For green creatures with mana value for I run: Bannerhide Krushok - 4/4 trample with upside. The main reason I run this over the others is it doubles at a main deckable combat trick which makes turns more interesting. The wolf that makes food is tempting too. Scavenge gives the green deck something to do with it's mana lategame. Blastoderm - What can I say, it's a staple. Occasionally, you play against tokens and it's bad, but almost all of the time it's going to be the best 4 mana play you can do in green. Imperiosaur - A 4 mana 5/5 with downside. When this works it is good. I can see some justification for not running this with mana elves and non-basics galore, but this card has always been good for me. Jade Guardian and Primal Huntbeast - The hexproofers. I know Al_Z_Heimer doesn't run these because of unfun play patterns. I personally like these cards and this is where most of the flex slots go to. The play pattern is quite simple, land one of these then modify it with auras, counters and equipment. Bonus points if that is Armadillo Cloak. What I like about these cards is they encourage proactive plays, deathtouch, combat tricks and enchantment removal. At the same time I glad Wizards switched to ward because the format really doesn't need many of these before they become a problem. Prenumbra Spider - So I'm a spider, so what? is what this card basically says. It's another staple and nearly always amazing. Basically, the Giant Spider we need. Sarulf's Packmate - One of the weaker mana value 4 creatures, but still decent. A cantrap 3/3 is fine in most match ups and the foretell is nice utility, but this card doesn't do much more than fill out a curve when nothing better is available. Wickerbough Elder - One of the best pieces of artifact and enchantment hate. This is main deckable, but not terribly exciting. It can be a bit of a dead card in some match ups as it is a Hill Giant in those games. Still this card can be exactly the right answer in other games, so if you play with sideboards I highly rate this. Trumpeting Herd - This is the other best 4 mana play in green. I mean, it's 6 total power and toughness respectively for 4 mana with very little downside, that should simply be enough convincing. Mwonvuli Acid-Moss - While not a 4 mana creature, this is a viable 4 mana green play. I still like this card. It probably doesn't fit into most 360 card cubes. But for me it's Stone Rain and ramp in one. It's good of the back of mana elves and is one of the few land destruction effects which doesn't feel plain mean, probably because your actually advancing your board state rather than just blowing up lands. Hooting Mandril - Not technically a 4 mana play, but functionally is. This doesn't really synergise with mana elves at all, but still is decent as a curve topper for some decks especially ones that fill their graveyard that don't already have a delve card in them. Hooting Mandril is fine and it wouldn't be the first 4 mana card I'd cut, but can often feel a bit lacking.
Honourable mention: Festerhide Boar - This was the most recent cut. If it works it's great as a 5/5 trample 4 mana creature. But I found it to be too conditional as either it's on the chonk chart or it's a small fart, with relatively little control on your behalf to which.
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There's no word in the goblin language for "strategy." Then again, there's no word in the goblin language for "word."
I've been impressed by Garenbrig Paladin. "Can't be blocked by creatures power 2 or less" basically reads unblockable in most match ups. Adamant is easily playable off an Elvish Mystic. I put it in because it was strong in Eldraine limited and it still is good here. Sure, Garenbri Paladin can get answered like most threats, but the point is it has to get answered because it is going to race really well.
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There's no word in the goblin language for "strategy." Then again, there's no word in the goblin language for "word."
Maybe when we get some good ward creatures (mostly because ward is less restrictive than hexproof) will Orcish Lumberjack be good. Ramp targets just aren't that good at common since everything can be answered for little mana and setting yourself back a land will cost more in the long run. Orcish Lumberjack has never been good for me when I've tried it out.
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There's no word in the goblin language for "strategy." Then again, there's no word in the goblin language for "word."
I think I'll keep all Ravinca Karoos in for the meantime.
Magic Online commons are officially categorised as commons, though it is weird to play them since some of them never have received paper printings at common. I haven't included them so far, but I'm considering them now for the next order of cards.
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There's no word in the goblin language for "strategy." Then again, there's no word in the goblin language for "word."
Hi, I've been a long time lurker and post very rarely. I wanted to reintroduce myself and say that I finally updated my pauper cube except for Zendikar Rising (which might be 0 cards anyway).
I put my cube in my signature.
The archetypes are token swarm, token sacrifice, burn, ramp stompy, aggro, control, and a minor +1/+1 counter theme.
I haven't been able to draft it in years, so it's hard to get feedback.
To rectify this I made many many updates while constantly comparing it to the cubes of the most active members in this thread and the mtgo pauper cube.
In my mind my cube kind of straddles the line between spikey and archetype johnnyness.
Hello,
Zendikar Rising has a few decent cards, it's just that the party mechanic is a solid pass for us which rules out a lot of the set.
Akoum Hellhound is the most obviously good playable, considering people have been playing Steppe Lynx and this is essentially just that except red. Bubble Snare, 1 mana to shut down a creature is quite good. The kicked version is overcosted, but regardless is playable removal. Although really it's the cheapness that makes this fine since you can disable a creature and hold countermagic. Roil Eruption is better than Volcanic Hammer. The only real downside is with aggro you don't ever expect to make it to make it to 7 mana. It's about on par with Searing Spear for slower durdlier decks, which is to say quite good.
