So, I wanna build a cube, and I like Pauper. Problem is that I can never get more than 4 people. Is a 180 cube possible?
I agree with the group. 360 might seem huge, but when you start working on it, you will be amazed at how small it actually is. Also it will give you some variation from draft to draft.
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Calvin and Hobbes Cube Tutor
Very nice, although I think that's exactly the kind of deck that UB Control would break. Lay down a Pestilence back up by counters, an early Waterfront Bouncer to control the hoard, and then overwhelm you with card advantage. But that's just my initial thoughts. I'd have to put a decklist together first.
I would definitely build a hell of a lot more aggro than most in cubable pauper highlander. That's not to say that I'd necessarily make anything quite as strict as mono-red burn or something of that sort, but I'd definitely put a lot of burn in. Assuming that burn isn't viable i'd either make a fast UR tempo deck (though most decks would probably be control decks, so maybe that's a bad idea) or just go hard aggro with a possible other colour. Black is probably the most likely for Blightning, Sinkhole and Hymn (and Terminate etc) because it would give even more of an edge against control while still being great cards against anything else. The most important things I would think would be early damage and burn to negate (to an extent) Capsize, Pestilence and Flood. I actually think that none of these cards would be nearly as good as they are in normal draft due to the huge number of possible outs and the fact that most decks will either be packed with burn or counterspells.
Another very possible deck would be BG rock-ramp with maybe three mana elves, Wall of Roots and maybe Cultivate, Werebear or Explore etc, complemented with discard (Duress, Hymn, Ostracize, Liliana's Specter etc) and green hate creatures (Wickerbough, Nantuko Vigilante etc) and efficient beaters like Putrid Leech and maybe Carnophages, even.
Yeah, I agree, really fast aggro would probably beat control out. But my gut reaction is that UB Control > BG Rock, but I can't be sure unless I actually duel it.
Very nice, although I think that's exactly the kind of deck that UB Control would break. Lay down a Pestilence back up by counters, an early Waterfront Bouncer to control the hoard, and then overwhelm you with card advantage. But that's just my initial thoughts. I'd have to put a decklist together first.
kingneb, do you have MWS?
I agree that Pestilence/Evincar's Justice would just crush that deck I listed above. I do almost all 2-man drafts, so just going for some sort of "evasion" deck is something I can accomplish a fair amount of the time. The above is a deck isn't the best deck the Cube could possibly build, but it's an example of an archetype that has worked for me in my Cube.
Lanxal, I do have MWS though I'm not on there too often. I've never played a game on there where I wasn't simultaneously chatting with my opponent on XBox Live. How does MWS work without voice chat? I know using voice chat makes it actually pretty good since it's like you're actually "there" with your opponent & you can talk through any confusion.
I did want to post this new 2-man draft my friends & I have been using to great success. I don't really have a name for it but we'll go with the "super-cascade" draft.
Distribute an equal number of cards into 3 piles. For my Commons Cube we're doing 36 cards in each pile. One pile goes to each player & one pile is the "shared" pile. Roll a die to see who goes first.
Player A will draw 4 cards from his pile. As he's drawing the cards player B will flip one card face-up from the "shared" pile. This means that player A will have 5 cards they're choosing from (4 in the hand plus 1 face-up on the table). Player A drafts one card out of these 5 to put into his deck. Player A then passes the remaining cards from his hand face-down to player B. If the face-up card wasn't picked then it remains face-up on the table for the time being.
When player B picks up the cards, player A will then flip another card face-up from the shared pile onto the table. At this point, player B will have 5 cards to choose from (1-2 face-up & 3-4 in hand). Player B chooses 2 of these cards. This will leave 3 unpicked cards. After making the picks, Player B will grab all 3 of these cards (regardless of where they came from) & pass them face-down to player A. Player A puts the cards in his hand & picks one card of the three. The 2 leftover cards get placed in a separate face-down pile (that gets unused).
Repeat this process, except with player B going first. Alternate players until all the piles are exhausted.
