O naginata is a rare instance of a card that gets better with power creep, how odd. I will try to keep it in mind for the day it is more than a Gruul hybrid card
Oh, people really like playing it. But if you tell people around here "Let's play a cube, but you can't reanimate Sundering Titan on turn two or play Splinter Twin because instead we have balanced gameplay", people tend to pass. They instinctively would rather make airplane and laser noises with their mouths while doing "powerful things"
No, because I couldn't really imagine remembering what all 4 phases are. And I don't want to give anyone even more reasons to dislike the idea of playing my cube when they inevitably don't remember either.
I thought I was immune to aesthetic arguments and could be more objective than that. Until Transformers. Now I feel a little sensitive to it and I don't like having these squishy human feelings at all.
I'll respond to more of this soon, but fwiw Hour of need might be the card that has the worst power:consideration ratio for us. The card is actually, legitimately, powerful. It just has a little bit of a consistency problem. Maybe enough to give you a bad first impression, but it's worth sticking with.
I am all about supporting aggro in all colors, so I guess ymmv? But two 4/4 flyers wins in other decks too.
Three slow, unpopular cards I've been thinking about for a few weeks: Tor Wauki the Younger
Upside after upside, after having Taigam, sidisi's hand run a ton of games I think there's more room for 5 drops that just need to untap and have outsized impacts on games.
Sword Coast Serpent
Adventure spells have been doing so well for me, and I'm such a sucker for cards that work in any stage of the game. Mirrorshell Crab is an unfair comparison, but you do get to draw a late-game fatty in exchange for having a worse spell attached.
Sylvok Battle-Chair Roar of the wurm is something of a fair comparison? Pulling a 6/6 on 4 out of your yard never came up as commonly as anyone hoped with the sorcery, and the chair might be unbeatable in a topdeck war?
Capenna duals, if I had to choose. When do land types come up? I guess for the few landcyclers?
Rhythm of the wild is inconsistent and slow (pick a struggle, amirite?). I am a big fan of hot spring.
Brinefang's ward 3 is only super relevant as a reanimation target. Otherwise it's worse on both ends. At least the channel crab has a mode you're happy with.
As for cackler, I am currently running it, redcap, finks, and uh... *checks notes*... safehold elite as my hybrid cards (1 red, 1 black, 1 white, and 1 green card each). I understand if someone doesn't want to figure out how to pair up hybrids, but I will still respect someone who puts rakdos cackler in colorless more than someone who puts it in gold. It fits into 70% of two color decks, which is the midway point between a true monocolor card and an artifact.
148 cards (36.5%) that I run are in less than 15 cubes (and thus not in the average cube).
Cards I'm surprised didn't get more attention:
- Lulu, Loyal Hollyphant (13 cubes) - While not an auto-include in any one archetype, Lulu synergizes with several existing archetypes: +1/+1 counters, blink, flying. It's played even better than I hoped - in a draft just last week, my son had it in play with Mother of Runes, Poison Dart Frog, and Imperious Perfect (among others), and he dominated the board, negating my removal, cranking out multiple tokens each turn, all while growing his creatures and and applying lots of pressure (he kept getting triggers thanks to things like Springbloom Druid and the fact that I had to block in order to live).
- Loran's Escape (5 cubes) - Like Blacksmith's Skill (1 cube), this is a cheap, effective piece of interaction that can protect a creature or artifact for a single mana. I've never been disappointed to draw this.
- Vampire of the Dire Moon (7 cubes) - I know it's been out for several years, but I'm still amazed this doesn't get run more.
- Promising Vein (5 cubes) - Shire Terrace landed in 17 cubes, yet this near-functional reprint got nearly no attention at all. Maybe more people avoid functional reprints than I realized.
Even excluding rare lands, 30% of my cube wasn't in the average list. It's a little annoying to calculate, but I think it would be interesting for anyone to see how much of their cube is "rare".
As for the cards you found interesting:
I think people don't play lulu partly because it's not obvious how the gameplan goes when you put that trigger on that ability.
Loran's escape has competition. People liked shelter for a long time. I like sejiri shelter right now. And yes, "1 is a lot less than 2", but fight as one is really good.
Vampire of the Dire moon has harsh competition from foulmire knight. 0-3 life probably isn't worth that kind of topdeck power. And the knight didn't make the list either.
