I think you might be better off with another mana-rock in that slot, Sphere of the Suns maybe? You aren't actually running that many for a cube your size (particularly since you aren't running any Signets) - I'm running slightly more than you in a smaller cube!
I actually am already running Sphere of the Suns but must have missed adding it to the OP when I updated. Sorry about that. Hopefully I didn't miss anything else!
You could also just not force yourself to not run so many colorless cards
Eh... I don't feel forced to run this many colorless cards. I kind of like it, to be honest. It gives me room for cards that are little more on the fringe side of things. And it makes new solid artifacts easy includes.
Yeah, I just don't think it's a good card in a vacuum. If you play 15-round tournament and know that ~12 of your opponents are playing counterspells, hey, it's good. If you have 40% of your deck as creatures of the same CMC, it's good. By itself? Meh.
But don't trust my word, here's the top-ranked pro MTG player in the world calling it "barely playable" (in reference to Modern Masters drafting).
Owen's a fantastic player and I do trust his judgment, but I don't think his views on one card in a completely different format hold much water in this particular discussion. Cube is a casual format, especially for pros. For people like me, however, it's the only format. I don't participate in any other format. Almost all of my Magic is played via cube at a kitchen table. Everything else is cube on MTGO. Guys like Owen and LSV, they see cube as a break. A way to have fun and relax from playing Modern and Standard and the latest limited. For me though, this is truly the only format. So I see a card like Aether Vial and I want to play it. It's a good card, but it takes some work. Maybe that deck doesn't exist in cube, but I want to find out for myself.
What do you think about Ainok Survivalist over Nantuko Vigilante? It has a vanilla option as a 2/1 for 1G instead of a 3/2 for 3G, which seems to be a better deal.
You included Soltari Champion but not Pianna, Nomad Captain. Pianna looks like its better than some of your other 3-drops in white, is there any particular reason?
What do you think about Ainok Survivalist over Nantuko Vigilante? It has a vanilla option as a 2/1 for 1G instead of a 3/2 for 3G, which seems to be a better deal.
I think that was an oversight and mostly I just forgot to order one for the upgrade. So, in a word... oops. This swap will probably happen when I place my ORI order.
You included Soltari Champion but not Pianna, Nomad Captain. Pianna looks like its better than some of your other 3-drops in white, is there any particular reason?
I did include Pianna. I'm looking at the OP now and wondering how drunk I was when I updated it. I removed what looks to be all of the cards I cut, but didn't add all of the cards I added. I'll have to go back over that tomorrow morning. Thanks for the response and calling me out on this one. I might not have noticed. For what it's worth, here's the complete list of the latest updates for anything that may or may not be missing from the OP at the moment.
I would say it does. Edict effects are relatively weak in the Peasant meta. Quest for the Grave Lord, on the other hand, is actually a surprisingly good card when most (non-green) creatures top at 4 power and quality removal is plentiful. Exhume might be a good card for heavy reanimator packages, though, and while Dark Hatchling is a nice utility creature, it remains far from a personal favorite. Then again, removing Goblin Trenches is an interesting choice, given all the good things I have heard about it.
Glad to be of service! Your cube is one of the few I make sure to check when I want to see what people have included from new releases.
What are you thinking of including from Origins?
I appreciate that. We don't get to cube near as much as I would like. Obviously I want to cube every day, but it ends up being more like once a month with the occasional 2-man thrown in here and there. Because of the that the rare cube sees a lot more table time than the peasant one, but I try to keep this one up to date just in case we decide to dust it off. We might cube this 5-6 times a year on average.
Currently my Origins update looks like this. Fourteen cards is nuts for peasant.
