I am trapped by cards like these. I try them because they "are decent at so many things" and thus will be "a neat flexible roleplayer in my cube enabling all sorts", but then they don't get played. Cards like these function in normal draft environments, but in cube, there are just so many good cards. Even in the deck that wants whatever effect your flexible card does "decently", your deck just becomes better by picking "random generally good limited card" in your colours over it.
Modal, flexible cards are good when you get to pick the mode.
You don't with this card, and therefore it's bad.
And I don't even think either side is "decent."
Even when I want the draw a land mode, and even when I get it, what if I'm looking to get out of color screw, or find my splash color? It's still bad at the thing I want it to do. And even when I want the 3/3 mode, if I even get it, there'll be plenty of times where the card will stay on top of my library and then I just played a Centaur Courser, and why does that card exist in my deck
Beyond being good or bad, as far as "fun" or "interesting" factor goes, it's enjoyable and thoughtful exactly %0 of the time when your card randomly doesn't do what you intend for it to do.
Cool, flexible, skillful, desirable cards put the decisions in the player's hands.
Saying "I scried to the top, so that was pointless" doesn't really hold up. I mean, obviously you haven't actually manipulated your library. That's true. But it also means you're in a good spot, so if the creature you played is reasonably impactful -- which a 3/3 for 3 is, but barely -- you're generally going to be happy.
Of course, the new Wayfinder ISN'T reliably a 3/3 (at all), and a 2/2 for 3 is a bajillionty times worse.
Scrying to the top doesnt indicate that you're in a good spot. It indicates that the top card of your library is a card you want. You can be behind and still scry to the top and still be behind because you just played centaur courser.
Marauding Looter is a bit too expensive for my taste. You can't really justify the cost without using the body, but you can't loot when the body dies. If it was a 3 mana 3/2 it would be great, but 4 mana is a lot.
Raging Swordtooth looks decent. Worth a test, but it feels like it should have an extra point of power.
Tishana's Wayfinder looks like filler at best, but it's kind of close. I could see a similar card, with another small upside, at 2-4 mana being good.
To me the issue is that nobody really wants a random 3/3 for 3. That's just not a good fail state in the decks that card goes in, even if a 3/3 for 3 could be good enough in other contexts.
Impulse still puts the card in your hand, so it is never worse than a cantrip. It's never nothing.
Scry one has an (insert whatever the actual odds of scry to the top are) chance of being "nothing".
Impulse is three times more likely to be better than a cantrip, I don't understand why you'd make such an extreme example when obviously the difference in frequency of outcome is so far apart.
If that number for scry to the top is roughly 40%, then you have to be ok with roughly 40% of the time playing a 3/3 vanilla. In exchange you get as your best case scenario a 60% chance of digging down one card. These odds are too close together, and these outcomes not far apart enough to justify the failure case.
This is just for the "success" of getting the 3/3 mode, on a theoretical 3/3 scry 1. The 2/2 mode (which is what you actually get ~40 percent of the time) is just a bad version of another card. So what you end up with is 40 percent of the time having a bad civic wayfinder, 24% of the time having a centaur courser, and 36% of the time a card that was above average.
And you cant even plan for the right mode to suit the situation. The card as printed isn't good enough.
Didn't have any expectations for cube-worthy cards from Ixalan, but Siren Stormtamer looks sick as hell. Honestly a Flying Men isn't that awful of a 1 drop for blue decks when it's got such a useful ability.
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~400 Peasant++ : List : Draft
Warning: Not for the durdly-hearted!
I was thinking among similar lines. Spells that target you *or* a creature you control are not marginal by any means, and the baseline stats are (barely) good enough. It definitely helps that blue's 1-drops, especially creatures, are so very, very shallow.
Edit: Huh, funny: Drover of the Mighty and the mana slivers are still the only green 2-drops that can simply tap for mana of any colour unconditionally. Obviously, not going to play it regardless.
I was thinking among similar lines. Spells that target you *or* a creature you control are not marginal by any means, and the baseline stats are (barely) good enough. It definitely helps that blue's 1-drops, especially creatures, are so very, very shallow.
