I run Phyrexian Rager -- mostly because I really liked Dusk Legion Zealot in RIX and I was thinking: "This is not good enough for my Peasant cube because the 1/1 body sucks. Now if it was the same effect on a 2/2 for 3..." and it turns out that card exists, so I put it in.
It's been alright I would say, definitely not a card I'd highly prioritize, but it's generally a fine speed bump that controlling decks can put up while gaining card advantage, and of course once you blink or bounce it it becomes great.
It's very risky though. If you have a creature already that they can't block at all, then it seems like a win-more card (unless you're purely racing). With menace, trample, etc., the problem is that you're setting yourself up for a disadvantageous trade (or at least less favorable trade). Let's say you attach with a 4/4 menace into two 2/2s. Normally, that counts as some kind of evasion since double blocking means that the opponent two-for-ones themselves. Once you've discarded a card, blocking this 4/4 is a 2-for-2.
An amazing set, I think. So many cards that are good enough or very close, or at the very least interesting for testing. I think this is what I will do:
Definite includes Dauntless Bodyguard: Will replace Mardu Woe-Reaper. The upside on this card is that it's still a great late-game play, whereas the 1 life from Woe-Reaper is really hardly ever going to matter.
Untamed Kavu: Flexible, mana efficient, relevant keywords, supports +1/+1 counters? Get in there! Probably replacing Rot Shambler.
Cast Down: Basically unconditional removal, even after adding a few legends. Will replace Doom Blade which I ran mostly for nostalgia reasons.
Memorial to Folly: I run one utility land per color, and I like the effect on this one better than the (somewhat similar) effect on Mortuary Mire which I run currently (since it actually exchanges land flood for your best dead creature, and you can wait to activate this until you have something worth returning).
Memorial to Genius: Same as with the black memorial, but this is just much better than Skyline Cascade which I currently run and fits better with my blue archetypes.
Testing, most likely includes Adventurous Impulse: This is a great green twist on card filtering. Great on turn 1, still a good top deck on turn 5 or 10. Will likely replace Harmonize for me, because I've lately started thinking that I want fewer color pie breaking effects.
Merfolk Trickster: I am still on the fence about this card since I haven’t really wrapped my head around its potential. However, the unique effect is probably worth the include – just need to work out what to replace. Maybe Sage of Fables which I run for the +1/+1 counters, but it’s not really a strong card.
Shanna, Sisay’s Legacy: Fits well into my Selesnya tokens archetype. Would probably replace Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage – the abilities on that card are great but just a tad bit too expensive.
Maybe Call the Cavalry: If I include this, then for Timely Reinforcements to support token strategies in the Naya shard -- mostly since the 2/2 vigilant bodies are often more relevant than non-evasive 1/1s.
Danitha Capashen, Paragon: The effect and keyword soup are really really interesting – but right now I don’t run enough auras and equipment to really make her worthwhile. Most likely it’d take a bit of a revamp of my Naya archetypes to include her (sadly).
Fight With Fire: This one is a bit of a question mark. It’s not really mana efficient enough in comparison to other burn spells we have access to, but the combination of the modes might make it just good enough for inclusion in both RG beats and RB sweeper control. Even RU spells might play this in a pinch (just the more aggressive red builds would likely shy away from it since it’s way too expensive as a finisher for the mana base of those decks).
Song of Freyalise: Green has token makers and ramp targets as well as +1/+1 counter synergies, so all chapters would be worthwhile. If it goes in, then maybe for Durable Handicraft which has the same cost and is great only in a +1/+1 counters deck.
Interesting, but probably not good enough Grunn, the Lonely King: I like the effect and the kicker which plays nice with +1/+1 counters. However, it’s just too chump-blockable unfortunately.
Warcry Phoenix: I like the effect (and the art), but it’s probably just a tad too much mana for both modes
Tatyova, Benthic Druid: I like this for the definition it gives Simic – but that definition is a different one than I currently have (+1/+1 counters), so I won’t include this for now. Perhaps I’ll rebuild my Simic section once again at some point around Tatyova.
