Big fan of your cube and have followed it for some time. I took about a year off magic and I'm back to look at your changes and possibly make the same changes to mine.
How do you feel about the state of the cube? Between my iteration and yours, there are about 150 cards different. Before I make the enormous change, are you happy with it in its current state?
Thanks for always keeping us up to date here and on cubetutor with Peasantville!
The state of the cube is obviously always changing, depending on your playgroups and play styles, but I've been cubing for so long now that the word I would use to describe it would be "consistent". I'd like to think that I have my list pretty refined, for the archetypes and style of play that I'm supporting.
It's funny.. if you check my change log from the first few years of the cube, changes were happening all the time and in droves. It slows down as the cube gets more refined and consistent. Changes now are usually just archetypical changes or for underperforming cards.
The cube is in a great spot right now. Everyone is having fun and the decks are coming out how I'd like them to. Every color does the job I want it to do and the color pairs are doing what I want them to be doing, while still making spots for pet cards of course (as every cube owner should... i'm looking at you Bloodhunter Bat).
I'd be interested in seeing your list to see that 150 card difference. What's making you consider changing your list to mine? Are you encountering certain issues? Power level? Removal/Nonremoval ratio? 5-color value decks running rampant?
I wouldn't suggest such a big change like this unless you just want a "big change" or if you are experiencing problems with your cube.
Thanks for following the cube!
*I've been super busy this winter with my job. The cubes will be picking back up in a few weeks.
My current list is mostly a mirror of one of your previous iterations with a few personal favs. I've never held the knowledge nor been able to play the amount of games I'd like to feel comfortable updating it with new sets. I've mostly followed your advice because the cube has always been fun (even when it was extreme valuetown about 4 years ago).
I'm getting back together with my old group in March and we are going to rotisserie draft it before. So, when I wanted to update it, instead of sifting through the 7 sets worth of new C/UC, I just follow your advice. You know your stuff when it comes to peasant! Flash Simic looks especially interesting and I'm curious how it performs vs the field.
Big fan of your cube and have followed it for some time. I took about a year off magic and I'm back to look at your changes and possibly make the same changes to mine.
How do you feel about the state of the cube? Between my iteration and yours, there are about 150 cards different. Before I make the enormous change, are you happy with it in its current state?
Thanks for always keeping us up to date here and on cubetutor with Peasantville!
May I ask what your system is? Always interested in new ways to draft.
We draft 1v1 almost exclusively, and have been very happy with Glimpse draft (detailed here). The only difference is that we 'burn' 2 cards at random after each pick instead of choosing what to remove. This is purely because it's faster and we like the uncontrolled element.
[/quote]
My friend and I do a similar system. We do 9 packs of eleven. First pack you draft one then pass. Second pack you take two, burn two, then pass. Third pack you take two and burn the rest (4). This leaves you with 45 from which to build. We have done this for a long time and haven’t really had any issues.
Your method seems fun and I’m interested in the random burn. We may give it a shot next time we draft.
Several years ago I copied your list for my own cube and have had fun with it. I followed your suggestions until you did the big overhaul (2016?) but just couldn’t bring myself to make such grand changes. I thought I liked the cube as is, however, many more drafts in, I now see the problem with it and why you changed it up.
The blink strategy combined with the value creatures led to too many of the same type decks winning time and time again. A friend of mine constantly drafts 4 or 5 color and dominates any two color strat I decide to draft. I don’t think peasant cube should be this way. So, I’ve finally decided to update mine to be in line with yours again and look forward to seeing how it plays out. Thanks for your dedication to this forum and constant updates.
Quick questions: Looking back, are you glad you moved away from the value based synergy in the original builds? Also, can you speak to the importance of some of these cards? I rarely draft them and don’t see them on the table much. Bubbling Cauldron, thoughtpicker witch, wight of precinct six, and stonewright.
Also, what do you consider the first pickable bombs? I feel like good removal is always at the top of my list but past that, what do you like to take and feel wins the most games?
Last question (I promise!): how would you do a two person draft? This is how I play most often and my friend and I have developed a system but, I’m curious on your opinion with this list in mind.
