So, M12. No bolt, no Baneslayer, but still five broken Titans. Another bad black planeswalker (that mattered little enough the first time around) and three new ones that look decent, but not as good as Big Jace who was, luckily, not reprinted. Oh, we don't care about any of that?
It's actually a pretty good set all told, I think. Core sets rarely give us much, so that's a pleasant surprise.
White:
Despite having the best card of all here, in my opinion of course, white hasn't had a big haul from M12. Which is a shame, really.
Armored Warhorse: It's not straight terrible, for sure, and I wouldn't laugh if I found one in someone's cube. But it's not worth it. Sure, you don't have to be that much better than a bear to be a decent two drop, but you do if you cost two of a single colour. This isn't close to be worth risking a double coloured cost. Even still, Veteran Armoursmith is better. Cuttable
Benalish Veteran: It's playable, sure. I'm going to be fine with playing it in most aggressive white decks. Still, I don't rate it very highly at all against the other options for white three drops. Even the borderline cards like Apex Hawks or Dawnglare Invoker just seem to be better most of the time. Borderline.
Divine Favor: It might surprise you, but I'm going to test this card. Sure, it's an aura and doesn't have any kind of protection built in (apart from three extra toughness). The thing that actually puts this into the maybe playable pile for me is the 3 life gained – it just reminds me of Temple Acolyte, a favourite card of mine. Borderline?
Gideon's Lawkeeper: Those who don't run Goldmeadow Harrier aren't excited, the people that do are pretty damn happy about his clone. Oh, and I don't think I've ever seen a cube without Goldmeadow Harrier, by the way. Staple
Griffin Rider: This guy makes me want to play regular limited for once because it rewards you for doing what you want to do anyways – picking up white fliers. It's obviously horrible for cube, though, and will be until they print another 50 or so playable common griffins. Get it away from me
Guardians' Pledge: As much as I like the deck that this is made for, and agree that it does need support, I don't think this card is it. Marshalling Cry and Fortify are just hands-down better and even they are narrow cards to a degree. Add another condition and I think it'll just sit at the bottom of the pack more often than not. Borderline (just)
Peregrine Griffin: Please don't play this. Very rarely is it better than Makindi Griffin, and very rarely is that cubed. Get It Away From Me
Pride Guardian: This reminded me of Perimeter Captain, a card I wished was common. But only for a second, before I noticed the one thing that makes this card unplayable and makes Perimeter Captain a very very good defensive creature for a format like Pauper Cube (not that it matters, cause it's uncommon) - one point of tougness. I really don't think its worth it if it dies to maybe double the burn and many many more creatures. Cuttable Stave Off: Apostle's Blessing is almost a cubable card, but this isn't. Why? Decks that want a to pay a card for a trick like this are few, and limiting it to white doesn't help a bit. Get It Away From Me.
Stonehorn Dignitary: Yeah, it looks decent on first glance to some. But Teroh's Faithful is nowhere near cubable and probably a whole lot better. Cuttable
Blue:
Some cubers will be playing five cards from this set. FIVE, from a core set. That's damn insane, in my opinion.
