I think ratings should be for the decks that want them. Carnophage is trash in a midrange deck for example, so it's rating is based on the assumption that it's being used correctly.
I posted the below on the second page, I haven't updated the front page yet, I thought we'd get through the first lot of assessment before putting it up.
Welcome to this ongoing project! Our goal is to evaluate the cards you might want to include in your peasant cube. If you are looking at this thread for the first time, feel free to join in the current conversation.
It goes without saying that every cube is different. Each cube owner has their own views on a number of factors that influence their cube environment. As such, the following baseline or general guides are used for these evaluations.
General Power over Colour Pie / Flavour
Some people shape their cube based on their perspective of the colour pie, and include/exclude certain functions and flavour for each colour. Maybe you don’t want green to have flyers. Maybe you will never play Ray of Command because you think only red should have temporary creature stealing. Maybe you really want to push green counterspells. None of these considerations are taken into account for the purpose of these evaluations. Only the general power level of the card.
Interactivity
This is an extension of the above. There are some cards that do not lend themselves to interactivity with the opponent. Protection, landwalk, shadow, unblockability and hexproof are some examples. For some, these are powerful and will be valued as such. For others they can be random hosers which your opponent may feel unfair for choosing the wrong colour while drafting, or don’t promote the type of gameplay they desire. If that’s you, then ignore those cards.
Rarities
Some cards have only been released online as uncommons, but don’t have a printed version. Some older cards have some questionable rarities. Some people like to play those cards, and some don’t. These cards will be discussed here, but will be noted for those that want to avoid them.
The ‘Average Cube environment’ Evaluation
If your cube is 90% artifacts, Shattering Spree is a bomb. If your cube has zero artifacts, it’s a dead card.
For the purpose of these card evaluations, it’s assumed there is an ‘average’ mix of different cards types. All colours are equally (or close to) represented. Artifacts are in the cube but are not a focus, as are enchantments. There are creatures in every colour and spread over the mana curve, and so are other spell types.
As stated earlier, every cube is different and every card may be worse or better based on your specific environment. When possible, it will be noted in the card description which environments might change the valuation of a card. E.g. Reassembling Skeleton gets better the more sacrifice for benefit effects you have.
Card Listing & Scoring Methodology
Card Name - Score Description - Can include what is strictly better than it, why it's good, if it hoses certain archetypes, if it gets better or worse in particular environments etc. Anchors : Archetypes that this card signals are probably in the cube. Pulls you into that archetype. Supports : Might not pull you into an archetype, but if you are already in this archetype, the value of this card goes up.
5 - Bomb. This card is top of the range and is playable in almost every deck of the cards colours, or may warrant a splash. These are likely to be contenders for first picks, and later in the draft you will probably pick these over something that supports the archetype you are pushing. 4 - Staple. This card is good and is likely to be played in most decks of its colours. 3 - Playables. These cards might not always be the most exciting, but they get the job done. 2 - Borderline. These cards might make the cut in some cubes, but probably won't make the majority. This category might include strictly worse cards to consider if you want redundant effects. 1 - Fringe. These cards are almost unplayable in most decks, but may serve to support specific archetypes. Cards that push a parasitic mechanic or theme may fit this category. 0 - Unplayable. There aren't really any decks that would want this card, let alone your cube.
Cards will be scored on a 0.5 scale.
Perhaps the scoring ratings could do with some clarification. I'll call them out here specifically;
5 - Bomb. This card is top of the range and is playable in almost every deck of the cards colours, or may warrant a splash. These are likely to be contenders for first picks, and later in the draft you will probably pick these over something that supports the archetype you are pushing. 4 - Staple. This card is good and is likely to be played in most decks of its colours. 3 - Playables. These cards might not always be the most exciting, but they get the job done. They won't fit all decks, but given the right archetype support can become powerful. 2 - Borderline. These cards might make the cut in some cubes, but probably won't make the majority. This category might include strictly worse cards to consider if you want redundant effects. 1 - Fringe. These cards are almost unplayable in most decks, but may serve to support specific archetypes or functions. Cards that push a parasitic mechanic or theme may fit this category. 0 - Unplayable. There aren't really any decks that would want this card, let alone your cube.
Potential adjustments in bold. Happy to take further feedback. I'll wait for some responses before updating some of the current scores, and then move on to the next lot.
I feel kinda weird with strictly worses going to group 2. Savannah lions is better than a 2. Maybe those can go into 3s? Just *seems* better. Also, I feel like both 2s and 3s could have that "upside".
I think it depends how worse a card is as to it's rating. Savanna Lions is strictly worse than Mardu Woereaper, but I wouldn't rank it more than 0.5 lower than it since the Woereaper's ability is pretty negligible anyway. Lightning Strike is certainly at least 1 whole point worse than Lightning bolt, and shock is probably 1.5-2 worse.
I can see that 'strictly worse' was not the best way to describe what I was thinking in my head, especially given those examples. Perhaps changing that statement to 'This category may include cards that have strictly better versions (or close enough to), but are still playable if you want more of that effect'.
Leelue, when you say they could both have that upside, are you referring to 'They won't fit all decks, but given the right archetype support can become powerful'?
