Why run Boreal Druid? Just to power the handful of okay snow cards? The only really good one of the bunch is Chilling Shade, and only then if you're playing all snow basics. I guess the centaur is also pretty good.
Elves of Deep Shadow provides fixing for BG (usually a good combination considering the existence of pestilence, crypt rats and Justice) in a format where there's very little fixing before you get into really terrible stuff (if you go whole hog there's karoos, signets, alara fetches, obelisks and then ...?)
I guess I've always been chased off by the 1 life per activation cost. Now that I think about it I think it would be a better inclusion than Boreal Druid despite the life loss. I'll look for another cut instead of the Druid because I like all the mana elves. With Deep Shadow it will be easier to run Gx splash black decks. Splashes occur pretty often in the Commons Cube.
What do people think about the number of 1 mana accellerators (mana elves) in cube? Seeing as there are only three of them Lanxal's cube and they all went very quickly in the rotodraft, I can see green becoming a more solid colour if 4 or even 5 mana elves are run.
@ Kingneb: I'd definitely take Soltari Trooper over Ray of Command. It's in your colours, is very good, and I think is just generally better than Ray in an aggressive deck.
I agree. I wasn't sure where I was going to be at just pick 3 so I took the best card to stay flexible. Some of my 2-player draft strategy is bleeding over into my 8-man strategy. Not sure if that's a good thing or not...
I would have had a rough start to the draft. Early on I just try to take the best cards & see what happens.
Oblivion Ring
Fireblast
Ray of Command
Kor Sanctifiers
Plated Geopede
I would try to go Boros at this point & splash Ray of Command.
Edit: I would prefer Kitsune Blademaster over Sanctifiers if I went the aggro route. Kitsune Blademaster is quite the beater. Not knowing I was getting a pick 5 Geopede means I take the better/safer Sanctifiers.
Most of those changes are awesome! I would find a way to keep Kabuto Moth. A totally unassuming card that is actually nuts. Otherwise your Cube is way way better with those changes =) enjoy!
Despite the echo I think the jaguar is worth running at any size pauper cube. Casting him t-1 is fine but in some ways is better casting jaguar and another spell later in the game.
Yeah, I run 500. And I agree that the other two reach guys are better but having a third (especially with 500) has been good. A 3/3 for 4 is fine but being able to kill almost all the fliers is just a bonus.
Gnarlid Pack was always unimpressive so it got cut.
I think Hinterland Hermit will be better than Village Ironsmith. Ironsmith is way better flipped but that hasn't happened a whole lot in my experience. At least the Hermit is a 2/1 for 2 which is on-curve as far as power goes. Overall the Hermit is better.
I really support your switch to aggro & midrange versus fatty creatures. IMO it makes the fat creatures more significant & less common when you do this. They become true "finishers" instead of just one in a long line of fat creatures.
Have you tried Norwood Archers yet? It is a Hill Giant that stops pretty much every flier in the format.
My recent changes have involved upping the power of creatures to make it on curve (or ahead when possible). 2-power guys for 4 or 3-power guys for 5 have become a lot less common in my Cube. Also cutting down the number of 1-toughness dudes has helped a lot. Everything is less fragile & not as many decks auto-lose to Tim.dec.
The more I play the Commons Cube, the more I realize that it's all about the 2-for-1's. Value is the name of the game. I recently added Fatigue & it's been awesome so far. A look at my red spell section is like the "who's who" of X-for-1's. Staggershock, Searing Blaze, Pyrotechnics, Magma Burst, Firebolt, Geistflame, Rolling Thunder, Lash Out & Chandra's Outrage. I love going to value town in the Commons Cube
You're missing everything! Undying is a super powerful key word, with the potentual to just be nuts. You play in a deck with creatures. It might seem sort of obvious, but Undying Evil is not the sort of card that you can just throw in any deck. Also if you are playing with creatures your creatures should die at some point. This is an oppertuity to just straight up save a creature plus give it a long lasting bonus, and a good one at that. Most players won't be expecting a black combat trip. Now you creature is bigger, and more bad arse, and demands for your opponant to deal with him. This alone whould be acceptable in black, where there are no similar effects.
Remember unique effects should be rated higher than other cards that are of a similar power level, because, they are, well unique.
Lastly while this isn't going to happen all the time, it will happen frequentally, is that you're creature with is new found ability of undying happens to have a ETB trigger, then you're opponent is in for a world of hurt. especially if said trigger is going to net a card in some way. Boom, and decent 1-1 has just turned into a 2-1. Not just that it's bigger, which means that your opponent may have to spend more than one card to deal with it, not to mention that extra point of power is just going to get there.
For one, black literally has nothing else like it, which should make it even better. It is likely to have just been a very good effect is something like green, but it black it looks pretty house.
Undying Evil may not end up being the nuts pre-say, although I doubt it, but it's going to be very good regardless. At least test it Izor.
In Magical Christmasland you cast Undying Evil on an envoked Mulldrifter... Oh god, that would be awesome!!!
If you don't take anything else out of this: Play Undying Evil!
I'm glad to see someone else is as excited about this card as I am. The card may appear very innocuous but I think it will eventually become a Commons Cube staple. I could be reaching but I feel pretty strongly that this card won't be coming out of my Cube (and many others) anytime soon. The best part is that in Cube people will rarely be expecting it & you can get super-value.
So I did the pre-release for DKA last night. My deck was very mediocre but one card that was really good was Undying Evil. I know it will be even better in a format where there are even more 187 creatures AND it won't be an "expected" trick. I'm really excited to add it to my Cube.
