Carrion Feeder was played here until it was replaced by Fume Spitter - obviously a change for the better. I hadn't found Carrion Feeder to be that great as he was an all-in aggro card and that's where his ability was worst, they just dealt with it first.
Sewer Rats is one only I'm playing. I personally think it's great - the ability makes it relevant pretty much forever in combat, and the lifeloss isn't bad in black aggro.
I wasn't too impressed with Corpulent Corpse when I played my friend's pauper cube. It's too long to suspend, so when you draw it on turns 3-5 you're just kinda staring at it. Even when you suspend it early, your opponent has plenty of time to set up, and you have better things you can be doing than casting him for six. Clearly worse than the big three.
Fume Spitter--This card does so much more than Mogg Fanatic on average, and that's a good place to be in. Not only helps your smaller guys trade for bigger ones(like Fanatic), but it also makes your equally sized guys eat the opponent's and live to tell the tale.
Carrion Feeder--It's awkward. There aren't going to be that many times where a +1/+1 counter is going to be worth saccing a dude. I get that it helps soften the blow of opposing removal, but it really helps very little and I doubt it will be worth the times where it's underwhelming.
Sewer Rats--It actually doesn't look that bad, but I don't think aggro needs so much help that this is needed. I am going to be looking for a card to add, so this could actually be a consideration.
Corpulent Corpse--I'm running this and it pretty much sucks. Even on turn one, it's only okay. "Watch out! In 5 turns, I'll have a 7 turn clock that you can easily remove." I will be dropping it very soon.
Vampire Lacerator/Carnophage are the best best best black aggro critters. Yeah. Fume Spitter is Mogg Fanatic's younger brother. Drahcir's got it right, good place to be. Carrion Feeder is a sacrifice outlet. I may cut it soon, though. Sewer Rats is a really interesting aggro creature, but it's probably not as powerful as the other aggro creatures, even some I don't run. Putrid Imp is in my cube because I wanted to try to introduce the Dead Dog archetype from Constructed to the Cube. I may cut it soon, but for now it's staying. Corpulent Corpse is pretty bad.
Sure. We're talking about all the common black 2cmc creatures. We're not just restricted to the ones being played; that'd contradict the very reason this was made.
Nezumi Cutthroatand Surrakur Marauderhave been really really good for me, I love them. I would like to see what people think about blind creeperand null champion. Also I am surprised Mesmeric Fiendwasnt even on that list, I am trying it out right now, have not had a chance to play with it yet though.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
You always hear about the games armageddon wins 100% of the time. You never hear about the game that it rots in your hand and you get beatdown.
Skittering Skirge Beast. Can crush people without even trying. Dauthi Horror There are only, I think, three creatures in my cube that can block it. Amazing guy. Wretched Anurid deceptively good. Life loss is not relevant in decks that want him, they are FAST. Order of the Ebon Hand I like it a lot. Pro white is quite a big deal as that makes it resistant to most removal apart from burn (being black already) and he can dominate combat. Mana intensive, though. Fledgling DjinnExactly what black aggro wants - a reliable and efficient evasive creature. Great. Dauthi Slayer Apart from the mana cost, this is at least as good as Horror. Cutting som BB guys is something I can get behind. Wouldn't cut him myself. Skinthinner Not really a two drop. Necessary, in my opinion, to foster slow recursion decks. Null Champion This sinks five mana before it has any relevance, and even then will probably bite removal or trade with pretty much any dude. Pretty slow for an aggressive creature, if you ask me. Child of Night Not the kind of guy I'd want to run here. Not great in aggro, not great in control, okay in midrange? I'd much rather something like Erg Raiders which was less fragile. Blind Creeper Deceptively bad. Attacking or blocking with him is a risk, they can shrink him pretty amazingly efficiently. Rubbish. Surrakar Marauder I prefer Nzeumi Cutthroat for this slot and don't want both - neither is really better IMO Rathi Trapper Black two drops are better than the white ones, and I don't even think trappers make the cut in white. Nezumi Cutthroat Straightforward. And great, in my opinion. Augur of Skulls Didn't like it. Either it was late discard or it was early preventable discard. Has quite a few "modes" I suppose but none are great. Wicked Akuba Not a bad card at all, but I would cut it for one with an easier mana cost. Wei Ambush Force I like it, but haven't had the chance to test it yet. Chances are it will be good, but not good enough as what was cut for it. Festercreep Was awfully expensive. Barrow Ghoul I fail to see what people dislike about him - a late game 4/4 for 1B really is worth it. Undertaker Probably quite a good card, but a lot worse than Tortured Existence. Might cut something like Ichor Slick as it's hardly a beater.
