Despite the fact that I haven't posted in this thread for two years, the stack is still going strong. The Cube Tutor list is kept up to date.
The two major changes I've made recently are to increase the stack's size by 100 cards and to make every effect in the stack unique (no more functional reprints and no more strictly better/worse cards). There's still plenty of similar cards, but nothing is identical.
Anyway, here are the cards I'm eyeing from Guilds of Ravnica:
Crush Contraband: Great disenchant. Chemister's Insight: An excellent card advantage spell, but the front half kinda breaks my "No pure-upside card draw spells" rule. Dream Eater: A weird collection of effects, but they're all good. Price of Fame: Another entry in the long list of instant speed removal spells with minor upsides. Doom Whisperer: Manipulating a shared library is one of my favorite aspects of this format. Experimental Frenzy: I love that it doesn't actually reveal the top. Bounty of Might: This won't dethrone Decree of Savagery as the best pump spell, but it's possibly still worth running. The fact that you can use it on opponents' creatures is sweet. Discovery // Dispersal: One of the sickest bounce spells ever. I will be shocked if anyone ever casts Discovery. Trostani Discordant: A medium army-in-a-can card with an occasionally powerful third ability. We'll see. Hypothesizzle: Also comes close to breaking the "pure-upside" rule, but I'm probably going to run it anyway. Requiring a creature in play is awkward. Niv-Mizzet, Parun: He's like Nezahal, Primal Tide but deals damage instead of having an irrelevant protection ability. He'll probably replace Nezahal. Underrealm Lich: He's like Tomorrow, Azami's Familiar but is actually relevant in combat. Tomorrow is still great though, so I'll probably keep running it.
I'm not including Iwamori of the Open Fist at the moment because his downside is almost non-existent in this format and that doesn't feel right to me. I don't use online rarities, so there are a lot of "peasant" legends missing from my list. Maybe when Dominaria comes out.
My schedule prevents me from cubing with my normal group, but, as I've gotten to know other groups through working at my LGS, my pool of potential cubists has expanded. So I'm holding my first cube draft in over a year tomorrow.
I've updated the cube with cards from Aether Revolt, Modern Masters 2017, Amonkhet, Hour of Devastation, Ixalan and Iconic Masters (the Rivals of Ixalan cards are in the mail).
I've cut all the cards from non-booster pack products and multiplayer expansions. Most of the cube-worthy cards don't feel like they were designed with a reasonable limited format in mind, so I just don't feel super comfortable having them around.
I haven't been able to use the cube in some time (one of the things they don't tell you about getting a job at a game store is that you'll have way less time to play games), but I'm updating my cube anyway. Here are the updates for Shadows Over Innistrad, Eternal Masters, Eldritch Moon, Conspiracy 2, Kaladesh and Commander 2016.
I'm cutting a bunch of cards that can be frustrating and non-interactive. A lot of them are very strong cards that are probably seen as staples, but I want fewer one-sided non-games.
This format is supposed to be fun and these cards do not promote that. The paucity of maindeckable artifact and enchantment removal in peasant cube means a lot of these cards are nearly impossible to remove. Great Oak Guardian and Fire Covenant usually end the game when they get cast. Grafted Wargear is on the watchlist.
The cylcing lands are leaving as well. I love them, but there are already a ton of ETB tapped lands in peasant cube. I may reconsider the lifegain lands as well, but they're staying for now.
The guild sections are getting trimmed by one card each once again. I'm not too sad about any of the cuts, but there are a few that might creep back in at some point. Each color gets one more card and colorless gets five more.
Dragonlord Dromoka is a card I've swapped into this list when playing a bit more competitively, but my normal metagame of just my buddies doesn't have a lot of counterspell heavy decks.
The Walls were always fine, but never good. I want all of my early cards to ramp to Karametra. The Angel is, again, fine, but this deck wants to use all of its mana every turn. Packleader is cute, but there are better ways to get card advantage. Sanctuary is definitely a good card, but it does occasionally lead to some awkward early turns. I want to keep the basic land count high.
I kept forgetting to add Skullclamp. I finally acquired a Cobra. Planeswalkers are sweet. Hydra is enormous. Passage is probably the best target for the Hydra (though five colorless lands might lead to some unkeepable openers).
