I've gone to some extreme lengths to support the graveyard deck in my cube (cut leech and mangler for Nyx Weaver and Worm Harvest) and added Constant Mists and Gnaw to the Bone (I feel like one of the main hurdles to this deck is stabilising which these two cards do well).
Hermit Druid is going to be a key piece in this deck, but I expect he'll be good in any deck that wants to play lands really.
I really don't see getting a land every turn as anything other than great, so graveyard synergy is all gravy. Don't forget there will be times you dump a huge portion of your deck which is great fun.
Worm harvest will always be bad if you don't have a bunch of other ways to get multiple lands into your graveyard. You can't sit there paying 5 mana for 2 1/1s and then another five mana for 3 1/1s. To get more (i.e. enough) value out of it, your cube would have to have a bunch of these cards, be small, and be ok with playing this card with little more than the frequency of a gold card.
And Nyx Weaver and Darkblast and Stinkweed Imp and Golgari Brownscale. I run test games a lot on cockatrice and this card is solid. You don't have to play it on curve, just wait till the first one makes 4 guys and then start using it.
I wasn't sure how to answer your question so I did a quick match between a red deck Inscho drafted the other day and the list I posted above.
Gnaw gained 28 life in the first game (crucial to winning) and another 12 life in the second (also crucial). I'm sure in less grave-centric green decks (dedicated ramp?) it'd still be valuable in some matchups. The grave deck 2-0'd the red deck btw. Worm Harvest was also very good (generating like 12 worms G1 and 5 G2 off of 3 and 1 cast respectively, both stabilizing the board easily). Here's some pics showing how gross this archetype can get:
Overrun for a million in G1
G2 worm harvest stabilising the board
Lethal in G3. The Fireblast never got to do anything.
Casting Nemesis of Mortals for 3 on turn 4 was pretty sweet too. G1 was a mull to 5 but the deck mulligans very well. It's good guys, I swear.
That seems like a fairly long game, if you have to wait to get your first batch of tokens. I guess waiting for turn 7 for 4 tokens (keeping you alive?) and then turn 8/9 for another 5 (to maybe stabilize) and then turn 10/11 to take over.
I mean, that kind of environment existed for me long ago, so it's doable
Part of making the archetype work is drafting the cards to slow the game down. Cards like Gnaw to the Bone or Constant Mists give you room to breathe while you set up your endgame against the aggro decks, and have good synergy with the blowout spells in the deck. You don't have to slow the cube down to support it, just include the tools a deck needs to slow the game down if it wants to.
I mean, you play it before you would die for 10 life (5 guys in the yard = easy). Then you live longer and gain 12-16 life. 20 life seems very easy so long as you don't get bumrushed.
well for the sake of debate, that dredge deck is a red deck's nightmare...multiple recursive creatures with sizable butts that muck up the ground, several gain life spells. goblins always lost to the rock back in the day.
that deck is pretty removal light...i'd imagine that white weenie, an evasive tempo deck, or a ramp deck would be a more interesting matchup analysis to see how often the engines come online....as i'd venture to say that a red aggro deck is that deck's best matchup.
i'm also not saying that gnaw to the bone isn't a good card...i have no idea if it is or not. i do think the biggest knock against dredge is just how many slots you have to spend to support it. that decklist runs severals cards that are close to unplayable in other decklists.
The ramp deck won't be a huge concern because a lot of the picks overlap with the dredge deck (Sakura Tribe Elder, Satyr Wayfinder, Green Fatties/value guys, Krosan Tusker, Harrow).
One deck I know it doesn't lign up well with is UR Spells. They don't operate on the same axis and the spells deck is more direct with just winning/having evasive guys the tokens can't interact with.
It's going pretty well. The last time I drafted my cube (like.. 2 weeks ago), I drafted a sick G/B dredge/Spider Spawning deck that was able to put roughly half its deck in the graveyard in a couple of turns with Stinkweed Imp, Grisly Salvage, Satyr Wayfinder, Hermit Druid, etc. It was a lot of fun.
Have you tested worm harvest with it recently, or have you just decided it was too slow like most others that are working the dredge/graveyard value theme?
I am going to have to test some more of this archetype... seems lots of fun.
Hermit Druid is going to be a key piece in this deck, but I expect he'll be good in any deck that wants to play lands really.
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.
If you're lucky. you'd have to activate three times to dump an average of 5+ cards in the yard if you have 17 lands in your deck. I think.
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
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.
1x Llanowar Elves
1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
1x Satyr Wayfinder
1x Wall of Roots
1x Eternal Witness
1x Golgari Brownscale
1x Reclamation Sage
1x Stinkweed Imp
1x Penumbra Spider
1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
1x Nessian Asp
1x Nemesis of Mortals
1x Krosan Tusker
Instant
1x Darkblast
1x Gnaw to the Bone
1x Harrow
1x Commune with the Gods
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Grizzly Fate
1x Overrun
1x Spider Spawning
1x Worm Harvest
Enchantment Creature
1x Nyx Weaver
Land
1x Jungle Hollow
1x Opulent Palace
1x Vivid Grove
4x Swamp
10x Forest
1x Beast Within
1x Brave the Elements
1x Centaur Glade
1x Civic Wayfinder
1x Deadwood Treefolk
1x Exhume
1x Fireball
1x Flame Slash
1x Harm's Way
1x Icy Manipulator
1x Liliana's Specter
1x Naturalize
1x Roar of the Wurm
1x Slice and Dice
1x Stonewright
1x Swiftwater Cliffs
1x Trusty Machete
1x Wolfir Avenger
1x Worn Powerstone
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.
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
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.
Multiplayer Cube
Gnaw gained 28 life in the first game (crucial to winning) and another 12 life in the second (also crucial). I'm sure in less grave-centric green decks (dedicated ramp?) it'd still be valuable in some matchups. The grave deck 2-0'd the red deck btw. Worm Harvest was also very good (generating like 12 worms G1 and 5 G2 off of 3 and 1 cast respectively, both stabilizing the board easily). Here's some pics showing how gross this archetype can get:
Overrun for a million in G1
G2 worm harvest stabilising the board
Lethal in G3. The Fireblast never got to do anything.
Casting Nemesis of Mortals for 3 on turn 4 was pretty sweet too. G1 was a mull to 5 but the deck mulligans very well. It's good guys, I swear.
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.
I mean, that kind of environment existed for me long ago, so it's doable
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
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.
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
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
that deck is pretty removal light...i'd imagine that white weenie, an evasive tempo deck, or a ramp deck would be a more interesting matchup analysis to see how often the engines come online....as i'd venture to say that a red aggro deck is that deck's best matchup.
i'm also not saying that gnaw to the bone isn't a good card...i have no idea if it is or not. i do think the biggest knock against dredge is just how many slots you have to spend to support it. that decklist runs severals cards that are close to unplayable in other decklists.
One deck I know it doesn't lign up well with is UR Spells. They don't operate on the same axis and the spells deck is more direct with just winning/having evasive guys the tokens can't interact with.
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.
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
My 180 Peasant Cube on Cubetutor
Have you tested worm harvest with it recently, or have you just decided it was too slow like most others that are working the dredge/graveyard value theme?
I am going to have to test some more of this archetype... seems lots of fun.
My 180 Peasant Cube on Cubetutor
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.