There's upside like... seeker of the way vs upside on... say... Crystal shard, which can just win and oppress games. I'm being sort of pedantic, I just don't want you or us to be caught in a pigeonhole.
It's worth spending some time on getting the ratings right before we continue. Here is another pass, changing 2 and 3. I don't think they are perfect. Every card does need some level of environmental support, so I'm not sure about those statements.
5 - Bomb. This card is top of the range and is playable in almost every deck of the cards colours, or may warrant a splash. These are likely to be contenders for first picks, and later in the draft you will probably pick these over something that supports the archetype you are pushing.
4 - Staple. This card is good and is likely to be played in most decks of its colours.
3 - Playables. These cards might not always be the most exciting, but they get the job done. They are either solid cards in their own right, or require minimal environmental support to get the best value.
2 - Borderline. These cards might make the cut in some cubes, but probably won't make the majority. They are either ok in some circumstances, or need some commitment in environmental support to get the best value.
1 - Fringe. These cards are almost unplayable in most decks, but may serve to support specific archetypes or functions. Cards that push a parasitic mechanic or theme may fit this category.
0 - Unplayable. There aren't really any decks that would want this card, let alone your cube.
I've updated a few of the scores on the secopnd page; once we get through all of the black creatures at 1cc, I'll change the second post of the first page.
On to the next lot.
Pharika's Chosen / Typhoid Rats - 2 Description - It's not flashy, but it can trade with a lot of stuff for just a single mana. Anchor - Supports -
Plagued Rusalka - 3 Description - Decent as a sac outlet for your creatures on the way to the bin. Can mess with combat by threatening to sac some guys after combat to take out their big threats. Gets better with tokens or recursion cards like Reassembling Skeleton, but can fit into a lot of different deck types. Anchor - Supports - Tokens
Putrid imp - 2 Description - Not amazing as a creature, but is a cheap early discard outlet if you really want to push that as an enabler for graveyard shenanigans. Anchor - Supports - Reanimator, Threshold, Dredge
Qarsi High Priest - 2 Description - Can help in sacrifice decks, or replace creatures on the way to the graveyard. Anchor - Supports -
Rimebound Dead - 1.5 Description - This is only playable if you have access to snow mana. It probably means unplayable in most cubes,(if Coldsteel Heart is the only snow mana producer in your cube) but is a solid staller if you let players choose snow lands for their basics. In that case, it can hold back creatures on the ground in decks that want to stall. Anchor - Supports -
Ruthless Ripper - 2.5 Description - Strictly better than Typhoid Rats, but depends if you want to support morph. This guy can be good for combat tricks to take down almost anything on the ground. Anchor - Supports -
Shadow Alley Denizen - 2 Description - Not exciting, but an early drop that can help get some damage past enemy lines. Anchor - Supports -
Shadow Guildmage - 1 Description - Pingers are often useful, but this is not a very exciting one. Anchor - Supports -
Tenacious Dead - 2 Description - This might see play as support for sacrifice recursion decks. You probably want Reassembling Skeleton before this guy, but he can make a second. Anchor - Supports - Sacrifice decks
Thoughtpicker Witch - 2 Description - Little investment if your creatures are already on their way to the yard, to impact the opponents card quality. As with all sac outlets, gets better the more other cards in your cube that trigger off creatures dying. Anchor - Supports - Sacrifice decks
Thrull Parasite - 2 Description - Extort can help over time. The counter removal effect will depend on what is in your environment. The more prevalent Undying and Persist creatures are in your cube, the better this guy gets. Anchor - Supports - Extort
Tormented Hero - 2.5 Description - Another decent black aggro 1-drop. Coming in tapped and missing the second point of toughness makes it a smidge worse than some other similar options. The heroic is probably not going to trigger often, but is a nice upside. Anchor - Supports - Aggro
Tormented Soul - 2 Description - On it's own, relentlessly pings for damage but it aint much. It gets better the more pieces of power boosting equipment and auras you have in your cube but generally isn't that exciting. Anchor - Supports -
Vampire Lacerator - 3.5 Description - Great aggro card. The decks that want to play this are usually trying to get that life total down as quickly as possible, making the drawback pretty negligible. Anchor - Aggro. Supports -
Viscera Seer - 1.5 Description - Gives you something to do with those creatures on their way to the graveyard, but not a high impact. Anchor - Supports -
I'm likely to trust your evaluations over mine, given a hiatus from the game for several years and only returning late last year (one of the selfish reasons for doing this project is to learn from others and correct my evaluation skills).
I'll assume from your statement it is a combination over overvaluing the rats and undervaluing some other cards. Happy to hear your thoughts and update the list accordingly.
Thanks for input and feedback. I though about when I would want the Rats, and it can help stall against some bigger attackers, but presumably the opponent would bite the bullet and attack into it to get it off the field anyway, so probably doesn't have that big an impact. And it doesn't really help win games.
So maybe Rats 2, Ruthless Ripper 2.5 for the reasons moffinz mentioned.
The rest of moffinz comments sound fair. I thought Qarsi High Priest might have been better outside of a sac archetype, based on being able to sac creatures on their way to the bin, but it probably won't come up as often as I think and you need to keep the mana open.
