Fantastic thread, and congrats on completing the project!
For the continued discussion, I like all the MBS cards Fishman mentioned except for Serum Raker and Tangle Hulk. That said, I'm not seeing much that compares to Tangle Hulk at five mana for green. Green needs to get some bombier creatures at common in new sets!
To comment on some of the cards Wolfer listed:
-I've also felt Hallowed Healer is a good card.
-I hadn't seen Embolden before and I think you've sold me on it.
-Pulse Tracker's inability to trade with an X/2 makes me disagree with you. Also, the appearance in a constructed deck isn't enough justification, especially if that deck had tribal synergies the cube doesn't have.
-I seem to be in the strict minority, probably because I haven't played enough cube yet to appreciate it, but I've been hesitant to add Ashes to Ashes to my cube. I can see it as a boon to an aggro deck, but am not quite sold on it. The extra mana cost and restrictions on Dead Ringers had kept me away, but I'd like to read more about it.
-I think I like my Goblin Tunneler better, but Intimidator Initiate and Goblin Shortcutter interest me. So does Falter.
-Bogardan Firefiend is a good find; I like this better than Mudbutton Torchrunner.
Some cards I didn't see that I would like to talk about: Hungry Mist - thought this was a pretty unique card, but I see Wild Leotau and Uktabi Efreet exist and the extra power here probably isn't worth having only 2 toughness and the extra upkeep cost. I'll probably be dropping this for Wild Leotau when I can, but I wonder about it... actually, this is even worse than Uktabi Efreet isn't it? The 2 toughness seems irredeemable.
Phyrexian Walker - free and can attack, but dies to bolt. Interests me in comparison to Steel Wall and Shield Sphere.
Primal Clay - cards with options are good, and none of these are bad options. Only common in MTGO, but so is Shield Sphere. It amuses me that this can be seen as common, uncommon, or rare. Anyone know offhand which other cubable cards are common only in MTGO, if any? What do you think of Primal Clay?
These combo-oriented cards weren't mentioned, and may be too weak, but I look forward to living the dream of pulling some of this stuff off. I will finally have a chance to draft my cube this weekend, so I might be able to test these out: Stone-Seeder Hierophant, Krosan Restorer, Ley Druid or Juniper Order Druid - these cards get more utility out of the Ravnica bounce lands and the Overgrowth we run, but can go infinite with Freed from the Real. I think we run enough buyback and X spells to find a use for the mana.
Freed from the Real - has options; can be a lousy Narcolepsy, be a lousy vigilance, combo with tap abilities like the pingers, go infinite with the above, or combo with Betrayal. This with Viridian Longbow or with Stonybrook Schoolmaster (or both)? Do our creatures have good-enough tap abilities for this to have utility?
Betrayal - as we already run Narcolepsy and the white tappers, this seems like it could work.
Yes, pulse tracker can't trade with 2 toughness creatures, but in an aggressive deck where you clear the way, or against a slow control deck, it's definitely worth the inclusion. Plus he has a slight upside where he can ping them for 1 regardless of board state. I urge you to try him.
Hungry Mists kind of fights against what green is trying to do. If it were a red or black card, then it may be good, but it's rare to find a green deck that wants it. A 2 mana upkeep cost is hefty, and it's pretty easy to kill.
For Phyrexian Walker vs Steel Wall, I think 4 toughness is enough of a break point to make the mana worth it. Not just because of 3 damage burn, but also because most creatures top out at 3 power. I just counted the creatures in my cube, and out of the non-evasive ones, there's 79 that Walker can't block and 41 that steel wall can't. Personally, I think Steel Wall is barely cubable, and walker is a bit worse.
Primal Clay is good, but it was only common on a Master's Edition set. If you use those, then there's a few random goodies to use that we have omitted discussing. (I don't use Shield Sphere either)
The land untappers are usually just going to be slower/vulnerable acceleration. I like supporting niche archetypes, but I think doing so here would damage the playability of green. Krosan Restorer at least can do crazy things when you have threshold, so if you really want one, use him.
