I don't like any of those. wretched banquet loses to disfigure, vendetta, snuff out, etc.
dragon engine is pretty inefficient, yes. Doesn't seem particularly worth it. too much mana
ashnod's transmorgrant just doesn't seem worth it. You either add a counter to your creature and make it susceptible to artifact destruction, or spend 2 cards killing one of their creatures with your artifact destruction (in green, I guess).
M11 prerelease was sick. Went 5-0, then lost the last round and came second. Aether Adept is every bit as sick as it seems, and it is so nice to play with Mana Leak again, even if the new artwork sucks. Grave Titan is also just as nuts as it looks, but that doesn't bother us.
Memorable match:
Game 1: My opponent casts Baneslayer Angel (yep, that's right), but I Mind Control it then give it a shiny Sword of Akroma and beat him down to 0.
Game 2: He gets BSA, I don't draw Mind Control, and die.
Game 3: He gets BSA, beats me down to <5, I rip Mind Control (as always, my only out), then beat him down from 30 to win the match. So. sick.
My packs overall were pretty janky (Phylactery Lich ftw!), but I managed to acquire all of the commons I needed, plus it was great fun. Any fellow common cubers go to M11?
Dude, that's awesome. Got pretty close. I think we need a high five through the internet.
Wished that I could go. But, 14 and asian - not a good combination. My parents hate MTG.
how could they hate it, my parents barely know what it is. are they the stereotypical asian parents you see in movies who want you to practice the violin or become a nasa engineer and they think magic is distracting and bringing dishonor to your family?
When I see Healing Salve, I'm often like "Oh girl, I wish I could turn every card into this." Thanks they removed the gain life part, otherwise this would have been broken.
When I see Healing Salve, I'm often like "Oh girl, I wish I could turn every card into this." Thanks they removed the gain life part, otherwise this would have been broken.
Don't like any of those cards, Usman. Banquet is probably worse here than in rare cubes, because of all the weenies, and we all know how much of a bomb it normally is.
Dragon Engine is actually pretty interesting and potentially... okay. Not gonna run it.
Ashnod's Transmorgant is worse than Battlegrowth. Well, I'd run Battlegrowth over it. And no way will I ever run Battlegrowth.
The main problem with cards like Neck Snap is that you can see them from about a mile away (which would make Second Thoughts a few miles away?) Cantripping is nice, but it's not worth it, especially since it's only good on defense.
There's enough common removal in white so that defensive-only removal isn't really needed, the only one I'd consider running is Kirtar's Desire and that's because it's dirt-cheap (although I think the myriad of other enchantment-based white removal is better.)
Maybe it's just me, but I'd run Hobble over Pacifism in every control deck ever even if it only stopped them attacking. It seems miles and miles ahead of most white removal in defensive decks (journey, judge unworthy, etc). I'll do some testing, though.
Edit: Are we going to make a thread for the pauper power rankings discussion?
Imp and Trapper are both really good cards, but Chittering Rats is really really good and Honor Guard has quite high blowout potential, he isn't that easy to deal with in the cube (especially against white or red).
To me, neither the Snake Umbra nor Uktabi Drake seem that great. The Drake just seems... bad, and it's too easy to get 2-for-1'd by bounce if you run the Umbra. Obviously, if it were something as strong as Boar Umbra, that wouldn't be a problem, but the +1/+1 and Ophidian-esque ability just don't seem worth the risk.
I like all of the white dudes, but I reckon Ballynock Trapper is the best; in aggro it shuts down two blockers and in control it's another decent tapper.
Definitely Chittering Rats, but the Imp is pretty decent still. One of my favourite decks to draft is the constructed Pauper-like UB control deck with Ninjas, come-into-play dudes, it's just so much fun, especially Chittering Rats. It's such a griefer card.
Got a question for you all: when you draft with your pauper cube, how often does the blue player(s) survive to have five Islands on the battlefield?
I'm wondering at how good Harbor Serpent is. I love Tidewater Minion, and this is basically a bigger version of it. Big wall for when you need control, finisher for when you've stabilized.
Sweet!! M11 Launch Party, went 5-0, came first, got 9 packs and a T-shirt. Also traded for a ton of sweet cube cards, included this hot altered Steppe Lynx and some unglued lands.
Harbour Servant sucks in cube; was decent in M11 limited, but definitely not good enough for cube.
I also finally got to do some cube post-M11. Sacred Wolf is better than I predicted - an absolute nightmare for the control deck. I love the way my cube is turning out - aggro (especially G aggro) is becoming a lot more viable.
Edit: @Lanxal: I'm still really confused about Tidewater Minion... it just seems really expensive and clunky. What sort of decks does it typically go in?
While there aren't as many fliers in Shadowmoor limited as in commons, I think that Faerie still is able to get in there as a 1/3 flier, its tap ability is quite expensive. I've removed the 1/2 tappers (Blinding Mage, Master Decoy) because of the activation cost (since there's about a mile of difference between free and W) and Silkbind costs double that to use. Still, it usually gets in there pretty easily.
So what's this about Somnomancer? I thought about it and it's essentially a better Goblin Shortcutter, which is an amazing 2 mana creature, since it ensures that you can keep pressure on while adding to your board position. Aside from Q creatures (the only common cubeworthy ones are Silkbind Faerie and Safehold Sentry, who's not really good enough) the creature being tapped is the same as being unable to block. The problem is that it's probably better suited to white decks (who are usually able to make aggressive and/or tempo-based decks) than blue decks, who usually rely on evasion - a RW deck is more likely to use Somnomancer than a RU deck since the creature being tapped matters less to the RU deck than the RW one.
How are these:
Wretched Banquet
Dragon Engine (seems way too inefficient)
Ashnod's Transmogrant (most obvious trick ever?)