Makindi Ox is boarderline playable. Mostly because there is very little competition for 5 mana white creatures. In saying that it does get pushed out by more tuned aggro.
Likewise for Shepherd of Heroes. If warriors, wizards and rouges were more prevalent then this would certainly see play. Close, but not that close, mostly because sketchiness of party more than anything else.
I had a look through your cube. It seems to be filled with a lot of borderline cards, which make it difficult to get focused decks because the second half of the packs will be full of the undesirables. Consider trimming size or just systematically going through the Everything reviewed and try swapping out cards for the cubeables there.
Winston draft and sealed pools can be a great way to get a couple of games here and there when you're having difficulty rounding up players for a pod. Cards which are underperforming can become apparent from playing a few games even without doing a full draft. You do need to cut some slack for strategies which require a critical mass of some effect in order to be playable. But unless you know something is meant to play a specific roll, if a can isn't pulling its weight in a couple of games then it probably has to go.
Colossal Dreadmaw - Big stompy creature. Has the eternal problem of dying to hard removal. In general big creatures need an additional effect or to be extremely devastating (Ulamog's Crusher) to be worth it at +6 mana. Trample is a nice keyword to have, but overall Colossal Dreadmaw is going to be too slow or too vulnerable against most of the meta.
Drowsing Tyrannodon - Slows down non-evasion creatures. Turns to attack fine. Too easily disrupted to be reliable. And requires more hoop jumping than necessary. I prefer Terrain Elemental. Green has already a good selection of 2cmc creatures and isn't in need of any Returned Phalanxes.
Garruk's Gorehorn - 7 is a lot of power. 3 is not much toughness. Dies too easily to combat and red removal.
Gnarled Sage - Bitterbow Archers comparison. I see this as primarily a Blue/Green creature. While I am hesitant at considering this, attacking as a vigilance 4/6 is certainly tempting. Could be worth giving a trial, although it could succumb to requiring too much deck building to be practical.
Hunter's Edge - 4 mana removal is a lot for Green considering the relatively low cost of splashing a colour. I think the cost will be prohibitive more often than not.
Life Goes On - Sideboard tech for burn. Might be worth it if your deck is built to stabilise. Ultimately, this is card disadvantage and is niche.
Llanowar Visionary - Excellent padding between early to mid-game. Card draw is similar in strength to land searching. Being a mana-source as well enables playing out much quicker than Civic Wayfinder.
Ornery Dilophosaur - Idk, deathtouchy. Dies to red removal. Deathtouch is much more efficient on smaller bodies. 4 mana starts competing against Imperiosaur.
Portcullis Vine - It wall not that well. Mostly there aren't enough other defenders which you would want to mulch.
Ranger's Guile - The effort of holding mana for something can be too much at times, especially because of the aforementioned rush decks and tempo decks. Even many of the midrange decks. Occasionally is a blowout. More often than not this is lacklustre.
Run Afoul - Anti-flying tech. Fine but niche. Sideboard cards tend to fall by the wayside unless they are a counter to an important threat.
Sabertooth Mauler - Grows to be pretty fearsome. Mostly I would prefer creatures which start off big. Untapping is a nice. Costs the same as Festerhide Boar.
Track Down - Green Shimmer of Possibilities. Actually much better because of the scry. This is an interesting effect that we haven't had available before, so I'd looking forward to seeing how it will play.
Trufflesnout - Anti-rush 3cmc creature. Fine at being maindeckable. Helps shore up Searing Blaze matches.
How is rarity officially assigned to the Mystery Booster playtest cards? Scryfall has them at rare.
Gatherer has them listed as common which is the official definition of common. I assume it is that way as an elaborate scheme to break our format for anyone who runs Mystery Booster cards and Un-cards.
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There's no word in the goblin language for "strategy." Then again, there's no word in the goblin language for "word."
Bone Pit Brute - Most red decks just want to Fireball when they get to 6 mana. This seems fine at being a game ender. Double red keeps it from being easily splashable.
Burn Bright - Fine as a second copy of Dynacharge. The white versions of this effect are much stronger.
Chandra's Magmutt - I think this is solid. Being able to tick away for 1 in a stall is exactly what red wants to do.
Crash Through - Red decks tend not to be creature centric enough for this.
Thrill of Possibility - Filters well and plays nicely with instant speed things (namely countermagic).
Turn to Slag - If equipment were more problematic we'd play this.
Turret Ogre - Ok 4 drop. Finding enough 4 power or greater creatures can be problematic, especially when they keep dying to removal. The extra effort mostly isn't that worth it unless 4 power or greater gets pushed quite a bit.
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There's no word in the goblin language for "strategy." Then again, there's no word in the goblin language for "word."
Finishing Blow - Overcosted Murder because planeswalkers don't exist at common (excluding Mystery Booster nonsense).
Gloom Sower - That's a big common. Could be used with Morgue Burst? Probably too susceptible to removal despite being immune to Doom Blade and too slow for rush.