Shire Terrace has situations where it's better than ash barrens or terramorphic expanse (when you neeeed any land to keep up tempo) but its primary job as a fixer is done really poorly. I'd rather go back to Mirrodin's core than run this, and I would never run two.
Take Cragsmasher Yeti, for example. The card isn't bad by any stretch, but if I wanted a land cycler that doubles as a big finisher, Oliphaunt is just an objectively better option. If I'm just looking for a good red six, both Amethyst Dragon and Hearth Elemental are also versatile options that aren't just sitting in your hand waiting for you to get to six. And if you're just looking for a big red beater, we now have Rorix to fill that role.
The ninja is decent, but ... even if you count it as a four, we've now got cards like Gonti and Sanguinary Priest that want to occupy that space.
I should have taken out cragsmasher yeti and gloomfang mauler anyway. They are both good cards, very good honestly, but they are not justifiably picked over oliphaunt or the troll. I would pick the yeti over something like Rorix or hearth elemental though (easily in the latter case).
I let my taste-test for reanimator blind me. It was a good experiement, and I am still keeping in a number of those cards like Alabaster Host Intercessor, but yeah I violated one of my principles to get there.
Using your project as a resource, I can see there was a card I didn't remember existing that I can try: Bogardan Dragonheart.
There isn't any ambiguity around where the Ninja would get played, so it's a four drop. And while Gonti and Sanguinary priest are better cards, they aren't better aggro cards. Black is strangely missing aggro support at 3 or 4 mana and you can make up a lot of that difference by adding 4 or 5 power to the board unblocked. I'm not sure what "supporting ninjas as an archetype" means to you, but if it involved bouncing things like fairie dreamthief or spyglass siren, then I do like this.
Many of the other cards on the list (Rushing River, Plasmancer, Reckless Barbarian, Viashino Slaughtermaster) don't really have direct replacements in the same way that cragsmasher yeti does. And I've been happy with all of them. Even reckless barbarian, who is a dark ritual that sidesteps all the toxic things about being a ritual (the extreme volatility).
Skyship Plunderer - Are blue 2's really that much better these days? I guess there's certainly more options now but I still want a few of these. I'm still really happy with him. Happened to lead into snaremaster sprite during the only draft I ran the fairy, which was obviously great, but it's just really easy for him to contribute. They probably need to print two more 2/1 fliers for me to remove it.
Sentinel of the Eternal Watch - My wife.
Hard for a 6 drop to do nothing for that long. Surprised it lasted this long.
Soltari Champion - Are people against shadow, or online-only uncommons?
It's shadow
Rakdos Cackler - Still seems on par to me, in either colour.
My only hypothesis is that it's hard for people that mistakenly put it in rakdos to have space for it.
Psychatog - I will not cut this, haha I just won't. Taigam, sidisi's hand has easily stolen the spotlight for me as a lategame threat.
Orzhov Advokist - Is this a powerlevel thing or are people still not wise to how broken this is?
The gameplay is super volatile. Strong card on the whole, but a bit silly.
Serendib Efreet - Are people just drawback averse, or is this actually not that good any more? The rate still seems fine. I didn't run it for a long time because it was too much better than too many other blue 3s. I can't imagine this rate ever being entirely power crept out of relevance at c/u. Not sure why other people (who don't tend to mind there being a slight outlier) wouldn't run it.
//
And then the cards I'm surprised by
Stonewright: 5% today, down from 57% (-51%)
A 1 drop that retains its relevance at any stage of the game still seems really good to me. Plus, I run a ton of double strikers. When red gets its inevitable revolution of 2/1s with upside, then maybe I'll drop him.
Diregraf Ghoul: 24% today, down from 73% (-49%)
Is black aggro just dying?
Tandem Lookout: 24% today, down from 73% (-49%)
I remain surprised by how much people are disinterested in blue aggro/tempo, but this guy has been a strong beneficiary of the sudden influx of evasive blue 2s.
Plated Crusher: 27% today, down from 73% (-47%)
I get that hexproof is a sore spot for some, but at 7 mana I don't mind it being uninteractable. I have noticed that I run more ramp targets than most, though.