Freed from the Real isn't terrible, but considering the consensus here was that Mystic Restraints wasn't good enough, I kind of doubt they'd say Freed is. Personally I think the restraints are awesome, and blue removal has a place, but I already run Frozen Solid and Fowl Play over freed. Again, if you really want the combo potential, I guess you can use it, but as straight up removal it's mediocre.
Betrayal is basically a blue Guard Duty that punishes poor play. It'd be solid in an aggressive flying deck, but that's about it. Using trappers on it is cute, but seems like a lot of work to turn your trappers into archivists.
Overall, I don't think combo cards have a place unless they're good without the combo. Cubes often have 400+ cards, so the chances of you assembling the combo isn't that high, and compound that with the chances that you draw both cards in a game.
For kicks, I went through the master's editions to note what notable cards they give access to:
Embolden is interesting, but it is competing with Prismatic Strands. Cubes might want to make room for both, though, since it seems like you'd want each of them in different situations. Also, the Hallowed Healer, Embolden, Prismatic Strands deck seems like it would be annoying as hell to play against...
I'm not a huge fan of firefiend or mudbutton torchrunner because frequently you aren't in control of when they die (pacifism and bounce effects are a pain, for instance). If you're considering this, isn't Blisterstick Shaman also worthy of consideration?
Wormfang Drake is a lot like the champion creatures from Lorwyn, but but at common. It's definitely cube-worthy.
Great work here very very great work! Glad to see it finished, I actually dismantled my pauper cube a while back because it wasn't being used and I need the cards for the main cube so major sad face there...
Anyway..
I am going to input and appeal on behalf of Opal Champion and to a lesser extent, Opal Gargoyle.. I think i can best explain why I think this card is underrated, at least in pauper. And the typical out comes I have experienced with it.
The first thing I evaluated with these cards from the moment I saw them as... Ballyknock Cohort and Mistral Charger. Except you always get get a 3/3 first striker, and a 2/2, vs a 2/1. Because of this, at this point they are tectonically cube worthy.
To start with the Opal Champion, which is by far the greater of the two, really lights up those aggressive style decks. It does this by being effective early on. If you drop this turn 3 or even turn 2 if you happen to be in a G/, it puts a horrific amount of pressure on your opponent. This became a very high picked card because of the abuse it can cause early on. Even if it isn't right on turn 2 or 3, those first few turns are still very good. (talking 4-5-6 even 7) This is because when you drop it, you force your opponent to make a choice aside from their given flow:
- Do I or Can I kill the enchantment? If red, black, or blue, more than likely NO. They can't.
Green and White can, but the chances that they took that type of removal is low as most of the time enchantments are not something people are scared of in a draft.
- Do I play a creature? If I do what must I watch for?
This is no different than staring down the barrel at Skinthinner face down, a Mogg Fanatic, or even an untapped Vulshock Vulshok Sorcerer. It is a choice you have to stop and think about. You can't just unload, your plan to play your deck as you see fit has been altered because you have to ask your self, can I deal with a 3/3 First Striker right now? If you can, alright go for it, if you can't do you play and hope they don't attack? Hope they don't have a turn four Bonesplitter ready to plop down and equip?
- Do I burn removal on the creature forms?
You have to ask yourself as well, very much so if it is early on, do I want to dedicate a turn to destroying the creature, or triggering the creature and try and duke it out? What if I only have mana to do one or the other, do I stay complacent can give them a pseudo-time walk?
These are the experiences that have been happening when I ran these two sleeper cards. The Gargoyle is pretty easy going, he's only really awesome when it's early on, but can help if there is a stale mate, and has on a number of times made my opponent halt on playing ANYTHING that could bring it alive because it had flying and that was teh stand off which happens often in pauper.
The Knight is an absolute monster. He is less crazy at the later turns but still a formidable creature, and once you get to play him in the early turns I mentioned above, you will appreciate him even more.