Putrid Imp strikes me as a player in BG graveyard shenanigans, since that's the only deck that's going to get much value out of its threshold ability.
Quarsi Highpriest strikes me as an OK card in sac decks, probably a 2-2.5 since it replaces its victim. Not much in other decks though (1).
Rimebound dead is 0.5-unplayable, even in an "all lands are snow" cube.
Ripper is 2.5, but a solid 3 in a cube with a lot of morph.
Otherwise I agree with the assesments given by m0ffinz.
For Rimebound Dead, I would have thought a 1 drop, 1 mana regenerator that can kill x/1's and hold off most other ground creatures would be at least playable in a deck that wants to stall. Not exciting by any means and only useful in some specific archetypes, like Extort type decks. If you have access to snow mana of course.
1cc black non-creature spells. This list includes X spells, as it is the easiest way for me capture them.
Blackmail - 2.5 Description – Not the best turn 1 play, but as the game goes on you are much more likely to get a target you want. Anchor -
Supports -
Booster Tutor - 3.5 Description - You'll need some form of house rule to play this, and if you are at 360 and often draft with 8 players, you won't have any cards left over to 'open'. On average there will be a handful cards that will be in your colours, and you will probably hit at least one card that will suit your deck. It's value goes up the more colours you are playing to open up more choices. The fact that it is instant gives you the opportunity to find an answer to a specific problem exactly when you need it. Anchor - Supports -
Cremate - 1
Description - This is not the sort of effect that everyone will want in their cube, as it unlikely to matter in most games. But as a 1 mana cantrip, you can always play it to make your deck smaller so long as there is 1 card in a graveyard.
Crippling Blight - 1 Description - You would cube this to give aggro decks a cheap way to remove their most relevant blocker or kill an x/1. Anchor Supports - Aggro
Dark Ritual - 2.5 Description - Not everyone will want it in their cube, but can be played across a spectrum of archetypes. It won't always be consistent, and the card disadvantage won't always be worth it. Late game it is often going to be a dead draw. Still, on some occasions you'll get an explosive start. Anchor -
Supports -
Darkblast - 3.5 Description - Darkblast can support a number of strategies. It's value goes up the more x/1's in your cube, and most cubes include a decent percentage of those. Being able to draw it anytime you need it to deal with a relevant creature for just B gives it plenty of long game value. It's value also goes up the more graveyard matters themes you include. It helps put cards in your graveyard for flashback, threshold, reanimation, delve, cards that count what is in your graveyard, and good old Reassembling Skeleton. Anchor - Supports - 'Graveyard Matters' themes
Dead Weight - 2 Description - Fair 'removal' at the 1 mana spot. With a lot of toughness affecting black removal, if it's too big you are out of luck. Dead Weight is never dead, as you can always make something big a much lesser threat in a pinch. Still, most of the time you'd rather have something that cost a little more and deals with more threats with finality. Anchor - Supports –
Despise / Ostracize - 3 Description - This effect isn't too splashy and you might sometimes whiff, but generally decent card due to the choice. Mention of planeswalker on Despise might imply to some people that they are in your cube. Anchor - Supports –
Unplayables Aphotic Wisps – Once off, non-guaranteed unblockability. Nah. Appetite For Brains – Targets are too narrow for most cube environments Artificer’s Hex – Way too narrow. Bloodcurdling Scream – Strictly worse than Howl From Beyond. Boggart Birth-Rite – Way too narrow. Bond of Agony – Having to pay both mana and life makes this too costly. Bone Splinters – Non-conditional is nice, but not at the cost of a creature at sorcery speed. Boon of Erebos – Doesn’t do enough to warrant the cost of card and life. Bubbling Muck – Hard to make effective use of in a cube environment. Bump In The Night – Doesn’t do enough. Burnt Offering – There might be some best case scenarios, but the probability of them happening is pretty slim. Dark Ritual more reliable. Cabal Therapy – Not going to work in cube due to the singleton status of the format. You could cast it and then flash it back to get something good, but you may as well just be playing a better card to begin with. Call to the Netherworld – Just black creatures is very narrow, and madness does not make up for it. Cateran Summons – May have a place if mercenary tribal is a theme. Chorus of Woe – Cheap, but not worth a card Coffin Purge – Just bad. Corrupted Roots – Too narrow. Cremate – Just bad. Cruel Feeding – Not sure there is a board position where I would want to play this card over anything else. Cry of Contrition - 2 cards for B sounds good, but there are too many hoops to jump through, and as your opponent gets the choice, they are more likely to know when to hold back a land for the second discard.
Culling the Weak - 2nd turn 5 mana sounds pretty nuts, but I don't see it playing out very consistently; you need a 1 drop plus this in your opening 8-9 cards, plus relevant cards to play with that 5 mana that just cost you two cards. Getting 3 for 1'd from some cheap removal will not make you a happy camper. Dark Ritual is the card you want for more flexibility and consistency. Cursed Flesh – Doesn’t do enough Dark Betrayal – Way too narrow. Darkness - Doesn't do enough. Deadly Allure - Unless the opponent only has one open blocker, you don't get to choose what to kill. You would rather have straight out removal, though effects like this may go up in value if you eschew removal in favour of combat tricks. Death Watch – Does nothing to affect the board Death Wind – Flexible and splashable, but other stuff just does it better. Deathmark – Too narrow Deaths Approach – Doesn’t do enough.