First, thanks for reformatting your deck list. I was trying to do that before you deleted your post
Second, it looks good. I think your land count is fine. With 10 Artifact mana sources, I don't think you need more lands. As mentioned, I would probably go one route over the other, but you seem to have found a reasonable balance for land ramp in the 4 that you have (not counting Oracle).
If you have one, Mana Drain should slot in over Counterspell. Otherwise, Counterspell seems out of place. The main reason for Mana Drain is the mana. In your list, I only see 1 Counter, so I am not sure Counterspell really deserves a spot in the list. I think you might be better off with something that impacts the board a little more though I can't think of what that might be at the moment.
This is an odd suggestion, but maybe trim a couple duals to add more Plains? Mistveil Plains isn't bad, though it comes in tapped, but if that is a concern, you could just add basics. The reason is to add a little more impact to Emeria Shepherd. Late game, it give you a way to turn that Farhaven Elf into a Sorin Markov (or anything else in your grave).
Your list has good interaction, ramp, and even tutors to get to the cards you need (Doubling Season I suppose is most likely ).
I don't know that I would necessarily cut Chromatic Lantern though. I personally would probably let Coalition Relic go before it. Yes, it ramps more (every other turn), but fixing your colors may be more relevant, even if your goldfishing has shown your colors are fine. If you do find that Chromatic Lantern is superfluous though, then I wouldn't say it is important enough to keep around. Just my two cents though and with everything else generating more than 1 color of mana (and relic producing any color), my assessment may be off.
Yeah, sorry about that. I'm mostly a lurker on MTG Salvation and don't know much about how to format deck posts. It took me a minute of googling but I figured it out.
I don't have a mana drain and probably won't be getting one any time soon, unfortunately. You may be right. Counterspell served to replace mana drain and it may not have a place here. Though, I find that having a hard counter in hand is never a bad thing and is part of my reasoning for thinking it deserves a spot. As for adding more plains, I can definitely see your point. I could probably cut a forest or a few pain lands to make due. I'll test that out to see how it works.
In my experience, coalition relic works better than latern. While I may be wrong, the interaction with Atraxa put it over the top for me. Put a charge counter on the relic with the Atraxa trigger on the stack ramps you by three the next turn and that seems pretty sweet. Though, it may be right to cut neither and look to ditch the counterspell.
What do you think of Tezzeret the Seeker in this list? With the amount of artifacts, it seems solid for at least the ability to tutor for sol ring or a needed signet. Though, I don't see the ultimate coming up often and is why I didn't include it in the original list.
Here is my take on the Atraxa deck. I combined rkjunior and WizardMN's artifact and wood elf strategy into something that can take advantage of artifact ramp, blinkable creatures, and a low land count. I think the land count may be a bit low but, I must admit, I've been impressed while goldfishing on the land setup. I don't have og duals but, I find I rarely need a certain color of mana (except for when I have Nissa, Voice of Zendikar in opener, which is hard to cast on three). In fact, I may be cutting chromatic latern for this very reason.
It seems to me that the combo with muse is a great strategy. Obviously, you can't activate your planeswalkers but, being able to empty your hand every turn seems broken. Either way, I feel that if you are running muse, you should run the orrery.
Thanks for the write up, I am considering following your build here as the layout for my first superfriends deck.
Do you have the green creature suite solely for blink purposes with Kaya and Venser? When I build this deck, I will not have the OG duals and thus, would you advise cutting down on the "forest grab" elves and add BOP or other similar creatures?
I found that running signets and mana rocks eliminated the need for so many (or in my case, any) ramp creatures. Eternal Witness is a great way to bring back stuff, especially when you can blink it -- same with something like Sun Titan. Their sole purpose is to abuse their ETB effects.
Since you won't have OG duals, will you be running fetches and shocks? I would run whatever fetchable tango lands you can and maybe the check lands?
