As a spreadsheet nerd, I do a lot of comparison and analysis between my cube and others on Cube Cobra. Typically findings for guilds show a consensus across the board outside of Dimir and Selesnya. Every other guild seems to be in agreement on the top three or four cards. Selesnya has Knight of Autumn and then crickets. Dimir has Baleful Strix and then crickets.
To answer the question, yes, I think a 465 cube can support 4 per guild at this point without sacrificing power level or having gold cards go last pick. There's some powerful stuff available in most guilds these days, some even first pickable.
At 540 here are my Dimir and Selesnya sections:
Voice of Resurgence (probably going to try Torsten in the slot)
Kitchen Finks (more of a pet card these days, but I support persist combo, so it plays there)
Knight of Autumn (staple)
Knight of the Reliquary (a favorite among my group)
Mirari's Wake (a favorite among my group)
Baleful Strix (staple)
Rona, Herald of Invasion (solid looter, powerful flip side)
Sauron's Ransom (new addition)
Ertai Resurrected (solid role player)
Fallen Shinobi (a favorite among my group)
I'd also agree that cube threads feel like a thing of the past with utilities like CubeCobra around. We're no longer limited to posting our updates only on our cube threads or having cube pics here. I am nostalgic for those forum days, but I accept reality. You'll get more conversation in single card discussion or This or That threads.
There might be an argument to keeping Carnophage or Dark Ritual in over Cabal Initiate since you're adding in Putrid Imp with this update. Maybe Putrid Imp was better Cabal Initiate all along?
guess i should elaborate a little more. i just find dread wanderer's ability too conditional, costly & inefficient. heck @ least w/ persistent specimen i dont have to meet all the requirements, (timing, cards in hand), to re-cast it from the yard for 2B mana
One mana 1/1s are a far cry from one mana 2/1s. If a cube is only looking for recursive creatures with no aggressive strategy for black, then something like Specimen or Reassembling Skeleton might be better choices. However, if you want recursive creatures for Stax shells and also want to support an aggro deck in black, a card like Dread Wanderer is a necessity.
I'd like to try to find room for Crawling Barrens. Any suggestions for cuts in colorless or lands?
How do you feel about cutting one of Terramorphic Expanse / Evolving Wilds to make room? The effect is redundant and you have Prismatic Vista and Fabled Passage as well. I think I'd be ok cutting one of the original ETBT ones to open up a slot for something different and a little more interesting.
I think I still like Stormblood Berserker more than Kargan Intimidator. This is probably the best swap to test, though.
I'm also not really a fan of Gilded Goose. It tends to play a lot like a one mana Lotus Petal. If your goal is to turn two three drop, it does that job ok, but it's utility after that decreases by quite a bit. What are your thoughts on Elvish Reclaimer? I'm thinking of giving this guy a shot.
What cards/types of cards are you looking for to replace those multicolor additions that you're not happy with?
Just reading through that list of cuts, I can tell you put a lot of thought into the cards you chose here. You certainly cut some good cards, but it's hard not to at 450. With that said, though, I don't see any cut here that feels like blasphemy. These are all average power level cube cards, so I don't see anything here that looks like it'll be missed. That's probably especially true since you're adding in a sweet new archetype that your group will hopefully be excited to try out. I like this change and I'm intrigued by the recent interest among cubers in general in supporting this strategy.
I think this update looks good. Man, cuts at 450 have to be agonizing in some spots.
I also just recently put Retrofitter Foundry in and I'll just say dang that card is fun! Just a flavor win from all stand points and so much fun to abuse. Even if all you're doing is going through the motions and trading servos up to thopters up to constructs, it's just a fun card to play with. Very solid addition.
In regards to Golgari, it probably depends on the types of Golgari decks your group is putting together. In general Golgari here, even with a splash, tends to lean very heavy towards a rock style deck, sometimes going into Braids/Stax. For those types of archetypes, I don't think the signet would be necessary. Just my 0.02 there.
As someone who normally drafts with anywhere from 4-8 people, I enjoy my cube being 555. I probably only really need a 360 list, to be honest, but I like the bigger size because it gives me the opportunity to run cards I just really like. I see were Pringles is coming from there, but also I prefer being able to play all the cards I really like playing with over having the most powerful list.
I like all these swaps. I haven't been too impressed with Soul-Scar Mage so far, but I haven't found him to be actively bad. He's easily the one drop I'm looking to swap for the next playable Jackal Pup we get.