You don't have to use them of course, this is just my experience but I will be putting them both in my cube on it's way to 720 because they do work. They work well. Very well.
As the argument has come up again and again, and I don't feel right continuing to argue without having any experience with them, I'll test out Opal Champion. If it works out, I'll try out Opal Gargoyle (although I have dismal views on the Gargoyle being cubeable). If not, I'll write up why it doesn't work for my cube and that'll be that.
Kuldotha Ringleader has been solid over here. Great curve-topper for the aggro deck.
Leonin Skyhunter hasn't appeared in the draft yet, but it should be solid.
Loxodon Partisan wasn't better than the other options, so it never made it in.
Serum Raker is outclassed by fliers I don't even run. No thanks.
Spin Engine has been magnificent over here. Beaten face more than once.
Benalish Trapper is a little much. It is good, but I doubt better than the other cards in the cube.
Hallowed Healer - I've never been a fan of solely-defensive cards, but this does seem quite strong. I'll have to try it out.
Embolden seems like it'll be very strong. However, as I've said, I dislike adding solely-defensive cards, so I think I'll have to keep a balance from here on out.
Army of Allah is worse than Fortify - clearly - but I can't disagree that it's the mode one most likely takes with Fortify. In any case, I don't think it's good enough as it is (even Fortify isn't staple matter).
Pulse Tracker is far from a 1 mana 2/1. It doesn't trade when your opponent gets blockers and you can't rely on removal to clear them all out. It's nice but nice isn't good enough for cube.
Dead Ringers is really confusing, but it is a nice removal spell. However, all those restrictions make it less than good.
Intimidator Initiate is definitely a good card for aggro. Great for the cubes that want him, although I doubt I have room in mine.
Bogardan Firefiend is nice, but I don't have room for him. There are just better options.
Falter is definitely a good card to look out for. Testworthy, but I'm not sure it's cubeable.
Hungry Mist - 2 toughness = bad. Just not very good.
Phyrexian Walker is a wall, and if you're looking for a wall, there are better options out there.
Primal Clay has got versatility going for it, but none of its modes are all that impressive. Good, but not great (and my colorless section is tight as it is).
I don't think you'll be disappointed. But remember I treat it like a pure aggro card, maybe mid range card. Then again, crazy things happen, some cards just don't work for some cubes.
Opal Gargoyle is a little better in the sense that it comes down a turn earlier, and it's more likely that your opponent doesn't have enough of a board presence yet. I can't think of anything worse than playing Champion on the draw when your opponent curved out with a 2 and 3 drop. I have the gargoyle in my cube because white loves aggressive 2 drops. I have Champion on my short-list, but I think Ballyknock Cohort and Kitsune Blademaster are both better, and my 3 drops are pretty tight.
Tangle Hulk has been good in my cube. There isn't much I'd rather have at the top of my curve. The fact that other colors can play it as a Frost Ogre is pretty useful, too.
Embolden doesn't have to be just a defensive card. If the board is clogged up, it can really help you get your attacks in.
Wormfang Drake is a solid card and it helps you abuse etb abilities. 3/4 fliers are kind of hard to deal with without premium removal.
Blisterstick Shaman is also a card I run. It finds plenty of targets. Even if it just helps your creature trade with one of theirs it's usually worth it (trading your 2/1 for their 4/3 is a good deal). If your cube has barely any 1 toughness creatures, then sure it may not be that good, but you're probably just hating out 1 toughness guys with a million pingers in that case.
Anyone want to raise some more cards for discussion? If not, I'll update the Closing Notes, and then we can put this (awesome) project into the archives.
High Tide gets you lots of blue mana fast in a heavy-blue deck. Ignoring the constructed combo useage, this has the full potential to be like a blue Dark Ritual (but likely is not needed).
Gigadrowse is a game-winner spell that requires dedication to blue, but is a complete blow-out, even if replicated two times.