Yeah I was also thinking it'd be nice if you can rummage it into the yard and then cast it for 2R on your next attack, which is obviously a better rate for a 2/2 hasty flier -- but that requires you to rummage somehow and you are perhaps not doing that in the same deck that has 3 attackers reliably.
Baird, Steward of Argive: I currently run Ghostly Prison, and might replace this with it. I think it makes for more interesting game decisions -- Ghostly Prison is mostly "can you board in enchantment removal or not if I draw this" against aggro. 2/4 vigilance for 4 is obviously a bit under par for Peasant, but the extra mana for attacks will have an impact and lead to interesting decisions against all kinds of decks.
Grunn, the Lonely King is interesting and I will probably try it. I am thinking of making RG more of a "Fires"/haste archetype, in which this would obviously be nuts (I already run Bloodlust Inciter, but Generator Servant (which I currently don't run) into this would be gross of course. Also, I support +1/+1 counters in green (/ mostly Simic) and Grunn with Sapphire Drake out (if I may go magical Christmas land here for a bit) is nuts. Yeah, it dies to removal, but so does almost everything else in my cube. I don't run the hexproof big guy, the biggest thing that has pseudo hexproof is Jetting Glasskite, which is more of a puzzle than an annoying "can I triple block this or chump this for long enough".
Memorial cycle: I run one ETB tapped utility land per color, and will probably swap some out. Memorial to Glory seems way better than the Forbidding Watchtower that I run currently and fits right into white archetypes I support. Memorial to Genius also sounds much better than Skyline Cascade which is in my cube currently (I know, my current choice is already suboptimal, Faerie Conclave is probably stronger but I didn't just want to run the manlands in each color). Memorial to Folly is almost a strict upgrade over my current choice Mortuary Mire and fits nicely in my black graveyard theme.
Adeliz, the Cinder Wind looks sweet, but probably doesn't make the cut since there aren't enough Wizards in my cube in the spells matter archetype that Adeliz would fit in. I currently run Bloodwater Entity with the same stats, minus haste, but which puts back your best spell from the graveyard on top of the library. I think the cases in which Adeliz is better are probably few and far between.
Seal Away is a bit too narrow, I'd only run it if I was depowering my removal.
Song of Freyalise looks very interesting. Goes best in a token deck probably, which I support mostly in GW, but you could maybe also make happen in GR. It's hard to evaluate what the average case of this card is though, and as a topdeck in a deck that has already ramped out it's not very good (until 2 turns later).
Tatyova, Benthic Druid: Interesting discussion in this thread. It is probably too slow. I only find it interesting since it is a card that gives a bit more definition to Simic -- I tried a Landfall archetype before, and it didn't work out. Now I'm running +1/+1 counters, which works okay for the guild cards, but the support in blue is a bit lacking. I find Simic the hardest guild to give a clear identity in Peasant.
Valduk, Keeper of the Flame, Tiana, Ship's Caretaker, and Danitha Capashen, Paragon: All these together make me reconsider a bit more of an Aura / Equipment focus for Boros. Would probably go together with an enchantment focus for Selesnya. However, both of these color pairs currently are token focused... Why do some guilds have multiple strong archetypes and others (cough Simic cough) none? Probably I'll end up just trying Danitha Capashen, but only if I also add a couple of Auras...
Slimefoot, the Stowaway is probably too slow (also doesn't fit into my Golgari graveyard / value / grind theme really).
Merfolk Trickster seems interesting and unique. However, I haven't quite identified what kind of deck I would play her in. Tapping seems more like something a tempo deck would play, and "losing all abilities" is more controlling. Also, the UU cost is tricky on a two-drop...
Cast Down probably needs to come in, most likely for Doom Blade, which I still run just since it's iconic...
I think it's fine to run support cards, as long as there are not too many of them. E.g., I do run [[Intangible Virtue]]. In my perspective, it's okay if these cards either support multiple archetypes (e.g., my cube supports both Boros go-wide token aggro, as well as Selesnya "big tokens", both of which will play intangible virtue), or are so strong for their archetype that I accept a dead card otherwise. The latter is especially true for guild cards.
I rarely find that anyone is short on playables in my cube, so having a few narrower cards is completely fine I think. I definitely started out with way more archetype specific cards in the beginning though and cut them down over time, since drafts felt too much "on rails".
