I've been considering depowering some of my removal and I wanted to hear everyone's thoughts. Have you depowered any of your removal? If so which ones did you find too strong; what did you replace them with? Finally, how much removal is everyone running in their cubes?
I wanted to start a project on this with documenting tiers of removal, but it's a big piece of work. I don't think I've monitored my count of removal so much as the power, but I think the three keys to establishing power of removal is cost, speed, and targets. There is removal, particularly black removal, that fits all three criteria pretty well, and I think the first step to depowering is for any piece of removal, pick 2 of those to be good at, and one not as good.
Cost
It's a no brainer that the cheaper something is, the better it is. You can cast it earlier, or alongside something else in later turns. The earlier you can cast it, the quicker you can remove blockers if you are the beatdown, or the quicker you can stabilise if you are being beaten down. You might count it as a separate category, but how splashable the removal is can be another consideration. You can splash Go For the Throat, but not Murder. If you are going to cube cards that are strong in the other categories (and I think 3 mana to kill almost any target is still a good deal), then forcing the player to commit to a color does reduce the power / consistency to a degree.
Speed
Instant is more powerful than sorcery in 99% of cases (duh). However, I think slowing down to sorcery speed can make for more interesting decisions. Do you fire off your Volcanic Hammer now, or wait a full turn? You can just hold mana up if you had Searing Spear instead. I think the overall average speed of your removal can help certain decks or archetypes; if you know the cube has a pants archetype, you might be more inclined to snap off that Volcanic Hammer if you suspect your opponent might cast Elephant Guide next turn. More sorcery speed removal means haste creatures have more value.
Targets
Basically, how many targets can this removal spell hit? The lower the range of targets, the less powerful it is. Outside of a few spells, most removal has at least SOME restrictions. Many of the top black spells have few restrictions; non-legendary, nonartifact, nonmulticolour for example still hit the vast majority of creatures in a cube. Most of reds spells are toughness based; if you are using cube tutor you can quickly tell how many creature targets Abrade has (and you can compare mana efficiency should you want to). It would take some careful curation, but you could select removal to allow certain creatures or archetypes to survive.
Downsides
Something else to consider is removal with 'downsides'. Some of that is inherent even in powerful removal. Oblivion Ring is great, but it can always be removed midcombat by enchantment removal. But something like Vendetta is the cheapest for its effect, but sometimes that life loss is going to lose you games or you might not be able to cast it.
Deck Speed
Not directly power related, but you can also tailor removal to certain types of decks. I cube Paralyze for black aggro, which decks with a long game plan aren't going to be interested in. GO TO JAIL is a recent example. There are some others that are more defensive oriented, like Deep Freeze, which can be good for evasive decks, or otherwise have a game plan where that blocker isn't going to matter much in the long run. I think these can add a bit more decision making to removal during the draft, changing the value of the card depending on what you've already drafted, rather than removal that has a more 'generic' power level.
The cost of removal spells is not only about when you get to cast them, but also about tempo. If you can kill your opponent's 5-drop for 2 mana, you have 3 mana to spend on something else.
Vendetta is a great example for removal spells with downside, because it becomes harder to cast the bigger your opponent's creature is. If you kill your opponent's Pelakka Wurm, you get a lot of tempo, but you still took the damage of one of its attacks, effectively.
I also try to have removal tiers. Basically, a few premium spells, a few spells with significant restrictions or downside, and the majority of spells is supposed to be somewhere in the middle.
Part of why I depowered removal was because I dislike how high up on the pick order removal is. I wanted more interesting decisions, and having lighting bolt in a pack made packs less worth thinking about.
I'm with Leelue here. The removal spell is so often just the best pick when it is top tier. Having some lower powered removal also means that they drift around in the draft a bit longer, so that at some point someone gets to think "Hm. It's not the best card in the pack, but my pile is really lacking removal, so I need to go for Lightning Blast.