This is an alternate take on the 1-2-1 draft format. Adding the two face-up cards gives both players a chance to "first pick" a card on every turn as well as visibly passing signals. Adding the third pile also greatly improves deck quality since you see 50% more cards. Finally, it makes the drafts more fun in that you can laugh at some of the cards that get flipped up. It's always funny when you get a panorama flipped up on you but awesome when your opponent flips a Vendetta, Lightning Bolt, or Oblivion Ring.
One last addition we've added to this is what we call the "free exile." One time per draft you can exile a face-up card. Say it's your first pick & you have an awesome spell in your hand & a slightly worse spell/spell that's not in your colors flips up. You can "exile" the card and continue to make your picks as normal. This exile is sorcery speed, so it can only be done when it's your pick.
This draft has all the elements that a great draft should have:
-Signaling your opponent to try & "claim" a color
-20-25% of your picks are unknown to your opponent since you picked it out of your hand before they saw the cards
-Fake-signaling your opponent to throw them off
-A "shared" pile where the random flips are center-stage & adds more variation (and a little more luck)
-Screwing an opponent over when you exile a card that you know would have greatly helped them
-Looking at all of the undrafted cards at the end to see the sweet deck you could have drafted (the undrafted deck is the same size as your final deck)
----
So that's the "super-cascade" draft. Hopefully the instructions are clear enough. Next time you're "stuck" with only 2 people to draft with you should give it a whirl. This is definitely the most popular format in our circle. We also do 90-card Winston drafts & 60-card sealed.
if it was enters the field and leaves the field, it would be much more interesting (with blink) but still not cubeable outside of weirdly themed cubes.
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.
It essentially reads as having cycling, but it does almost nothing. It provides a use for artifact killers like Manic Vandal, but I don't think that it's worth a slot at all.
I think that Vivisection is a terrible card. I mean, Skulltap is one less card and two less mana and terrible. Of course, anything that looks like Concentrate seems awesome, but really most of our draw spells are almost as good as Concentrate already - Inspiration, Mysteries, Deep Analysis, Compulsive Research. Spending an extra card and extra mana (the creature) seems bad, especially as you don't always have a dude.
Wellspring is awesome, but not here. 2 mana for 2 cards and an artifact sacrifice effect is silly when it's reliable, that's just not here.
Obviously, Skyhunter is the nuts, much better than Order of the Golden Cricket, Youthful Knight and Fledgling Griffin, which are all really filler until better cards see print. Not sure what's the cut, though, the power level on those cards are really even.
I think that Flayer Husk is probably good enough, because it isn't normally that mana intensive until later in the game when mana's more available. But testing will tell.
But Viridian Emissiary wins any contest as far as hard to evaluate cards go. So far, I'm betting that it's better than Rampant Growth, but I don't know by how much or how it compares to the other 2 drops. The thing I like about it is that it allows for aggro to splash a colour more easily without sacrficing much of it's attacking power, the dude has to die sometime and it's almost always going to be after that you'll want to Fireball. If for no other purpose, that might be what it deserves a slot for. It's better than Sylvan Ranger, too, if anyone's still running that (I thought that it sucked when I tested it).
I've already talked about it, but it's just in the wrong colour. The best combinations to abuse it are UG Ramp (sac a mana dork) or UW fliers (abundance of weenies). I just think it's a bit narrow. Would've been awesome in black or red, though.
The idea was that Carnophage is actually a good defensive creature,and it's complemented well by other aggressive cards. The creature suite is far from perfected - it has no Mulldrifter! Not that I'm necessarily looking to cut something for it because this is one deck, if any, that merits its exclusion. But it probably doesn't. Don't know about teachings or Capsize, they are there as a gamewinning package for the lategame, and teachings seems cool with the conditional free spells. Dauthi Horror I'm not sure of because it does nothing but attack, which isn't helpful in control mode. Whether this deck can be tuned to be able to win against both aggro and traditional control is yet to be seen.
I...I want this to be good. So bad. /cries
______________________________________
In some unrelated talk, does anyone wish to do the Pauper Cube Review for New Phyrexia/Mirrodin Pure? Drahcir's handling Besieged, and NP/MP was meant for me, but I'd like to widen our pool of writers, maybe even set up a roster for future Pauper Cube Reviews. If so, I'm good with doing Action and maybe M12.