My bad on Skinthinner, but I think it's easiest if we discuss it now, since people have already talked about it. I'll put it in the 5CMC Closing Notes.
Sorry to jump back to a topic, but I was going through the cards to determine what I need, and I saw you turn down Thalkos Mistfolk but Wayward Soul/Fencer Clique seem to be ok? in terms of cc/ability/pt they are in line so I don't understand the problem.
It still puts you down a card, which makes a 3/2 a ton better than a 2/1, imo. Like, I wouldn't run a 1/1 with this ability for 1 and so on. I think 3/2 is just big enough to want to worry about saving and worthy of skipping a draw for. Not like you wouldn't want most cards you draw to be 3/2 flyers anyway, right?
On that matter, we tested Thalakos Scoutthe last few times we drafted. Haven't got enough to go on, but it was absolutely amazing for what I've seen of it. Unblockability (pretty much, especially in control) plus resistance to removal is absolutely great. Still, I think that Mistfolk is probably not very good. With Scout, it doesn't die often because they know they're trading a removal spell and mana for a card you've sandbagged in your hand to discard to it - mana, a more or less irrelevant spell at that stage of the game, etc.
However, using removal on Mistfolk is probably correct a lot of the time, and this sucks your mana out and skips a draw. Like Dachir says, a 2/1 shadow is not an amazing draw.
I'd urge people to test out the scout. That guy is just SO annoying.
Skittering Skirge - I'd never seen this before. It's really good and it has a fitting drawback Dauthi Horror - Not a huge fan of shadow as a mechanic - I like the flavor of Fear much better and shadow "feels" more like a blue ability to me - but obviously evasion makes this a solid choice for a pauper cube Wretched Anurid - I have Blind Creeper in instead of this, but I think the Anurid might be better. I might try running both. Order of the Ebon Hand - He's solid - Not in my list b/c I've been avoiding pro certain colors in my cube so far Fledgling Djinn - Flawing with a classic drawback, fits in well with flavor wise with Carnophage and Lacerator Dauthi Slayer - See my thoughts on shadow above, double black cost makes this worse than the Horror Skinthinner - With a crazy fast aggro deck, who knows maybe it is a two drop! Probably much more relevant in control decks as a morph, obviously. Null Champion - I've gone back and forth on this guy. It would be nice to have a level up creature in black. Child of Night - More like Child of Sleepytime. Too many more interesting cards available that make the cut above this in my opinion. Blind Creeper - I like the Creeper because it sets up lots of interesting play decisions for both players and it is a fun 3/3 with a drawback Surrakar Marauder - I wish it said FEAR! Still, a decent card. Rathi Trapper - Obviously a tapper for two is amazing. I don't run it though (or virtually any other Planar Chaos cards for that matter) because the ability is not in flavor for black. I'm crazy like that. Nezumi Cutthroat - Hurray for Fear! I actually thought this was in my list... Augur of Skulls - This card is amazing for slower black decks. Early on it is a blocker and later you can use it to get rid of those last few cards in your opponent's grip when the 1/1 is no longer relevant. This card gets even better the more discard you have. I drafted this guy last time I played - Turn 3 I untapped with it, made my opponent discard 2 on the upkeep and followed up with Blightning. My opponent had one card left. It was utterly backbreaking and sealed the game right then and there. Wicked Akuba - I like this card a lot - he shines when swinging in with other creatures. The fact that you get to do damage after the fact makes this better than a standard "pump" critter when swinging into an empty board. Great at all stages of the game with decks that pack lots of removal. Wei Ambush Force - This feels like it should be a red card. Not a fan. Undertaker - There have been interesting arguments about this card on this thread. I think it could be good in black decks looking to survive until the late game. I've thought about trying out madness - this would be great with that. Festercreep - If there were a few more good token cards, this might be better. I think there are too many better choices in black for dealing 1 (or more) damage to stuff Barrow Ghoul - Interesting card, but requires some building around. It's just too hard to get creatures in your GY quick enough for you to cast this effectively on Turns 2 or 3. Pretty amazing later on though - 4/4 is big for black.
