Looking forward to seeing what you come up with. Also, your post reminded me of the online discourse during MID draft about Lunarch Veteran, which made me realize that Veteran probably serves my design goals a lot better than Daxos, Blessed by the Sun.
@450, I run both Prancer and Stomper in my 5 mana green creature slots, so I was also comparing Paladin to Stomper. My take is that 5 life is a lot more than 3 if you're using a 5 drop to stabilize, the plot text can largely be ignored since the discount is so small, and in the decks that want a green 5 drop, GG isn't a deal-breaker, so I'm sticking with Stomper for now.
Spinewoods Armadillo seems like an interesting option for the "large green creature that puts itself into the yard" slot that Krosan Tusker or Greater Tanuki fills/filled. Gets into the yard cheaply enough fat 2 mana for the combo-style reanimator decks, and seems like it would play fine in the more value driven GB yard decks. It doesn't have evasion, but Ward 3 should allow it to stick around for a little while in most games. Could be worth testing.
Ruthless Lawbringer might not be exciting enough to make it into my Orzhov section, but it's a vindicate on legs that fits nicely into the WB attrition plan. Plays well with blink effects too.
EDIT: just saw Aloe Alchemist. Is this the green Rimrock Knight? It's a 3 powered 2-drop if you play it on curve, and can be a pump spell later (plus a free body on a following turn). Obviously, you can't get both the spell and the body on the same turn like Rimrock, but the body is free if you plot. This might be grounds to remove Kraul Harpooner. The undergrowth text has always been clunky and rarely comes up in games.
Gearbane Orangutan - Plundering Barbarian is less interesting but more in line with what I want that slot to do right now. I could see this changing eventually though.
Red Herring - A 2/2 haster for 1R is nice, but I people might be underestimating just how often this card is going to make you choose between chump attacking and taking a potentially game-losing tempo loss.
Harried Dronesmith - I already cut Beetleback Chief for Chimney Rabble as a way to help buff RG Monsters while scaling back the RB sacrifice deck. Dronesmith's potential upside of acting as a repeatable source of fodder for the sacrifice decks is cool, just not what I'm looking for right now.
There's probably more to consider. I should go back through the spoiler again.
Back in the day I played a good amount of Khan limited at my LGS. I never tried Valley Dasher in my cube because it only seemed average in its home limited environment as it eventually just killed itself. Being able to sac itself is nice upgrade, but spending 2 mana on that on like turn 4 after your opponent plays a 3/3 feels like a big tempo hit. I'll wait for reviews for before trying it.
This was my thought exactly. Having to spend 2 mana on turn 3 or 4 to avoid chump attacking isn't free. Aggro decks that want a hasty 2 drop don't really want to take a turn off. And spending 4 mana to "cycle" this in the late game isn't exciting either.
I love the name, the art, and the type line, but I'm skeptical about this one being good enough.
I can try to speak to your Simic issue. As I understand it, the ideal version of this deck in your environment wants to play early threats that can grow when you draw cards like Faerie Vandal and Lorescale Coatl, and then use cheap cantrips and disruption that also draw cards like Remand, Exclude, and Into the Roil to keep the opponent off balance just long enough to win. Cards like Mana Leak and Miscalculation also fit pretty well into that same shell.
There are a few things that might contribute to Simic underperforming.
First, the theme you've chosen is in some ways an "A+B" theme. Your players not only need threats (A) and interaction that draws cards (B), but it needs them in the right order. Faerie Vandal, Lorescale Coatl, and Quirion Dryad are a lot worse if you draw them on turn 6. Likewise, Memory Lapse and Remand are not at their best if you're just delaying your opponent's early plays without also pressuring their life total.
Second, I *think* you might be a bit too light on efficient tempo threats in blue and green to make this deck work consistently. You've got enough of the interaction and cheap cantrips, but aside from the cards listed above, most of your 1-3 drop creatures in both blue and green are small. They're not great at applying the pressure you'll need to make the deck function as intended. Someone like Leelue, who has a lot more experience with blue-aggro might have some suggestions for you on this point.
Third, I don't think your green section contributes much to this theme at all. Like I mentioned above, there aren't really any efficient beaters in your green section. I think Cankerbloom is the only 2 drop with 3 power in your green section. Beyond that, green offers little card draw (just Harmonize, which isn't really a tempo card), and one answer to opposing removal (Snakeskin Veil), and Rancor to help push damage.