I agree with Phitt77 here. In general, limited formats tend to favor removal as the most powerful cards. Peasant cube drafting is, for all intents and purposes, basically just a well designed limited format without the mythic bombs that you'd take over anything. What I'm trying to say is that it doesn't matter if you're running Incinerate or Volcanic Hammer, the pick order doesn't change. Additionally, if you power down your removal so much that it just becomes actively bad (few targets, big drawbacks) those cards will just go late and not make final 40s anyway.
I also agree that, when it comes to removal, quality isn't so much the problem as quantity. This was a lesson I had to learn when I first built my peasant list. As it turns out the best red and black common/uncommon cards all mostly all burn and creature removal. I had to really pick and choose and get creative so those sections weren't just unlimited one for ones. Including too many Doom Blade variants is a problem, but including Doom Blade itself is not.
I'm also with Phitt77 here. Removal is needed, and playing bad removal just makes you feel bad.
Personally, I'm not a fan of banning anything for power reasons. If some cards stand out for being so much better than the others, you can go one of two ways - dumb down the good cards to the level of the bad ones OR elevate the bad cards and run more answers. It's really just a matter of ensuring there is less disparity in the quality gap. "And when everyone's super, no one will be."
Also, as a huge fan of ETBs, I find that good removal is still not the end of the world. You use Go for the Throat or Cast Down on my Mulldrifter, Pelakka Wurm, or Cloudgoat Ranger? Okay - I've still benefited, and you're down a piece of removal for my next threat.
Cost and tempo do go hand in hand. On the points regarding resiliency or ETB effects, this can be a 'horse and cart' scenario when it comes to cube design. If you cube all the best removal spells, then by design your 5 and 6 drops probably NEED those ETB effects or some other resiliency. I think the most powerful removal spells, especially when it comes to mana cost, inherently limit some of the higher casting creatures we might include in our cubes, because our drafters won't draft them due to the tempo loss against the high power removal suite.
On speed, instants certainly give you more options. I'm not sure that makes them more interesting though. If I'm holding up Searing Spear, I can pass the turn and have a pretty good idea of what my worst case scenario is (kill their creature when they attack, kill something else they might drop pre-combat, kill their creature on their end step). I'm not suggesting instants are bad for gameplay, casting removal in response to a trick or whatever is sweet. But as you can cast them whenever you want and just wait for the best time in the turn cycle, there is less tension that sorcery speed. I don't have a problem with instants (and without looking, I think most of removal is still instant speed), but I don't want my removal to have the trifecta.
I understand the argument against targets. Baleful Strix can get a free pass against some black removal suites by being an artifact, multi-coloured, and black (it isn't legendary though, hurray!). I see it being less 'random' and more tailored to what you want your cube to be doing. Eyeblight's Ending kills just about everything, but maybe you want Elf decks to be a thing in your cube and give them some extra resiliency.
On 'playing bad removal just makes you feel bad', I don't agree with that. But I suppose it also depends on what you mean by bad removal. I'd guess that most of my removal is only a little below top tier (and some probably still near the top tier), and I wouldn't call any of them bad even if there are better options. I'd guess my worst removal spell is Volt Charge, and I cube two copies because I like the synergies it provides. It would probably almost always be 'correct' for a drafter to swap in Lightning Bolt for it if given the chance, but I don't think that necessarily makes for a more fun experience.
On 'playing bad removal just makes you feel bad', I don't agree with that. But I suppose it also depends on what you mean by bad removal. I'd guess that most of my removal is only a little below top tier (and some probably still near the top tier), and I wouldn't call any of them bad even if there are better options.
You are, of course, correct here - I was a little too zealous in my use of absolutes. There is a spectrum, and cards are not simply good or bad. Some are better than others, and some are only situationally better than others. When I read "depowering removal," I was thinking of much larger shifts in quality, but that was my fault for assuming. Subtle tweaks in power level would be far less noticeable and not necessarily lead to feel bad moments.
That being said, I do prefer the best tool (not second best) for the job when I can get it.