Other cards worth considering: Grimclaw Bats - Evasion and pump, seems good to me. Sangrophage - How is nobody else running this? I like the flavor of it being Carnophage's big brother and it's drawback is interesting ( opportunities for play decisions) since you can choose not to pay the life if the caca starts to hit the fan. Mesmeric Fiend - It's a smaller Tidehollow Sculler at common and it's relevant in all stages of the game, save for top deck mode. That's good, right? Maybe its not aggressive, but seems like it would be a high pick in B/X control/discard builds. Pit Keeper - Currently have this in, but haven't been impressed. Will probably come out soon.
We should be about moving on, but I feel like the Undertaker issue hasn't really been resolved yet. Does anyone have any points to refute Catullo's argument?
My personal thoughts on Undertaker: I think that this card actually has quite a lot of potential. It turns all of your dead draws into creatures. However, on the flip side, the fact that it's effect is so powerful (as a recurrable ability, anyway), it's a pretty big magnet for removal. But then again, being black makes it pretty good.
I think I need to test this. Going straight to my Testing Zone, and with big hopes.
Anyway, I'll leave 2CMC open for another day to let people comment if they wish. I'll probably even get around to posting my thoughts on all the other cards.
I think that Undertaker, as well as most other spellshapers, are quite strong. I'm thinking about putting a pretty large chunk of them in, as it makes it so much harder to run out of gas.
Good call on the scout, Rubin. I'm gonna suggest him/possibly give him a shot in my list.
Personaly, I think that the spellshaper's ability needs to actually be worth the card and the mana to be playable. So far, the cards I think fits this are Dreamscape Artist, Undertaker and Waterfront Bouncer. Borderline possibilities includes Deepwood Drummer and Plague Witch.
Skittering Skirge--I'm not as big of a fan of this card as others, but that's just because I always draw terrible when I have this in my hand. Still though, the card is very good. Ever faced a turn one Dark Rit into Carnophage and this? It ain't pretty.
Dauthi Horror--Black's best two drop. Easy to cast and is a source of inevitability. Must-remove two drops are a good thing.
Wretched Anurid--I am a huge fan of this card. The drawback has been somewhat small for getting a 3/3 on turn 2. If acked up with removal or a good curve, your opponent will be losing a lot more life.
Order of the Ebon Hand--Not a huge fan of this card, but it will probably never get cut. It's somewhat unique to the format and mine is altered, so it has earned its place.
Fledgling Djinn--I like this guy a lot. A flying bear is well woth the one life a turn.
Dauthi Slayer--Much worse than Horror, but still good enough, imo. I could see arguments for cutting it though.
Skinthinner--Definitely either a 3cc card or a 5cc card. Card advantage blah, blah, blah.
Null Champion--I meant to pick this up a long time ago, but now I'm not so intrigued. It's a lot of mana investment for the first level that trades with one and two drops.
Child of Night--It's alright, but not terribly exciting. I guess it's best in this color rather than W or G, though, so that's something.
Blind Creeper--Not as good as its twin, but I've still been fairly pleased. Kind of annoying that stuff like Seal of Fire can kill it, but whatever.
Surrakar Marauder--It's been very good so far, but I think I'll be putting Cutthroat in for it.
Rathi Trapper--The white tappers are so much better it's not even funny. Black has plenty of hard removal, so this card is just awkward. There are obviously times where it is good, so don't bother listening to the hyperbole of some of these people.
Wicked Akuba--I'm currently running this, but it has yet to be activated. Probably going to cut it soon.
Wei Ambush Force--It's ok, but I don't think black needs this card.
Undertaker--Really excited about the prospects of this card. It's mostly worse than Tortured Existence, like Fauna Shaman is worse than Survival of the Fittest. However, the difference is that this card can pitch anything for value. Pitching lands and Flashback spells should prove to be very good. Will be adding.
Festercreep--Too slow and this being a creature doesn't really make up for that.
Barrow Ghoul--Too narrow, imo. I'm not saying you can't get creatures in your gy, but you'll be regretting this card in your opening hand or at other early points in the game. It's a card for an aggresive deck that doesn't want to get played early. Awkward, but I could be wrong.