Aphim Cutthroat: There are so many strictly better cards that aren't even good, don't play this. Get it Away From Me
Aven Fleetwing: There's been a lot of discussion about this guy and whether he stacks up against Fencer Clique, Wayward Soul and Shimmering Glasskite. Each of those is easily playable at the 360 level, so being better than any of them is pretty much confirmation that it's at least cubable. But personally, I don't see it as being better than any of them. Either 3 power or 3 toughness is really important as a 2/2 is just way below curve for 4 mana. Still, I might be playing it in my 360 but I think it's only the fifth best blue 4 drop (sixth if Impaler Shrike tests well). There are quite a few things higher in the curve that I can see cutting in many cubes, though. Cubable Chasm Drake: It's definitely better than Kinsbale Balloonist, though in a colour that likes its ability less. It's certainly a fine card and makes its way into most blue creature decks, and probably my favourite 5 mana flier in blue. However, blue high end fliers are starting to get stacked (despite few of the good ones costing five). I don't think this will edge anything out. Borderline
Frost Breath: Of course, the obvious comparison is Blinding Beam. It's close to the power of Beam at the least, but in the only colour that doesn't really love adding white for Blinding Beam. I'm not nearly as strongly behind Beam as most pauper cubers are, you might want to note, but I don't know if I'll actually play its blue version. Undo and Rushing River are both better IMO, and Undo is actually pretty close to a cut in my cube. Bigger cubes should be able to make room, though. Cubable
Merfolk Mesmerist: No way. The only mill card I've ever won a cube game with is Wayward Soul (control mirrors do often end in mill) and that's obviously not the main purpose of the card. Some playable mill may come one day but this is not it. Get It Away From Me
Phantasmal Bear: This is a very strong one drop beater for sure. Question is, how many blue decks even want a one drop beater? I'm honestly not sure. It's obviously less than good in dedicated control decks (though I'll stand by playing it there if I'm down on defensive creatures) but in any deck with maybe 10 or more creatures this guy could actually really shine. Those decks happen quite often around here, enough for me to want to include it. Cubable
Skywinder Drake: Ridishan Airship, but less awesome at everything but playability. Maybe this printing doesn't matter very much when there already were 2 cards that did exactly the same thing, but its definitely Cubable
Black:
It's hard to be excited when I'm only going to add one card to my cube at first (Tormented Soul), but Black's share of the pie is hardly bad.
Dark Favor: Nope. I love the card but I think it's quite a way from being cubable. Maybe if Divine Favor ends up playing well then I'll think about this card again, but I doubt it'll ever make it into most cubes. Borderline, at most.
Devouring Swarm: I think it might be better than Nantuko Husk. If you're running Husk, maybe give it a whirl because its base body is just so much better. It's not as similar as if might look though: This has a decent body that you'll rarely need to beef up in combat (but you might be able to protect it from removal) and can end the game by putting everone else on his evasive back. It's consistent where Husk is swingy, but then again it can't deal nearly the same amount of damage. Borderline-Cubable
Duskhunter Bat: A 2/2 flyig for 1b is insane, and as such Fledgling Djinn is a really solid beater in cube. But I really doubt that this is any good – it's a terrible topdeck, it can't necessarily come down on turn 2 and it forces you to play differently to play around it. Just not enough reward. Cuttable-Borderline
Sorin's Thirst: Viscous Hunger is now an instant! Not that anyone cares, because black 2 cost removal is way better on average than this, even without such a restrictive cost. Even the best BB removal spells (Geth's Verdict, for example) are still on the chopping block because the cost is so bad.
Tormented Soul: Reliable damage that can really stack up, only for B. And weilds equipment like the champ of champs. People need to reevaluate their evasive one drop 1/1s, seriously. I'll say at least Borderline (but I suspect most of you will rate it lower).
Wring Flesh: It looks on first sight to maybe be on par with Disfigure, but this isn't true in the slightest. A creatures power does not matter when it is dead, and Disfigure was always a better removal spell than combat trick. Still, being worse than Disfigure doesn't mean a card is bad – but only killing maybe a half (I haven't worked that out though) of the targets does. Cuttable
If I can be sad about anything, it's that they didn't give us another burn spell to play with. But it's pretty hard to be sad about red in M12. Very hard.
