At least, that's how I feel about it. Don't get me wrong, I love B/x aggro. But I'm not a fan of the mono version. When it comes to pure Black aggro, i'd rather lean on things like Nantuko Shade than Carnophage. I'm fine with 'Black aggro' being between aggro and mid-range: a little slower and bigger than the former, and a little smaller and faster than the latter.
Three mana counters are not great. Sure Hinder may lead to some interesting plays, but they are few and far between. I run it in my Modern Cube because I kinda have to - there's just not enough good counter spells in the Modern card pool, so I have to do with what's available. If I could, I would definitely not run it.
I like the Chainwalker for his reliability and effectiveness. But he's linear in his application. You play him and you know what he's going to do. Same as several of the other 2-drops you run in your Cube. The Dragonlord is less predictable. He's harder to cast and may be a total waste of mana. He can also completely take over games and win you matches in ways that the Chainwalker can't.
Options are good and while most cubers like their red section to be able to reliably beat face, something like the Dragonlord allows for lines of play that most red 2-drops can't provide. I don't think that the Dragonlord is irreplaceable, but I don't think that he should be replaced by something as straight forward as the Chainwalker.
It needs a little less or a little more: 1 less mana or one more effect (a Taste of Blood for each permanent exiled would have been sweet). As it is I don't think that it makes the cut.
I could see it as a future necessary evil if we keep adding more 'Walkers to Cubes. By then though, we hopefully have better options available.
I prefer her in somewhat larger lists and in Cubes with at least some small support for the swamp matters theme.
She's not a bomb. She will rarely straight out win you the game. For players who slam pick Planeswalkers no matter what, she's something of a trap. She will not "make" your deck. But she will rarely under perform and does a good job at solidifying your game plan. She feels like a black Garruk Wildspeaker.
As Pringlesman pointed out, there are some pricy cards in Peasant. Of course, one can easily not include them, or use proxies for them instead. Or create a Modern (or modern-framed) Peasant cube which remove many of the more expensive staples.
Block Cubes are also usually fairly inexpensive, and you do get to play with Rares.
It's not as bad, but much of what can be said of Phyrexian Negator can be said of this guy.
The Reaver works in an environment which is either low on creatures or which run small-ish creatures. If you run a ton of 2/2s in your Cube, then it should be fine. If the average guy is a 4/4, it may not be too good.
I may be the odd man out here, but I like this guy. Never been disappointed with him. He's not going to straight out win you games - unless you play it on your opponent's last creature and swing for lethal - but if you're smart about it, he'll provide consistant value every time you play him. I wouldn't play him over Journey to Nowhere, but he does support it nicely, and while he's easier to remove, Journey can't carry equipment, block or swing for damage.
(...) Shield Sphere a fantastic early blocker, coming down on turn one while still allowing for a Ponder, Preordain, or a Force Spike on their turn. It's also a smoking hot Tinker outlet.
It does all that, but only on a very specific opening hand. And outside of that opening hand, it's really not a very exciting card. Honestly, I prefer something like Silent Departure as an early Blue defensive card. It doesn't cost 0, but it does hold value later in game. Plus Flashback.
I wouldn't use the Panoramas. Period. Not even in a Pauper Cube.
Between the Vivids and the Shardlands, it depends on what you want to do. If your intent is simply to provide fixing - no questions asked - then the Vivids are the better option. If you want to be more restrictive about it, if you don't want as much land support for multicolored decks, then the Shardlands are decent.
I ran them for a while in my Weatherlight Cube. Nightscape Familiar was usually decent, even on the occasions when it was only a 1/1 Regenerator. Thunderscape Familiar was also fairly solid in aggressive creature-based decks.
Ultimately though they were cut for not doing enough in that particular environment.
In traditional Cubes, the only one I would run would be Thunderscape Familiar. The First Strike works nicely with equipment and it can really speed up aggro to mid-range creature strategies. It's low key enough that most people will not want to spend removal on it, until they realize the speed boost it provide. Even then, I wouldn't run it in lists smaller than 540.
As fas as I'm concerned black aggro includes B/X, X/B and mono-Black. So I don't really understand what you're saying.
At least, that's how I feel about it. Don't get me wrong, I love B/x aggro. But I'm not a fan of the mono version. When it comes to pure Black aggro, i'd rather lean on things like Nantuko Shade than Carnophage. I'm fine with 'Black aggro' being between aggro and mid-range: a little slower and bigger than the former, and a little smaller and faster than the latter.
Dragonlord.
I like the Chainwalker for his reliability and effectiveness. But he's linear in his application. You play him and you know what he's going to do. Same as several of the other 2-drops you run in your Cube. The Dragonlord is less predictable. He's harder to cast and may be a total waste of mana. He can also completely take over games and win you matches in ways that the Chainwalker can't.
Options are good and while most cubers like their red section to be able to reliably beat face, something like the Dragonlord allows for lines of play that most red 2-drops can't provide. I don't think that the Dragonlord is irreplaceable, but I don't think that he should be replaced by something as straight forward as the Chainwalker.
Cube, not so much.
I could see it as a future necessary evil if we keep adding more 'Walkers to Cubes. By then though, we hopefully have better options available.
I'm not saying it's a necessity; I'm saying that it's a nice bonus for her.
She's not a bomb. She will rarely straight out win you the game. For players who slam pick Planeswalkers no matter what, she's something of a trap. She will not "make" your deck. But she will rarely under perform and does a good job at solidifying your game plan. She feels like a black Garruk Wildspeaker.
One more vote for Pauper.
As Pringlesman pointed out, there are some pricy cards in Peasant. Of course, one can easily not include them, or use proxies for them instead. Or create a Modern (or modern-framed) Peasant cube which remove many of the more expensive staples.
Block Cubes are also usually fairly inexpensive, and you do get to play with Rares.
The Reaver works in an environment which is either low on creatures or which run small-ish creatures. If you run a ton of 2/2s in your Cube, then it should be fine. If the average guy is a 4/4, it may not be too good.
It does all that, but only on a very specific opening hand. And outside of that opening hand, it's really not a very exciting card. Honestly, I prefer something like Silent Departure as an early Blue defensive card. It doesn't cost 0, but it does hold value later in game. Plus Flashback.
I wouldn't use the Panoramas. Period. Not even in a Pauper Cube.
Between the Vivids and the Shardlands, it depends on what you want to do. If your intent is simply to provide fixing - no questions asked - then the Vivids are the better option. If you want to be more restrictive about it, if you don't want as much land support for multicolored decks, then the Shardlands are decent.
Ultimately though they were cut for not doing enough in that particular environment.
In traditional Cubes, the only one I would run would be Thunderscape Familiar. The First Strike works nicely with equipment and it can really speed up aggro to mid-range creature strategies. It's low key enough that most people will not want to spend removal on it, until they realize the speed boost it provide. Even then, I wouldn't run it in lists smaller than 540.