Consul's Lieutenant --> Azorius Arrester
Sentinel of the Eternal Watch --> Serra Angel
Topan Freeblade --> Syndic of Tithes
Jhessian Thief --> Archaeomancer
Whirler Rogue --> Thieving Magpie
Goblin Glory Chaser --> Mogg Fanatic
Acolyte of the Inferno --> Splatter Thug
Magmatic Insight --> Lightning Strike
Conclave Naturalists --> Indrik Stomphowler
Skysnare Spider --> Nemesis of Mortals
Undercity Troll --> River Boa
Thunderclap Wyvern --> Skymark Roc
Bounding Krasis --> Fleetfeather Cockatrice
Warhorn --> Aether Vial
It wouldn't be a good idea for the rare cube at all, but peasant is a very different format. It took me a while to realize how vastly different the two formats were and that I shouldn't just pull all the common/uncommon cards from the rare cube and jam them into the peasant one. It's easy to think, "If it's good enough for powered, surely it's good enough for peasant," but that's just not correct. There are several cards that perform really well in the rare cube that end up being underachievers in the peasant cube just because those archetypes don't really pop up as often. Like Tinker, for instance. Artifacts just aren't nearly as powerful here as they are in rare lists, plus there are almost literally zero targets worth fetching with Tinker. Exhume had a similar fate. Dedicated reanimator is really the only deck that wants it and that deck just doesn't really come together at this rarity. The reanimation spells typically see play in BX midrange/control lists to rebuy dead creatures for more value. And Edict effects, for whatever reason, just turned out to be not as good here. I guess that's maybe because it's such a creature/token heavy format? It just seemed a lot harder to get them to work in your favor here.
Never mind. I saw Hatchling as a rare card and assumed this was your main cube. Move along, nothing to see here.
Some of the MTGO releases (Tempest Remastered, Vintage Masters, etc) printed some solid paper rares at digital uncommon. I'm actually pretty psyched to try Radiant out in this format.
After having some requests from my friends to bring the peasant cube back, I've decided to bring it out of retirement. I decreased the size from 450 to 360 because I like to have a higher power level environment (even in peasant) and the card quality at this rarity really drops off quick. I've combed through all the helpful threads in the peasant subforum as well as several lists from users who are predominantly peasant cubers. I think I've got what I feel is the "best" list for me and my group.
Any notable omissions are most likely because I just didn't have another copy and didn't want to drop the $$$ on them just yet for this list. I'll list some of those here:
Ghostly Prison
Force of Will
Remand
Psionic Blast
Propaganda
Dismember
Inquisition of Kozilek
Demonic Tutor
Necromancy
Chain Lightning
Devoted Druid
Sylvan Library
Kitchen Finks
Isochron Scepter
Ancient Tomb
Ash Barrens
City of Brass
Gemstone Mine
I'm definitely interested in any feedback the regular peasant cubers around here can offer. The OP is up to date and here is the CubeTutor link.
I actually am already running Sphere of the Suns but must have missed adding it to the OP when I updated. Sorry about that. Hopefully I didn't miss anything else!
Eh... I don't feel forced to run this many colorless cards. I kind of like it, to be honest. It gives me room for cards that are little more on the fringe side of things. And it makes new solid artifacts easy includes.
Owen's a fantastic player and I do trust his judgment, but I don't think his views on one card in a completely different format hold much water in this particular discussion. Cube is a casual format, especially for pros. For people like me, however, it's the only format. I don't participate in any other format. Almost all of my Magic is played via cube at a kitchen table. Everything else is cube on MTGO. Guys like Owen and LSV, they see cube as a break. A way to have fun and relax from playing Modern and Standard and the latest limited. For me though, this is truly the only format. So I see a card like Aether Vial and I want to play it. It's a good card, but it takes some work. Maybe that deck doesn't exist in cube, but I want to find out for myself.
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
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You included Soltari Champion but not Pianna, Nomad Captain. Pianna looks like its better than some of your other 3-drops in white, is there any particular reason?
Cubetutor link - 380 Peasant Cube
I think that was an oversight and mostly I just forgot to order one for the upgrade. So, in a word... oops. This swap will probably happen when I place my ORI order.
I did include Pianna. I'm looking at the OP now and wondering how drunk I was when I updated it. I removed what looks to be all of the cards I cut, but didn't add all of the cards I added. I'll have to go back over that tomorrow morning. Thanks for the response and calling me out on this one. I might not have noticed. For what it's worth, here's the complete list of the latest updates for anything that may or may not be missing from the OP at the moment.