It bashes for 4 and blocks like a champ... well, bashes for 0. Nothing too amazing really compared to Penumbra Spider and Cloudcrown Oak, even if infect was cubable IMO.
With ten cards left to spoil in MBS, here are all of the potential playables for the commons Cube...
So...yeah. I'm honestly quite disappointed with this set as far as the Commons Cube goes. Only a few windmill-slam cards to add to the Cube. Here are some random thoughts on a few cards...
Leonin Skyhunter: White 2/2 flier for 2? Awesome. Definite permanent addition to the Cube.
Loxodon Partisan: Seems like a good finisher for W. Would work in all white decks looking to push the last few points through. Sometimes white weenie is just a few points shy and this guy will help you get there. I want to test him in the Cube.
Priests of Norn: 1/4 vigilance for 3...is that worth it? I mean, it will slowly wear down your opponent's blockers BUT your opponent can not block it for a long time and not be in danger. Probably won't make the cut but worth considering (especially if you have lots of equipment).
Quicksilver Geyser
Double bounce is pretty sweet...but is it worth it at 5? At least it's an instant. It could have many benefits (especially in blue). There are so many ETB effects in blue so this is the best color for it. Not cantripping definitely hurts it. Just not sure what blue spell I would cut for this. Probably ends up on the outside looking in...
Serum Raker
Seems pretty solid. Especially in blue where you usually have some card-draw spells to help overcome the "drawback." I will test this card & I think it will make the cut long-term.
Caustic Hound
4/4 for 6 with an effect that your opponent probably has more control over than you? Think I'll pass on this.
Phyrexian Rager
A reprint but we'll see how the foil looks. An auto-include if you haven't been able to get a copy.
Blisterstick Shaman
Sparkmage for 1 more & 1 extra toughness? Probably not worth it. I'd rather have a Tim.
Koth's Courier
I think a 2/3 forestwalk for 3 in Red is worth at least testing. I will test this card to see how it fares.
Ogre Resister
Shatterskull Giant reprint? I think this will make it into my Cube. I heart Hill Giants in the Commons Cube.
Rally the Forces
This is a really interesting card. I think it will be awesome or I think it will be mediocre. I want to test this but it's hard to cut burn for it. May be a great trick to have a blowout in combat. Giving first strike to ALL creatures is key. Can be a blowout if the board is pretty even. Many of red's creatures are on-curve, so this may be a way to blow out the board. Will test this card & I hope it's good enough to make it long-term. Just having cards like this that exist in the Cube can change how your opponent plays.
Blightwidow
Giant Spider with infect. Is it good enough? I think this is better than the white vigilance infect guy. This spider will be at least a good blocker to take opponent's fliers out of the air. Penumbra Spider is a nightmare to face down if you're UW. But can you imagine facing the Blightwidow in UW? Unless your pacify him you're losing a flier with each attack. This card may get tested depending how being the only infect card plays out in the Cube.
Fangren Marauder
Will be pretty much a vanilla 5/5 for 6 in almost every game. I'll keep my Moss Kami, thanks.
Glissa's Courier
What's good enough in red isn't good enough in the best creature color. Pass.
Viridian Emissary
I think this card will be good enough to make it. Not as good as being able to sacrifice him but the extra power makes him relevant in combat. Trades with a bear & fetches a land? I think this guy will be in the Cube for the long haul.
Bladed Sentinel
Nothing too impressive here. Probably not good enough except that he's colorless & goes in every deck. Stops most creatures in the Cube. Probably not making the cut.
Copper Carapace
Not sure what to think of this equipment. 3 to equip is a lot. Not being able to saddle up a blocker sucks. But being able to have a big dude attacking is nice. Closest comparison I have to this is Opaline Bracers and that card is definitely better. Think I may test this card but ultimately I don't think it will make it.
Dross Ripper
A Hill Giant with a pretty miserable ability. Probably not making the cut. Being colorless is always nice, though...
Flayer Husk
This card will be an interesting one. I want it to be good enough since getting a free blocker is nice. Leonin Scimitar is really good...but how much worse is it when it costs 2 to equip? I think I'd still rather have the Scimitar, but this card may get tested.