Sorcery speed makes for harder decisions, not more interesting ones. When deciding whether or not you cast the sorcery speed removal you're essentially guessing your opponent's next play with 0 information, which is mostly just a coin toss. Also, if you end up making the wrong choice it doesn't feel great.
Playing overly expensive removal does make you feel bad. I'm not sure about other people, but if I have 2 mana unspent with a 3 drop in hand I don't feel very good about that turn. Having 1 mana left up isn't as bad, but 2cmc to 3cmc is a big jump. Stuff like Volt Charge has a rider, so it feels fine, but Lightning Strike vs. Open Fire is a big difference in how it feels to play.
I don't think there's enough cheap unconditional removal to push 5-6 drops with no ETB out of cubes. There's the 4 Doom Blade variants and Swords, and most people don't play all 4 of the Doom Blades. Most cheap removal has drawbacks or can only kill small creatures.
I'm generally not very happy first picking non-Lightning Bolt removal. I'd gladly pick high quality removal 4th pick, but I want something with significantly more impact than a 1 for 1 for early picks.
I'm totally for diversifying removal (e.g. Volt Charge), but I don't see much point playing strictly worse versions.
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To answer OP (listing spells only):
At 360
White: 6 total, all unconditional, 4 enchantments
Blue: 6 total, 4 soft, 1 burn, 1 Control Magic
Black: 8 total, 4 basically unconditional, 1 soft
Red: 13 total, all burn
Green: 2 total, both unfair fights
Colourless: Dismember
Guild: 9 total, 4 soft, 6 burn
Pick Order
Quality removal is a high pick, but so are quality creatures and quality spells. If I have Cloudgoat Ranger, Vampire Nighthawk, Pelakka Wurm, Control Magic or Lingering Souls in my cube, where is the problem if I also have Go for the Throat, Lightning Bolt and Swords to Plowshares? I don't see it. I'd even pick most of the high quality creatures over Go for the Throat for example.
I've cut a couple of those cards already, for this reason.
Clearly I can't achieve a completely flat power level, but the meat of the bell curve is much more even in power level than the edges.
As for Calibretto's claim about volcanic hammer, ehhh... I think the pick order would change somewhat, and if not for me then definitely for some people I'd end up drafting with.
Having removal tiers actually makes drafting more challenging and interesting in my experience. Lightning Bolt is a no-brainer, but if you know there are lots of 2-mana 3 damage instant burn spells coming around, it doesn't really matter which one you pick up. If you know you might have to settle for Volt Charge or Fiery Temper if you don't pick up that Abrade right now, you really have to consider what that Abrade is worth to you in comparison to that other card in the pack that your deck wants.
As for Calibretto's claim about volcanic hammer, ehhh... I think the pick order would change somewhat, and if not for me then definitely for some people I'd end up drafting with.
I think if you're in a red deck that wants burn spells, you'll pick up Volcanic Hammer just as highly as you'd pick up Lightning Strike, I don't see how Hammer being sorcery speed changes the importance of the card in the deck. All it does it make that specific card worse than other options, which doesn't matter if those options aren't present in the cube to begin with.
I also think if including Volcanic Hammer over Lightning Strike does change the pick order for your group because Hammer is a worse card, then that's also a problem, at least in my opinion.
Then again, I follow a philosophy of peasant cubing where I think it's completely ok to run cards like Loxodon Warhammer and Skullclamp, so powering down something as nonthreatening as a Lightning Strike wouldn't even be on the table for me.
I'm sure I've seen a specific article on the mothership about how they tune removal, but I can't find it. The closest I find is this, which has a section called 'The Doom Blade problem'. Standard based article, but would have some translation.
On sorcery speed vs instant and the decisions being 'harder', that may be a feature, not a problem. By that, I mean there is more tension. If I don't cast Searing Spear on my turn, I don't really give up much by waiting until the opponents upkeep. If I don't cast it on the opponents upkeep, I'm not giving up much by waiting until they next pass priority my way, and so on. Whether those 'harder' decisions make for more fun games may be a matter of cube manager or play group tastes.
