Hi all! I've been tinkering with my cube for weeks now, and I'm doing some finishing touches. I've referred to the Evaluate Everything thread and cubetutor's average cubes, but I still can't seem to evaluate the green and white token producing commons (I want tokens to be Selesnya's "archetype", for design reasons).
I've decided that nothing at or below Krenko's Command level makes the cut, meaning there must be a small upside, as in the case of Raise the Alarm (instant speed) or Gather the Townsfolk (fateful hour, marginal as it may be). Still, I come up with more options than I think even a dedicated token maker would want to actually put in their deck. Here are the common rarity ones I have at present:
It seems people value Triplicate Spirits over Scatter the Seeds? Is flying that important on tokens that it's worth costing 1 more mana and being sorcery rather than instant speed? Does the value of Scatter the Seeds increase if I also support a Simic flash archetype (which I do)?
I'm pretty sure I want all of the creatures (except perhaps Scion Summoner). I'm also set on Raise the Alarm and Battle Screech.
What about Fists of Ironwood, Saproling Migration and Gather the Townsfolk? All sorcery speed, two mana and producing 2 ground bound tokens. Fists requires another target on the board, making it a shady 2-drop, so it's probably weakest. I'm also thinking about removing Gather the Townsfolk, because it's just so much worse than the other white options. I'm thinking about keeping Saproling Migration just to have a good green 2-drop (except Jade Mage).
I worry that Cenn's Enlistment and Sprout Swarm might be too slow, and that even a dedicated token deck might not run them in the main. But perhaps they are OK as SB cards in the control match-up? Or is that line of reasoning just a way to clog up your cube with unwanted cards?
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Oh, sorry I was unclear. I asked about commons, because those were hardest for me to overview - I do run a peasant cube though (actually not quite: I run a rarity distribution cube, which is 24 rares, 72 uncommons and the rest common at 360, but that's a bit beside the point - what matters is that uncommons and rares come at a premium and archetypes need common rarity support to work).
Thanks for the Link. My problem is evaluating the "cubable" section within itself. For example, you list Raise the Alarm and Gather the Townsfolk in the same "cubable" category. Since I don't have room for all that is cubable, which ones do I pick?
I will probably be running Sprout Swarm then. I just think that, if Sprout Swarm is such a good card, then Scatter the Seeds must be too - for 5 mana and convoke, one gives you 3 tokens and costs you a card, the other gives you 1 token and doesn't.
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The thing is, Sprout Swarm and Scatter the Seeds are very different cards, even when it doesn't seem like so.
Sprout Swarm is a good finisher in most slow control decks, because it has inevitability and only requires one G mana, so it's very easy to splash. Just build a deck that gets you to the very late game and with enough mana you can overrun it eventually.
Scatter the Seeds, on the other hand, is a swarm-only card. It is not strong enough to be a finisher, is more of a run-of-the-mill midrange card and enabler for the archetype.
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My 490 Pauper Cube
Modern frame only- Common on paper only - no functional copies, no strictly-betters - no subtype-matters
Sprout swarm is so good it is often listed as the reason why futuresight limited isn't that good. Once you buy it back and are stabilized the game is almost over.
I see. Well, I guess that makes me more sure of keeping Sprout Swarm, but I'm still not quite sure if Scatter the Seeds merits a spot, even though tokens is the main selesnya archetype in my cube. I'm leaning towards keeping it
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I've decided that nothing at or below Krenko's Command level makes the cut, meaning there must be a small upside, as in the case of Raise the Alarm (instant speed) or Gather the Townsfolk (fateful hour, marginal as it may be). Still, I come up with more options than I think even a dedicated token maker would want to actually put in their deck. Here are the common rarity ones I have at present:
It seems people value Triplicate Spirits over Scatter the Seeds? Is flying that important on tokens that it's worth costing 1 more mana and being sorcery rather than instant speed? Does the value of Scatter the Seeds increase if I also support a Simic flash archetype (which I do)?
I'm pretty sure I want all of the creatures (except perhaps Scion Summoner). I'm also set on Raise the Alarm and Battle Screech.
What about Fists of Ironwood, Saproling Migration and Gather the Townsfolk? All sorcery speed, two mana and producing 2 ground bound tokens. Fists requires another target on the board, making it a shady 2-drop, so it's probably weakest. I'm also thinking about removing Gather the Townsfolk, because it's just so much worse than the other white options. I'm thinking about keeping Saproling Migration just to have a good green 2-drop (except Jade Mage).
I worry that Cenn's Enlistment and Sprout Swarm might be too slow, and that even a dedicated token deck might not run them in the main. But perhaps they are OK as SB cards in the control match-up? Or is that line of reasoning just a way to clog up your cube with unwanted cards?
A series of seven articles using Magic to explore the very stuff of the Universe!
"At least for those who can play cards, their present incarnation is not quite wasted."
[Click here for the articles!]
Thanks for the Link. My problem is evaluating the "cubable" section within itself. For example, you list Raise the Alarm and Gather the Townsfolk in the same "cubable" category. Since I don't have room for all that is cubable, which ones do I pick?
I will probably be running Sprout Swarm then. I just think that, if Sprout Swarm is such a good card, then Scatter the Seeds must be too - for 5 mana and convoke, one gives you 3 tokens and costs you a card, the other gives you 1 token and doesn't.
A series of seven articles using Magic to explore the very stuff of the Universe!
"At least for those who can play cards, their present incarnation is not quite wasted."
[Click here for the articles!]
Sprout Swarm is a good finisher in most slow control decks, because it has inevitability and only requires one G mana, so it's very easy to splash. Just build a deck that gets you to the very late game and with enough mana you can overrun it eventually.
Scatter the Seeds, on the other hand, is a swarm-only card. It is not strong enough to be a finisher, is more of a run-of-the-mill midrange card and enabler for the archetype.
My 490 Pauper Cube
Modern frame only- Common on paper only - no functional copies, no strictly-betters - no subtype-matters
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
A series of seven articles using Magic to explore the very stuff of the Universe!
"At least for those who can play cards, their present incarnation is not quite wasted."
[Click here for the articles!]
My 490 Pauper Cube
Modern frame only- Common on paper only - no functional copies, no strictly-betters - no subtype-matters