Woodfall Primus > Hornet Queen > Pelakka Wurm > Terastodon > Avenger of Zendikar =ish Craterhoof Behemoth
360, unpowered, kinda budget. I've run all of the top 3 that I listed at one point or another, and have played all of them a lot in other formats (mostly EDH). I don't quite have enough token support to justify Avenger or Behemoth, and Terastodon just barely loses to Wurm for me because I don't have a lot of broken noncreature permanents that allow him to be a more utility card. Pelakka Wurm is mostly nice because 7 life is a not insignificant number, and the card draw isn't terrible, but Hornet Queen just stabilizes so much harder. I could see an argument for Wurm over Hornet Queen, but I don't think I need the third dude. (right now. Maybe later.)
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Rest in RIP My Signature, I guess. 2015-2016, we hardly knew ye.
Total side note but I like how people are discussing running this over itself.
Well, it has to be said that Kolaghan is clearly better than Kolaghan. Considering what BR decks usually want and how stiff the competition in this guild is, there is no way that I would run Kolaghan over Kolaghan! Kolaghan might make it in as the sixth guild card or so. Kolaghan on the other hand ranks several places below that.
It was so funny to me when they described this as a downgrade to the original Zurgo during the Pax East panel. I was thinking if this is a downgrade, they should really "downgrade" all legendary creatures. Haha.
My deck designing is quite concise at this point:
1. Come up with deck idea
2. Realize this idea is somehow fundamentally similar to another deck I have or that is commonly played in my group
3. Decide I don't want to disassemble one of my existing decks
4. Give up and do nothing
I don't see the point of this new shroud mechanic. It's strictly worse than Hexproof. Threshold is pretty bad too, Delirium is a much better mechanic and probably easier to activate.
Otherwise this card is a pretty neat guy. Dodges removal and grows into a Primal Huntbeast. 3/5
Woodfall Primus > Hornet Queen > Terastodon > Pelakka Wurm > Avenger of Zendikar = Craterhoof Behemoth
465 powered. I like Primus the most because it answers scary permanents, and the persist trigger is awesome with Sneak Attack and stuff. It represents big time card advantage in addition to having a big body and trample. I have Queen next because I think she does a great job on both offense (5 evasive threats) and on defense (can trade her for their entire board). She works awesomely well with anthem effects, as well as being quite resistant to spot removal. She also has cool interactions with Imperial Recruiter, Reveillark and several other individual cards in the cube, in addition to being a great ramp/reanimator target. I have Terastodon next, because it's kinda a hybrid between the two. It can create a massive 18 power when it has to, and it can also remove multiple non-creature targets when the board calls for it. I think it's the most interesting of the bunch, and it seems like every time he's cast, there's a different split on how the elephants are used. It's always something different with Terastodon, and that keeps things fresh. Next, I have Pelakka Wurm. I like that guy because a 7/7 trample is a serious body, 7 life is a significant amount to gain, and it replaces itself (card-wise) when it dies. Avenger and Behemoth are both super-powerful ramp targets, but I have them ranked towards the bottom simply because they're kinda ramp-exclusive guys, and I like my fatties to be just as valuable if reanimated on T2-3 as they would be if I played them on curve.
I think this comparison is really useful, but maybe it should be moved to an MCD thread on green super-fatties, which there doesn't seem to be yet.
Also, for my cube, not all of these creatures are entirely in competition with each other because I'm running Birthing Pod so I need to have at least one creature at 7 and at 8 CMC in green. At 7 I think I like Hornet Queen better because I like what it leaves behind better after being sacced to Pod or Recurring Nightmare or a blink effect (not even a card in Pelakka Wurm's case). At 8 I'm trying both Terastodon and Primus, but I'll probably end up cutting one of them from Pelakka Wurm because I think that 4 7+ drops is a bit much since I'm not running green cheat cards like Natural Order or Eureka.
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465 card Unpowered cube thread. Draft it here and I'll be happy to return the favor.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
I haven't tested Hornet Queen and my cube is somewhat of a unique environment being Unpowered and not running Swords. But my experience has been:
Pelakka Wurm > Woodfall Primus >> Terastadon
The Trample is just huge for your ramp/reanimator target to beat face quickly and dominate the board.
(And I haven't tested anything else.)