Vampire Lacerator: 13% today, down from 57% (-44%)
Seriously, what's going on with black aggro?
Shower of Coals: 10% today, down from 50% (-40%)
As the average cmc of my cube continues to drop, the 2/2/2 version of this card remains relevant for me. Not the beast it once was, but not at all in the bottom quartile of my red cards. I wonder if people avoid explicit red control the same way some "people" avoid blue aggro.
Kessig Prowler: 20% today, down from 77% (-56%)
Literally the only 1 mana 2/1 with upside in green, right?
Enclave Cryptologist: 31% today, down from 77% (-46%)
When I was invited to a cube discord, I think the first question I was asked was about how I thought this was a good card. The modern age is probably the best argument against it (since they both loot on the same turns, without the same amount of baggage) but every once in a while cryptologist finds the space to take over a game. Haven't thought of it negatively yet.
And now cards that didn't even make the list
Meteor Blast
Not that it's a high bar, but I just called this the best X spell we have access to (or Fear, Fire, Foes!). To see this card which has regularly ended the game on the spot not be in even the lowest tier of recognition is astounding to me.
Saddled Rimestag
Similarly, I just called this one of the best aggro green cards printed in years. So to see it not listed, alongside the drop for kessig prowler I have to assume green aggro is a thing people think they shouldn't support.
Again, not sure what you're trying to say here. Removal is bad because there are etb effects? More than 50% of the cards that still get 'value' when Icy taps them down don't care about Infernal Grasp or Swords to Plowshares either.
No, not "removal is bad because there are etbs". Removal that costs 5 to get going, taxes you forever, and will never actually remove the thing is bad largely because of things like etbs.
Even if you cast swords on a mulldrifter, you are still getting a ROI on your 1 mana investment. When exactly is Icy manipulator ever paying for itself? Turn 10?
Bannerhide Krushok
Chaos Terminator Lord
Converter Beast
Corpse Augur
Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma
Meneldor, Swift Savior
Obstinate Baloth
Phyrexian Scuta
Plasmancer
Ravenous Giant
Temur Sabertooth
Briarhorn
Clay Golem
Falkenrath Noble
Frontier Warmonger
Geological Appraiser
Gonti, Lord of Luxury
Sanguinary Priest
Surrak, the Hunt Caller
Thraben Watcher
Battle Screech
Blastoderm
Calciderm
Halana, Kessig Ranger
Murderous Redcap
Murmuring Mystic
Ninja of the New Moon
Rakka Mar
Ravenous Chupacabra
Relief Captain
Renata, Called to the Hunt
Spectral Procession
The Torment of Gollum
Twinshot Sniper
Whirler Rogue
I think I was being pretty generous with some of what I put in mid-tier. 15/35 having favorable matchups vs it and 24/35 not being bad to it sounds like about half to me. And yes, I know it can switch its attention over time. You don't need to keep describing cards' normal functions to me. But it sure does start as a ~5 mana soft removal spell and it takes a lot of time and a relevant amount of mana to recoup that god awful start.
Creatures in the 5+ cmc range usually had good etb abilities 5 years ago as well. Bouncing any creature is good enough. Plus of course you get value by abusing etb effects and the creatures you can bounce have become better as well - some of the best bounce targets like Faerie Seer, Watcher for Tomorrow or Circuit Mender are all relatively new.
Is faerie seerreally one of the best bounce targets or are we just making a terrible crystal ball?
Yes, there were still etbs in the past but the amount of "slow" 5+ drops was much higher. Lists had Air servant, darksteel sentinel, jodah's avenger, murder of crows, and wicker warcrawler(seriously). You only need one of these kinds of cards on board for the shard to feast on their tempo. I'm just saying that with that no longer the case, this path for success is less traveled.
And I think you exaggerate a bit with 'things have changed'. Yes, peasant cubes are faster than five years ago. But it's not like every game suddenly ends on turn 4 now. Against an efficient aggro deck that plays all its creatures on curve you certainly don't want to play Crystal Shard on turn 3, but that wasn't the case five years ago either.
I am not saying they end on turn 4. But I certainly don't see games end with long topdeck wars anywhere near as often, which were games that crystal shard would take over every time.