Grasp of Darkness - Reprint. Double pips make this a sad card. Still alright, though cards such as Victim of Night are much better.
Capture Sphere - Blue isn't that in need of on-colour removal to warrant this.
Frantic Inventory - Basically nothing in singleton. Is a bit more interesting when you consider running multiples. Sort of a functional reprint of Accumulated Knowledge. Sort of.
Frost Breath - Ok, tempo card. Frosty tapping a couple of creatures can be functionally Ashes to Ashes in a streamlined rush deck. Of course the game has to end soon or else tempo is lost.
Keen Glidemaster - Turns into a fine mana-sink. Mostly is just a forgettable creature.
Library Larcenist - You have to put in a lot of effort to work. Mostly the body is too small to go to combat.
Lofty Denial - Much worse than Miscalculate. The catch is going to catch you out more often than not.
Mistral Singer - Looks like a fine 3 mana flier for when you want one. Stormbound Geist can't block when you want it to, which is why I typically don't consider it outside of comparisons. Likewise with Cloud Spirit. Blocking is kind of an important feature of most creatures. Strictly better than Niblis of Dusk.
Rookie Mistake - Tricky. Not sure quite how to evaluate. My intuition says it would be a dead card more often than not.
Rousing Read - A Cartouche of Knowledge with slightly more filter for an extra mana. Probably fine at being efficient in terms of card-slots. Essential will play as a draw spell that impacts the board. Still is vulnerable to instant-speed removal.
Spined Megalodon - Big control finisher. More game-ending than Benthic Giant, though less damming than Giant either. Hexproof gets around most decks' solutions to problems. Could be overkill, in which case Striped Riverwinder is better for the early trade-in. Seems like Spined Mealodon will spend time in sideboards. There will be games that you'll never see 7 mana before the game is essentially concluded.
Teferi's Protege - The looting costs mana. The body isn't that desirable either.
Vodalian Arcanist - With signets and Mind Stone available, quality mana acceleration isn't too hard to come by. The 1/3 body is nice, but I don't think it outweighs the conditional nature of the mana generated. In any case, this is no Werebear and Blue has much stronger 2 mana plays. Maybe this is playable in the hands of a skilled player, though I foresee Vodalian Arcanist being draft chaff.
Wall of Runes - It wall. More of a sideboard card, though can be really annoying in some match-ups.
Wishcoin Crab - Pretty nothing as far as Pauper is concerned.
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There's no word in the goblin language for "strategy." Then again, there's no word in the goblin language for "word."
Alpine Watchdog - A functional reprint of something forgettable. Strictly worse than Topan Freeblade and not up to the standard to current white 2cmc creatures.
Anointed Chorister - I think that this is probably good enough in the right cube considering Healer's Hawk sees play. The activated ability synergies really well with lifelink and makes this relevant in the mid-to-late-game. As a 1/1 for 1, it's not going to impact the board really at all, although your opponent will have to deal with it at some stage.
Basri's Acolyte - This is the kind of card we were missing when support was a keyword mechanic. It works well in going wide strategies and lifelink makes for decent races. I suspect where this will be weakest is against removal heavy builds which don't care a whole lot about life leads and tend to keep the board to manageable levels. Still Basri's Acolyte could be comparable to Seraph of Dawn and that's ubiquitously considered a decent card.
Celestial Enforcer - Overcosted Goldmeadow Harrier with hoops to jump though. 2/3s for 3 are typically too small, although I can see why Wizard's keeps settling for those numbers.
Concordia Pegasus - Not really worth considering at all unless you need a specific counter to Tattered Haunter (I'm sure there are better options there as well).
Defiant Strike - A reprint of the prowess trigger we don't use.
Dub - Being an Aura makes this very susceptible to single target removal, which there is a lot of in Pauper.
Faith's Fetters - One of the best white cards. It can deal with almost any problematic permanent and importantly gains you a healthy amount of life. Pretty much all you could want in enchantment based removal.
Gale Swooper - Seems ok if you are lacking stronger cards.
Legion's Judgment - 4 power of greater removal clauses tend not to be terribly relevant because most decks are filled with weenies and Pacifism already deals with large creatures.
Makeshift Battalion - 2 toughness makes this easy to pick off for most decks. The base stats make it on the small side when you aren't able to trigger the ability. I don't imagine that this will get more that one counter in most games.
Rambunctious Mutt - A decent Disenchant of a stick. Obviously much better with sideboards. It's difficult to tell if this is better or worse than Kor Sanctifiers which is the current Disenchanting creature of choice for White at the moment. With sideboards including both Mutt and Sanctifiers might be correct.
Secure the Scene - There isn't really any reason to justify the cost.
Staunch Shieldmate - Basically an anti-rush guy. I see this as another sideboard card because there are plenty of matchups where a 1/3 is going to do next to nothing. In saying that, Sea Gate Oracle has seen a lot of play and has the same sized body.
Swift Response - Strong non-enchantment based removal. There are plenty of cases where your opponent Withdraws
leaving you Pacifism in the dust and this gets around that. Not so great for the rush white decks (which there are a lot of), but seems fine in more defensive builds. Strictly better than Take Vengeance.
