Disagree that Lava Dart is "outclassed" by Flame Jab. Flame Jab is fine, nothing special. You can flashback Lava Dart at instant speed when tapped out. Very few cards let you do things for no mana, and that's a huge perk. It's one damage but it's something your opponent has to constantly work around. Flame Jab is sorcery speed and costs additional mana to cast. They're very different.
Yeah, Lava Dart is waaaaaay better than Flame Jab for these reasons. Not really sure how Flame Jab compares to Death Spark (I don't play online-only commons).
On a related topic, is including 29 lands as Staples seem a bit much? Particularly when 25 of them only fix specific color pairs? Wouldn't it be better to put these as Cubable with only the Fetches, Desert, and Quicksand as Staples?
I've been cutting the number of lands my cube runs as a way to increase actual fun cards. Fixing has never been an issue, particularly if you run Signets. In cubes larger than 360 I could see maybe needing them, but someone just getting into pauper cubing would have difficulty running all the Staples in a smaller cube when a good portion are lands.
On a related topic, is including 29 lands as Staples seem a bit much? Particularly when 25 of them only fix specific color pairs? Wouldn't it be better to put these as Cubable with only the Fetches, Desert, and Quicksand as Staples?
I've been cutting the number of lands my cube runs as a way to increase actual fun cards. Fixing has never been an issue, particularly if you run Signets. In cubes larger than 360 I could see maybe needing them, but someone just getting into pauper cubing would have difficulty running all the Staples in a smaller cube when a good portion are lands.
I would say that the Ravnica Karoo's are definitely staples. They're both fixing and card advantage on a land. If you want to cut some of the other land fixing, I don't think anyone would fault you for cutting the Guildgates.
Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see card advantage on the Rav Karoos. They are good because if you are running 16 lands and one is a karoo, you have access to 17 mana in your land base, but they do not accelerate. I agree they are very playable, but I don't see them as a necessity for every cube.
Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see card advantage on the Rav Karoos. They are good because if you are running 16 lands and one is a karoo, you have access to 17 mana in your land base, but they do not accelerate. I agree they are very playable, but I don't see them as a necessity for every cube.
I think Runner is the one that called them the Divination of lands. They're a 2 for 1 land. Having a land and a karoo in your opening hand is basically like having 8 cards in your opening hand. Say your opponent has 3 lands and 4 cards in his opening hand. You have a land, a karoo, and 5 cards in your hand. You both have access to the same number of mana sources from land but you have an extra card that he doesn't have. Accelerating doesn't have anything to do with card advantage. Rampant Growth isn't card advantage.
So they have virtual card advantage through their inherent mana advantage, at the cost of tempo. Still not seeing a Staple here.
At the end of the day, it's all about what you feel right is for your group's cubing experience. If you players want to see more cards and aren't worried about land based fixing, that is up to your group on what they think should be in your card pool. Al's evaluations are just his thoughts on what cards should be CONSIDERED for cubes. He is by no means telling you that those lands have to be in your cube. But if you are going to include land based fixing, these are some of the best ones pauper cube has access to and are best for you to consider
Have you recognized, that on Stave Off the rules text does not say "a creature you controll"?
So you can even target opponents creatures to give them protection from the color of a spell that tries to enhance or protect them!
Maybe it should be ranked a bit higher because of this flexibility?
And Apostle's Blessing and Gods Willing also have advantages that Stave Off doesn't have; I think ranking the three of them as Borderline makes a lot of sense, especially since all three of them fit the given definition of borderline cards very well. Personally, I've also found the flexibility to target opponents' creatures with Stave Off to not really be relevant in most games, or at least not be better than the other protection spells.
Have you recognized, that on Stave Off the rules text does not say "a creature you controll"?
So you can even target opponents creatures to give them protection from the color of a spell that tries to enhance or protect them!
Maybe it should be ranked a bit higher because of this flexibility?
And Apostle's Blessing and Gods Willing also have advantages that Stave Off doesn't have; I think ranking the three of them as Borderline makes a lot of sense, especially since all three of them fit the given definition of borderline cards very well. Personally, I've also found the flexibility to target opponents' creatures with Stave Off to not really be relevant in most games, or at least not be better than the other protection spells.
