These are the changes I suggest:
Black
Dread Warlock raised to Borderline - It's slightly more unblockable than the cards its grouped with.
Tortured Existence dropped to Borderline - This card was never picked or played when I had it in my cube because it is too restrictive.
Morgue Theft raised to Borderline - You basically get two uses of Disturbed Burial with a reversal in mana cost.
Blue
Wind Zendikon raised to Borderline - It's a 2/2 Flyer with Haste for 2cc.
Fathom Seer dropped to Borderline - You put yourself two turns behind in land drops which hurts your ability to play the two extra cards you've drawn.
Shaper Parasite dropped to Borderline - Most Morph creatures never go off, and 6cc is expensive for the effect.
Wizard Replica dropped to Bad - Just not worth the cost.
Elgaud Shieldmate dropped to Borderline - It has a way of not being able to do anything else once cast, as a 2/3 ground creature on turn four is weak.
Confound raised to Cubable - It can target spells that target your opponent's creatures too like Shielding Plax.
Rushing River dropped to Borderline - It basically requires a land sacrifice to be Cubable, which isn't flexable.
Frantic Search dropped to Bad - It doesn't do enough unless you have the Green mana ramp auras.
Frost Breath raised to Cubable - This card is on par with Feeling of Dread but for less mana.
Encrust raised to Borderline - I know many don't like this card, but when you've Encrusted a Pristine Talisman or Vulshok Morningstar, you will appreciate it more.
Dream Cache raised to Borderline - It is close to Compulsive Research in value; you either put away the junk or stack your next two turns.
Into the Roil dropped to Borderline - It's no Repulse, which most of what you will bounce will be creatures, though there is a corner case for noncreature, nonland permanents.
Green
Thallid Shell-Dweller raised to Cubable - A great wall for control decks with Green in them.
Deadly Recluse raised to Borderline - Hard to consider Typhoid Rats and not include the Green Doom Blade, particularly with the rise of Hexproof.
Elephant Ambush dropped to Borderline - Green has gotten an influx of big ramp spells lately; this one isn't big enough.
Wildwood Rebirth dropped to Bad - If you want this effect, just play Evolution Charm.
Fertile Ground raised up with Rampant Growth - They do similar things, but Fertile Ground can be used now.
Ferocious Charge raised to Borderline - A huge boost at Instant speed that has Scry 2.
Overgrowth raised to Borderline/Cubable - The only Green ramp spell that puts you two turns ahead in mana for a reasonable cost.
Spore Cloud raised to Borderline - If played correctly you've locked down your opponents attackers for a turn.
Red
Goblin Shortcutter dropped to Borderline - He's kind of an anti-tempo 2-drop; if you want value you have to make sure you have a value creature to attack and a creature to keep from blocking.
Immolating Souleater dropped to Borderline - A Red shade is still a shade; they need to be able to survive to be good.
Dwarven Vigilantes/Skirk Commando dropped to Borderline - They work like Farrel's Zealot and need just as much help.
Skirk Marauder dropped to Borderline - He's not on par with Ghitu Slinger because you can't choose to just use the two damage for 3cc.
Manic Vandal dropped to Borderline - I'd rather play Smash to Smithereens; we've already got Hearth Kami and Torch Fiend.
Stingscourger dropped to Borderline - Unique yes, but 3cc is too much for a Sorcery speed bounce.
White
Akrasan Squire dropped to Borderline - Too limited in handing out it's bonus.
Doomed Traveler dropped to Borderline - There are an abundance of ways to deal with a 1/1.
Azorious Arrester dropped to Borderline - Same as Goblin Shortcutter.
Benalish Trapper/Blinding Mage/Master Decoy dropped to Borderline - These are not on the same level as Squall Drifter (flying) or Kor Line-Slinger (no mana to activate.)
Order of Leitbur dropped to Borderline or raise Order of the Ebon Hand raised to Cubable - Very similar power level and restrictions for each color.
Apex Hawks dropped to Borderline - Each iteration is under the curve.
Farrel's Zealot dropped to Borderline - Needs help to be effective.
Ethereal Armor raised to Cubable - With the number of White removal Auras, the overall rise of Auras in Pauper Cube, not too mention the rise of Hexproof Auras archtypes, this card should be in just about every cube.
Kirtir's Desire raised to Borderline - This is a great 1cc removal spell of control decks and certainly on par with Smite.
Zealous Strike raised to Borderline - It does a lot for 2cc, which should raise it above what it's grouped with.
