Angel's MercyTerrible. What a flavourful reprint. CloudshiftBorderline. For a number of reasons Stave Off is just better. Cloudshift retriggers abilities, saves a dude from combat and kill spells and rids auras. Stave off does all that except for retriggering abilities, but better. It can make a creature unblockable and make combat one-sided, and even then it isn't in many peoples lists. Midnight DuelistTerrible. Makes Sanctuary Cat a very, very sad card. Moorland InquisitorBad. Acually isn't terrible. It just needs a 2 removed for the cost of it's activated ability. Righteous StrikeBorderline. White already has good cheap removal and this one is quite conditional and doesn't kill big bad things. White alread has quite good removal and doesn't need this. Seraph of DawnCubeable. The lifegain is a big deal on this thing and already people considered Makindi Griffin boarderline. The angel can race like a boss. Life gain stapled on to an boarderline creature/effect is always good, and with 4 toughness, there isn't going to be too much that can actually kill him. Oh yeah, you should be running this Angel in almost all of you cubes. Thraben ValiantBorderline. Not bad... But white 2-drop slot is fairly decent these days. Voice of the ProvincesBad. The token isn't actually that relevant and the body is overpriced and underpowered. Zealous StrikeBad. Hmmm, there are a billion different, better combat tricks in white.
Blue
Amass the ComponentsBorderline. I love the name. I love the flavour, I love the words draw 3 on a 4cc card. But this card is a lot worse than Foresee which is in the slot that this card wants in any cube. Crippling ChillBorderline. I like this card, but do you know how much better Repluse is to this card? It's not close. Elgaud ShieldmateBorderline. Hmmm, hexproof and soulbond is a ponent combonation. I would be surprised if this card is better than it looks. I looks like it deserves testing. GhostformBad. There are cards which do what this card does dispite it's this cards good looks. Distortion Strike for one and that one from Dark Ascention with flashback. Ghostly FlickerBorderline. This card is so versitle that it could just make it in for that one reason. It resets alsorts of triggers, land and creatures a like and maybe even artifacts. Fogs. Acts as a Psudo-counter target kill spell or does a combonation of those things. It can also untap guys on you side of the board for a surprise blocking. I feel this card requires testing. Gryff VanguardCubeable. First things first, Gryff Vanguard is better in aggro and midrange than Spire Monitor. But Spire Monitor is better in control. Don't compare this card to Mulldrifter as that is one of blue's best cards and is on a whole different level. I would be looking for room in my cube depending on how much aggressive support I want to give blue. I have difficulties saying no to a 3 powered flyer that straight up cantraps for 5. The cantrap is a big deal. Mist RavenCubeable. What's better than a Man-o'-War One with Flying! (Although Mist Raven costs 1 more.) What's better than that? Curving from a Man-o'-War on to a Mist Raven This card actually feels almost staple. It would surprise me if it becomes one. Scrapskin DrakeBad. This card is a functional reprint of Cloud Elemental and is no where near good enough for Pauper cube! WingcrafterCubeable. This card is really good. Only sometimes when there isn't the support for it, it could be bad as it just sits around as a vanilla 1/1 or you have to pair it up with a a creature that already have some sort of evasion. Even then it can still act like a Kitesail that you don't have to sink mana into to equip. Plus it's cool sauce. Maybe if your cube has no aggro support in Blue then no. And remember kiddies that where the pair of Wingcafter dies, you can re-soulbind when another creature enters the battlefield. So it is not likely to spend much time as a Fugitive Wizard.
