Peasant Cube (Working)

[TrainmasterGT]

At what point are either/both of these worthwhile:


I'm certainly going to be supported a critical mass of flashback soon enough.

Thanks for the input. I have plenty of food for thought!

Runic Repetition is basically never good enough in my opinion. Most flashback spells are either not very high-impact or just game winning by the second cast. I don't really want to re-cast my Firebolt for a 3rd and 4th time on turn 7 in %90 of matches. The few Beast Attack/Roar of the Wurm type cards that do exist (i.e. High impact enough to want to cast multiple times but low impact enough so that they don't just win the game most of the time) are few and far between. I'd rather just have a Divination in my deck over Runic Repetition most of the time.

Quiet Speculation on the other hand is a card I like quite a bit, depending upon the makeup of the format. It clearly signals that flashback is mechanically significant and playable in the format. It helps enable the (admittedly narrow) Burning Vengance deck by tutoring up 3 cards that go directly into the yard. Imaging grabbing three draw spells, a Beast Attack and Roar of the Wurm, or even just a couple of random spells that can be cast for cheap form the graveyard. There's a lot of possibilities with this card, but requires a huge mass of flashback to work. I'd say try it, but be careful!

If you end up going all in on Burning Vengeance, might I suggest going a little deeper on the Escape mechanic? I really like Satyr's Cunning as a role-player for both spells and red aggro strategies, since it can turn expired dorks, burn, and cantrips into a constant stream of creatures and spell cast triggers. Since the tokens can't block, they don't mess with races too badly.

Underworld Charger has really impressed me in THB limited. He's a 3/3 that comes back as a 5/5, which can be very hard for some decks to deal with, but in a fair way. It's always struck me as "strong, but not busted," and actually I've considered adding to my main cube on a couple of occasions.

 

[inscho]

Underworld Charger looks pretty good! I was just trying to figure out an aggro three drop for black and this might be perfect.

Is it more fitting than Pharika's Spawn or maybe Spawn and Gurmag Angler are a bit redundant...

Is satyr’s cunning any good? It seems like an awful lot of work for not that much of a payoff.

 

[TrainmasterGT]

Underworld Charger looks pretty good! I was just trying to figure out an aggro three drop for black and this might be perfect.

Is it more fitting than Pharika's Spawn or maybe Spawn and Gurmag Angler are a bit redundant...

Is satyr’s cunning any good? It seems like an awful lot of work for not that much of a payoff.

Pharika's Spawn and Gurmag Angler both play very differently than Charger. Gurmag Angler is the type of creature you're hoping to cast directly after the first Charger Cast on turn 4 or 5. Pharika's Spawn is not an aggro card, but a midrange card. She goes in a different deck entirely.

Satyr’s Cunning is only for aggro decks or triggering Spells/Graveyard payoffs. The 1/1 itself isn't the most relevant thing in the world outside of burn, it's more of a bonus. 3 mana to make 2 Young Pyromancer tokens when you have no spells in hand is a fine deal to me. Basically, Satyr’s Cunning is a synergy enabler/aggro creature, not a payoff.

 

[inscho]

Let me rephrase...cut one:



I don’t know if I want more than 2 creatures that exile graveyards in black.

While we are on the topic how’s Voracious Typhoon?

I think I prefer flame jab to satyr’s cunning in the death by a thousand cuts/spell triggers department....and I don’t think I’d run both. But I’ll definitely keep cunning in my back pocket.

Thanks for the input!

 

[Rasmus Källqvist]

+

This is certainly an old dorky combo, if you end up with repition in the cube!

 

[TrainmasterGT]

Let me rephrase...cut one:



I don’t know if I want more than 2 creatures that exile graveyards in black.

While we are on the topic how’s Voracious Typhoon?

I think I prefer flame jab to satyr’s cunning in the death by a thousand cuts/spell triggers department....and I don’t think I’d run both. But I’ll definitely keep cunning in my back pocket.

Thanks for the input!

I'd cut Angler then. Aggressive black decks want the ability to grind for card advantage and Underworld Charger does just that. Pharika's Spawn is very good in Golgari and Sultai midrange decks so I'd want to keep her around.

I didn't mention Voracious Typhon because I don't currently have room to run it and many other people on this site find it "boring." I think it's a great creature for ramp decks and should be a good option for a peasant cube. Slam dunk it if you're interested, it's a great card.