Demonic Appetite[/card] – The situations where this is going to be favourable are going to be slim to none. Demonic Consultation – Given the singleton nature of cube, risking the game doesn’t seem worth it.
Putrid Imp strikes me as a player in BG graveyard shenanigans, since that's the only deck that's going to get much value out of its threshold ability.
Quarsi Highpriest strikes me as an OK card in sac decks, probably a 2-2.5 since it replaces its victim. Not much in other decks though (1).
Rimebound dead is 0.5-unplayable, even in an "all lands are snow" cube.
Ripper is 2.5, but a solid 3 in a cube with a lot of morph.
Otherwise I agree with the assesments given by m0ffinz.
I use Putrid Imp in my cube for BG graveyard as you say, but also UB reanimator, all around useful card IMO.
Booster tutor is extremely powerful in any 3+ color decks and decently strong in 2 color decks. You get between 3 and 6 cards to choose from in a 15 card pool and... maybe... about half the choices are cards you may want right now. Getting to choose from 2 or 3 cards that you really want is good. Even if it only gives you one card you want, it's the card you want.
Fog effects are a 0 or a .5
Darkblast ranges from "eh" to "wow, I can't cast a bunch of my cards because my opponent draws darkblast next turn and kills it." It gives you more "live draws" than your opponent, assuming they ever draw X/1s. The synergies with graveyards helps, obviously.
Dark ritual has been seen mostly as a fringe card in the cube. It's not terrible, but we don't really benefit much from the card disadvantage in many cases.
Some people run crippling blight as an aggro only removal spell, and it's definitely at least a 1.
For people who play with Booster Tutor, how do you use it? Presumably the "booster" will be a pack from your cube so it won't work at 360 in an 8 person draft. Additionally, in a 3 round event there's the potential to cast it 9 times. Do you have to have a minimum 495 (360+15*9) card cube just to be able to run it? It seems cute but a logistical nightmare. Opening actual boosterpacks sounds like an expensive way to find chaff.
Appetite for Brains: Unplayable
Cry of Contrition: 0.5? Eh, it's a 2 for one but not a great one and your opponent is generally going to know when they'll have to keep an extra land in their hand to discard the second time. There are better ways to generate card advantage in black.
I think you're overrating Dark Ritual. Peasant doesn't have many cards which make the card disadvantage worth it.
Dark Ritual: Ok, you're certainly underrating this card. Using my cube as an example, there's around 22% of the cube (78ish cards) which are X/1. That's 41% of the creatures in the cube. Having a card which kills 41% of the guys in a format for B and can keep doing it (and generate virtual card advantage by making them not ever be able to keep the guys they cast) is huge game. Synergy with graveyard strategies is just gravy. Darkblast is a solid 3.5-4 for me.
Darkness is a black fog, but that's not much of a selling point. A fog needs to be game warping to be worth playing in this format, so I'd give it a 0-0.5.
I use Booster Tutor and just make packs of 15 cards from the cube. As I have a cube of 400 cards and we usually play with 4 players it's really easy to do so. As for power level, it is really good in any three color or more deck and reasonable in a two color deck. Moreover, it's an instant tutor for 1 mana that puts the card straight into your hand. Also don't forget that the card can actually change zones, so if the searched card ends up in your graveyard you can reanimate/Regrowth it.
Edit: i think having 45-60 cards left after drafting is enough for Booster Tutor. It is unlikely it will be cast every game and you can always shuffle the remaining cards together again to make a pack. Sure, there will be some overlap if cast multiple times but that is not different from when opening actually boosters.
Most of the ones you guys have mentioned are probably the ones I was least confident about.
I might update Booster Tutor to clarify at least my position on Booster Tutor; that it has to be a 'pack' from the cube. It obviously requires some form of house rule for cube. Perhaps I'd underestimated it. Would be interesting to just try it after a deck is already built the next few times I play to see how often I would get something that I wanted.
I was probably clinging to those perfect plays with Dark Ritual, imagining turn 1 dropping 3 2/x's or Hypnotic Specter, but they probably don't happen very frequently. Is it just ok (say a 2) or does the card disadvantage make it almost unplayable with some rare instances of best case scenario?
I can see the case for raising the score on Darkblast. I'd be happy to put it up to 3.5.
Updated some of the comments and scored on the last update.
Blackmail - 2.5
Booster Tutor - 3.5
Darkblast - 3.5
Moved some of the others to unplayable.
Just need some clarification on Dark Ritual scoring.
Any feedback on how many cards I should put up at a time and how frequently? Going alphabetically, was thinking perhaps 10 cards worth at least 1 point for discussion, plus whatever unplayables are in there as well; assume most of those won't need to be discussed. 10 cards every couple of days? I don't think daily gives enough time for robust enough discussion, especially if there are divided views.
