Another card I just cannot put my finger on is this Trawler Drake- 2U, 0/0 Flying, ETB with one oil counter, gets an oil counter when you cast a noncreature spell, and +1/+1 for each oil counter.
A mono-colored Sprite Dragon that costs one more and has no haste. Sprite Dragon Is considered pretty good, but those are two drawbacks with the upside of being mono-colored. (I am not worried about losing the +1/+1 counter synergies on a blue card.)
Since my blue section is less tempo focused and more-graveyard focused (think Rise from the Tides and Tolarian Terror), I just do not think most blue decks are casting enough spells quickly to make this very good.
Another card I just cannot put my finger on is this Trawler Drake- 2U, 0/0 Flying, ETB with one oil counter, gets an oil counter when you cast a noncreature spell, and +1/+1 for each oil counter.
A mono-colored Sprite Dragon that costs one more and has no haste. Sprite Dragon Is considered pretty good, but those are two drawbacks with the upside of being mono-colored. (I am not worried about losing the +1/+1 counter synergies on a blue card.)
Since my blue section is less tempo focused and more-graveyard focused (think Rise from the Tides and Tolarian Terror), I just do not think most blue decks are casting enough spells quickly to make this very good.
This caught my eye as well but I think it's too slow. Maybe if it started as a Wind Drake. It sort of reminds me Windrider Wizard in that it's a 3MV flier that can go in an Izzet tempo spells deck but I like the wizard more as it can also have a home in Dimir graveyard spells decks.
Two cards from the video spoilers (names pending) that I'm pretty sure I will be adding are:
Against All Odds - 3W
Sorcery
Choose one or both:
* Exile target artifact or creature that you control, then return it to the battlefield under its owner's control.
* Return target artifact or creature card with converted mana cost 3 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield.
Battleship Devourer - 1G
Creature - Phyrexian Beast
Battleship Devourer gets +3/+0 as long as it has three or more oil counters.
T: Add one mana of any color.
Whenever Battleship Devourer becomes tapped, exile target card from a graveyard and put an oil counter on Battleship Devourer.
I support Flicker and I think a card that blinks and has Recommission sans +1/+1 counter stapled to it is just a whole lot of value. Although, it could be too expensive and/or narrow in the types of decks that actually want to run it.
The green 2 drop is an easy addition for me. Sort of like another Reclusive Taxidermist with a different condition for gaining combat relevance as the game goes on.
I've been fairly quiet this spoiler season because I haven't seen much i want to add to my cube - not interested in having a couple random poison or oil counter cards. But they did officially confirm Cankerbloom, and that is definitely going in for me.
They also spoiled Exuberant Fuseling, which I could see some aggro decks liking. I wish it got +1/+1 rather than +1/+0, as one toughness really means it dies to everything. I won't be running it, but I wonder how many others will.
Colour me surprised that no one seems to have pointed to Tyvar's Stand yet. You can play it for X=0 in a pinch and it is all upside from there, to the point that you can sink all your mana into it for a finishing blow.
Colour me surprised that no one seems to have pointed to Tyvar's Stand yet. You can play it for X=0 in a pinch and it is all upside from there, to the point that you can sink all your mana into it for a finishing blow.
Edit: No, wait. Rancoredmalone did point it out.
It's interesting but has competition. Tamiyo's Safekeeping is better at cmc=1. Blossoming Defense and Snakeskin Veil are better at 1 cmc when hexproof suffices (though not from untargeted destruction). The flexibility of X as a finisher is a pretty strong argument, though, so long as you have evasion or trample or just plain more creatures.
I almost made myself look stupid again. The auto card preview for Bladehold War-Whip shows a promo, and the promo doesn't have reminder text for For Mirrodin!. I thought it was like all the other new dopey flavor text that's worked its way into magic cards lately, and had no idea why anyone cared about this terrible equipment.
But that new card is decent. It will function admirably with the base body, be clunky in a game with a lot of action, occasionally actually reduce equip costs (but enough to be cute), and occasionally singlehandedly win a low resources/topdeck war.
I think Tyvar's Stand is an interesting take on that effect.
So I ask, do people care about discussing leaks in here?
I recently went all-in on sacrifice effects in rakdos, and almost immediately I regretted leaving any aura removal in. It will just be a half a card too often now. I'm probably going to do a mini update soon that removes all of them. I guess after the set drops?