Edit: Huh, funny: Drover of the Mighty and the mana slivers are still the only green 2-drops that can simply tap for mana of any colour unconditionally. Obviously, not going to play it regardless.
For a long time I was hoping they'd give us Utopia Tree, but I'm not sure that a 0/2 would be better than a 1/1. A 0/3 defender(aka non-hexproof Sylvan Caryatid) is where I'd like to be at.
It's a pirate wizard, but it's concealing coming storms? What's the point of that instead of,say, luring people towards the pirate ship or something? Why are we countering stuff when we hide storms? We can't even take that metaphorically for a pirate attack, because of the art. Why is a siren of all beings countering stuff when it should be enchanting people? Why is this siren male? Why does it fly? How does it fly anyway, it looks like it's about to take a nosedive into the next wave with those crappy wings.
I like it as a set of mechancis, but man is this a flavor fail...
Wanted Scoundrels seems pretty good; Bloodrage Brawler has been quite impressive, and the cards seem quite similar. If it gets hit with removal before you can swing it's pretty bad, but, outside of Black and Red, that's a pretty hard thing to do, especially considering you will be in Bx. Dying in combat is another problem, but as long as you have a decent amount of removal that shouldn't be a huge issue.
Siren Stormtamer looks decent at first glance, but it might turn out that it's just a Flying Man with a marginal upside, as I'm not super confident in the value of the ability. Blue one drops are shallow enough that it will probably keep a spot, but I'm not sure if it's good or just playable.
I think that wanted scoundrels will squander all the tempo gain you made off of it once it's gone. You get in for 2-4 more damage than a normal 2 drop, and then they thank you for ramping them to pelakka wurm/CGR/feudkiller's verdict/mulldrifter+guy/A four and a 3 drop, etc.
It's a pirate wizard, but it's concealing coming storms? What's the point of that instead of,say, luring people towards the pirate ship or something? Why are we countering stuff when we hide storms? We can't even take that metaphorically for a pirate attack, because of the art. Why is a siren of all beings countering stuff when it should be enchanting people? Why is this siren male? Why does it fly? How does it fly anyway, it looks like it's about to take a nosedive into the next wave with those crappy wings.
I like it as a set of mechancis, but man is this a flavor fail...
I'll try:
The "storm" is the spell or ability that targets you, and he "hides" it by countering it? And he draws the storm to himself by using his siren-skills, so therefore has to die when the storm hits him? And thus he is depicted as near-drowning? Since he just lured the storm away?
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Very neat card though. Does it replace Judge's Familiar for those who are running it?
Giving away two mana seems a bit much and there's no case with possible upside like the red 4/3 minotaur that discards - giving away two mana is always bad.
I'll try:
The "storm" is the spell or ability that targets you, and he "hides" it by countering it? And he draws the storm to himself by using his siren-skills, so therefore has to die when the storm hits him? And thus he is depicted as near-drowning? Since he just lured the storm away?
///////
Very neat card though. Does it replace Judge's Familiar for those who are running it?
Wouldn't countering the storm (let's disregard wether that storm is a magical spell we can counter) not mean calming it? I'm also not sure how a siren would attract a storm as they're known for having beautiful voices to lure people. Maybe there's some whacky explanation in the short stories, but right now none of the pieces seem to add up to something that has any amount of internal logic.
Most people would run Familiar in their guild section or as part of a hybrid system, so the Siren is certainly easier to accomodate. It's also just a straight up counter, even if it is more limited in scope, so I'd say it's a better top deck.
Cubetutor Peasant'ish-Funbox
Project: Khans of Tarkir Cube (cubetutor)
You don't with this card, and therefore it's bad.
And I don't even think either side is "decent."
Even when I want the draw a land mode, and even when I get it, what if I'm looking to get out of color screw, or find my splash color? It's still bad at the thing I want it to do. And even when I want the 3/3 mode, if I even get it, there'll be plenty of times where the card will stay on top of my library and then I just played a Centaur Courser, and why does that card exist in my deck
Beyond being good or bad, as far as "fun" or "interesting" factor goes, it's enjoyable and thoughtful exactly %0 of the time when your card randomly doesn't do what you intend for it to do.
