Building a cube doesn't have to cost a fortune. When I first built my own cube out of draft leftovers another user was kind enough to post a list on my cube thread of budget cube staples. I found this incredibly helpful in upgrading the power level of my cube without breaking the bank as I was first starting out, as 40 good cards that cost $.50 each will have a much bigger impact on the cubing experience than a single card that costs $20. That list is a bit dated now due to power creep and price fluctuations, so I've decided to update it to include some of the top notch cheap cube cards that have come out more recently to help newer cube owners have a starting point/shopping list for cards.
All of the cards on this list are cards that I've either seen in multiple MTGS users' lists, the latest Power Rankings (but only the top 5 of each guild, and the #1 card from each tri-color category), or the Cubetutor 360 average cube list (http://www.cubetutor.com/viewcube/492), and they all have at least one tournament legal edition available that costs less than $2 USD based on current TCG Mid pricing. In fact, the overwhelming majority cost less than $1, and at least half are less than $.50. I think it's fair to say that all of these cards are cube staples, or are close enough to be worth a serious look as budget alternatives for some of the more expensive staples. These cards aren't just cheap, they've beaten out some tough competition to earn slots in many of the tightest cube lists in the cube community, so I'm happy to recommend them as good value that should be efficient, powerful, and/or versatile enough to be worth a slot in your cube for years to come.
This list is an ongoing project intended to be a resource for new and cash-strapped cube managers. As new cards and reprints come out, new archetypes emerge, and card prices fluctuate I appreciate any suggestions for new cards for inclusion as well as cuts of any cards that no longer belong on this list.
I've done my best to err on the side of inclusiveness, but feel free to suggest any other solid budget cube cards I may have missed.
One last tip for anyone cubing on a budget: I am only listing tournament-legal versions of cards here, but if that's not a hard requirement for you, you might consider World Championship Edition versions of cards. They're WOTC printed MTG cards, but with non-standard backs that are made for casual-only play. WCE cards have gold borders on the front, and keep in mind that because the backs are different, don't buy these unless you're using opaque sleeves. Nevertheless, this is a way to get some older cube staples at a fraction the price of their tournament-legal counterparts. I wouldn't be running Wasteland, Rishadan Port, Force of Will, or Survival of the Fittest without these.
My pleasure! I couldn't find any lists of budget cube cards that had been updated more recently than the past year and a half or so. Finding that list of top 100 budget cards led to a massive leap forward for my cube in the first few months or so after I'd built it, so I wanted to pay it forward a bit.
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465 card Unpowered cube thread. Draft it here and I'll be happy to return the favor.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
I'm surprised by how good the list looks; this is a great resource, and it's not hard for people to add in a few money cards that they might have lying around from their collection.
Thanks for the kudos, guys. I've gotten so much help on this board with building my cube I'm glad to put something out there that can help newer cubers.
This is awesome, dude, and deserves more attention, maybe someone could even pin it.
That's not a bad idea, and I do plan to keep updating this as new sets and reprints come out.
I've updated the list for Modern Masters 2015. Welcome aboard, Mystic Snake!
Lightning Bolt still hasn't quite cracked the $2 TCG mid mark, but you can get it for less if you shop around.
True, and thanks for pointing this out. I'm actually waiting on the final results of this year's Power Rankings to add any new additions that make it there that also qualify as budget before I add them. I'm pretty sure they'll make it as Wedge/Shard cards, but I want to see the community agree that they're staples before I add them to this list.
It would be nice to get a $2-$5 and $5-$10 compilation as well for the next steps up.
I like this idea, too. I'm a bit busy now with the end of the semester, but in a couple of weeks I should have the time to devote to that. I've been looking for an excuse to highlight some of the budget planeswalkers that are out there for less than $5!
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465 card Unpowered cube thread. Draft it here and I'll be happy to return the favor.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
I'm going to wait about a month or so for the dust to settle to start adding ORI cards to this list, but the reprinting of enemy painlands is great news for anyone building a cube on the cheap. Enemy painlands already make the cut even in many cubes where price isn't an issue because Scars lands (e.g. Seachrome Coast) and Worldwake manlands (e.g. Celestial Colonnade) don't have enemy guild versions available.
This means that the entire cycle is now available for around $20, which makes them the best bang for your buck for mana fixing for any cube designer who is concerned about cost. They come into play untapped, they make colored mana the turn they come into play, and I've found that on average players take less damage from painlands than they do from Ravnica shock duals (e.g. Hallowed Fountain) because they can always be used for colorless mana without taking damage.
