Everyone's positivity for Paradise Druid and Tibualt has me questioning my card evaluation.
I think
Further additions from my last list a few pages back. Paradise druid -- Farhaven Elf: The druid is better in aggro. I wasn't using servant because I hate energy. Grim Initiate -- Bloodlust inciter: the inciter is hard to eval without lots of play the initiate can attack through a token. Aven Eternal -- Aven Wind Mage: This was hard because of wanting more wizards but the wind mage has low power. Skyship plunderer -- Glint-nest Crane: Proliferate is more powerful now, and artifacts has Saheeli
I still don't like tibault, do you need some kind of threshold of life gain for him to matter?
Overall, its an extremely powerful set that is making a lot of changes to my cube.
however, doing this completely messes up my hybrids, and i also realised the +1/+1 counter green cards don't actually do as much as i thought they did... so might need to see if i have any good cards to add to support a counters archetype before i go ahead and do that. oops.
I also thought about replacing Burning-tree emissary with Samut but she doesn't protect herself at all and encourages not leaving back creatures to block. Plus 4 mana is a bit too much to get the advantage of the haste but perhaps your cube is a little higher curve than mine
Only a few will automatically enter the cube. For those wondering why I selected hybrid planeswalkers it's because in my cube hybrids count as a mono color slot.
I also thought about replacing Burning-tree emissary with Samut but she doesn't protect herself at all and encourages not leaving back creatures to block. Plus 4 mana is a bit too much to get the advantage of the haste but perhaps your cube is a little higher curve than mine
i think protecting our planeswalkers will be a bit unnecessary with a few exceptions (notably saheeli i think), simply because they don't function like normal ones. they have no uptick to a game winning ultimate.
anyway i think the strength of samut's +2/+1 is being overlooked quite a lot. sure it costs one more than fires but it can basically have the fires activation five times, plus a scry which is big game for an aggressive deck looking to close out the game. i think this card will do a lot to break through board stalls, which i think is what i want out of a four mana card in red.
i think protecting our planeswalkers will be a bit unnecessary with a few exceptions (notably saheeli i think), simply because they don't function like normal ones. they have no uptick to a game winning ultimate.
Wait, what?
Of course you have to protect your PWs. They're not crazy bombs a la JTMS, but you play them because you value their abilities (downtick or the static ones) over two or more turns. They'd all be unplayably bad if they 100% of the time came in, activated once, and died during the next combat step.
It seems like the epitome of a "theoretically good when it works, never actually worth a slot in your deck" card. People seem to want to think there will always be a Ribbons of Night on the stack, targeting your Flametongue Kavu, but far more often you're unable to leave open two mana and it'll just rot in your hand.
Here's my definitive ranking of the important cards from this set:
A tier (staple for the foreseeable future): Saheeli, Sublime Artificer - Did you know I like these sort of effects? I could imagine games where you play her and then don't even activate the loyalty ability in an effort to keep her around longer. When you do activate it though, it's not hard to imagine it being a huge swing. Saheeli is the best card in this set for us. Eternal Taskmaster - Ignoring the activated ability, a 2 mana 2/3 etb:tapped creature is no slouch in the stats department. He eats all the 1drops and bears-with-upside in the format starting on turn 3. He doesn't have to connect to return your best dead guy and if I only do that once a game then I'm happy with the deal. Band Together - As far as green removal goes, this is premium. Nahiri, Storm of Stone - This card is great fight me. The equipment ability is irrelevant, but attacking with first strike is huge, the loyalty is high, the -X ability is strong and will heavily affect how your opponent plays. Finding the right attacks/blocks to turn Nahiri off/keep her online will be great fun. Angrath, Captain of Chaos - I was down on the bull to start with, but the more I think about it the more I like it. Coming down on turn 4, protecting himself and making combat hard for your opponent seems like a reasonable average case. Obviously if you're behind on board it's not as good but it's still making a 2/2 hopefully twice before it dies at a minimum. Being hybrid makes him much easier to include.