I like this change as well. I don't know how long Grenzo wlll stay in my list, even at 540. He's a solid dude for aggro, but I don't care for the double red and honestly, I get tired of telling people what goad is. I kind of hate that he has so much rules text that they didn't have room for reminder text.
It's been a while since we ran it and I'm open to trying out new things. We recently added in Fellwar Stone as an additional mana rock. I think I'll try Chrome Mox in that slot instead to see how we feel about it now.
I liked Chrome Mox a lot in that standard format where you could go land, Chrome Mox, pitch random red card, Slith Firewalker, attack, pass. Maybe I'm just a bad player, but in cube I never want to pitch an actual card to Chrome Mox. Let's say I open a generic RG aggro hand of Forest, Mountain, Chrome Mox, Experiment One, Strangleroot Geist, Firedrinker Satyr, Incinerate. I don't want to pitch my Geist to play turn one double 1 drop. I don't want to pitch my Experiment One to get turn one Geist. It seems better to me to naturally curve into my plays there. Am I completely wrong? What's the correct (aka better) play in that type of scenario?
As to Greenwarden vs Avenger, I'd agree that they both have solid arguments, but so far Avenger has done far more work than Greenwarden has. The Regrowth effect is nice, but the body on Greenwarden is quite mediocre. A 5/4 for six is meh. Eternal Witness at least has a fairly cheap cost, despite only being a 2/1 for three. I also don't like that you can't abuse him very well outside of blink and bounce. Maybe he just hasn't found the right deck yet.
To answer the question, yes, I think a 465 cube can support 4 per guild at this point without sacrificing power level or having gold cards go last pick. There's some powerful stuff available in most guilds these days, some even first pickable.
At 540 here are my Dimir and Selesnya sections:
Voice of Resurgence (probably going to try Torsten in the slot)
Kitchen Finks (more of a pet card these days, but I support persist combo, so it plays there)
Knight of Autumn (staple)
Knight of the Reliquary (a favorite among my group)
Mirari's Wake (a favorite among my group)
Baleful Strix (staple)
Rona, Herald of Invasion (solid looter, powerful flip side)
Sauron's Ransom (new addition)
Ertai Resurrected (solid role player)
Fallen Shinobi (a favorite among my group)
I'd also agree that cube threads feel like a thing of the past with utilities like CubeCobra around. We're no longer limited to posting our updates only on our cube threads or having cube pics here. I am nostalgic for those forum days, but I accept reality. You'll get more conversation in single card discussion or This or That threads.
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
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MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
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One mana 1/1s are a far cry from one mana 2/1s. If a cube is only looking for recursive creatures with no aggressive strategy for black, then something like Specimen or Reassembling Skeleton might be better choices. However, if you want recursive creatures for Stax shells and also want to support an aggro deck in black, a card like Dread Wanderer is a necessity.
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How do you feel about cutting one of Terramorphic Expanse / Evolving Wilds to make room? The effect is redundant and you have Prismatic Vista and Fabled Passage as well. I think I'd be ok cutting one of the original ETBT ones to open up a slot for something different and a little more interesting.
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I'm also not really a fan of Gilded Goose. It tends to play a lot like a one mana Lotus Petal. If your goal is to turn two three drop, it does that job ok, but it's utility after that decreases by quite a bit. What are your thoughts on Elvish Reclaimer? I'm thinking of giving this guy a shot.
What cards/types of cards are you looking for to replace those multicolor additions that you're not happy with?
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
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MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
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MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
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I also just recently put Retrofitter Foundry in and I'll just say dang that card is fun! Just a flavor win from all stand points and so much fun to abuse. Even if all you're doing is going through the motions and trading servos up to thopters up to constructs, it's just a fun card to play with. Very solid addition.
In regards to Golgari, it probably depends on the types of Golgari decks your group is putting together. In general Golgari here, even with a splash, tends to lean very heavy towards a rock style deck, sometimes going into Braids/Stax. For those types of archetypes, I don't think the signet would be necessary. Just my 0.02 there.
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
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MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
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MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
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As to Greenwarden vs Avenger, I'd agree that they both have solid arguments, but so far Avenger has done far more work than Greenwarden has. The Regrowth effect is nice, but the body on Greenwarden is quite mediocre. A 5/4 for six is meh. Eternal Witness at least has a fairly cheap cost, despite only being a 2/1 for three. I also don't like that you can't abuse him very well outside of blink and bounce. Maybe he just hasn't found the right deck yet.
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