For anyone building a cube, this cycle is cheaper than ever, and you can expect to keep them in your cube for a very long time.
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465 card Unpowered cube thread. Draft it here and I'll be happy to return the favor.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
While everyone's still excited about Battle for Zendikar coming out, and paying overinflated pre-order prices, this is also a really good time for budget cubers to pick up bargains on cards that are rotating out of Standard as well as cards whose prices have taken a beating due to recent reprints. There are also some great Origins cards that are performing well (or in the case of Priest of the Blood Rite, holding a place adequately until something better gets printed).
They are not slam down inclusions and a little bit pricier but a lot of people enjoy playing with Stormbreath Dragon and Elspeth, Sun's Champion. It would also be a good time to pick up a Brimaz, though he hasn't fallen by as much as I thought he would.
Their dollar value is pretty low but I think the best way to acquire them will be by trading away your BFZ opens that you don't plan on using. This weekend is likely the peak in price and interest for most of them so trading away that "tango" land for an Elspeth AND a Stormbreath seems long term fun positive EV.
And second that painlands are a fantastic pick up right now.
Yeah, planeswalkers that have rotated out of Standard and have been reprinted in a Duel Deck are often really good value. Kiora, the Crashing Wave almost makes this list, the Duel Deck foil is $2.69 TCG Mid right now. Jace, Architect of Thought isn't a staple, but it's perfectly playable, and since the Duel Deck foil is still less than $2.50 it's a solid budget replacement for Jace, the Mind Sculptor.
The Theros Temples have also gotten much cheaper thanks to rotation, selling for $1-4 apiece. They're not as good as lands that don't ETB tapped, but that scry can go a long way towards making up for the drawback. You could do a lot worse for budget placeholder fixing if you're not ready to shell out for fetches or shocks right now.
It would also be a good time to pick up a Brimaz, though he hasn't fallen by as much as I thought he would.
It's such an efficient creature and a good Tiny Leaders general I can't say I'm that surprised it hasn't fallen more. Still, it's nice to see it's finally under $10.
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465 card Unpowered cube thread. Draft it here and I'll be happy to return the favor.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Unfortunately, this update is pretty short, as most of the best cube cards from Battle for Zendikar are mythic rares and chase rares for Standard. However, Expedition Envoy and Hedron Archive are two rock solid uncommons that are good enough to make the tightest of cubes, even though you can probably find them in the draft chaff boxes at your LGS.
In eternal card budget news, Shivan Reef and Llanowar Wastes have also cracked the $2 mark. Reprinting a land twice in two years will do that. Also, not so unexpectedly, Unexpectedly Absent is also well below the $2 mark. Since commanders can no longer be tucked, this card no longer does what it was supposed to do in the format it was printed for, but it's still a fantastic tempo and removal spell for cube.
You might have found it cheaper, but it's not below $2 TCG mid yet, $2.36 as of this writing. It looks like the price has been fairly steadily declining, so unless it does something incredible in a big tourney soon it'll probably get below $2. It definitely pays to shop around.
I just got wrecked by Woodland Wanderer in last weekend's draft, so I definitely agree that Woodland Wanderer is a house.
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465 card Unpowered cube thread. Draft it here and I'll be happy to return the favor.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
That would be my pleasure. I'll have an update in the next day or two about Commander 2015 reprints as well as cards from BFZ that are good for cube, as well as cards from BFZ that are great for cube, but have stayed cheap (like the aforementioned Woodland Wanderer - now at $.89 TCG Mid.)
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465 card Unpowered cube thread. Draft it here and I'll be happy to return the favor.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Here's a quick update based on Battle for Zendikar and Commander 2015 reprints. Green's the big winner in BFZ with midrange powerhouse Woodland Wanderer and the much awaited value 6-drop Greenwarden of Murasa. I'm also adding Scythe Leopard to the list as an essential for anyone supporting green aggro. BFZ even brings us a budget green dual land in Lumbering Falls which has lumberingly fallen below the $2 TCG mid mark. Unfortunately, Shambling Vent continues to shamble along at around $5.