Destroying a permanent x2 times and keeping the body after the first death seems way better than gaining 7 life and drawing a card without a body after the first death.
Primus is great at answering problematic permanents if you are behind or equal and destroys lands and any chance of a comeback if you are ahead. Persist is very abusable, makes him very resilient to removal. Terastodon answers a few problematic cards and overwhelms the board. Very hard to recover from, but easier since he has no evasion. Wurm is great for reanimation, quickly turns the tide around. Queen is good too, but I often found that her offensive qualities are lacking if you need to keep a few tokens back. Still good but not as much as the other three. Avenger is great to ramp into, very hard to deal with it, kills quickly, creates immediate defenses. Behemoth is bad if you ramp into it with creatures and bad when you are behind.
I'll get more into this later, but CraterHOOF has been pretty awesome for us since I've added it. Even just a few creatures in play is often enough to win a game, and it also is a game ender in green attacking decks with Natural Order (which I added about the same time). I like it much better than I even liked PWurm and Nasty Terasty, even though I include most of the cards in that list in my movement towards a more ramp-y strategy in Green.
(Foil Avenger of Z is expensive though, so I haven't added that one yet...)
I know that I'd rate Woodfall Primus over Terastodon. The both usually remove their biggest noncreature threat or two, but Primus doesn't give them 3/3s in return, and survives the first removal. There are times where you can get good value from turning your own lands or some obsolete cards into 3/3s with Terastadon, but not so often when you're cheating it in.
And Hornet Queen over Pelakka Wurm. The flying of Hornet Queen has often been a deciding factor is games where it came down, for blocking and attacking alike. The queen is really great on the offence too. 6 flying power with deathtouch: if your opponent can block flyers, it cost them a creature to prevent even 2 damage and another creature for every further damage. And being able to keep 1 or 2 tokens as blockers is big plus. With a trampler you're either attacking or blocking, but never both. The queen often hits for 5 damage each turn and preventing them from attacking at the same time.
Not sure whether I like Queen or Primus more, so for me it's
Hornet Queen = Woodfall Primus > Terastodon > Pelakka Wurm >>> Avenger of Zendikar
Avenger of Zendikar has too often done nothing at all. It's only 5/5, has no evasion, and the plants grow... you know... just like plants grow: soooo slow
I haven't played with Craterhoof Behemoth, but I don't like that it's just an aggressive beater, I want my super fatties to stabilize me as well.
"Wow! 3 pages of discussion about Pelakka Wurm? Sweet!"
"...oh. Aw."
=)
Anyhow, I adore Pelakka Wurm as the ultimate feel-good fatty. You're happy when you cast him, you're happy when he sticks around, you're happy when he dies.
I'd rate the green fatties like this... Craterhoof > Hornet Queen = Avenger of Zendikar = Pelakka Wurm > Woodfall Primus.
Regarding the high and low end: Off just about any reasonable green board state, Craterhoof just wins the game, and it patches a weakness in green's strategy: namely the lack of haste. You always feel like you've got some time to react to the busto things that green is fielding. Not so much when you natural order out a craterhoof and 20 an opponent out of nowhere. Regarding my low rating of Primus...I die a little inside each time I cast him and I have to settle for blowing up a land (which happens far more often than I'd like).
Lastly: Vigor? Is this card playable? He's still lingering in my list (~630 cards). He feels like one of those cards that suffers from what I call One Good Game scenario. Like, once he just absolutely dominated and has been resting on his laurels ever since. Thoughts?
I've had some bad experiences with Terastodon; unlike the others, it may just lose you the game if your opponent has a card that matches up well with how you choose to resolve the trigger. Also 8 is quite a lot more than 7, so Terastodon will be cut as soon as we get a really good Green 6-drop.
I have never once seen that be the case in the cube forum or in a cube setting. Set after set commons and uncommons are held in the same regard as rares when calculating a card's playability in the cube.
I have never once seen that be the case in the cube forum or in a cube setting. Set after set commons and uncommons are held in the same regard as rares when calculating a card's playability in the cube.
Yeah, as long as a card is shiny, my drafters never complained about its rarity.
I rank Pelakka Wurm #3 in my green fatties (7++), after Hornet Queen and Woodfall Primus and roughly on par with Terastodon. It is just full of value all over, and that's why the card is loved around here. And the fact that it is uncommon just means I get to play it in a buddy's C/Ube as well.