I agree with land ramp vs mana rocks. I definitely wouldn't play both and I prefer playing land ramp as I think it is better long game (a signet gets 1 extra mana faster, but a blinked Wood Elves gets more mana in thelong game). I think it is just a judgment call on how "explosive" one wants their deck to be.
@Minarii It depends on your land base. Grabbing Shocks and the Zendikar Battlelands can still be relevant for color fixing if using Wood Elves. If nothing else, it still gets you a Forest.
Good points. Thanks for the input. I have a Gitrog deck that I've played many times and I always seem to run out of basics to grab with fetch lands so, I'm a little shy at playing a lot of basic/forest grabbing cards. Perhaps the presence of the battle lands makes the strategy more relevant? I'm torn between that and the mana rock strat but either way, it seems like Chromatic Latern should be in both lists. I'm surprised you guys aren't playing it.
Then again, I've never played a superfriends EDH deck so, I really don't know what I'm talking about.
Thanks for the write up, I am considering following your build here as the layout for my first superfriends deck.
Do you have the green creature suite solely for blink purposes with Kaya and Venser? When I build this deck, I will not have the OG duals and thus, would you advise cutting down on the "forest grab" elves and add BOP or other similar creatures?
I found that running signets and mana rocks eliminated the need for so many (or in my case, any) ramp creatures. Eternal Witness is a great way to bring back stuff, especially when you can blink it -- same with something like Sun Titan. Their sole purpose is to abuse their ETB effects.
Since you won't have OG duals, will you be running fetches and shocks? I would run whatever fetchable tango lands you can and maybe the check lands?
Yes I have all KTK fetches and shocks and will pick up all the tango lands. I have several check lands, but not all. I usually fill in the gaps in my mana base with manlands and temples if need be. Speaking of which, it seems like manlands would be decent in this deck considering the need to block and protect planeswalkers occasionally. Am I wrong?
Thanks for the write up, I am considering following your build here as the layout for my first superfriends deck.
Do you have the green creature suite solely for blink purposes with Kaya and Venser? When I build this deck, I will not have the OG duals and thus, would you advise cutting down on the "forest grab" elves and add BOP or other similar creatures?
I'm very impressed with your cube and your dedication to keeping it updated! In fact, I am so impressed that I have decided to mirror it for the High School magic club that I run! A friend of mine visited and brought his powered cube and the kids absolutely LOVED drafting and building decks. As a result, I decided to embark on building one myself. Being a teacher, my budget doesn't allow for a significant investment and thus, I have decided to look into Peasant and Pauper. Your cube has inspired me greatly and I am already pulling commons and uncommons aside that I own and preparing to sleeve them up for the kids.
I do have a question: I do not see myself buying the ridiculously expensive Imperial Recruiter so, is there a card that you think could adequately replace it or should I just proxy it? Thanks!
Most of it is the standard build. The 12 two power one drops are the heart of the deck. If there were 16 of them legal in standard, I would run them. Where my list varies from the norm is in running Agent of the Fates over Lifebane Zombie. With 10 bestow cards, the Agent is great. In my local meta, there are tons of decks that hide behind Sylvan Caryatid and Courser of Kruphix. Bestowing a Gnarled Scarhide or Spiteful Returned on the Agent, clearing a blocker and swinging in for a ton is happy times. He is also a guaranteed trade late game if you have used up your removal early on smaller creatures. That comes up a lot too and really makes the card worth running.
I only run two Herald of Torment because while it is good when it is good, there are many games where it is just too expensive and doesn't have enough impact. In my experience, counting on reaching 5 mana t bestow is just unrealistic and while a 3/3 flier for 3 is fine, by turn four, it isn't as good as it sounds. And as I am 100% committed to the Pain Seer draw engine, the life loss can be meaningful. I'd rather lose life and get a card. Two works for me, and it is often the first card cut. I will admit, it is a star against Chandra's Phoenix so if you are up against a lot of Red in your area, four might be worth having.