I think if you're in a red deck that wants burn spells, you'll pick up Volcanic Hammer just as highly as you'd pick up Lightning Strike, I don't see how Hammer being sorcery speed changes the importance of the card in the deck. All it does it make that specific card worse than other options, which doesn't matter if those options aren't present in the cube to begin with.
You may need a burn spell, but a worse burn spell that serves the same general purpose isn't just the literal next card down the pecking order. Like, hypothetically, I may want flame imp over volcanic hammer, but incinerate over flame imp. Something like that rushed example.
Nah, it actually is very close to being literally the next card down
Like, it's hard to compare "A- in aggro, F in control" cards like Fireblast or Ahn-Crop Crasher to Volcanic Hammer, but if all you care about is how early in a pack a card gets drafted after 100,000,000 drafts, Volcanic Hammer is better than like 90% of mono-red playable/staple cards
(and 8% of the remaining stuff is just better removal spells like actual Bolt and... probably? Staggershock)
Hammer is also "better" than every single red sweeper by the how-high-is-it-picked metric, so it's not necessarily about stifling aggro to support removal-heavy control if your comparison point is Slice and Dice as opposed to Ahn-Crop Crasher
I havent been on the forum for a while and nor have I cubed, but I did depower my removal in my cube to help out 2 archetypes, reanimator and ramp. Before the reanimator deck would set up its fatty to enter, and then simply lose to a 1 or 2 mana kill spell. This was a huge tempo loss, so I had to up the cost for clean removal (go for the throat changed to murder) in order to give the deck legs.
I've taken out Pestilence, Evincar's Justice, and Crypt Rats from my cube along with the other Pauper 'bombs' like Ghostly Flicker or Sprout Swarm or Hexproof cards or Coalition Honor Guard. I like fun, fair interactive Magic and these sorts of cards go too far relative to the other cards I have in my cube.
I've kept Fireball and Rolling Thunder in because you actually kind of have to earn those.
My ASFAN for removal is 2.85. I like having a lot of removal because it forces everyone to play fun, fair, interactive midrange decks against one another. I don't want aggro to be better than or equal to midrange. I replaced the 3 black sweepers with Hand of Death, Imperial Edict, and Terror because I wanted to keep the level of removal the same.
I only have a sprinkling of enchantment destruction so Pacifisms are basically hard removal.
This is for Pauper Cube, so take it with a grain of salt. Also, sorry for hijacking your thread, but this is a good question that at least I am struggling with right now.
My removal "Benchmark" is Ulamog's Crusher. I love this card and always want it to be playable in my Cube, although it doesn't need to be a high pick. There need to be answers, and Pauper Cube wouldn't feel like Pauper Cube without an above-average amount of removal, but when there is a choice between removal that hurts Crusher and removal that does not, I want to lean towards Not. Of course, there are lots of wrinkles to that. Here are some of my more idiosyncratic removal spells that I think demonstrate some of my removal thoughts.
Sensory Deprivation is the Blue Swords to Plowshares! It's not a perfect comparison, but "eliminate a threat and gain some life" isn't an unfair characterization of this card. It also does very little against proper fatties, and works with Aura synergy (which is proving a little problematic elsewhere). Dead Weight is similar, but that one's less unpopular because it is actually a removal spell.
Regicidefeels like it belongs when you cast it. It also hits a large enough variety of creatures that it's pretty much always worth maindecking. But cutting off two colors is actually a somewhat meaningful restriction, and not just because it also cuts off Eldrazi.
Garbage Fire is actually the rare Red card that can kill Ulamog's Crusher, but it gets away with it because by design it's a removal spell that you want to pick up pretty late in the pack (no earlier than 3rd, and probably closer to 5th).
Shaper Parasite and other Morphs. I like Morph in general, and some of our better Artifact/Enchantment hate encourages us to run them, but I like these types of cards. They're removal that feels powerful when you use it (often netting a 2-for-1), but that requires a decent amount of work that keeps them from being overbearing.