I agree, in a particular deck you could slice things thin enough to rank them, but for the cube they're basically indistinguishable unless you want to not confine the effect to white decks.
Also, the Karoos are spell-like lands. They essentially draw you are card when they come into play. You should play both Karoos and Guildgates in my eyes and they're both staples at Pauper.
Is it worth playing both Karoo & Guildgates if you want your cube to stay at 360? Or are you suggesting they are both auto includes in 405/420/450. I am still making up my mind to what my "perfect" size cube is, but at 360 running both seems like a lot. Just my opinion.
Yeah I run both at 360 and do not think that is anywhere near too many. I'd run a 3rd cycle of duals if it was avaialble, but it's not right now.
I agree, although im unsure about the 3rd cycle. You could already run Bounces/Gates + Borderposts/Signets
On topic: Timbermaw Larva is much better than "bad" and very much cubable. Even in 2colored decks its big enough. Especially when you run sth like Cultivate
On topic: Timbermaw Larva is much better than "bad" and very much cubable. Even in 2colored decks its big enough. Especially when you run sth like Cultivate
I'd rank Timbermaw Larva as borderline, but not higher than that. It's fine in heavy green decks when attacking, but (assuming that you want green to be a midrange color) the most important thing about the 4 and 5 cmc green creatures is that they have cost-efficient bodies regardless of attacking or blocking, so that midrange decks can shut down and outscale aggro decks while avoiding things like burn spells. Timbermaw Larva just doesn't do that.
I run it in 360 and im happy with it. In a DeepG Deck, its usually a 5/5. Mid to Lategame its a bomb, which demands removal asap or closes the game real quick.
Its like a green shade, which pumps itself for free on attacks.
Relative to other card draw at each cost point. Here's how Train of Thought compares to other blue card draw at various points, some of which most people don't even play:
If you replicate it 2 times, it's probably still worse than Foresee and still worse than Deep Analysis (which are both usually better than Brilliant Plan).
If you replicate it 3 times, it's still usually worse than Deep Analysis because you just spent 8 mana all at once.
I think you're over-valuing Train of Thought's late game scaling, and flexibility alone doesn't make a card good when the options you're given aren't good. It's generally much more important for card draw to be both efficient and cheap, since that's what allows you to get and snowball from early-mid game card advantage. Also, cheap / efficient draw is still fine late game, especially because you can use your leftover mana to play whatever you draw into the turn you draw it. Other draw spells are just a lot better at more important points in the game, and for most pauper cubes that's enough to warrant a "bad" classification.
I would not rate any blue sorcery speed draw better than borderline, except its extremly well costed. And Train is a worse one compared to the others. I agree with Al.
Not to bust stones, but how are the Hidden Agenda (sans cost reducer) all that good?
You must choose the card (not tokens) before the game begins. So you have a 1x ability. True giving Haste to a Blastoderm is fun, but the Paradise on seems unusable.
Whirlpool Whelm is borderline at least. In my experience, it works as a 'return target creature to its owner's hand. Scry 1', with the chance of having your opponent lose a turn (note that if you win the clash and put his creature on top, the clash didn't worked as an immediate benefit for him). Even if you use it to save your own creature, it isn't risky, because you MAY NOT put it on top, even if you win the clash. Definetively better than Voyage's End
After playing with Harvest Gwyllion for a while I have been impressed enough I think it deserves consideration for Staple status. I have been underwhelmed with Tithe Drinker being so fragile. However, it is entirely likely that BW has 5 Staple worthy cards.
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Yeah, Lava Dart is waaaaaay better than Flame Jab for these reasons. Not really sure how Flame Jab compares to Death Spark (I don't play online-only commons).
I've been cutting the number of lands my cube runs as a way to increase actual fun cards. Fixing has never been an issue, particularly if you run Signets. In cubes larger than 360 I could see maybe needing them, but someone just getting into pauper cubing would have difficulty running all the Staples in a smaller cube when a good portion are lands.