Gust Skimmer
2/1 for 2 colorless isn't too bad. Being able to make him fly is good. May be good to expand the number of colorless creatures in the Cube. I'm going to try him out but I'm not sure if he'll make it long-term.
Signal Pest (IF it's common)
This card seems more like an uncommon to me. Right now the rarity is unknown so I'll comment briefly on it. A battle cry that's likely to work most turns that will do even more damage if equipped? Sign me up. Sadly, I think this will be uncommon so it won't make the Cube. If it's common I definitely want to run this card.
Tangle Hulk
5/3 for 5 is just a bit above the curve. 2G to regenerate is pretty pricey. But it's still regeneration, which is good in the Commons Cube. I think a lot of these colorless guys boil down to the question of "How much do I want to increase my artifact creature section?" I was hoping for 10 more artifact creatures from this block. If this set is any indication I'm going to end up way short.
Cards marked with a * are cards that I think will be in the Cube for a long time. Everything else will be put in for testing...
Leonin Skyhunter *
Loxodon Partisan
Serum Raker *
Phyrexian Rager (already in my Cube & it should be in everyone's)
Koth's Courier
Ogre Resister *
Rally the Forces
Blightwidow
Viridian Emissary *
Copper Carapace
Flayer Husk
Gust Skimmer
Signal Pest (IF it's common) *
Tangle Hulk
----
So that's 4 or 5 auto-includes long-term which isn't too bad. Plus another 8 cards to test. Plus there are 10 unspoiled cards as well. We'll see if there's anything good in there.
The two cards I'm most curious about are Rally the Forces and Blightwidow. I want both of them to be good because in the right decks they could be quite excellent. I just hope the +1 power is enough on the Rally & infect is good enough on the 'Widow. We'll see how they play out...
This was a really good exercise for me to do. Giving my thoughts on the cards before reading what other people think about them. It will be interesting to see how (way) off I am. Carry on
As of a couple days ago, I was pretty upset with this set, but the large amount of recent reveals has had some potential gems.
Very good tier
Veridian Emissary - a shoe in.
Leonin Skyhunter - a reprint, but now it's a common!
Blisterstick Shaman - there's probably enough targets for this to hit, and if it does 2-for-1 regularly it's obviously great.
Tangle Husk - It's pretty much Twisted Abomination. Sure sometimes you land cycle abomination, but it's just so powerful on the battlefield that you feel bad for doing so.
Hexplate Golem - Ulamog's Crusher is insanely good, and while this is obviously a lot worse, it's hard for most decks to deal with.
Pretty good tier
Ogre Resister - 4 drops in red are very packed in my cube. I like my Shatterskull Giants, but I'm not sure a third one will make it.
Copper Carapace - +2/+2 is a big boost. This card will probably be pretty good.
Mortarpod - What looks like a bad pinger is probably going to be pretty good. Note that Moonglove Extract is a very solid card, even as just a mini extract this is probably good enough.
Spin Engine - As a 3/1 potential unblockable for 3, this is solid.
Probably not tier
Gust Skimmer - Kind of a bad Welkin Tern, but if you have blue aggro it'd probably run this sometimes.
Dross Ripper - If you have colored artifact cycles, this may make the cut.
Flayer Husk - Looks good on paper, but a 1/1 doesn't do much, and Leonin Scimitar hasn't even been that good for me.
Serum Raker - I do run Snapping Drake, but it's one of the weaker 4 drops. I think this is worse than the drake though, because blue decks usually like having cards in hand.
Rally the Forces - If you run Trumpet Blast, this may be better. I'd rather run the multitude of Thunder Strike variants though.
Quicksilver Geyser - Considering most people don't even run Whiplash Trap, I doubt this will see use. Artifacts and Enchantments are a large part of commons cube, so hitting those doesn't matter too much.
Luxodon Partisan - I like mini overrun effects in white, but this one is prone to removal, not surprising, and isn't even that good on its own.
Also, I'm hoping Quilled Slagwurm is a common, as I have a heavy green ramp theme, but it's probably an uncommon.