Puncturing Light raised to Borderline - For those looking for Instant speed removal in White, this handles a lot.
Misfortune's Gain/Path of Peace dropped to Bad - I don't see these making it in as Sorceries.
Spirit Flare dropped to Bad - Too many restrictions and variables at play to make it good.
Colorless
Opaline Unicorn dropped to Bad - Not even better than Manalith.
Borderposts dropped to Cubable - With the Guildgates, these just don't have a place. They accelerate poorly and are vulnerable to a cheeky Artifact removal spell from your opponent.
Multicolor
Probe dropped to Cubable - Just not potent enough to be a Staple.
Temporal Spring dropped to Borderline - Sorcery speed makes it very limiting.
Winged Coatl raised to Cubable - A decent removal spell for the colors that lack a lot of hard removal.
Orim's Thunder dropped to Cubable - It's very good, but still more of a Sideboard Staple.
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- Al_Z_Heimer
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Sep 20, 20131
Hoojo posted a message on [[Pauper]] The "Evaluate Everything" ProjectPosted in: Pauper & Peasant Discussion -
Jun 7, 2013
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TheOrangeMitten posted a message on [[Pauper MCD]] Red 3 Drop CreaturesAggro is pretty strong in certain limited formats. Zendikar was all about aggro. Super aggro should exist is all I'm saying, otherwise is is mostly about midrange and control decks. So either value or super value cards.Posted in: Pauper & Peasant Discussion
Gatecrash had what I would call a super aggressive deck with boros, yet it didn't always win either. Zendikar was very very aggressive, almost too aggressive.
Aggro should be slower control because it is too slow. Midrange should be just a little bigger and be able to stop aggro, but can't quite compete with control. Control should struggle with super aggro, but be able to stabalize vs midrange and win out on more powerful effects usually. That is how magic works. Eliminating a strategy such as aggro, lets control go unchecked more of the time and simply be stronger.
All of this is in a general sense of course, not something to go to the bank on. There have been control decks aimed at just beating aggro, and midrange that just got too much value for control to be able to compete. But in general aggro is needed to be a healthy part of the metagame within the cube and it is what people expect. There are many podcasts and articles on this very subject.
Most cubes start out as the best of the best cards, and end up being a dragon type cube. Where it is haymaker after haymaker type of thing. This is more like a game of EDH, playing bigger and slower and more powerful things.
The whole dilemma of putting Savannah Lions into a deck with all 3-6 mana spells, doesn't really help. Each deck needs a specific goal to be efficient is what I'm saying basically. That is where archetype drafting comes in. You want your drafters to have something to aim towards in a sense, a cohernt deck. But many cards are interchangeable and such. not every card is for every deck.
Usman had an article highlighting this. LSV had a hexproof shroud type deck in 2010 that did really well, then someone else had another deck in mostly the same colors that played completely different creatures with a different strategy in landfall. He analyzed a Goblin guide and how it would be able to fit into each deck, and it was way better in one deck then the other. Decks are about synergies and such, playing off your strengths.
Just a different way to look at things is all. I don't have lightning bolt or rolling thunder in my cube, because the way it was designed it was too strong for my cubes meta. Yet my aggro red decks are still very good without it. Depends on how you build your cube, just look at the whole picture I think instead of just a certain card slot. - To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
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Added Dismissal and Toll and moved Slimebind. Thanks again for finding these. Another relic from a completely rushed era.
Humphrey01 is completely right about Callous Dismissal. A 1/1 simply isn't a card, since it can't trade against the average 2/2 and doesn't pose a threat. If 1/1s were worth a whole card Raise the Alarm and Hordeling Outburst would be the best cards ever.
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White creatures
White noncreature spells
UUUUU
Blue creatures
Blue noncreature spells
BBBBB
Black creatures
Black noncreature spells
RRRRR
Red creatures
Red noncreature spells
GGGGG
Green creatures
Green noncreature spells
CCCCC
Colorless spells
Lands
WUBRG
Multicolored spells
Rainbow
Special thanks go to NoobinCube, Night_Hydra, Back_Alley_G and MrEng1neer for helping with the recent evaluations.
Another special thank goes to Izor for this Graphic.
There is also an archetype overview of the Swarm and Sacrifice archetype. (outdated)
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A late Welcome. I'm glad this is work of some help to you. It's always good to hear, that more than 5 people are actually using this.