You're rating a couple of very iffy cards at >0.5.
Deathgreeter: Once seven things die, you have tacked on Heroes Reunion to a useless body. Seems like a total zero.
Disowned Ancestor: You REALLY need a low power level for him to be remotely playable.
Merrow BoneGnawer: utterly useless.
Culling the Weak: 3-for-1'ing yourself = worse than useless
On the other hand:
Aphotic Wisps... well, any Wisps can be useful. It's a 1-mana instant cantrip, so works well with stuff like Guttersnipe, and fills the graveyard for Delve cards. Solid 1 I think.
Boon of Erebos is legitimately good if you want a cube that in general allows for combat tricks. Most cubes don't, of course, but it's a powerful enough effect at 1 mana to be a 1-1.5.
Cremate is a much better card than Merrow Bonegnawer. Same comments about 1-mana cantrips. Obviously not great, but has a decent amount of targets in the average cube (persist/undying, flashback, reanimation).
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Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.
It goes without saying that every cube is different. Each cube owner has their own views on a number of factors that influence their cube environment. As such, the following baseline or general guides are used for these evaluations.
General Power over Colour Pie / Flavour
Some people shape their cube based on their perspective of the colour pie, and include/exclude certain functions and flavour for each colour. Maybe you don’t want green to have flyers. Maybe you will never play Ray of Command because you think only red should have temporary creature stealing. Maybe you really want to push green counterspells. None of these considerations are taken into account for the purpose of these evaluations. Only the general power level of the card.
Interactivity
This is an extension of the above. There are some cards that do not lend themselves to interactivity with the opponent. Protection, landwalk, shadow, unblockability and hexproof are some examples. For some, these are powerful and will be valued as such. For others they can be random hosers which your opponent may feel unfair for choosing the wrong colour while drafting, or don’t promote the type of gameplay they desire. If that’s you, then ignore those cards.
Rarities
Some cards have only been released online as uncommons, but don’t have a printed version. Some older cards have some questionable rarities. Some people like to play those cards, and some don’t. These cards will be discussed here, but will be noted for those that want to avoid them.
The ‘Average Cube environment’ Evaluation
If your cube is 90% artifacts, Shattering Spree is a bomb. If your cube has zero artifacts, it’s a dead card.
For the purpose of these card evaluations, it’s assumed there is an ‘average’ mix of different cards types. All colours are equally (or close to) represented. Artifacts are in the cube but are not a focus, as are enchantments. There are creatures in every colour and spread over the mana curve, and so are other spell types.
As stated earlier, every cube is different and every card may be worse or better based on your specific environment. When possible, it will be noted in the card description which environments might change the valuation of a card. E.g. Reassembling Skeleton gets better the more sacrifice for benefit effects you have.
Card Listing & Scoring Methodology
Card Name - Score
Description - Can include what is strictly better than it, why it's good, if it hoses certain archetypes, if it gets better or worse in particular environments etc.
Anchors : Archetypes that this card signals are probably in the cube. Pulls you into that archetype.
Supports : Might not pull you into an archetype, but if you are already in this archetype, the value of this card goes up.
5 - Bomb. This card is top of the range and is playable in almost every deck of the cards colours, or may warrant a splash. These are likely to be contenders for first picks, and later in the draft you will probably pick these over something that supports the archetype you are pushing.
4 - Staple. This card is good and is likely to be played in most decks of its colours.
3 - Playables. These cards might not always be the most exciting, but they get the job done.
2 - Borderline. These cards might make the cut in some cubes, but probably won't make the majority. This category might include strictly worse cards to consider if you want redundant effects.
1 - Fringe. These cards are almost unplayable in most decks, but may serve to support specific archetypes. Cards that push a parasitic mechanic or theme may fit this category.
0 - Unplayable. There aren't really any decks that would want this card, let alone your cube.
Cards will be scored on a 0.5 scale.
Perhaps the scoring ratings could do with some clarification. I'll call them out here specifically;
5 - Bomb. This card is top of the range and is playable in almost every deck of the cards colours, or may warrant a splash. These are likely to be contenders for first picks, and later in the draft you will probably pick these over something that supports the archetype you are pushing.
4 - Staple. This card is good and is likely to be played in most decks of its colours.
3 - Playables. These cards might not always be the most exciting, but they get the job done. They won't fit all decks, but given the right archetype support can become powerful.
2 - Borderline. These cards might make the cut in some cubes, but probably won't make the majority. This category might include strictly worse cards to consider if you want redundant effects.
1 - Fringe. These cards are almost unplayable in most decks, but may serve to support specific archetypes or functions. Cards that push a parasitic mechanic or theme may fit this category.
0 - Unplayable. There aren't really any decks that would want this card, let alone your cube.
Potential adjustments in bold. Happy to take further feedback. I'll wait for some responses before updating some of the current scores, and then move on to the next lot.
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.
Leelue, when you say they could both have that upside, are you referring to 'They won't fit all decks, but given the right archetype support can become powerful'?
There's upside like... seeker of the way vs upside on... say... Crystal shard, which can just win and oppress games. I'm being sort of pedantic, I just don't want you or us to be caught in a pigeonhole.