Black
Driver of the DeadBorderline. I like the flavour in this card. I also like Gravedigger a lot more. Honestly a 2/3 for 4 which a death trigger that may get you an okay small creature long is pretty mediocre. Essence HarvestBorderline. Creatures in Pauper especially black tend to be too small to make this card workable. Grave ExchangeBad. This card is so pricey, it's just not worth it. Human FrailtyBad. To me this card reads, 'Win!', but it also reads, 'not good enough for cube.' Hunted Ghoul Bad. I feel that Sanctuary Cat is getting trolled so hard. Soulcage FiendCubeable. Yes! This card makes me so happy! It has nice stats and all players lossing 3 life is nothing to sneeze at. It fact that is a massive deal. This card is so good against anything other than the aggro mirrors. You should be looking for room for this. Undead ExecutionerBorderline. It's an awkward triggered kill spell on a stick. I don't like the trigger on this card being a death trigger, so it goes for a card that I'm just raving non-stop about if the -2/-2 was an ETB ability to so random borderline dude. Unhallowed PactBad. Undying Evil is at least 4 times better than this card.
Red
Battle HymnTerribe. Mmmm, mana. Dangerous WagerBorderline. I am not a fan of this card (in cube. If you are dumping your hand really quickly, it's good, but I feel that this card is just a trap. It's a too conditional for a draw 2, and if you want to be throwing way jank from you hand and replacing it with other cards, Faithless Looting is just better at that, plus not a lot of the time it's even giving you card advantage. Red has a lot better ways to gain card advantage than this. Fervent CatharBorderline. I'm not sold on this card. Even though it's abilities syngize really well, a 2/1 body is really small for on turn 3 even though the haste makes up for a lot. Kruin StrikerCubeable. It seems like an shoe-in for the ever lacking red 2-drop slot. He effectively is a conditional 3/1 trampler which is what red really wants, although if you are not landing your drops then he card be lackluster. But still I feel is a definite incursion in. Red 2cc has always been lacking and he's another step in the right direction. He still isn't as good as the 2 drops in other colours which is sad, but he's a step in the right dirction. I'd run him in most cubes. Mad ProphetBad. It's another card that I just can't help, but love. Well, outside of cube at least. Pillar of FlameBad. If it cost one more mana and dealt on more damage, then I would be so hard over that card its not even funny. But sadly thats not the case. The exile does just he sorcery speed shock. The exile shouldn't be the main feature about a subpar card in pauper cube. It should just be a nifty perk on a already playable card. Don't get me wrong, I'm alway looking for ways to nerf the grave, but this is not one of the.
Green
Abundant GrowthBad. Green doen't need a card solely for fixing colour. Colourless, yes! Green, no. Borderland RangerCubealbe. This is a reprint. If you weren't already running this, now is the time to add this into your cube. Lair DelveBad. This is not a green draw 2 for 3 mana. Natural EndingStaple. Reasoning, if you not already running Naturalize you should be and this thing despite costing one more which is a lot by the way gains you life. Lifegain is actually the nuts when it's stapled on to an already good thing. I'm not saying that 3 mana isn't a lot more than 2, because it is, but that lifegain itself will just save you so many times when it's accompanied by a decent effect. Maybe you might want cheapness if you are annoyed with those annoying control decks, derping, but over all I feel that this is a better version of an already staple card. Pathbreaker WurmBad. You want you fatties to be reliable and a one-man army. This is neither. Trusty ForcemageCubeable. My first impression was that this was an easy include, but thinking about it, I actually find the 3/3 vanillas for 3 better. The thing is the vanilla Coursers are always really good. Regardless of what is being played around then. They carry when there is nothing else there. This dude is conditional. Although he does provide potentually more power to the board. Plus some people aren't even running the Coursers anymore as 3cc in green is tightening up.
Multicoloured and Colourless...
LOL!!!
Notes: I'm only posting up the stuff that I believe is good enough or have something to say about, because I don't like to either write nor read about, "Bad card is bad" or why said bad card is bad. It bores me. Although there where a couple of cards here that I couldn't help but troll. If I didn't mention a card, in all likelihood my opinion of it is it is not worth wasting braincells on for considering it for Pauper Cube, although there is a chance that I may have overlooked something.
Also I kind of stole the Judging Rubric... And copy and pasted some of my forum posts because I don't want to rewrite about something twice, where I am just going to say the same thing again
Do you think you'll end up trying Elgaud Shieldmate in your cube? I think it's going to be the sleeper surprise of the set.
