Yeah, I dunno. I probably would've dropped fettergeist as the deck had a high creature count and was fairly mana intensive with all the bounce effects.
-Celestial Crusader, +Goldnight Commander: With the new curses, I feel that both black and green bring a lot of game in the token department, so goldnight's universal pump is relevant.
-Griffin Guide, +Midnight Haunting: Now that the hammers are coming back, the Guide seems a little redundant in such a small cube. Haunting is coming in to bring back a more apparent token theme.
-Fire/Ice classified as a red card rather than hybrid, -Tattermunge Maniac, +Cumber Stone: balancing out the hybrid section, and allowing me Cumber Stone which has recently piqued my interest.
-Plagued Rusalka, +Darkblast: Similar function, but Darkblast seems a little less clunky and helps out the extort guys.
-Far/Away, +Nekrataal: I got frustrated with trying to balance Far/Away in the cube and now that worm harvest is coming out, i decided to nerf it altogether.
-Makeshift Mannequin, +Dance of the Dead: Mannequin wanted to be in the Reanimator deck, but never happened due to the added fragility of the creature. I think that the +1/+1 bonus will push some targets over the top.
-River Boa, +Viridan Shaman: Bringing in some extra artifact hate for the big guys that are coming back in. Nest Invader may come out instead.
-Worm Harvest, +Reach of Branches: Worm Harvest is too slow and not worth the trouble. I like the synergy Reach has with Looter effects.
You are a bold man for putting the hammers and Skullclamp back in.
I think Skullclamp is the worst offender. If you've never seen it in action.... get ready. Your playgroup will not be happy I guarantee it. This may need to be a "see it to believe it" scenario!
I can see how hammers may be less oppressive with all the answers people are putting in their cubes nowadays, espcially with the new Commander curses, but I still think they are some of the most swingiest spells in Peasant (something I try to avoid).
Well I played in standard when skullclamp was legal, so I know how good it is. I'm just interested in seeing if peasant cube can reasonably support it.
-Crypt Rats, +Infest: Despite the awesome synergies of the Rats w/ Lashknife Barrier and recursion...I've decided that I hate this card. It's the clunkiest of clunky cards, and I already have Pestilence which seems like enough of the mana intensive sweepers at this size.
-Frenzied Goblin, +Reckless Waif: The waif is more variable, but I've never really bonded with the goblin. I also really like the kinds of decisions that the transform mechanic promotes.
-Evolution Charm, +Wall of Blossoms: Recursion has been feeling a little excessive in the cube. Wall of Blossoms is always a crowd pleaser.
-Harrow, +Squirrel Nest: I was looking at proportions and realized I was a little excessive on ramp at this cube size.
What do you guys think about Faithless Looting at this size? It's always a solid card, but I can't help but feel like it could be replaced by something a little more exciting. Opinions on what could replace it?
Looting could be Arc Trail? I think that's the best Red spell you're not currently running, although I could certainly understand if you'd rather not add another cheap dividable burn spell.
EDIT: One more edit for now
-Liliana's Specter, +Dauthi Marauder: It was this or Hippie, and Hypnotic Specter has been going to town here. I'm also leery of making my cube 187 town. Marauder eases up some mana commitments, and gives aggro a substantial 3-drop.
-Fettergeist, +Calcite Snapper: Switching this up for a bit more diversity.
-Deep Analysis, +Complicate: Crunching numbers when looking at other people's cubes made me realize how few counterspells I've been running. I was running an extra draw spell it seemed, and Deep Analysis has been the least role-playing of the crew.
-Dauthi Horror, +Fledgling Djinn:Trying to begin making aggro a little more resilient to the pinging spells in the cube (darkblast, flame jab, arc lightning, etc)
-Wight of Precinct Six, +Rakdos Guildmage: I want to give the guildmage a spin as it's an on-color discard outlet, and may occasionally enable mono colored builds. Also fuels Gray Merchant a little.
-Falkenrath Noble, +Bloodhunter Bat: A hard switch, but I want to give the Bat a shot to enable a blink/drain archetype.
-Moan of the Unhallowed, +Gray Merchant of Asphondel: I love Moan, but it too often feels like filler to me. I've been reluctant to include Gary, but I like it's build around potential.
-Squirrel Nest, +Stingerfling Spider: I realized I haven't given green any game against flyers. Squirrel Nest is too awkward, too often.