So I'm pretty bad at adding too many new cards to test (don't ask me how many Souleaters from New Phyrexia were once in my Cube...). Anyway, here are the changes I'm making to my 500-card Cube:
IN for OUT
Loyal Cathar for Order of Leitbur
Headless Skaab for Augury Owl
Stormbound Geist for Sky Ruin Drake
Tragic Slip for Order of the Ebon Hand
Highborn Ghoul for Wei Strike Force
Undying Evil for Tendrils of Corruption
Forge Devil for Crested Craghorn
Torch Fiend for Flamewave Invoker
Hinterland Hermit for Village Ironsmith
Faithless Looting for Fire Juggler
Dawntreader Elk for Ondu Giant
Young Wolf for Ember Weaver
Ulvenwald Bear for Elvish Warrior
Hunger of the Howlpack for Death-Hood Cobra
Haunted Fengraf for Fire at Will
I'm trying to phase out unnecessary 1-toughness guys if I can (because of the super-Tim presence my Cube has). I'm also looking for underpowered guys for their cost to cut as well. The best card I'm cutting is Tendrils of Corruption but with the number of people we usually have it's not nearly as good as it should be. I really think that Undying Evil's surprise factor will win some games for people. Seriously.
The good thing about Cube is that I can always bring cards back
I think Tragic Slip is going to be quite good. It is conditional removal but creatures die so much in the Commons Cube that I think it will usually kill almost every creature (sorry Guardian of the Guildpact).
And here are the cards that might make it in:
My 540 card Powered Cube last updated March 2022
My 540 card Powered Cube last updated March 2022
I guess I've always been chased off by the 1 life per activation cost. Now that I think about it I think it would be a better inclusion than Boreal Druid despite the life loss. I'll look for another cut instead of the Druid because I like all the mana elves. With Deep Shadow it will be easier to run Gx splash black decks. Splashes occur pretty often in the Commons Cube.
It's always good to re-evaluate things, eh?
My 540 card Powered Cube last updated March 2022
At 500 I run all of these & no Elves of Deep Shadow. Consistency is really key which is why I like having all of them.
My 540 card Powered Cube last updated March 2022
I agree. I wasn't sure where I was going to be at just pick 3 so I took the best card to stay flexible. Some of my 2-player draft strategy is bleeding over into my 8-man strategy. Not sure if that's a good thing or not...
My 540 card Powered Cube last updated March 2022
Oblivion Ring
Fireblast
Ray of Command
Kor Sanctifiers
Plated Geopede
I would try to go Boros at this point & splash Ray of Command.
Edit: I would prefer Kitsune Blademaster over Sanctifiers if I went the aggro route. Kitsune Blademaster is quite the beater. Not knowing I was getting a pick 5 Geopede means I take the better/safer Sanctifiers.
My 540 card Powered Cube last updated March 2022
My 540 card Powered Cube last updated March 2022
My 540 card Powered Cube last updated March 2022
My 540 card Powered Cube last updated March 2022
Gnarlid Pack was always unimpressive so it got cut.
I think Hinterland Hermit will be better than Village Ironsmith. Ironsmith is way better flipped but that hasn't happened a whole lot in my experience. At least the Hermit is a 2/1 for 2 which is on-curve as far as power goes. Overall the Hermit is better.
I really support your switch to aggro & midrange versus fatty creatures. IMO it makes the fat creatures more significant & less common when you do this. They become true "finishers" instead of just one in a long line of fat creatures.
Have you tried Norwood Archers yet? It is a Hill Giant that stops pretty much every flier in the format.
My recent changes have involved upping the power of creatures to make it on curve (or ahead when possible). 2-power guys for 4 or 3-power guys for 5 have become a lot less common in my Cube. Also cutting down the number of 1-toughness dudes has helped a lot. Everything is less fragile & not as many decks auto-lose to Tim.dec.
My 540 card Powered Cube last updated March 2022
My 540 card Powered Cube last updated March 2022
I'm glad to see someone else is as excited about this card as I am. The card may appear very innocuous but I think it will eventually become a Commons Cube staple. I could be reaching but I feel pretty strongly that this card won't be coming out of my Cube (and many others) anytime soon. The best part is that in Cube people will rarely be expecting it & you can get super-value.
I can't wait to get a foil one of these
My 540 card Powered Cube last updated March 2022
My 540 card Powered Cube last updated March 2022
IN for OUT
Loyal Cathar for Order of Leitbur
Headless Skaab for Augury Owl
Stormbound Geist for Sky Ruin Drake
Tragic Slip for Order of the Ebon Hand
Highborn Ghoul for Wei Strike Force
Undying Evil for Tendrils of Corruption
Forge Devil for Crested Craghorn
Torch Fiend for Flamewave Invoker
Hinterland Hermit for Village Ironsmith
Faithless Looting for Fire Juggler
Dawntreader Elk for Ondu Giant
Young Wolf for Ember Weaver
Ulvenwald Bear for Elvish Warrior
Hunger of the Howlpack for Death-Hood Cobra
Haunted Fengraf for Fire at Will
I'm trying to phase out unnecessary 1-toughness guys if I can (because of the super-Tim presence my Cube has). I'm also looking for underpowered guys for their cost to cut as well. The best card I'm cutting is Tendrils of Corruption but with the number of people we usually have it's not nearly as good as it should be. I really think that Undying Evil's surprise factor will win some games for people. Seriously.
The good thing about Cube is that I can always bring cards back
My 540 card Powered Cube last updated March 2022
My 540 card Powered Cube last updated March 2022