Re: Dangerous Wager, you said there are lots of better ways to draw cards in red. Besides Faithless Looting, I can't think of any at common. If there's another red spell that draws multiple cards which I haven't heard of, please tell me!
Yeah, you are right, Elgaud Shieldmate is almost certainly cubeable. I guess I just am not giving that bad boy the credit that he deserves. Plus he really puts the hose on removal in genral, which I like a lot in a card.
I said card advantage, not card drawing, although card drawing leads to card advantage. What I meant was that I don't like Dangerous Wager for card filtering, in which Faithless Looting is kind of a lot better at doing and also if you are using Dangerous Wager to draw cards which is in effect to gain card advantage, you are doing it the wrong way. It's so conditional. And the 2-1 spells in red are already really good. With all the 2-1 removal spells. But you have got me there on what other red common draw spells there are.
Human Frailty is uncommon. Makes me sad. I mean that card looks so Bad Ass, from a flavour point. Not that I would run it anyway.
I actually forgot to add Wandering Wolf. Yes that card is cool and awesome and stuff, but have you had a look at some of green's existing 2 drops. They are so powerful, and this card is not like River Boa or Wild Mongral by a long shot. Yes it is cubeable but if your cube is tight, then it's going to be a tough squeeze putting it in.
I might edit in/out those cards in to my OP later.
Also it was really late when I wrote the review, so pardon for any errors.
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•Bomb: This card probably always will be one of the core cards in the cube and will be consistently first-picked. Examples are: Serrated Arrows, Porcelain Legionnaire, Lightning Bolt, Vulshok Morningstar.
•Staple: Once in, this card is very unlikely to ever come out of the cube because of its power level, and in any case should be cubed with in all current pauper cubes. Examples are: Kor Sanctifiers, Terror, Merfolk Looter
•Cubable: This card is good, but not so good that it demands inclusion. Especially in a small cube, there tend to be more cubable or higher cards than slots so not all deserve inclusion. Examples: Stinging Barrier, Werebear, Akrasan Squire, Bonds of Faith.
•Borderline: This card comes close, but generally, most cubes won't include this. Examples: Vine Trellis, Shock, Spidersilk Armour, Lost in the Mist.
•Bad: Don't cube this. It might look fine, but it's not worth it. Examples: Thraben Purebloods, Riot Devils, Shoal Serpent, Cancel.
•Terrible: Contemplating is a crime. Examples: Eager Cadet, Chimney Imp
White
Angel's Mercy Terrible. What a flavourful reprint.
Cloudshift Borderline. For a number of reasons Stave Off is just better. Cloudshift retriggers abilities, saves a dude from combat and kill spells and rids auras. Stave off does all that except for retriggering abilities, but better. It can make a creature unblockable and make combat one-sided, and even then it isn't in many peoples lists.
Midnight Duelist Terrible. Makes Sanctuary Cat a very, very sad card.
Moorland Inquisitor Bad. Acually isn't terrible. It just needs a 2 removed for the cost of it's activated ability.
Righteous Strike Borderline. White already has good cheap removal and this one is quite conditional and doesn't kill big bad things. White alread has quite good removal and doesn't need this.
Seraph of Dawn Cubeable. The lifegain is a big deal on this thing and already people considered Makindi Griffin boarderline. The angel can race like a boss. Life gain stapled on to an boarderline creature/effect is always good, and with 4 toughness, there isn't going to be too much that can actually kill him. Oh yeah, you should be running this Angel in almost all of you cubes.
Thraben Valiant Borderline. Not bad... But white 2-drop slot is fairly decent these days.
Voice of the Provinces Bad. The token isn't actually that relevant and the body is overpriced and underpowered.
Zealous Strike Bad. Hmmm, there are a billion different, better combat tricks in white.
Blue
Amass the Components Borderline. I love the name. I love the flavour, I love the words draw 3 on a 4cc card. But this card is a lot worse than Foresee which is in the slot that this card wants in any cube.