Blood Ogre: I'm starting to like this guy more and more. It's a rare red deck that can't more or less guarantee damage by turn 3, and this guy is really insane turned on on turn three. There's very little that can handle three power of first strike, and first strike is better in red than any other colour due to burn. I'm still pretty sure that Ballyknock Cohort is the better card, but think that Blood Ogre doesn't have the potential to be shrunk in combat just by using removal on another of your guys. I'd say Cubable. Bumping out my much-loved Inner-Flame Acolyte at least for the time being. Bonebreaker Giant: It doesn't even have good art. Sadface. Get it Away From Me Goblin Fireslinger: Don't think of this as a pinger, it really isn't. It's closer to an unblockable dude, but it's ability is worse than unblockability. You can't chuck equipment on him and ride ridiculous amounts of unstoppable damage to victory, though admittedly you can chuck equipment on him and have a blocker that also gets in for one per turn. It's debatable whether an unblockable 1/1 for r would even be playable, but with my obvious bias I would go for yes. This is really quite a downgrade, though. Borderline
Gorehorn Minotaurs: Now this is exciting. Of course, it's living the dream to classify it as a straight 5/5 for 4, but I don't think it's too far off it. If you draw it in your opening hand and hit all your land drops, it's highly likely that you'd be able to play it as a 5/5 on turn four, and almost all of the time be able to cast it eventually at its height. Of course, it pales whenever you topdeck it onto an empty board (and most of the time that you're behind), but you're red. If you can't get the damage required for this guy, it's quite a lot less likely that you're going to win anyway. I'd say definitely Cubable. Maybe even Staple
Wall of Torches: It'll die on its first block, so it's a removal spell. A very conditional, overcosted removal spell. Oh, and Flame Slash. Cuttable at best.
Green:
Now, green is where I can actually be dissapointed. Archanus Web will be going into my cube, but I'm not excited about the rehash of the green sub-par removal spell. Arachnus Web: Yes, it's green removal. It wouldn't make the cut in any other colours simply because it'd be outclassed, but it's very possibly the best removal spell in green. Still, it isn't that powerful and might not make it into all cubes. Cubable
Gladecover Scout: Despite whatever it might seem to be, it's not good. It looks kinda like Silhana Ledgewalker, but the lack of evasion makes the card many many times worse. I'm pretty sure this is also quite a bit worse than Sacred Wolf, a card that was thoroughly underwhelming for almost everyone who tried to cube with it. Cuttable
Lurking Crocodile: Neat card, but whatever way you cut it, cubing with either of the vanilla 3/3s for 2g is just better. Shame, though. Cuttable.
Titanic Growth: Instead of a cool Giant Growth variant, they give us a functional reprint of an overcosted, underloved card? It isn't terrible though, I'd say Cuttable-Borderline
Trollhide: Most people don't play Savage Silhouette, but it isn't a terrible card. I can hardly see both going into many cubes, not that they shouldn't. Of course, Trollhide will probably be easier to get your hands on if you want to play one of them. Borderline
Finally, a list of what's going in my 360 card cube, and what I will and might test:
Definitely Temple Acolyte, not even close. A few things: Pride Guardian is nothing to removal. Sure, it's a 1 drop so this might seem to not matter, but if it's a card you're relying on to beat aggro, you don't want it to be only bolt bait half of the time. While Temple Acolyte has the same problem to a degree, the life gain plus the loss of a removal spell (especially if it's a burn spell that'd otherwise be going to your face) makes a considerably better speed-bump. Temple Acolyte has power, and is thus a whole lot better against weeny decks with lots of x/1s. Temple Acolyte can attack, this matters most with equipment or against control decks.
Pride Guardian is nothing if your opponent has evasive dudes to do most (or all) of the attacking. Temple Acolyte isn't amazing here either, but it can attack and it gets you some life so it isn't a dead card.
Of course, Pride Guardian has its own advantages (basically it is a lot better against 2/2s), but I don't think its close to Temple Acolyte in power.
True enough. I'm testing Pride Guardian right now; if it turns out to rock hard, or it turns out to bomb out hard, either way I'll be trying Temple Acolyte afterwards.
True enough. I'm testing Pride Guardian right now; if it turns out to rock hard, or it turns out to bomb out hard, either way I'll be trying Temple Acolyte afterwards.
Totally understand, new cards are much more interesting!
So, M12. No bolt, no Baneslayer, but still five broken Titans. Another bad black planeswalker (that mattered little enough the first time around) and three new ones that look decent, but not as good as Big Jace who was, luckily, not reprinted. Oh, we don't care about any of that?
It's actually a pretty good set all told, I think. Core sets rarely give us much, so that's a pleasant surprise.
White:
Despite having the best card of all here, in my opinion of course, white hasn't had a big haul from M12. Which is a shame, really.
