Thank you for going through the whole thread, majikian! Glad to hear some of our designs were really on point.
Here's a wishlist, and hopefully some of these are answered in Battle for Zendikar:
White instant pump effect
Black token maker
Good 1 cmc Red Creature
Red utility creature for looting/ramp
2+ Strong 3 cmc Green Creatures
Resilient colorless finisher
Steppe Ambush2W
Instant (U)
Put two 1/1 white Soldier creature tokens onto the battlefield.
Landfall - If you had a land enter the battlefield under your control this turn, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control.
Shambling Grove1GG
Creature - Elemental (U)
Landfall - Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, put a 1/1 green Saproling creature token onto the battlefield.
3/3
I think you're underestimating Goblin Glory Chaser, it's definitely one of the better red aggro 1-drops we have. After a single hit, it's the strongest one by far. While it's swingy like Reckless Waif, it's also much more controllable. The multitude of burn and "can't block" effects help this guy get in. Many aggro 1-drops are underwhelming when dropped late, and I'm not sure you can count it so strongly against the card. Since it's at least better than Magmatic Insight and Putrid Imp, I'd give it at least a 2.5, and probably a 3.
Clash of Wills: Probably unplayable. Scry 2 is easily worth at least half a colored mana if not more (see Magma Jet and Serum Visions) so it makes sense why Condescend is so strong. There's just a lot of competition to be a counter good enough for cube. Prism Ring: Unplayable
The pauper thread seemed pretty down on Rhox Maulers. I wonder how different it is for peasant? Many of the complaints seemed centered around the 5cmc slot being full already. In CU/bes, we have a lot of utility there (Conclave Naturalists, Acidic Slime, Indrik Stomphowler) but not a finisher. Nessian Asp is good, but it's difficult for it to push in for damage sometimes.
I didn't just say dies to removal, I said dies to literally half the cards in a color. It has no lasting impact once removed, no ETB or dies ability. most of the time in my cube it will just end up as bad value. (speculation)
I think this is because you have more removal spells in your black section than creatures in that section, and that's before counting the creatures that are also kill spells. On top of that, your red section is laden with burn and again creature light. Obviously, this just creates a very different cube environment, but much more similar to the ones that more people were running about 3 years ago.
It's likely lengthy attrition-heavy games, and inevitability is more effective than sheer power.
Blessed Spirits seems good with a single trigger on average. It's nice that it goes off on all of white's removal spells, and curves into Control Magic.
I'm super excited for Jhessian Thief, and I've never really been interested in the Ninja. It's a solid defensive body that can make your opponent have to guess on a coinflip whether to block or not.
I know that Whirler Rogue is going to be our blue Cloudgoat Ranger, but what does everyone think about Thopter Engineer? People have mentioned it here and there, but curving into any artifact on the following turn seems excellent. It gives red two bodies and has solid stats for 3 mana. I think it provides a lot of archetype supports, between putting multiple bodies out, setting up good blocks, and pushing artifacts just a little more.
What do you think about Ainok Survivalist over Nantuko Vigilante? It has a vanilla option as a 2/1 for 1G instead of a 3/2 for 3G, which seems to be a better deal.
You included Soltari Champion but not Pianna, Nomad Captain. Pianna looks like its better than some of your other 3-drops in white, is there any particular reason?
The token would need to be at least a 2/1 to be worth it so that it can score an easy 2-for-1.
@Leelue, that project sounds cool and it's something I've always considered. It's just so hard to push many themes with singleton-only.
It's interesting because it's such a departure from your normal cube, where you even eschew duplicate-like cards.
Unrelated topic - It's been a long time since I've been active on these forums, but I'm finally going to have a regular cubing group again. I didn't feel it was proper to keep posting when it's been years since I last cubed. It feels good to be back!
Given the embarrassing state of white 3-drops, I really want to give Blessed Spirits a shot. It triggers on most of the white removal spells and gives players a reason to draft enchantments. Eventually we might be able to have an enchantment suite in white.
Did you intentionally give it the "Flametongue Kavu" dynamic where it'll fight and kill itself if it's the only creature in play? I'd add either "another" or "you may" in there myself.
It's cool that it's the exact same design, though, right down to the mana cost!
Hammerhand seems like -1 cards to build-your-own-super-Fervent Cathar, which is pretty cool cause its super cheap in the mana department. Leelue, how often do you see the card used for its haste component over the +1/+1 or can't block parts?
I'm surprised the Bear gets more love than the Boar. When I want to lay down a 3-drop on T2 off an Elf, I definitely won't trigger Morbid, so what's the point of the Bear? WotC should just print us a decent 3-drop already.
You guys have sold me, I put in Madcap Skills over one of my weaker burn spells. I've been looking for an excuse to put it in ever since I saw it do work in its limited environment.
Feels like Constant Mists is a better include than Fog as it has a regular purpose outside of being a Scepter target. Or Tangle or Moment's Peace or whatever you like, but Mists is probably the most annoying out of all of these because it fogs so well.
Here's a wishlist, and hopefully some of these are answered in Battle for Zendikar:
Steppe Ambush 2W
Instant (U)
Put two 1/1 white Soldier creature tokens onto the battlefield.
Landfall - If you had a land enter the battlefield under your control this turn, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control.
Shambling Grove 1GG
Creature - Elemental (U)
Landfall - Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, put a 1/1 green Saproling creature token onto the battlefield.
3/3
Splinter of Ulamog 7
Creature - Eldrazi (U)
Indestructible, Annihilator 1
5/5
Clash of Wills: Probably unplayable. Scry 2 is easily worth at least half a colored mana if not more (see Magma Jet and Serum Visions) so it makes sense why Condescend is so strong. There's just a lot of competition to be a counter good enough for cube.
Prism Ring: Unplayable
It's likely lengthy attrition-heavy games, and inevitability is more effective than sheer power.
What are you thinking of including from Origins?
I'm super excited for Jhessian Thief, and I've never really been interested in the Ninja. It's a solid defensive body that can make your opponent have to guess on a coinflip whether to block or not.
Shadows of the Past does seem worse than Night's Whisper and Read the Bones.
I know that Whirler Rogue is going to be our blue Cloudgoat Ranger, but what does everyone think about Thopter Engineer? People have mentioned it here and there, but curving into any artifact on the following turn seems excellent. It gives red two bodies and has solid stats for 3 mana. I think it provides a lot of archetype supports, between putting multiple bodies out, setting up good blocks, and pushing artifacts just a little more.
You included Soltari Champion but not Pianna, Nomad Captain. Pianna looks like its better than some of your other 3-drops in white, is there any particular reason?
@Leelue, that project sounds cool and it's something I've always considered. It's just so hard to push many themes with singleton-only.
It's interesting because it's such a departure from your normal cube, where you even eschew duplicate-like cards.
Unrelated topic - It's been a long time since I've been active on these forums, but I'm finally going to have a regular cubing group again. I didn't feel it was proper to keep posting when it's been years since I last cubed. It feels good to be back!
It's cool that it's the exact same design, though, right down to the mana cost!
Also, how's Hammerhand?