I am willing to admit that I originally overlooked Pelakka Wurm as an uncommon. It was not present on many lists as super ramp was a little unpopular when I started, but it's presence in Conspiracy is making me give it a try.
My cube is 450 has lots of ramp and more fatties(5 in green) and fatty cheating than most (Elvish Piper, Quicksilver Amulet, Eureka, tooth and nail) in addition the usual (Natural Order, Sneak Attack, Reanimation, Gaea's Cradle). I have used all of the others (Except Avenger) on the list and would rank them like this. ( I am also sneaking in some unsung cards I would put on this level)
1. Hornet Queen - My group was skeptical but now it is a major groan card (in a good way). Plays well when ahead or behind and has more synergy with other cube cards (sneak attack, blink, recurring nightmare, anthems). I would be shocked if we ever get one I like better. And yeah for a foil printing in M15. A+
2. Woodfall Primus - Also a great two way card and creates the best value when it dies (Except the big wurm), I certainly don't like waiting to 8 mana to deal with swords but strapped to a beast of this size.... This guy is the most consistent of the bunch and loves sneak attack. B+
3. Worldspine Wurm - As more people move to super ramp I see lots of Eldrazi mentioned but little love for the wurm. We pulled Emrakul after I dropped Channel as a lot of the cheaty cards weren't good with it and it was never hard cast. The wurm has been a great switch. It is a feat, but it has been cast, and it is great with all the cheating except reanimator, which is my only knock. Yes it can be hit with swords to plowshares but so can most things on the list. It is my current favorite sneak attack machine. Makes me want to play through the breach. B+
Big gap
4. Moldgraf Monstrosity - Another card I don't see much talk about and plays better than it looks. Yes I realize that the creatures you get back are random. But there are lots of times that a deck effectively fights off my first 1-2 fatties and then has no idea what to do with this thing. It is an 8/8 with trample which compares well for first punch with most things on my list. More potential hilarity with sneak attack. Decent when you are behind as well much like the Primus. B-
5. Terastadon - Many great stories were had with this card. Blinking it, bouncing it and doing crazy things. But the thing is, we were generating almost as many stories about overcoming this guy as winning with him. Yes there were times we just dropped him off piper and killed the next turn, but after much debate he is out and any non-evasion green fatty probably won't be coming in either. Why no trample wizards? B-
6. Elderscale Wurm - So as far as stabilizing this thing was great. I could just run over with my trampler against the boros deck and their swingback/burn was useless. This card helped me learn two things, my fatty decks needed to get faster, and sometimes I needed to worry about my opponent before I could swing in for the win. Trample is great here as always, but no lasting value unlike the 5 above.
7. Craterhood Behemoth - While it is at the bottom of my list it is still an amazing card. The problem is that it was good in a small % of my green decks that wanted a fatty, so frequently is was a dud. If your group's decks are more compatible with this guy he's great. We usually are saccing a mana dork and for natural order and the fatty is by it's lonesome. But yes I have hit for like 100+ damage so it might be worth if for that. A- / C+
-Avenger of Zendikar - Haven't tried this guy because I felt its residual value after dieing was less than guys 1-3 unless he got to stick around a few turns. And 5/5 no trample makes me think this guy is mainly just an army in a can more than a beater and I was already running the hornet queen and deranged hermit. Seemed comparable to wolfbriar elemental, and not as flexible.
* Krosan Tusker and Chancellor of the Tangle - I always evaluated these guys on a different level. They give you value/ramp in order to cast fatties and in exchange they are a little unimpressive in body. I flirt with these cards, and they are ok, just wish for some evasion of recursion. A wishlist card for me would be a fatty in this role who could actually compete with the big boys as a top end.
So to the meat at hand - Pelakka Wurm. I am trying it out now, so we will see. My best guess is it will play like Elderscale Wurm, giving a stabilizing boost and like the monstrosity giving some game dependent value if it dies. If only this thing worked like Thragtusk. Preliminary guess is B or #4 on my list. My 450 cube is currently using 5 fatties while I test the Wurm and I have Hellkite Overlord and Armada Wurm as Psuedo Green top ends as well. Maybe we go a little overboard but there will be a shakeout for M15 and I will report back to see if the Wurm stays.