Oh, and both Ravenous Giant and Halana, Kessig Ranger are great targets for bouncing so I'm not sure what you're trying to say here. If your opponent plays three creatures Crystal Shard is bad because it can only bounce one of them?
In the past the crystal shard player would be able to do other things with their time/mana and then snipe the sudden spike in relevance from whatever real threat that came in. Now this play pattern is less common because midrange pack-filler zero-pressure trash has largely evaporated. Again, the cost of being bad on tempo by starting with a ~4 mana (conditional) unsummon is higher now.
I've been happy to take it, see it played a lot, and really enjoy having it in the list.
It doesn't have to be in grindy builds or in token builds, just in a deck/matchup where trading tempo for cards is a winning strategy. I've brought him in in aggro v midrange to do a phyrexian arena impression. It's like "fine, you're gonna play obstinate baloth and kitchen finks? Then I guess my Raise the Alarm should come attached to a night's whisper since I can't reasonably attack you down".
LCI forward only. It will oversample recency bias but working with two different populations sounds like you're diluting something in some way.
What will be really weird is the number of cubes who skipped over or barely attended to WHO. I could see Charging monstrosaur and the... new one eating into each other's votes, and the disconnect could for the first time be largely due to aesthetic reasons as opposed to power ones.
Oh, people really like playing it. But if you tell people around here "Let's play a cube, but you can't reanimate Sundering Titan on turn two or play Splinter Twin because instead we have balanced gameplay", people tend to pass. They instinctively would rather make airplane and laser noises with their mouths while doing "powerful things"
I thought I was immune to aesthetic arguments and could be more objective than that. Until Transformers. Now I feel a little sensitive to it and I don't like having these squishy human feelings at all.
I am all about supporting aggro in all colors, so I guess ymmv? But two 4/4 flyers wins in other decks too.
Tor Wauki the Younger
Upside after upside, after having Taigam, sidisi's hand run a ton of games I think there's more room for 5 drops that just need to untap and have outsized impacts on games.
Sword Coast Serpent
Adventure spells have been doing so well for me, and I'm such a sucker for cards that work in any stage of the game. Mirrorshell Crab is an unfair comparison, but you do get to draw a late-game fatty in exchange for having a worse spell attached.
Sylvok Battle-Chair
Roar of the wurm is something of a fair comparison? Pulling a 6/6 on 4 out of your yard never came up as commonly as anyone hoped with the sorcery, and the chair might be unbeatable in a topdeck war?
Rhythm of the wild is inconsistent and slow (pick a struggle, amirite?). I am a big fan of hot spring.
Brinefang's ward 3 is only super relevant as a reanimation target. Otherwise it's worse on both ends. At least the channel crab has a mode you're happy with.
As for cackler, I am currently running it, redcap, finks, and uh... *checks notes*... safehold elite as my hybrid cards (1 red, 1 black, 1 white, and 1 green card each). I understand if someone doesn't want to figure out how to pair up hybrids, but I will still respect someone who puts rakdos cackler in colorless more than someone who puts it in gold. It fits into 70% of two color decks, which is the midway point between a true monocolor card and an artifact.
Even excluding rare lands, 30% of my cube wasn't in the average list. It's a little annoying to calculate, but I think it would be interesting for anyone to see how much of their cube is "rare".
As for the cards you found interesting:
I think people don't play lulu partly because it's not obvious how the gameplan goes when you put that trigger on that ability.
Loran's escape has competition. People liked shelter for a long time. I like sejiri shelter right now. And yes, "1 is a lot less than 2", but fight as one is really good.
Vampire of the Dire moon has harsh competition from foulmire knight. 0-3 life probably isn't worth that kind of topdeck power. And the knight didn't make the list either.
Shire Terrace has situations where it's better than ash barrens or terramorphic expanse (when you neeeed any land to keep up tempo) but its primary job as a fixer is done really poorly. I'd rather go back to Mirrodin's core than run this, and I would never run two.
I should have taken out cragsmasher yeti and gloomfang mauler anyway. They are both good cards, very good honestly, but they are not justifiably picked over oliphaunt or the troll. I would pick the yeti over something like Rorix or hearth elemental though (easily in the latter case).
I let my taste-test for reanimator blind me. It was a good experiement, and I am still keeping in a number of those cards like Alabaster Host Intercessor, but yeah I violated one of my principles to get there.
