to go for the long game and have an unbeatable monster on the field. A big factor has been stabilizing while creating that monster. Vigilance is amazing for closing the game out while stabilizing. I was looking through the auras/equipment/creatures that gave other cards Vigilance and Triclopean Sight stood out as an interesting combat trick that also could be a roll player in the Hexproof/Aura deck.
It seems a bit weak. I would like my auras to be at least somewhat playable outside of the aura deck, and this doesn't seem to fit the bill. Vigilance is good but at this point Burrenton Bombardier seems better.
Hexproof for me is Pauper's version of a Rare Cube's Reanimator.
It's been an experiment in actually crafting archetypes from the ground up. Making a deck that exists within the cards of your cube but is volatile. Its power lies in the drafting stage. The deck is very strong if it comes together and rewarding to those who commit to it, but fragile if a few pieces go missing along the way. Do you sometimes get lucky and get a turn 2 Inkwell Leviathan (our version being a turn 4 Primal Huntbeast + Armadillo Cloak)? Absolutely! That's broken as all hell. But it doesn't happen every game, and unless you draft the archetype well, it won't happen often at all. It's rewarding to see it come together and requires a fair amount of risk vs reward in drafting. Of course, I understand if you wouldn't want Reanimator to really be an archetype your hypothetical Rare Cube and therefore wouldn't want Hexproof/Auras to be a thing in your Pauper Cube, hey it's your cube!
Hexproof has so far been difficult to draft well enough that you actually win 2 of your games in a match. I'm not sure which direction I want to go with that. I may abandon the archetype or support it some more, or attack it from a new angle (treat it truly like combo? push it into blue for the card selection). I don't know and sadly haven't gotten to play that much with finals just happening so hopefully with summer I can experiment some more.
I pretty much cannot put it better than myself, which does not bode well for when I write my article on the topic (/steals everything Runner writes without credits mwuahahahah).
The viability of auras as its own deck is just too tempting not to try and support, like Reanimator in normal cubes. If it turns out to lead to unfun games cropping up more and more, it may become a good idea to back off, but for not I want to give it a try. =D
I never really got to play with Werebear before. Would anyone like to give me some pointers on decks he would like to be in the most? Threshold seems like an awkward thing to attain.
Werebear works best in midrange but he's fine in control as well. He may compete with other 2-drops in aggro but the fact that he's a cheap end-game threat is really tempting. So often the opponent will deal with threat after threat and then not have anything for the 4/4 Werebear.
Also, I saw the Peasant group mentioned Nest Invader. How do we feel about this card now that it's been some time since it's release. I always felt we preferred the T1 dorks into bigger plays, but could we appreciate a one time mana boost to accel into maybe a 4 or 5 drop while getting a bear in the process?
This one thing that jumped out at me immediately was the synergy with morbid. Securing that death and turning on a Festerhide Boar or Brimstone Volley could be pretty clutch. Otherwise, the extra body could do some other work, like carry equipment, or just chumping out for a turn. Thoughts?
It's a fine bear but after getting a few more sick green 2-drops we really don't have room anymore. Dawntreader Elk is probably better.
Threshold isn't very consistent around here. There are too many sweet 4-drops already to play him. I'd rather just pick up a 5CMC flier like Castle Raptors.
I'm beginning to value regeneration really highly. What do people think of Gorilla Chieftain?
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
I could see trying out the Baloth again.
The fact that blink makes removal less good is actually a point in its favour. Removal is insane in Cube; this would be a way of making it more fair without removing removal.
A Blink theme actually sounds awesome.
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
This might be true, but I hesitate before cramming another burn spell into the cube. Mogg Fanatic is a bit more interesting, and I don't know if it's just coincidence over here, but it has been doing an indordinate amount of work with cards like Warren Pilferers and Death's Duet.
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
I think the stall it provides more than mores up for the card disadvantage in most cases.
Auras are one of the few ways that big, explosive things can happen in Pauper Cube. Putting a Armadillo Cloak on a 2/2 always leads to a radical change in the gamestate, for instant. An Aura theme would be a natural progression of that in order to diversify the archetypes in the cube.
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
Fume Spitter is my favourite black 1-drop. Seriously. I just love the utility that I get out of this guy. Mogg Fanatic is very similar in that respect.
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
It hasn't really done that well over here. It's just kind of a bad pinger.
Edit: How would people rate Lingering Death? Just discovered it while perusing Scourge, and the slow death seems to be a good trade for killing everything.
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
The question is that is the Hauler better than just Cadaver Imps?
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I think Carom has shown itself to be a lot more versatile and with a greater potential for blow-outs (the rare 3-for-1) than the Strike. Burn is highly relevant and Carom is often a great answer to it.
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My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
I have no time to get into it, but in all probability I will be playing with/testing the following cards:
Moldervine Cloak
Imperiosaur
Perilous Research, because why not?
Syphon Life, since my playgroup loves lifegain (I don't even know why). It probably is good enough for the cube but I have my doubts.
Walker of the Groves, since big finishers are a rare commodity here.
Test of Faith and Otherworldly Journey seem too fun to pass up. I have to expect that Guided Strike or Carom will have no chance of making into my cube now that these are available to us.
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This might be true, but given some of my recent experience, I've found that even 1 mana differences in the lategame can mean a lot, allowing you to cast two spells in a row/etc. I'll have to test to see how much of a difference this really makes, as well as how often the 'Saur comes down on T4.
Also, this is a ridiculously late reply to metaviolence's point on Essence Drain, but frankly I prefer Tendrils of Corruption and probably Corrupt as over over the Drain. Tendrils is cheaper and an instant with the potential for gaining more life, and Corruption is more expensive but has the ability to dome for 4/5 as a finisher. Not that I play either, although Tendrils could be interesting to try again for the control decks.
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
I run 30 of each right now in 360 and I sometimes run out. 400 isn't that much greater since you can still only draft with 8 people, so I'd go for 30.
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My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
It's fairly even, but the Huntbeast would have the edge if you were trying to support an aura theme.
nO.
It seems a bit weak. I would like my auras to be at least somewhat playable outside of the aura deck, and this doesn't seem to fit the bill. Vigilance is good but at this point Burrenton Bombardier seems better.
I pretty much cannot put it better than myself, which does not bode well for when I write my article on the topic (/steals everything Runner writes without credits mwuahahahah).
The viability of auras as its own deck is just too tempting not to try and support, like Reanimator in normal cubes. If it turns out to lead to unfun games cropping up more and more, it may become a good idea to back off, but for not I want to give it a try. =D
Werebear works best in midrange but he's fine in control as well. He may compete with other 2-drops in aggro but the fact that he's a cheap end-game threat is really tempting. So often the opponent will deal with threat after threat and then not have anything for the 4/4 Werebear.
It's a fine bear but after getting a few more sick green 2-drops we really don't have room anymore. Dawntreader Elk is probably better.
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
I'm beginning to value regeneration really highly. What do people think of Gorilla Chieftain?
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2