Confirm Suspicions is very strong. It's easily one of the ten best cards in the stack. I'm not sure how I should be handling cards that are clearly stronger than others. I'll decide what to do with it once I've got some more experience with the stack.
Baleful Force creates this awesome mini-game where you have to A. spend your cards so that you don't have to discard to hand size, and B. kill your opponents before this thing kills you. I think it's a lot of fun. I love cards that create tension like that.
Spells with multiple targets only get countered if all of their targets are made illegal. So Foul Renewal will still Raise Dead even if the other target is gone. There have been a small number of scenarios where these cards can't get cast, but their strength make up for it. Drawing Ever After in your opening hand can be a bummer, but it's so good later on that I think it's still worth playing.
Thanks. Your list was among those I considered when building mine, so thanks for the ideas.
I understand that utility lands provide some action economy, but they feel anemic compared to a lot of the powerful stuff going on here (says the guy playing Peek). I'll consider them, but I'm not too keen on the idea of topdecking a land in a format where you have infinite mana.
I'm hoping that Salvation's successor site is adequate for this community. Reddit is cool, but it doesn't really facilitate long-term discussions.
Pacifism -> Conclave Tribunal
Emancipation Angel -> Sunhome Stalwart
Vaporkin -> Departed Deckhand
Ray of Command -> Mirror Image
Angler Drake -> Murmuring Mystic
Olivia's Bloodsworn -> Vampire Sovereign
Fleshbag Marauder -> Plaguecrafter
Village Messenger -> Goblin Cratermaker
Reckless Racer -> Goblin Instigator
Trophy Hunter -> Kraul Harpooner
Darkthicket Wolf -> District Guide
Brine Shaman -> Dinrova Horror
Bloodwater Entity -> League Guildmage
The two major changes I've made recently are to increase the stack's size by 100 cards and to make every effect in the stack unique (no more functional reprints and no more strictly better/worse cards). There's still plenty of similar cards, but nothing is identical.
Anyway, here are the cards I'm eyeing from Guilds of Ravnica:
Crush Contraband: Great disenchant.
Chemister's Insight: An excellent card advantage spell, but the front half kinda breaks my "No pure-upside card draw spells" rule.
Dream Eater: A weird collection of effects, but they're all good.
Price of Fame: Another entry in the long list of instant speed removal spells with minor upsides.
Doom Whisperer: Manipulating a shared library is one of my favorite aspects of this format.
Experimental Frenzy: I love that it doesn't actually reveal the top.
Bounty of Might: This won't dethrone Decree of Savagery as the best pump spell, but it's possibly still worth running. The fact that you can use it on opponents' creatures is sweet.
Discovery // Dispersal: One of the sickest bounce spells ever. I will be shocked if anyone ever casts Discovery.
Trostani Discordant: A medium army-in-a-can card with an occasionally powerful third ability. We'll see.
Hypothesizzle: Also comes close to breaking the "pure-upside" rule, but I'm probably going to run it anyway. Requiring a creature in play is awkward.
Niv-Mizzet, Parun: He's like Nezahal, Primal Tide but deals damage instead of having an irrelevant protection ability. He'll probably replace Nezahal.
Underrealm Lich: He's like Tomorrow, Azami's Familiar but is actually relevant in combat. Tomorrow is still great though, so I'll probably keep running it.
This set is sweet.
Sunhome Stalwart
Goblin Cratermaker
Kraul Harpooner
League Guildmage
are probably the only ones I'll start. Murmuring Mystic and Goblin Banneret will be kept in mind.