Tangle Husk is not 'pretty much' Twisted Abomination. Not even close. It doesn't cycle, which is two-thirds of the allure of Twisted Abomination, but it also needs three mana to regenerate, in the best fattie color. Without evasion.
Being green might be a valid point, but I don't find the swampcycling to be the main allure of Twisted Abomination. Cheaper regen is nice, but it's only really important the turn you cast it.
Really? You lose three mana for the rest of the game, as opposed to a single black mana from Twisted Abomination. And swampcycling is a huge part of Twisted Abomination. I'm sure it'd still be played even without - but that's because of the small regen cost - but it's staple because it's always relevant are every stage of the game.
14 creatures/9 spells/17 land
Calcite Snapper +
AEther Adept +
Man-o'-War
Neurok Invisimancer
Shimmering Glasskite +
Illusionary Forces
Mulldrifter +
Kor Skyfisher +
Stormfront Pegasus +
Soltari Trooper
Kor Sanctifiers +
Soltari Visionary
Soltari Lancer
Spirit en-Kor
Guardian of the Guildpact +
Mana Leak
Counterspell
Narcolepsy +
Capsize
Foresee +
Journey to Nowhere
Kor Chant
Bonesplitter
Leonin Scimitar +
9 islands
8 plains
My 540 card Powered Cube last updated March 2022
I agree with the group. 360 might seem huge, but when you start working on it, you will be amazed at how small it actually is. Also it will give you some variation from draft to draft.
Calvin and Hobbes
Cube Tutor
kingneb, do you have MWS?
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
Another very possible deck would be BG rock-ramp with maybe three mana elves, Wall of Roots and maybe Cultivate, Werebear or Explore etc, complemented with discard (Duress, Hymn, Ostracize, Liliana's Specter etc) and green hate creatures (Wickerbough, Nantuko Vigilante etc) and efficient beaters like Putrid Leech and maybe Carnophages, even.
Draft it on Cubetutor!
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
I agree that Pestilence/Evincar's Justice would just crush that deck I listed above. I do almost all 2-man drafts, so just going for some sort of "evasion" deck is something I can accomplish a fair amount of the time. The above is a deck isn't the best deck the Cube could possibly build, but it's an example of an archetype that has worked for me in my Cube.
Lanxal, I do have MWS though I'm not on there too often. I've never played a game on there where I wasn't simultaneously chatting with my opponent on XBox Live. How does MWS work without voice chat? I know using voice chat makes it actually pretty good since it's like you're actually "there" with your opponent & you can talk through any confusion.
My 540 card Powered Cube last updated March 2022
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
Distribute an equal number of cards into 3 piles. For my Commons Cube we're doing 36 cards in each pile. One pile goes to each player & one pile is the "shared" pile. Roll a die to see who goes first.
Player A will draw 4 cards from his pile. As he's drawing the cards player B will flip one card face-up from the "shared" pile. This means that player A will have 5 cards they're choosing from (4 in the hand plus 1 face-up on the table). Player A drafts one card out of these 5 to put into his deck. Player A then passes the remaining cards from his hand face-down to player B. If the face-up card wasn't picked then it remains face-up on the table for the time being.
When player B picks up the cards, player A will then flip another card face-up from the shared pile onto the table. At this point, player B will have 5 cards to choose from (1-2 face-up & 3-4 in hand). Player B chooses 2 of these cards. This will leave 3 unpicked cards. After making the picks, Player B will grab all 3 of these cards (regardless of where they came from) & pass them face-down to player A. Player A puts the cards in his hand & picks one card of the three. The 2 leftover cards get placed in a separate face-down pile (that gets unused).
Repeat this process, except with player B going first. Alternate players until all the piles are exhausted.
This is an alternate take on the 1-2-1 draft format. Adding the two face-up cards gives both players a chance to "first pick" a card on every turn as well as visibly passing signals. Adding the third pile also greatly improves deck quality since you see 50% more cards. Finally, it makes the drafts more fun in that you can laugh at some of the cards that get flipped up. It's always funny when you get a panorama flipped up on you but awesome when your opponent flips a Vendetta, Lightning Bolt, or Oblivion Ring.