Grimclaw Bats--Looks interesting, but the 2cc black section is so tight.
And yes, yes, I know some of these cards aren't completely aggro - such as Order of the Ebon Hand - but they're the aggressively costed cards, so just bear with me.
Skinthinner is removal on a stick that still isn't bad if you play it normally. Yeah, pretty good.
Null Champion is a lot of mana for eventual awesome. Perhaps just a tad overcosted; on my chopping block.
Augur of Skulls has always been slow as hell when it was in the cube.
I saw Festercreep do insane things once with Grim Harvest. But realistically, it's not very good.
Undertaker - you guys already know my thoughts on this card.
Barrow Ghoul seems pretty annoying. It's difficult to be able to consistently have it survive 2+ turns. I don't really like it.
Grimclaw Bats is 'nice', I guess, but Drahcir's right; 2CMC is too tight.
Erg Raiders is nice, but the extra toughness really isn't that big an advantage. No evasion means that there are a lot of other cards that are superior to it that don't have drawbacks.[/spoiler]
Liliana’s Specter Absolute beast. Maybe the best here, even (actually I'd give that to Dauthi Marauder but only due to mana cost). Evasion and card advantage on a creature is really pretty sick. Dauthi Marauder This guy is great because he's inevitable - they're going to take three every turn that you can attack with him. He's pretty linear, but afterall, every deck bar one I've ever drafted or seen aimed to get the opponent to 0. Skittering Horror Good. I don't feel the infatuation some do for it - its drawback is downright painful sometimes and its body, while being great, is not anything near gamebreaking. Phyrexian Rager Great card. Card advantage + decent body is awesome. Moriok Replica Rager's older brother. More powerful in theory, I suppose, but harder to work around and probably worse. Crypt Rats This guy is a mega staple. (only reason I didn't talk about this when talking about the best card in this slot is that it's a sweeper before a creature). Great. Stinkweed Imp I found the dredge to be rather ineffective at recurring him in slower decks (the ones that want him anyway). Takenuma Bleeder I have no need for a 3/3 for 3 with a drawback. Sorry, but if I was thinking of running this I'd just cut it for a 2 drop. Chittering Rats Really solid, and one of the kings of pauper constructed. Like Phyrexian Rager in that it's a 2/2 with +1 card advantage tacked on. Thing I like about this is it often buys you a turn against control decks looking for an out. Solid overall too, though. Zombie Cutthroat This guy does hurt, don't get me wrong. However, he's pretty indestructable being black and having 4 toughness, and the fact that he's a colourless morph means it can go in almost any aggro deck (Phyrexian War Beast 2.0, I suppose) Vampire Hounds: we ran it for a while, but it never really did much. The body by itself is obviously mediocre, and while it was nice to be able to pump it to not let it die, it was no Putrid Leech (or Wild Mongrel) and you rarely ever wanted to discard your dudes, or had enough in hand to even think about dealing large damage to the dome. Ravenous Skirge This guy's great, black is the 3/1 flier that can't block well's best home as its way can be easily cleared with removal and it can be a great way to get there in aggressive strategies. Nantuko Husk Death's-head Buzzard I suppose this is quite good in some circumstances - trades with X/3s and probably gives aggro a hard time in general, but it doesn't seem too solid being a pingable 2/1. How's it been, people that run it? Cadaver Imp This card has been one that was, until recently, in most cubes but has recently got the boot from many. Including my own. That's because while it is a good card, and probably better than Gravedigger, there really isn't much justification of paying 1B for a 1/1 flier on a Raise Dead, and that's not only how it looks, but how it plays. Wei Strike Force I think that the pingability costs it the slot here, because otherwise it's a pretty cool card. Vampire Aristocrat see husk. Phyrexian Ghoul see husk Bloodrite Invoker it's obviously bad without the ability, and it looks like a pretty fragile back to hold such an ability on. I'm not entirely sure about all this, though.
Carrion Feeder was played here until it was replaced by Fume Spitter - obviously a change for the better. I hadn't found Carrion Feeder to be that great as he was an all-in aggro card and that's where his ability was worst, they just dealt with it first.
Sewer Rats is one only I'm playing. I personally think it's great - the ability makes it relevant pretty much forever in combat, and the lifeloss isn't bad in black aggro.