Moldgraf Monstrosity and Worldspine Wurm actually look like rather fun alternatives to what I normally see listed in the green huge fatties department. I didn't even know what the monstrosity did due to how many times I quickly moved past it searching through the bulk rare bin.
We keep a slate of the fatties around and rotate them quite a bit, the Monstrosity is a pet of mine. Above curve, trample, and death value gets the job done. I really wish Pelakka Wurm were a 6/6 for 6, gain 6 life, draw a card. That would be a staple all day.
Ha, I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this way.
As someone who has a degree in Communications, it's important to see how the cards "speak to you". And rarity has something to do with it. It's vital to put ourselves in drafter's shoes, because each and everyone of us is unique and sees cards differently. The rarity of a card precedes many aspects.
Remember Domestication in ROE? It was an uncommon and didn't take anyone by storm. Make it rare in M14, and suddenly everyone despises it. It's the same with Pelakka Wurm. When we do our search on gatherer or lay out whatever cards we've in our pool for huge fatties, it's easy to filter them by rarity FIRST, then by size/stats. It's not entirely our fault of course.
I'm just surprise a cube connoisseur like wtwlf123 hasn't come across rarity biasness before. It's subtle, but it's effective in how it influences us.
As I've said before and I make it a mantra for my cube: Never dismiss a card outside (of cube), and to always question those inside (your cube).
I must admit I also wasn't aware of rarity being a factor at all outside of it being used as a design parameter.
Now it's true that rares & mythics tend to be more splashy and just plain more powerful than commons. But we don't evaluate on the rarity, just on the card's power in cube.
Maybe some people let a card's rarity influence their evaluation, but I really haven't noticed such an effect on these boards. Not saying it doesn't happen, just that I haven't noticed it.
I think he's trying to stay that the entire problem is sometimes cards get unnoticed due to rarity, which is a hard thing to quantify.
I didn't think about adding Pelakka Wurm to my cube until recently. Was this because it's uncommon? Maybe. It might have been a lot of factors, but that one may have been included in it. I'll never know for sure.
Rarity is completely irrelevant for traditional cubes. I didn't realize other cube managers didn't understand that.
It makes absolutely zero difference to me what a card's rarity is whatsoever. I don't even look at the rarity when I'm reading card spoils.
I'm not saying you're wrong with any of these statements, but this is incredibly solipsistic.
Bolas, the Mindsculptor, Sylar teh evil, dschumm, and hopefulhawkeye are saying that some players and cube managers have overlooked cards due to their rarity. Their personal knowledge, or "misunderstanding" of traditional cubes having no distinction between rarities is not what they're discussing at all. Saying that they didn't understand that traditional cubes don't make a distinction between rarities is misrepresenting their points and frankly, probably a little insulting.
I honestly didn't know. Not meaning to be insulting, I just had no idea that people cared about rarity when determining a card's prospective value for the cube. I've never once considered it, and I assumed everyone else did the same.
360, unpowered, kinda budget. I've run all of the top 3 that I listed at one point or another, and have played all of them a lot in other formats (mostly EDH). I don't quite have enough token support to justify Avenger or Behemoth, and Terastodon just barely loses to Wurm for me because I don't have a lot of broken noncreature permanents that allow him to be a more utility card. Pelakka Wurm is mostly nice because 7 life is a not insignificant number, and the card draw isn't terrible, but Hornet Queen just stabilizes so much harder. I could see an argument for Wurm over Hornet Queen, but I don't think I need the third dude. (right now. Maybe later.)
Woodfall Primus > Hornet Queen > Terastodon > Pelakka Wurm > Avenger of Zendikar = Craterhoof Behemoth
465 powered. I like Primus the most because it answers scary permanents, and the persist trigger is awesome with Sneak Attack and stuff. It represents big time card advantage in addition to having a big body and trample. I have Queen next because I think she does a great job on both offense (5 evasive threats) and on defense (can trade her for their entire board). She works awesomely well with anthem effects, as well as being quite resistant to spot removal. She also has cool interactions with Imperial Recruiter, Reveillark and several other individual cards in the cube, in addition to being a great ramp/reanimator target. I have Terastodon next, because it's kinda a hybrid between the two. It can create a massive 18 power when it has to, and it can also remove multiple non-creature targets when the board calls for it. I think it's the most interesting of the bunch, and it seems like every time he's cast, there's a different split on how the elephants are used. It's always something different with Terastodon, and that keeps things fresh. Next, I have Pelakka Wurm. I like that guy because a 7/7 trample is a serious body, 7 life is a significant amount to gain, and it replaces itself (card-wise) when it dies. Avenger and Behemoth are both super-powerful ramp targets, but I have them ranked towards the bottom simply because they're kinda ramp-exclusive guys, and I like my fatties to be just as valuable if reanimated on T2-3 as they would be if I played them on curve.