I would say that the Ravnica Karoo's are definitely staples. They're both fixing and card advantage on a land. If you want to cut some of the other land fixing, I don't think anyone would fault you for cutting the Guildgates.
I think Runner is the one that called them the Divination of lands. They're a 2 for 1 land. Having a land and a karoo in your opening hand is basically like having 8 cards in your opening hand. Say your opponent has 3 lands and 4 cards in his opening hand. You have a land, a karoo, and 5 cards in your hand. You both have access to the same number of mana sources from land but you have an extra card that he doesn't have. Accelerating doesn't have anything to do with card advantage. Rampant Growth isn't card advantage.
At the end of the day, it's all about what you feel right is for your group's cubing experience. If you players want to see more cards and aren't worried about land based fixing, that is up to your group on what they think should be in your card pool. Al's evaluations are just his thoughts on what cards should be CONSIDERED for cubes. He is by no means telling you that those lands have to be in your cube. But if you are going to include land based fixing, these are some of the best ones pauper cube has access to and are best for you to consider
And Apostle's Blessing and Gods Willing also have advantages that Stave Off doesn't have; I think ranking the three of them as Borderline makes a lot of sense, especially since all three of them fit the given definition of borderline cards very well. Personally, I've also found the flexibility to target opponents' creatures with Stave Off to not really be relevant in most games, or at least not be better than the other protection spells.
I agree, in a particular deck you could slice things thin enough to rank them, but for the cube they're basically indistinguishable unless you want to not confine the effect to white decks.
Is it worth playing both Karoo & Guildgates if you want your cube to stay at 360? Or are you suggesting they are both auto includes in 405/420/450. I am still making up my mind to what my "perfect" size cube is, but at 360 running both seems like a lot. Just my opinion.
I agree, although im unsure about the 3rd cycle. You could already run Bounces/Gates + Borderposts/Signets
On topic: Timbermaw Larva is much better than "bad" and very much cubable. Even in 2colored decks its big enough. Especially when you run sth like Cultivate
T2 powpercube Value https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/37t
I'd rank Timbermaw Larva as borderline, but not higher than that. It's fine in heavy green decks when attacking, but (assuming that you want green to be a midrange color) the most important thing about the 4 and 5 cmc green creatures is that they have cost-efficient bodies regardless of attacking or blocking, so that midrange decks can shut down and outscale aggro decks while avoiding things like burn spells. Timbermaw Larva just doesn't do that.
Its like a green shade, which pumps itself for free on attacks.
I very much prefer it over higher CC creatures.
T2 powpercube Value https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/37t
T2 powpercube Value https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/37t
Relative to other card draw at each cost point. Here's how Train of Thought compares to other blue card draw at various points, some of which most people don't even play:
If you don't replicate it, it's worse than Think Twice and Aether Spellbomb, and way worse than Impulse, Ponder and Preordain.
If you replicate it once, it's significantly worse than Deep Analysis and Forsee, worse than Divination, and usually worse than Compulsive Research and Perilous Research (which are also usually better than Divination).
If you replicate it 2 times, it's probably still worse than Foresee and still worse than Deep Analysis (which are both usually better than Brilliant Plan).
If you replicate it 3 times, it's still usually worse than Deep Analysis because you just spent 8 mana all at once.
I think you're over-valuing Train of Thought's late game scaling, and flexibility alone doesn't make a card good when the options you're given aren't good. It's generally much more important for card draw to be both efficient and cheap, since that's what allows you to get and snowball from early-mid game card advantage. Also, cheap / efficient draw is still fine late game, especially because you can use your leftover mana to play whatever you draw into the turn you draw it. Other draw spells are just a lot better at more important points in the game, and for most pauper cubes that's enough to warrant a "bad" classification.
T2 powpercube Value https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/37t
Qasali Pridemage
You must choose the card (not tokens) before the game begins. So you have a 1x ability. True giving Haste to a Blastoderm is fun, but the Paradise on seems unusable.
Unless I am understanding the Conspiracies wrong
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