Warded Battlements - Not as good as Basilica Guards which is the premier 3cmc defender. 3 toughness isn't going to stop much. My evaluation could be quite off considering I haven't really played any anthem effect in common, so I'll have to keep my eyes open of this one.
in theory you could include a ton of infect and pump already, but wouldnt make for good gameplay
I wouldn't be so quick to jump to conclusions. Rot Wolf is already decent, it just is lacking any kind of support, which means it is mostly stuck in defence-mode. I would want to see what is downshifted first. We haven't revisited Infect since the Scars of Mirrodin block, so I want the see how the mechanic is reintroduced and whether Wizards have figured out ways around Infect's extremely parasitic nature.
Grafted Exoskeleton would be nice. Phyrexian Juggernaut is another possible downshift. Overwhelmingly, looking through the visual spoiler for Infect cards, most of the common Infect creatures have trash P/T stats which make them too susceptible to dying in combat. The average common was a lot worse in Scars of Mirrodin than what we get today (excluding the odd Porcelain Legionnaire). Either that or the Infect creature was off colour which mean that you had a difficult time building up a critical mass. The main colours that we would realistically care about would be Green and Black. Green because that's the colour with lots of cheap pump and Black because that's where most of the mechanic was printed.
One block worth of mechanic is probably not enough gist for the mills. Though Triumph of the Hordes would be amazing.
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There's no word in the goblin language for "strategy." Then again, there's no word in the goblin language for "word."
Raid Bombardment seems too weak in a format of singletons. It may be playable in some niche contexts, but I think Raid Bombardment would go last pick more often than not.
Massive Raid has big damage potential. Though it suffers from competing with Pauper's direct damage spells, which there are lot of decent ones already. If I had a token theme I would probably try out Massive Raid.
Scorched Rusalka. Costs mana to do it's thing. The existing damage to mana options available to red are quite decent as it is. And 1/1 bodies for 1 tend to be pretty bad.
If we get lots of downshifted cards for infect it could be viable. Green pump spells are very strong with infect and we have most of the best one's available.
I've been playing a bit of sealed with my cube. It's a decent way of experimenting with colour combinations as it becomes very apparent when I've been filling a section with niche junk. There seems to always be one sealed pool that has a draft quality deck, so it is a quick way of testing builds in a limited environment without going to the hassle of organising draft. (Much easier handing someone a strong prebuilt and saying play this.)
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There's no word in the goblin language for "strategy." Then again, there's no word in the goblin language for "word."
I've been trying to make red aggro stronger, in particular I also want to make mono red more viable, and I was revising my one-drop section. We all know red's struggling to find good ways to attack for 2 on turn two, and to have a critical mass I think it's necessary to go as far as to play either Mogg Conscripts / Goblin Cohort or Bloodlust Inciter / Goblin Motivator.
advantages Conscripts/Cohort:
- better overall attacks if the freshly cast creature is worse than 2/2 vanilla
- not reliant on the freshly cast creature resolving
- 2/2 blocker instead of a 1/1
- better if the freshly cast creature already has Haste
advantages Inciter/Motivator:
- better overall attacks if the freshly cast creature is better than 2/2 vanilla
- works with tokens created by non-creature spells
- can still attack as a 1/1 if no creature was cast that turn
So which are better overall? Personally I think the latter two's advantages outweigh the former's, but I'm not sure because most of the time they're extremely similar in how they play out...
Mogg Conscripts and Goblin Cohort are better in a purely numbers game. Though since red's noncreature section in the main reason to play the colour in cube, I don't include these guys.
I haven't had much chances to play Bloodlust Inciter and Goblin Motivator. They seem ok in the gotta-go-fast department. Though they are a bit weak against single target removal being only 1/1's when you ignore the ability.
Mostly I just like to pack additional Rhystic Lightnings and Staggershocks in the place of these kind of cards. Embereth Paladin has been alright at closing games. Premium removal can run a little thin some drafts, but the opportunity cost of switching to a second colour in pauper draft can be quite low if you are reading the signals right. Red can be extra tough sometimes because some people just can't let an Incinerate wheel. (I'm somewhat guilt of picking red cards without a serious intention of playing them.)
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There's no word in the goblin language for "strategy." Then again, there's no word in the goblin language for "word."
Thank you Al_Z_Heimer for your response.
What are your guys and girls experience with the following cards. I am updating my cube and am not sure about some cuts/additions. Since the list of cards is rather long, just a grading from A-F would be fine. Thank you
Bannerhide Krushok - 4/4 trample with upside. The main reason I run this over the others is it doubles at a main deckable combat trick which makes turns more interesting. The wolf that makes food is tempting too. Scavenge gives the green deck something to do with it's mana lategame.
Blastoderm - What can I say, it's a staple. Occasionally, you play against tokens and it's bad, but almost all of the time it's going to be the best 4 mana play you can do in green.
Imperiosaur - A 4 mana 5/5 with downside. When this works it is good. I can see some justification for not running this with mana elves and non-basics galore, but this card has always been good for me.