Crippling Chill Borderline. I like this card, but do you know how much better Repluse is to this card? It's not close.
Elgaud ShieldmateBorderline. Hmmm, hexproof and soulbond is a ponent combonation. I would be surprised if this card is better than it looks. I looks like it deserves testing.
Ghostform Bad. There are cards which do what this card does dispite it's this cards good looks. Distortion Strike for one and that one from Dark Ascention with flashback.
Ghostly Flicker Borderline. This card is so versitle that it could just make it in for that one reason. It resets alsorts of triggers, land and creatures a like and maybe even artifacts. Fogs. Acts as a Psudo-counter target kill spell or does a combonation of those things. It can also untap guys on you side of the board for a surprise blocking. I feel this card requires testing.
Gryff Vanguard Cubeable. First things first, Gryff Vanguard is better in aggro and midrange than Spire Monitor. But Spire Monitor is better in control. Don't compare this card to Mulldrifter as that is one of blue's best cards and is on a whole different level. I would be looking for room in my cube depending on how much aggressive support I want to give blue. I have difficulties saying no to a 3 powered flyer that straight up cantraps for 5. The cantrap is a big deal.
Mist Raven Cubeable. What's better than a Man-o'-War One with Flying! (Although Mist Raven costs 1 more.) What's better than that? Curving from a Man-o'-War on to a Mist Raven This card actually feels almost staple. It would surprise me if it becomes one.
Scrapskin Drake Bad. This card is a functional reprint of Cloud Elemental and is no where near good enough for Pauper cube!
Wingcrafter Cubeable. This card is really good. Only sometimes when there isn't the support for it, it could be bad as it just sits around as a vanilla 1/1 or you have to pair it up with a a creature that already have some sort of evasion. Even then it can still act like a Kitesail that you don't have to sink mana into to equip. Plus it's cool sauce. Maybe if your cube has no aggro support in Blue then no. And remember kiddies that where the pair of Wingcafter dies, you can re-soulbind when another creature enters the battlefield. So it is not likely to spend much time as a Fugitive Wizard.
Black
Driver of the Dead Borderline. I like the flavour in this card. I also like Gravedigger a lot more. Honestly a 2/3 for 4 which a death trigger that may get you an okay small creature long is pretty mediocre.
Essence Harvest Borderline. Creatures in Pauper especially black tend to be too small to make this card workable.
Grave Exchange Bad. This card is so pricey, it's just not worth it.
Human Frailty Bad. To me this card reads, 'Win!', but it also reads, 'not good enough for cube.'
Hunted Ghoul Bad. I feel that Sanctuary Cat is getting trolled so hard.
Soulcage Fiend Cubeable. Yes! This card makes me so happy! It has nice stats and all players lossing 3 life is nothing to sneeze at. It fact that is a massive deal. This card is so good against anything other than the aggro mirrors. You should be looking for room for this.
Undead Executioner Borderline. It's an awkward triggered kill spell on a stick. I don't like the trigger on this card being a death trigger, so it goes for a card that I'm just raving non-stop about if the -2/-2 was an ETB ability to so random borderline dude.
Unhallowed Pact Bad. Undying Evil is at least 4 times better than this card.
Red
Battle Hymn Terribe. Mmmm, mana.
Dangerous Wager Borderline. I am not a fan of this card (in cube. If you are dumping your hand really quickly, it's good, but I feel that this card is just a trap. It's a too conditional for a draw 2, and if you want to be throwing way jank from you hand and replacing it with other cards, Faithless Looting is just better at that, plus not a lot of the time it's even giving you card advantage. Red has a lot better ways to gain card advantage than this.
Fervent Cathar Borderline. I'm not sold on this card. Even though it's abilities syngize really well, a 2/1 body is really small for on turn 3 even though the haste makes up for a lot.