I'm also running just one Mutavault. This was initially a budget decision, but I proxied up more and found that if I ever get two of them early, I lost. The deck needs lots of black mana symbols as it will often be casting multiple creatures per turn thanks to Pain Seer. Perhaps I could run two copies, but the risk reward just isn't there in my opinion. It is a great card in some matchups but this deck is best with speed and Mutavault is a slow card compared to the rest of the deck. Against control where it can shine, I am probably weaker, but fewer total lands and being able to put down 2 2/1 on turn two is what the deck does best, so I am OK with the trade.
I am going to a more casual event this evening and am going to run the following just for giggles:
I doubt it will be better, but I intend to flood the board against everyone and see how it goes. I also added two more lands to be able to hit bestow levels of mana more consistently. The Dark Prophecy is in just for fun and because I am pretty sure I am going to have creatures going to the graveyard. If I can find a second, I might drop a Thoughtseize for a that. However, with the amount of main deck enchantment hate in the format now, my suspicion is that the card just isn't viable.
I thought about Brain Maggot, but my experience with that card has been very negative. If we don't get Duress in M15 it might be a necessary evil post rotation, but until that time, it has no home with me. I also would like to play around with Boon of Erebos but 60 cards is the limit and I am making enough changes as is.
Oh yeah, first post, so hello all. Comments?
I like the look of your deck...it is a little different from others on here. However, I see this deck struggling against Jund Monsters and any deck that runs a ton of Kruphix/Carytid (Which is a lot nowadays). Without the evasion from Master of the Feast and Herald, you aren't going to be able to get through the early game defense in order to finish them before polukranos and storm-breath dragon come out to play...not to mention Ooze eating all your one drops and getting gigantic himself. Perhaps I'm wrong and/or your meta is a little different than mine...that's the best thing about the flyers is that get in and over the popular defenses.
Relatively new player here and I've been running monoblack aggro for about a month now, thanks everyone for the awesome input on this forum. You guys convinced me to add in Master of the Feast.
I want to share my recent decklist that went 3-1, defeating Maze's End, Monoblack Devotion, and Jund Monsters while losing in the final to White Weenie. I simply could not keep up! It was the first time I had ever played against a white aggro deck and had no idea what to do with the onslaught. Looking back, it might have been better for me to get away from my usual strategy of "Kill them by turn 5 or 6" and play more defensively. What do you guys think about the matchup with weenie?
This deck has performed consistently well in my meta. In fact, my favorite thing about it is that I am literally the only one that runs monoblack aggro at my shop.
Some Quick Thoughts About Monoblack and this deck...
Spiteful Returned is the all-star of the deck. If you are going to make monoblack aggro, this card is a must. If nothing else, it baits out removal from your opponent and saves your Master or Herald from eating one. The bestow ability has finished close matchups on more than one occasion.
Don't be afraid of Master of the Feast's card draw ability. I've yet to see a match in which he lost me the game due to opponent card advantage.
We need 2 drop help from M15 or the new expansion. Thrill-Kill Assassin is gone at rotation and I feel that Pain Seer is rarely effective...she will be fine if there is nothing else but, I'd rather get something new and shiny! Brain Maggot is also a decent replacement but, too slow for what monoblack aggro wants to accomplish.
Again, thanks everyone for the insightful posts. I look forward to hearing comments and suggestions about my deck.
https://www.cubetutor.com/viewcube/98464
My current list is mostly a mirror of one of your previous iterations with a few personal favs. I've never held the knowledge nor been able to play the amount of games I'd like to feel comfortable updating it with new sets. I've mostly followed your advice because the cube has always been fun (even when it was extreme valuetown about 4 years ago).
I'm getting back together with my old group in March and we are going to rotisserie draft it before. So, when I wanted to update it, instead of sifting through the 7 sets worth of new C/UC, I just follow your advice. You know your stuff when it comes to peasant! Flash Simic looks especially interesting and I'm curious how it performs vs the field.
Big fan of your cube and have followed it for some time. I took about a year off magic and I'm back to look at your changes and possibly make the same changes to mine.
How do you feel about the state of the cube? Between my iteration and yours, there are about 150 cards different. Before I make the enormous change, are you happy with it in its current state?
Thanks for always keeping us up to date here and on cubetutor with Peasantville!