Commander 2015 has brought down the prices of several cube staples (most notably Eternal Witness and Lightning Greaves), but not below $2, and all of the new C15 cards that have received any discussion for cube are well over $2 right now. The only cube staple reprinted in C15 that's less than $2 that wasn't already on the list is Worn Powerstone. This reprint also brings Sol Ring below $2, but I don't recommend it for unpowered cubes, which pretty much any budget cube will be. Here's why.
Good call on Hero's Downfall, I'd missed that. It's gone down quite a bit since I last checked Theros block post-rotation prices. I'm not running Great Oak Guardian in my own cube, but it seems to have enough advocates in its SCD thread that it probably merits inclusion as well if I'm including Greenwarden. You could do a lot worse than either as a placeholder for Primeval Titan.
I've added both.
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465 card Unpowered cube thread. Draft it here and I'll be happy to return the favor.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
All of the cards on this list are cards that I've either seen in multiple MTGS users' lists, the latest Power Rankings (but only the top 5 of each guild, and the #1 card from each tri-color category), or the Cubetutor 360 average cube list (http://www.cubetutor.com/viewcube/492), and they all have at least one tournament legal edition available that costs less than $2 USD based on current TCG Mid pricing. In fact, the overwhelming majority cost less than $1, and at least half are less than $.50. I think it's fair to say that all of these cards are cube staples, or are close enough to be worth a serious look as budget alternatives for some of the more expensive staples. These cards aren't just cheap, they've beaten out some tough competition to earn slots in many of the tightest cube lists in the cube community, so I'm happy to recommend them as good value that should be efficient, powerful, and/or versatile enough to be worth a slot in your cube for years to come.
This list is an ongoing project intended to be a resource for new and cash-strapped cube managers. As new cards and reprints come out, new archetypes emerge, and card prices fluctuate I appreciate any suggestions for new cards for inclusion as well as cuts of any cards that no longer belong on this list.
1 Dragon Hunter
1 Dauntless Bodyguard
1 Mardu Woe-Reaper
1 Savannah Lions
1 Elite Vanguard
1 Expedition Envoy
1 Mother of Runes
1 Skymarcher Aspirant
1 Soldier of the Pantheon
1 Steppe Lynx
1 Accorder Paladin
1 Adorned Pouncer
1 Charming Prince
1 Glory-bound Initiate
1 Imposing Sovereign
1 Kor Skyfisher
1 Remorseful Cleric
1 Seeker of the Way
1 Soltari Trooper
1 Trueheart Duelist
1 Wall of Omens
1 Fiend Hunter
1 Flickerwisp
1 Hanged Executioner
1 Hallowed Spiritkeeper
1 Kor Sanctifiers
1 Mirror Entity
1 Porcelain Legionnaire
1 Silverblade Paladin
1 Soltari Champion
1 Palace Jailer
1 Spectral Procession
1 Angel of Invention
1 Cloudgoat Ranger
1 Condemn
1 Mana Tithe
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Disenchant
1 Balance
1 Journey to Nowhere
1 Unexpectedly Absent
1 Winds of Abandon
1 Banishing Light
1 Forsake the Worldly
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Spear of Heliod
1 Cast Out
1 Elspeth, Sun's Nemesis
1 Faith's Fetters
1 Secure the Wastes
1 Shatter the Sky
1 Enclave Cryptologist
1 Looter il-Kor
1 Stratus Dancer
1 Waterfront Bouncer
1 Wharf Infiltrator
1 Æther Adept
1 Man-o'-war
1 Nadir Kraken
1 Serendib Efreet
1 Dungeon Geists
1 Whirler Rogue
1 Arcane Savant
1 Meloku the Clouded Mirror
1 Mulldrifter
1 Riftwing Cloudskate
1 Aetherling
1 Frost Titan
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Brainstorm
1 Force Spike
1 Ponder
1 Preordain
1 Serum Visions