Using your project as a resource, I can see there was a card I didn't remember existing that I can try: Bogardan Dragonheart.
There isn't any ambiguity around where the Ninja would get played, so it's a four drop. And while Gonti and Sanguinary priest are better cards, they aren't better aggro cards. Black is strangely missing aggro support at 3 or 4 mana and you can make up a lot of that difference by adding 4 or 5 power to the board unblocked. I'm not sure what "supporting ninjas as an archetype" means to you, but if it involved bouncing things like fairie dreamthief or spyglass siren, then I do like this.
Many of the other cards on the list (Rushing River, Plasmancer, Reckless Barbarian, Viashino Slaughtermaster) don't really have direct replacements in the same way that cragsmasher yeti does. And I've been happy with all of them. Even reckless barbarian, who is a dark ritual that sidesteps all the toxic things about being a ritual (the extreme volatility).
Many were rare lands
Boseiju, Who Endures
Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
Otawara, Soaring City
Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
Kher Keep
Crawling Barrens
But many weren't
Cragsmasher Yeti
Ninja of the New Moon
Reckless Barbarian
Viashino Slaughtermaster
Ravenous Giant (Which I removed the morning Calibretto finalized the results)
Many others flying solo, like Illusory angel I only just removed in the last few weeks.
And then there were cards I shared with only one other person:
Shelldock Isle
Rushing River
Plasmancer
Lodestone Needle
Converter Beast (Understandable, on its way out)
Audacious Thief
Kraul Harpooner - What?? What insane 2's are people playing today? Am I so out of touch?
I've been running merfolk branchwalker, saddled rimestag, streetwise negotiator, and cankerbloom for this slot.
Skyship Plunderer - Are blue 2's really that much better these days? I guess there's certainly more options now but I still want a few of these.
I'm still really happy with him. Happened to lead into snaremaster sprite during the only draft I ran the fairy, which was obviously great, but it's just really easy for him to contribute. They probably need to print two more 2/1 fliers for me to remove it.
Sentinel of the Eternal Watch - My wife.
Hard for a 6 drop to do nothing for that long. Surprised it lasted this long.
Soltari Champion - Are people against shadow, or online-only uncommons?
It's shadow
Rakdos Cackler - Still seems on par to me, in either colour.
My only hypothesis is that it's hard for people that mistakenly put it in rakdos to have space for it.
Psychatog - I will not cut this, haha I just won't.
Taigam, sidisi's hand has easily stolen the spotlight for me as a lategame threat.
Orzhov Advokist - Is this a powerlevel thing or are people still not wise to how broken this is?
The gameplay is super volatile. Strong card on the whole, but a bit silly.
Serendib Efreet - Are people just drawback averse, or is this actually not that good any more? The rate still seems fine.
I didn't run it for a long time because it was too much better than too many other blue 3s. I can't imagine this rate ever being entirely power crept out of relevance at c/u. Not sure why other people (who don't tend to mind there being a slight outlier) wouldn't run it.
//
And then the cards I'm surprised by
Stonewright: 5% today, down from 57% (-51%)
A 1 drop that retains its relevance at any stage of the game still seems really good to me. Plus, I run a ton of double strikers. When red gets its inevitable revolution of 2/1s with upside, then maybe I'll drop him.
Diregraf Ghoul: 24% today, down from 73% (-49%)
Is black aggro just dying?
Tandem Lookout: 24% today, down from 73% (-49%)
I remain surprised by how much people are disinterested in blue aggro/tempo, but this guy has been a strong beneficiary of the sudden influx of evasive blue 2s.
Plated Crusher: 27% today, down from 73% (-47%)
I get that hexproof is a sore spot for some, but at 7 mana I don't mind it being uninteractable. I have noticed that I run more ramp targets than most, though.
Vampire Lacerator: 13% today, down from 57% (-44%)
Seriously, what's going on with black aggro?
Shower of Coals: 10% today, down from 50% (-40%)
As the average cmc of my cube continues to drop, the 2/2/2 version of this card remains relevant for me. Not the beast it once was, but not at all in the bottom quartile of my red cards. I wonder if people avoid explicit red control the same way some "people" avoid blue aggro.
Kessig Prowler: 20% today, down from 77% (-56%)
Literally the only 1 mana 2/1 with upside in green, right?