Kruin Striker Cubeable. It seems like an shoe-in for the ever lacking red 2-drop slot. He effectively is a conditional 3/1 trampler which is what red really wants, although if you are not landing your drops then he card be lackluster. But still I feel is a definite incursion in. Red 2cc has always been lacking and he's another step in the right direction. He still isn't as good as the 2 drops in other colours which is sad, but he's a step in the right dirction. I'd run him in most cubes.
Mad Prophet Bad. It's another card that I just can't help, but love. Well, outside of cube at least.
Pillar of Flame Bad. If it cost one more mana and dealt on more damage, then I would be so hard over that card its not even funny. But sadly thats not the case. The exile does just he sorcery speed shock. The exile shouldn't be the main feature about a subpar card in pauper cube. It should just be a nifty perk on a already playable card. Don't get me wrong, I'm alway looking for ways to nerf the grave, but this is not one of the.
Green
Abundant Growth Bad. Green doen't need a card solely for fixing colour. Colourless, yes! Green, no.
Borderland Ranger Cubealbe. This is a reprint. If you weren't already running this, now is the time to add this into your cube.
Lair Delve Bad. This is not a green draw 2 for 3 mana.
Natural Ending Staple. Reasoning, if you not already running Naturalize you should be and this thing despite costing one more which is a lot by the way gains you life. Lifegain is actually the nuts when it's stapled on to an already good thing. I'm not saying that 3 mana isn't a lot more than 2, because it is, but that lifegain itself will just save you so many times when it's accompanied by a decent effect. Maybe you might want cheapness if you are annoyed with those annoying control decks, derping, but over all I feel that this is a better version of an already staple card.
Pathbreaker Wurm Bad. You want you fatties to be reliable and a one-man army. This is neither.
Trusty Forcemage Cubeable. My first impression was that this was an easy include, but thinking about it, I actually find the 3/3 vanillas for 3 better. The thing is the vanilla Coursers are always really good. Regardless of what is being played around then. They carry when there is nothing else there. This dude is conditional. Although he does provide potentually more power to the board. Plus some people aren't even running the Coursers anymore as 3cc in green is tightening up.
Multicoloured and Colourless...
LOL!!!
Notes: I'm only posting up the stuff that I believe is good enough or have something to say about, because I don't like to either write nor read about, "Bad card is bad" or why said bad card is bad. It bores me. Although there where a couple of cards here that I couldn't help but troll. If I didn't mention a card, in all likelihood my opinion of it is it is not worth wasting braincells on for considering it for Pauper Cube, although there is a chance that I may have overlooked something.
Also I kind of stole the Judging Rubric... And copy and pasted some of my forum posts because I don't want to rewrite about something twice, where I am just going to say the same thing again
Do you think you'll end up trying Elgaud Shieldmate in your cube? I think it's going to be the sleeper surprise of the set.
Re: Dangerous Wager, you said there are lots of better ways to draw cards in red. Besides Faithless Looting, I can't think of any at common. If there's another red spell that draws multiple cards which I haven't heard of, please tell me!
BTW, Human Frailty is an uncommon.
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
I said card advantage, not card drawing, although card drawing leads to card advantage. What I meant was that I don't like Dangerous Wager for card filtering, in which Faithless Looting is kind of a lot better at doing and also if you are using Dangerous Wager to draw cards which is in effect to gain card advantage, you are doing it the wrong way. It's so conditional. And the 2-1 spells in red are already really good. With all the 2-1 removal spells. But you have got me there on what other red common draw spells there are.
Human Frailty is uncommon. Makes me sad. I mean that card looks so Bad Ass, from a flavour point. Not that I would run it anyway.
I actually forgot to add Wandering Wolf. Yes that card is cool and awesome and stuff, but have you had a look at some of green's existing 2 drops. They are so powerful, and this card is not like River Boa or Wild Mongral by a long shot. Yes it is cubeable but if your cube is tight, then it's going to be a tough squeeze putting it in.
I might edit in/out those cards in to my OP later.
Also it was really late when I wrote the review, so pardon for any errors.