I thought I would start this discussion on Black 1 drops. I couldn't find a thread for this when I searched.
Recursive 1 Drops Have been trickling in the last couple years, and with Modern Horizons coming out soon, there is potential for something more on the level of gravecrawler to be printed. Especially since there are hints of a fairly strong graveyard theme to the set. Because of this, I thought a discussion on the rankings of these creatures right now could be useful to people.
My Rankings go something elong the lines of:
1) Gravecrawler (if enough zombies to support) since it's the cheapest to get back onto the battlefield
Tied 2-4. Bloodsoaked Champion Dread Wanderer Gutterbones
I rank these pretty evenly since they all can come back. Dread Wanderer is the most expensive to bring back, and you have to be pretty much out of cards, but is also a zombie which helps Gravecrawler. Since Bloodsoaked Champion Can't block and you need a creature attack vs Opponent's losing life, different decks will generally get more value out of one or the other, but those decks will probably play both
I think Sarcomancy really depends on the cube and specific archetypes how well it will play. I can see some cubes not playing it at all, but any cubes that can get value out of sacking permanents will want to consider it. + it's a cheap reserved list card so get it now before it spikes
6)Diregraf Ghoul
Pretty boring cards, but it's still a 2/2 for B and has full art which is always nifty.
7) Gnarled Scarhide
2/1 with upside. Not a zombie. Might be more correct to rate this as # 6 and Diregraf as 7 depending on the density of zombies
8) Carnophage
Losing a life or tapping can hurt in some decks. Other decks don't care if it's tapped if you keep bringing back Gravecrawler and getting value out of it that way.
Not sure what cards I would rank after this since I don't run 7 or 8 anymore.
- Bloodsoaked Champion
- Dread Wanderer
- Gravecrawler (can be #1 with enough zombies, but I feel the other two are more consistent)
- Gutterbones
- Diregraf Ghoul
- Sarcomancy
- Carnophage
- Gnarled Scarhide
- Tormented Hero
- Vampire Lacerator
- Reaver Drone
If you play Najeela and Mindblade Render (and Mardu Woe-Reaper), one drop warriors become much better. For that reason and the 2 toughness I am playing Vampire Lacerator. Tormneted Hero can also be considered for a smaller cube with those synergies.
I rank the one drops I play from best to worst:
Bloodsoaked Champion
Gutterbones
Dread Wanderer
Gravecrawler
Diregraf Ghoul
(big drop in power here)
Carnophage
Sarcomancy
Vampire Lacerator
Gnarled Scarhide
I think the playable black one drops can probably be ranked by tiers and the rankings inside those tiers don't really matter. If you're running one card in a tier, you're probably running them all.
But for clarity's sake, I'd rank them like this.
Tier 1 - The Recursive Bunch
Dread Wanderer - He comes back to the battlefield as opposed to hand and is easy to activate for both aggro and stax/aristocrats style decks.
Bloodsoaked Champion - The clear number two to me, for similar reasons.
Gutterbones
Gravecrawler - With enough Zombie support, this one could easily rank up.
Tier 2 - The Solid Aggressive Beaters
Diregraf Ghoul - Straightforward 2/2 for 1 with almost no drawback.
Sarcomancy - See Diregraf Ghoul. Ranked below it because it's also vulnerable to bounce.
Carnophage - Being a 2/2 as opposed to a 2/1 helps these next two rise above the rest. Plus they have Zombie and Warrior synergies.
Vampire Lacerator
Gnarled Scarhide - Almost always a 2/1 for 1, but occasionally provides a buff in the late game where he'd otherwise be useless.
That's nine black one drops and at 540, I think eight or nine is probably enough. But should you want to venture into 630/720 range you might be looking to add more to help support aggro.
Tier 3 - The Cubeable Fodder
Tormented Hero
Reaver Drone
Carrion Feeder
Now, a note about Carrion Feeder as it can be a point of contention. It's value in your cube can go up or down based on the archetypes you wish to support. I don't think it can ever be a tier one level creature, but it can certainly fall somewhere in that tier two ranking. I put it at the bottom here because I think your cube has to want/need this card for it to be an option.