Enclave Cryptologist: 31% today, down from 77% (-46%)
When I was invited to a cube discord, I think the first question I was asked was about how I thought this was a good card. The modern age is probably the best argument against it (since they both loot on the same turns, without the same amount of baggage) but every once in a while cryptologist finds the space to take over a game. Haven't thought of it negatively yet.
And now cards that didn't even make the list
Meteor Blast
Not that it's a high bar, but I just called this the best X spell we have access to (or Fear, Fire, Foes!). To see this card which has regularly ended the game on the spot not be in even the lowest tier of recognition is astounding to me.
Saddled Rimestag
Similarly, I just called this one of the best aggro green cards printed in years. So to see it not listed, alongside the drop for kessig prowler I have to assume green aggro is a thing people think they shouldn't support.
Dreams of Steel and Oil
This, inquisition, and deep-cavern bat are going to be cards that I'll see as staples for a long time. More than duress or agonizing remorse at least.
Oh, and for reference:
Crystal Shard was present for 25/30 (83%) lists in Cali's original thread. Now it's in 51/95 (54%).
//
No, not "removal is bad because there are etbs". Removal that costs 5 to get going, taxes you forever, and will never actually remove the thing is bad largely because of things like etbs.
Even if you cast swords on a mulldrifter, you are still getting a ROI on your 1 mana investment. When exactly is Icy manipulator ever paying for itself? Turn 10?
Chaos Terminator Lord
Converter Beast
Corpse Augur
Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma
Meneldor, Swift Savior
Obstinate Baloth
Phyrexian Scuta
Plasmancer
Ravenous Giant
Temur Sabertooth
Clay Golem
Falkenrath Noble
Frontier Warmonger
Geological Appraiser
Gonti, Lord of Luxury
Sanguinary Priest
Surrak, the Hunt Caller
Thraben Watcher
Blastoderm
Calciderm
Halana, Kessig Ranger
Murderous Redcap
Murmuring Mystic
Ninja of the New Moon
Rakka Mar
Ravenous Chupacabra
Relief Captain
Renata, Called to the Hunt
Spectral Procession
The Torment of Gollum
Twinshot Sniper
Whirler Rogue
I think I was being pretty generous with some of what I put in mid-tier. 15/35 having favorable matchups vs it and 24/35 not being bad to it sounds like about half to me. And yes, I know it can switch its attention over time. You don't need to keep describing cards' normal functions to me. But it sure does start as a ~5 mana soft removal spell and it takes a lot of time and a relevant amount of mana to recoup that god awful start.
I didn't accuse you of saying it only did so either. But of course it is better when it is setting players back larger amounts of mana.
Also, it seems from your tone that you think I'm coming into this from the position of "crystal shard is bad, why are you running it?"
Is faerie seer really one of the best bounce targets or are we just making a terrible crystal ball?
Yes, there were still etbs in the past but the amount of "slow" 5+ drops was much higher. Lists had Air servant, darksteel sentinel, jodah's avenger, murder of crows, and wicker warcrawler(seriously). You only need one of these kinds of cards on board for the shard to feast on their tempo. I'm just saying that with that no longer the case, this path for success is less traveled.
I am not saying they end on turn 4. But I certainly don't see games end with long topdeck wars anywhere near as often, which were games that crystal shard would take over every time.
In the past the crystal shard player would be able to do other things with their time/mana and then snipe the sudden spike in relevance from whatever real threat that came in. Now this play pattern is less common because midrange pack-filler zero-pressure trash has largely evaporated. Again, the cost of being bad on tempo by starting with a ~4 mana (conditional) unsummon is higher now.
It doesn't have to be in grindy builds or in token builds, just in a deck/matchup where trading tempo for cards is a winning strategy. I've brought him in in aggro v midrange to do a phyrexian arena impression. It's like "fine, you're gonna play obstinate baloth and kitchen finks? Then I guess my Raise the Alarm should come attached to a night's whisper since I can't reasonably attack you down".
What will be really weird is the number of cubes who skipped over or barely attended to WHO. I could see Charging monstrosaur and the... new one eating into each other's votes, and the disconnect could for the first time be largely due to aesthetic reasons as opposed to power ones.