I voted Galepowder Mage since it is a very unique effect that's missing at Peasant and would fit nicely into my WU blink archetype. However, I was also considering the Blade Splicer. I run 4 out of the 5 Peasant splicers since they fit into multiple archetypes that I support (WU blink, WG big tokens, and WR go-wide), and Blade Splicer is far better than any of the Peasant ones so would also be a snap include.
That said, I think Blade Splicer is an extremely unlikely downshift in A25 since the Splicers were just reprinted in MM3 (with Blade Splicer at rare).
Golden Demise: I support Rakdos sweepers as well. I run Drown in Sorrow and Rising Miasma on the -2/-2 front. Rising Miasma has the upside of being able to give you a beater after clearing the board, so that's not going to get replaced. Golden Demise's advantage is probably not so super relevant...
20 archetypes (not counting Hondens which is literally 5 cards) seems quite a lot to support. Some of them might have overlaps, but I'm still skeptical that all of these are going to be feasible.
Fixing seems fine in terms of the proportion of the cube. Maybe slightly on the high side, but you are planning to support 3-color archetypes, so it's probably fine. If I were you, I'd play the gainlands instead of the just-ETB-tapped-duals, they are slightly better.
You have a lot of guild cards. The problem is that these are much less flexible than single-colored cards obviously. At 360, most cubes run 3-4 guild slots, so at 450, I don't think I'd run more than 5.
Your black removal is quite expensive. I don't know if that was a deliberate decision - You have all the regular "best" red burn and white exile spells, but no Doom Blade, Murder, Tragic Slip etc.
Overall curves look fine at first glance, but I'd consider adding more red 1-drops.
Comments about individual cards:
Shefet Dunes seems much worse than the other monocolored lands. As far as I can see, it's the only desert, so it can only sac itself once for a measly +1/+1 at sorcery speed. I guess that synergizes with token / swarm, but I'd still rather have something like Forbidding Watchtower in my list.
In your UB guild section I see only one card that goes in your UB archetype specifically... Is that on purpose?
GW: Did you omit Behemoth Sledge for power level reasons? If not, it is definitely missing.
I drafted a RG aggro deck. Unfortunately CubeTutor crashed before deckbuilding, but I managed to grab a screenshot of the picks. First pick was Bloodbraid Elf:
Ulamog's Nullifier -- what ways do you have to exile creatures? Seems like a lot of times this is going to be a 2/3 flash flying for 4. Perplex -- was just discussed above why you might want to reconsider.
BW is missing Maw of the Obzedat.
Is GB both +1/+1 counters and -1/-1 counters? Seems like a nombo. For the +1/+1 counter theme, add Ridgescale Tusker
Izzet spells matter without Delver of Secrets? Also, Electrolyze is a great card.
Seems like GW is enchantments. I'd definitely consider adding Rancor then (which is already a great card in and of itself), maybe Utopia Sprawl too.
Momentary Blink should probably be classified as Azorius (otherwise you could just run Cloudshift). For white removal, to make things a bit more fun, I'd consider removing one of Oblivion Ring and Banishing Light, which are almost the same card, and including Path to Exile.
For the archetypes, I'd say just start playing and see how the decks come together. It's really hard to determine in theory.
If you're running 2 splicers (Master Splicer and Maul Splicer, I'd consider at least also including Wing Splicer (which I find actively good) and perhaps also Sensor Splicer and Vital Splicer). Obviously, some of the splicers are worse than others (hello Sensor Splicer), but when you only run 2, it's going to be rare that anyone actually gets both of them out at the same time, and then you lose the whole Splicer interaction.
It's been alright I would say, definitely not a card I'd highly prioritize, but it's generally a fine speed bump that controlling decks can put up while gaining card advantage, and of course once you blink or bounce it it becomes great.
Seems hard to set up.
Definite includes
Dauntless Bodyguard: Will replace Mardu Woe-Reaper. The upside on this card is that it's still a great late-game play, whereas the 1 life from Woe-Reaper is really hardly ever going to matter.