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Also, for my cube, not all of these creatures are entirely in competition with each other because I'm running Birthing Pod so I need to have at least one creature at 7 and at 8 CMC in green. At 7 I think I like Hornet Queen better because I like what it leaves behind better after being sacced to Pod or Recurring Nightmare or a blink effect (not even a card in Pelakka Wurm's case). At 8 I'm trying both Terastodon and Primus, but I'll probably end up cutting one of them from Pelakka Wurm because I think that 4 7+ drops is a bit much since I'm not running green cheat cards like Natural Order or Eureka.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Pelakka Wurm > Woodfall Primus >> Terastadon
The Trample is just huge for your ramp/reanimator target to beat face quickly and dominate the board.
(And I haven't tested anything else.)
My cube: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/9981
Destroying a permanent x2 times and keeping the body after the first death seems way better than gaining 7 life and drawing a card without a body after the first death.
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Woodfall Primus > Terastodon > Pelakka Wurm > Hornet Queen > Avenger of Zendikar > Craterhoof Behemoth
Primus is great at answering problematic permanents if you are behind or equal and destroys lands and any chance of a comeback if you are ahead. Persist is very abusable, makes him very resilient to removal. Terastodon answers a few problematic cards and overwhelms the board. Very hard to recover from, but easier since he has no evasion. Wurm is great for reanimation, quickly turns the tide around. Queen is good too, but I often found that her offensive qualities are lacking if you need to keep a few tokens back. Still good but not as much as the other three. Avenger is great to ramp into, very hard to deal with it, kills quickly, creates immediate defenses. Behemoth is bad if you ramp into it with creatures and bad when you are behind.
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(Foil Avenger of Z is expensive though, so I haven't added that one yet...)
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And Hornet Queen over Pelakka Wurm. The flying of Hornet Queen has often been a deciding factor is games where it came down, for blocking and attacking alike. The queen is really great on the offence too. 6 flying power with deathtouch: if your opponent can block flyers, it cost them a creature to prevent even 2 damage and another creature for every further damage. And being able to keep 1 or 2 tokens as blockers is big plus. With a trampler you're either attacking or blocking, but never both. The queen often hits for 5 damage each turn and preventing them from attacking at the same time.
Not sure whether I like Queen or Primus more, so for me it's
Hornet Queen = Woodfall Primus > Terastodon > Pelakka Wurm >>> Avenger of Zendikar
Avenger of Zendikar has too often done nothing at all. It's only 5/5, has no evasion, and the plants grow... you know... just like plants grow: soooo slow
I haven't played with Craterhoof Behemoth, but I don't like that it's just an aggressive beater, I want my super fatties to stabilize me as well.
"...oh. Aw."
=)
Anyhow, I adore Pelakka Wurm as the ultimate feel-good fatty. You're happy when you cast him, you're happy when he sticks around, you're happy when he dies.
I'd rate the green fatties like this... Craterhoof > Hornet Queen = Avenger of Zendikar = Pelakka Wurm > Woodfall Primus.
Regarding the high and low end: Off just about any reasonable green board state, Craterhoof just wins the game, and it patches a weakness in green's strategy: namely the lack of haste. You always feel like you've got some time to react to the busto things that green is fielding. Not so much when you natural order out a craterhoof and 20 an opponent out of nowhere. Regarding my low rating of Primus...I die a little inside each time I cast him and I have to settle for blowing up a land (which happens far more often than I'd like).
Lastly: Vigor? Is this card playable? He's still lingering in my list (~630 cards). He feels like one of those cards that suffers from what I call One Good Game scenario. Like, once he just absolutely dominated and has been resting on his laurels ever since. Thoughts?