Fourth, a lot of the supporting cast cards in this deck are ones that other drafters are going to want. In blue, a lot of the interaction and cantrips are going to be contested by the UR spells player or the UB control player. In green, cards like Cankerbloom, Rancor, and Snakeskin Veil are going to be contested by pretty much any other green drafter. That paired with the above probably makes it pretty hard for this deck to come together.
Finally, your environment has a lot of good removal (most of ours do). Path, Portable Hole, Glass Casket, Bitter Triumph, Go for the Throat, Bolt, Burst Lightning, Abrade, Incinerate, etc. Opposing decks have a lot of ways to kill a Simic player's early threat before it can close the game out.
That said, I've also struggled with my Simic section. Right now, I support two themes in Simic, a controlling flash deck and a more ramp focused deck. I think a lot of green's strength in Peasant Cubes is in the higher mana value creatures, so I've tried to pick themes that let Simic leverage that. So far, I've been pretty happy with that.
Hope this helps, and welcome to the forum. I'm glad you posted!
Felonious Rage seems pretty decent though if anyone is looking for red combat trick / Otherworldly Outburst variant and don't mind *yet another* new token type.
R. Instant. Target creature you control gets +2/+0 and gains haste until end of turn. When that creature dies this turn, create a 2/2 white and blue Detective creature token
Glade looked pretty strong in Emma's mono green ramp deck and she described it as a card that no one respects until they lose to it, and then they first pick it next time. The card has been around forever but I've never tried it. Looks like only 6 people in the 2023 average cube were running it. Anyone here used to/still play it?
I've made a lot of deliberate decisions in the cube that have made the cube healthier. Like I said before, I'll make a post on this somewhere else, maybe even just on my thread.
Looking forward to reading it! I guess in the mean time I'll be taking a closer look at your list.
lol - I feel this so much. I have multiple cubes and the powered vintage list is by far "the cube". When the guys come over for cube, that's the one they expect to come out first. The others I've built tend to be the ones we draft once we've ran through the powered list. Even then, there are inevitable groans and declarations of "these cards all suck" when the packs are opened for peasant after playing Power and all that comes with vintage cube.
This makes me realized just how lucky I am with my playgroup. We have my Peasant cube and multiple set cubes (KTK, ELD, NEO, DMU, DMR, and MID). We draft my cube about once a quarter and that is "power" for us.
I agree with everything already said about The Ring Tempts You. It was great in LTR. But, it requires a certain density before the mechanic does anything. After all, the mechanic really shone at levels 2 and 4, which are hard to get to without a lot of tempt cards. That paired with the fact that only a few tempt cards stand on their own, the extra game pieces, and the complexity level in general puts it in the same league as Infect for me.
Horsemanship (This creature can't be blocked except by creatures with horsemanship.)
Sacrifice Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed: Return target black card from your graveyard to your hand. Activate this ability only during your turn, before attackers are declared.
Can you tell us about more about why you like this card and why you think others ought to be running it? I'm probably just missing something, but it doesn't seem very impressive. It's essentially a 4-mana 3/2 with unblockable that can sometimes replace itself. Reminds me a bit of Shriekmaw but without the early-game utility and blink/Crystal Shard synergies.
As for Chain of Smog / Witherbloom Apprentice combo, it really just comes down to preference. My playgroup and I aren't really fans of two card "I win" combos. It's part of why I don't run Abdel Adrian, Gorion's Ward even though I run Animate Dead. But, if you and your drafters enjoy the tension those combos can add to games and the way they let people "win from behind," then more power to ya. =]
That said, as far as combos go, it seems "pricey" to me to dedicate a gold slot to this AND include a spell like Chain of Smog in your cube that has very few uses outside of the combo.
Ruthless Lawbringer might not be exciting enough to make it into my Orzhov section, but it's a vindicate on legs that fits nicely into the WB attrition plan. Plays well with blink effects too.
EDIT: just saw Aloe Alchemist. Is this the green Rimrock Knight? It's a 3 powered 2-drop if you play it on curve, and can be a pump spell later (plus a free body on a following turn). Obviously, you can't get both the spell and the body on the same turn like Rimrock, but the body is free if you plot. This might be grounds to remove Kraul Harpooner. The undergrowth text has always been clunky and rarely comes up in games.
EDIT: You can only plot as a sorcery. My bad.
IN:
NOT QUITE:
There's probably more to consider. I should go back through the spoiler again.
As reanimation targets, ramp pay offs, or just as colorless (sphinx is all colors) creatures?
