Well, you can assemble a finishing combo with Zuran Orb and Vizkopa Guildmage. After 5 lands (as long as you have 6 mana), you may activate the guildmage twice and then sacrifice 5 lands to Zuran Orb for 20 damage.
Currently I only run Mystical Tutor from that list, and I have yet to test it. However, I did have Tinker in my Cube for a long time, and no, the targets are not really worth it. It is mostly just a tutor for some artifact based combo instead of cheating anything noteworthy in the game.
Well, I do not really see reanimator as a viable archetype at the moment although you run a few reanimation spells. Thus, Putrid Imp and Golgari Thug are most likely not very good (Are they actually popular? I thought they were almost pet cards of mine.). Each of those red creatures should probably be good enough. The rest depend on how much you wish to support aggressive strategies in each of your colors. Those remaining options are among the best for their respective colors.
Well, on a glance, you seem to have problems with you 1-drops, for sure. Particularly Triton Shorestalker, but to a lesser extent, Centaur's Herald, Satyr Hoplite, and Pharika's Chosen seem a bit sub-optimal. You actually run quite a few cards which would trigger Heroic on the Hoplite but it also happens to be the only creature with heroic in your cube. Pharika's Chosen should be decent for a controlling deck, but then Gnarled Scarhide would be alone to support black aggro - and that deck needs its 1-drops.
This cube is really hard to evaluate at a glance, really. Could you maybe elaborate some of the archetypes or strategies you would like to support?
As a side-note, I kind of like the idea of Hada Spy Patrol although it seems slightly too cumbersome to level up for my taste.
Oh, also - black's removal suite seems a bit unbalanced when compared to white's. When you are running both Path to Exile and Swords to Plowshares, I think black would also benefit from having one or two of its better removal spells like Doom Blade or Ultimate Price. Especially compared to something like Necrobite.
Well, you do run 2 cards which achieve that in the Golgari colors (Hidden Horror and Wild Mongrel)... Which actually makes a Golgari reanimator seem like a very bad idea. I suppose you mostly include blue as well? Admittedly, BUg is probably better then BG for reanimator decks but Nyx Weaver fits those who would prefer to support the latter as well (in addition to other GY value strategies). From the looks of it, however, Golgari aggro is what you would prefer to support with the guild slots, and admittedly, in that case, other cards are a lot better. Such as the Dreg Mangler and Putrid Leech you run.
Good for you. I am pretty sure that I would be unable to trade for one (at least without resorting to international trades, and even then, my collection might not be appealing enough). There are simply no copies available around these parts, to the best of my knowledge.
Well, yes, understandably. However, I would still hardly rank them over Karoos in those colors - and those are the only strictly dual lands I currently run.
I decided to test Hedron Crab for self-milling purposes. Does anyone have any experience with the little fella? I reckoned that it would help rid of bad top decks which are known due to Brainstorm, Sensei's Divining Top, Ponder, or Portent, as well as milling oneself efficiently for reanimation strategies which tend to utilize blue in any case. In some cases, it might even act as an alternative win con, if played early and against a grindy opponent.
The reason is how I would like to play a decent suite of blue 1-drops (and I do not intend to support blue aggro), and Delver of Secrets seems a lot more questionable despite the amount of control for the top card available in my Cube.
That's a hard one. I would say that it depends. At least two to three repeatable blinkers/bouncers, IMO. These would include the likes of Cavern Harpy, Waterfront Bouncer, Nephalia Smuggler, Crystal Shard, Mistmeadow Witch and Momentary Blink. Because I vastly prefer such enablers, I run a few more than I would deem strictly necessary. I also run few other support cards - the likes of ninjas, Ghostly Flicker and Quickling (currently, only Stonecloaker and Kor Skyfisher). This is purely speculative but if the first group of cards were to be given a value of 2 and the latter (which only work once) a value of 1, a total value of 10-12 or so would seem adequate. By this metric, I currently run 15 points worth, I think.
Oh, and since it has not been mentioned here yet: I also added Library of Alexandria some time back. Unfortunately, it still remains to be tested due to everyone having dispersed over summer.
Well, to answer the question itself: probably no one (as may be seen) opposes using cards, the rarities of which have been upgraded later on. Some of those cards might be not be used for balance reasons, however. Sol Ring is a prime example - and this is coming from someone with Library of Alexandria in their Peasant Cube.
My personal take is the third option listed by Wildfire: I only use the physically printed uncommon versions. (How lucky that City of Brass was technically (with a bit of a stretch) also uncommon in Chronicles.)
I would probably value the scryers the highest in the early game, because they allow reliably getting rid of cards which are bad in that situation. On the first turn, Portent is more or less equal to a Ponder, and later on, its capacity to affect an opponent's draws might come in handy. I would advice towards trying it out if you want to have a decent amount of 1 mana plays for blue.
Currently I only run Mystical Tutor from that list, and I have yet to test it. However, I did have Tinker in my Cube for a long time, and no, the targets are not really worth it. It is mostly just a tutor for some artifact based combo instead of cheating anything noteworthy in the game.
This cube is really hard to evaluate at a glance, really. Could you maybe elaborate some of the archetypes or strategies you would like to support?
As a side-note, I kind of like the idea of Hada Spy Patrol although it seems slightly too cumbersome to level up for my taste.
Oh, also - black's removal suite seems a bit unbalanced when compared to white's. When you are running both Path to Exile and Swords to Plowshares, I think black would also benefit from having one or two of its better removal spells like Doom Blade or Ultimate Price. Especially compared to something like Necrobite.
The reason is how I would like to play a decent suite of blue 1-drops (and I do not intend to support blue aggro), and Delver of Secrets seems a lot more questionable despite the amount of control for the top card available in my Cube.
1. Restock
2. Reclamation Sage
3. Generator Servant
4. Borderland Marauder
5. Frost Lynx
Oh, and since it has not been mentioned here yet: I also added Library of Alexandria some time back. Unfortunately, it still remains to be tested due to everyone having dispersed over summer.
My personal take is the third option listed by Wildfire: I only use the physically printed uncommon versions. (How lucky that City of Brass was technically (with a bit of a stretch) also uncommon in Chronicles.)
1. Preordain
2. Ponder
3. Serum Visions
4. Brainstorm
5. Portent
(6. Gitaxian Probe)
I would probably value the scryers the highest in the early game, because they allow reliably getting rid of cards which are bad in that situation. On the first turn, Portent is more or less equal to a Ponder, and later on, its capacity to affect an opponent's draws might come in handy. I would advice towards trying it out if you want to have a decent amount of 1 mana plays for blue.