Elite Vanguard -> Dauntless Bodyguard
Sunlance -> Baird, Steward of Argive
Daring Skyjek -> Adanto Vanguard
Niblis of the Urn -> Danitha Capashen, Paragon
Genju of the Falls -> Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
Quickling -> Merfolk Trickster
Withdraw -> Blink of an Eye
Nekrataal -> Whisper, Blood Liturgist
Makeshift Mannequin -> Memorial to Folly
Death Denied -> Wander in Death
Wild Nacatl -> Heir of the Wilds
Beastbreaker of Bala Ged -> Untamed Kavu
Devoted Druid -> Servant of the Conduit
Rampant Growth -> Song of Freyalise
Scatter the Seeds -> Saproling Migration
Moroii -> Brine Shaman
Rix Maadi Guildmage -> Garna, the Bloodflame
Boros Charm -> Sunhome Guildmage
Lashweed Lurker -> Tatyova, Benthic Druid
Foundry of the Consuls -> Myriad Landscape
Chronomaton -> Elixir of Immortality
Guardian Idol -> Viridian Longbow
Pierce Strider -> Sunset Pyramid
Additionally, I'm cutting some of the hybrids in favor of mono-color cards:
-Burning-Tree Emissary
-Gruul Guildmage
-Inkfathom Infiltrator
-Rakdos Guildmage
-Fire // Ice
+Essence Scatter
+Supernatural Stamina
+Manic Vandal
+Anger
+Sifter Wurm
I'm keeping an eye on aggro decks; it seems like this and the last few updates haven't done them many favors.
Expedition Envoy -> Skymarcher Aspirant
Cenn's Enlistment -> Promise of Bunrei
Timely Hordemate -> Kongming, "Sleeping Dragon"
Welkin Tern -> Kitesail Corsair
Reaver Drone -> Grasping Scoundrel
Vampire Interloper -> Stinkweed Imp
Nezumi Graverobber -> Undead Gladiator
Terror -> Ravenous Chupacabra
Contagion -> Golden Demise
Haunter of Nightveil -> Shadowmage Infiltrator
Sylvok Lifestaff -> Ash Barrens
I'm not including Iwamori of the Open Fist at the moment because his downside is almost non-existent in this format and that doesn't feel right to me. I don't use online rarities, so there are a lot of "peasant" legends missing from my list. Maybe when Dominaria comes out.
My schedule prevents me from cubing with my normal group, but, as I've gotten to know other groups through working at my LGS, my pool of potential cubists has expanded. So I'm holding my first cube draft in over a year tomorrow.
I've updated the cube with cards from Aether Revolt, Modern Masters 2017, Amonkhet, Hour of Devastation, Ixalan and Iconic Masters (the Rivals of Ixalan cards are in the mail).
I've cut all the cards from non-booster pack products and multiplayer expansions. Most of the cube-worthy cards don't feel like they were designed with a reasonable limited format in mind, so I just don't feel super comfortable having them around.
Siren Stormtamer could be cool. Chart A Course seems like it has a pretty mediocre average-case-scenario, but I might try it out anyway.
Tribal sets are boring.
I'm cutting a bunch of cards that can be frustrating and non-interactive. A lot of them are very strong cards that are probably seen as staples, but I want fewer one-sided non-games.
Removed from the cardpool:
Mother of Runes
Shrine of Loyal Legions
Curse of Shallow Graves
Shrine of Burning Rage
Curse of Predation
Great Oak Guardian
Fire Covenant
Isochron Scepter
This format is supposed to be fun and these cards do not promote that. The paucity of maindeckable artifact and enchantment removal in peasant cube means a lot of these cards are nearly impossible to remove. Great Oak Guardian and Fire Covenant usually end the game when they get cast. Grafted Wargear is on the watchlist.
The cylcing lands are leaving as well. I love them, but there are already a ton of ETB tapped lands in peasant cube. I may reconsider the lifegain lands as well, but they're staying for now.
The guild sections are getting trimmed by one card each once again. I'm not too sad about any of the cuts, but there are a few that might creep back in at some point. Each color gets one more card and colorless gets five more.