 

[inscho]

I'd cut Angler then. Aggressive black decks want the ability to grind for card advantage and Underworld Charger does just that. Pharika's Spawn is very good in Golgari and Sultai midrange decks so I'd want to keep her around.

I'll try that then. If I feel like graveyard noodling is becoming excessive, I can always bring Angler back. There's something to be said for the simplicity of the card.

I didn't mention Voracious Typhon because I don't currently have room to run it and many other people on this site find it "boring." I think it's a great creature for ramp decks and should be a good option for a peasant cube. Slam dunk it if you're interested, it's a great card.

I'll see how things shape up as I prune the list a bit more. Definitely going to keep it in mind, but might be a bit excessive with all of green's flashback cards I'm running.


With Dimir mostly tidied up and subsequently Izzet as well, and all this talk about escape creatures, I want to turn my attention to Golgari.

Golgari feels like a mess, and pretty unfocused:

There's dredge:


Sacrifice:


Reanimator Pieces:

+Whipser

and then mostly filler....

So if you draft Golgari in its present stage, you are stuck with midrange sludge. I also have a little too much dredge support, not enough sacrifice support, and not enough variety in general.

Sacrifice and dredge are a pretty natural pairing in a midrange shell, but can the sacrifice play out more aggressively like Rakdos?


Seems decent, and maybe my best option. I do enjoy loading up a Reassembling Skeleton with equipment, but I feel like it needs another payoff card or two. Am I missing anything?

Other (non-aggro) sacrifice payoffs I could run:


Other thoughts...

As much as I'm intrigued by Winding Constrictor, I don't think it'd be easy to support counters matter without a substantial overhaul... there's just not the same density of incidental support that regular cubes have access to.

I'd love a stax style deck, but there are no stax pieces aside from Smallpox in Peasant.

I see a lot of Peasant Cube running this:


Maybe there's enough there?



It feels a little dumb to run both Spider Spawning and Worm Harvest...maybe Spawning could be substituted by Lotleth Giant or Revenant?

I would need to ramp up the control elements, but I should probably do that anyways. Barter in Blood is a pet card of mine.

Golgari could be the home of a tasty Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker deck...but again more midrange...

Not my finest post but it helps me work things out

 

[Mondschwein]

wtf this looks A LOT like the cube I'm working on for some time now:

https://www.cubetutor.com/viewcube/162123

I also think that a lot of uncommons from the last ~5 years did A LOT for the latest Limited formats being almost entirely very good (some of them were bad, but all in all, Limited got pretty interesting over the years). That's where I started to translate that into cube, together with INN, maybe the greatest Limited set of all time.

Idk if you should keep it at Peasant (although that's an easy line to follow) because some rares and even mythics definitely could add to your environment. I'm very strict when it comes to powerlevel, as I don't want to have too many clear picks in draft, and I just don't like if there's removal for the same converted mana cost that's just strictly better.

In my list, there's still lots of cards missing, as I'm still testing cards or thinking about them in a vacuum, but I don't have the time for it right now (still going to work).
Now I'm motivated again, and will definitely write something. Just have to go to bed now.

 

[inscho]

wtf this looks A LOT like the cube I'm working on for some time now:

https://www.cubetutor.com/viewcube/162123

Yeah, there's definitely a lot of overlap there! You're even running a handful of cards that have been bouncing in and out of my list like Druid's Familiar. I look forward to hearing more when you have time to share.

Idk if you should keep it at Peasant (although that's an easy line to follow) because some rares and even mythics definitely could add to your environment. I'm very strict when it comes to powerlevel, as I don't want to have too many clear picks in draft, and I just don't like if there's removal for the same converted mana cost that's just strictly better.

It's a fair point, and one that I'm certainly not oblivious to. At the moment, I'm still enjoying the restriction. As much as I love cards like Life from the Loam, and how perfectly they fit in archetypes, I'm a little tired of playing with them. Frankly, I'm not starting this cube with a real vision, and rather I'm just fumbling around within the Peasant restriction, trying to use the restriction itself to designate the appropriate power-level, necessary archetypes, and general design. If I was starting off with a clear idea of the format I wanted, I'd certainly have no qualms with breaking the restriction. For now, I'm pretty satisfied with the process...it's a little more exploratory, and is keeping me interested during these strange times.


