Booth Voldaren Epicure and Experimental Synthesizer have been pretty bad in their respective draft environments without synergies. I wouldn't recommend you playing either unless you have like an artifact sacrifice sub-theme.
the vampire is awesome. getting the loot is pretty strong. it also reliably activates bloodthirst and spectacle.
synthesizer is a "draw"2 attached to a 2/2 body, which is also quite good. and it can be bounced to trigger multitple times
with my low curve it shouldnt be a problem to get the 2 extra plays. and a 1/1 surely is bad, but its still a onedrop that enables madness or cycles a land
I have played a lot of NEO limited since it has been released and I just wanted to point to some cards, that have performed way better than I initially thought:
1) Clawing Torment: When I first saw this, I pretty much thought it would be garbage, but in very aggressive deck this deck has been a real power house. It's kind of similar to Stab Wound, which is still a pretty decent card today, even though I did cut it from my cube a long while a ago. A huge difference though is the "can't block"-clause, which for an aggressive deck, can be all you need to deal with a creature. Sure there are a lot of ways to get rid of creatures for a very low mana investment, but if you are looking to be ahead in the damage race the "free" Curse of the Pierced Heart can be way more beneficial to that plan than actually killing the creature. In addition to that you can of course also just kill your opponents X/1 early drop for as little as 1 mana. Compared to Dead Weight or Disfigure it's relevant at any stage of the game as it can even help you to enable an attack through a big blocker.
2) Okiba Reckoner Raid: Actually good 1 mana creatures at common rarity are still kind of rare. At first I thought that having "Suspend 2" on a small creature would be too much of a downsight and in the case of Era of Enlightenment and The Modern Age it kind of is, but mostly because there are simply better things you can do for 2 mana, while turn 1 remains a spot where barely anything happens in pauper cube. This safely drains 2 life and the 2/2 Menace guy can be really annoying. The "Vehicle"-clause it obviously just flavour text, but it also is in NEO limited for the most part and doesnt affect this cards rating. If you are looking for good aggressive black 1 mana creatures, I think, that this ia a really decent candidate.
3) Imperial Oath: I think I somehow completely overlooked this card in the spoilers and/or didn't realise that it had Scry 3. There is an argument how much Scry equals drawing a card and I personally think it is around Scry 2,5 = Draw 1, sometimes the Scry is obviously better and sometimes it is worse, but Scry 3 is certainly relevant. In addition to that Scrying often becomes more powerful later in the game, when you have enough lands and know what tools you are actually looking for, where as in the early game it's often not that clear. I think think that 6 P/T for 6 mana with an equivalent of Draw a card and Vigilance over 3 bodies is really decent. This card is also interesteing, because it doesn't really have a lot of synergies in NEO, which is a very synergy dominated environment, but shines, through it's pure power in a vacuum.
You've certainly made me think about the Torment. That may come in. The Raid I already brought in. I like the Oath, but I just dont know what id cut for it. Edit: maybe Triplicate Spirits?
You've certainly made me think about the Torment. That may come in. The Raid I already brought in. I like the Oath, but I just dont know what id cut for it. Edit: maybe Triplicate Spirits?
I don't think Imperial Oath is as good as Triplicate Spirits. Their effects don't really compete with each other because of convoke. Triplicate Spirits was an all star in M15 limited. Imperial Oath seems more like a Signets payoff. Oath probably requires more defensive enablers. It's so rare that we see a scry 3 tacked onto an already decent card so it can be easy to overlook.
I have played a lot of NEO limited since it has been released and I just wanted to point to some cards, that have performed way better than I initially thought:
1) Clawing Torment: When I first saw this, I pretty much thought it would be garbage, but in very aggressive deck this deck has been a real power house. It's kind of similar to Stab Wound, which is still a pretty decent card today, even though I did cut it from my cube a long while a ago. A huge difference though is the "can't block"-clause, which for an aggressive deck, can be all you need to deal with a creature. Sure there are a lot of ways to get rid of creatures for a very low mana investment, but if you are looking to be ahead in the damage race the "free" Curse of the Pierced Heart can be way more beneficial to that plan than actually killing the creature. In addition to that you can of course also just kill your opponents X/1 early drop for as little as 1 mana. Compared to Dead Weight or Disfigure it's relevant at any stage of the game as it can even help you to enable an attack through a big blocker.
2) Okiba Reckoner Raid: Actually good 1 mana creatures at common rarity are still kind of rare. At first I thought that having "Suspend 2" on a small creature would be too much of a downsight and in the case of Era of Enlightenment and The Modern Age it kind of is, but mostly because there are simply better things you can do for 2 mana, while turn 1 remains a spot where barely anything happens in pauper cube. This safely drains 2 life and the 2/2 Menace guy can be really annoying. The "Vehicle"-clause it obviously just flavour text, but it also is in NEO limited for the most part and doesnt affect this cards rating. If you are looking for good aggressive black 1 mana creatures, I think, that this ia a really decent candidate.
Clawing Torment does seem good when your the beatdown. Disabling a blocker and having a Stab Wound-esque effect in addition does sound lucrative when you put it like that. Obviously, when you're on defence it is a dead card so I see it more of a sideboard option.
I've been watching some constructed pauper videos and I've seen Okiba Reckoner Raid at work. Drain 2 for 1 mana that yields a 2 power evasion creature is pretty good. Sure it's a little slow, but you shouldn't underestimate how relevant menace is. I am going to run this as well as Moon-Circuit Hacker from this set.