-Secluded Steppe
-Mother of Runes
-Guided Strike
-Shrine of Loyal Legions
+Cenn's Tactician
+Thraben Inspector
+Aerial Responder
+Fairgrounds Warden
+Celestial Crusader
+Visionary Augmenter
-Lonely Sandbar
-Gitaxian Probe
-Illusory Angel
-Silumgar Sorcerer
-Nimbus Naiad
+Essence Flux
+Tattered Haunter
+Withdraw
+Sprite Noble
+Stitched Mangler
+Rise from the Tides
+Phyrexian Ingester
-Barren Moor
-Quest for the Gravelord
-Chittering Rats
-Phyrexian Ghoul
-Curse of Shallow Graves
-Bellowing Saddlebrute
+Heir of Falkenrath
+Olivia's Bloodsworn
+Fleshbag Marauder
+Tooth Collector
+Vampire Aristrocrat
+Homicidal Seclusion
+Havoc Demon
-Forgotten Cave
-Humble Defector
-Torch Fiend
-War-Name Aspirant
-Arc Trail
-Shrine of Burning Rage
-Boggart Brute
-Manic Vandal
-Brimstone Volley
-Mark of Mutiny
-Traitorous Instinct
-Shockmaw Dragon
+Village Messenger
+Kessig Forgemaster
+Thermo-Alchemist
+Thriving Grubs
+Brazen Scourge
+Brazen Wolves
+Imperial Recruiter
+Thopter Engineer
+Weaver of Lightning
+Besmirch
+Enthralling Victor
+Smoldering Werewolf
+Malevolent Whispers
-Tranquil Thicket
-Snapping Gnarlid
-Undercity Troll
-Scion of the Wild
-Curse of Predation
-Sprout Swarm
-Great Oak Guardian
+Blossoming Defense
+Duskwatch Recruiter
+Longtusk Cub
+Noose Constrictor
+Ulvenwald Captive
+Manaplasm
+Pack Guardian
+Arborback Stomper
-Arctic Aven
-Haunter of Nightveil
-Fire Covenant
-Gruul War Chant
-Wilt-Leaf Cavaliers
-Unburial Rites
-Turn // Burn
-Deathreap Ritual
-Truefire Paladin
-Kiora's Follower
-Azorius Guildmage
-Curse of Chains
-Momentary Blink
-Lyev Skyknight
+Cloudblazer
+Migratory Route
-Kird Ape
+Voltaic Brawler
-Skyknight Legionnaire
+Nahiri's Machinations
-Quicksand
-Isochron Scepter
+Aether Hub
+Ash Barrens
+Chronomaton
+Culling Dais
+Basalt Monolith
+Hedron Archive
+Eldrazi Devastator
Does anyone have experience with it in peasant cube? Does it fit into any particular strategy or is it just kinda good value?
Managorger Hydra seems sweet. I'll definitely try that out.
Thanks!
-Wall of Omens
-Restoration Angel
-Garruk's Packleader
-Selesnya Sanctuary
The Walls were always fine, but never good. I want all of my early cards to ramp to Karametra. The Angel is, again, fine, but this deck wants to use all of its mana every turn. Packleader is cute, but there are better ways to get card advantage. Sanctuary is definitely a good card, but it does occasionally lead to some awkward early turns. I want to keep the basic land count high.
+Skullclamp
+Lotus Cobra
+Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
+Ulvenwald Hydra
+Rogue's Passage
I kept forgetting to add Skullclamp. I finally acquired a Cobra. Planeswalkers are sweet. Hydra is enormous. Passage is probably the best target for the Hydra (though five colorless lands might lead to some unkeepable openers).
-Flamewake Phoenix
+Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh
-Hammer of Purphoros
+Bitterblossom
-2 Swamp
+Cinder Barrens
+Command Tower
And I will likely include Thermo-Alchemist once I find a copy.
Baleful Force creates this awesome mini-game where you have to A. spend your cards so that you don't have to discard to hand size, and B. kill your opponents before this thing kills you. I think it's a lot of fun. I love cards that create tension like that.
Spells with multiple targets only get countered if all of their targets are made illegal. So Foul Renewal will still Raise Dead even if the other target is gone. There have been a small number of scenarios where these cards can't get cast, but their strength make up for it. Drawing Ever After in your opening hand can be a bummer, but it's so good later on that I think it's still worth playing.
I understand that utility lands provide some action economy, but they feel anemic compared to a lot of the powerful stuff going on here (says the guy playing Peek). I'll consider them, but I'm not too keen on the idea of topdecking a land in a format where you have infinite mana.
Leyline of Anticipation and Vedalken Orrery are at the top of my trade list. I know how powerful they are, they're just a little out of my price range.