We draft 1v1 almost exclusively, and have been very happy with Glimpse draft (detailed here). The only difference is that we 'burn' 2 cards at random after each pick instead of choosing what to remove. This is purely because it's faster and we like the uncontrolled element.
[/quote]
My friend and I do a similar system. We do 9 packs of eleven. First pack you draft one then pass. Second pack you take two, burn two, then pass. Third pack you take two and burn the rest (4). This leaves you with 45 from which to build. We have done this for a long time and haven’t really had any issues.
Your method seems fun and I’m interested in the random burn. We may give it a shot next time we draft.
The blink strategy combined with the value creatures led to too many of the same type decks winning time and time again. A friend of mine constantly drafts 4 or 5 color and dominates any two color strat I decide to draft. I don’t think peasant cube should be this way. So, I’ve finally decided to update mine to be in line with yours again and look forward to seeing how it plays out. Thanks for your dedication to this forum and constant updates.
Quick questions: Looking back, are you glad you moved away from the value based synergy in the original builds? Also, can you speak to the importance of some of these cards? I rarely draft them and don’t see them on the table much. Bubbling Cauldron, thoughtpicker witch, wight of precinct six, and stonewright.
Also, what do you consider the first pickable bombs? I feel like good removal is always at the top of my list but past that, what do you like to take and feel wins the most games?
Last question (I promise!): how would you do a two person draft? This is how I play most often and my friend and I have developed a system but, I’m curious on your opinion with this list in mind.
Thanks for all your feedback!
Yeah, sorry about that. I'm mostly a lurker on MTG Salvation and don't know much about how to format deck posts. It took me a minute of googling but I figured it out.
I don't have a mana drain and probably won't be getting one any time soon, unfortunately. You may be right. Counterspell served to replace mana drain and it may not have a place here. Though, I find that having a hard counter in hand is never a bad thing and is part of my reasoning for thinking it deserves a spot. As for adding more plains, I can definitely see your point. I could probably cut a forest or a few pain lands to make due. I'll test that out to see how it works.
In my experience, coalition relic works better than latern. While I may be wrong, the interaction with Atraxa put it over the top for me. Put a charge counter on the relic with the Atraxa trigger on the stack ramps you by three the next turn and that seems pretty sweet. Though, it may be right to cut neither and look to ditch the counterspell.
What do you think of Tezzeret the Seeker in this list? With the amount of artifacts, it seems solid for at least the ability to tutor for sol ring or a needed signet. Though, I don't see the ultimate coming up often and is why I didn't include it in the original list.
Thoughts?
1x Alchemist's Refuge
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x Breeding Pool
1x Canopy Vista
1x Caves of Koilos
1x City of Brass
1x Command Tower
1x Drowned Catacomb
1x Flooded Strand
5x Forest
1x Glacial Fortress
1x Godless Shrine
1x Hallowed Fountain
1x Hinterland Harbor
2x Island
1x Mana Confluence
1x Overgrown Tomb
2x Plains
1x Polluted Delta
1x Prairie Stream
1x Sunken Hollow
1x Sunpetal Grove
2x Swamp
1x Temple Garden
1x Watery Grave
1x Windswept Heath
1x Wooded Foothills
1x Yavimaya Coast
Instant (7)
1x Anguished Unmaking
1x Comeuppance
1x Counterspell
1x Cyclonic Rift
1x Dig Through Time
1x Enlightened Tutor
1x Vampiric Tutor
1x Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
1x Ajani Steadfast
1x Dovin Baan
1x Elspeth, Sun's Champion
1x Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury
1x Jace, Architect of Thought
1x Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1x Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
1x Karn Liberated
1x Kaya, Ghost Assassin
1x Liliana Vess
1x Narset Transcendent
1x Nissa, Vital Force
1x Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
1x Ob Nixilis Reignited
1x Sorin, Grim Nemesis
1x Sorin Markov
1x Sorin, Solemn Visitor
1x Tamiyo, Field Researcher
1x Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
1x Teferi, Temporal Archmage
1x Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
1x Venser, the Sojourner
1x Vraska the Unseen
Sorcery (8)
1x Akroma's Vengeance
1x Call the Gatewatch
1x Creeping Renaissance
1x Day's Undoing
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Deploy the Gatewatch
1x Seasons Past
1x Supreme Verdict
1x Azorius Signet
1x Chromatic Lantern
1x Coalition Relic
1x Dimir Signet
1x Golgari Signet
1x Mana Crypt
1x Orzhov Signet
1x Rings of Brighthearth
1x Selesnya Signet
1x Simic Signet
1x Sol Ring
1x The Chain Veil
Creature (10)
1x Deepglow Skate
1x Emeria Shepherd
1x Eternal Witness
1x Farhaven Elf
1x Greenwarden of Murasa
1x Oracle of Mul Daya
1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
1x Solemn Simulacrum
1x Sun Titan
1x Wood Elves
Enchantment (3)
1x Doubling Season
1x Oath of Jace
1x Oath of Nissa
It seems to me that the combo with muse is a great strategy. Obviously, you can't activate your planeswalkers but, being able to empty your hand every turn seems broken. Either way, I feel that if you are running muse, you should run the orrery.