Draft it on Cubetutor!
Vampire Lacerator--I'm not even going to discuss this. Everyone should be running this.
Carnophage--Same.
Fume Spitter--This card does so much more than Mogg Fanatic on average, and that's a good place to be in. Not only helps your smaller guys trade for bigger ones(like Fanatic), but it also makes your equally sized guys eat the opponent's and live to tell the tale.
Carrion Feeder--It's awkward. There aren't going to be that many times where a +1/+1 counter is going to be worth saccing a dude. I get that it helps soften the blow of opposing removal, but it really helps very little and I doubt it will be worth the times where it's underwhelming.
Sewer Rats--It actually doesn't look that bad, but I don't think aggro needs so much help that this is needed. I am going to be looking for a card to add, so this could actually be a consideration.
Putrid Imp--No thanks.
Corpulent Corpse--I'm running this and it pretty much sucks. Even on turn one, it's only okay. "Watch out! In 5 turns, I'll have a 7 turn clock that you can easily remove." I will be dropping it very soon.
Pauper Cube
I cube, I play EDH, and I can't afford Legacy. The other formats can suck it.
Fume Spitter is Mogg Fanatic's younger brother. Drahcir's got it right, good place to be.
Carrion Feeder is a sacrifice outlet. I may cut it soon, though.
Sewer Rats is a really interesting aggro creature, but it's probably not as powerful as the other aggro creatures, even some I don't run.
Putrid Imp is in my cube because I wanted to try to introduce the Dead Dog archetype from Constructed to the Cube. I may cut it soon, but for now it's staying.
Corpulent Corpse is pretty bad.
BLACK CREATURES 2CMC
6 Skittering Skirge
6 Dauthi Horror
5 Wretched Anurid
5 Order of the Ebon Hand
5 Fledgling Djinn
5 Dauthi Slayer
3 Skinthinner
3 Null Champion
3 Child of Night
3 Blind Creeper
2 Surrakar Marauder
2 Rathi Trapper
2 Nezumi Cutthroat
2 Augur of Skulls
1 Wicked Akuba
1 Wei Ambush Force
1 Undertaker
1 Festercreep
1 Barrow Ghoul
1 Undertaker
Interesting fact: this section is the most misspelt one of all time.
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
Also:
Skittering Skirge: Monster. Absolute monster.
Dauthi Horror: Staple
Wretched Anurid: This guy has won games in powered cube, he's staying.
Order of the Ebon Hand: I don't really like these guys but I just went with the flow on them.
Fledgling Djinn: Staple for me.
Dauthi Slayer: Staple for me
Skinthinner: It should be 5cc, but I have a bad habit of not looking that way, its good either way though
Null Champion: I'm thinking of moving this guy to the high cc range.
Child of Night: Awesome card, lifegain in this way can really put you ahead in pauper.
Surrakar Marauder, Nezumi Cutthroat: I like both these. ALOT.
Rathi Trapper: Rather use the above cards
Augur of Skulls: Bleh, run wrenched mind.
Wicked Akuba: Another bleh, no thanks I don't like it.
Undertaker: I would not run this.
Dauthi Horror There are only, I think, three creatures in my cube that can block it. Amazing guy.
Wretched Anurid deceptively good. Life loss is not relevant in decks that want him, they are FAST.
Order of the Ebon Hand I like it a lot. Pro white is quite a big deal as that makes it resistant to most removal apart from burn (being black already) and he can dominate combat. Mana intensive, though.
Fledgling DjinnExactly what black aggro wants - a reliable and efficient evasive creature. Great.
Dauthi Slayer Apart from the mana cost, this is at least as good as Horror. Cutting som BB guys is something I can get behind. Wouldn't cut him myself.
Skinthinner Not really a two drop. Necessary, in my opinion, to foster slow recursion decks.
Null Champion This sinks five mana before it has any relevance, and even then will probably bite removal or trade with pretty much any dude. Pretty slow for an aggressive creature, if you ask me.
Child of Night Not the kind of guy I'd want to run here. Not great in aggro, not great in control, okay in midrange? I'd much rather something like Erg Raiders which was less fragile.
Blind Creeper Deceptively bad. Attacking or blocking with him is a risk, they can shrink him pretty amazingly efficiently. Rubbish.