B tier (strong): Pollenbright Druid - This is an amazing 2drop for a +1/+1 counters deck if that's something you push. Aven Eternal - How often is your Eldrazi Skyspawner trading with an 1/x spirit token? If the answer is "pretty often" then this may be a good swap. Evolution Sage - 3/2 for 3 with a strong triggered ability. This would be A tier but I think its power depends on the decks you're pushing and how many counter-producers you actually cube with. If this gets at least one important trigger every game, then I'd rank it as A-tier. Bleeding Edge - CC1 isn't the most comfortable cost (and I'm probably cubing too many of them already), but when you're getting a 2/2 that kills an x/2 for 3 mana you can't complain. Kasmina, Enigmatic Mentor - good value and another toy for the prison deck. She doesn't impact the board the way Nahiri or Angrath do though so I've put her in B tier. With that said, I'm still going to definitely try and make room for this one. Tibalt, Rakish Instigator - This is on the low end of B-tier, but it's not hard to picture the decks and matchups where this shines. I think the static ability should be treated mostly as flavor text, so I'm evaluating him purely on the back of the ~two devils you get. There's potential for (multiple) 2-for-1's here, and at the least he trades with an x/2 (and invalidates attacking with multiple x/1's). The price is reasonable too. The more I think about him the more I like it, but I keep coming back to the static ability and I can't get too excited.
C tier (janky/situationaly great): Ob Nixilis, the Hate-Twisted - How much am I willing to pay to use Skullclamp twice? He plays into the Aristocrats deck, and can remove threats in a pinch. The triggered ability isn't nothing either and in some matchups I could see it being very relevant. I'm not sure if the price is right though and I'm on the fence about cubing him. Dreadmalkin - I like this a lot better than the rank I'm giving it indicates, but I'm trying to be objective here. If I cube this, it's probably in the place of some 2/1 1drop. Black's 1drops aren't the deepest and this has room to grow and strong archetype support, so I'm optimistic that its average-case is around the same floor as a Carnophage or Glarned Scarhide. However a 1/1 Menace for 1 is not what I'm after so its quality really does depend on how often I use its sac ability and how much value it can generate for me. Paradise Druid - Are we treating this as Rampant Growth with legs? It's interesting but I think its power-level is heavily dependent on how many Llanowar Elves variants you play. The 2drop dorks I play are generally the kind that can make 2 mana a turn-cycle so I'm not that excited. Trusted Pegasus - Or Pegasus Courser? I suppose it depends on your environment, kind of like Eldrazi Skyspawner and Aven Eternal. Elite Guardmage - If you're already playing Mulldrifter, cut Cloudblazer and run this instead. Building a cube is like making love to a woman - you have to spread the love up and down the curve(s). Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner - The -1 ability is decent ramp and the loyalty/cmc is certainly there, but I've come to the conclusion that any "creature with power/toughness > 4" ability is usually flavor text so I'm wary of including her.
D tier (archetype specific/bad but cool) Jiang Yanggu, Wildcrafter - If and when I come back to the +1/+1 counters deck, I'll at least give this guy a look in. For now though, I don't think 3 mana is worth 2 +1/+1 counters over 2 turns at sorcery speed (probably average case). The ramp is nice, and it would be cool to untap with him on turn4 and play a 6drop, that's too close to Christmas for my liking. Rescuer Sphinx - Depending on what themes you do or don't want in your cube, I could see this subbing in for Mist Raven or Murder of Crows. I think in a vacuum, Mist Raven is better and Murder of Crows probably is too, but it's probably closer. Lazotep Reaver - I'm making a mental note in case I decide I want more "multiple bodies" cards in Black. The rate is fine here. Ral's Outburst - I think Prophetic Bolt is better, but it's not strictly better. Ugin's Conjurant - This card is textbook "filler". We can do better.
It seems like the epitome of a "theoretically good when it works, never actually worth a slot in your deck" card. People seem to want to think there will always be a Ribbons of Night on the stack, targeting your Flametongue Kavu, but far more often you're unable to leave open two mana and it'll just rot in your hand.
I support blink, and this is similar to Otherworldly Journey/Long Road Home with added utility. The white ones only target creatures - this targets any permanent you control.
I also support spellslinger, so typically I am holding up mana in blue.
Block with Guttersnipe, Teferi's Time Twist it, dealing 2 damage to my opponent, preventing the combat damage from the blocked creature, and getting Guttersnipe back at end of turn with a +1/+1 counter seems good. Having my opponent attack a planewalker, hoping to kill it, only to bring it back with full loyalty and having wasted their attack seems good. Opponent blowing up your Loxodon Warhammer? Or targeting your creature with a kill spell? Want to retrigger a useful ETB creature? Want to reset a persist creature? It does it all.
Wow, a lot more cards then I realized... I will likely cut down, but I see a lot of potential in these cards and the PWs I think are just OP and will play out amazingly well
I mean Time Twist does "it all" except for adding power to the board, drawing cards, or dealing directly with an opposing threat.
I don't know, I'd put it in the same category as cards like Gods Willing, Angelic Renewal, Crystal Shard, Undying Evil, Temur Sabertooth, etc.
- It may not add power to the board, but it can keep power on the board that would otherwise get removed. And the +1/+1 counter does add a little power.
- It may not draw cards all the time, but it can give card advantage and tempo advantage. Except when it does draw cards by blinking stuff like Mulldrifter.
- It doesn't deal directly with an opposing threat, but it does deal directly with opposing removal. Except the times it does deal with an opposing threat because you blinked stuff like Ravenous Chupacabra.
I'll agree it can be conditional and may not be right for every situation. But I like effects like that, and I want to give it a try.
Since Planeswalkers seem to clearly be the main inclusion this set brings - and many of them are quite viable indeed, based on what changes I ended up considering - what other cards or mechanics do you think will become better?
Proliferation and Delirium are pretty obvious candidates, given the benefits of adding counters and the new card type the walker represent.
Gilder Bairn is something I will also be testing since I ended up having a GU hybrid slot available besides that dedicated to Kiora.
1/3 for 3 that does nothing on its own, does nothing while it's summoning sick, costs three per activation, and has to be tapped to use its ability?
Vampire Hexmage is an obvious uptick in relevance now that we have PWs around, but at BB-cost and maybe 6-7 total PWs in my (enormous) cube I still don't really have much interest in it
I will freely admit I am on the edge on it, and likely not to ultimately make the inclusion. However, I will probably still put Contagion Clasp and Obsessive Skinner back with this update.
Hi everybody. I am usually more active during spoiler season, but I have been busy with work and family lately, so I am late in posting my normal Too Early Top 20. Since we have lots of interesting Planeswalkers this time, I actually have two separate top 15 lists- one for Planeswalkers and one for non-Planeswalkers. I know it is a lot to read, but thanks for letting me post my thoughts now that I can finally sit down with the spoiler.
15) Jiang Yanggu, Wildcrafter- Little bit of ramp, a little +1/+1 synergy, nothing too special.
14) Ob Nixilis, the Hate-Twisted- The static ability is interesting, but this is not currently something I want to use on my creatures and I think overall card quality is too high to give my opponent a Night's Whisper to kill their creature.
13) Vraska, Swarm's Eminence- This seems like mostly a conditional 2-for-1 on defense with some limited potential on offense.
EDIT: 12) Tibalt, Rakish Instigator- Two devils for 2R is an interesting idea for controlling red decks. Wonder if it is good in red aggro.
11) Samut, Tyrant Smasher- There are a lot of really similar effects in red and green and this does not feel noticeably better than any of those, but the scrying is nice.
10) Arlinn, Voice of the Pack- Three 3/3s for 6-mana is pretty strong, if it can happen.
9) Kaya, Bane of the Dead- Feels like a much less conditional and more powerful 2-for-1, but I feel like my cube does not need an expensive controlling card like this.
8) Narset, Parter of Veils- With 9 other hits, you have a 66% chance to hit and I can see decks with more than that. That said, a 3-mana draw 2 is hard to get too exicted about.
7) Angrath, Captain of Chaos- Can be a 4/4 with menace that also gives your whole team menace. This best case scenario feels a little shaky though.
6) Nahiri, Storm of Stone- The mix of abilities is pretty weird, but there's a really high upside here.
5) Davriel, Rogue Shadowmage- A card that does its discard thing real well, but even a discard three for 3-mana will never impact the board.
Exciting Planewalkers to Play
4) Dovin, Hand of Control- I love this card for both evasive aggro decks and slower control decks. Any card with such a wide range of options will pique my interest.