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
5 - Bomb. This card is top of the range and is playable in almost every deck of the cards colours, or may warrant a splash. These are likely to be contenders for first picks, and later in the draft you will probably pick these over something that supports the archetype you are pushing.
4 - Staple. This card is good and is likely to be played in most decks of its colours.
3 - Playables. These cards might not always be the most exciting, but they get the job done. They are either solid cards in their own right, or require minimal environmental support to get the best value.
2 - Borderline. These cards might make the cut in some cubes, but probably won't make the majority. They are either ok in some circumstances, or need some commitment in environmental support to get the best value.
1 - Fringe. These cards are almost unplayable in most decks, but may serve to support specific archetypes or functions. Cards that push a parasitic mechanic or theme may fit this category.
0 - Unplayable. There aren't really any decks that would want this card, let alone your cube.
On to the next lot.
Pharika's Chosen / Typhoid Rats - 2
Description - It's not flashy, but it can trade with a lot of stuff for just a single mana.
Anchor -
Supports -
Plagued Rusalka - 3
Description - Decent as a sac outlet for your creatures on the way to the bin. Can mess with combat by threatening to sac some guys after combat to take out their big threats. Gets better with tokens or recursion cards like Reassembling Skeleton, but can fit into a lot of different deck types.
Anchor -
Supports - Tokens
Putrid imp - 2
Description - Not amazing as a creature, but is a cheap early discard outlet if you really want to push that as an enabler for graveyard shenanigans.
Anchor -
Supports - Reanimator, Threshold, Dredge
Qarsi High Priest - 2
Description - Can help in sacrifice decks, or replace creatures on the way to the graveyard.
Anchor -
Supports -
Rimebound Dead - 1.5
Description - This is only playable if you have access to snow mana. It probably means unplayable in most cubes,(if Coldsteel Heart is the only snow mana producer in your cube) but is a solid staller if you let players choose snow lands for their basics. In that case, it can hold back creatures on the ground in decks that want to stall.
Anchor -
Supports -
Ruthless Ripper - 2.5
Description - Strictly better than Typhoid Rats, but depends if you want to support morph. This guy can be good for combat tricks to take down almost anything on the ground.
Anchor -
Supports -
Shadow Alley Denizen - 2
Description - Not exciting, but an early drop that can help get some damage past enemy lines.
Anchor -
Supports -
Shadow Guildmage - 1
Description - Pingers are often useful, but this is not a very exciting one.
Anchor -
Supports -
Tenacious Dead - 2
Description - This might see play as support for sacrifice recursion decks. You probably want Reassembling Skeleton before this guy, but he can make a second.
Anchor -
Supports - Sacrifice decks
Thoughtpicker Witch - 2
Description - Little investment if your creatures are already on their way to the yard, to impact the opponents card quality. As with all sac outlets, gets better the more other cards in your cube that trigger off creatures dying.
Anchor -
Supports - Sacrifice decks
Thrull Parasite - 2
Description - Extort can help over time. The counter removal effect will depend on what is in your environment. The more prevalent Undying and Persist creatures are in your cube, the better this guy gets.
Anchor -
Supports - Extort
Tormented Hero - 2.5
Description - Another decent black aggro 1-drop. Coming in tapped and missing the second point of toughness makes it a smidge worse than some other similar options. The heroic is probably not going to trigger often, but is a nice upside.
Anchor -
Supports - Aggro
Tormented Soul - 2
Description - On it's own, relentlessly pings for damage but it aint much. It gets better the more pieces of power boosting equipment and auras you have in your cube but generally isn't that exciting.
Anchor -
Supports -
Vampire Lacerator - 3.5
Description - Great aggro card. The decks that want to play this are usually trying to get that life total down as quickly as possible, making the drawback pretty negligible.
Anchor - Aggro.
Supports -
Viscera Seer - 1.5
Description - Gives you something to do with those creatures on their way to the graveyard, but not a high impact.
Anchor -
Supports -
Mindlash Sliver - Even if want to include tribal this is probably not an effect you want.
Molting Harpy - Terrible with that upkeep cost.
Muck Rats - Vanilla Badness
Necra Disciple - Neither of the abilities do enough when they cost mana.
Nezumi Shadow-watcher - Too narrow to ever matter.
Nightscape Apprentice - Does do enough.
Phyrexian Battleflies - Having to invest mana to deal any damage is pretty abysmal.
Pit Imp - Same as Phyrexian Battleflies
Plague Beetle - Unless you absolutely need a 1-drop swamp walker for some reason.
Prickly Boggart - Doesn't do enough.
Pulse Tracker - If you want this effect, Mardu Shadowspear is strictly better (unless Vampires or Rogues matter).
Quag Vampires - Just meh.
Rag Dealer - Too narrow.
Rampart Crawler - Just bad.
Ridged Kusite - Doesn't do enough.
Sewer Rats - Better aggro cards.
Shadowborn Apostle - Does nothing in cube.
Slithering Shade - Too conditional.
Smolder Initiate - Extort creatures better.
Stone-Throwing Devils - Not good enough.