Surrakar Marauder I prefer Nzeumi Cutthroat for this slot and don't want both - neither is really better IMO
Rathi Trapper Black two drops are better than the white ones, and I don't even think trappers make the cut in white.
Nezumi Cutthroat Straightforward. And great, in my opinion.
Augur of Skulls Didn't like it. Either it was late discard or it was early preventable discard. Has quite a few "modes" I suppose but none are great.
Wicked Akuba Not a bad card at all, but I would cut it for one with an easier mana cost.
Wei Ambush Force I like it, but haven't had the chance to test it yet. Chances are it will be good, but not good enough as what was cut for it.
Festercreep Was awfully expensive.
Barrow Ghoul I fail to see what people dislike about him - a late game 4/4 for 1B really is worth it.
Undertaker Probably quite a good card, but a lot worse than Tortured Existence. Might cut something like Ichor Slick as it's hardly a beater.
Draft it on Cubetutor!
My bad on Skinthinner, but I think it's easiest if we discuss it now, since people have already talked about it. I'll put it in the 5CMC Closing Notes.
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
Pauper Cube
I cube, I play EDH, and I can't afford Legacy. The other formats can suck it.
However, using removal on Mistfolk is probably correct a lot of the time, and this sucks your mana out and skips a draw. Like Dachir says, a 2/1 shadow is not an amazing draw.
I'd urge people to test out the scout. That guy is just SO annoying.
Draft it on Cubetutor!
Skittering Skirge - I'd never seen this before. It's really good and it has a fitting drawback
Dauthi Horror - Not a huge fan of shadow as a mechanic - I like the flavor of Fear much better and shadow "feels" more like a blue ability to me - but obviously evasion makes this a solid choice for a pauper cube
Wretched Anurid - I have Blind Creeper in instead of this, but I think the Anurid might be better. I might try running both.
Order of the Ebon Hand - He's solid - Not in my list b/c I've been avoiding pro certain colors in my cube so far
Fledgling Djinn - Flawing with a classic drawback, fits in well with flavor wise with Carnophage and Lacerator
Dauthi Slayer - See my thoughts on shadow above, double black cost makes this worse than the Horror
Skinthinner - With a crazy fast aggro deck, who knows maybe it is a two drop! Probably much more relevant in control decks as a morph, obviously.
Null Champion - I've gone back and forth on this guy. It would be nice to have a level up creature in black.
Child of Night - More like Child of Sleepytime. Too many more interesting cards available that make the cut above this in my opinion.
Blind Creeper - I like the Creeper because it sets up lots of interesting play decisions for both players and it is a fun 3/3 with a drawback
Surrakar Marauder - I wish it said FEAR! Still, a decent card.
Rathi Trapper - Obviously a tapper for two is amazing. I don't run it though (or virtually any other Planar Chaos cards for that matter) because the ability is not in flavor for black. I'm crazy like that.
Nezumi Cutthroat - Hurray for Fear! I actually thought this was in my list...
Augur of Skulls - This card is amazing for slower black decks. Early on it is a blocker and later you can use it to get rid of those last few cards in your opponent's grip when the 1/1 is no longer relevant. This card gets even better the more discard you have. I drafted this guy last time I played - Turn 3 I untapped with it, made my opponent discard 2 on the upkeep and followed up with Blightning. My opponent had one card left. It was utterly backbreaking and sealed the game right then and there.
Wicked Akuba - I like this card a lot - he shines when swinging in with other creatures. The fact that you get to do damage after the fact makes this better than a standard "pump" critter when swinging into an empty board. Great at all stages of the game with decks that pack lots of removal.
Wei Ambush Force - This feels like it should be a red card. Not a fan.
Undertaker - There have been interesting arguments about this card on this thread. I think it could be good in black decks looking to survive until the late game. I've thought about trying out madness - this would be great with that.
Festercreep - If there were a few more good token cards, this might be better. I think there are too many better choices in black for dealing 1 (or more) damage to stuff
Barrow Ghoul - Interesting card, but requires some building around. It's just too hard to get creatures in your GY quick enough for you to cast this effectively on Turns 2 or 3. Pretty amazing later on though - 4/4 is big for black.
Other cards worth considering:
Grimclaw Bats - Evasion and pump, seems good to me.