-Rot Farm Skeleton, +Dreg Mangler: Skeleton has been a dud. Mangler was always the better card, but I thought the skeleton would be a good enabler....turns out it does, but far too slowly.
-Frostburn Weird, +Electrolyze: Blue doesn't really need the extra big butt defender. I was avoiding excessive 2 for 1's, but Electrolyze is just a really exciting card that encourages you into Izzet. I'll restructure if aggro starts to peter out.
The decks were Izzet spells matter, Bant Ramp (me), Golgari sacrifice, and Orzhov midrange.
I first picked regrowth, second picked trostani's summoner, and decided to force ramp as I never draft that deck. By the end of the 2nd pack I'd only seen 1 piece of ramp, and my pool consisted of mostly 5+ drops. Luckily, the ramp came through in the last pack and I was able to put this deck together which went undefeated:
I tried to equip myself with lots of ways to deal with the hammers and skullclamp, but never saw either across the table from me. It was a fun draft, and reanimating Pelakka Wurm with Artisan of Kozilek is the bee's knees. Shardless Agent was really good all night...I just tried to make sure that there was an opposing creature in play and at least one card in my graveyard worth returning.
-Complicate, +Miscalculation: an oversight, Miscalculation is better
-Cumber Stone, +Psionic Blast: Cumber Stone was a fun test, but I don't like where it sits on the curve...Psi Blast has been missed
-Infest, +Drown in Sorrow: only BNG addition...sigh
-Roar of the Wurm, +Harmonize: I had too many 6+ drops in green. Harmonize brings a little change of pace to the color.
-Reach of Branches, +Bestial Menace: Not sure Menace will stick, but Reach has been underwhelming to say the least.
-Wild Mongrel, +Leafcrown Dryad: Big change for me. Mongrel has been a favorite forever. However, I'm not supporting as strong of a dredge theme at 270, so Dryad should pull more weight. Adds a little more game against flyers, and an extra tool for Phantom Centaur/double strikers/etc
-Wall of Tanglecord, +Ulamog's Crusher: The wall really only seemed to want to go with Pestilence, and that's not what I really want out of my colorless cards. Crusher is bomby and fun.
Next set of changes...this one is a little more drastic.
So I'm tired of running my high dollar cards in the cube, so I'm proxying them up. Which now allows me to bring berserk in, because I hadn't wanted damage my NM alpha copy. While I was at it, I decided to go ahead and proxy Mana Drain. It and Sword of Fire and Ice are the only cards I'm actively trying to trade for at the moment...so I think it's only a matter of time before I land a copy.
-Midnight Haunting, +Aven Riftwatcher: I've been wanting an extra blink target in white. The lack of token swarm support has made me want to invest in the strategy less.
-Goldnight Commander, +Azorius Justiciar: Commander has always felt too clunky. Not sure if Justiciar will stick, but I want to test it. People seem to be digging it here.
-Swell of Courage, +Blinding Beam: The can't block strategy has seemed to be much more effective than extra token support.
-Riftwing Cloudskate, +Aether Adept: I was hard-pressed to think of a time when bouncing a permanent was particularly more relevant than the lower casting cost of Adept.
-Counterspell, +Mana Drain: Drain is ridiculous, and I love the idea of giving reanimator another way to cheat a fatty in. I don't have room for 2 CC-costed counterspells.
-Aftershock, +Stalking Yeti: Aftershock was always reasonable, but Yeti is just a house.
-Viridian Shaman, +Indrik Stomphowler: There are almost as many enchantments as artifacts in my cube, and often times the enchantments are nastier. Shaman hits about 10% of my cube, while Stomphowler hits close to 20%
-Stingerfling Spider, +Thornweald Archer: Bringing the avg cc down to compensate for stomphowler coming in.
-Bestial Menace, +Trusted Forcemage: I wanted to add another aggressive 3-drop to green. Menace may come back in if I decide to cut Imperious Perfect.
-Moldervine Cloak, +Berserk: Berserk is one of my favorite cards of all time, and the cloak has not shown up in decks lately.
-Ghor-Clan Rampager, +Fanatic of Xenagos: BNG addition #2. Until green gets some better options in the 3-slot, I think Fanatic will be more valuable in Gruul decks. Rampager is a better card, but its modes are a little redundant.
-Everflowing Chalice, +Prismatic Lens: The additional color support seems better than the flexibility of Chalice.