Armored Warhorse: It's not straight terrible, for sure, and I wouldn't laugh if I found one in someone's cube. But it's not worth it. Sure, you don't have to be that much better than a bear to be a decent two drop, but you do if you cost two of a single colour. This isn't close to be worth risking a double coloured cost. Even still, Veteran Armoursmith is better. Cuttable
Benalish Veteran: It's playable, sure. I'm going to be fine with playing it in most aggressive white decks. Still, I don't rate it very highly at all against the other options for white three drops. Even the borderline cards like Apex Hawks or Dawnglare Invoker just seem to be better most of the time. Borderline.
Divine Favor: It might surprise you, but I'm going to test this card. Sure, it's an aura and doesn't have any kind of protection built in (apart from three extra toughness). The thing that actually puts this into the maybe playable pile for me is the 3 life gained – it just reminds me of Temple Acolyte, a favourite card of mine. Borderline?
Gideon's Lawkeeper: Those who don't run Goldmeadow Harrier aren't excited, the people that do are pretty damn happy about his clone. Oh, and I don't think I've ever seen a cube without Goldmeadow Harrier, by the way. Staple
Griffin Rider: This guy makes me want to play regular limited for once because it rewards you for doing what you want to do anyways – picking up white fliers. It's obviously horrible for cube, though, and will be until they print another 50 or so playable common griffins. Get it away from me
Guardians' Pledge: As much as I like the deck that this is made for, and agree that it does need support, I don't think this card is it. Marshalling Cry and Fortify are just hands-down better and even they are narrow cards to a degree. Add another condition and I think it'll just sit at the bottom of the pack more often than not. Borderline (just)
Peregrine Griffin: Please don't play this. Very rarely is it better than Makindi Griffin, and very rarely is that cubed. Get It Away From Me
Pride Guardian: This reminded me of Perimeter Captain, a card I wished was common. But only for a second, before I noticed the one thing that makes this card unplayable and makes Perimeter Captain a very very good defensive creature for a format like Pauper Cube (not that it matters, cause it's uncommon) - one point of tougness. I really don't think its worth it if it dies to maybe double the burn and many many more creatures. Cuttable
Stave Off: Apostle's Blessing is almost a cubable card, but this isn't. Why? Decks that want a to pay a card for a trick like this are few, and limiting it to white doesn't help a bit. Get It Away From Me.
Stonehorn Dignitary: Yeah, it looks decent on first glance to some. But Teroh's Faithful is nowhere near cubable and probably a whole lot better. Cuttable
Blue:
Some cubers will be playing five cards from this set. FIVE, from a core set. That's damn insane, in my opinion.
Aphim Cutthroat: There are so many strictly better cards that aren't even good, don't play this. Get it Away From Me
Aven Fleetwing: There's been a lot of discussion about this guy and whether he stacks up against Fencer Clique, Wayward Soul and Shimmering Glasskite. Each of those is easily playable at the 360 level, so being better than any of them is pretty much confirmation that it's at least cubable. But personally, I don't see it as being better than any of them. Either 3 power or 3 toughness is really important as a 2/2 is just way below curve for 4 mana. Still, I might be playing it in my 360 but I think it's only the fifth best blue 4 drop (sixth if Impaler Shrike tests well). There are quite a few things higher in the curve that I can see cutting in many cubes, though. Cubable
Chasm Drake: It's definitely better than Kinsbale Balloonist, though in a colour that likes its ability less. It's certainly a fine card and makes its way into most blue creature decks, and probably my favourite 5 mana flier in blue. However, blue high end fliers are starting to get stacked (despite few of the good ones costing five). I don't think this will edge anything out. Borderline
Frost Breath: Of course, the obvious comparison is Blinding Beam. It's close to the power of Beam at the least, but in the only colour that doesn't really love adding white for Blinding Beam. I'm not nearly as strongly behind Beam as most pauper cubers are, you might want to note, but I don't know if I'll actually play its blue version. Undo and Rushing River are both better IMO, and Undo is actually pretty close to a cut in my cube. Bigger cubes should be able to make room, though. Cubable
Merfolk Mesmerist: No way. The only mill card I've ever won a cube game with is Wayward Soul (control mirrors do often end in mill) and that's obviously not the main purpose of the card. Some playable mill may come one day but this is not it. Get It Away From Me
Phantasmal Bear: This is a very strong one drop beater for sure. Question is, how many blue decks even want a one drop beater? I'm honestly not sure. It's obviously less than good in dedicated control decks (though I'll stand by playing it there if I'm down on defensive creatures) but in any deck with maybe 10 or more creatures this guy could actually really shine. Those decks happen quite often around here, enough for me to want to include it. Cubable
Skywinder Drake: Ridishan Airship, but less awesome at everything but playability. Maybe this printing doesn't matter very much when there already were 2 cards that did exactly the same thing, but its definitely Cubable
Black:
It's hard to be excited when I'm only going to add one card to my cube at first (Tormented Soul), but Black's share of the pie is hardly bad.