The average case scenario for most cards (that aren't control oriented) does not include use as a late game mana sink. Sometimes, in the case of a repeatable source of value, you can forgive the lost efficiency because the particular game allowed your mana sink to be the most important card today. A small but consistent downgrade most of the time, for the chance at stardom. The pump spell's upside isn't stardom, however. It's pumping a total of like 6 mana in to get an additional +3 over on blossoming defense. Once. And the downside is huge: not being able to take down a creature in combat that was previously a problem. Not worth it.
Leaks? I don't care about their bottom line. Wake me up when they are in actual danger of going under. Or when they have a change in conscious and stop with the predatory 2-currency system on arena. Until then, it's no mercy from me.
I almost made myself look stupid again. The auto card preview for Bladehold War-Whip shows a promo, and the promo doesn't have reminder text for For Mirrodin!. I thought it was like all the other new dopey flavor text that's worked its way into magic cards lately, and had no idea why anyone cared about this terrible equipment.
I hate promos that don't explain the card. The worst are things like the textless Cryptic Command or the textless Omnath, both cards with far too much text and too many options for me to bother memorizing. If I were to include Bladehold War-Whip in my cube (and I'm not convinced, with that insanely high equip cost), I would never run the version that fails to explain "For Mirrodin!" It just adds unnecessary bookkeeping and confusion to a draft, as many players will not know or remember what those two little words mean.
Against All Odds interests me. Four mana is way too high for defensive blink, but being able to blink one card to retrigger an ETB and gain pseudo-vigilance while also reanimating another creature or artifact (cmc 3 or less) may actually be worth it. If it was just choose one, no way. But being able to choose both is a lot of value.
Against All Odds interests me. Four mana is way too high for defensive blink, but being able to blink one card to retrigger an ETB and gain pseudo-vigilance while also reanimating another creature or artifact (cmc 3 or less) may actually be worth it. If it was just choose one, no way. But being able to choose both is a lot of value.
Not sure if you mean this card could defensive blink. But if it was this card can't, being a sorcery. I like both effects and the orzhov 3 mana reanimation cards we're getting, but not sure about this one.
This set seems to have extremely low number of cards that interest me. The toxic and oil counters are not very standalone.
I almost made myself look stupid again. The auto card preview for Bladehold War-Whip shows a promo, and the promo doesn't have reminder text for For Mirrodin!. I thought it was like all the other new dopey flavor text that's worked its way into magic cards lately, and had no idea why anyone cared about this terrible equipment.
But that new card is decent. It will function admirably with the base body, be clunky in a game with a lot of action, occasionally actually reduce equip costs (but enough to be cute), and occasionally singlehandedly win a low resources/topdeck war.
Flavor text/ability words that lack any specific rules meaning should always be italicized; whereas keywords that carry rules meaning should be standard text.
I recently went all-in on sacrifice effects in rakdos, and almost immediately I regretted leaving any aura removal in. It will just be a half a card too often now. I'm probably going to do a mini update soon that removes all of them. I guess after the set drops?
I looked at Ossification vs Planar Disruption in terms of targets and "disruptors" compared to Journey to Nowhere. Ossifications hits 2 extra cards, but gets disrupted by 5 extra cards. Planar Disruption hits 39 extra targets and gets disrupted by 25 extra cards.
All of these targets and disruptors are not equal, especially for Planar Disruption. Those extra targeted non-creatures artifacts include a lot of mana rocks, but also relevant equipment and vehicles. Most of the bounce/sacrifice disruptors do not apply to non-creature artifacts.
I am firmly supporting Ossification here, but I am more interested in Planar Disruption than before, mostly for the very relevant artifacts it can shut down.
Atraxa’s Skitterfang is like a budget Steel Seraph, saving the distances, but the Seraph has been a card that has impressed many people in BRO.
I also thought about Atraxa's Skitterfang vs Circuit Mender. I think the average case scenario for Circuit Mender vs two uses of Skitterfang is pretty similar. That said, Atraxa's Skitterfang is SO much cooler and more interesting. I will probably try out Skitterfang after adding and shortly cutting Circuit Mender.
Not sure if you mean this card could defensive blink. But if it was this card can't, being a sorcery.
Whoops, good catch. I read blink effect and assumed it was instant; sorcery is a definite downgrade, but I still stand by that both choices create a lot of value.
This set seems to have extremely low number of cards that interest me. The toxic and oil counters are not very standalone.
Agreed. Toxic, Corrupted, and oil counters do not interest me. I run equipment but don't support it as an archetype, so "For Mirrodin!" doesn't necessarily offset the higher equip costs in by book. And that just leaves Proliferate and generic cards without the set mechanics.
Whoops, good catch. I read blink effect and assumed it was instant; sorcery is a definite downgrade, but I still stand by that both choices create a lot of value.