Untamed Kavu: Flexible, mana efficient, relevant keywords, supports +1/+1 counters? Get in there! Probably replacing Rot Shambler.
Cast Down: Basically unconditional removal, even after adding a few legends. Will replace Doom Blade which I ran mostly for nostalgia reasons.
Memorial to Folly: I run one utility land per color, and I like the effect on this one better than the (somewhat similar) effect on Mortuary Mire which I run currently (since it actually exchanges land flood for your best dead creature, and you can wait to activate this until you have something worth returning).
Memorial to Genius: Same as with the black memorial, but this is just much better than Skyline Cascade which I currently run and fits better with my blue archetypes.
Memorial to Glory: Same thing again, replaces Forbidding Watchtower.
Testing, most likely includes
Adventurous Impulse: This is a great green twist on card filtering. Great on turn 1, still a good top deck on turn 5 or 10. Will likely replace Harmonize for me, because I've lately started thinking that I want fewer color pie breaking effects.
Baird, Steward of Argive: Will likely replace Ghostly Prison as a body that’s still relevant even if not facing (go-wide) aggro.
Merfolk Trickster: I am still on the fence about this card since I haven’t really wrapped my head around its potential. However, the unique effect is probably worth the include – just need to work out what to replace. Maybe Sage of Fables which I run for the +1/+1 counters, but it’s not really a strong card.
Shanna, Sisay’s Legacy: Fits well into my Selesnya tokens archetype. Would probably replace Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage – the abilities on that card are great but just a tad bit too expensive.
Maybe
Call the Cavalry: If I include this, then for Timely Reinforcements to support token strategies in the Naya shard -- mostly since the 2/2 vigilant bodies are often more relevant than non-evasive 1/1s.
Danitha Capashen, Paragon: The effect and keyword soup are really really interesting – but right now I don’t run enough auras and equipment to really make her worthwhile. Most likely it’d take a bit of a revamp of my Naya archetypes to include her (sadly).
Fight With Fire: This one is a bit of a question mark. It’s not really mana efficient enough in comparison to other burn spells we have access to, but the combination of the modes might make it just good enough for inclusion in both RG beats and RB sweeper control. Even RU spells might play this in a pinch (just the more aggressive red builds would likely shy away from it since it’s way too expensive as a finisher for the mana base of those decks).
Song of Freyalise: Green has token makers and ramp targets as well as +1/+1 counter synergies, so all chapters would be worthwhile. If it goes in, then maybe for Durable Handicraft which has the same cost and is great only in a +1/+1 counters deck.
Interesting, but probably not good enough
Grunn, the Lonely King: I like the effect and the kicker which plays nice with +1/+1 counters. However, it’s just too chump-blockable unfortunately.
Warcry Phoenix: I like the effect (and the art), but it’s probably just a tad too much mana for both modes
Tatyova, Benthic Druid: I like this for the definition it gives Simic – but that definition is a different one than I currently have (+1/+1 counters), so I won’t include this for now. Perhaps I’ll rebuild my Simic section once again at some point around Tatyova.
Grunn, the Lonely King is interesting and I will probably try it. I am thinking of making RG more of a "Fires"/haste archetype, in which this would obviously be nuts (I already run Bloodlust Inciter, but Generator Servant (which I currently don't run) into this would be gross of course. Also, I support +1/+1 counters in green (/ mostly Simic) and Grunn with Sapphire Drake out (if I may go magical Christmas land here for a bit) is nuts. Yeah, it dies to removal, but so does almost everything else in my cube. I don't run the hexproof big guy, the biggest thing that has pseudo hexproof is Jetting Glasskite, which is more of a puzzle than an annoying "can I triple block this or chump this for long enough".
Memorial cycle: I run one ETB tapped utility land per color, and will probably swap some out. Memorial to Glory seems way better than the Forbidding Watchtower that I run currently and fits right into white archetypes I support. Memorial to Genius also sounds much better than Skyline Cascade which is in my cube currently (I know, my current choice is already suboptimal, Faerie Conclave is probably stronger but I didn't just want to run the manlands in each color). Memorial to Folly is almost a strict upgrade over my current choice Mortuary Mire and fits nicely in my black graveyard theme.