-Gathan Raiders, +Strip Mine: Giving aggro a different kind of tool.
-Pierce Strider, +Maze of Ith: I've been feeling like there's a glut of 4 drops in my cube, and I needed to make room for Maze.
Flinthoof is great, but there is a noticeable gap in aggressive 3 drops for the gruul deck. I think the fanatic is pretty insane in either mode. If I had to pick another gruul creature instead of fanatic, it'd probably be Kird Ape.
To be honest, I don't love riftwatcher that much either. I almost put in timely reinforcements instead. Reinforcements is a first-pick quality card in a color that needs it. It's usually great against everything except the strictest control decks. However, it does particularly hose red aggro with very little effort.
I'll keep the riftwing vs adept comparison in mind...i like riftwing cloudskate as it's less of a functional repint. I want to get some playtime with fanatic before I'll change my mind. I still think that it fills a gap in gruul's pool, which is more necessary than what rampager offers.
Drain is definitely unfair...but so is skullclamp, grafted wargear, and to a lesser extent the hammers...I'm enjoying seeing how much power I can cram into my cube at the moment. I'm only holding back on sol ring and library...sol ring because goes in all decks and is picked over everything (i don't know if the same could be said about any other card in the cube), and library because I don't intend on ever acquiring a copy.
-Banisher Priest, +Fiend Hunter: Small change...today I like the more resilient body on this kind of creature.
-Aven Riftwatcher, +Midnight Haunting: Take backsies
-Azorius Justiciar, +Calciderm: Seemed a little redundant with Blinding Beam, and I completely forgot about Calciderm
-Glimmerpoint Stag, +Seraph of Dawn: Stag has felt a little weird in the curve for a while now, I've never run Seraph before...but looks like a roleplayer
-Augur of Bolas, +Omenspeaker: I want to give blink decks another target, and they are usually pretty spell-light.
-Turn to Mist, -Curse of Chains, +Enlightened Tutor, +Narcolepsy: As I'm moving from a modular list to a more powered list, Turn to Mist has felt out of place. Blue decks wanted Curse of Chains the most, so I'm switching to Narcolepsy to balance.
-Bloodhunter Bat, +Falkenrath Noble: Noble feels much bombier and is capable of swinging a game more easily.
-Gray Merchant of Asphodel, +Fallen Angel: Both are build-around creatures, but I think Angel is more in keeping with black's Strengths
-Reckless Waif, +Chain Lightning: I never seem to be on shortage of one drops for aggro decks. I think Chain Lightning is arguably stronger for aggro decks than waif. This almost became Arc Trail.
-Faithless Looting, +Imperial Recruiter: Faithless Looting is a great card, but Recruiter is more exciting and gives red something different to do.
-Beastbreaker of Bala Ged, +Strangleroot Geist: Beastbreaker is easier to splash, but isn't very exciting to draft. Geist is a stronger card with more difficult mana, and offers a wider range of interactions.
-Skymark Roc, +Momentary Blink: Dropping Glimmerpoint Stag and Turn to Mist made me want to bring back Momentary Blink. It's an exciting build-around spell.
We all know how I feel about Bloodhunter Bat. Can't say I agree with that one. I do like Fallen Angel though. Great card, especially in the Orzhov token decks.
I also don't like the Glimmerpoint Stag cut. Blink is a great deck and this card is a lynchpin in that deck. It's a solid body with a great ability that can reuse ETBs and can also clear a blocker off the board for some lethal strike. Again, I like the card you are putting in. Seraph is solid. I don't play it currently, but it's a good card.
I'd play Arc Trail or Shard Volley over Chain Lightning. If I'm casting a sorcery burn spell, I want it to get a bit more value, which is why I like Arc Trail more.
I'm now a little more interested in Beetleback Chief, due to it being an on curve Imperial Recruiter target...it was always a decent card, but that interaction takes it over the top IMO. I'm not as much of a fan of Mogg War Marshall, but it's really the only other card in red that's decent at supporting Goblin Bombardment.
What do you think should be cut? I imagine most people think I should cut the dragon before sparkmage....I like the flavor of the dragon in the cube, and it has been pretty fantastic at closing games out (especially in izzet). Cunning Sparkmage is definitely good, but my control decks don't like to have a little dudes on the ground, and would prefer to sweep the table...the aggro decks are too fast to want to include it.