Jade Guardian and Primal Huntbeast - The hexproofers. I know Al_Z_Heimer doesn't run these because of unfun play patterns. I personally like these cards and this is where most of the flex slots go to. The play pattern is quite simple, land one of these then modify it with auras, counters and equipment. Bonus points if that is Armadillo Cloak. What I like about these cards is they encourage proactive plays, deathtouch, combat tricks and enchantment removal. At the same time I glad Wizards switched to ward because the format really doesn't need many of these before they become a problem.
Prenumbra Spider - So I'm a spider, so what? is what this card basically says. It's another staple and nearly always amazing. Basically, the Giant Spider we need.
Sarulf's Packmate - One of the weaker mana value 4 creatures, but still decent. A cantrap 3/3 is fine in most match ups and the foretell is nice utility, but this card doesn't do much more than fill out a curve when nothing better is available.
Wickerbough Elder - One of the best pieces of artifact and enchantment hate. This is main deckable, but not terribly exciting. It can be a bit of a dead card in some match ups as it is a Hill Giant in those games. Still this card can be exactly the right answer in other games, so if you play with sideboards I highly rate this.
Trumpeting Herd - This is the other best 4 mana play in green. I mean, it's 6 total power and toughness respectively for 4 mana with very little downside, that should simply be enough convincing.
Mwonvuli Acid-Moss - While not a 4 mana creature, this is a viable 4 mana green play. I still like this card. It probably doesn't fit into most 360 card cubes. But for me it's Stone Rain and ramp in one. It's good of the back of mana elves and is one of the few land destruction effects which doesn't feel plain mean, probably because your actually advancing your board state rather than just blowing up lands.
Hooting Mandril - Not technically a 4 mana play, but functionally is. This doesn't really synergise with mana elves at all, but still is decent as a curve topper for some decks especially ones that fill their graveyard that don't already have a delve card in them. Hooting Mandril is fine and it wouldn't be the first 4 mana card I'd cut, but can often feel a bit lacking.
Honourable mention:
Festerhide Boar - This was the most recent cut. If it works it's great as a 5/5 trample 4 mana creature. But I found it to be too conditional as either it's on the chonk chart or it's a small fart, with relatively little control on your behalf to which.
Magic Online commons are officially categorised as commons, though it is weird to play them since some of them never have received paper printings at common. I haven't included them so far, but I'm considering them now for the next order of cards.
Hello,
Zendikar Rising has a few decent cards, it's just that the party mechanic is a solid pass for us which rules out a lot of the set.
Akoum Hellhound is the most obviously good playable, considering people have been playing Steppe Lynx and this is essentially just that except red.
Bubble Snare, 1 mana to shut down a creature is quite good. The kicked version is overcosted, but regardless is playable removal. Although really it's the cheapness that makes this fine since you can disable a creature and hold countermagic.
Roil Eruption is better than Volcanic Hammer. The only real downside is with aggro you don't ever expect to make it to make it to 7 mana. It's about on par with Searing Spear for slower durdlier decks, which is to say quite good.
Makindi Ox is boarderline playable. Mostly because there is very little competition for 5 mana white creatures. In saying that it does get pushed out by more tuned aggro.
Likewise for Shepherd of Heroes. If warriors, wizards and rouges were more prevalent then this would certainly see play. Close, but not that close, mostly because sketchiness of party more than anything else.
I had a look through your cube. It seems to be filled with a lot of borderline cards, which make it difficult to get focused decks because the second half of the packs will be full of the undesirables. Consider trimming size or just systematically going through the Everything reviewed and try swapping out cards for the cubeables there.
Winston draft and sealed pools can be a great way to get a couple of games here and there when you're having difficulty rounding up players for a pod. Cards which are underperforming can become apparent from playing a few games even without doing a full draft. You do need to cut some slack for strategies which require a critical mass of some effect in order to be playable. But unless you know something is meant to play a specific roll, if a can isn't pulling its weight in a couple of games then it probably has to go.
Drowsing Tyrannodon - Slows down non-evasion creatures. Turns to attack fine. Too easily disrupted to be reliable. And requires more hoop jumping than necessary. I prefer Terrain Elemental. Green has already a good selection of 2cmc creatures and isn't in need of any Returned Phalanxes.
Garruk's Gorehorn - 7 is a lot of power. 3 is not much toughness. Dies too easily to combat and red removal.
Gnarled Sage - Bitterbow Archers comparison. I see this as primarily a Blue/Green creature. While I am hesitant at considering this, attacking as a vigilance 4/6 is certainly tempting. Could be worth giving a trial, although it could succumb to requiring too much deck building to be practical.
Hunter's Edge - 4 mana removal is a lot for Green considering the relatively low cost of splashing a colour. I think the cost will be prohibitive more often than not.
Life Goes On - Sideboard tech for burn. Might be worth it if your deck is built to stabilise. Ultimately, this is card disadvantage and is niche.
Llanowar Visionary - Excellent padding between early to mid-game. Card draw is similar in strength to land searching. Being a mana-source as well enables playing out much quicker than Civic Wayfinder.