One last addition we've added to this is what we call the "free exile." One time per draft you can exile a face-up card. Say it's your first pick & you have an awesome spell in your hand & a slightly worse spell/spell that's not in your colors flips up. You can "exile" the card and continue to make your picks as normal. This exile is sorcery speed, so it can only be done when it's your pick.
This draft has all the elements that a great draft should have:
-Signaling your opponent to try & "claim" a color
-20-25% of your picks are unknown to your opponent since you picked it out of your hand before they saw the cards
-Fake-signaling your opponent to throw them off
-A "shared" pile where the random flips are center-stage & adds more variation (and a little more luck)
-Screwing an opponent over when you exile a card that you know would have greatly helped them
-Looking at all of the undrafted cards at the end to see the sweet deck you could have drafted (the undrafted deck is the same size as your final deck)
----
So that's the "super-cascade" draft. Hopefully the instructions are clear enough. Next time you're "stuck" with only 2 people to draft with you should give it a whirl. This is definitely the most popular format in our circle. We also do 90-card Winston drafts & 60-card sealed.
Enjoy!
My 540 card Powered Cube last updated March 2022
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
I used to write cube articles on StarCityGames, now for GatheringMagic and podcast about cube (w/Antknee42.)
My Affinity deck in pauper on mtgo just died and went to heaven.
http://hgcube.blogspot.com/ (help me Make my Custom CUBE!)
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=382498
The "Make a Proxy Thread
Redit Proxy Article "current gallery"
MY LEGACY ALTERS
Wellspring is awesome, but not here. 2 mana for 2 cards and an artifact sacrifice effect is silly when it's reliable, that's just not here.
Obviously, Skyhunter is the nuts, much better than Order of the Golden Cricket, Youthful Knight and Fledgling Griffin, which are all really filler until better cards see print. Not sure what's the cut, though, the power level on those cards are really even.
I think that Flayer Husk is probably good enough, because it isn't normally that mana intensive until later in the game when mana's more available. But testing will tell.
But Viridian Emissiary wins any contest as far as hard to evaluate cards go. So far, I'm betting that it's better than Rampant Growth, but I don't know by how much or how it compares to the other 2 drops. The thing I like about it is that it allows for aggro to splash a colour more easily without sacrficing much of it's attacking power, the dude has to die sometime and it's almost always going to be after that you'll want to Fireball. If for no other purpose, that might be what it deserves a slot for. It's better than Sylvan Ranger, too, if anyone's still running that (I thought that it sucked when I tested it).
Draft it on Cubetutor!
I've already talked about it, but it's just in the wrong colour. The best combinations to abuse it are UG Ramp (sac a mana dork) or UW fliers (abundance of weenies). I just think it's a bit narrow. Would've been awesome in black or red, though.
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
1 Vampire Lacerator
1 Fume Spitter
1 Looter Il-Kor
1 Nina of the Deep Hours
1 Dauthi Horror
1 Man-o-War
1 Phyrexian Rager
1 Liliana’s Specter
1 Chittering Rats
1 Illusionary Forces
1 Faceless Butcher
1 Force Spike
1 Daze
1 Snuff Out
1 Duress
1 Disfigure
1 Counterspell
1 Hymn to Tourach
1 Mana Leak
1 Agony Warp
1 Capsize
1 Mystical Teachings
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Mistvein Borderpost
1 Dimir Aqueduct
5 Swamp
6 Island
The idea was that Carnophage is actually a good defensive creature,and it's complemented well by other aggressive cards. The creature suite is far from perfected - it has no Mulldrifter! Not that I'm necessarily looking to cut something for it because this is one deck, if any, that merits its exclusion. But it probably doesn't. Don't know about teachings or Capsize, they are there as a gamewinning package for the lategame, and teachings seems cool with the conditional free spells. Dauthi Horror I'm not sure of because it does nothing but attack, which isn't helpful in control mode. Whether this deck can be tuned to be able to win against both aggro and traditional control is yet to be seen.
Draft it on Cubetutor!