The card isn't terrible, but to get really good value out of it you need a perfect setup that is very hard to achieve. If you blink a Wall of Omens and reanimate a Dauntless Bodyguard that's hardly impressive for 4 mana at sorcery speed and even that already requires that you have both a worthwhile blink target out and a creature in the graveyard. The artifact part should hardly matter in a CU/be setting and casting it for a single mode will be extremely inefficient almost no matter what you blink or resurrect.
Compared to cards like Unearth or Call of the Death-Dweller (black cards, but still) the card is quite overcosted for what it does unless you have the perfect setup like a Cloudgoat Ranger out and a Vampire Nighthawk in the yard. I would think about it if it cost 2W, but for 3W it is too expensive imo.
Jokes aside, I like this card too, though I am admittedly pretty wary about including yard hate since it just kind of wrecks certain decks.
EDIT: texted with my playgroup and they made some good points about the yard decks in my cube having enough tools to deal with this level of yard interaction. I'll probably give this one a shot over one of the other two drop 5 color dorks like reclusive taxidermist or paradise druid.
I am interested in Armored Scrapgorger. Graveyard hate is often undervalued.
Haven't been a fan of oil counters, but this is the first one I want to run. As a smaller Reclusive Taxidermist/Werebear variant that trades potentially +1/+1 for grave hate, it's pretty good.
I like this card too, though I am admittedly pretty wary about including yard hate since it just kind of wrecks certain decks.
EDIT: texted with my playgroup and they made some good points about the yard decks in my cube having enough tools to deal with this level of yard interaction.
My graveyard decks are pretty heavily black, and black has no shortage of removal. I don't feel bad if they're forced to view this as a removal magnet. It will also be only the 4th piece of grave hate in my cube, and the other three are white. I like having answers so nothing can be too powerful.
The mechanics are pretty parasitic this time around as people have mentioned. For Mirrodin (goofy exclamation point included)! is the only mechanic from the set that's good for cube, and there aren't many decent cards below rare with it.
Not touching Cankerbloom. You can keep your over-the-top creature creep, Wizards.
I have a slot of these in each color. Here's my ranking:
Looks like one Skullbomb worth playing to me, but it's still kinda weak. Nihil Spellbomb is the actual best one in black, but I've got my grave hate elsewhere. The red ones are all comically terrible, but it doesn't matter because Pyrite Spellbomb is sweet.
Once the commons/uncommons from this set were leaked, I was disappointed to discover that this set was built around the question "What does it feel like to be Phyrexian?" instead of "What would be cool for Peasant cubes?" Between toxic, corrupted and a heavy artifact focus, there is a lot of nonsense to wade through. There are still 20 cards I found interesting enough to discuss here for a "Too Early Top 20 from Phyrexia: All Will Be One." I have a 512 card cube, maximized for power, with
6 spells per guild and 3 lands per guild.
20) Glistener Seer- Getting this effect going on turn 1 seems a lot better than turn 2, even if you lose a point of power from Æther Theorist.
19) Sheoldred's Edict- The specificity is nice, especially when your cube does have some spells that make big tokens. Hard to get too excited when black can already destroy almost anything for 1B.
18) Bladed Ambassador- It is nice to get this unconditional indestructibility without paying a long-term resource like cards or life. Unfortunately, this one-time use also costs one mana.
17) Tyvar's Stand- Versatility on this effect is good, but costs too much to make an impact in most situations.
16) Trawler Drake- Probably a good fit for a tempo-based blue section, but too much of my blue spellslinging leans towards filling the graveyard directly.
15) Serum-Core Chimera- A more controlling creature for Izzet spellslinging. Takes a while to provide an impact beyond a ho-hum flier.
14) Cephalopod Sentry- A lot of y'all have artifact themed cubes (including my Pioneer Peasant Cube) which mightbget this up to 4 power.
13) Ravenous Necrotitan- An interesting way to utilize sac fodder for black, outside of traditional tools.
12) Experimental Augury and 11) Drown in Ichor- If your cube utilizes a lot of counters in either blue or black, these are pretty strong base effects that also give extra counters.
10) Bladehold War-Whip- Synergizes really well with other equipment both as a body and with the cost reduction. Decent enough body even if you are not all-in with equipment.
Compleatly New(ish) Effects
9) Tainted Observer- Repeatable proliferate is always pretty intriguing and you get a decent enough body to combine that with.
8) Hexgold Halberd- The base creature alone is decent, but I think this effect is going to do some real work later on, especially with red's high-power creatures.
7) Atraxa's Skitterfang- A cool effect that pushes through damage or plays defense well, depending on the situation.
Incompleat Versions of Cards We DO Play
6) Myr Convert- Obviously, losing two life to get mana is bad compared to Ornithopter of Paradise, but this body is WAY better. Like, a full mana better. I would not guarantee this is good, but it is nice to have a mana rock that is also a real creature.
5) Evolving Adaptive- A lot of us play Experiment One currently, but losing both the +1/+1 counter synergies and the regeneration is a tough pill to swallow.
4) Planar Disruption and 3) Ossification- I would rather have Ossification in the Peasant world of heavy blink and sacrifice synergies. But, I do appreciate Planar Disruption as a more versatile tool against powerful artifacts. Not sure we need another Journey to Nowhere, but here it is.
2) Armored Scrapgorger- Might be the best of this recent crop of green 2-drop mana producers. You can even attack to get the 3rd oil counter! I also appreciate A_WasherDryer's comments that black should have answers to this to ensure it does not ruin all their plans.
ALL WILL BE Cubing This ONE
1) Cankerbloom- The only reason I have seen to not play this Cankerbloom is because it is TOO good. Super versatile effects which are relevant in multiple situations and the 3/2 body for 1G is also nice.
Pretty parasitic set, but there are a few interesting cards:
Testing
Seal Away > Planar Disruption: Removal diversity, does not retrigger etb, and has the ability to hit artifacts.
Thrashing Brontodon > Cankerbloom: Sad to see the dino go, but Cankerbloom is a pretty big improvement. Devoted Druid > Armored Scrapgorger: As I mentioned before, graveyard hate is valuable in my cube to keep reanimator fair. The design of this card is interesting as well - it gains counters by attacking (so it can attack as a 3/3 three turns after being played) and the exile is not optional which can force players to exile from their own yard.
Boros Charm> Bladehold War-Whip: Trying to better support Boros equipment. Not a huge fan of the equip cost, but its great otherwise and double strike is strong.
Trawler Drake: I think this will be too slow. Hexgold Halberd: Close, but I want it to do something more for the equip cost. Chimney Rabble: Easier to cast then Beetleback Chief, has a higher base power/toughness, and has haste - but creates 1 less goblin. I could be wrong, but this does not seem too bad. Furnace Punisher: It is the first red 3/3 with unconditional menace for 3. Second ability probably will not be relevant.
Pretty parasitic set, but there are a few interesting cards:
Testing
Seal Away > Planar Disruption: Removal diversity, does not retrigger etb, and has the ability to hit artifacts.
I thought about this too and I think it is reasonably balanced by the returning creature not being able to attack this turn. Obviously, I would rather take 2 damage than have Mulldrifter draw two cards, but eating an extra attack of, say, Vampire Nighthawk is worse than it needing that extra turn.
Let's see now. All references to poison counters basically get ousted immediately. But I did see rather promising cards overall, even if I did not particularly feel like discussing most.
Staple: Cankerbloom: Absolute power creep. That standard art is so fugly and hard to parse at a glance. Evolving Adaptive: Another Experiment One, even if without the regeneration.
Likely Inclusion: Hexgold Halberd: Can actually make it even if slightly overcosted to equip again and gets little benefit from the trample by itself. Armored Scrapgorger: More reliable to enable than the other growing mana dorks even if worse in the late game. Added GY hate which is both a plus and a minus, potentially. Bladehold War Whip: The ability to equip this again is rather incidental to what makes it a good card for the archetype with a decent enough worst case scenario. Atraxa's Skitterfang: Keywords go brrrr.
Interesting: Hexgold Hoverwings: Feels a little overcosted but it is not a terrible rate. Atmosphere Surgeon: Being able to stockpile activations makes it more interesting than immediate triggers with this effect. Experimental Augury: It's a nice proliferation effect that is not overcosted. Malcator's Watcher: The vigilance and flying make the death trigger worthwhile. The P/T might still be a little low in terms of the ACS. Drown in Ichor: Also a decent proliferate card where the drawback is Sorcery speed rather than its mana cost. Sheoldred's Edict: Probably the best actual edict that we have. Vat of Rebirth: More interesting than good, probably. But the artifact clause is not nothing. Barbed Batterfist: Despite the drawback, the base body for the cost is not bad and the equip cost is also not overcosted. Cacophony Scamp: I do like this scaling ping upon death effect. It offers synergies. Exuberant Fuseling: I want to like it but admittedly, death triggers are too slow. I originally thought that it was triggered when it or other stuff entered the battlefield, instead. Furnace Punisher: Still a body that does work even if you never trigger it. I think? Gleeful Demolition: Artifact removal with an alternative mode. Rebel Salvo: Might actually make it as explicit archetype support that is not too demanding. Shrapnel Slinger: Devent artifact destruction on a cheap and properly statted stick, even if we have better options by now. Expand the Sphere: I like the design here despite this being a little unreliable and not really fixing reliably. Thirsting Roots: Another one of these modal 1 mana land fixers. Tyvar's Stand: Hexproof and Indestructible for 1 are a good baseline and the ability to scale it up definitely beats incidental life gain. Unnatural Restoration: Another permanents only Regrowth with upside. Dune Mover: I actually like the protection against mana screw that this brings. Myr Convert: Probably not worth it but at least it has 2 power for 2, too. Flexible.
. Chimney Rabble: Easier to cast then Beetleback Chief, has a higher base power/toughness, and has haste - but creates 1 less goblin. I could be wrong, but this does not seem too bad.
I'm also interested in Chimney Rabble. It would be nice to know more opinions about it.
Beetleback offers more bodies, and that’s what you want in these cards, to go wide. But the body is not exciting compared with Chimney, as it has more impact with its better stats and haste.
I'm also interested in Chimney Rabble. It would be nice to know more opinions about it.
Beetleback offers more bodies, and that’s what you want in these cards, to go wide. But the body is not exciting compared with Chimney, as it has more impact with its better stats and haste.
I also like Chimney Rabble more than Beetleback Chief. Beetleback Chief is better in an aristocrats deck but the body is unexciting. A hasty 3/3 plus a token is good enough for aristocrats and for broader red based archetypes. Personally I love hasty creatures so this guy buys me. I don't have room for it in my cube but if I had to choose between both I'd definitely stick with Rabble.
As Koitsumi noted, Chimney Rabble is a better for aggro decks whereas Beetleback is better for aristocrat/attrition decks. There are also a few other niche considerations - Chimney Rabble survives Drown in Sorrow, Beetleback Chief is better with Battle Cry Goblin, etc. Currently, I am leaning more towards aristocrat, so I favor Beetleback Chief.
The other relevant comparison would likely be Hulking Bugbear. Is 1 extra mana worth 1 token (and potentially 3 less damage)?
A mono-colored Sprite Dragon that costs one more and has no haste. Sprite Dragon Is considered pretty good, but those are two drawbacks with the upside of being mono-colored. (I am not worried about losing the +1/+1 counter synergies on a blue card.)
Since my blue section is less tempo focused and more-graveyard focused (think Rise from the Tides and Tolarian Terror), I just do not think most blue decks are casting enough spells quickly to make this very good.
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 do like that it can impact combat the turn it is played but I think it's pretty unexciting overall.
This caught my eye as well but I think it's too slow. Maybe if it started as a Wind Drake. It sort of reminds me Windrider Wizard in that it's a 3MV flier that can go in an Izzet tempo spells deck but I like the wizard more as it can also have a home in Dimir graveyard spells decks.
Two cards from the video spoilers (names pending) that I'm pretty sure I will be adding are:
Against All Odds - 3W
Sorcery
Choose one or both:
* Exile target artifact or creature that you control, then return it to the battlefield under its owner's control.
* Return target artifact or creature card with converted mana cost 3 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield.
Battleship Devourer - 1G
Creature - Phyrexian Beast
Battleship Devourer gets +3/+0 as long as it has three or more oil counters.
T: Add one mana of any color.
Whenever Battleship Devourer becomes tapped, exile target card from a graveyard and put an oil counter on Battleship Devourer.
I support Flicker and I think a card that blinks and has Recommission sans +1/+1 counter stapled to it is just a whole lot of value. Although, it could be too expensive and/or narrow in the types of decks that actually want to run it.
The green 2 drop is an easy addition for me. Sort of like another Reclusive Taxidermist with a different condition for gaining combat relevance as the game goes on.
They also spoiled Exuberant Fuseling, which I could see some aggro decks liking. I wish it got +1/+1 rather than +1/+0, as one toughness really means it dies to everything. I won't be running it, but I wonder how many others will.
2023 Average Peasant Cube|and Discussion
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Edit: No, wait. Rancoredmalone did point it out.
2023 Average Peasant Cube|and Discussion
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But that new card is decent. It will function admirably with the base body, be clunky in a game with a lot of action, occasionally actually reduce equip costs (but enough to be cute), and occasionally singlehandedly win a low resources/topdeck war.
I recently went all-in on sacrifice effects in rakdos, and almost immediately I regretted leaving any aura removal in. It will just be a half a card too often now. I'm probably going to do a mini update soon that removes all of them. I guess after the set drops?
The average case scenario for most cards (that aren't control oriented) does not include use as a late game mana sink. Sometimes, in the case of a repeatable source of value, you can forgive the lost efficiency because the particular game allowed your mana sink to be the most important card today. A small but consistent downgrade most of the time, for the chance at stardom. The pump spell's upside isn't stardom, however. It's pumping a total of like 6 mana in to get an additional +3 over on blossoming defense. Once. And the downside is huge: not being able to take down a creature in combat that was previously a problem. Not worth it.
Leaks? I don't care about their bottom line. Wake me up when they are in actual danger of going under. Or when they have a change in conscious and stop with the predatory 2-currency system on arena. Until then, it's no mercy from me.
My CubeCobra (draft 20 card packs, 2 packs.)
430, Peasant, Very Unpowered
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2023 Average Peasant Cube|and Discussion
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My Omniscience Draft Cube[/b]
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2023 Average Peasant Cube|and Discussion
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Not sure if you mean this card could defensive blink. But if it was this card can't, being a sorcery. I like both effects and the orzhov 3 mana reanimation cards we're getting, but not sure about this one.
This set seems to have extremely low number of cards that interest me. The toxic and oil counters are not very standalone.
Flavor text/ability words that lack any specific rules meaning should always be italicized; whereas keywords that carry rules meaning should be standard text.
I looked at Ossification vs Planar Disruption in terms of targets and "disruptors" compared to Journey to Nowhere. Ossifications hits 2 extra cards, but gets disrupted by 5 extra cards. Planar Disruption hits 39 extra targets and gets disrupted by 25 extra cards.
All of these targets and disruptors are not equal, especially for Planar Disruption. Those extra targeted non-creatures artifacts include a lot of mana rocks, but also relevant equipment and vehicles. Most of the bounce/sacrifice disruptors do not apply to non-creature artifacts.
I am firmly supporting Ossification here, but I am more interested in Planar Disruption than before, mostly for the very relevant artifacts it can shut down.
I also thought about Atraxa's Skitterfang vs Circuit Mender. I think the average case scenario for Circuit Mender vs two uses of Skitterfang is pretty similar. That said, Atraxa's Skitterfang is SO much cooler and more interesting. I will probably try out Skitterfang after adding and shortly cutting Circuit Mender.
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
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The card isn't terrible, but to get really good value out of it you need a perfect setup that is very hard to achieve. If you blink a Wall of Omens and reanimate a Dauntless Bodyguard that's hardly impressive for 4 mana at sorcery speed and even that already requires that you have both a worthwhile blink target out and a creature in the graveyard. The artifact part should hardly matter in a CU/be setting and casting it for a single mode will be extremely inefficient almost no matter what you blink or resurrect.
Compared to cards like Unearth or Call of the Death-Dweller (black cards, but still) the card is quite overcosted for what it does unless you have the perfect setup like a Cloudgoat Ranger out and a Vampire Nighthawk in the yard. I would think about it if it cost 2W, but for 3W it is too expensive imo.
My Old School Battlebox
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Hexgold Hoverwings is a bigger Barbed Spike. Overcosted, but might be interesting if you are really pushing Boros equipment.
My 2-Player Signed Legacy Cube
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"Mom, can we have Scavenging Ooze?"
"We have Scavenging Ooze at home."
Jokes aside, I like this card too, though I am admittedly pretty wary about including yard hate since it just kind of wrecks certain decks.
EDIT: texted with my playgroup and they made some good points about the yard decks in my cube having enough tools to deal with this level of yard interaction. I'll probably give this one a shot over one of the other two drop 5 color dorks like reclusive taxidermist or paradise druid.
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Annex Sentry can replace Danitha Capashen, Paragon or Eidolon of Countless Battles.
Planar Disruption. I mind power creep in removal spells less than in creatures, but I'm still alarmed by it. Nonetheless, this is pretty great, and I can cut Cast Out, though I like the flash in what is mostly a sorcery speed environment.
Experimental Augury is being watched, but saying out.
Vat of Rebirth probably just misses. Need more artifact creatures in black, but not non-creatures.
Gleeful Demolition repaces Raze the Effigy.
Hexgold Halberd comes in at a needed slot, and will replace something other than a two drop. Voldaren Epicure probably.
Atraxa's Skitterfang can replace Ruanaway Trash-Bot which was always bad even here.
Bladehold War-Whip can replace Shattering Blow. Artifact removal is elsewhere.
Sylvok Battle-Chair can replace Orchard Strider.
The mechanics are pretty parasitic this time around as people have mentioned. For Mirrodin (goofy exclamation point included)! is the only mechanic from the set that's good for cube, and there aren't many decent cards below rare with it.
Not touching Cankerbloom. You can keep your over-the-top creature creep, Wizards.
Origin Spellbomb = Implement of Improvement > Sunbeam Spellbomb > Basilica Skullbomb > Cogworker's Puzzleknot
Dross Skullbomb > Necrogen Spellbomb > Nihil Spellbomb > Implement of Malice > Metalspinner's Puzzleknot
Pyrite Spellbomb > Panic Spellbomb > Fireforger's Puzzleknot > Implement of Combustion > Furnace Skullbomb
Horizon Spellbomb > Lifespark Spellbomb > Implement of Ferocity > Maze Skullbomb > Woodweaver's Puzzleknot
Aether Spellbomb > Surgical Skullbomb > Flight Spellbomb > Implement of Examination > Glassblower's Puzzleknot
Looks like one Skullbomb worth playing to me, but it's still kinda weak. Nihil Spellbomb is the actual best one in black, but I've got my grave hate elsewhere. The red ones are all comically terrible, but it doesn't matter because Pyrite Spellbomb is sweet.
Low-power cube enthusiast!
My 1570 card cube (no longer updated)
My 415 Peasant+ Artifact and Enchantment Cube
Ever-Expanding "Just throw it in" cube.
6 spells per guild and 3 lands per guild.
20) Glistener Seer- Getting this effect going on turn 1 seems a lot better than turn 2, even if you lose a point of power from Æther Theorist.
19) Sheoldred's Edict- The specificity is nice, especially when your cube does have some spells that make big tokens. Hard to get too excited when black can already destroy almost anything for 1B.
18) Bladed Ambassador- It is nice to get this unconditional indestructibility without paying a long-term resource like cards or life. Unfortunately, this one-time use also costs one mana.
17) Tyvar's Stand- Versatility on this effect is good, but costs too much to make an impact in most situations.
16) Trawler Drake- Probably a good fit for a tempo-based blue section, but too much of my blue spellslinging leans towards filling the graveyard directly.
15) Serum-Core Chimera- A more controlling creature for Izzet spellslinging. Takes a while to provide an impact beyond a ho-hum flier.
14) Cephalopod Sentry- A lot of y'all have artifact themed cubes (including my Pioneer Peasant Cube) which mightbget this up to 4 power.
13) Ravenous Necrotitan- An interesting way to utilize sac fodder for black, outside of traditional tools.
12) Experimental Augury and 11) Drown in Ichor- If your cube utilizes a lot of counters in either blue or black, these are pretty strong base effects that also give extra counters.
10) Bladehold War-Whip- Synergizes really well with other equipment both as a body and with the cost reduction. Decent enough body even if you are not all-in with equipment.
Compleatly New(ish) Effects
9) Tainted Observer- Repeatable proliferate is always pretty intriguing and you get a decent enough body to combine that with.
8) Hexgold Halberd- The base creature alone is decent, but I think this effect is going to do some real work later on, especially with red's high-power creatures.
7) Atraxa's Skitterfang- A cool effect that pushes through damage or plays defense well, depending on the situation.
Incompleat Versions of Cards We DO Play
6) Myr Convert- Obviously, losing two life to get mana is bad compared to Ornithopter of Paradise, but this body is WAY better. Like, a full mana better. I would not guarantee this is good, but it is nice to have a mana rock that is also a real creature.
5) Evolving Adaptive- A lot of us play Experiment One currently, but losing both the +1/+1 counter synergies and the regeneration is a tough pill to swallow.
4) Planar Disruption and 3) Ossification- I would rather have Ossification in the Peasant world of heavy blink and sacrifice synergies. But, I do appreciate Planar Disruption as a more versatile tool against powerful artifacts. Not sure we need another Journey to Nowhere, but here it is.
2) Armored Scrapgorger- Might be the best of this recent crop of green 2-drop mana producers. You can even attack to get the 3rd oil counter! I also appreciate A_WasherDryer's comments that black should have answers to this to ensure it does not ruin all their plans.
ALL WILL BE Cubing This ONE
1) Cankerbloom- The only reason I have seen to not play this Cankerbloom is because it is TOO good. Super versatile effects which are relevant in multiple situations and the 3/2 body for 1G is also nice.
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
Testing
Seal Away > Planar Disruption: Removal diversity, does not retrigger etb, and has the ability to hit artifacts.
Thrashing Brontodon > Cankerbloom: Sad to see the dino go, but Cankerbloom is a pretty big improvement.