1 Condescend
1 Arcane Denial
1 Chart a Course
1 Counterspell
1 Impulse
1 Into the Roil
1 Mana Leak
1 Memory Lapse
1 Miscalculation
1 Negate
1 Narset, Parter of Veils
1 Compulsive Research
1 Forbid
1 Imprisoned in the Moon
1 Psionic Blast
1 Supreme Will
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Crystal Shard
1 Commit // Memory
1 Control Magic
1 Drawn from Dreams
1 Deep Analysis
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Upheaval
1 Dig Through Time
1 Treasure Cruise
1 Faerie Conclave
1 Bloodsoaked Champion
1 Carnophage
1 Dread Wanderer
1 Sarcomancy
1 Tormented Hero
1 Vampire Lacerator
1 Gnarled Scarhide
1 Diregraf Ghoul
1 Asylum Visitor
1 Blood Artist
1 Dauthi Horror
1 Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
1 Heir of Falkenrath
1 Nezumi Graverobber
1 Pack Rat
1 Scrapheap Scrounger
1 Vampire Hexmage
1 Flesh Carver
1 Herald of Torment
1 Hypnotic Specter
1 Mardu Strike Leader
1 Murderous Rider
1 Vampire Nighthawk
1 Master of the Feast
1 Woe Strider
1 Braids, Cabal Minion
1 Graveborn Muse
1 Nekrataal
1 Skinrender
1 Ravenous Chupacabra
1 Priest of the Blood Rite
1 Shriekmaw
1 Tombstalker
1 Dark Ritual
1 Cast Down
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Divest
1 Duress
1 Tragic Slip
1 Agonizing Remorse
1 Animate Dead
1 Dance of the Dead
1 Doom Blade
1 Chainer's Edict
1 Exhume
1 Malicious Affliction
1 Ultimate Price
1 Hymn to Tourach
1 Liliana's Triumph
1 Curse of Shallow Graves
1 Hero's Downfall
1 Never // Return
1 Ruinous Path
1 Languish
1 Whip of Erebos
1 Murderous Cut
1 Profane Command
1 Firedrinker Satyr
1 Goblin Glory Chaser
1 Goblin Welder
1 Jackal Pup
1 Monastery Swiftspear
1 Reckless Waif
1 Stromkirk Noble
1 Soul-Scar Mage
1 Village Messenger
1 Zurgo Bellstriker
1 Abbot of Keral Keep
1 Borderland Marauder
1 Dismissive Pyromancer
1 Earthshaker Khenra
1 Embereth Shieldbreaker
1 Goblin Cratermaker
1 Gore-House Chainwalker
1 Harsh Mentor
1 Hellspark Elemental
1 Kari Zev, Skyship Raider
1 Keldon Marauders
1 Lightning Mauler
1 Plated Geopede
1 Stormblood Berserker
1 Thriving Grubs
1 War-Name Aspirant
1 Ash Zealot
1 Bonecrusher Giant
1 Chandra's Phoenix
1 Combat Celebrant
1 Feldon of the Third Path
1 Fire Imp
1 Guttersnipe
1 Hanweir Garrison
1 Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin
1 Manic Vandal
1 Phoenix of Ash
1 Sin Prodder
1 Avalanche Riders
1 Flametongue Kavu
1 Goblin Heelcutter
1 Hellrider
1 Hero of Oxid Ridge
1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
1 Goblin Dark-Dwellers
1 Siege-Gang Commander
1 Zealous Conscripts
1 Inferno Titan
1 Burst Lightning
1 Faithless Looting
1 Firebolt
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Abrade
1 Arc Trail
1 Incinerate
1 Lightning Strike
1 Magma Jet
1 Mizzium Mortars
1 Pyroclasm
1 Searing Spear
1 Shrine of Burning Rage
1 Arc Lightning
1 Char
1 Flames of the Firebrand
1 Pillage
1 Staggershock
1 Sulfuric Vortex
1 Daretti, Scrap Savant
1 Storm's Wrath
1 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
1 Earthquake
1 Burning of Xinye
1 Wildfire
1 Purphoros's Intervention
1 Goblin Bombardment
1 Arbor Elf
1 Avacyn's Pigrim
1 Elvish Mystic
1 Experiment One
1 Fyndhorn Elves
1 Gilded Goose
1 Jungle Lion
1 Kessig Prowler
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Scythe Leopard
1 Joraga Treespeaker
1 Den Protector
1 Duskwatch Recruiter
1 Noose Constrictor
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Strangleroot Geist
1 Sylvan Advocate
1 Wall of Blossoms
1 Wall of Roots
1 Wild Mongrel
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Troll Ascetic
1 Manglehorn
1 Ramunap Excavator
1 Viridian Shaman
1 Yavimaya Elder
1 Nightpack Ambusher
1 Phantom Centaur
1 Polukranos, World Eater
1 Surrak, the Hunt Caller
1 Wickerbough Elder
1 Deep Forest Hermit
1 Acidic Slime
1 Thragtusk