Lava Dart and Flame Jab. Graveyard synergy, spells synergy, bad against slower cards or strategies. What's not to love? (Note: I may have it out a little too much for aggro. I just think the natural trend of Cube is towards Aggro being a bit dominant and I want to cut against it where I can.)
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My 450 Card Pauper Cube is going through major renovations. Feedback appreciated!
Cost
It's a no brainer that the cheaper something is, the better it is. You can cast it earlier, or alongside something else in later turns. The earlier you can cast it, the quicker you can remove blockers if you are the beatdown, or the quicker you can stabilise if you are being beaten down. You might count it as a separate category, but how splashable the removal is can be another consideration. You can splash Go For the Throat, but not Murder. If you are going to cube cards that are strong in the other categories (and I think 3 mana to kill almost any target is still a good deal), then forcing the player to commit to a color does reduce the power / consistency to a degree.
Speed
Instant is more powerful than sorcery in 99% of cases (duh). However, I think slowing down to sorcery speed can make for more interesting decisions. Do you fire off your Volcanic Hammer now, or wait a full turn? You can just hold mana up if you had Searing Spear instead. I think the overall average speed of your removal can help certain decks or archetypes; if you know the cube has a pants archetype, you might be more inclined to snap off that Volcanic Hammer if you suspect your opponent might cast Elephant Guide next turn. More sorcery speed removal means haste creatures have more value.
Targets
Basically, how many targets can this removal spell hit? The lower the range of targets, the less powerful it is. Outside of a few spells, most removal has at least SOME restrictions. Many of the top black spells have few restrictions; non-legendary, nonartifact, nonmulticolour for example still hit the vast majority of creatures in a cube. Most of reds spells are toughness based; if you are using cube tutor you can quickly tell how many creature targets Abrade has (and you can compare mana efficiency should you want to). It would take some careful curation, but you could select removal to allow certain creatures or archetypes to survive.
Downsides
Something else to consider is removal with 'downsides'. Some of that is inherent even in powerful removal. Oblivion Ring is great, but it can always be removed midcombat by enchantment removal. But something like Vendetta is the cheapest for its effect, but sometimes that life loss is going to lose you games or you might not be able to cast it.
Deck Speed
Not directly power related, but you can also tailor removal to certain types of decks. I cube Paralyze for black aggro, which decks with a long game plan aren't going to be interested in. GO TO JAIL is a recent example. There are some others that are more defensive oriented, like Deep Freeze, which can be good for evasive decks, or otherwise have a game plan where that blocker isn't going to matter much in the long run. I think these can add a bit more decision making to removal during the draft, changing the value of the card depending on what you've already drafted, rather than removal that has a more 'generic' power level.
The cost of removal spells is not only about when you get to cast them, but also about tempo. If you can kill your opponent's 5-drop for 2 mana, you have 3 mana to spend on something else.
Vendetta is a great example for removal spells with downside, because it becomes harder to cast the bigger your opponent's creature is. If you kill your opponent's Pelakka Wurm, you get a lot of tempo, but you still took the damage of one of its attacks, effectively.
I also try to have removal tiers. Basically, a few premium spells, a few spells with significant restrictions or downside, and the majority of spells is supposed to be somewhere in the middle.
T2 powpercube Value https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/37t
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I also agree that, when it comes to removal, quality isn't so much the problem as quantity. This was a lesson I had to learn when I first built my peasant list. As it turns out the best red and black common/uncommon cards all mostly all burn and creature removal. I had to really pick and choose and get creative so those sections weren't just unlimited one for ones. Including too many Doom Blade variants is a problem, but including Doom Blade itself is not.
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Personally, I'm not a fan of banning anything for power reasons. If some cards stand out for being so much better than the others, you can go one of two ways - dumb down the good cards to the level of the bad ones OR elevate the bad cards and run more answers. It's really just a matter of ensuring there is less disparity in the quality gap. "And when everyone's super, no one will be."