Just want to make the case for Quirion Ranger. I know it was previously mentioned, but this card can be so great. Defensively it's a house, clogging the ground with untapped blockers. It also untaps several creatures, most importantly the mana-producers, which it shines with (Werebear, Arbor Elf, Llanowar Elves, Fyndhorn Elves, etc). It ramps you when you need it - if you miss a land drop, you can tap a forest for mana, bounce it, and replay it untapped for a net gain. Love this card.
Rewind is a rocking counter. This is definitely for the control decks - you want this late-game. If you're trying to shut someone down, you can play this and then use the rest on instant-speed removal, Frantic Search, etc. Great in UB control, a tricky deck to get well-balanced in the cube and a hard one to play/draft (but nonetheless a viable archetype).
The Familiars aren't bad, but at the same time, they're not great. If you can get 2 spells to fire off in 1 turn, they're basically Sol Rings, which is awesome. But I don't want to replace good removal - Resounding Thunder and Crystallisation - for simple mana ramp.
However, it has got me thinking. I believe I'll put the Familiars in as a second Shard cycle, and test them out that way.
High Tide gets you lots of blue mana fast in a heavy-blue deck. Ignoring the constructed combo useage, this has the full potential to be like a blue Dark Ritual (but likely is not needed).
Maybe it's just my cube, but rarely do we get the 4+ Island required for this to be the same as Dark Ritual. We play a lot of 3 color decks, so it's usually T8 or so, and by then, I have no need for fast mana. I don't think it's that great.
Gigadrowse is a game-winner spell that requires dedication to blue, but is a complete blow-out, even if replicated two times.
The only real good use I can see for this is to tap down blockers and alpha strike. I would rather see that effect more in red than blue, which has more decks that want this kind of card. But it's not bad; I just don't think I have room for it.
Just want to make the case for Quirion Ranger. I know it was previously mentioned, but this card can be so great. Defensively it's a house, clogging the ground with untapped blockers. It also untaps several creatures, most importantly the mana-producers, which it shines with (Werebear, Arbor Elf, Llanowar Elves, Fyndhorn Elves, etc). It ramps you when you need it - if you miss a land drop, you can tap a forest for mana, bounce it, and replay it untapped for a net gain. Love this card.
Hmm. Yeah, it seems really nice. I'll try it out; thanks!
Rewind is a rocking counter. This is definitely for the control decks - you want this late-game. If you're trying to shut someone down, you can play this and then use the rest on instant-speed removal, Frantic Search, etc. Great in UB control, a tricky deck to get well-balanced in the cube and a hard one to play/draft (but nonetheless a viable archetype).
Interesting card. I don't know, but my gut instinct is that my cube doesn't want an expensive counter, and we'll rarely have something to do with the extra mana that turn (so all it becomes is a counter that needs at least 4 lands to play). I might try it out, but I'm not sure. On my mind, definitely.
Hey Lanxal, shoot me a PM when you want this thread to be moved into the archive and linked in the resource thread.
I know nothing about Pauper cubes(*), but this thread looks like it is trenedously helpful for those who do.
Kudos. Nice to see a project reaching it's end and coming up with usable results.
(*)while browsing the thread, i had to look up half of the cards. Thang god for card tags. Or Hannes. Whoever of those two is responsible. Anyways, all those cardnames i never heard made me realize how little i know about the Peasant cube format.
No problem. I've just got to update the Closing Notes and then I'll send it on its way.
Haha, yeah. There are a lot of basic, solid, uninteresting commons in consideration. But it's not so bad; I would hate to do a similar project for normalist cubes. /shivers
To echo the sentiments of the others here, thanks so much for the work you poured into this; it's hard to explain away exactly how much help this has been for everyone, but I suspect this 55-page guide will remain a hugely useful tool for future cubers to use as well. This sort of thing turns Pauper Cube from being an obscure format with very few clear strategies into a legitimate, developed way to play Magic.
Noted on the OP White Creatures thing. Hidden 'neath spoiler tags.
Actually, this thread is already in the process of being closed and shelved into the archive. I feel like the once-over pass of the common cards has fulfilled the project's intended purpose.