1 Wolfir Silverheart
1 Great Oak Guardian
1 Greenwarden of Murasa
1 Verdurous Gearhulk
1 Hornet Queen
1 Terastodon
1 Voracious Hydra
1 Channel
1 Farseek
1 Once Upon a Time
1 Rampant Growth
1 Regrowth
1 Vivien's Arkbow
1 Cultivate
1 Evolutionary Leap
1 Beast Within
1 Curse of Predation
1 Kodama's Reach
1 Harmonize
1 Plow Under
1 Detention Sphere
1 Reflector Mage
1 Sphinx's Revelation
1 Psychatog
1 Saheeli, Sublime Artificer
1 Shadowmage Infiltrator
1 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
1 Kird Ape
1 Tattermunge Maniac
1 Bloodbraid Elf
1 Grenzo, Dungeon Warden
1 Rakdos Cackler
1 Dreadbore
1 Terminate
1 Olivia, Moblilized for War
1 Falkenrath Aristocrat
1 Murderous Redcap
1 Dryad Militant
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim
1 Tidehollow Sculler
1 Lingering Souls
1 Gerrard's Verdict
1 Anguished Unmaking
1 Unburial Rites
1 Lotleth Troll
1 Putrefy
1 Edric, Spymaster of Trest
1 Trygon Predator
1 Mystic Snake
1 Electrolyze
1 Fire // Ice
1 Izzet Charm
1 Dack's Duplicate
1 Figure of Destiny
1 Boros Charm
1 Boros Reckoner
1 Trygon Predator
1 Fractured Identity
1 Alesha, Who Smiles at Death
1 Warden of the First Tree
1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Lodestone Golem
1 Masticore
1 Molten-Tail Masticore
1 Precursor Golem
1 Scuttling Doom Engine
1 Myr Battlesphere
1 Ancient Stone Idol
1 Stonecoil Serpent
//spells
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Bonesplitter
1 Retrofitter Foundry
1 Skullclamp
1 Azorius Signet (and the rest of the cycle)
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Mind Stone
1 Smuggler's Copter
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
1 Talisman of Indulgence
1 Talisman of Dominance
1 Talisman of Impulse
1 Talisman of Unity
1 Talisman of Hierarchy
1 Talisman of Resilience
1 Talisman of Curiosity
1 Talisman of Creativity
1 Talisman of Conviction
1 Grafted Wargear
1 Worn Powerstone
1 Fleetwheel Cruiser
1 Hedron Archive
1 Icy Manipulator
1 Nevinyrral's Disk
1 Ash Barrens
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Grand Coliseum
1 Mishra's Factory
1 Paliano, the High City
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Underground River
1 Caves of Koilos
1 Llanowar Wastes
1 Yavimaya Coast
1 Battlefield Forge
1 Shivan Reef
1 Stirring Wildwood
1 Lavaclaw Reaches
1 Lumbering Falls
1 Needle Spires
1 Irrigated Farmland
1 Sheltered Thicket
1 Scattered Groves
1 Fetid Pools
1 Canyon Slough
1 Advantageous Proclamation
1 Backup Plan
1 Double Stroke
1 Power Play
I've done my best to err on the side of inclusiveness, but feel free to suggest any other solid budget cube cards I may have missed.
One last tip for anyone cubing on a budget: I am only listing tournament-legal versions of cards here, but if that's not a hard requirement for you, you might consider World Championship Edition versions of cards. They're WOTC printed MTG cards, but with non-standard backs that are made for casual-only play. WCE cards have gold borders on the front, and keep in mind that because the backs are different, don't buy these unless you're using opaque sleeves. Nevertheless, this is a way to get some older cube staples at a fraction the price of their tournament-legal counterparts. I wouldn't be running Wasteland, Rishadan Port, Force of Will, or Survival of the Fittest without these.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Zetsu's Cube on CubeTutor.com
Zetsu's Ebay MTG Online Store
Zetsu's Poker Draft Method
Check out the Cube Discord channel here
That's not a bad idea, and I do plan to keep updating this as new sets and reprints come out.
I've updated the list for Modern Masters 2015. Welcome aboard, Mystic Snake!
Lightning Bolt still hasn't quite cracked the $2 TCG mid mark, but you can get it for less if you shop around.