3) Kasmina, Enigmatic Mentor- A card with a lot of incremental value packed into it. May not have a clearly preferred home deck.
2) Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner- Another card with a lot of incremental value, but will definitely a home in green ramp decks and high-end blue decks.
1) Saheeli, Sublime Artificer- A card with a clear home that is hard to deal with early and has a high upside.
15) Merfolk Skydiver, 14) Flux Channeler, 13) Grateful Apparition, 12) Evolution Sage- I think all of them can be good in the right Cube, but that is not currently mine. That said, I think Apparition and Sage are the most likely to proliferate multiple times.
11) Burning Prophet and 10) Spellgorger Weird- Both of these are good red options for the spells matter deck and I could see either one being better than some of my current options.
9) Leyline Prowler- Not necessarily better than the mono-black lifelink deathtouchers, but also requires a guild slot.
8) Ral's Outburst- I think this is plenty powerful, but I have tended away from these type of 2-for-1 spells
7) Grim Initiate- I tend to not love any red 1-drops, and this one feels pretty decent on a first striker.
Strong Version of Current Cards
6) Law-Rune Enforcer- Probably slightly worse than the existing 1/1 tappers for 1-mana, but those are both pretty good cards.
5) Callous Dismissal- I have seen no one mention this card at all in the thread, but this is a pretty interesting Man-o'-War variant. Only costs 2 mana, can bounce any non-land permanent and helps the spells matter deck. Obviously, 1/1 is much less effective than a 2/2, but it has those other upsides. I will try this out over Aether Adept.
4) Aven Eternal- I think I like Skyspawner more, but I would not be surprised if this plays better.
3) Eternal Taskmaster- Slow card advantage, but the base body is a good fall-back.
2) Paradise Druid- I understand the skepticism, but I like the hexproof guaranteeing at least one use as a mana elf or attacker.
1) Bleeding Edge- Black's version of a staple Red card in Fire Imp, adding an extra colored mana for the ability to be played on an empty board.
I would normally just add the top 4 planeswalkers and the top 6 non-planeswalkers, but I will definitely test out at least the top 7 planeswalkers and possibly all 15 listed above.
I went to 15 hybrids. Any multiple of 5 can be balanced correctly: 5 hybrid cards means 2 half-slots of each colour.
I will be going to 15 hybrid cards too. I care less about having the same number of hybrid cards in each guild, as long as the "hybrid theory" works out, I am good.
You are not insane, I am wrong. Once people got excited for it, I assumed it was like Davriel, where it was 3 loyalty with a -1 ability. Let me scale that way down from 5th to 12th or so and lose almost all of my interest for the card.
I think
Further additions from my last list a few pages back.
Paradise druid -- Farhaven Elf: The druid is better in aggro. I wasn't using servant because I hate energy.
Grim Initiate -- Bloodlust inciter: the inciter is hard to eval without lots of play the initiate can attack through a token.
Aven Eternal -- Aven Wind Mage: This was hard because of wanting more wizards but the wind mage has low power.
Skyship plunderer -- Glint-nest Crane: Proliferate is more powerful now, and artifacts has Saheeli
I still don't like tibault, do you need some kind of threshold of life gain for him to matter?
Overall, its an extremely powerful set that is making a lot of changes to my cube.
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
kasmina, enigmatic mentor > sun ce, young conqueror
aven eternal > gitaxian probe
dreadmalkin > nantuko husk
lazotep reaver > doomed dissenter
tibalt, rakish instigator > empty the warrens
cruel celebrant > drana's emissary
zulaport cutthroat > curse of disturbance
kiora, behemoth beckoner > snakeform
mayhem devil > cauldron dance
saheeli, sublime artificer > nucklavee
samut, tyrant smasher > burning-tree emissary
however, doing this completely messes up my hybrids, and i also realised the +1/+1 counter green cards don't actually do as much as i thought they did... so might need to see if i have any good cards to add to support a counters archetype before i go ahead and do that. oops.
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
See, I'm not always negative
Also, removing bloodlust inciter for a glorified tukatongue thallid can't be right.
