It's not, technically, pauper or peasant (MODS WAIT) but I want to post it in this forum because I really like the power level of pauper, the small creatures, the lack of bombs, etc. But there are so many cool cards out there I want to cube with, and I'm tired of letting an arbitrary restriction stop me. So, I'm trying to make a fun, synergetic cube, with whatever cards fit best, but keep the power level and feel close to pauper and peasant.
Also I want to post it here because I like you guys <3
So here's what I'm doing:
-Broken rarity restrictions
-Broken singleton rule: There are 2 copies of some cards that are build-arounds, or cards that just fit perfectly and do exactly what I want.
-Aggro support: I think it's important to keep a limited environment "honest," in a sense where players should worry about tempo and doing things on curve, or at least I think excessively grindy formats suck
-Archetype support and build arounds: It's tricky to do this without making people feel like they're "drafting on rails" and tbh i'm probably handling it pretty clumsy. But I think it's probably better to have too much support than too little?
Some of the themes that seemed fun so I'm using them:
White: Flying tokens/going wide
White: Auras/enchantments (sage's reverie)
Blue: Aggressive evasion/tempo (favorable winds)
Black: Sacrifice value
Black: Enchantments matter
Red: Sacrifice value
Red: Instants matter (surreal memoir)
Green: Sacrifice value
Green: Enchantments matter
So I'm posting this in hopes of getting some feedback as far as what I should be thinking about, what could potentially go wrong, what cards I should or shouldn't use, etc. In particular I don't really know what to do with blue besides favorable winds lol. As the thread title indicates this still has a ways to go before being finished. The final size will probably be 360 cards or something close to it.
I also have a pretty bloated sideboard of cards I'm considering so that may be worth checking out (you can see it in the dropdown from the List tab on cubetutor.)
I'm glad you posted this because I am currently working on something very similar. I love the feel of pauper cube, but certain uncommons and rares would not feel out of place in pauper. So my goal was to create a cube that feels like pauper, but without the arbitrary rarity restriction. A few things I noticed about your cube:
- You run Nyx Weaver, but I don't see much in the way of graveyard synergies in Green.
- The cube looks like it has a lower power level, but also a few really bomby cards, such as Whirler Rogue, Pia & Kiran, Goblin Rabblemaster. I would aim for a more flat power level if you want it to still feel like Pauper / Peasant.
Also, I would try to break the singleton rule as little as possible. For instance, why have two Mardu Woe-Reapers, when you could split it up between 1 Woe Reaper and 1 Dragon Hunter (or something else, idk). If you break the pauper restriction, aggro 1 drops are not hard to come by, so I would still aim for as much diversity among them as possible. Breaking the singleton rule for say, Goblin Bombardment, helps support certain archetypes, which is what I would be inclined to break singleton for.
I like the idea, and am looking forwards to seeing a finished product.
What is your baseline power level for the effects you want? Do you want your best gravedigger to be Gravedigger or Eternal Witness? Your best token maker to be Belfry Spirit or Cloudgoat Ranger? Looking at each effect's scope and value might help to figure out how much (too much or too little) they bring to the cube relative to other cards (like fluttershy said, flatter power level).
I'm glad you posted this because I am currently working on something very similar. I love the feel of pauper cube, but certain uncommons and rares would not feel out of place in pauper. So my goal was to create a cube that feels like pauper, but without the arbitrary rarity restriction. A few things I noticed about your cube:
- You run Nyx Weaver, but I don't see much in the way of graveyard synergies in Green.
I agree. Where are the Regrowth/Reclaim effects, or undying/persist/random recurring critters like Masked Admirers, Centaur Vinecrasher or Grave-Shell Scarab for a second go around. You have Greenwarden of Murasa, but it is by far the best, most broken fatty you currently have. It makes Doomwake Giant and Charmbreaker Devils look super goofy.
- The cube looks like it has a lower power level, but also a few really bomby cards, such as Whirler Rogue, Pia & Kiran, Goblin Rabblemaster. I would aim for a more flat power level if you want it to still feel like Pauper / Peasant.
The Nalaars and Rabblemaster are probably a bit too over-the-top, but I think Whirler Rogue is borderline. Rumbling Baloth is serviceable. Rumbling Baloth with two bonuses is a bit harder to evaluate though. I say if there aren't anthems or random Tinker-like spells, it should be fine.