Good points. Thanks for the input. I have a Gitrog deck that I've played many times and I always seem to run out of basics to grab with fetch lands so, I'm a little shy at playing a lot of basic/forest grabbing cards. Perhaps the presence of the battle lands makes the strategy more relevant? I'm torn between that and the mana rock strat but either way, it seems like Chromatic Latern should be in both lists. I'm surprised you guys aren't playing it.
Then again, I've never played a superfriends EDH deck so, I really don't know what I'm talking about.
Yes I have all KTK fetches and shocks and will pick up all the tango lands. I have several check lands, but not all. I usually fill in the gaps in my mana base with manlands and temples if need be. Speaking of which, it seems like manlands would be decent in this deck considering the need to block and protect planeswalkers occasionally. Am I wrong?
Do you have the green creature suite solely for blink purposes with Kaya and Venser? When I build this deck, I will not have the OG duals and thus, would you advise cutting down on the "forest grab" elves and add BOP or other similar creatures?
I do have a question: I do not see myself buying the ridiculously expensive Imperial Recruiter so, is there a card that you think could adequately replace it or should I just proxy it? Thanks!
I like the look of your deck...it is a little different from others on here. However, I see this deck struggling against Jund Monsters and any deck that runs a ton of Kruphix/Carytid (Which is a lot nowadays). Without the evasion from Master of the Feast and Herald, you aren't going to be able to get through the early game defense in order to finish them before polukranos and storm-breath dragon come out to play...not to mention Ooze eating all your one drops and getting gigantic himself. Perhaps I'm wrong and/or your meta is a little different than mine...that's the best thing about the flyers is that get in and over the popular defenses.
I want to share my recent decklist that went 3-1, defeating Maze's End, Monoblack Devotion, and Jund Monsters while losing in the final to White Weenie. I simply could not keep up! It was the first time I had ever played against a white aggro deck and had no idea what to do with the onslaught. Looking back, it might have been better for me to get away from my usual strategy of "Kill them by turn 5 or 6" and play more defensively. What do you guys think about the matchup with weenie?
4 Gnarled Scarhide
3 Rakdos Cackler
3 Tormented Hero
4 Spiteful Returned
4 Thrill-Kill Assassin
4 Master of the Feast
4 Herald of Torment
4 Thoughtseize
Instant
3 Hero's Downfall
2 Bile Blight
2 Ultimate Price
1 Devour Flesh
Land
22 Swamp
1 Devour Flesh
1 Bile Blight
3 Lifebane Zombie
4 Mogis's Marauder
3 Duress
3 Dark Betrayal
This deck has performed consistently well in my meta. In fact, my favorite thing about it is that I am literally the only one that runs monoblack aggro at my shop.
Some Quick Thoughts About Monoblack and this deck...
Again, thanks everyone for the insightful posts. I look forward to hearing comments and suggestions about my deck.