Ornery Dilophosaur - Idk, deathtouchy. Dies to red removal. Deathtouch is much more efficient on smaller bodies. 4 mana starts competing against Imperiosaur.
Portcullis Vine - It wall not that well. Mostly there aren't enough other defenders which you would want to mulch.
Pridemalkin - Too small. Though trample is nice.
Ranger's Guile - The effort of holding mana for something can be too much at times, especially because of the aforementioned rush decks and tempo decks. Even many of the midrange decks. Occasionally is a blowout. More often than not this is lacklustre.
Return to Nature - Generally Naturalize with a creature body attached is wanted.
Run Afoul - Anti-flying tech. Fine but niche. Sideboard cards tend to fall by the wayside unless they are a counter to an important threat.
Sabertooth Mauler - Grows to be pretty fearsome. Mostly I would prefer creatures which start off big. Untapping is a nice. Costs the same as Festerhide Boar.
Setessan Training - Too trivial. Maybe could do something with Ancestral Mask.
Snarespinner - If cheap fliers are a threat, this is a solution. Otherwise far too weak.
Titanic Growth - Occasional tricks. Mostly for quick kills. Groundswell is preferred over this.
Track Down - Green Shimmer of Possibilities. Actually much better because of the scry. This is an interesting effect that we haven't had available before, so I'd looking forward to seeing how it will play.
Trufflesnout - Anti-rush 3cmc creature. Fine at being maindeckable. Helps shore up Searing Blaze matches.
Gatherer has them listed as common which is the official definition of common. I assume it is that way as an elaborate scheme to break our format for anyone who runs Mystery Booster cards and Un-cards.
Bone Pit Brute - Most red decks just want to Fireball when they get to 6 mana. This seems fine at being a game ender. Double red keeps it from being easily splashable.
Burn Bright - Fine as a second copy of Dynacharge. The white versions of this effect are much stronger.
Chandra's Magmutt - I think this is solid. Being able to tick away for 1 in a stall is exactly what red wants to do.
Crash Through - Red decks tend not to be creature centric enough for this.
Destructive Tampering - Seems fine as an anti-artifact sideboard card.
Furor of the Bitten - Fine in angry rush. The downside of removal tends to be too much however.
Goblin Arsonist - Alright fodder. Not good at all otherwise.
Goblin Wizardry - Seems like a fine addition to Delver of Secrets builds.
Hobblefiend - Sacrifice outlet in red. I'm not that keen on this, but other people seem to think it's fine.
Igneous Cur - I prefer Weaselback Redcap. Comparable to Immolating Souleater. Often I'd rather spend the mana for something else most of the time.
Onakke Ogre - Functional reprint of something. Worse than Brazen Wolves.
Pitchburn Devils - These can block well. 5 mana is too much.
Scorching Dragonfire - Searing Spear is better most of the time.
Shock - Galvanic Blast is strictly better. Generally it's worth spending the extra 1 mana for a Incinerate for better reach.
Spellgorger Weird - Fine with spells. Grows well and comes out early enough in the game to see some action. Typically draws removal.
Sure Strike - You want Lightning Strike instead of this.
Thrill of Possibility - Filters well and plays nicely with instant speed things (namely countermagic).
Turn to Slag - If equipment were more problematic we'd play this.
Turret Ogre - Ok 4 drop. Finding enough 4 power or greater creatures can be problematic, especially when they keep dying to removal. The extra effort mostly isn't that worth it unless 4 power or greater gets pushed quite a bit.
Alchemist's Gift - A little too weak. Better than Coat in Venom. I prefer Grotesque Mutation if I'm looking for a black lifelink instant.
Blood Glutton - 3 toughness puts this in target range for most red removal.
Caged Zombie - The ability is too costly.
Crypt Lurker - Could be useful. Mostly I think there will be a lack of adequate fodder. Good sideboard tech against Pacifism. Discarding creatures might be negligible with Font of Return, Wander in Death and Death Denied.
Deathbloom Thallid - A body in a pinch.
Duress - Still sees play.
Fetid Imp - From a lineage of nothing imps.
Finishing Blow - Overcosted Murder because planeswalkers don't exist at common (excluding Mystery Booster nonsense).
Gloom Sower - That's a big common. Could be used with Morgue Burst? Probably too susceptible to removal despite being immune to Doom Blade and too slow for rush.
Grasp of Darkness - Reprint. Double pips make this a sad card. Still alright, though cards such as Victim of Night are much better.
Infernal Scarring - Err... Kind of weak.
Liliana's Steward - Interesting take on Raven's Crime. Good with Ghoulcaller's Chant. Probably could find a home in a cube built around taking advantage of this. Otherwise not.
Masked Blackguard - This is no Ambush Viper.
Mind Rot - Plenty of better cards than this.
Rise Again - Not much worth reanimating outside for the aforementioned Spined Megalodon.
Sanguine Indulgence - Getting the cost reduction is a little difficult. Much too overcosted otherwise.
Skeleton Archer - More of a sideboard card. Good in some match ups (ones with plenty of targets), Hill Giant in others.