Hunting for areas to consolidate and make space for some variety led me to this little guy:


Serves a similar function to Changeling Outcast wearing equipment and enabling ninjutsu, while providing hand disruption like Mardu Skullhunter and Miasmic Mummy. Seeing as I'm running Okiba-Gang Shinobi as a disruptive incentive to attack, I think I can cut Skullhunter and Outcast, slot in the imp, and free up a slot for Phyrexian Ghoul or Plaguecrafter. Self-discard on the Mummy is pretty important, because there's not a lot of good alternatives in Peasant.

I'm also taking a closer look at this card:


With the increased untap support in Bant, and the additional token producing spells in green, Jalira seems like it could have more of a place than she did at first.

I wish this old pet card of mine was a little better:


While I'm thinking about it, I'll mention that I'm considering what a dimir sacrifice deck would look like:


Chamber of Manipulation is not good, but I love it so much.

?


Hey, I completely forgot this card was downgraded to uncommon:


With the abundance of retrace, flashback, and untap effects it seems like a natural fit.

 

[Alfonzo Bonzo]

Dimir sacrifice looks wonderful. You may also be interested in

 

[inscho]

Murder of Crows is great and should probably be in the cube regardless. Who doesn’t love to loot 7 times off a Firespout?

I really wish the emerge creatures were blue. How bananas would they be with Homarid Soawning Bed?? Bring those in along with



All the delve creatures....

There’s almost enough there for an archetype. I really just want to recast Vexing Scuttler over and over again with Aether Mutation, sac everything to Ashnod’s Altar and Hurricane someone out of the game

*tips hat at Kirblinx*

 

[TrainmasterGT]

Murder of Crows is great and should probably be in the cube regardless. Who doesn’t love to loot 7 times off a Firespout?

I really wish the emerge creatures were blue. How bananas would they be with Homarid Soawning Bed?? Bring those in along with



All the delve creatures....

There’s almost enough there for an archetype. I really just want to recast Vexing Scuttler over and over again with Aether Mutation, sac everything to Ashnod’s Altar and Hurricane someone out of the game

*tips hat at dbs*

This archetype might have some new legs thanks to all of the giant cycling creatures in Ikoria. I think a little bit of caution is warranted with stuff like Riddle of Lightning and Rush of Knowledge (expensive cards that don't do much unless you have a chunky creature in a specific location), but stuff like Aether Mutation, Vengeful Rebirth, and Sifter Wurm are good. If it looks fun give it a test!

 

[Kirblinx]

Hey,

Murder of Crows is great and should probably be in the cube regardless. Who doesn’t love to loot 7 times off a Firespout?

I really wish the emerge creatures were blue. How bananas would they be with Homarid Soawning Bed?? Bring those in along with



All the delve creatures....

There’s almost enough there for an archetype. I really just want to recast Vexing Scuttler over and over again with Aether Mutation, sac everything to Ashnod’s Altar and Hurricane someone out of the game

*tips hat at dbs*

Hey, that was my contribution to dbs' secret project. I really like the 'Fishelbrand' style of deck that we could try and force into a cube. I feel like there is enough here. I think you have hit most of the easy CMC cheaters there are in delve and Emerge. The only other options are Suspend and Morph that I can think of. Most morphs probably aren't going to cheat on cost enough but suspend could be cool.

 

[inscho]

Whoops. Corrected my post. Sorry!

I really like Ephemeron. I used to run it in my original Peasant cube.

There’s also:


I’m mildly interested in these guys:


In a sac shell with Soldevi Adnate. Top it off with pitiless plunderer and ashnod’s altar. Pretty interesting to think of them as rituals with undying evil and company.

That’s Eldrazi mana!

Morbid Curiosity and Rush of Knowledge play well with the temporary Reanimation of these cards:





Reinforces that idea a little bit



Is more mild of value, but is loosely sympathetic with the game-plan

 

[inscho]

I bet y'all thought I stopped tinkering with this for a couple days....ohHOHO....you couldn't be further from wrong.

Current Working List

(Spoiler alert: this version includes some Ikoria cards)

I had to start a new version as I had several ideas to explore and needed to keep the old list around for reference. Some of the changes include:

• Removed ninjas in favor of general saboteurs
• Adding sacrifice slant to Dimir
• +1/+1 counters matter sub-theme in Abzan (compact)
• Expanded the tap/untap theme in Bant
• Added reanimation suite in White
• A little untap/token pepper added to Boros

As you can see White/Selesnya was a big focus in this revision.

Would appreciate any sample drafts and suggestions you have!