Playing:
Casual
Mucky Muck UUUUBB
EDH:
Niv-Mizzet UUURRR
Creature - Spider
Reach
Infect
2/4
I...I want this to be good. So bad. /cries
______________________________________
In some unrelated talk, does anyone wish to do the Pauper Cube Review for New Phyrexia/Mirrodin Pure? Drahcir's handling Besieged, and NP/MP was meant for me, but I'd like to widen our pool of writers, maybe even set up a roster for future Pauper Cube Reviews. If so, I'm good with doing Action and maybe M12.
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
Draft it on Cubetutor!
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
So...yeah. I'm honestly quite disappointed with this set as far as the Commons Cube goes. Only a few windmill-slam cards to add to the Cube. Here are some random thoughts on a few cards...
Leonin Skyhunter: White 2/2 flier for 2? Awesome. Definite permanent addition to the Cube.
Loxodon Partisan: Seems like a good finisher for W. Would work in all white decks looking to push the last few points through. Sometimes white weenie is just a few points shy and this guy will help you get there. I want to test him in the Cube.
Priests of Norn: 1/4 vigilance for 3...is that worth it? I mean, it will slowly wear down your opponent's blockers BUT your opponent can not block it for a long time and not be in danger. Probably won't make the cut but worth considering (especially if you have lots of equipment).
Quicksilver Geyser
Double bounce is pretty sweet...but is it worth it at 5? At least it's an instant. It could have many benefits (especially in blue). There are so many ETB effects in blue so this is the best color for it. Not cantripping definitely hurts it. Just not sure what blue spell I would cut for this. Probably ends up on the outside looking in...
Serum Raker
Seems pretty solid. Especially in blue where you usually have some card-draw spells to help overcome the "drawback." I will test this card & I think it will make the cut long-term.
Caustic Hound
4/4 for 6 with an effect that your opponent probably has more control over than you? Think I'll pass on this.
Phyrexian Rager
A reprint but we'll see how the foil looks. An auto-include if you haven't been able to get a copy.
Blisterstick Shaman
Sparkmage for 1 more & 1 extra toughness? Probably not worth it. I'd rather have a Tim.
Koth's Courier
I think a 2/3 forestwalk for 3 in Red is worth at least testing. I will test this card to see how it fares.
Ogre Resister
Shatterskull Giant reprint? I think this will make it into my Cube. I heart Hill Giants in the Commons Cube.
Rally the Forces
This is a really interesting card. I think it will be awesome or I think it will be mediocre. I want to test this but it's hard to cut burn for it. May be a great trick to have a blowout in combat. Giving first strike to ALL creatures is key. Can be a blowout if the board is pretty even. Many of red's creatures are on-curve, so this may be a way to blow out the board. Will test this card & I hope it's good enough to make it long-term. Just having cards like this that exist in the Cube can change how your opponent plays.
Blightwidow
Giant Spider with infect. Is it good enough? I think this is better than the white vigilance infect guy. This spider will be at least a good blocker to take opponent's fliers out of the air. Penumbra Spider is a nightmare to face down if you're UW. But can you imagine facing the Blightwidow in UW? Unless your pacify him you're losing a flier with each attack. This card may get tested depending how being the only infect card plays out in the Cube.
Fangren Marauder
Will be pretty much a vanilla 5/5 for 6 in almost every game. I'll keep my Moss Kami, thanks.
Glissa's Courier
What's good enough in red isn't good enough in the best creature color. Pass.
Viridian Emissary
I think this card will be good enough to make it. Not as good as being able to sacrifice him but the extra power makes him relevant in combat. Trades with a bear & fetches a land? I think this guy will be in the Cube for the long haul.
Bladed Sentinel
Nothing too impressive here. Probably not good enough except that he's colorless & goes in every deck. Stops most creatures in the Cube. Probably not making the cut.
Copper Carapace
Not sure what to think of this equipment. 3 to equip is a lot. Not being able to saddle up a blocker sucks. But being able to have a big dude attacking is nice. Closest comparison I have to this is Opaline Bracers and that card is definitely better. Think I may test this card but ultimately I don't think it will make it.
Dross Ripper
A Hill Giant with a pretty miserable ability. Probably not making the cut. Being colorless is always nice, though...