Village Rites - Cheap and playable.
Walking Corpse - Definitely not. Need more brains.
Cancel - There are few strictly betters than this. Dissolve and Counterspell to name a few.
Capture Sphere - Blue isn't that in need of on-colour removal to warrant this.
Frantic Inventory - Basically nothing in singleton. Is a bit more interesting when you consider running multiples. Sort of a functional reprint of Accumulated Knowledge. Sort of.
Frost Breath - Ok, tempo card. Frosty tapping a couple of creatures can be functionally Ashes to Ashes in a streamlined rush deck. Of course the game has to end soon or else tempo is lost.
Keen Glidemaster - Turns into a fine mana-sink. Mostly is just a forgettable creature.
Library Larcenist - You have to put in a lot of effort to work. Mostly the body is too small to go to combat.
Lofty Denial - Much worse than Miscalculate. The catch is going to catch you out more often than not.
Mistral Singer - Looks like a fine 3 mana flier for when you want one. Stormbound Geist can't block when you want it to, which is why I typically don't consider it outside of comparisons. Likewise with Cloud Spirit. Blocking is kind of an important feature of most creatures. Strictly better than Niblis of Dusk.
Opt - It's fine. I play Opt. Nothing special. Preordain and friends are much stronger.
Rain of Revelation - Fine 4 mana draw spell. Holding mana for countermagic is important for many of Blue's play patterns.
Read the Tides - 6 mana is too much.
Rewind - Speaking of holding up mana. The upfront 4 mana is often too expensive, although this sees some play.
Roaming Ghostlight - 5 mana is getting a bit expensive for Mist Raven. Probably would see niche play.
Rookie Mistake - Tricky. Not sure quite how to evaluate. My intuition says it would be a dead card more often than not.
Rousing Read - A Cartouche of Knowledge with slightly more filter for an extra mana. Probably fine at being efficient in terms of card-slots. Essential will play as a draw spell that impacts the board. Still is vulnerable to instant-speed removal.
Spined Megalodon - Big control finisher. More game-ending than Benthic Giant, though less damming than Giant either. Hexproof gets around most decks' solutions to problems. Could be overkill, in which case Striped Riverwinder is better for the early trade-in. Seems like Spined Mealodon will spend time in sideboards. There will be games that you'll never see 7 mana before the game is essentially concluded.
Teferi's Protege - The looting costs mana. The body isn't that desirable either.
Tome Anima - Phantom Monster is better in most cases. The hoops make Tome Anima too conditional.
Vodalian Arcanist - With signets and Mind Stone available, quality mana acceleration isn't too hard to come by. The 1/3 body is nice, but I don't think it outweighs the conditional nature of the mana generated. In any case, this is no Werebear and Blue has much stronger 2 mana plays. Maybe this is playable in the hands of a skilled player, though I foresee Vodalian Arcanist being draft chaff.
Wall of Runes - It wall. More of a sideboard card, though can be really annoying in some match-ups.
Wishcoin Crab - Pretty nothing as far as Pauper is concerned.
Alpine Watchdog - A functional reprint of something forgettable. Strictly worse than Topan Freeblade and not up to the standard to current white 2cmc creatures.
Anointed Chorister - I think that this is probably good enough in the right cube considering Healer's Hawk sees play. The activated ability synergies really well with lifelink and makes this relevant in the mid-to-late-game. As a 1/1 for 1, it's not going to impact the board really at all, although your opponent will have to deal with it at some stage.
Basri's Acolyte - This is the kind of card we were missing when support was a keyword mechanic. It works well in going wide strategies and lifelink makes for decent races. I suspect where this will be weakest is against removal heavy builds which don't care a whole lot about life leads and tend to keep the board to manageable levels. Still Basri's Acolyte could be comparable to Seraph of Dawn and that's ubiquitously considered a decent card.
Celestial Enforcer - Overcosted Goldmeadow Harrier with hoops to jump though. 2/3s for 3 are typically too small, although I can see why Wizard's keeps settling for those numbers.
Concordia Pegasus - Not really worth considering at all unless you need a specific counter to Tattered Haunter (I'm sure there are better options there as well).
Daybreak Charger - Staple. Basically the best card in the set. Reminds me of Porcelain Legionnaire.
Defiant Strike - A reprint of the prowess trigger we don't use.
Dub - Being an Aura makes this very susceptible to single target removal, which there is a lot of in Pauper.
Faith's Fetters - One of the best white cards. It can deal with almost any problematic permanent and importantly gains you a healthy amount of life. Pretty much all you could want in enchantment based removal.
Feat of Resistance - This is my second favourite protection spell after Cho-Manno's Blessing. The +1/+1 counter has historically been worth it for me for the 1-mana premium over Gods Willing and Apostle's Blessing.
Gale Swooper - Seems ok if you are lacking stronger cards.
Legion's Judgment - 4 power of greater removal clauses tend not to be terribly relevant because most decks are filled with weenies and Pacifism already deals with large creatures.
Makeshift Battalion - 2 toughness makes this easy to pick off for most decks. The base stats make it on the small side when you aren't able to trigger the ability. I don't imagine that this will get more that one counter in most games.