Sangrophage - How is nobody else running this? I like the flavor of it being Carnophage's big brother and it's drawback is interesting ( opportunities for play decisions) since you can choose not to pay the life if the caca starts to hit the fan.
Mesmeric Fiend - It's a smaller Tidehollow Sculler at common and it's relevant in all stages of the game, save for top deck mode. That's good, right? Maybe its not aggressive, but seems like it would be a high pick in B/X control/discard builds.
Pit Keeper - Currently have this in, but haven't been impressed. Will probably come out soon.
Sig courtesy of Disappointing Signet Inc.
My Cubes:
Goblin Pile Shuffler's 360 Card Pauper Cube - updated 1/4/2014
Goblin Pile Shuffler's 270 Card One-Drop Cube - updated 1/4/2014
My personal thoughts on Undertaker: I think that this card actually has quite a lot of potential. It turns all of your dead draws into creatures. However, on the flip side, the fact that it's effect is so powerful (as a recurrable ability, anyway), it's a pretty big magnet for removal. But then again, being black makes it pretty good.
I think I need to test this. Going straight to my Testing Zone, and with big hopes.
Anyway, I'll leave 2CMC open for another day to let people comment if they wish. I'll probably even get around to posting my thoughts on all the other cards.
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
Good call on the scout, Rubin. I'm gonna suggest him/possibly give him a shot in my list.
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
Skittering Skirge--I'm not as big of a fan of this card as others, but that's just because I always draw terrible when I have this in my hand. Still though, the card is very good. Ever faced a turn one Dark Rit into Carnophage and this? It ain't pretty.
Dauthi Horror--Black's best two drop. Easy to cast and is a source of inevitability. Must-remove two drops are a good thing.
Wretched Anurid--I am a huge fan of this card. The drawback has been somewhat small for getting a 3/3 on turn 2. If acked up with removal or a good curve, your opponent will be losing a lot more life.
Order of the Ebon Hand--Not a huge fan of this card, but it will probably never get cut. It's somewhat unique to the format and mine is altered, so it has earned its place.
Fledgling Djinn--I like this guy a lot. A flying bear is well woth the one life a turn.
Dauthi Slayer--Much worse than Horror, but still good enough, imo. I could see arguments for cutting it though.
Skinthinner--Definitely either a 3cc card or a 5cc card. Card advantage blah, blah, blah.
Null Champion--I meant to pick this up a long time ago, but now I'm not so intrigued. It's a lot of mana investment for the first level that trades with one and two drops.
Child of Night--It's alright, but not terribly exciting. I guess it's best in this color rather than W or G, though, so that's something.
Blind Creeper--Not as good as its twin, but I've still been fairly pleased. Kind of annoying that stuff like Seal of Fire can kill it, but whatever.
Surrakar Marauder--It's been very good so far, but I think I'll be putting Cutthroat in for it.
Rathi Trapper--The white tappers are so much better it's not even funny. Black has plenty of hard removal, so this card is just awkward. There are obviously times where it is good, so don't bother listening to the hyperbole of some of these people.
Nezumi Cutthroat--Looks awesome and I will be adding it.
Augur of Skulls--I'll pass. Way too slow.
Wicked Akuba--I'm currently running this, but it has yet to be activated. Probably going to cut it soon.
Wei Ambush Force--It's ok, but I don't think black needs this card.
Undertaker--Really excited about the prospects of this card. It's mostly worse than Tortured Existence, like Fauna Shaman is worse than Survival of the Fittest. However, the difference is that this card can pitch anything for value. Pitching lands and Flashback spells should prove to be very good. Will be adding.
Festercreep--Too slow and this being a creature doesn't really make up for that.
Barrow Ghoul--Too narrow, imo. I'm not saying you can't get creatures in your gy, but you'll be regretting this card in your opening hand or at other early points in the game. It's a card for an aggresive deck that doesn't want to get played early. Awkward, but I could be wrong.
Grimclaw Bats--Looks interesting, but the 2cc black section is so tight.
Pauper Cube
I cube, I play EDH, and I can't afford Legacy. The other formats can suck it.
I actually really like this comparison. Pretty accurate.