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
Gideon's Sacrifice
Teyo, the Shieldmage
Kasmina, Enigmatic Mentor
Teferi's Time Twist
Eternal Taskmaster
Ob Nixilis, the Hate-Twisted
Bond of Flourishing
Domri's Ambush
Leyline Prowler
Neoform
Pledge of Unity
Dovin, Hand of Control
Nahiri, Storm of Stone
Saheeli, Sublime Artificer
Only a few will automatically enter the cube. For those wondering why I selected hybrid planeswalkers it's because in my cube hybrids count as a mono color slot.
Commander: *Five Color Fun-Stuff *Grixis Artifacts *Beast Tribal
Brawl: To Be Decided At Eldraine Release!
i think protecting our planeswalkers will be a bit unnecessary with a few exceptions (notably saheeli i think), simply because they don't function like normal ones. they have no uptick to a game winning ultimate.
anyway i think the strength of samut's +2/+1 is being overlooked quite a lot. sure it costs one more than fires but it can basically have the fires activation five times, plus a scry which is big game for an aggressive deck looking to close out the game. i think this card will do a lot to break through board stalls, which i think is what i want out of a four mana card in red.
Wait, what?
Of course you have to protect your PWs. They're not crazy bombs a la JTMS, but you play them because you value their abilities (downtick or the static ones) over two or more turns. They'd all be unplayably bad if they 100% of the time came in, activated once, and died during the next combat step.
Excited to test:
Burning Prophet - Dropping Zada because she just didn't have enough support. Also lowers mana curve.
Cruel Celebrant - Dropping Batwing Brume because it never panned out.
Elite Guardmage - Do I drop Cloudblazer for an extra toughness at a lower cmc, or do I run both? I am trying to improve my flyers archetype. Maybe drop Mistmeadow Witch.
Eternal Taskmaster - Interested in the ability but don't know how repeatable it will be.
Grateful Apparition - I already run Skyship Plunderer but not Thrummingbird. In white, this can help support +1/+1 counters. I'd probably cut Razor Hippogriff.
Kasmina, Enigmatic Mentor - Can't decide what to drop here... maybe Peregrine Drake?
Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner - No idea what to cut here. Maybe add a Simic slot and remove something else.
Neoform - May not make it in, considering I really like my Simic slots. I like the ability in theory but worry it won't work well in a draft deck.
Paradise Druid - Think I'll cut Wild Nacatl - it was supposed to be for multicolor support, but tapping for any color seems better.
Pledge of Unity - Dropping Enlisted Wurm. Pledge supports +1/+1 counters and offers lifegain on an instant speed combat trick.
Pollenbright Druid - I'll probably cut Kujar Seedsculptor or Scrounging Bandar.
Teferi's Time Twist - I may cut Into the Roil.
May consider testing:
Aven Eternal
Battlefield Promotion
Bleeding Edge
Emergence Zone
Gideon's Sacrifice
Mowu, Loyal Companion
Saheeli, Sublime Artificer
Teyo, the Shieldmage
The Wanderer
Tibalt, Rakish Instigator
Ugin's Conjurant
2023 Average Peasant Cube|and Discussion
Because I have more decks than fit in a signature
Useful Resources:
MTGSalvation tags
EDHREC
ManabaseCrafter
It seems like the epitome of a "theoretically good when it works, never actually worth a slot in your deck" card. People seem to want to think there will always be a Ribbons of Night on the stack, targeting your Flametongue Kavu, but far more often you're unable to leave open two mana and it'll just rot in your hand.
A tier (staple for the foreseeable future):
Saheeli, Sublime Artificer - Did you know I like these sort of effects? I could imagine games where you play her and then don't even activate the loyalty ability in an effort to keep her around longer. When you do activate it though, it's not hard to imagine it being a huge swing. Saheeli is the best card in this set for us.
Eternal Taskmaster - Ignoring the activated ability, a 2 mana 2/3 etb:tapped creature is no slouch in the stats department. He eats all the 1drops and bears-with-upside in the format starting on turn 3. He doesn't have to connect to return your best dead guy and if I only do that once a game then I'm happy with the deal.
Band Together - As far as green removal goes, this is premium.
Nahiri, Storm of Stone - This card is great fight me. The equipment ability is irrelevant, but attacking with first strike is huge, the loyalty is high, the -X ability is strong and will heavily affect how your opponent plays. Finding the right attacks/blocks to turn Nahiri off/keep her online will be great fun.