The whole idea of this project is to show people options. Otherwise a Borderline category wouldn't be needed. The borderline rating is mostly for card, which are fine to play, but often have better alternatives in cubeable. This project is not meant to rate every card corresponding their specific archetype. There are a lot of narrow archetypes (e.g. Infect or many of the 1-set-only mechanics) which simply don't have enough pieces to be viable, so there is no use in ranking them into borderline. That would just make things confusing.
The artifact archetype is kind of problematic, IMO. It's obviously one of the biggest archetypes there is, but many of the actual payoffs need a lot of commitment, which is why I actually went ahead and straight up build a completely artifact focused cube.
Archaeomender as a lonely, medium powered "payoff", which requires a bunch of artifacts, that frequently go to the graveyard is still not a viable option for 99% of the cubes, but since everyone seems to be super stoked about it, I can move it to borderline.
Edit:
I don't know why Bladebrand wasn't listed. It's probably from the era where Night_Hydra and I implemented a whole bunch of sets at the same time, because the forum was supposed to shut down and he didn't want this to end completely outdated. I just added it and I agree that borderline seems like the right spot.
There are bigger cubes than 360 and if they already have Scrounger of Souls they might look for similar 5 drop. It's not like the Glutton is outright bad it mostly loses in direct comparison.
Coursers aren't bad. 3/2s are bad. A few years ago Nessian Courser was in most lists, simply because there weren't many better alternatives. Also your life total doesn't need to be tied to any specific archetype. Against a super aggressive red deck I would sometimes love to simply gain 4 life which requires more than 1 burn spell to the face to get rid of. It's the flexiblity that makes this card cubeable.
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We got rid of "bomb" and "terrible". Staple still seperates the auto includes from the average cubeables. I think Vulturous Aven outclasses the Lurker. Sure you can't discard for it, but a 2/3 flying and drawing 2 instead of 1 is so much better in the right deck.
I wrote there are ways to make it 4/4, was that misunderstanding? I can reformulate it. I mean effects like Trusted Forcemage which is bascially the perfect follow up for this and auras. There is also the option to play a Giant Growth on it, in some situations to simply attack for 7 on turn 3.
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I also added the 2 commons from the 2 latest cmd set a few days ago. I still happens that I miss some commons from complementary products from time to time. Feel free to remind when one comes out, that includes non-reprint commons.
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@Humphrey
Garrison Cat: Annoying ≠ good. =bad
Frostveil Ambush: Yeah I think it can be downgraded. Cubeable -> Borderline
Blitz Leech: Bad -> Borderline
Fire Prophecy: =cubeable
Go for Blood: Cubeable -> Borderline
Lava Serpent: I think it might outclass Chartooth Cougar. =cubeable
Migratory Greathorn: I know you are a huge fan of this card and I think it's the only mutate creature I can justify a cubeable on. Borderline -> cubeable
Adaptive Shimmerer: Yeah you are right. Maybe we will one day have a viable +1/+1 counter archetype. For now Borderline -> Bad
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I remember why I stopped doing this. It took an insane amount of time.
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I still had some tix on mtgo left and played the cube a couple of times. It's Ok, but Green is literally unplayable trash in his cube. There is no Sprout Swarm (which I can understand) or Blastoderm (which I can't understand) and simply no reason to be green at all.
I would love to support the Flicker archetype in the Esper Colors, but sadly it is as unviable as ramp. Again not because we don't have good flicker effects, but because most etb-effects in pauper are fine as they are attached to their bodies, but spending a card just to draw a card or let the opponent discard a card simply doesn't get you anywhere. I also dislike self bounce, because it requires you to cast the creature again, which is a huge tempo downside.
The flexibility of flicker effects to either trigger an etb effect or save a creature from removal is ok, but the idea, that you save your etb creature from removal and get "double value" is magical christmas land. Most of the time the creature with an etb effect isn't worth a removal, especially not if there is a chance, that you have mana left to save it.
There are only 2 creatures in pauper, which have an etb effect, that is worth spending a card on it, which are Mulldrifter, the strongest blue card, which you are very unlikely to get in a draft and Dinrova Horror, which doesn't help UW flicker.
There are also only 4 Flicker Spells, which can flicker more than once, which are Momentary Blink, Ephemerate and Ghostly Flicker/Displace.
I think it's totally fine to run Momentary Blink and Ephemerate as good cards in a vacuum. There is an overabundance of decent flicker targets, without specifically forcing some in, but playing all the bad flicker cards and some bad cards with etb effects doesn't really do anything, as I just explained.
Additionally there is the Archaemancer/Ghostly Flicker combo, but that's really more a combo than the base for an archetype.