I used to write cube articles on StarCityGames, now for GatheringMagic and podcast about cube (w/Antknee42.)
I don't like any of those. wretched banquet loses to disfigure, vendetta, snuff out, etc.
dragon engine is pretty inefficient, yes. Doesn't seem particularly worth it. too much mana
ashnod's transmorgrant just doesn't seem worth it. You either add a counter to your creature and make it susceptible to artifact destruction, or spend 2 cards killing one of their creatures with your artifact destruction (in green, I guess).
Cube list thread
Cubetutor
Aether Adept is every bit as sick as it seems, and it is so nice to play with Mana Leak again, even if the new artwork sucks. Grave Titan is also just as nuts as it looks, but that doesn't bother us.
Memorable match:
Game 1: My opponent casts Baneslayer Angel (yep, that's right), but I Mind Control it then give it a shiny Sword of Akroma and beat him down to 0.
Game 2: He gets BSA, I don't draw Mind Control, and die.
Game 3: He gets BSA, beats me down to <5, I rip Mind Control (as always, my only out), then beat him down from 30 to win the match. So. sick.
My packs overall were pretty janky (Phylactery Lich ftw!), but I managed to acquire all of the commons I needed, plus it was great fun. Any fellow common cubers go to M11?
My Pauper Cube (Pictures)
My Type 4 Stack
Wished that I could go. But, 14 and asian - not a good combination. My parents hate MTG.
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
how could they hate it, my parents barely know what it is. are they the stereotypical asian parents you see in movies who want you to practice the violin or become a nasa engineer and they think magic is distracting and bringing dishonor to your family?
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
that doesn't make any sense. they don't allow any games? what DO they allow you to do?
Don't worry about it.
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
Thoughts on Second Thoughts and Hobble?
Don't like any of those cards, Usman. Banquet is probably worse here than in rare cubes, because of all the weenies, and we all know how much of a bomb it normally is.
Dragon Engine is actually pretty interesting and potentially... okay. Not gonna run it.
Ashnod's Transmorgant is worse than Battlegrowth. Well, I'd run Battlegrowth over it. And no way will I ever run Battlegrowth.
Draft it on Cubetutor!
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
There's enough common removal in white so that defensive-only removal isn't really needed, the only one I'd consider running is Kirtar's Desire and that's because it's dirt-cheap (although I think the myriad of other enchantment-based white removal is better.)
I used to write cube articles on StarCityGames, now for GatheringMagic and podcast about cube (w/Antknee42.)
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
Edit: Are we going to make a thread for the pauper power rankings discussion?
Draft it on Cubetutor!
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
Draft it on Cubetutor!
Results Thread, and Voting Thread.
I'll send a PM to DerBK later. ^^
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
Coalition Honor Guard vs Heavy Ballista vs Ballynock Trapper
Chittering Rats vs Cadaver Imp
I used to write cube articles on StarCityGames, now for GatheringMagic and podcast about cube (w/Antknee42.)
Ballynock Trapper. It's a hella foxy card, and can pretty much fog two creatures every turn. I don't even consider the Honor Guard. Bleh.
I need to find room for it.
Chittering Rats. The extra power and toughness is pretty important.
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
Imp and Trapper are both really good cards, but Chittering Rats is really really good and Honor Guard has quite high blowout potential, he isn't that easy to deal with in the cube (especially against white or red).
Draft it on Cubetutor!
I like all of the white dudes, but I reckon Ballynock Trapper is the best; in aggro it shuts down two blockers and in control it's another decent tapper.
Definitely Chittering Rats, but the Imp is pretty decent still. One of my favourite decks to draft is the constructed Pauper-like UB control deck with Ninjas, come-into-play dudes, it's just so much fun, especially Chittering Rats. It's such a griefer card.
My Pauper Cube (Pictures)
My Type 4 Stack
I'm wondering at how good Harbor Serpent is. I love Tidewater Minion, and this is basically a bigger version of it. Big wall for when you need control, finisher for when you've stabilized.
Thoughts?
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
Harbour Servant sucks in cube; was decent in M11 limited, but definitely not good enough for cube.
I also finally got to do some cube post-M11. Sacred Wolf is better than I predicted - an absolute nightmare for the control deck. I love the way my cube is turning out - aggro (especially G aggro) is becoming a lot more viable.
Edit: @Lanxal: I'm still really confused about Tidewater Minion... it just seems really expensive and clunky. What sort of decks does it typically go in?
My Pauper Cube (Pictures)
My Type 4 Stack
The best blue fats are probably Illusionary Forces and Shoreline Ranger
Draft it on Cubetutor!
You guys make me sad. Oh well, whatever.
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
While there aren't as many fliers in Shadowmoor limited as in commons, I think that Faerie still is able to get in there as a 1/3 flier, its tap ability is quite expensive. I've removed the 1/2 tappers (Blinding Mage, Master Decoy) because of the activation cost (since there's about a mile of difference between free and W) and Silkbind costs double that to use. Still, it usually gets in there pretty easily.
So what's this about Somnomancer? I thought about it and it's essentially a better Goblin Shortcutter, which is an amazing 2 mana creature, since it ensures that you can keep pressure on while adding to your board position. Aside from Q creatures (the only common cubeworthy ones are Silkbind Faerie and Safehold Sentry, who's not really good enough) the creature being tapped is the same as being unable to block. The problem is that it's probably better suited to white decks (who are usually able to make aggressive and/or tempo-based decks) than blue decks, who usually rely on evasion - a RW deck is more likely to use Somnomancer than a RU deck since the creature being tapped matters less to the RU deck than the RW one.
I used to write cube articles on StarCityGames, now for GatheringMagic and podcast about cube (w/Antknee42.)