Pelakka is definitely underrated because of its uncommon status.
UR Melek, Izzet ParagonUR, B Shirei, Shizo's CaretakerB, R Jaya Ballard, Task MageR,RW Tajic, Blade of the LegionRW, UB Lazav, Dimir MastermindUB, UB Circu, Dimir LobotomistUB, RWU Zedruu the GreatheartedRWU, GUBThe MimeoplasmGUB, UGExperiment Kraj UG, WDarien, King of KjeldorW, BMarrow-GnawerB, WBGKarador, Ghost ChieftainWBG, UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU, GWUDerevi, Empyrial TacticianGWU, RDaretti, Scrap SavantR, UTalrand, Sky SummonerU, GEzuri, Renegade LeaderG, WUBRGReaper KingWUBRG, RGXenagos, God of RevelsRG, CKozilek, Butcher of TruthC, WUBRGGeneral TazriWUBRG, GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
I've had some bad experiences with Terastodon; unlike the others, it may just lose you the game if your opponent has a card that matches up well with how you choose to resolve the trigger. Also 8 is quite a lot more than 7, so Terastodon will be cut as soon as we get a really good Green 6-drop.
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Pelakka Wurm's rarity has nothing to do with how it's evaluated for the cube.
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My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 49th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from MKM!
Yeah, as long as a card is shiny, my drafters never complained about its rarity.
I rank Pelakka Wurm #3 in my green fatties (7++), after Hornet Queen and Woodfall Primus and roughly on par with Terastodon. It is just full of value all over, and that's why the card is loved around here. And the fact that it is uncommon just means I get to play it in a buddy's C/Ube as well.
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My cube is 450 has lots of ramp and more fatties(5 in green) and fatty cheating than most (Elvish Piper, Quicksilver Amulet, Eureka, tooth and nail) in addition the usual (Natural Order, Sneak Attack, Reanimation, Gaea's Cradle). I have used all of the others (Except Avenger) on the list and would rank them like this. ( I am also sneaking in some unsung cards I would put on this level)
1. Hornet Queen - My group was skeptical but now it is a major groan card (in a good way). Plays well when ahead or behind and has more synergy with other cube cards (sneak attack, blink, recurring nightmare, anthems). I would be shocked if we ever get one I like better. And yeah for a foil printing in M15. A+
2. Woodfall Primus - Also a great two way card and creates the best value when it dies (Except the big wurm), I certainly don't like waiting to 8 mana to deal with swords but strapped to a beast of this size.... This guy is the most consistent of the bunch and loves sneak attack. B+
3. Worldspine Wurm - As more people move to super ramp I see lots of Eldrazi mentioned but little love for the wurm. We pulled Emrakul after I dropped Channel as a lot of the cheaty cards weren't good with it and it was never hard cast. The wurm has been a great switch. It is a feat, but it has been cast, and it is great with all the cheating except reanimator, which is my only knock. Yes it can be hit with swords to plowshares but so can most things on the list. It is my current favorite sneak attack machine. Makes me want to play through the breach. B+
Big gap
4. Moldgraf Monstrosity - Another card I don't see much talk about and plays better than it looks. Yes I realize that the creatures you get back are random. But there are lots of times that a deck effectively fights off my first 1-2 fatties and then has no idea what to do with this thing. It is an 8/8 with trample which compares well for first punch with most things on my list. More potential hilarity with sneak attack. Decent when you are behind as well much like the Primus. B-
5. Terastadon - Many great stories were had with this card. Blinking it, bouncing it and doing crazy things. But the thing is, we were generating almost as many stories about overcoming this guy as winning with him. Yes there were times we just dropped him off piper and killed the next turn, but after much debate he is out and any non-evasion green fatty probably won't be coming in either. Why no trample wizards? B-
6. Elderscale Wurm - So as far as stabilizing this thing was great. I could just run over with my trampler against the boros deck and their swingback/burn was useless. This card helped me learn two things, my fatty decks needed to get faster, and sometimes I needed to worry about my opponent before I could swing in for the win. Trample is great here as always, but no lasting value unlike the 5 above.