Of course, that raises the issue of where card evaluations and discussion go. I'm not going to lie, Pauper Cubing is a minority, and it doesn't really make sense to create an entire new thread for Pauper card evaluations. It's just much easier to continue to use the All Commons Cube Thread, as we've always done. I don't see any reasons why that would pose a problem.
For the continued discussion, I like all the MBS cards Fishman mentioned except for Serum Raker and Tangle Hulk. That said, I'm not seeing much that compares to Tangle Hulk at five mana for green. Green needs to get some bombier creatures at common in new sets!
To comment on some of the cards Wolfer listed:
-I've also felt Hallowed Healer is a good card.
-I hadn't seen Embolden before and I think you've sold me on it.
-Pulse Tracker's inability to trade with an X/2 makes me disagree with you. Also, the appearance in a constructed deck isn't enough justification, especially if that deck had tribal synergies the cube doesn't have.
-I seem to be in the strict minority, probably because I haven't played enough cube yet to appreciate it, but I've been hesitant to add Ashes to Ashes to my cube. I can see it as a boon to an aggro deck, but am not quite sold on it. The extra mana cost and restrictions on Dead Ringers had kept me away, but I'd like to read more about it.
-I think I like my Goblin Tunneler better, but Intimidator Initiate and Goblin Shortcutter interest me. So does Falter.
-Bogardan Firefiend is a good find; I like this better than Mudbutton Torchrunner.
Some cards I didn't see that I would like to talk about:
Hungry Mist - thought this was a pretty unique card, but I see Wild Leotau and Uktabi Efreet exist and the extra power here probably isn't worth having only 2 toughness and the extra upkeep cost. I'll probably be dropping this for Wild Leotau when I can, but I wonder about it... actually, this is even worse than Uktabi Efreet isn't it? The 2 toughness seems irredeemable.
Phyrexian Walker - free and can attack, but dies to bolt. Interests me in comparison to Steel Wall and Shield Sphere.
Primal Clay - cards with options are good, and none of these are bad options. Only common in MTGO, but so is Shield Sphere. It amuses me that this can be seen as common, uncommon, or rare. Anyone know offhand which other cubable cards are common only in MTGO, if any? What do you think of Primal Clay?
These combo-oriented cards weren't mentioned, and may be too weak, but I look forward to living the dream of pulling some of this stuff off. I will finally have a chance to draft my cube this weekend, so I might be able to test these out:
Stone-Seeder Hierophant, Krosan Restorer, Ley Druid or Juniper Order Druid - these cards get more utility out of the Ravnica bounce lands and the Overgrowth we run, but can go infinite with Freed from the Real. I think we run enough buyback and X spells to find a use for the mana.
Freed from the Real - has options; can be a lousy Narcolepsy, be a lousy vigilance, combo with tap abilities like the pingers, go infinite with the above, or combo with Betrayal. This with Viridian Longbow or with Stonybrook Schoolmaster (or both)? Do our creatures have good-enough tap abilities for this to have utility?
Betrayal - as we already run Narcolepsy and the white tappers, this seems like it could work.
Hope these ideas interest you.
Hungry Mists kind of fights against what green is trying to do. If it were a red or black card, then it may be good, but it's rare to find a green deck that wants it. A 2 mana upkeep cost is hefty, and it's pretty easy to kill.
For Phyrexian Walker vs Steel Wall, I think 4 toughness is enough of a break point to make the mana worth it. Not just because of 3 damage burn, but also because most creatures top out at 3 power. I just counted the creatures in my cube, and out of the non-evasive ones, there's 79 that Walker can't block and 41 that steel wall can't. Personally, I think Steel Wall is barely cubable, and walker is a bit worse.
Primal Clay is good, but it was only common on a Master's Edition set. If you use those, then there's a few random goodies to use that we have omitted discussing. (I don't use Shield Sphere either)
The land untappers are usually just going to be slower/vulnerable acceleration. I like supporting niche archetypes, but I think doing so here would damage the playability of green. Krosan Restorer at least can do crazy things when you have threshold, so if you really want one, use him.
Freed from the Real isn't terrible, but considering the consensus here was that Mystic Restraints wasn't good enough, I kind of doubt they'd say Freed is. Personally I think the restraints are awesome, and blue removal has a place, but I already run Frozen Solid and Fowl Play over freed. Again, if you really want the combo potential, I guess you can use it, but as straight up removal it's mediocre.
Betrayal is basically a blue Guard Duty that punishes poor play. It'd be solid in an aggressive flying deck, but that's about it. Using trappers on it is cute, but seems like a lot of work to turn your trappers into archivists.
Overall, I don't think combo cards have a place unless they're good without the combo. Cubes often have 400+ cards, so the chances of you assembling the combo isn't that high, and compound that with the chances that you draw both cards in a game.
For kicks, I went through the master's editions to note what notable cards they give access to:
Aeolipile was already discussed.
Armored Griffin is a very solid flier.
Brass Man isn't a terrible artifact, and artifacts are pretty slim currently.
Brilliant Plan is pretty much strictly better than Mysteries of the Deep, which is very good.
Exile and Just Fate are probably better than stuff like Puncturing Light.
Foul Spirit is a good top-end for aggressive black decks.
Goblin Firestarter is a tiny bit worse than Mogg Fanatic. Personally I think both are pretty lackluster these days.
Hyalopterous Lemure is hard to spell, but he's a solid black fatty.
Ironhoof Ox is pretty hard to kill in combat.
Phantasmal Forces is a total beating.
Phantom Monster is better than Snapping Drake.
Primal Clay, as mentioned, is a nice versatile card.
Shield Sphere is a beefy defensive creature, but is too temporary for my tastes.
Telekinesis is an interesting effect.
I'm not a huge fan of firefiend or mudbutton torchrunner because frequently you aren't in control of when they die (pacifism and bounce effects are a pain, for instance). If you're considering this, isn't Blisterstick Shaman also worthy of consideration?
Wormfang Drake is a lot like the champion creatures from Lorwyn, but but at common. It's definitely cube-worthy.
Anyway..
I am going to input and appeal on behalf of Opal Champion and to a lesser extent, Opal Gargoyle.. I think i can best explain why I think this card is underrated, at least in pauper. And the typical out comes I have experienced with it.
The first thing I evaluated with these cards from the moment I saw them as... Ballyknock Cohort and Mistral Charger. Except you always get get a 3/3 first striker, and a 2/2, vs a 2/1. Because of this, at this point they are tectonically cube worthy.
To start with the Opal Champion, which is by far the greater of the two, really lights up those aggressive style decks. It does this by being effective early on. If you drop this turn 3 or even turn 2 if you happen to be in a G/, it puts a horrific amount of pressure on your opponent. This became a very high picked card because of the abuse it can cause early on. Even if it isn't right on turn 2 or 3, those first few turns are still very good. (talking 4-5-6 even 7) This is because when you drop it, you force your opponent to make a choice aside from their given flow:
- Do I or Can I kill the enchantment? If red, black, or blue, more than likely NO. They can't.
Green and White can, but the chances that they took that type of removal is low as most of the time enchantments are not something people are scared of in a draft.
- Do I play a creature? If I do what must I watch for?
This is no different than staring down the barrel at Skinthinner face down, a Mogg Fanatic, or even an untapped Vulshock Vulshok Sorcerer. It is a choice you have to stop and think about. You can't just unload, your plan to play your deck as you see fit has been altered because you have to ask your self, can I deal with a 3/3 First Striker right now? If you can, alright go for it, if you can't do you play and hope they don't attack? Hope they don't have a turn four Bonesplitter ready to plop down and equip?
- Do I burn removal on the creature forms?
You have to ask yourself as well, very much so if it is early on, do I want to dedicate a turn to destroying the creature, or triggering the creature and try and duke it out? What if I only have mana to do one or the other, do I stay complacent can give them a pseudo-time walk?