Also, as a huge fan of ETBs, I find that good removal is still not the end of the world. You use Go for the Throat or Cast Down on my Mulldrifter, Pelakka Wurm, or Cloudgoat Ranger? Okay - I've still benefited, and you're down a piece of removal for my next threat.
2023 Average Peasant Cube|and Discussion
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On speed, instants certainly give you more options. I'm not sure that makes them more interesting though. If I'm holding up Searing Spear, I can pass the turn and have a pretty good idea of what my worst case scenario is (kill their creature when they attack, kill something else they might drop pre-combat, kill their creature on their end step). I'm not suggesting instants are bad for gameplay, casting removal in response to a trick or whatever is sweet. But as you can cast them whenever you want and just wait for the best time in the turn cycle, there is less tension that sorcery speed. I don't have a problem with instants (and without looking, I think most of removal is still instant speed), but I don't want my removal to have the trifecta.
I understand the argument against targets. Baleful Strix can get a free pass against some black removal suites by being an artifact, multi-coloured, and black (it isn't legendary though, hurray!). I see it being less 'random' and more tailored to what you want your cube to be doing. Eyeblight's Ending kills just about everything, but maybe you want Elf decks to be a thing in your cube and give them some extra resiliency.
On 'playing bad removal just makes you feel bad', I don't agree with that. But I suppose it also depends on what you mean by bad removal. I'd guess that most of my removal is only a little below top tier (and some probably still near the top tier), and I wouldn't call any of them bad even if there are better options. I'd guess my worst removal spell is Volt Charge, and I cube two copies because I like the synergies it provides. It would probably almost always be 'correct' for a drafter to swap in Lightning Bolt for it if given the chance, but I don't think that necessarily makes for a more fun experience.
That being said, I do prefer the best tool (not second best) for the job when I can get it.
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Playing overly expensive removal does make you feel bad. I'm not sure about other people, but if I have 2 mana unspent with a 3 drop in hand I don't feel very good about that turn. Having 1 mana left up isn't as bad, but 2cmc to 3cmc is a big jump. Stuff like Volt Charge has a rider, so it feels fine, but Lightning Strike vs. Open Fire is a big difference in how it feels to play.
I don't think there's enough cheap unconditional removal to push 5-6 drops with no ETB out of cubes. There's the 4 Doom Blade variants and Swords, and most people don't play all 4 of the Doom Blades. Most cheap removal has drawbacks or can only kill small creatures.
I'm generally not very happy first picking non-Lightning Bolt removal. I'd gladly pick high quality removal 4th pick, but I want something with significantly more impact than a 1 for 1 for early picks.
I'm totally for diversifying removal (e.g. Volt Charge), but I don't see much point playing strictly worse versions.
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To answer OP (listing spells only):
At 360
White: 6 total, all unconditional, 4 enchantments
Blue: 6 total, 4 soft, 1 burn, 1 Control Magic
Black: 8 total, 4 basically unconditional, 1 soft
Red: 13 total, all burn
Green: 2 total, both unfair fights
Colourless: Dismember
Guild: 9 total, 4 soft, 6 burn
I've cut a couple of those cards already, for this reason.
Clearly I can't achieve a completely flat power level, but the meat of the bell curve is much more even in power level than the edges.
As for Calibretto's claim about volcanic hammer, ehhh... I think the pick order would change somewhat, and if not for me then definitely for some people I'd end up drafting with.
My CubeCobra (draft 20 card packs, 2 packs.)
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I think if you're in a red deck that wants burn spells, you'll pick up Volcanic Hammer just as highly as you'd pick up Lightning Strike, I don't see how Hammer being sorcery speed changes the importance of the card in the deck. All it does it make that specific card worse than other options, which doesn't matter if those options aren't present in the cube to begin with.
I also think if including Volcanic Hammer over Lightning Strike does change the pick order for your group because Hammer is a worse card, then that's also a problem, at least in my opinion.