Other options are Stalking Yeti, a favorite of mine, but 4 creatures in the 4cc slot at this size cube might be a bit much for red. I could also cut one of the aggro 2 drops? Aggro doesn't seem to ever have a shortage of 2cc duders. Or I could just skip bringing in Mogg War Marshall...
Ok so we got a 3-man quilt draft in last night. None of us had ever quilt drafted before, but I think it was unanimously enjoyed. The decks were G/U value, G/W aggro, and R/B control(me). This was the first time I've been able to see some of the new "power" inclusions get some play time. The energy of the draft was really high with the amped up card pool and visibility of the draft format.
The G/W deck had Behemoth Sledge which hit the table both games in our match. My density of creature removal was really high so I was able to kill most of the creatures in response to equips or keep them tapped down. In the G/W vs G/U match it did better work, but still wasn't enough to win games. It feels lower in power than the other tier one cards in the cube. I don't think Sledge poses much of a problem at this point.
The G/U deck had Skullclamp which hit the table all 3 games in our match. It clearly allowed him to win the first game in our match in tandem with some token generators. The second game was an arms race. Pestilence, Chimeric Idol, Reassembling Skeleton, and Curse of Shallow Graves allowed me to match the draw of Skullclamp and I was able pull out the win. The third game I had enough instant speed removal to keep clamp from going crazy and a well-timed Hymn to Tourach sealed the game. The deck wasn't particularly optimized for Skullclamp, but it was a creature heavy deck with some token action.
Both players dipped into my colors a little bit, but ultimately didn't end up splashing. I was hoping to grab another closer like Darksteel Sentinel, another mana rock, and some form of artifact removal, but it didn't pan out. I got to play with a few cards for the first time, and see some older inclusions do good work.
Pestilence, which was close to being on the chopping block, really wrecked all night.
Chimeric Idol hadn't seen much play in a while and was also on the watchlist, but it did the most damage of any other card in my deck. It dodged all of my sweepers, my opponents sorcery speed removal, and kept Pestilence around. 3/3 felt huge.
Volcanic Dragon was solid all night...and a much needed large body for Pestilence. It's shown up in 3 drafts since I've included it and has really been working out.
Curse of the Shallow Graves continues to prove it's worth...I'm tempted to say it's the best black card in the cube...or at least top 3. It really helped me keep Skullclamp in check.
I keep thinking that I need to add some card draw to black, and this draft reiterated that for me. So I may start looking for a way to cram something in. I also really missed aftershock this draft, it was nice to have artifact removal strapped to creature removal.
All-in-all a fun night of drafting, and I'm feeling pretty good about where my cube is currently at.
Oh, I just remembered that Fanatic of Xenagos showed up in the draft and I finally realized that it only gave +1/+1 and haste...for some strange reason i thought it got +2/+2...so out it comes. haha
-Fanatic of Xenagos
+Ghor-Clan Rampager
Now I feel an even stronger impulse to cut a red 4 drop....
Whats your feeling with Fireball vs. Rolling Thunder? Are you often finding that you cast Fireball targeting more than 2 things to warrant the extra red in the CC? Also congrats on the win.
-Knight of the Meadowgrain, +Syndic of Tithes: Bringing in a little extort and reducing some mana commitment.
-Celestial Crusader, +Goldnight Commander: With the new curses, I feel that both black and green bring a lot of game in the token department, so goldnight's universal pump is relevant.
-Griffin Guide, +Midnight Haunting: Now that the hammers are coming back, the Guide seems a little redundant in such a small cube. Haunting is coming in to bring back a more apparent token theme.
-Fire/Ice classified as a red card rather than hybrid, -Tattermunge Maniac, +Cumber Stone: balancing out the hybrid section, and allowing me Cumber Stone which has recently piqued my interest.
-Plagued Rusalka, +Darkblast: Similar function, but Darkblast seems a little less clunky and helps out the extort guys.
-Fledgling Djinn, +Basilica Screecher: Hard cut, but Screecher works in both aggro and bleed strategies.
-Grixis Slavedriver, +Phyrexian Gargantua: Slavedriver just never really worked out like I'd hoped.
-Far/Away, +Nekrataal: I got frustrated with trying to balance Far/Away in the cube and now that worm harvest is coming out, i decided to nerf it altogether.
-Makeshift Mannequin, +Dance of the Dead: Mannequin wanted to be in the Reanimator deck, but never happened due to the added fragility of the creature. I think that the +1/+1 bonus will push some targets over the top.