Burning of Xinye's FTV reprint also technically doesn't make the list yet, but it's not hard to find it for less than $2.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Cubetutor Link
I like this idea, too. I'm a bit busy now with the end of the semester, but in a couple of weeks I should have the time to devote to that. I've been looking for an excuse to highlight some of the budget planeswalkers that are out there for less than $5!
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
WWW
Soldier of the Pantheon
Fiend Hunter
Condemn
Faith's Fetters
UUU
Frost Titan
Thirst for Knowledge
Compulsive Research
RRR
Chandra's Phoenix
Feldon of the Third Path
Pyroclasm
Devil's Play
GGG
Avacyn's Pilgrim
Strangleroot Geist
WUBRG
Gerrard's Verdict
Mortify
Putrefy
Edric, Spymaster of Trest
Sagu Mauler
Alesha, Who Smiles at Death
Yasova Dragonclaw
XXX
Everflowing Chalice
Advantageous Proclamation
Backup Plan
Double Stroke
Power Play
Lands:
Paliano, the High City
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2021 Edition
Follow me. I tweet.
Caves of Koilos, Yavimaya Coast, and Battlefield Forge have all cracked the $2 TCG mid mark. Shivan Reef and Llanowar Wastes haven't dipped below $2 yet, but even they're less than $2.50 TCG mid now. Now that the majority of the painlands are below $2, I'm also adding the allied painlands to the list that make the cut: Sulfurous Springs, Karplusan Forest, and Brushland. Adarkar Wastes and Underground River are also pretty close at less than $2.50 apiece.
This means that the entire cycle is now available for around $20, which makes them the best bang for your buck for mana fixing for any cube designer who is concerned about cost. They come into play untapped, they make colored mana the turn they come into play, and I've found that on average players take less damage from painlands than they do from Ravnica shock duals (e.g. Hallowed Fountain) because they can always be used for colorless mana without taking damage.
For anyone building a cube, this cycle is cheaper than ever, and you can expect to keep them in your cube for a very long time.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
UUU: Whirler Rogue
BBB: Priest of the Blood Rite, Malicious Affliction
RRR: Goblin Glory Chaser, Pia and Kiran Nalaar, Lightning Bolt
GGG: Hornet Queen
xxx: Skullclamp
Please feel free to suggest anything I may have missed.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Their dollar value is pretty low but I think the best way to acquire them will be by trading away your BFZ opens that you don't plan on using. This weekend is likely the peak in price and interest for most of them so trading away that "tango" land for an Elspeth AND a Stormbreath seems long term fun positive EV.
And second that painlands are a fantastic pick up right now.
The Theros Temples have also gotten much cheaper thanks to rotation, selling for $1-4 apiece. They're not as good as lands that don't ETB tapped, but that scry can go a long way towards making up for the drawback. You could do a lot worse for budget placeholder fixing if you're not ready to shell out for fetches or shocks right now.
It's such an efficient creature and a good Tiny Leaders general I can't say I'm that surprised it hasn't fallen more. Still, it's nice to see it's finally under $10.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
In eternal card budget news, Shivan Reef and Llanowar Wastes have also cracked the $2 mark. Reprinting a land twice in two years will do that. Also, not so unexpectedly, Unexpectedly Absent is also well below the $2 mark. Since commanders can no longer be tucked, this card no longer does what it was supposed to do in the format it was printed for, but it's still a fantastic tempo and removal spell for cube.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
I just got wrecked by Woodland Wanderer in last weekend's draft, so I definitely agree that Woodland Wanderer is a house.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
My 540 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 45th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from ONE!
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
My 540 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 45th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from ONE!
Commander 2015 has brought down the prices of several cube staples (most notably Eternal Witness and Lightning Greaves), but not below $2, and all of the new C15 cards that have received any discussion for cube are well over $2 right now. The only cube staple reprinted in C15 that's less than $2 that wasn't already on the list is Worn Powerstone. This reprint also brings Sol Ring below $2, but I don't recommend it for unpowered cubes, which pretty much any budget cube will be. Here's why.
I'm also cutting Wall of Omens and Bloodsoaked Champion from the list, as their prices are now over $2.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Cards from Theros that are now below $2
- Hero's Downfall
- Sylvan Caryatid
Theros Watchlist (not quite $2 but almost there)
- Stormbreath Dragon
Battle for Zendikar cards under $2
- Ruinous Path (has the potential to spike)
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
I've added both.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
- Polukranos, World Eater
- Herald of Torment
- Pain Seer
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra