So I know for some they use paper only printings for their cube but Shadows over Innistrad for Arena has some intriguing downshifts that I want to discuss what people think might be worth it. Below are the follow downshifts that I noticed:
I'm curious are people planning on adding any cards from this set of downshifts or are you vehemently against downshifts that haven't happened in paper. Let me know!
Thanks for pointing these out. Sadly, I don't think any of these are going to make the cut for me.
Worth Considering:
Scourge Wolf - Pretty sure this is the first 2-mana, 2-power first striker available in red at Peasant. It also wears equipment well, which I've been including more of lately. But, RR is a tough sell for me since I haven't broken rarity for lands.
Choked Estuary & Friends - Not currently running any of the 2-color land cycles, but I could see finding room for them depending on how easily they come into play untapped on turns 1-2.
Passing On:
Imprisoned in the Moon - I don't currently run the planeswalkers, and downgrading a land isn't enough to make me want this effect in blue.
Geier Reach Bandit - I'm only running two werewolves right now, and only one of them flips based on whether spells were cast (Duskwatch Recruiter). Given that, this is mostly a Breakneck Berserker that sometimes turns into a 4/3, and probably will mislead my drafters. I think I'd rather play Hulking Bugbear if I wanted another 3 power haste creature.
Stromkirk Occultist - Madness interactions are neat, but not what I'm looking for. Occultist is fragile, and it has the old "until end of turn" language from before WotC realized that was too restrictive to be useful.
Anguished Unmaking - Powerful removal but I want more from my gold cards.
Brain in a Jar - Cool build around card and was the heart of a fun standard deck. BUT, pretty narrow and win-more for the spells-matters decks.
Lupine Prototype - Everyone thought this was going to be huge in modern for a hot second (back when affinity was dumping its hand on turns 1-2). Sadly, it didn't work there and I don't see a way to make this worth doing in peasant either.
Soul Separator - Cool value card but with 3 mana to cast and 5 to activate, its probably just too slow.
The until eot language on the Stromkirk Occulstist is not so restrictive, since it's perfectly likely that you haven't spent any mana on the turn it procs.
Well, O-ring's most common job is hitting creatures and Oring is like an A- card. I think turning a creature in to a Wastes is still worth something valuable (Imprison in the moon)
Well, O-ring's most common job is hitting creatures and Oring is like an A- card. I think turning a creature in to a Wastes is still worth something valuable (Imprison in the moon)
I'm a bit surprised that you would include something like Imprisoned in the Moon as it can mess up a player's mana base pretty badly and from all I know about your cube that's something you try to avoid. Turn their only dual land into a colorless land and they get mana screwed. May not always work, but it's certainly a possibility in >10% of games. And that's really the only true upside it has over a card like Ravenform, which exiles, can be foretold and can hit artifacts.
In commander the card is good because the commander isn't returned to the command zone and because land and, to a lesser degree, planeswalker hate actually has a purpose there, but in peasant I see it like a mediocre creature removal spell that occassionally wrecks games with land hate.
The Choked Estuary cycle looks like a great addition if you want more duals. I wouldn't fault anyone for playing it along with the Strixhaven enemy cycle. I'm not sure if I'll add it. If I did, I think I'd swap the Vivid lands out before the Thriving ones. Being able to ETB untapped is solid but I'm not sure how it compares to the Vivids being playable in any C/x deck.
Imprison in the Moon is definetly playable, but I'm not going to add it for the colour-screw issue Phitt77 mentioned.
I could see a certain kind of cube having a use for Stromkirk Occultist. Anguished Unmaking is obviously good but I'm not wasting a guild slot on a removal spell.
That's funny, I thought of the land destruction more in terms of "that celestial colonnade needs to die".
That is why I have acidic slime, since I think by 5 mana it's not quite as much "bad magic" to drop one instance of land destruction. Hopefully by then it's just hampering as opposed to crippling.
Now, is it a reasonable play to look at your opponent with Swamp-Mountain-Mountain on 3 and turning their swamp into a wastes? I wouldn't have immediately thought so, but... I could imagine being persuaded. In which case, yes, it would go against my design philosophy.
When @Calibretto did the MTGS Average Peasant Cube for 2022, only 5 people were running Ravenform: FunkyDragon, gsethi, HiFiveCat, Karn219217, and Torjuu. They're all still running it as of tonight.
The only experience I have with Ravenform was in Kaldheim draft and it wasn't great there. Three mana (over one or two turns) was a bit too slow and the bird actually mattered. The bird seems a lot easier to blank in the average peasant cube than in Kaldheim, and the threats it removes tend to be stronger in peasant than in KHM draft. I could see it working, especially in environments with depowered removal.
When @Calibretto did the MTGS Average Peasant Cube for 2022, only 5 people were running Ravenform: FunkyDragon, gsethi, HiFiveCat, Karn219217, and Torjuu. They're all still running it as of tonight.
I do run Ravenform, though it may not work in all peasant cubes. I've mentioned before that I don't ban cards for power reasons, so I am running Loxodon Warhammer, Skullclamp, and Sol Ring. These are powerful, so I make sure to run lots of answers (I have 20+ cards that can answer an artifact already on the board). Ravenform works for me as flexible removal, taking out any creature or artifact, and it doesn't only answer artifacts.
Scourge Wolf - Pretty sure this is the first 2-mana, 2-power first striker available in red at Peasant.
We actually have a few options if you're looking for something with those stats, including Aether Chaser, Blood Knight, Burning-Fist Minotaur and Zada's Commando, as well as Blood Petal Celebrant if you agree with Design's more recent take on offense-only first strike. None of these crack my personal 360 list but if I were to expand I think Aether Chaser and Celebrant would be serious considerations.