IN --> OUT
Mardu Woe-Reaper --> Goldmeadow Harrier
Soltari Champion --> Daring Skyjek
Radiant, Archangel --> Master Splicer
Pianna, Nomad Captain --> Stonecloaker
Dragon Hunter --> Loyal Cathar
Illusory Angel --> Sigiled Starfish
Psionic Blast --> Complicate
Serendib Efreet --> Augury Owl
Orc Sureshot --> Moan of the Unhallowed
Dark Hatchling --> Enslave
Sarcomancy --> Vault Skirge
Quest for the Gravelord --> Exhume
Blood-Chin Rager --> Diabolic Edict
Goblin Heelcutter --> Fanatic of Mogis
Hordeling Outburst --> Fervent Cathar
Hissing Iguanar --> Goblin Shortcutter
Bloodfray Giant --> Ghitu Slilnger
Faithless Looting --> Forked Bolt
Nest Invader --> Viridian Emissary
Temur Sabretooth --> Masked Admirers
Abzan Beastmaster --> Thornweald Archer
Gravetiller Wurm --> Howlgeist
Epic Confrontation --> Elves of Deep Shadow
Devoted Druid --> Avacyn's Pilgrim
Lyev Skynight --> Wall of Denial
Psychatog --> Shipwreck Singer
Fire Covenant --> Spike Jester
Sin Collector --> Mortify
Prophetic Bolt --> Izzet Chronarch
Goblin Trenches --> Truefire Paladin
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
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What are you thinking of including from Origins?
Cubetutor link - 380 Peasant Cube
Can't say this looks like a good idea to me.
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!
I appreciate that. We don't get to cube near as much as I would like. Obviously I want to cube every day, but it ends up being more like once a month with the occasional 2-man thrown in here and there. Because of the that the rare cube sees a lot more table time than the peasant one, but I try to keep this one up to date just in case we decide to dust it off. We might cube this 5-6 times a year on average.
Currently my Origins update looks like this. Fourteen cards is nuts for peasant.
Consul's Lieutenant --> Azorius Arrester
Sentinel of the Eternal Watch --> Serra Angel
Topan Freeblade --> Syndic of Tithes
Jhessian Thief --> Archaeomancer
Whirler Rogue --> Thieving Magpie
Goblin Glory Chaser --> Mogg Fanatic
Acolyte of the Inferno --> Splatter Thug
Magmatic Insight --> Lightning Strike
Conclave Naturalists --> Indrik Stomphowler
Skysnare Spider --> Nemesis of Mortals
Undercity Troll --> River Boa
Thunderclap Wyvern --> Skymark Roc
Bounding Krasis --> Fleetfeather Cockatrice
Warhorn --> Aether Vial
It wouldn't be a good idea for the rare cube at all, but peasant is a very different format. It took me a while to realize how vastly different the two formats were and that I shouldn't just pull all the common/uncommon cards from the rare cube and jam them into the peasant one. It's easy to think, "If it's good enough for powered, surely it's good enough for peasant," but that's just not correct. There are several cards that perform really well in the rare cube that end up being underachievers in the peasant cube just because those archetypes don't really pop up as often. Like Tinker, for instance. Artifacts just aren't nearly as powerful here as they are in rare lists, plus there are almost literally zero targets worth fetching with Tinker. Exhume had a similar fate. Dedicated reanimator is really the only deck that wants it and that deck just doesn't really come together at this rarity. The reanimation spells typically see play in BX midrange/control lists to rebuy dead creatures for more value. And Edict effects, for whatever reason, just turned out to be not as good here. I guess that's maybe because it's such a creature/token heavy format? It just seemed a lot harder to get them to work in your favor here.
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
Follow me. I tweet.
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!
Some of the MTGO releases (Tempest Remastered, Vintage Masters, etc) printed some solid paper rares at digital uncommon. I'm actually pretty psyched to try Radiant out in this format.
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
Follow me. I tweet.
Any notable omissions are most likely because I just didn't have another copy and didn't want to drop the $$$ on them just yet for this list. I'll list some of those here:
Ghostly Prison
Force of Will
Remand
Psionic Blast
Propaganda
Dismember
Inquisition of Kozilek
Demonic Tutor
Necromancy
Chain Lightning
Devoted Druid
Sylvan Library
Kitchen Finks
Isochron Scepter
Ancient Tomb
Ash Barrens
City of Brass
Gemstone Mine
I'm definitely interested in any feedback the regular peasant cubers around here can offer. The OP is up to date and here is the CubeTutor link.
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
Follow me. I tweet.