These are the experiences that have been happening when I ran these two sleeper cards. The Gargoyle is pretty easy going, he's only really awesome when it's early on, but can help if there is a stale mate, and has on a number of times made my opponent halt on playing ANYTHING that could bring it alive because it had flying and that was teh stand off which happens often in pauper.
The Knight is an absolute monster. He is less crazy at the later turns but still a formidable creature, and once you get to play him in the early turns I mentioned above, you will appreciate him even more.
You don't have to use them of course, this is just my experience but I will be putting them both in my cube on it's way to 720 because they do work. They work well. Very well.
That's all
Kuldotha Ringleader has been solid over here. Great curve-topper for the aggro deck.
Leonin Skyhunter hasn't appeared in the draft yet, but it should be solid.
Loxodon Partisan wasn't better than the other options, so it never made it in.
Serum Raker is outclassed by fliers I don't even run. No thanks.
Spin Engine has been magnificent over here. Beaten face more than once.
Tangle Hulk has yet to prove itself.
Benalish Trapper is a little much. It is good, but I doubt better than the other cards in the cube.
Hallowed Healer - I've never been a fan of solely-defensive cards, but this does seem quite strong. I'll have to try it out.
Embolden seems like it'll be very strong. However, as I've said, I dislike adding solely-defensive cards, so I think I'll have to keep a balance from here on out.
Army of Allah is worse than Fortify - clearly - but I can't disagree that it's the mode one most likely takes with Fortify. In any case, I don't think it's good enough as it is (even Fortify isn't staple matter).
Pulse Tracker is far from a 1 mana 2/1. It doesn't trade when your opponent gets blockers and you can't rely on removal to clear them all out. It's nice but nice isn't good enough for cube.
Dead Ringers is really confusing, but it is a nice removal spell. However, all those restrictions make it less than good.
Intimidator Initiate is definitely a good card for aggro. Great for the cubes that want him, although I doubt I have room in mine.
Bogardan Firefiend is nice, but I don't have room for him. There are just better options.
Falter is definitely a good card to look out for. Testworthy, but I'm not sure it's cubeable.
Hungry Mist - 2 toughness = bad. Just not very good.
Phyrexian Walker is a wall, and if you're looking for a wall, there are better options out there.
Primal Clay has got versatility going for it, but none of its modes are all that impressive. Good, but not great (and my colorless section is tight as it is).
Stone-Seeder Hierophant and co. are nice, but a bit slow.
Freed from the Real is quite versatile. I would recommend it to combo-oriented Pauper cubes, but I'm not looking for that kind of think.
Betrayal is a nice combo with tappers, but it's just a very unreliable Narcolepsy.
I run Aeolipile, Phantom Monster, Shield Sphere and Telekinesis.
Armored Griffin is outclassed by other cards in the top end of white.
Brass Man isn't bad, but nothing specially, and the untap cost is more relevant than you would think.
Brilliant Plan is cool. I'll add it for Train of Thought.
Exile and Just Fate aren't bad, but not really good enough.
Foul Spirit is definitely nice. I'll keep him in mind.
Goblin Firestarter is nice, but I'm not sure it's really that good. Maybe I'll find room for him, to test.
Hyalopterous Lemure is a nice fatty, granted, but I'm not sure I have the room for it.
Ironhoof Ox - I already have waaaay too many 5CMC green beaters. No thanks.
Phantasmal Forces - sometimes it's a beating, some times it just gets chumped. I'll need to see how often it's insane.
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
Tangle Hulk has been good in my cube. There isn't much I'd rather have at the top of my curve. The fact that other colors can play it as a Frost Ogre is pretty useful, too.
Embolden doesn't have to be just a defensive card. If the board is clogged up, it can really help you get your attacks in.
Wormfang Drake is a solid card and it helps you abuse etb abilities. 3/4 fliers are kind of hard to deal with without premium removal.