-River Boa, +Viridan Shaman: Bringing in some extra artifact hate for the big guys that are coming back in. Nest Invader may come out instead.
-Worm Harvest, +Reach of Branches: Worm Harvest is too slow and not worth the trouble. I like the synergy Reach has with Looter effects.
-Plumeveil, +Wall of Denial: I got no beef with the Wall, and Plumeveil saw zero play.
-Centaur Healer, +Behemoth Sledge: Hammer-time.
-Sylvok Lifestaff, +Skullclamp: Clamp is bonkers, and I want to see for myself how unfair it may or may not be.
-Vulshok Morningstar, +Loxodon Warhammer: Hammer-time.
I think Skullclamp is the worst offender. If you've never seen it in action.... get ready. Your playgroup will not be happy I guarantee it. This may need to be a "see it to believe it" scenario!
I can see how hammers may be less oppressive with all the answers people are putting in their cubes nowadays, espcially with the new Commander curses, but I still think they are some of the most swingiest spells in Peasant (something I try to avoid).
Good luck with them. Let us know how it goes!
My Peasant Cube thread !!! (380 cards)
Draft my Peasant Cube on Cube Cobra !!!
Man.. I am really against this card huh?
My Peasant Cube thread !!! (380 cards)
Draft my Peasant Cube on Cube Cobra !!!
-Crypt Rats, +Infest: Despite the awesome synergies of the Rats w/ Lashknife Barrier and recursion...I've decided that I hate this card. It's the clunkiest of clunky cards, and I already have Pestilence which seems like enough of the mana intensive sweepers at this size.
-Frenzied Goblin, +Reckless Waif: The waif is more variable, but I've never really bonded with the goblin. I also really like the kinds of decisions that the transform mechanic promotes.
-Evolution Charm, +Wall of Blossoms: Recursion has been feeling a little excessive in the cube. Wall of Blossoms is always a crowd pleaser.
-Harrow, +Squirrel Nest: I was looking at proportions and realized I was a little excessive on ramp at this cube size.
-Shambling Remains, +Rix Maadi Guildmage: Guildmage is a nightmare for decks, and Remains seemed like the odd man out too often.
What do you guys think about Faithless Looting at this size? It's always a solid card, but I can't help but feel like it could be replaced by something a little more exciting. Opinions on what could replace it?
I'm a fan of Nemesis of Mortals, but I think I've reached a threshold of 5+ drops. Other cards I considered adding were Harmonize or Yavimaya Elder. Squirrel Nest was really good in tandem with Blood Artist and Falkenrath Noble over here...I thought that might be worth looking into now that we have Curse of Predation.
This is why it (or electrolyze) hasn't been included yet. Although, I was considering it as well as Goblin Bombardment, Ghitu Slinger, and Fireslinger.
EDIT: One more edit for now
-Liliana's Specter, +Dauthi Marauder: It was this or Hippie, and Hypnotic Specter has been going to town here. I'm also leery of making my cube 187 town. Marauder eases up some mana commitments, and gives aggro a substantial 3-drop.
Rix maadi guildmage does way more than just "do ok" against control decks. It can and often does dictate an entire game while it lives.
My CubeCobra (draft 20 card packs, 2 packs.)
430, Peasant, Very Unpowered
Why you should take your hybrids out of your gold section
Manamath Article
-Fettergeist, +Calcite Snapper: Switching this up for a bit more diversity.
-Deep Analysis, +Complicate: Crunching numbers when looking at other people's cubes made me realize how few counterspells I've been running. I was running an extra draw spell it seemed, and Deep Analysis has been the least role-playing of the crew.
-Dauthi Horror, +Fledgling Djinn:Trying to begin making aggro a little more resilient to the pinging spells in the cube (darkblast, flame jab, arc lightning, etc)
-Wight of Precinct Six, +Rakdos Guildmage: I want to give the guildmage a spin as it's an on-color discard outlet, and may occasionally enable mono colored builds. Also fuels Gray Merchant a little.
-Falkenrath Noble, +Bloodhunter Bat: A hard switch, but I want to give the Bat a shot to enable a blink/drain archetype.
-Moan of the Unhallowed, +Gray Merchant of Asphondel: I love Moan, but it too often feels like filler to me. I've been reluctant to include Gary, but I like it's build around potential.