Recursive 1 Drops Have been trickling in the last couple years, and with Modern Horizons coming out soon, there is potential for something more on the level of gravecrawler to be printed. Especially since there are hints of a fairly strong graveyard theme to the set. Because of this, I thought a discussion on the rankings of these creatures right now could be useful to people.
My Rankings go something elong the lines of:
1) Gravecrawler (if enough zombies to support) since it's the cheapest to get back onto the battlefield
Tied 2-4.
Bloodsoaked Champion
Dread Wanderer
Gutterbones
I rank these pretty evenly since they all can come back. Dread Wanderer is the most expensive to bring back, and you have to be pretty much out of cards, but is also a zombie which helps Gravecrawler. Since Bloodsoaked Champion Can't block and you need a creature attack vs Opponent's losing life, different decks will generally get more value out of one or the other, but those decks will probably play both
5) Sarcomancy
I think Sarcomancy really depends on the cube and specific archetypes how well it will play. I can see some cubes not playing it at all, but any cubes that can get value out of sacking permanents will want to consider it. + it's a cheap reserved list card so get it now before it spikes
6)Diregraf Ghoul
Pretty boring cards, but it's still a 2/2 for B and has full art which is always nifty.
7) Gnarled Scarhide
2/1 with upside. Not a zombie. Might be more correct to rate this as # 6 and Diregraf as 7 depending on the density of zombies
8) Carnophage
Losing a life or tapping can hurt in some decks. Other decks don't care if it's tapped if you keep bringing back Gravecrawler and getting value out of it that way.
Not sure what cards I would rank after this since I don't run 7 or 8 anymore.
http://www.cubetutor.com/cubeblog/63569
- Bloodsoaked Champion
- Dread Wanderer
- Gravecrawler (can be #1 with enough zombies, but I feel the other two are more consistent)
- Gutterbones
- Diregraf Ghoul
- Sarcomancy
- Carnophage
- Gnarled Scarhide
- Tormented Hero
- Vampire Lacerator
- Reaver Drone
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
Bloodsoaked Champion
Gravecrawler
Gutterbones
Carrion Feeder
Dread Wanderer
Diregraf Ghoul
[180 classic cube]
I rank the one drops I play from best to worst:
Bloodsoaked Champion
Gutterbones
Dread Wanderer
Gravecrawler
Diregraf Ghoul
(big drop in power here)
Carnophage
Sarcomancy
Vampire Lacerator
Gnarled Scarhide
The list on cube cobra
Read my blog on cube - Latest post June 2nd 2022
Bloodsoaked Champion
Gravecrawler
Gutterbones
Dread Wanderer
Tier 2
Sarcomancy
Diregraf Ghoul
Carnophage
Tier 3
Tormented Hero
Gnarled Scarhide
Vampire Lacerator
Grasping Scoundrel
Reaver Drone
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
But for clarity's sake, I'd rank them like this.
Tier 1 - The Recursive Bunch
Dread Wanderer - He comes back to the battlefield as opposed to hand and is easy to activate for both aggro and stax/aristocrats style decks.
Bloodsoaked Champion - The clear number two to me, for similar reasons.
Gutterbones
Gravecrawler - With enough Zombie support, this one could easily rank up.
Tier 2 - The Solid Aggressive Beaters
Diregraf Ghoul - Straightforward 2/2 for 1 with almost no drawback.
Sarcomancy - See Diregraf Ghoul. Ranked below it because it's also vulnerable to bounce.
Carnophage - Being a 2/2 as opposed to a 2/1 helps these next two rise above the rest. Plus they have Zombie and Warrior synergies.
Vampire Lacerator
Gnarled Scarhide - Almost always a 2/1 for 1, but occasionally provides a buff in the late game where he'd otherwise be useless.
That's nine black one drops and at 540, I think eight or nine is probably enough. But should you want to venture into 630/720 range you might be looking to add more to help support aggro.
Tier 3 - The Cubeable Fodder
Tormented Hero
Reaver Drone
Carrion Feeder
Now, a note about Carrion Feeder as it can be a point of contention. It's value in your cube can go up or down based on the archetypes you wish to support. I don't think it can ever be a tier one level creature, but it can certainly fall somewhere in that tier two ranking. I put it at the bottom here because I think your cube has to want/need this card for it to be an option.
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
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