Cool, flexible, skillful, desirable cards put the decisions in the player's hands.
Draft my Peasant Cube.
Of course, the new Wayfinder ISN'T reliably a 3/3 (at all), and a 2/2 for 3 is a bajillionty times worse.
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
Raging Swordtooth looks decent. Worth a test, but it feels like it should have an extra point of power.
Tishana's Wayfinder looks like filler at best, but it's kind of close. I could see a similar card, with another small upside, at 2-4 mana being good.
Scry one has an (insert whatever the actual odds of scry to the top are) chance of being "nothing".
Impulse is three times more likely to be better than a cantrip, I don't understand why you'd make such an extreme example when obviously the difference in frequency of outcome is so far apart.
If that number for scry to the top is roughly 40%, then you have to be ok with roughly 40% of the time playing a 3/3 vanilla. In exchange you get as your best case scenario a 60% chance of digging down one card. These odds are too close together, and these outcomes not far apart enough to justify the failure case.
This is just for the "success" of getting the 3/3 mode, on a theoretical 3/3 scry 1. The 2/2 mode (which is what you actually get ~40 percent of the time) is just a bad version of another card. So what you end up with is 40 percent of the time having a bad civic wayfinder, 24% of the time having a centaur courser, and 36% of the time a card that was above average.
And you cant even plan for the right mode to suit the situation. The card as printed isn't good enough.
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
WiJ
Peasant 540 Cube
Siren Stormtamer is a pretty cool Flying Men variant.
Warning: Not for the durdly-hearted!
Edit: Huh, funny: Drover of the Mighty and the mana slivers are still the only green 2-drops that can simply tap for mana of any colour unconditionally. Obviously, not going to play it regardless.
For a long time I was hoping they'd give us Utopia Tree, but I'm not sure that a 0/2 would be better than a 1/1. A 0/3 defender(aka non-hexproof Sylvan Caryatid) is where I'd like to be at.
It's a pirate wizard, but it's concealing coming storms? What's the point of that instead of,say, luring people towards the pirate ship or something? Why are we countering stuff when we hide storms? We can't even take that metaphorically for a pirate attack, because of the art. Why is a siren of all beings countering stuff when it should be enchanting people? Why is this siren male? Why does it fly? How does it fly anyway, it looks like it's about to take a nosedive into the next wave with those crappy wings.
I like it as a set of mechancis, but man is this a flavor fail...
Commander: *Five Color Fun-Stuff *Grixis Artifacts *Beast Tribal
Brawl: To Be Decided At Eldraine Release!
Turning any removal spell into a ramp spell is unfortunate... but man.... is it worth it?
My Peasant Cube thread !!! (380 cards)
Draft my Peasant Cube on Cube Cobra !!!
Siren Stormtamer looks decent at first glance, but it might turn out that it's just a Flying Man with a marginal upside, as I'm not super confident in the value of the ability. Blue one drops are shallow enough that it will probably keep a spot, but I'm not sure if it's good or just playable.
I'm marginally interested, but highly pessimistic
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 try:
The "storm" is the spell or ability that targets you, and he "hides" it by countering it? And he draws the storm to himself by using his siren-skills, so therefore has to die when the storm hits him? And thus he is depicted as near-drowning? Since he just lured the storm away?
///////
Very neat card though. Does it replace Judge's Familiar for those who are running it?
Cubetutor Peasant'ish-Funbox
Project: Khans of Tarkir Cube (cubetutor)
It's soo big.
I want it.
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.
Wouldn't countering the storm (let's disregard wether that storm is a magical spell we can counter) not mean calming it? I'm also not sure how a siren would attract a storm as they're known for having beautiful voices to lure people. Maybe there's some whacky explanation in the short stories, but right now none of the pieces seem to add up to something that has any amount of internal logic.
Most people would run Familiar in their guild section or as part of a hybrid system, so the Siren is certainly easier to accomodate. It's also just a straight up counter, even if it is more limited in scope, so I'd say it's a better top deck.