Angrath, Captain of Chaos - I was down on the bull to start with, but the more I think about it the more I like it. Coming down on turn 4, protecting himself and making combat hard for your opponent seems like a reasonable average case. Obviously if you're behind on board it's not as good but it's still making a 2/2 hopefully twice before it dies at a minimum. Being hybrid makes him much easier to include.
B tier (strong):
Pollenbright Druid - This is an amazing 2drop for a +1/+1 counters deck if that's something you push.
Aven Eternal - How often is your Eldrazi Skyspawner trading with an 1/x spirit token? If the answer is "pretty often" then this may be a good swap.
Evolution Sage - 3/2 for 3 with a strong triggered ability. This would be A tier but I think its power depends on the decks you're pushing and how many counter-producers you actually cube with. If this gets at least one important trigger every game, then I'd rank it as A-tier.
Bleeding Edge - CC1 isn't the most comfortable cost (and I'm probably cubing too many of them already), but when you're getting a 2/2 that kills an x/2 for 3 mana you can't complain.
Kasmina, Enigmatic Mentor - good value and another toy for the prison deck. She doesn't impact the board the way Nahiri or Angrath do though so I've put her in B tier. With that said, I'm still going to definitely try and make room for this one.
Tibalt, Rakish Instigator - This is on the low end of B-tier, but it's not hard to picture the decks and matchups where this shines. I think the static ability should be treated mostly as flavor text, so I'm evaluating him purely on the back of the ~two devils you get. There's potential for (multiple) 2-for-1's here, and at the least he trades with an x/2 (and invalidates attacking with multiple x/1's). The price is reasonable too. The more I think about him the more I like it, but I keep coming back to the static ability and I can't get too excited.
C tier (janky/situationaly great):
Ob Nixilis, the Hate-Twisted - How much am I willing to pay to use Skullclamp twice? He plays into the Aristocrats deck, and can remove threats in a pinch. The triggered ability isn't nothing either and in some matchups I could see it being very relevant. I'm not sure if the price is right though and I'm on the fence about cubing him.
Dreadmalkin - I like this a lot better than the rank I'm giving it indicates, but I'm trying to be objective here. If I cube this, it's probably in the place of some 2/1 1drop. Black's 1drops aren't the deepest and this has room to grow and strong archetype support, so I'm optimistic that its average-case is around the same floor as a Carnophage or Glarned Scarhide. However a 1/1 Menace for 1 is not what I'm after so its quality really does depend on how often I use its sac ability and how much value it can generate for me.
Paradise Druid - Are we treating this as Rampant Growth with legs? It's interesting but I think its power-level is heavily dependent on how many Llanowar Elves variants you play. The 2drop dorks I play are generally the kind that can make 2 mana a turn-cycle so I'm not that excited.
Trusted Pegasus - Or Pegasus Courser? I suppose it depends on your environment, kind of like Eldrazi Skyspawner and Aven Eternal.
Elite Guardmage - If you're already playing Mulldrifter, cut Cloudblazer and run this instead. Building a cube is like making love to a woman - you have to spread the love up and down the curve(s).
Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner - The -1 ability is decent ramp and the loyalty/cmc is certainly there, but I've come to the conclusion that any "creature with power/toughness > 4" ability is usually flavor text so I'm wary of including her.
D tier (archetype specific/bad but cool)
Jiang Yanggu, Wildcrafter - If and when I come back to the +1/+1 counters deck, I'll at least give this guy a look in. For now though, I don't think 3 mana is worth 2 +1/+1 counters over 2 turns at sorcery speed (probably average case). The ramp is nice, and it would be cool to untap with him on turn4 and play a 6drop, that's too close to Christmas for my liking.
Rescuer Sphinx - Depending on what themes you do or don't want in your cube, I could see this subbing in for Mist Raven or Murder of Crows. I think in a vacuum, Mist Raven is better and Murder of Crows probably is too, but it's probably closer.
Lazotep Reaver - I'm making a mental note in case I decide I want more "multiple bodies" cards in Black. The rate is fine here.
Ral's Outburst - I think Prophetic Bolt is better, but it's not strictly better.
Ugin's Conjurant - This card is textbook "filler". We can do better.