This was my thought exactly. Having to spend 2 mana on turn 3 or 4 to avoid chump attacking isn't free. Aggro decks that want a hasty 2 drop don't really want to take a turn off. And spending 4 mana to "cycle" this in the late game isn't exciting either.
I love the name, the art, and the type line, but I'm skeptical about this one being good enough.
There are a few things that might contribute to Simic underperforming.
First, the theme you've chosen is in some ways an "A+B" theme. Your players not only need threats (A) and interaction that draws cards (B), but it needs them in the right order. Faerie Vandal, Lorescale Coatl, and Quirion Dryad are a lot worse if you draw them on turn 6. Likewise, Memory Lapse and Remand are not at their best if you're just delaying your opponent's early plays without also pressuring their life total.
Second, I *think* you might be a bit too light on efficient tempo threats in blue and green to make this deck work consistently. You've got enough of the interaction and cheap cantrips, but aside from the cards listed above, most of your 1-3 drop creatures in both blue and green are small. They're not great at applying the pressure you'll need to make the deck function as intended. Someone like Leelue, who has a lot more experience with blue-aggro might have some suggestions for you on this point.
Third, I don't think your green section contributes much to this theme at all. Like I mentioned above, there aren't really any efficient beaters in your green section. I think Cankerbloom is the only 2 drop with 3 power in your green section. Beyond that, green offers little card draw (just Harmonize, which isn't really a tempo card), and one answer to opposing removal (Snakeskin Veil), and Rancor to help push damage.
Fourth, a lot of the supporting cast cards in this deck are ones that other drafters are going to want. In blue, a lot of the interaction and cantrips are going to be contested by the UR spells player or the UB control player. In green, cards like Cankerbloom, Rancor, and Snakeskin Veil are going to be contested by pretty much any other green drafter. That paired with the above probably makes it pretty hard for this deck to come together.
Finally, your environment has a lot of good removal (most of ours do). Path, Portable Hole, Glass Casket, Bitter Triumph, Go for the Throat, Bolt, Burst Lightning, Abrade, Incinerate, etc. Opposing decks have a lot of ways to kill a Simic player's early threat before it can close the game out.
That said, I've also struggled with my Simic section. Right now, I support two themes in Simic, a controlling flash deck and a more ramp focused deck. I think a lot of green's strength in Peasant Cubes is in the higher mana value creatures, so I've tried to pick themes that let Simic leverage that. So far, I've been pretty happy with that.
Hope this helps, and welcome to the forum. I'm glad you posted!
Felonious Rage seems pretty decent though if anyone is looking for red combat trick / Otherworldly Outburst variant and don't mind *yet another* new token type.
I recently watched an episode of Shuffle Up and Play where they played Emma Partlow's Peasant Cube. That same cube was featured at CubeCon.
Glade looked pretty strong in Emma's mono green ramp deck and she described it as a card that no one respects until they lose to it, and then they first pick it next time. The card has been around forever but I've never tried it. Looks like only 6 people in the 2023 average cube were running it. Anyone here used to/still play it?
Looking forward to reading it! I guess in the mean time I'll be taking a closer look at your list.
This makes me realized just how lucky I am with my playgroup. We have my Peasant cube and multiple set cubes (KTK, ELD, NEO, DMU, DMR, and MID). We draft my cube about once a quarter and that is "power" for us.
I agree with everything already said about The Ring Tempts You. It was great in LTR. But, it requires a certain density before the mechanic does anything. After all, the mechanic really shone at levels 2 and 4, which are hard to get to without a lot of tempt cards. That paired with the fact that only a few tempt cards stand on their own, the extra game pieces, and the complexity level in general puts it in the same league as Infect for me.
Can you tell us about more about why you like this card and why you think others ought to be running it? I'm probably just missing something, but it doesn't seem very impressive. It's essentially a 4-mana 3/2 with unblockable that can sometimes replace itself. Reminds me a bit of Shriekmaw but without the early-game utility and blink/Crystal Shard synergies.
As for Chain of Smog / Witherbloom Apprentice combo, it really just comes down to preference. My playgroup and I aren't really fans of two card "I win" combos. It's part of why I don't run Abdel Adrian, Gorion's Ward even though I run Animate Dead. But, if you and your drafters enjoy the tension those combos can add to games and the way they let people "win from behind," then more power to ya. =]
That said, as far as combos go, it seems "pricey" to me to dedicate a gold slot to this AND include a spell like Chain of Smog in your cube that has very few uses outside of the combo.