Blisterstick Shaman is also a card I run. It finds plenty of targets. Even if it just helps your creature trade with one of theirs it's usually worth it (trading your 2/1 for their 4/3 is a good deal). If your cube has barely any 1 toughness creatures, then sure it may not be that good, but you're probably just hating out 1 toughness guys with a million pingers in that case.
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
High Tide gets you lots of blue mana fast in a heavy-blue deck. Ignoring the constructed combo useage, this has the full potential to be like a blue Dark Ritual (but likely is not needed).
Gigadrowse is a game-winner spell that requires dedication to blue, but is a complete blow-out, even if replicated two times.
Just want to make the case for Quirion Ranger. I know it was previously mentioned, but this card can be so great. Defensively it's a house, clogging the ground with untapped blockers. It also untaps several creatures, most importantly the mana-producers, which it shines with (Werebear, Arbor Elf, Llanowar Elves, Fyndhorn Elves, etc). It ramps you when you need it - if you miss a land drop, you can tap a forest for mana, bounce it, and replay it untapped for a net gain. Love this card.
Rewind is a rocking counter. This is definitely for the control decks - you want this late-game. If you're trying to shut someone down, you can play this and then use the rest on instant-speed removal, Frantic Search, etc. Great in UB control, a tricky deck to get well-balanced in the cube and a hard one to play/draft (but nonetheless a viable archetype).
G Omnath, Locus of Mana G
=CUBE=
Pauper {360} 2013 REVIVAL UPDATE
Is there another pauper project in the works?
Sig courtesy of Disappointing Signet Inc.
My Cubes:
Goblin Pile Shuffler's 360 Card Pauper Cube - updated 1/4/2014
Goblin Pile Shuffler's 270 Card One-Drop Cube - updated 1/4/2014
The Familiars aren't bad, but at the same time, they're not great. If you can get 2 spells to fire off in 1 turn, they're basically Sol Rings, which is awesome. But I don't want to replace good removal - Resounding Thunder and Crystallisation - for simple mana ramp.
However, it has got me thinking. I believe I'll put the Familiars in as a second Shard cycle, and test them out that way.
Maybe it's just my cube, but rarely do we get the 4+ Island required for this to be the same as Dark Ritual. We play a lot of 3 color decks, so it's usually T8 or so, and by then, I have no need for fast mana. I don't think it's that great.
The only real good use I can see for this is to tap down blockers and alpha strike. I would rather see that effect more in red than blue, which has more decks that want this kind of card. But it's not bad; I just don't think I have room for it.
Hmm. Yeah, it seems really nice. I'll try it out; thanks!
Interesting card. I don't know, but my gut instinct is that my cube doesn't want an expensive counter, and we'll rarely have something to do with the extra mana that turn (so all it becomes is a counter that needs at least 4 lands to play). I might try it out, but I'm not sure. On my mind, definitely.
Thanks! I know I got a huge amount of information from the collaboration of great minds.
Totally. I'm planning a Pauper Rotisserie draft as we speak.
No problem. I've just got to update the Closing Notes and then I'll send it on its way.
Haha, yeah. There are a lot of basic, solid, uninteresting commons in consideration. But it's not so bad; I would hate to do a similar project for normalist cubes. /shivers
Thanks! It's probably better if it's just shelved away into the archive. Done is done, and people can always access it through my signature.
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
G Omnath, Locus of Mana G
=CUBE=
Pauper {360} 2013 REVIVAL UPDATE
Actually, this thread is already in the process of being closed and shelved into the archive. I feel like the once-over pass of the common cards has fulfilled the project's intended purpose.
Of course, that raises the issue of where card evaluations and discussion go. I'm not going to lie, Pauper Cubing is a minority, and it doesn't really make sense to create an entire new thread for Pauper card evaluations. It's just much easier to continue to use the All Commons Cube Thread, as we've always done. I don't see any reasons why that would pose a problem.
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
I suspect we'll see some fine additions from New Phyrexia...