Bloodrage Vampire: I wouldn't play it as a 4/2. Cuttable
Dark Favor: Nope. I love the card but I think it's quite a way from being cubable. Maybe if Divine Favor ends up playing well then I'll think about this card again, but I doubt it'll ever make it into most cubes. Borderline, at most.
Devouring Swarm: I think it might be better than Nantuko Husk. If you're running Husk, maybe give it a whirl because its base body is just so much better. It's not as similar as if might look though: This has a decent body that you'll rarely need to beef up in combat (but you might be able to protect it from removal) and can end the game by putting everone else on his evasive back. It's consistent where Husk is swingy, but then again it can't deal nearly the same amount of damage. Borderline-Cubable
Duskhunter Bat: A 2/2 flyig for 1b is insane, and as such Fledgling Djinn is a really solid beater in cube. But I really doubt that this is any good – it's a terrible topdeck, it can't necessarily come down on turn 2 and it forces you to play differently to play around it. Just not enough reward. Cuttable-Borderline
Hideous Visage: Maybe not terrible, but definitely outclassed (Dirge of the Dead, Ruthless Invasion) Cuttable
Sorin's Thirst: Viscous Hunger is now an instant! Not that anyone cares, because black 2 cost removal is way better on average than this, even without such a restrictive cost. Even the best BB removal spells (Geth's Verdict, for example) are still on the chopping block because the cost is so bad.
Tormented Soul: Reliable damage that can really stack up, only for B. And weilds equipment like the champ of champs. People need to reevaluate their evasive one drop 1/1s, seriously. I'll say at least Borderline (but I suspect most of you will rate it lower).
Wring Flesh: It looks on first sight to maybe be on par with Disfigure, but this isn't true in the slightest. A creatures power does not matter when it is dead, and Disfigure was always a better removal spell than combat trick. Still, being worse than Disfigure doesn't mean a card is bad – but only killing maybe a half (I haven't worked that out though) of the targets does. Cuttable
Taste of Blood: Ugh.
Red:
If I can be sad about anything, it's that they didn't give us another burn spell to play with. But it's pretty hard to be sad about red in M12. Very hard.
Blood Ogre: I'm starting to like this guy more and more. It's a rare red deck that can't more or less guarantee damage by turn 3, and this guy is really insane turned on on turn three. There's very little that can handle three power of first strike, and first strike is better in red than any other colour due to burn. I'm still pretty sure that Ballyknock Cohort is the better card, but think that Blood Ogre doesn't have the potential to be shrunk in combat just by using removal on another of your guys. I'd say Cubable. Bumping out my much-loved Inner-Flame Acolyte at least for the time being.
