That's it imho, the other cards are too poisonous or not interesting enough (
Greenbelt Rampager), are GRBS (
Aethersphere Harvester) or have some play to them but may cause trouble (I don't like
Whirler Virtuoso as I
hate too many small fliers on the board, especially in other colours than white).
I've got an energy theme in my cube that I've tested quite a bit, so I've got some input.
Greenbelt Rampager is awesome with evolve, and plays really well with other energy cards, essentially turning 'on' a lot of the smaller pay-off cards as many times as you can spare
. It's also a good beater on turn two (by paying
on your first turn and
on your second turn). Depending on the rest of your cube, this card really has a lot more play to it than you think.
You're right about
Aether Harvester. That card is not fun (imo).
Whirler Virtuoso is cool. The only way you are really getting an embarrassing amount of Thopters out of it is when you have either
Panharmonicon or
Era of Invention out, and that's a fine scenario really, at least in my opinion. On its own it never makes more than two or three Thopters usually, which is well in line. I think it's a pretty cool energy payoff card in Izzet colors.
Then there's some cards you missed.
Thriving Grubs is a card that is perfectly fine on its own. People still play
Borderland Marauder and
Gore-House Chainwalker, simply because 3/2 is a good stat line for red aggressive decks. Grubs have that 3/2 stat line, and can block as a 3/2 as well in a pinch.
Longtusk Cub is a nice beater that grows bigger and bigger. It's usually not too hard to get it through at least once if you land it early, and after that it can snowball nicely. It's definitely playable even without other energy cards, though it obviously gets better with them, as you can often start beating with a 3/3.
Thriving Rhino offers good stats and, like the above two cards by the way, plays very well with the +1/+1 counters theme a lot of us are playing. It's pretty unassuming, but a good card on the curve nonetheless. As a 3/4 for
it's definitely playable without further energy support.
Bristling Hydra is another card that doesn't need other energy cards to be good. It's a 4/3 that shrugs off the first removal spell aimed at it and grows in the process. It's the threat of growing that matters as well, as you can often attack into a 3-power defense, knowing that your opponent can't really block because he'll two-for-one himself. Sometimes that's still your opponent's best option so he can at least use the removal spell in his hand to get rid of it.
Glint-Sleeve Siphoner is much better than you think. It's the first 2/1 menace for
we've got, already making it one of the best bodies available in black at that cost! I think it's much less dependant on other specific cards to draw cards than
Pain Seer, though the interaction between vehicles and inspire
is cool