I wrote most of a set review of Neon Dynasty before the set released, but then I got busy. I'm wondering if I should just release the review without modifying it? I only got part way to the artifact section and didn't get to sagas, not that there was much to say about them. TL;DR sagas are too slow except for Okiba Reckoner Raid, and the Modern Age is fine in control mirrors, but most games want a blocker asap.
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There's no word in the goblin language for "strategy." Then again, there's no word in the goblin language for "word."
Clawing Torment does seem good when your the beatdown. Disabling a blocker and having a Stab Wound-esque effect in addition does sound lucrative when you put it like that. Obviously, when you're on defence it is a dead card so I see it more of a sideboard option.
This card is obviously meant to be drafted by aggressive decks, that look to be on the beatdown at all time, but if you actually run into a mirror and see yourself on the defense it's certainly not dead, because there will often be an X/1 you can get rid of to stop the bleeding.
it certainly can swap with giant
T2 powpercube Value https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/37t
T2 powpercube Value https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/37t
T2 powpercube Value https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/37t
Pauper Cube & Artifact Pauper Cube & Multiplayer Cube
Interested in building your own Pauper Cube? Take a look at some of the lists and the following project: The "Evaluate Everything" Project (updated to M21/JMP)
synthesizer is a "draw"2 attached to a 2/2 body, which is also quite good. and it can be bounced to trigger multitple times
T2 powpercube Value https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/37t
Pauper Cube & Artifact Pauper Cube & Multiplayer Cube
Interested in building your own Pauper Cube? Take a look at some of the lists and the following project: The "Evaluate Everything" Project (updated to M21/JMP)
T2 powpercube Value https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/37t
1) Clawing Torment: When I first saw this, I pretty much thought it would be garbage, but in very aggressive deck this deck has been a real power house. It's kind of similar to Stab Wound, which is still a pretty decent card today, even though I did cut it from my cube a long while a ago. A huge difference though is the "can't block"-clause, which for an aggressive deck, can be all you need to deal with a creature. Sure there are a lot of ways to get rid of creatures for a very low mana investment, but if you are looking to be ahead in the damage race the "free" Curse of the Pierced Heart can be way more beneficial to that plan than actually killing the creature. In addition to that you can of course also just kill your opponents X/1 early drop for as little as 1 mana. Compared to Dead Weight or Disfigure it's relevant at any stage of the game as it can even help you to enable an attack through a big blocker.
2) Okiba Reckoner Raid: Actually good 1 mana creatures at common rarity are still kind of rare. At first I thought that having "Suspend 2" on a small creature would be too much of a downsight and in the case of Era of Enlightenment and The Modern Age it kind of is, but mostly because there are simply better things you can do for 2 mana, while turn 1 remains a spot where barely anything happens in pauper cube. This safely drains 2 life and the 2/2 Menace guy can be really annoying. The "Vehicle"-clause it obviously just flavour text, but it also is in NEO limited for the most part and doesnt affect this cards rating. If you are looking for good aggressive black 1 mana creatures, I think, that this ia a really decent candidate.
3) Imperial Oath: I think I somehow completely overlooked this card in the spoilers and/or didn't realise that it had Scry 3. There is an argument how much Scry equals drawing a card and I personally think it is around Scry 2,5 = Draw 1, sometimes the Scry is obviously better and sometimes it is worse, but Scry 3 is certainly relevant. In addition to that Scrying often becomes more powerful later in the game, when you have enough lands and know what tools you are actually looking for, where as in the early game it's often not that clear. I think think that 6 P/T for 6 mana with an equivalent of Draw a card and Vigilance over 3 bodies is really decent. This card is also interesteing, because it doesn't really have a lot of synergies in NEO, which is a very synergy dominated environment, but shines, through it's pure power in a vacuum.
Pauper Cube & Artifact Pauper Cube & Multiplayer Cube
Interested in building your own Pauper Cube? Take a look at some of the lists and the following project: The "Evaluate Everything" Project (updated to M21/JMP)
I don't think Imperial Oath is as good as Triplicate Spirits. Their effects don't really compete with each other because of convoke. Triplicate Spirits was an all star in M15 limited. Imperial Oath seems more like a Signets payoff. Oath probably requires more defensive enablers. It's so rare that we see a scry 3 tacked onto an already decent card so it can be easy to overlook.
Clawing Torment does seem good when your the beatdown. Disabling a blocker and having a Stab Wound-esque effect in addition does sound lucrative when you put it like that. Obviously, when you're on defence it is a dead card so I see it more of a sideboard option.
I've been watching some constructed pauper videos and I've seen Okiba Reckoner Raid at work. Drain 2 for 1 mana that yields a 2 power evasion creature is pretty good. Sure it's a little slow, but you shouldn't underestimate how relevant menace is. I am going to run this as well as Moon-Circuit Hacker from this set.
I wrote most of a set review of Neon Dynasty before the set released, but then I got busy. I'm wondering if I should just release the review without modifying it? I only got part way to the artifact section and didn't get to sagas, not that there was much to say about them. TL;DR sagas are too slow except for Okiba Reckoner Raid, and the Modern Age is fine in control mirrors, but most games want a blocker asap.
Pauper Cube & Artifact Pauper Cube & Multiplayer Cube
Interested in building your own Pauper Cube? Take a look at some of the lists and the following project: The "Evaluate Everything" Project (updated to M21/JMP)
Btw I ended up cutting otherworldly journey for the Oath.