From the look of it, it seems you're trying to stick to a pauper-by-power-level design with some interesting decisions (Belfry Spirit is certainly more "common" than Cloudgoat Ranger) but then some really sore thumbs stick out like the aforementioned Greenwarden and random stuff like Bident of Thassa (drawing multiple cards repeatedly is definitely not common).
Yeah the thopter maker guys are probably too much. They just fit really well with the themes and are fun to play. They can go though.
@fluttershy what's so great about the singleton rule honestly? I'm not breaking it just for the sake of breaking it, but if it makes the cube better then why not. In the case of woe-reaper, I thought it would be important to have some ways to interact with graveyards, and those effects only get played if they appear on cards you would maindeck anyway. I definitely think that's a better choice than switching one of them for a vanilla creature. Tell me what the potential down sides are though.
At the risk of sounding dumb, I'm not sure rabblemaster and greenwarden are really that much better than other things? Rabblemaster is a 3 drop with 2 toughness and no evasion, so it's hard for him to attack without trading, or does that not matter?
Greenwarden seems fair at 6 mana, if you're behind on board he just looks like the worst spined wurm.
Nyx weaver was really just because it's a decent card that's also an enchantment lol. That reminds me though, I was thinking blue could maybe do something with self-mill. There are of course a lot of green and black cards that love that stuff.
I definitely thought about artifacts, I've had it as a theme in cubes before. It has always seemed especially parasitic and difficult to draft. I think it's because it lacks cards you want to play outside of artifactsmatter.dec. Like enchantments matter has removal and mana fixing that are fine whether you're making an enchantment deck or not.
If we can come up with enough non-parasitic artifacts it might be good. I've used executioner's capsule and signets to do that before. Porcelain legionnaire is a thing.
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I am running a small artifact theme in URw and find that its not too parasitic. I just upped the number of general purpose artifacts and added a few build around me cards, such as Esperzoa, Glassdust Hulk, and Kuldotha Flamefiend. (still a work in progress for me though).
And to answer your question, the only upside to the singleton rule is to increase that variety in your drafts. For this reason, I am also not a fan of functional reprints either, but I don't ban them because there are enough restrictions already for a typical cube. I just think that if you can avoid breaking the singleton rule, you should (ex: changing up the aggressive 1 drops). However, cards like Intangible Virtue, Goblin Bombardment, Young Pyromancer, are essential for certain archetypes, which I think is a good reason to break the singleton rule. This is just my personal preference, and of course you can build your cube however you wish. I just find that the more we deviate away from the norm, the more explanation is required when cubing with people who aren't a part of your regular cube group.
It's not, technically, pauper or peasant (MODS WAIT) but I want to post it in this forum because I really like the power level of pauper, the small creatures, the lack of bombs, etc. But there are so many cool cards out there I want to cube with, and I'm tired of letting an arbitrary restriction stop me. So, I'm trying to make a fun, synergetic cube, with whatever cards fit best, but keep the power level and feel close to pauper and peasant.
Also I want to post it here because I like you guys <3
So here's what I'm doing:
-Broken rarity restrictions
-Broken singleton rule: There are 2 copies of some cards that are build-arounds, or cards that just fit perfectly and do exactly what I want.
-Aggro support: I think it's important to keep a limited environment "honest," in a sense where players should worry about tempo and doing things on curve, or at least I think excessively grindy formats suck
-Archetype support and build arounds: It's tricky to do this without making people feel like they're "drafting on rails" and tbh i'm probably handling it pretty clumsy. But I think it's probably better to have too much support than too little?
Some of the themes that seemed fun so I'm using them:
White: Flying tokens/going wide
White: Auras/enchantments (sage's reverie)
Blue: Aggressive evasion/tempo (favorable winds)
Black: Sacrifice value
Black: Enchantments matter
Red: Sacrifice value
Red: Instants matter (surreal memoir)
Green: Sacrifice value
Green: Enchantments matter
So I'm posting this in hopes of getting some feedback as far as what I should be thinking about, what could potentially go wrong, what cards I should or shouldn't use, etc. In particular I don't really know what to do with blue besides favorable winds lol. As the thread title indicates this still has a ways to go before being finished. The final size will probably be 360 cards or something close to it.
I also have a pretty bloated sideboard of cards I'm considering so that may be worth checking out (you can see it in the dropdown from the List tab on cubetutor.)