-Squirrel Nest, +Stingerfling Spider: I realized I haven't given green any game against flyers. Squirrel Nest is too awkward, too often.
-Rot Farm Skeleton, +Dreg Mangler: Skeleton has been a dud. Mangler was always the better card, but I thought the skeleton would be a good enabler....turns out it does, but far too slowly.
-Frostburn Weird, +Electrolyze: Blue doesn't really need the extra big butt defender. I was avoiding excessive 2 for 1's, but Electrolyze is just a really exciting card that encourages you into Izzet. I'll restructure if aggro starts to peter out.
The decks were Izzet spells matter, Bant Ramp (me), Golgari sacrifice, and Orzhov midrange.
I first picked regrowth, second picked trostani's summoner, and decided to force ramp as I never draft that deck. By the end of the 2nd pack I'd only seen 1 piece of ramp, and my pool consisted of mostly 5+ drops. Luckily, the ramp came through in the last pack and I was able to put this deck together which went undefeated:
1 Perilous Myr
1 Shardless Agent
1 Trygon Predator
1 Sea Gate Oracle
1 Wall of Denial
1 Acidic Slime
1 Gryff Vanguard
1 Deadwood Treefolk
1 Jungle Weaver
1 Pelakka Wurm
1 Trostani's Summoner
1 Artisan of Kozilek
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Regrowth
1 Impulse
1 Mind Stone
1 Guardian Idol
1 Coldsteel Heart
1 Cultivate
1 Crystal Shard
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Faith's Fetters
5 Island
2 Plains
1 Mirrodin's Core
1 Treetop Village
1 Terramorphic Expanse
I tried to equip myself with lots of ways to deal with the hammers and skullclamp, but never saw either across the table from me. It was a fun draft, and reanimating Pelakka Wurm with Artisan of Kozilek is the bee's knees. Shardless Agent was really good all night...I just tried to make sure that there was an opposing creature in play and at least one card in my graveyard worth returning.
-Complicate, +Miscalculation: an oversight, Miscalculation is better
-Cumber Stone, +Psionic Blast: Cumber Stone was a fun test, but I don't like where it sits on the curve...Psi Blast has been missed
-Infest, +Drown in Sorrow: only BNG addition...sigh
-Roar of the Wurm, +Harmonize: I had too many 6+ drops in green. Harmonize brings a little change of pace to the color.
-Reach of Branches, +Bestial Menace: Not sure Menace will stick, but Reach has been underwhelming to say the least.
-Wild Mongrel, +Leafcrown Dryad: Big change for me. Mongrel has been a favorite forever. However, I'm not supporting as strong of a dredge theme at 270, so Dryad should pull more weight. Adds a little more game against flyers, and an extra tool for Phantom Centaur/double strikers/etc
-Wall of Tanglecord, +Ulamog's Crusher: The wall really only seemed to want to go with Pestilence, and that's not what I really want out of my colorless cards. Crusher is bomby and fun.
Cards I'm debating on currently:
Peregrine Drake: Could be replaced with a bigger role-player
Gray Merchant of Asphodel
Dance of the Dead...I think I have too many reanimation spells
Viridian Shaman...not hitting enchantments is a big negative
So I'm tired of running my high dollar cards in the cube, so I'm proxying them up. Which now allows me to bring berserk in, because I hadn't wanted damage my NM alpha copy. While I was at it, I decided to go ahead and proxy Mana Drain. It and Sword of Fire and Ice are the only cards I'm actively trying to trade for at the moment...so I think it's only a matter of time before I land a copy.
-Midnight Haunting, +Aven Riftwatcher: I've been wanting an extra blink target in white. The lack of token swarm support has made me want to invest in the strategy less.
-Goldnight Commander, +Azorius Justiciar: Commander has always felt too clunky. Not sure if Justiciar will stick, but I want to test it. People seem to be digging it here.
-Swell of Courage, +Blinding Beam: The can't block strategy has seemed to be much more effective than extra token support.
-Riftwing Cloudskate, +Aether Adept: I was hard-pressed to think of a time when bouncing a permanent was particularly more relevant than the lower casting cost of Adept.
-Counterspell, +Mana Drain: Drain is ridiculous, and I love the idea of giving reanimator another way to cheat a fatty in. I don't have room for 2 CC-costed counterspells.
-Aftershock, +Stalking Yeti: Aftershock was always reasonable, but Yeti is just a house.