Devoted Druid > Armored Scrapgorger: As I mentioned before, graveyard hate is valuable in my cube to keep reanimator fair. The design of this card is interesting as well - it gains counters by attacking (so it can attack as a 3/3 three turns after being played) and the exile is not optional which can force players to exile from their own yard.
Boros Charm> Bladehold War-Whip: Trying to better support Boros equipment. Not a huge fan of the equip cost, but its great otherwise and double strike is strong.
Sylvok Lifestaff > Atraxa's Skitterfang: It took me a little time to come around on Skitterfang, but its flexiblity makes it worth testing.
Watching
Trawler Drake: I think this will be too slow.
Hexgold Halberd: Close, but I want it to do something more for the equip cost.
Chimney Rabble: Easier to cast then Beetleback Chief, has a higher base power/toughness, and has haste - but creates 1 less goblin. I could be wrong, but this does not seem too bad.
Furnace Punisher: It is the first red 3/3 with unconditional menace for 3. Second ability probably will not be relevant.
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I thought about this too and I think it is reasonably balanced by the returning creature not being able to attack this turn. Obviously, I would rather take 2 damage than have Mulldrifter draw two cards, but eating an extra attack of, say, Vampire Nighthawk is worse than it needing that extra turn.
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
Staple:
Cankerbloom: Absolute power creep. That standard art is so fugly and hard to parse at a glance.
Evolving Adaptive: Another Experiment One, even if without the regeneration.
Likely Inclusion:
Hexgold Halberd: Can actually make it even if slightly overcosted to equip again and gets little benefit from the trample by itself.
Armored Scrapgorger: More reliable to enable than the other growing mana dorks even if worse in the late game. Added GY hate which is both a plus and a minus, potentially.
Bladehold War Whip: The ability to equip this again is rather incidental to what makes it a good card for the archetype with a decent enough worst case scenario.
Atraxa's Skitterfang: Keywords go brrrr.
Interesting:
Hexgold Hoverwings: Feels a little overcosted but it is not a terrible rate.
Atmosphere Surgeon: Being able to stockpile activations makes it more interesting than immediate triggers with this effect.
Experimental Augury: It's a nice proliferation effect that is not overcosted.
Malcator's Watcher: The vigilance and flying make the death trigger worthwhile. The P/T might still be a little low in terms of the ACS.
Drown in Ichor: Also a decent proliferate card where the drawback is Sorcery speed rather than its mana cost.
Sheoldred's Edict: Probably the best actual edict that we have.
Vat of Rebirth: More interesting than good, probably. But the artifact clause is not nothing.
Barbed Batterfist: Despite the drawback, the base body for the cost is not bad and the equip cost is also not overcosted.
Cacophony Scamp: I do like this scaling ping upon death effect. It offers synergies.
Exuberant Fuseling: I want to like it but admittedly, death triggers are too slow. I originally thought that it was triggered when it or other stuff entered the battlefield, instead.
Furnace Punisher: Still a body that does work even if you never trigger it. I think?
Gleeful Demolition: Artifact removal with an alternative mode.
Rebel Salvo: Might actually make it as explicit archetype support that is not too demanding.
Shrapnel Slinger: Devent artifact destruction on a cheap and properly statted stick, even if we have better options by now.
Expand the Sphere: I like the design here despite this being a little unreliable and not really fixing reliably.
Thirsting Roots: Another one of these modal 1 mana land fixers.
Tyvar's Stand: Hexproof and Indestructible for 1 are a good baseline and the ability to scale it up definitely beats incidental life gain.
Unnatural Restoration: Another permanents only Regrowth with upside.
Dune Mover: I actually like the protection against mana screw that this brings.
Myr Convert: Probably not worth it but at least it has 2 power for 2, too. Flexible.
I'm also interested in Chimney Rabble. It would be nice to know more opinions about it.
Beetleback offers more bodies, and that’s what you want in these cards, to go wide. But the body is not exciting compared with Chimney, as it has more impact with its better stats and haste.
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I also like Chimney Rabble more than Beetleback Chief. Beetleback Chief is better in an aristocrats deck but the body is unexciting. A hasty 3/3 plus a token is good enough for aristocrats and for broader red based archetypes. Personally I love hasty creatures so this guy buys me. I don't have room for it in my cube but if I had to choose between both I'd definitely stick with Rabble.
(360, Peasant, Unpowered)
The other relevant comparison would likely be Hulking Bugbear. Is 1 extra mana worth 1 token (and potentially 3 less damage)?
My 2-Player Signed Legacy Cube
My Lord of the Rings Cube