 

[Rasmus Källqvist]

Got bitten in the ass again by CubeCobra not allowing guests to build decks for some reason?

Here's the deck (Image for call of the death-dweller will show in a couple of days I guess):

WB Syr Konrad Aggro

I first picked Syr Konrad (that I really need to get a physical copy of!), and then went looking for creatures entering or leaving the graveyard. I think I second picked Butcher Ghoul and third picked Murderous Cut? Then dipped into white because of the weenie reanimation stuff going on there. I quite like that theme in general and it seems more pronounced in this peasant cube, so that's nice.

I sometimes felt like I didn't really know what the other color pairs were going for? Granted, I hadn't looked for some post summarizing the pair identities in this thread prior to drafting which might've helped, but maybe there should be more signpost cards in the cube?

 

[inscho]

Got bitten in the ass again by CubeCobra not allowing guests to build decks for some reason?

Here's the deck (Image for call of the death-dweller will show in a couple of days I guess):

Spoiler

WB Syr Konrad Aggro

I first picked Syr Konrad (that I really need to get a physical copy of!), and then went looking for creatures entering or leaving the graveyard. I think I second picked Butcher Ghoul and third picked Murderous Cut? Then dipped into white because of the weenie reanimation stuff going on there. I quite like that theme in general and it seems more pronounced in this peasant cube, so that's nice.

Nice! The "Raiders" deck is something I'm still fleshing out for Orzhov. I'm glad it was intuitive enough for you to draft cold, and I'd say you put together a pretty ideal example of the archetype. Thanks for the taking the time to compose the list, I know Cobra is a bit of a pain requiring an account to build decks. The effort is appreciated.

That archetype also has:


Which is pretty great with the white "mates." I'm considering this is a potential signpost that black wants to attack:



The tiny creature recursion suite can pivot away from attacking and towards life with an aristocrats slant with cards like:



Which can pivot away from the recursion suite and rely more on using tokens to create multiple bodies should the recursion not show up.

I sometimes felt like I didn't really know what the other color pairs were going for? Granted, I hadn't looked for some post summarizing the pair identities in this thread prior to drafting which might've helped, but maybe there should be more signpost cards in the cube?

Do you recall which color pairs seemed vague? Being the maker, it can be hard to see what is hard to see if you know what I mean.

 

[Rasmus Källqvist]

Hm hard to say. I was pretty focused on WB so might just be that I wasn't paying attention + didn't know about any of the archetypes prior to the draft. Should do a few more drafts maybe!

 

[inscho]

Hm hard to say. I was pretty focused on WB so might just be that I wasn't paying attention + didn't know about any of the archetypes prior to the draft. Should do a few more drafts maybe!

Well, I really like that deck, and would love to see what else you draft!

Just drafted this, and it seems significant and not something I was actively trying to support:


On this note, I’d like to mention how much I’m enjoying this card:



It offers a lot more flexibility than something like hordeling outburst. It’s a combat trick, more dynamic with a sac outlet, works in aggro and control shells alike. Just a great (¡elegant!) card that has really opened up some options for my red decks. If your power level can accommodate, I suggest giving this card a good look.

It makes me wonder whether this is worth running over hissing iguanar:



I think it may be

 

[inscho]

Came across this card that I didn't know existed:



An interesting Overrun alternative with some explosive possibilities since it doesn't alter the abilities on creatures it targets:



that's unusual flexibility for a mass pump card. I was looking for an overrun effect with more play in green, and had been looking at Great Oak Guardian, but I'm liking this as an option and will be testing it. It might be a random auto-win a little too often, but hopefully the sorcery speed and lack of trample alleviates that.

"Boros Negotiations" is looking like a spicy deck:



The recently added Reckless Racer looks to be a bit of a gem for this cube. In addition to its solid base stats it also:

• Overlaps with tap mechanics: Convoke, Kyren Negotiations, Swallow Whole
• Synergizes with Boros Berserkers having first strike to pair with pump spells as well as Kwende, Pride of Femeref, and is a Human for Bonds of Faith
• Incentivizes attacking like the raid mechanic. Which is something I'm prioritizing right now.

Whitemane Lion is being run over the usual suspect Kor Skyfisher and Shepherd of the Flock, and does a lot of work in this deck: making an instant-speed DIY Rocket Launcher when paired with Kyren Negotiations (player damage only), racking up counters on Shrine of Loyal Legions, blinking your Village Bell-Ringer, and saving a critical creature from removal.