-Viridian Shaman, +Indrik Stomphowler: There are almost as many enchantments as artifacts in my cube, and often times the enchantments are nastier. Shaman hits about 10% of my cube, while Stomphowler hits close to 20%
-Stingerfling Spider, +Thornweald Archer: Bringing the avg cc down to compensate for stomphowler coming in.
-Bestial Menace, +Trusted Forcemage: I wanted to add another aggressive 3-drop to green. Menace may come back in if I decide to cut Imperious Perfect.
-Moldervine Cloak, +Berserk: Berserk is one of my favorite cards of all time, and the cloak has not shown up in decks lately.
-Ghor-Clan Rampager, +Fanatic of Xenagos: BNG addition #2. Until green gets some better options in the 3-slot, I think Fanatic will be more valuable in Gruul decks. Rampager is a better card, but its modes are a little redundant.
-Everflowing Chalice, +Prismatic Lens: The additional color support seems better than the flexibility of Chalice.
-Gathan Raiders, +Strip Mine: Giving aggro a different kind of tool.
-Pierce Strider, +Maze of Ith: I've been feeling like there's a glut of 4 drops in my cube, and I needed to make room for Maze.
I don't love Aven Riftwatcher, either.
To be honest, I don't love riftwatcher that much either. I almost put in timely reinforcements instead. Reinforcements is a first-pick quality card in a color that needs it. It's usually great against everything except the strictest control decks. However, it does particularly hose red aggro with very little effort.
Drain is definitely unfair...but so is skullclamp, grafted wargear, and to a lesser extent the hammers...I'm enjoying seeing how much power I can cram into my cube at the moment. I'm only holding back on sol ring and library...sol ring because goes in all decks and is picked over everything (i don't know if the same could be said about any other card in the cube), and library because I don't intend on ever acquiring a copy.
-Banisher Priest, +Fiend Hunter: Small change...today I like the more resilient body on this kind of creature.
-Aven Riftwatcher, +Midnight Haunting: Take backsies
-Azorius Justiciar, +Calciderm: Seemed a little redundant with Blinding Beam, and I completely forgot about Calciderm
-Glimmerpoint Stag, +Seraph of Dawn: Stag has felt a little weird in the curve for a while now, I've never run Seraph before...but looks like a roleplayer
-Augur of Bolas, +Omenspeaker: I want to give blink decks another target, and they are usually pretty spell-light.
-Turn to Mist, -Curse of Chains, +Enlightened Tutor, +Narcolepsy: As I'm moving from a modular list to a more powered list, Turn to Mist has felt out of place. Blue decks wanted Curse of Chains the most, so I'm switching to Narcolepsy to balance.
-Bloodhunter Bat, +Falkenrath Noble: Noble feels much bombier and is capable of swinging a game more easily.
-Gray Merchant of Asphodel, +Fallen Angel: Both are build-around creatures, but I think Angel is more in keeping with black's Strengths
-Reckless Waif, +Chain Lightning: I never seem to be on shortage of one drops for aggro decks. I think Chain Lightning is arguably stronger for aggro decks than waif. This almost became Arc Trail.
-Faithless Looting, +Imperial Recruiter: Faithless Looting is a great card, but Recruiter is more exciting and gives red something different to do.
-Beastbreaker of Bala Ged, +Strangleroot Geist: Beastbreaker is easier to splash, but isn't very exciting to draft. Geist is a stronger card with more difficult mana, and offers a wider range of interactions.
-Skymark Roc, +Momentary Blink: Dropping Glimmerpoint Stag and Turn to Mist made me want to bring back Momentary Blink. It's an exciting build-around spell.
I also don't like the Glimmerpoint Stag cut. Blink is a great deck and this card is a lynchpin in that deck. It's a solid body with a great ability that can reuse ETBs and can also clear a blocker off the board for some lethal strike. Again, I like the card you are putting in. Seraph is solid. I don't play it currently, but it's a good card.
I'd play Arc Trail or Shard Volley over Chain Lightning. If I'm casting a sorcery burn spell, I want it to get a bit more value, which is why I like Arc Trail more.
Other than that, these changes look fine.
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My Peasant Cube thread !!! (380 cards)
Draft my Peasant Cube on Cube Cobra !!!
- Chain Lightning
- Ghitu Encampment
- Volcanic Dragon or Cunning Sparkmage? I hate the pingers for some reason.