[spoiler=My Thoughts]Aggro black 2CMC creatures, from best to worst:
And yes, yes, I know some of these cards aren't completely aggro - such as Order of the Ebon Hand - but they're the aggressively costed cards, so just bear with me.
Skinthinner is removal on a stick that still isn't bad if you play it normally. Yeah, pretty good.
Null Champion is a lot of mana for eventual awesome. Perhaps just a tad overcosted; on my chopping block.
Augur of Skulls has always been slow as hell when it was in the cube.
I saw Festercreep do insane things once with Grim Harvest. But realistically, it's not very good.
Undertaker - you guys already know my thoughts on this card.
Barrow Ghoul seems pretty annoying. It's difficult to be able to consistently have it survive 2+ turns. I don't really like it.
Grimclaw Bats is 'nice', I guess, but Drahcir's right; 2CMC is too tight.
Erg Raiders is nice, but the extra toughness really isn't that big an advantage. No evasion means that there are a lot of other cards that are superior to it that don't have drawbacks.[/spoiler]
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
6 Liliana’s Specter
6 Dauthi Marauder
5 Skittering Horror
5 Phyrexian Rager
5 Moriok Replica
5 Crypt Rats
4 Stinkweed Imp
3 Takenuma Bleeder
3 Chittering Rats
2 Zombie Cutthroat
2 Vampire Hounds
2 Ravenous Skirge
2 Nantuko Husk
2 Death's-head Buzzard
2 Cadaver Imp
1 Wei Strike Force
1 Vampire Aristocrat
1 Phyrexian Ghoul
1 Bloodrite Invoker
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
Dauthi Marauder This guy is great because he's inevitable - they're going to take three every turn that you can attack with him. He's pretty linear, but afterall, every deck bar one I've ever drafted or seen aimed to get the opponent to 0.
Skittering Horror Good. I don't feel the infatuation some do for it - its drawback is downright painful sometimes and its body, while being great, is not anything near gamebreaking.
Phyrexian Rager Great card. Card advantage + decent body is awesome.
Moriok Replica Rager's older brother. More powerful in theory, I suppose, but harder to work around and probably worse.
Crypt Rats This guy is a mega staple. (only reason I didn't talk about this when talking about the best card in this slot is that it's a sweeper before a creature). Great.
Stinkweed Imp I found the dredge to be rather ineffective at recurring him in slower decks (the ones that want him anyway).
Takenuma Bleeder I have no need for a 3/3 for 3 with a drawback. Sorry, but if I was thinking of running this I'd just cut it for a 2 drop.
Chittering Rats Really solid, and one of the kings of pauper constructed. Like Phyrexian Rager in that it's a 2/2 with +1 card advantage tacked on. Thing I like about this is it often buys you a turn against control decks looking for an out. Solid overall too, though.
Zombie Cutthroat This guy does hurt, don't get me wrong. However, he's pretty indestructable being black and having 4 toughness, and the fact that he's a colourless morph means it can go in almost any aggro deck (Phyrexian War Beast 2.0, I suppose)
Vampire Hounds: we ran it for a while, but it never really did much. The body by itself is obviously mediocre, and while it was nice to be able to pump it to not let it die, it was no Putrid Leech (or Wild Mongrel) and you rarely ever wanted to discard your dudes, or had enough in hand to even think about dealing large damage to the dome.
Ravenous Skirge This guy's great, black is the 3/1 flier that can't block well's best home as its way can be easily cleared with removal and it can be a great way to get there in aggressive strategies.
Nantuko Husk
Death's-head Buzzard I suppose this is quite good in some circumstances - trades with X/3s and probably gives aggro a hard time in general, but it doesn't seem too solid being a pingable 2/1. How's it been, people that run it?
Cadaver Imp This card has been one that was, until recently, in most cubes but has recently got the boot from many. Including my own. That's because while it is a good card, and probably better than Gravedigger, there really isn't much justification of paying 1B for a 1/1 flier on a Raise Dead, and that's not only how it looks, but how it plays.
Wei Strike Force I think that the pingability costs it the slot here, because otherwise it's a pretty cool card.
Vampire Aristocrat see husk.
Phyrexian Ghoul see husk
Bloodrite Invoker it's obviously bad without the ability, and it looks like a pretty fragile back to hold such an ability on. I'm not entirely sure about all this, though.
Draft it on Cubetutor!
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2