Flayer Husk
This card will be an interesting one. I want it to be good enough since getting a free blocker is nice. Leonin Scimitar is really good...but how much worse is it when it costs 2 to equip? I think I'd still rather have the Scimitar, but this card may get tested.
Gust Skimmer
2/1 for 2 colorless isn't too bad. Being able to make him fly is good. May be good to expand the number of colorless creatures in the Cube. I'm going to try him out but I'm not sure if he'll make it long-term.
Signal Pest (IF it's common)
This card seems more like an uncommon to me. Right now the rarity is unknown so I'll comment briefly on it. A battle cry that's likely to work most turns that will do even more damage if equipped? Sign me up. Sadly, I think this will be uncommon so it won't make the Cube. If it's common I definitely want to run this card.
Tangle Hulk
5/3 for 5 is just a bit above the curve. 2G to regenerate is pretty pricey. But it's still regeneration, which is good in the Commons Cube. I think a lot of these colorless guys boil down to the question of "How much do I want to increase my artifact creature section?" I was hoping for 10 more artifact creatures from this block. If this set is any indication I'm going to end up way short.
Cards marked with a * are cards that I think will be in the Cube for a long time. Everything else will be put in for testing...
Leonin Skyhunter *
Loxodon Partisan
Serum Raker *
Phyrexian Rager (already in my Cube & it should be in everyone's)
Koth's Courier
Ogre Resister *
Rally the Forces
Blightwidow
Viridian Emissary *
Copper Carapace
Flayer Husk
Gust Skimmer
Signal Pest (IF it's common) *
Tangle Hulk
----
So that's 4 or 5 auto-includes long-term which isn't too bad. Plus another 8 cards to test. Plus there are 10 unspoiled cards as well. We'll see if there's anything good in there.
The two cards I'm most curious about are Rally the Forces and Blightwidow. I want both of them to be good because in the right decks they could be quite excellent. I just hope the +1 power is enough on the Rally & infect is good enough on the 'Widow. We'll see how they play out...
This was a really good exercise for me to do. Giving my thoughts on the cards before reading what other people think about them. It will be interesting to see how (way) off I am. Carry on
My 540 card Powered Cube last updated March 2022
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
Very good tier
Veridian Emissary - a shoe in.
Leonin Skyhunter - a reprint, but now it's a common!
Blisterstick Shaman - there's probably enough targets for this to hit, and if it does 2-for-1 regularly it's obviously great.
Tangle Husk - It's pretty much Twisted Abomination. Sure sometimes you land cycle abomination, but it's just so powerful on the battlefield that you feel bad for doing so.
Hexplate Golem - Ulamog's Crusher is insanely good, and while this is obviously a lot worse, it's hard for most decks to deal with.
Pretty good tier
Ogre Resister - 4 drops in red are very packed in my cube. I like my Shatterskull Giants, but I'm not sure a third one will make it.
Copper Carapace - +2/+2 is a big boost. This card will probably be pretty good.
Mortarpod - What looks like a bad pinger is probably going to be pretty good. Note that Moonglove Extract is a very solid card, even as just a mini extract this is probably good enough.
Spin Engine - As a 3/1 potential unblockable for 3, this is solid.
Probably not tier
Gust Skimmer - Kind of a bad Welkin Tern, but if you have blue aggro it'd probably run this sometimes.
Dross Ripper - If you have colored artifact cycles, this may make the cut.
Flayer Husk - Looks good on paper, but a 1/1 doesn't do much, and Leonin Scimitar hasn't even been that good for me.
Serum Raker - I do run Snapping Drake, but it's one of the weaker 4 drops. I think this is worse than the drake though, because blue decks usually like having cards in hand.
Rally the Forces - If you run Trumpet Blast, this may be better. I'd rather run the multitude of Thunder Strike variants though.
Quicksilver Geyser - Considering most people don't even run Whiplash Trap, I doubt this will see use. Artifacts and Enchantments are a large part of commons cube, so hitting those doesn't matter too much.
Luxodon Partisan - I like mini overrun effects in white, but this one is prone to removal, not surprising, and isn't even that good on its own.
Also, I'm hoping Quilled Slagwurm is a common, as I have a heavy green ramp theme, but it's probably an uncommon.
Pass.
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2