Thanks for looking, cheers
Knowledge is power, money is power, time is money, you are actually gaining time by reading my posts
Click here and check out my Formerly Pauper Cube.
check out my EDH and Pauper EDH decks here
Also I'd even out my colors/guilds/mana fixing.
peasantcube.blogspot.com
- You run Nyx Weaver, but I don't see much in the way of graveyard synergies in Green.
- The cube looks like it has a lower power level, but also a few really bomby cards, such as Whirler Rogue, Pia & Kiran, Goblin Rabblemaster. I would aim for a more flat power level if you want it to still feel like Pauper / Peasant.
Also, I would try to break the singleton rule as little as possible. For instance, why have two Mardu Woe-Reapers, when you could split it up between 1 Woe Reaper and 1 Dragon Hunter (or something else, idk). If you break the pauper restriction, aggro 1 drops are not hard to come by, so I would still aim for as much diversity among them as possible. Breaking the singleton rule for say, Goblin Bombardment, helps support certain archetypes, which is what I would be inclined to break singleton for.
I like the idea, and am looking forwards to seeing a finished product.
I agree. Where are the Regrowth/Reclaim effects, or undying/persist/random recurring critters like Masked Admirers, Centaur Vinecrasher or Grave-Shell Scarab for a second go around. You have Greenwarden of Murasa, but it is by far the best, most broken fatty you currently have. It makes Doomwake Giant and Charmbreaker Devils look super goofy.
The Nalaars and Rabblemaster are probably a bit too over-the-top, but I think Whirler Rogue is borderline. Rumbling Baloth is serviceable. Rumbling Baloth with two bonuses is a bit harder to evaluate though. I say if there aren't anthems or random Tinker-like spells, it should be fine.
Speaking of Tinker, blue could almost certainly do artifacts. With stuff like Ensoul Artifact, Esperzoa to go along with Smothering Abomination, Riddlesmith, Sharding Sphinx, Thirst for Knowledge/Artificer's Epiphany, Thoughtcast, Trinket Mage, and Wing Splicer all go with Whirler Rogue relatively well
From the look of it, it seems you're trying to stick to a pauper-by-power-level design with some interesting decisions (Belfry Spirit is certainly more "common" than Cloudgoat Ranger) but then some really sore thumbs stick out like the aforementioned Greenwarden and random stuff like Bident of Thassa (drawing multiple cards repeatedly is definitely not common).
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My Pauper Cube: 540 (CubeTutor link!)
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@fluttershy what's so great about the singleton rule honestly? I'm not breaking it just for the sake of breaking it, but if it makes the cube better then why not. In the case of woe-reaper, I thought it would be important to have some ways to interact with graveyards, and those effects only get played if they appear on cards you would maindeck anyway. I definitely think that's a better choice than switching one of them for a vanilla creature. Tell me what the potential down sides are though.
At the risk of sounding dumb, I'm not sure rabblemaster and greenwarden are really that much better than other things? Rabblemaster is a 3 drop with 2 toughness and no evasion, so it's hard for him to attack without trading, or does that not matter?
Greenwarden seems fair at 6 mana, if you're behind on board he just looks like the worst spined wurm.
Nyx weaver was really just because it's a decent card that's also an enchantment lol. That reminds me though, I was thinking blue could maybe do something with self-mill. There are of course a lot of green and black cards that love that stuff.
I definitely thought about artifacts, I've had it as a theme in cubes before. It has always seemed especially parasitic and difficult to draft. I think it's because it lacks cards you want to play outside of artifactsmatter.dec. Like enchantments matter has removal and mana fixing that are fine whether you're making an enchantment deck or not.
If we can come up with enough non-parasitic artifacts it might be good. I've used executioner's capsule and signets to do that before. Porcelain legionnaire is a thing.
Knowledge is power, money is power, time is money, you are actually gaining time by reading my posts
Click here and check out my Formerly Pauper Cube.
check out my EDH and Pauper EDH decks here
And to answer your question, the only upside to the singleton rule is to increase that variety in your drafts. For this reason, I am also not a fan of functional reprints either, but I don't ban them because there are enough restrictions already for a typical cube. I just think that if you can avoid breaking the singleton rule, you should (ex: changing up the aggressive 1 drops). However, cards like Intangible Virtue, Goblin Bombardment, Young Pyromancer, are essential for certain archetypes, which I think is a good reason to break the singleton rule. This is just my personal preference, and of course you can build your cube however you wish. I just find that the more we deviate away from the norm, the more explanation is required when cubing with people who aren't a part of your regular cube group.