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.
I also support spellslinger, so typically I am holding up mana in blue.
Block with Guttersnipe, Teferi's Time Twist it, dealing 2 damage to my opponent, preventing the combat damage from the blocked creature, and getting Guttersnipe back at end of turn with a +1/+1 counter seems good. Having my opponent attack a planewalker, hoping to kill it, only to bring it back with full loyalty and having wasted their attack seems good. Opponent blowing up your Loxodon Warhammer? Or targeting your creature with a kill spell? Want to retrigger a useful ETB creature? Want to reset a persist creature? It does it all.
2023 Average Peasant Cube|and Discussion
Because I have more decks than fit in a signature
Useful Resources:
MTGSalvation tags
EDHREC
ManabaseCrafter
Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner - Adding
Saheeli, Sublime Artificer - Adding
Cruel Celebrant - Adding
Neoform - Not adding
Ugin's Conjurant - Maybe
The Wanderer - Maybe
Lazotep Reaver - If I can find a cut, yet
Aven Eternal - Probably keep skyspawner and cut pestermite for it
Dreadmalkin - Maybe
Grim Initiate - Not adding
Angrath, Captain of Chaos - Adding
Arlinn, Voice of the Pack - Not Adding
Bleeding Edge - Adding
Dovin, Hand of Control - Adding
Eternal Taskmaster - Adding
God-Pharaoh's Statue - Not adding
Huatli's Raptor- Adding
Huatli, the Sun's Heart - Not likely, but I am curious
Jaya, Venerated Firemage - Not likely, but I am curious
Jiang Yanggu, Wildcrafter - Adding
Kasmina, Enigmatic Mentor - Adding
Kaya, Bane of the Dead - Adding
Nahiri, Storm of Stone - Adding
Ob Nixilis, the Hate-Twisted - Adding
Paradise Druid - Adding
Pledge of Unity - Adding
Pollenbright Druid - Adding, if I can find space
Ral's Outburst - Adding
Samut, Tyrant Smasher - I don't think so
Teferi's Time Twist - Adding
Teyo, the Shieldmage - Adding
Tibalt, Rakish Instigator - Adding
Vraska, Swarm's Eminence - I think I am adding actually...
Wow, a lot more cards then I realized... I will likely cut down, but I see a lot of potential in these cards and the PWs I think are just OP and will play out amazingly well
- It may not add power to the board, but it can keep power on the board that would otherwise get removed. And the +1/+1 counter does add a little power.
- It may not draw cards all the time, but it can give card advantage and tempo advantage. Except when it does draw cards by blinking stuff like Mulldrifter.
- It doesn't deal directly with an opposing threat, but it does deal directly with opposing removal. Except the times it does deal with an opposing threat because you blinked stuff like Ravenous Chupacabra.
I'll agree it can be conditional and may not be right for every situation. But I like effects like that, and I want to give it a try.
2023 Average Peasant Cube|and Discussion
Because I have more decks than fit in a signature
Useful Resources:
MTGSalvation tags
EDHREC
ManabaseCrafter
CubeTutor Link
Proliferation and Delirium are pretty obvious candidates, given the benefits of adding counters and the new card type the walker represent.
Gilder Bairn is something I will also be testing since I ended up having a GU hybrid slot available besides that dedicated to Kiora.
1/3 for 3 that does nothing on its own, does nothing while it's summoning sick, costs three per activation, and has to be tapped to use its ability?
Vampire Hexmage is an obvious uptick in relevance now that we have PWs around, but at BB-cost and maybe 6-7 total PWs in my (enormous) cube I still don't really have much interest in it
White:
Dryad Militant
Nahiri, Storm of Stone
Blue:
Ashiok, Dream Render
Dovin, Hand of Control
Black:
Murderous Redcap
Vraska, Swarm's Eminence
Red:
Rakdos Cackler
Saheeli, Sublime Artificer
Green:
Kitchen Finks
Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner
15) Jiang Yanggu, Wildcrafter- Little bit of ramp, a little +1/+1 synergy, nothing too special.
14) Ob Nixilis, the Hate-Twisted- The static ability is interesting, but this is not currently something I want to use on my creatures and I think overall card quality is too high to give my opponent a Night's Whisper to kill their creature.