+ Beetleback Chief
+ Goblin Bombardment
+ Mogg War Marshall
I'm now a little more interested in Beetleback Chief, due to it being an on curve Imperial Recruiter target...it was always a decent card, but that interaction takes it over the top IMO. I'm not as much of a fan of Mogg War Marshall, but it's really the only other card in red that's decent at supporting Goblin Bombardment.
thoughts?
I think you're right on Glimmerpoint Stag though, I'll undo that change.
-Seraph of Dawn
+Glimmerpoint Stag
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Other options are Stalking Yeti, a favorite of mine, but 4 creatures in the 4cc slot at this size cube might be a bit much for red. I could also cut one of the aggro 2 drops? Aggro doesn't seem to ever have a shortage of 2cc duders. Or I could just skip bringing in Mogg War Marshall...
-Ghitu Encampment, +Goblin Bombardment: Encampment is always a solid card, but I don't think having it alongside the Genju of the Spires is the right call for this size list...and the genju has been consistently a game-changing card
-Cunning Sparkmage, +Beetleback Chief: I've been thinking about cutting the pingers for a while now. They're always great, but I would rather have Flame Jab or Arc Lightning
I'm holding off on Mogg War Marshal for now...but I'll keep considering it and possibly Ghitu Slinger
The G/W deck had Behemoth Sledge which hit the table both games in our match. My density of creature removal was really high so I was able to kill most of the creatures in response to equips or keep them tapped down. In the G/W vs G/U match it did better work, but still wasn't enough to win games. It feels lower in power than the other tier one cards in the cube. I don't think Sledge poses much of a problem at this point.
The G/U deck had Skullclamp which hit the table all 3 games in our match. It clearly allowed him to win the first game in our match in tandem with some token generators. The second game was an arms race. Pestilence, Chimeric Idol, Reassembling Skeleton, and Curse of Shallow Graves allowed me to match the draw of Skullclamp and I was able pull out the win. The third game I had enough instant speed removal to keep clamp from going crazy and a well-timed Hymn to Tourach sealed the game. The deck wasn't particularly optimized for Skullclamp, but it was a creature heavy deck with some token action.
I ended up winning the night 2-0 (4-1 in games)
1 Blood Artist
1 Vampire Nighthawk
1 Fire Imp
1 Murderous Redcap
1 Shriekmaw
1 Volcanic Dragon
1 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Go for the Throat
1 Pyroclasm
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Hymn to Tourach
1 Drown in Sorrow
1 Barter in Blood
1 Shower of Coals
1 Fireball
1 Necromancy
1 Pestilence
1 Mind Stone
1 Chimeric Idol
1 Shrine of Burning Rage
1 Icy Manipulator
9 Snow-Covered Swamps
6 Snow-Covered Mountain
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Rupture Spire
Both players dipped into my colors a little bit, but ultimately didn't end up splashing. I was hoping to grab another closer like Darksteel Sentinel, another mana rock, and some form of artifact removal, but it didn't pan out. I got to play with a few cards for the first time, and see some older inclusions do good work.
Pestilence, which was close to being on the chopping block, really wrecked all night.
Chimeric Idol hadn't seen much play in a while and was also on the watchlist, but it did the most damage of any other card in my deck. It dodged all of my sweepers, my opponents sorcery speed removal, and kept Pestilence around. 3/3 felt huge.
Shrine of Burning Rage saw play in one game and ticked away for 7 turns while I chipped away at his life with Murderous Redcap, Fire Imp, and Shower of Coals, and won me that game.
Fireball closed out 2 of the 5 games.
Volcanic Dragon was solid all night...and a much needed large body for Pestilence. It's shown up in 3 drafts since I've included it and has really been working out.
Curse of the Shallow Graves continues to prove it's worth...I'm tempted to say it's the best black card in the cube...or at least top 3. It really helped me keep Skullclamp in check.
I keep thinking that I need to add some card draw to black, and this draft reiterated that for me. So I may start looking for a way to cram something in. I also really missed aftershock this draft, it was nice to have artifact removal strapped to creature removal.
All-in-all a fun night of drafting, and I'm feeling pretty good about where my cube is currently at.
-Fanatic of Xenagos
+Ghor-Clan Rampager
Now I feel an even stronger impulse to cut a red 4 drop....
My 270 Peasant Cube
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