Urborg Skeleton - Cheap regeneration cost can make this guy ok as a staller, but with 0 power he doesn't threaten to kill anything. Once you are willing to pay the kicker, you may as well just get a much better card to fit the same role.
Vampire Bats - Bad
Zodiac Rat - bad.
Zombie Cannibal - This guys size means it is unlikely to get triggered anyway, even if you want this effect.
Zulaport Enforcer - Way too much mana investment required.
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
I'll assume from your statement it is a combination over overvaluing the rats and undervaluing some other cards. Happy to hear your thoughts and update the list accordingly.
Anyway, yeah, it was that the rats was just higher than things that do worse in some ways, and even with things that are more often playable.
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
So maybe Rats 2, Ruthless Ripper 2.5 for the reasons moffinz mentioned.
The rest of moffinz comments sound fair. I thought Qarsi High Priest might have been better outside of a sac archetype, based on being able to sac creatures on their way to the bin, but it probably won't come up as often as I think and you need to keep the mana open.
Quarsi Highpriest strikes me as an OK card in sac decks, probably a 2-2.5 since it replaces its victim. Not much in other decks though (1).
Rimebound dead is 0.5-unplayable, even in an "all lands are snow" cube.
Ripper is 2.5, but a solid 3 in a cube with a lot of morph.
Otherwise I agree with the assesments given by m0ffinz.
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.
Blackmail - 2.5
Description – Not the best turn 1 play, but as the game goes on you are much more likely to get a target you want.
Anchor -
Supports -
Booster Tutor - 3.5
Description - You'll need some form of house rule to play this, and if you are at 360 and often draft with 8 players, you won't have any cards left over to 'open'. On average there will be a handful cards that will be in your colours, and you will probably hit at least one card that will suit your deck. It's value goes up the more colours you are playing to open up more choices. The fact that it is instant gives you the opportunity to find an answer to a specific problem exactly when you need it.
Anchor -
Supports -
Cremate - 1
Description - This is not the sort of effect that everyone will want in their cube, as it unlikely to matter in most games. But as a 1 mana cantrip, you can always play it to make your deck smaller so long as there is 1 card in a graveyard.
Crippling Blight - 1
Description - You would cube this to give aggro decks a cheap way to remove their most relevant blocker or kill an x/1.
Anchor
Supports - Aggro
Dark Ritual - 2.5
Description - Not everyone will want it in their cube, but can be played across a spectrum of archetypes. It won't always be consistent, and the card disadvantage won't always be worth it. Late game it is often going to be a dead draw. Still, on some occasions you'll get an explosive start.
Anchor -
Supports -
Darkblast - 3.5
Description - Darkblast can support a number of strategies. It's value goes up the more x/1's in your cube, and most cubes include a decent percentage of those. Being able to draw it anytime you need it to deal with a relevant creature for just B gives it plenty of long game value. It's value also goes up the more graveyard matters themes you include. It helps put cards in your graveyard for flashback, threshold, reanimation, delve, cards that count what is in your graveyard, and good old Reassembling Skeleton.
Anchor -
Supports - 'Graveyard Matters' themes
Dead Weight - 2
Description - Fair 'removal' at the 1 mana spot. With a lot of toughness affecting black removal, if it's too big you are out of luck. Dead Weight is never dead, as you can always make something big a much lesser threat in a pinch. Still, most of the time you'd rather have something that cost a little more and deals with more threats with finality.
Anchor -
Supports –
Despise / Ostracize - 3
Description - This effect isn't too splashy and you might sometimes whiff, but generally decent card due to the choice. Mention of planeswalker on Despise might imply to some people that they are in your cube.
Anchor -
Supports –
Aphotic Wisps – Once off, non-guaranteed unblockability. Nah.
Appetite For Brains – Targets are too narrow for most cube environments
Artificer’s Hex – Way too narrow.
Bloodcurdling Scream – Strictly worse than Howl From Beyond.
Boggart Birth-Rite – Way too narrow.
Bond of Agony – Having to pay both mana and life makes this too costly.
Bone Splinters – Non-conditional is nice, but not at the cost of a creature at sorcery speed.
Boon of Erebos – Doesn’t do enough to warrant the cost of card and life.
Bubbling Muck – Hard to make effective use of in a cube environment.
Bump In The Night – Doesn’t do enough.
Burnt Offering – There might be some best case scenarios, but the probability of them happening is pretty slim. Dark Ritual more reliable.
Cabal Therapy – Not going to work in cube due to the singleton status of the format. You could cast it and then flash it back to get something good, but you may as well just be playing a better card to begin with.
Call to the Netherworld – Just black creatures is very narrow, and madness does not make up for it.
Cateran Summons – May have a place if mercenary tribal is a theme.
Chorus of Woe – Cheap, but not worth a card
Coffin Purge – Just bad.
Corrupted Roots – Too narrow.
Cremate – Just bad.
Cruel Feeding – Not sure there is a board position where I would want to play this card over anything else.
Cry of Contrition - 2 cards for B sounds good, but there are too many hoops to jump through, and as your opponent gets the choice, they are more likely to know when to hold back a land for the second discard.