7. Craterhood Behemoth - While it is at the bottom of my list it is still an amazing card. The problem is that it was good in a small % of my green decks that wanted a fatty, so frequently is was a dud. If your group's decks are more compatible with this guy he's great. We usually are saccing a mana dork and for natural order and the fatty is by it's lonesome. But yes I have hit for like 100+ damage so it might be worth if for that. A- / C+
-Avenger of Zendikar - Haven't tried this guy because I felt its residual value after dieing was less than guys 1-3 unless he got to stick around a few turns. And 5/5 no trample makes me think this guy is mainly just an army in a can more than a beater and I was already running the hornet queen and deranged hermit. Seemed comparable to wolfbriar elemental, and not as flexible.
* Krosan Tusker and Chancellor of the Tangle - I always evaluated these guys on a different level. They give you value/ramp in order to cast fatties and in exchange they are a little unimpressive in body. I flirt with these cards, and they are ok, just wish for some evasion of recursion. A wishlist card for me would be a fatty in this role who could actually compete with the big boys as a top end.
So to the meat at hand - Pelakka Wurm. I am trying it out now, so we will see. My best guess is it will play like Elderscale Wurm, giving a stabilizing boost and like the monstrosity giving some game dependent value if it dies. If only this thing worked like Thragtusk. Preliminary guess is B or #4 on my list. My 450 cube is currently using 5 fatties while I test the Wurm and I have Hellkite Overlord and Armada Wurm as Psuedo Green top ends as well. Maybe we go a little overboard but there will be a shakeout for M15 and I will report back to see if the Wurm stays.
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As someone who has a degree in Communications, it's important to see how the cards "speak to you". And rarity has something to do with it. It's vital to put ourselves in drafter's shoes, because each and everyone of us is unique and sees cards differently. The rarity of a card precedes many aspects.
Remember Domestication in ROE? It was an uncommon and didn't take anyone by storm. Make it rare in M14, and suddenly everyone despises it. It's the same with Pelakka Wurm. When we do our search on gatherer or lay out whatever cards we've in our pool for huge fatties, it's easy to filter them by rarity FIRST, then by size/stats. It's not entirely our fault of course.
I'm just surprise a cube connoisseur like wtwlf123 hasn't come across rarity biasness before. It's subtle, but it's effective in how it influences us.
As I've said before and I make it a mantra for my cube: Never dismiss a card outside (of cube), and to always question those inside (your cube).
UR Melek, Izzet ParagonUR, B Shirei, Shizo's CaretakerB, R Jaya Ballard, Task MageR,RW Tajic, Blade of the LegionRW, UB Lazav, Dimir MastermindUB, UB Circu, Dimir LobotomistUB, RWU Zedruu the GreatheartedRWU, GUBThe MimeoplasmGUB, UGExperiment Kraj UG, WDarien, King of KjeldorW, BMarrow-GnawerB, WBGKarador, Ghost ChieftainWBG, UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU, GWUDerevi, Empyrial TacticianGWU, RDaretti, Scrap SavantR, UTalrand, Sky SummonerU, GEzuri, Renegade LeaderG, WUBRGReaper KingWUBRG, RGXenagos, God of RevelsRG, CKozilek, Butcher of TruthC, WUBRGGeneral TazriWUBRG, GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
Now it's true that rares & mythics tend to be more splashy and just plain more powerful than commons. But we don't evaluate on the rarity, just on the card's power in cube.
Maybe some people let a card's rarity influence their evaluation, but I really haven't noticed such an effect on these boards. Not saying it doesn't happen, just that I haven't noticed it.
I didn't think about adding Pelakka Wurm to my cube until recently. Was this because it's uncommon? Maybe. It might have been a lot of factors, but that one may have been included in it. I'll never know for sure.
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It makes absolutely zero difference to me what a card's rarity is whatsoever. I don't even look at the rarity when I'm reading card spoils.
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
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I'm not saying you're wrong with any of these statements, but this is incredibly solipsistic.
Bolas, the Mindsculptor, Sylar teh evil, dschumm, and hopefulhawkeye are saying that some players and cube managers have overlooked cards due to their rarity. Their personal knowledge, or "misunderstanding" of traditional cubes having no distinction between rarities is not what they're discussing at all. Saying that they didn't understand that traditional cubes don't make a distinction between rarities is misrepresenting their points and frankly, probably a little insulting.
CUBE TOP 10 - Help us vote for the best cards in cube
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 49th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from MKM!