Rambunctious Mutt - A decent Disenchant of a stick. Obviously much better with sideboards. It's difficult to tell if this is better or worse than Kor Sanctifiers which is the current Disenchanting creature of choice for White at the moment. With sideboards including both Mutt and Sanctifiers might be correct.
Revitalize - No, thank you.
Secure the Scene - There isn't really any reason to justify the cost.
Staunch Shieldmate - Basically an anti-rush guy. I see this as another sideboard card because there are plenty of matchups where a 1/3 is going to do next to nothing. In saying that, Sea Gate Oracle has seen a lot of play and has the same sized body.
Swift Response - Strong non-enchantment based removal. There are plenty of cases where your opponent Withdraws
leaving you Pacifism in the dust and this gets around that. Not so great for the rush white decks (which there are a lot of), but seems fine in more defensive builds. Strictly better than Take Vengeance.
Valorous Steed - A fine 5cmc creature. Synergies with Ghostly Flicker and provides bodies. I'm not that excited by this, although I'll include it. I'm not sure if I prefer this or Supply-Line Cranes. In any case, Valorous Steed is more at the Supply-Line Cranes level of power than the Custodi Squire end of things.
Warded Battlements - Not as good as Basilica Guards which is the premier 3cmc defender. 3 toughness isn't going to stop much. My evaluation could be quite off considering I haven't really played any anthem effect in common, so I'll have to keep my eyes open of this one.
That's White done for now.
I wouldn't be so quick to jump to conclusions. Rot Wolf is already decent, it just is lacking any kind of support, which means it is mostly stuck in defence-mode. I would want to see what is downshifted first. We haven't revisited Infect since the Scars of Mirrodin block, so I want the see how the mechanic is reintroduced and whether Wizards have figured out ways around Infect's extremely parasitic nature.
Grafted Exoskeleton would be nice. Phyrexian Juggernaut is another possible downshift. Overwhelmingly, looking through the visual spoiler for Infect cards, most of the common Infect creatures have trash P/T stats which make them too susceptible to dying in combat. The average common was a lot worse in Scars of Mirrodin than what we get today (excluding the odd Porcelain Legionnaire). Either that or the Infect creature was off colour which mean that you had a difficult time building up a critical mass. The main colours that we would realistically care about would be Green and Black. Green because that's the colour with lots of cheap pump and Black because that's where most of the mechanic was printed.
One block worth of mechanic is probably not enough gist for the mills. Though Triumph of the Hordes would be amazing.
Massive Raid has big damage potential. Though it suffers from competing with Pauper's direct damage spells, which there are lot of decent ones already. If I had a token theme I would probably try out Massive Raid.
Scorched Rusalka. Costs mana to do it's thing. The existing damage to mana options available to red are quite decent as it is. And 1/1 bodies for 1 tend to be pretty bad.
If we get lots of downshifted cards for infect it could be viable. Green pump spells are very strong with infect and we have most of the best one's available.
I've been playing a bit of sealed with my cube. It's a decent way of experimenting with colour combinations as it becomes very apparent when I've been filling a section with niche junk. There seems to always be one sealed pool that has a draft quality deck, so it is a quick way of testing builds in a limited environment without going to the hassle of organising draft. (Much easier handing someone a strong prebuilt and saying play this.)
Mogg Conscripts and Goblin Cohort are better in a purely numbers game. Though since red's noncreature section in the main reason to play the colour in cube, I don't include these guys.
I haven't had much chances to play Bloodlust Inciter and Goblin Motivator. They seem ok in the gotta-go-fast department. Though they are a bit weak against single target removal being only 1/1's when you ignore the ability.
Mostly I just like to pack additional Rhystic Lightnings and Staggershocks in the place of these kind of cards. Embereth Paladin has been alright at closing games. Premium removal can run a little thin some drafts, but the opportunity cost of switching to a second colour in pauper draft can be quite low if you are reading the signals right. Red can be extra tough sometimes because some people just can't let an Incinerate wheel. (I'm somewhat guilt of picking red cards without a serious intention of playing them.)
Opt b Opt's been strong for me.
Empty the Warrens c Scales well, but requires a lot to get going.
Frantic Search b Worse than Opt, but synergises well with a bunch of cards.
Gush c Would be much stronger if the singleton rule is broken.
Snap c Vapor Snag isn't that well positioned right now.
Pyroceratops c Scales ok, but then again has the whole dies to removal problem, and is too slow against aggro.
Spellgorger Weird b 3 mana positions this alright.
Stitched Drake a Requires a little set up. Very good value to mana.
Stormbound Geist c Mostly is a 2/2 for 3. Is much better in a flying meta.
Ahn-Crop Invader c Weaker than Splatter Thug and Blood Ogre. Hits hard with tokens.
Grim Initiate b Ok 1-drop if you're in the market.
Fencing Ace b Scales well.
Callous Dismissal d Not Man-o'-War enough.
Witching Well d Needs synergies to break the tempo.
Manamorphose b A 'free' cantrap is decent even without fixing.