Dauntless Bodyguard is a snap include, just need to see what it replaces. Mardu Woe-Reaper perhaps, or the recent addition Skymarcher Aspirant...
Seal Away is a bit too narrow, I'd only run it if I was depowering my removal.
Song of Freyalise looks very interesting. Goes best in a token deck probably, which I support mostly in GW, but you could maybe also make happen in GR. It's hard to evaluate what the average case of this card is though, and as a topdeck in a deck that has already ramped out it's not very good (until 2 turns later).
Tatyova, Benthic Druid: Interesting discussion in this thread. It is probably too slow. I only find it interesting since it is a card that gives a bit more definition to Simic -- I tried a Landfall archetype before, and it didn't work out. Now I'm running +1/+1 counters, which works okay for the guild cards, but the support in blue is a bit lacking. I find Simic the hardest guild to give a clear identity in Peasant.
Valduk, Keeper of the Flame, Tiana, Ship's Caretaker, and Danitha Capashen, Paragon: All these together make me reconsider a bit more of an Aura / Equipment focus for Boros. Would probably go together with an enchantment focus for Selesnya. However, both of these color pairs currently are token focused... Why do some guilds have multiple strong archetypes and others (cough Simic cough) none? Probably I'll end up just trying Danitha Capashen, but only if I also add a couple of Auras...
Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage doesn't fit in my UW blink archetype, so probably not going to try him.
Slimefoot, the Stowaway is probably too slow (also doesn't fit into my Golgari graveyard / value / grind theme really).
Merfolk Trickster seems interesting and unique. However, I haven't quite identified what kind of deck I would play her in. Tapping seems more like something a tempo deck would play, and "losing all abilities" is more controlling. Also, the UU cost is tricky on a two-drop...
Cast Down probably needs to come in, most likely for Doom Blade, which I still run just since it's iconic...
I rarely find that anyone is short on playables in my cube, so having a few narrower cards is completely fine I think. I definitely started out with way more archetype specific cards in the beginning though and cut them down over time, since drafts felt too much "on rails".
That said, I think Blade Splicer is an extremely unlikely downshift in A25 since the Splicers were just reprinted in MM3 (with Blade Splicer at rare).
1. Cast Out
2. Adanto Vanguard
3. Dawnfeather Eagle
1. Skyship Plunderer
2. Supreme Will
3. Siren Stormtamer
1. Gifted Aetherborn
2. Fatal Push
3. Ravenous Chupacabra
1. Ahn-Crop Crasher
2. Abrade
3. Charging Monstrosaur
1. Ridgescale Tusker
2. Sifter Wurm
3. Merfolk Branchwalker
1. Honored Crop-Captain
2. Bloodwater Entity
3. Shapers of Nature
1. Untethered Express
2. Pacification Array
... If my cube wasn't Modern legal only, I might have considered Heirloom Blade.
edit: missed some cards!
Comments about individual cards:
I drafted a RG aggro deck. Unfortunately CubeTutor crashed before deckbuilding, but I managed to grab a screenshot of the picks. First pick was Bloodbraid Elf:
Ulamog's Nullifier -- what ways do you have to exile creatures? Seems like a lot of times this is going to be a 2/3 flash flying for 4.
Perplex -- was just discussed above why you might want to reconsider.
BW is missing Maw of the Obzedat.
Is GB both +1/+1 counters and -1/-1 counters? Seems like a nombo. For the +1/+1 counter theme, add Ridgescale Tusker
Izzet spells matter without Delver of Secrets? Also, Electrolyze is a great card.
Seems like GW is enchantments. I'd definitely consider adding Rancor then (which is already a great card in and of itself), maybe Utopia Sprawl too.
For the archetypes, I'd say just start playing and see how the decks come together. It's really hard to determine in theory.
If you're running 2 splicers (Master Splicer and Maul Splicer, I'd consider at least also including Wing Splicer (which I find actively good) and perhaps also Sensor Splicer and Vital Splicer). Obviously, some of the splicers are worse than others (hello Sensor Splicer), but when you only run 2, it's going to be rare that anyone actually gets both of them out at the same time, and then you lose the whole Splicer interaction.