Then again, I follow a philosophy of peasant cubing where I think it's completely ok to run cards like Loxodon Warhammer and Skullclamp, so powering down something as nonthreatening as a Lightning Strike wouldn't even be on the table for me.
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https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/play-design/counter-play-finding-right-answers-2017-09-15
On sorcery speed vs instant and the decisions being 'harder', that may be a feature, not a problem. By that, I mean there is more tension. If I don't cast Searing Spear on my turn, I don't really give up much by waiting until the opponents upkeep. If I don't cast it on the opponents upkeep, I'm not giving up much by waiting until they next pass priority my way, and so on. Whether those 'harder' decisions make for more fun games may be a matter of cube manager or play group tastes.
You may need a burn spell, but a worse burn spell that serves the same general purpose isn't just the literal next card down the pecking order. Like, hypothetically, I may want flame imp over volcanic hammer, but incinerate over flame imp. Something like that rushed example.
My CubeCobra (draft 20 card packs, 2 packs.)
430, Peasant, Very Unpowered
Why you should take your hybrids out of your gold section
Manamath Article
Like, it's hard to compare "A- in aggro, F in control" cards like Fireblast or Ahn-Crop Crasher to Volcanic Hammer, but if all you care about is how early in a pack a card gets drafted after 100,000,000 drafts, Volcanic Hammer is better than like 90% of mono-red playable/staple cards
(and 8% of the remaining stuff is just better removal spells like actual Bolt and... probably? Staggershock)
Affinity
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Cube:
180 Peasant Micro Cube
I've kept Fireball and Rolling Thunder in because you actually kind of have to earn those.
My ASFAN for removal is 2.85. I like having a lot of removal because it forces everyone to play fun, fair, interactive midrange decks against one another. I don't want aggro to be better than or equal to midrange. I replaced the 3 black sweepers with Hand of Death, Imperial Edict, and Terror because I wanted to keep the level of removal the same.
I only have a sprinkling of enchantment destruction so Pacifisms are basically hard removal.
Ignoring what Magic players say isn't the answer, it's listening to what they have to say and doing the exact opposite that's correct.
My removal "Benchmark" is Ulamog's Crusher. I love this card and always want it to be playable in my Cube, although it doesn't need to be a high pick. There need to be answers, and Pauper Cube wouldn't feel like Pauper Cube without an above-average amount of removal, but when there is a choice between removal that hurts Crusher and removal that does not, I want to lean towards Not. Of course, there are lots of wrinkles to that. Here are some of my more idiosyncratic removal spells that I think demonstrate some of my removal thoughts.
Sensory Deprivation is the Blue Swords to Plowshares! It's not a perfect comparison, but "eliminate a threat and gain some life" isn't an unfair characterization of this card. It also does very little against proper fatties, and works with Aura synergy (which is proving a little problematic elsewhere). Dead Weight is similar, but that one's less unpopular because it is actually a removal spell.
Regicide feels like it belongs when you cast it. It also hits a large enough variety of creatures that it's pretty much always worth maindecking. But cutting off two colors is actually a somewhat meaningful restriction, and not just because it also cuts off Eldrazi.
Garbage Fire is actually the rare Red card that can kill Ulamog's Crusher, but it gets away with it because by design it's a removal spell that you want to pick up pretty late in the pack (no earlier than 3rd, and probably closer to 5th).
Shaper Parasite and other Morphs. I like Morph in general, and some of our better Artifact/Enchantment hate encourages us to run them, but I like these types of cards. They're removal that feels powerful when you use it (often netting a 2-for-1), but that requires a decent amount of work that keeps them from being overbearing.
Lava Dart and Flame Jab. Graveyard synergy, spells synergy, bad against slower cards or strategies. What's not to love? (Note: I may have it out a little too much for aggro. I just think the natural trend of Cube is towards Aggro being a bit dominant and I want to cut against it where I can.)
Commanders:
Toshiro Umezawa
Rona, Disciple of Gix (Pauper)