Bonebreaker Giant: It doesn't even have good art. Sadface. Get it Away From Me
Goblin Fireslinger: Don't think of this as a pinger, it really isn't. It's closer to an unblockable dude, but it's ability is worse than unblockability. You can't chuck equipment on him and ride ridiculous amounts of unstoppable damage to victory, though admittedly you can chuck equipment on him and have a blocker that also gets in for one per turn. It's debatable whether an unblockable 1/1 for r would even be playable, but with my obvious bias I would go for yes. This is really quite a downgrade, though. Borderline
Gorehorn Minotaurs: Now this is exciting. Of course, it's living the dream to classify it as a straight 5/5 for 4, but I don't think it's too far off it. If you draw it in your opening hand and hit all your land drops, it's highly likely that you'd be able to play it as a 5/5 on turn four, and almost all of the time be able to cast it eventually at its height. Of course, it pales whenever you topdeck it onto an empty board (and most of the time that you're behind), but you're red. If you can't get the damage required for this guy, it's quite a lot less likely that you're going to win anyway. I'd say definitely Cubable. Maybe even Staple
Wall of Torches: It'll die on its first block, so it's a removal spell. A very conditional, overcosted removal spell. Oh, and Flame Slash. Cuttable at best.
Green:
Now, green is where I can actually be dissapointed. Archanus Web will be going into my cube, but I'm not excited about the rehash of the green sub-par removal spell.
Arachnus Web: Yes, it's green removal. It wouldn't make the cut in any other colours simply because it'd be outclassed, but it's very possibly the best removal spell in green. Still, it isn't that powerful and might not make it into all cubes. Cubable
Gladecover Scout: Despite whatever it might seem to be, it's not good. It looks kinda like Silhana Ledgewalker, but the lack of evasion makes the card many many times worse. I'm pretty sure this is also quite a bit worse than Sacred Wolf, a card that was thoroughly underwhelming for almost everyone who tried to cube with it. Cuttable
Lurking Crocodile: Neat card, but whatever way you cut it, cubing with either of the vanilla 3/3s for 2g is just better. Shame, though. Cuttable.
Titanic Growth: Instead of a cool Giant Growth variant, they give us a functional reprint of an overcosted, underloved card? It isn't terrible though, I'd say Cuttable-Borderline
Trollhide: Most people don't play Savage Silhouette, but it isn't a terrible card. I can hardly see both going into many cubes, not that they shouldn't. Of course, Trollhide will probably be easier to get your hands on if you want to play one of them. Borderline
Finally, a list of what's going in my 360 card cube, and what I will and might test:
Play:
- Gideon's Lawkeeper
- Phantasmal Bear
- Tormented Soul
- Blood Ogre
- Gorehorn Minotaurs
- Arachnus Web
Test:- Divine Favor
- Aven Fleetwing
- Frost Breath
- Devouring Swarm
Probably Not Test:Draft it on Cubetutor!
Gideon's Lawkeeper;
Pride Guardian;
Guardian's Pledge;
Phantasmal Bear;
Frost Breath;
Blood Ogre;
Gorehorn Minotaur;
Aracnus Web;
I think Duskhunter Bat; Wring Flesh are okay, but could not find cuts for them.
Magic Work Station Winston-180 http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=315755
Your opinion on Pride Guardian vs. Temple Acolyte.
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
Definitely Temple Acolyte, not even close. A few things:
Pride Guardian is nothing to removal. Sure, it's a 1 drop so this might seem to not matter, but if it's a card you're relying on to beat aggro, you don't want it to be only bolt bait half of the time. While Temple Acolyte has the same problem to a degree, the life gain plus the loss of a removal spell (especially if it's a burn spell that'd otherwise be going to your face) makes a considerably better speed-bump.
Temple Acolyte has power, and is thus a whole lot better against weeny decks with lots of x/1s.
Temple Acolyte can attack, this matters most with equipment or against control decks.
Pride Guardian is nothing if your opponent has evasive dudes to do most (or all) of the attacking. Temple Acolyte isn't amazing here either, but it can attack and it gets you some life so it isn't a dead card.
Of course, Pride Guardian has its own advantages (basically it is a lot better against 2/2s), but I don't think its close to Temple Acolyte in power.
Draft it on Cubetutor!
My Pauper Cube ♤ The Pauper Cube Thread Common Knowledge — 1 2
Totally understand, new cards are much more interesting!
Draft it on Cubetutor!