Culling the Weak - 2nd turn 5 mana sounds pretty nuts, but I don't see it playing out very consistently; you need a 1 drop plus this in your opening 8-9 cards, plus relevant cards to play with that 5 mana that just cost you two cards. Getting 3 for 1'd from some cheap removal will not make you a happy camper. Dark Ritual is the card you want for more flexibility and consistency.
Cursed Flesh – Doesn’t do enough
Dark Betrayal – Way too narrow.
Darkness - Doesn't do enough.
Deadly Allure - Unless the opponent only has one open blocker, you don't get to choose what to kill. You would rather have straight out removal, though effects like this may go up in value if you eschew removal in favour of combat tricks.
Death Watch – Does nothing to affect the board
Death Wind – Flexible and splashable, but other stuff just does it better.
Deathmark – Too narrow
Deaths Approach – Doesn’t do enough.
Demonic Appetite[/card] – The situations where this is going to be favourable are going to be slim to none.
Demonic Consultation – Given the singleton nature of cube, risking the game doesn’t seem worth it.
I use Putrid Imp in my cube for BG graveyard as you say, but also UB reanimator, all around useful card IMO.
My 180 Peasant Cube on Cubetutor
Fog effects are a 0 or a .5
Darkblast ranges from "eh" to "wow, I can't cast a bunch of my cards because my opponent draws darkblast next turn and kills it." It gives you more "live draws" than your opponent, assuming they ever draw X/1s. The synergies with graveyards helps, obviously.
Dark ritual has been seen mostly as a fringe card in the cube. It's not terrible, but we don't really benefit much from the card disadvantage in many cases.
Some people run crippling blight as an aggro only removal spell, and it's definitely at least a 1.
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
Appetite for Brains: Unplayable
Cry of Contrition: 0.5? Eh, it's a 2 for one but not a great one and your opponent is generally going to know when they'll have to keep an extra land in their hand to discard the second time. There are better ways to generate card advantage in black.
I think you're overrating Dark Ritual. Peasant doesn't have many cards which make the card disadvantage worth it.
Dark Ritual: Ok, you're certainly underrating this card. Using my cube as an example, there's around 22% of the cube (78ish cards) which are X/1. That's 41% of the creatures in the cube. Having a card which kills 41% of the guys in a format for B and can keep doing it (and generate virtual card advantage by making them not ever be able to keep the guys they cast) is huge game. Synergy with graveyard strategies is just gravy. Darkblast is a solid 3.5-4 for me.
Darkness is a black fog, but that's not much of a selling point. A fog needs to be game warping to be worth playing in this format, so I'd give it a 0-0.5.
Otherwise I'm in agreement with your assessments.
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.
Edit: i think having 45-60 cards left after drafting is enough for Booster Tutor. It is unlikely it will be cast every game and you can always shuffle the remaining cards together again to make a pack. Sure, there will be some overlap if cast multiple times but that is not different from when opening actually boosters.
My C/Ube on Cube Cobra
I might update Booster Tutor to clarify at least my position on Booster Tutor; that it has to be a 'pack' from the cube. It obviously requires some form of house rule for cube. Perhaps I'd underestimated it. Would be interesting to just try it after a deck is already built the next few times I play to see how often I would get something that I wanted.
I was probably clinging to those perfect plays with Dark Ritual, imagining turn 1 dropping 3 2/x's or Hypnotic Specter, but they probably don't happen very frequently. Is it just ok (say a 2) or does the card disadvantage make it almost unplayable with some rare instances of best case scenario?
I can see the case for raising the score on Darkblast. I'd be happy to put it up to 3.5.
Darkness can get moved to the unplayable section.
Moved crippling blight from the unplayables and scored it a 1.
Blackmail - 2.5
Booster Tutor - 3.5
Darkblast - 3.5
Moved some of the others to unplayable.
Just need some clarification on Dark Ritual scoring.
Any feedback on how many cards I should put up at a time and how frequently? Going alphabetically, was thinking perhaps 10 cards worth at least 1 point for discussion, plus whatever unplayables are in there as well; assume most of those won't need to be discussed. 10 cards every couple of days? I don't think daily gives enough time for robust enough discussion, especially if there are divided views.
Ritual is like somewhere between a 2 and a 2.5.
Booster is between a 3 and 4
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
Deathgreeter: Once seven things die, you have tacked on Heroes Reunion to a useless body. Seems like a total zero.
Disowned Ancestor: You REALLY need a low power level for him to be remotely playable.
Merrow BoneGnawer: utterly useless.
Culling the Weak: 3-for-1'ing yourself = worse than useless
On the other hand:
Aphotic Wisps... well, any Wisps can be useful. It's a 1-mana instant cantrip, so works well with stuff like Guttersnipe, and fills the graveyard for Delve cards. Solid 1 I think.
Boon of Erebos is legitimately good if you want a cube that in general allows for combat tricks. Most cubes don't, of course, but it's a powerful enough effect at 1 mana to be a 1-1.5.
Cremate is a much better card than Merrow Bonegnawer. Same comments about 1-mana cantrips. Obviously not great, but has a decent amount of targets in the average cube (persist/undying, flashback, reanimation).