13) Vraska, Swarm's Eminence- This seems like mostly a conditional 2-for-1 on defense with some limited potential on offense.
EDIT: 12) Tibalt, Rakish Instigator- Two devils for 2R is an interesting idea for controlling red decks. Wonder if it is good in red aggro.
11) Samut, Tyrant Smasher- There are a lot of really similar effects in red and green and this does not feel noticeably better than any of those, but the scrying is nice.
10) Arlinn, Voice of the Pack- Three 3/3s for 6-mana is pretty strong, if it can happen.
9) Kaya, Bane of the Dead- Feels like a much less conditional and more powerful 2-for-1, but I feel like my cube does not need an expensive controlling card like this.
8) Narset, Parter of Veils- With 9 other hits, you have a 66% chance to hit and I can see decks with more than that. That said, a 3-mana draw 2 is hard to get too exicted about.
7) Angrath, Captain of Chaos- Can be a 4/4 with menace that also gives your whole team menace. This best case scenario feels a little shaky though.
6) Nahiri, Storm of Stone- The mix of abilities is pretty weird, but there's a really high upside here.
5) Davriel, Rogue Shadowmage- A card that does its discard thing real well, but even a discard three for 3-mana will never impact the board.
Exciting Planewalkers to Play
4) Dovin, Hand of Control- I love this card for both evasive aggro decks and slower control decks. Any card with such a wide range of options will pique my interest.
3) Kasmina, Enigmatic Mentor- A card with a lot of incremental value packed into it. May not have a clearly preferred home deck.
2) Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner- Another card with a lot of incremental value, but will definitely a home in green ramp decks and high-end blue decks.
1) Saheeli, Sublime Artificer- A card with a clear home that is hard to deal with early and has a high upside.
15) Merfolk Skydiver, 14) Flux Channeler, 13) Grateful Apparition, 12) Evolution Sage- I think all of them can be good in the right Cube, but that is not currently mine. That said, I think Apparition and Sage are the most likely to proliferate multiple times.
11) Burning Prophet and 10) Spellgorger Weird- Both of these are good red options for the spells matter deck and I could see either one being better than some of my current options.
9) Leyline Prowler- Not necessarily better than the mono-black lifelink deathtouchers, but also requires a guild slot.
8) Ral's Outburst- I think this is plenty powerful, but I have tended away from these type of 2-for-1 spells
7) Grim Initiate- I tend to not love any red 1-drops, and this one feels pretty decent on a first striker.
Strong Version of Current Cards
6) Law-Rune Enforcer- Probably slightly worse than the existing 1/1 tappers for 1-mana, but those are both pretty good cards.
5) Callous Dismissal- I have seen no one mention this card at all in the thread, but this is a pretty interesting Man-o'-War variant. Only costs 2 mana, can bounce any non-land permanent and helps the spells matter deck. Obviously, 1/1 is much less effective than a 2/2, but it has those other upsides. I will try this out over Aether Adept.
4) Aven Eternal- I think I like Skyspawner more, but I would not be surprised if this plays better.
3) Eternal Taskmaster- Slow card advantage, but the base body is a good fall-back.
2) Paradise Druid- I understand the skepticism, but I like the hexproof guaranteeing at least one use as a mana elf or attacker.
1) Bleeding Edge- Black's version of a staple Red card in Fire Imp, adding an extra colored mana for the ability to be played on an empty board.
I would normally just add the top 4 planeswalkers and the top 6 non-planeswalkers, but I will definitely test out at least the top 7 planeswalkers and possibly all 15 listed above.
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/peasantsnowcube
-- Updated with Outlaws of Thunder Junction
The PioneWer Peasant CUbe
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/pionewer
-- Updated with Murders at Karlov Manor
I will be going to 15 hybrid cards too. I care less about having the same number of hybrid cards in each guild, as long as the "hybrid theory" works out, I am good.
Am I going insane? Isn't it impossible to get a 3rd devil off Tibalt without proliferating? 5 - 2 - 2 = 1 and then you're done?
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/peasantsnowcube
-- Updated with Outlaws of Thunder Junction
The PioneWer Peasant CUbe
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/pionewer
-- Updated with Murders at Karlov Manor