Pretty pleased with this deck. It has some interesting complexity being a bridge between Double Strike/Berserkers and a more traditional token deck.

I'm not content with the +1/+1 counters matters sub-theme I recently added, and I'm debating on whether the outlast creatures are worth looking at:



They seem slow, but do overlap counters matter with untap mechanics. I think they are probably too clunky without another drop in the cube's power level.

I may just pull the counters theme from Selesnya altogether and make it a uniquely Golgari thing...running both Winding Constrictor and Corpsejack Menace in my guild section to drive the point home.

Something I'm enjoying at the moment is how Blink Serves a facilitatory role in this cube. I shied away from the strategy for years and years, only recently re-testing it in the Graveyard Combo Cube with the printing of Charming Prince (an easy candidate for inclusion should I eventually break from Peasant). While there is certainly a traditional good-stuff blink deck to be found in the list, I'm feeling really good about it's presence in the cube at the moment:

Enabling the mill/prison deck:


Mini Creature Recursion Suite:


Flash Tempo:


Tokens:


Untap:


+others

....A lot more interesting than just blinking Mulldrifters, Flametongue Kavus, Blade Splicers, and Shriekmaws ad-infinitum.

 

[inscho]

Sorry for all of the double posts....not much else to do right now!

In my ongoing search for selesnya’s third archetype, this dbs post had me thinking about whether blink’s role in the guild could be more intentional at the peasant level. Which got me thinking about this card:



and to a lesser extent:


which works with blinked creatures, and the token makers like beast attack...and things like:



or

?


Is there enough there?



Seems solid...chaining draws through creature etb is the most attractive part of the deck and there doesn’t seem to be a lot ways to do that in peasant. That pool of cards was surprisingly hard for me to come up with, and it feels like I’d need to bring in a lot of value cards to flesh it out...... which could have negative ramifications elsewhere. Would love some insight here, my brain has been hardwired against generic value and I’m struggling!

Just for my reference, here’s a list of peasant legal cost reducers:


Oketra’s monument is good, but pretty cheesy with whitemane lion and company. I don’t run double-sided cards, but duskwatch recruiter would be worth running if I did. The others? Probably bad unless I shifted the environment more towards combo.

I’m struggling to figure this out because now all I’m thinking about is:



And how dumb it is with elemental bond.....




Now all this creature bounce just makes me think about that zesty “creaturefall” archetype that whydirt and alfonzo bonzo have explored:



.....too much free time on my hands

 

[inscho]

Wondering if there's enough depth to add a cycling subtheme.... seems interesting in the Orhzov Raiders deck specifically:

Raiders Core:


Unearth already has cycling, but then there's the new:


Cycling creatures and reanimating them via the "Mates" and micro-reanimator package sounds like a lot of fun. Other cycling cards:




Drannith Healer, Splendor Mare, Renewed Faith overlap some with the Orzhov lifegain/drain theme.

Astral Slide could be paired with this new one:




Seems a little thin at the Peasant level, but the Orzhov support could be decent....if a bit cute.

 

[Rasmus Källqvist]

This seems like a really cool way of adding an extra layer to the existing raiders theme in orzhov! I've always been intrigued by running reanimation + cycling fatties in something like GB, and this seems like a nice translation of that to weenies.

 

[inscho]

I think it's interesting....and has a lot more options outside of Peasant. Astral Drift is much better than slide since it's never a dead card.

Just putting these here in case I start adding rare's at some point....

 

[TrainmasterGT]

Wondering if there's enough depth to add a cycling subtheme.... seems interesting in the Orhzov Raiders deck specifically:

Spoiler: The rest of the post

Raiders Core:


Unearth already has cycling, but then there's the new:


Cycling creatures and reanimating them via the "Mates" and micro-reanimator package sounds like a lot of fun. Other cycling cards:




Drannith Healer, Splendor Mare, Renewed Faith overlap some with the Orzhov lifegain/drain theme.

Astral Slide could be paired with this new one:




Seems a little thin at the Peasant level, but the Orzhov support could be decent....if a bit cute.

I love cycling as a mechanic. If you want the cards that only trigger off of cards that cycle to be approximately as good as they are in Ikoria limited, you're going to need ~60 cards with cycling to get your as-fan ratio to a similar state. If you manage to do that though (which isn't hard at the peasant power level, mind you, you've already selected 32 options!), you're going to have a fun and interesting archetype for your drafters.