Cool, that's what I thought. I suppose that almost seals it, as even a 2/2 and 2 life is getting close to being as good as the boar against aggro.
Which makes the boar seem pretty terrible
I was thinking about how there really is no baseline, solid cube list. All of our cubes aren't optimal for various reasons, but it would be great if there was one list that was more or less the be-all and end-all of pauper cube power, before personal preference and the like.
So, could we make a cube list together, like for a new project, to be a really solid baseline for pauper cube construction? We could hold votes and discussions to decide the borderline slots, and things like the makeup of the cube.
I don't think it would really work. At most, it'd create a sort of middleground of all our lists and personal preferences. to create an optimal list, you need to actually play with these cards a lot. Like wtwlf with his normal cube.
I've been updating my cube for Post-Scars, so I would like to weigh in.
1) You can't get a baseline because of questions of "Do I play..." and "How many is too many..."
2) Control, Aggro, and in my case color fixing cubes take too many liberties away from one another.
3) Big differances: Functional Reprints yes/no, Multicolor w/ or w/o hybrid, Level Up mechanic, Echo, etc.
I lean too hard for color fixing, I run basic landcyclers and "dual land cyclers" IE Sanctum Plowbeast.
I even love Teachings, Flood, and Rhystic Study, but that is my 5c Control take. If someone wasn't as liberal with color-fix then I couldn't love Teachings.
I think you could over do it and list like the 10 best cards at each cost for each color. That gives you options without preaching Echo vs Level Up.
If you want to include uncommons that were printed in common print runs, go ahead. (which is where the C1 comes from) I think that's what pauper itself does. Most of us don't run them though. Though I don't think that Renewal seems very good. I'd think Prophetic Prism was enough for that exact effect.
Enforcer is a bad mana sink, like most of the levellers
Zulaport's not that great. It costing 4 to level is really annoying and ultimately kills it. Most of the levelers for commons are able to be good when they get to their 2nd level, akin to echo (Wavewatch, Cliffhaven, Null Champion, Caravan Escort, Skywatcher) but Zulaport just costs so much to do so and even when leveled (the first one, that is) - it's not that impressive.
I ran stinger for a bit but ultimately cut it due to inefficiency. It's better than Prodigal Pyromancer, but I don't rate that card very highly in commons (and find that having too many pingers is quite detrimental to common cubes.) Its unearth is nice but I think that options like Fireslinger and Vulshok Sorcerer are much better.
(In other news, I've been slowly tinkering with my commons cube to get it to 450 cards and will post the update when it's done, probably today. The long story is that I helped create a 360 card cube for a store, which I used a lot of my own cards for, which made me want to finish my commons cube before bringing my regular cube back to normal.)
Yeah, I should probably cut it for Sparksmith. But it's the only foil I have in the cube.
Yep, in the right situation, Sparksmith is by far the best pinger as there are loads of goblins in the average cube. Personally I don't like having only a few foils in cube, because being able to see what someone's picked by the bendiness of it is lame.
I did say "in the right situation", and the "right situation" is when they've got some 5/3 you need to bump off to make way for your Dragon Fodder tokens, or something. I've never even really noticed the life loss, maybe because when I make those decks they are by far the most aggro decks at the table.
Feast or Famine i used to run this in my normal cube, it of course got phased out, but I didn't even know it was a common. Seems extremely solid, I run it in my pauper cube, I figured its got versatility, and instant speed.
Morphs are run for their ability, not for the surprise factor in most cubes. Though one with a gajillion morphs would be pretty fun.
Skirk Commando doesn't seem great. Getting one hit off 6 mana and then having it traded away just seems not worth it, and that's probably him going well.
Feast or Famine just looks like the worst Nekrataal ever.
Also, thoughs on Spore Cloud? It looks almost as good as Tangle, which I'd run in a heartbeat.
Really? It's just a Tangle for 1GG that can occasionally be used on their blockers if need be. Seems pretty versatile for me, or is there something I'm missing?
Oh, yep, that's definitely the annoying thing about it. Though it is green, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem. It just excites me because I was sad to not be able to play Tangle, repeatable fog effects in general are pretty silly. I'll most definitely test it and at the least it should be better than Safe Passage and friends.
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Which makes the boar seem pretty terrible
I was thinking about how there really is no baseline, solid cube list. All of our cubes aren't optimal for various reasons, but it would be great if there was one list that was more or less the be-all and end-all of pauper cube power, before personal preference and the like.
So, could we make a cube list together, like for a new project, to be a really solid baseline for pauper cube construction? We could hold votes and discussions to decide the borderline slots, and things like the makeup of the cube.
Draft it on Cubetutor!
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
1) You can't get a baseline because of questions of "Do I play..." and "How many is too many..."
2) Control, Aggro, and in my case color fixing cubes take too many liberties away from one another.
3) Big differances: Functional Reprints yes/no, Multicolor w/ or w/o hybrid, Level Up mechanic, Echo, etc.
I lean too hard for color fixing, I run basic landcyclers and "dual land cyclers" IE Sanctum Plowbeast.
I even love Teachings, Flood, and Rhystic Study, but that is my 5c Control take. If someone wasn't as liberal with color-fix then I couldn't love Teachings.
I think you could over do it and list like the 10 best cards at each cost for each color. That gives you options without preaching Echo vs Level Up.
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Pauper Cube Article #1
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My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
Also thoughts on Zulaport Enforcer and Vithian Stinger
Vithian Stinger is preeeetty good.
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
Enforcer is a bad mana sink, like most of the levellers
Vitian Stinger is probably the worst red pinger I run, below Shadow Guildmage, Sparksmith, Fireslinger and Vulshok Sorceror (RIP Granger Guildmage :'(). It is still very solid.
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My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
I ran stinger for a bit but ultimately cut it due to inefficiency. It's better than Prodigal Pyromancer, but I don't rate that card very highly in commons (and find that having too many pingers is quite detrimental to common cubes.) Its unearth is nice but I think that options like Fireslinger and Vulshok Sorcerer are much better.
(In other news, I've been slowly tinkering with my commons cube to get it to 450 cards and will post the update when it's done, probably today. The long story is that I helped create a 360 card cube for a store, which I used a lot of my own cards for, which made me want to finish my commons cube before bringing my regular cube back to normal.)
I used to write cube articles on StarCityGames, now for GatheringMagic and podcast about cube (w/Antknee42.)
Yep, in the right situation, Sparksmith is by far the best pinger as there are loads of goblins in the average cube. Personally I don't like having only a few foils in cube, because being able to see what someone's picked by the bendiness of it is lame.
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Though it's definitely not the most versatile.
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Just enough. Only the good ones. Looking at the common morphs, I'd cube with Battering Craghorn, Echo Tracer, Fathom Seer, Gathan Raiders, Nantuko Vigilante, Shaper Parasite, Skinthinner and Skirk Marauder. I also wouldn't fault anyone for playing with Zombie Cutthroat, although I think it's blasphemy to compare it to Gathan Raiders.
And this talk of morphs has got me itchin'... Skirk Commando for cube?
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
Loose Change Pauper Cube-cast
Pauper Cube Article #1
Pauper Cube Article #2
Personal Enjoyment Cube
Skirk Commando doesn't seem great. Getting one hit off 6 mana and then having it traded away just seems not worth it, and that's probably him going well.
Feast or Famine just looks like the worst Nekrataal ever.
Also, thoughs on Spore Cloud? It looks almost as good as Tangle, which I'd run in a heartbeat.
Draft it on Cubetutor!
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
Draft it on Cubetutor!
It may be solid, but I don't think so. Try it out.
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
Draft it on Cubetutor!