As for the downshifts, my usual playgroup is only 4 so I have avoided lands that only tap for 2 specific colors as they tend to not make players' decks too often. I am interested in Stromkirk Occultist though, as I have a decent number of ways to madness it out. Casting it off a loot or rummage effect really does feel like you're getting with something, and it isn't too embarrassing to spend 3 on either.
Wow. That might be the most objectively wrong thing I've said on here. How embarrassing. I actually run Aether Chaser and previously ran Burning-Fiat Minotaur. I had done a Scryfall search for 2 mana red creatures with double strike that night, and posted about first strike. My bad.
I will probably replace the scrylands in my cube with the reveal lands. At least 50% are now uncommon and coming into play untapped is pretty strong. Cool downshift.
Anguished Unmaking is tempting as it does a reasonable enough Vindicate impression, but I am pretty happy with Orzhov at the moment.
I never ran Ravenform because I prefer that blue does not have hard removal.
I was psyched when I saw Anguished Unmaking downshifted. I think I'll be slotting it in as well as the duals. I'm running the SNC common allied duals now. Seems like potentially coming in untapped outweighs the ability to sac for a card later in the game.
I'm not sure any of them make my cube to be honest but I will say I was disappointed to see mayor of avabruck and Angel of Flight Alabaster both get reprinted at rares as they seemed like cool cards to downshift in the given the recent power upgrades over the years.
Is Somberwald Sage actually nuts? Obviously it has extreme risk/reward considerations, but threatening turn 3 pelakka wurm in some lists is definitely something I want to consider.
So I know for some they use paper only printings for their cube but Shadows over Innistrad for Arena has some intriguing downshifts that I want to discuss what people think might be worth it. Below are the follow downshifts that I noticed:
Imprisoned in the Moon - Down to a Common!
Scourge Wolf
Geier Reach Bandit
Stromkirk Occultist
Deathcap Cultivator
Anguished Unmaking
Brain in a Jar
Lupine Prototype
Soul Separator
Choked Estuary & Friends
I'm curious are people planning on adding any cards from this set of downshifts or are you vehemently against downshifts that haven't happened in paper. Let me know!
Worth Considering:
Passing On:
Well, O-ring's most common job is hitting creatures and Oring is like an A- card. I think turning a creature in to a Wastes is still worth something valuable (Imprison in the moon)
My CubeCobra (draft 20 card packs, 2 packs.)
430, Peasant, Very Unpowered
Why you should take your hybrids out of your gold section
Manamath Article
I'm a bit surprised that you would include something like Imprisoned in the Moon as it can mess up a player's mana base pretty badly and from all I know about your cube that's something you try to avoid. Turn their only dual land into a colorless land and they get mana screwed. May not always work, but it's certainly a possibility in >10% of games. And that's really the only true upside it has over a card like Ravenform, which exiles, can be foretold and can hit artifacts.
In commander the card is good because the commander isn't returned to the command zone and because land and, to a lesser degree, planeswalker hate actually has a purpose there, but in peasant I see it like a mediocre creature removal spell that occassionally wrecks games with land hate.
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I like Flametongue Yearling better than Scourge Wolf and there's no way I'm playing 2 RR creatures.
Imprison in the Moon is definetly playable, but I'm not going to add it for the colour-screw issue Phitt77 mentioned.
I could see a certain kind of cube having a use for Stromkirk Occultist.
Anguished Unmaking is obviously good but I'm not wasting a guild slot on a removal spell.
Hard pass on the rest.
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.
That is why I have acidic slime, since I think by 5 mana it's not quite as much "bad magic" to drop one instance of land destruction. Hopefully by then it's just hampering as opposed to crippling.
Now, is it a reasonable play to look at your opponent with Swamp-Mountain-Mountain on 3 and turning their swamp into a wastes? I wouldn't have immediately thought so, but... I could imagine being persuaded. In which case, yes, it would go against my design philosophy.
Tangentially, does anyone play Ravenform?
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
When @Calibretto did the MTGS Average Peasant Cube for 2022, only 5 people were running Ravenform: FunkyDragon, gsethi, HiFiveCat, Karn219217, and Torjuu. They're all still running it as of tonight.
The only experience I have with Ravenform was in Kaldheim draft and it wasn't great there. Three mana (over one or two turns) was a bit too slow and the bird actually mattered. The bird seems a lot easier to blank in the average peasant cube than in Kaldheim, and the threats it removes tend to be stronger in peasant than in KHM draft. I could see it working, especially in environments with depowered removal.
2022 Average Peasant Cube
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We actually have a few options if you're looking for something with those stats, including Aether Chaser, Blood Knight, Burning-Fist Minotaur and Zada's Commando, as well as Blood Petal Celebrant if you agree with Design's more recent take on offense-only first strike. None of these crack my personal 360 list but if I were to expand I think Aether Chaser and Celebrant would be serious considerations.
As for the downshifts, my usual playgroup is only 4 so I have avoided lands that only tap for 2 specific colors as they tend to not make players' decks too often. I am interested in Stromkirk Occultist though, as I have a decent number of ways to madness it out. Casting it off a loot or rummage effect really does feel like you're getting with something, and it isn't too embarrassing to spend 3 on either.
Anguished Unmaking is tempting as it does a reasonable enough Vindicate impression, but I am pretty happy with Orzhov at the moment.
I never ran Ravenform because I prefer that blue does not have hard removal.
My 2-Player Legacy Cube (> 80% Signed)
You get used to it. I ****ed up my run in the Great Designer Search because I ****ed up my scryfall search too
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
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2021 Edition
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Séance
Sever the Bloodline
Somberwald Sage
I'm not sure any of them make my cube to be honest but I will say I was disappointed to see mayor of avabruck and Angel of Flight Alabaster both get reprinted at rares as they seemed like cool cards to downshift in the given the recent power upgrades over the years.
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