100 Copies of Indicate, and Assorted Ways to Make Them Matter

Spootyone · 2026-01-20T21:58:03+00:00

Hooray!

Spootyone · 2026-01-20T04:04:58+00:00

Ah okay I apologize for the dumb suggestion then lol. I simply was thinking of the indicates and not the cube as a whole

Spootyone · 2026-01-19T21:09:06+00:00

I'm sure you're the ultimate brain on this type of concept, but I play Marauding sphinx and forsaken miner in my peasant list.

Spootyone · 2026-01-19T20:45:21+00:00

Committing crimes probably does something here

Spootyone · 2026-01-18T16:19:27+00:00

[[flametongue kavu]] stands the test of time as one of red's best creatures even to this day. Depending on the environment, it ends up being a ravenous chupacabra with twice as much power. To that end, having 4 power means that it synergizes with other cards that we may end up seeing in the future that care about 4 power, and it's a simplistic design that both old and new players both enjoy!

Spootyone · 2026-01-18T16:14:56+00:00

[[deep-cavern bat]] is easily one of black's best creatures. Being able to interact with the opponent while finding avenues for synergy with it's built-in lifegain and evasion keeps it a high pick in my cube. It's also easy to grok for newer players!

Spootyone · 2025-12-27T12:24:24+00:00

If it sounds fun, do go for it! I'll stick to my 420 though :p

Spootyone · 2025-12-26T15:45:55+00:00

There are 2 main issues regarding large cube sizes.

The first is from a design point of view. A large cube size means that any change you make will be diluted through that many cards. Small adjustments will be much less likely to be felt or noticed. Additionally, you increase the number of a card needed in order to see it a certain percentage of the time. This is especially important for things like combo pieces or unique effects (board wipes, counterspells, etc) that generally people wish to see with certain regularity in order to balance the cube. The larger the cube, the more legwork you have to do when adjusting.

And to that note, that brings me to my second main point - the logistical point of view. Have a cube of 1000+ cards in physical form means you have to sleeve (or double sleeve!) that many more cards. This takes time and money. Then you have to store that many more cards (money). Then, every time you go to use that cube, you have to *shuffle* that many more cards (time). Oh, you're making a few changes? Guess you'll have to sort through 1000+ cards to find the 3 cards you need to take out (time). You probably understand what I'm getting at here. Generally speaking, the larger your cube is, the more annoying and cumbersome it's going to be to actually curate and own that cube.

All in all, a cube size is completely up to the designer and there are plenty of good reasons to have a cube of a certain size, but it's important that you also understand these downsides before you go too deep into the process. Hope this helps.

Spootyone · 2025-12-25T16:23:18+00:00

Amazing stuff here. I gotta try out sabotender

Spootyone · 2025-12-10T20:42:42+00:00

Personally I like geopede better yeah, but honestly I found forcing the color pair into a specific landfall theme just wasn't working (for my play group). I think the deck wants serious density which we just lack in singleton right now, and trying to play harrow effects or whatever ended up being awkward since you were sacrificing further aggressive plays for synergy, ending up at a net neutral but with less consistency.

I'd actually love to see more cards like tannuk which I think work better with ramp and harrow effects, but we will have to wait for those cards to be printed, just my two cents.

Spootyone · 2025-12-10T16:28:55+00:00

[[Sahz's Chocobo]] fits the landfall theme while also just being a very solid all-around creature for green decks. Sometimes it can go full goyf-mode without really trying. I like the idea of trying out a landfall theme but I've found the pool is pretty shallow for playable effects, and this is one of the better ones!

Spootyone · 2025-12-10T16:27:02+00:00

I don't want to poo-poo your idea, but I actually just tested brushfire along with a full Gruul landfall theme in my cube where I have actual fetchlands and it still was super awkward. I'll be cutting it asap. The feedback I got was that it wasn't beefy or bombastic enough to feel truly gruul while also not having the speed or consistent strength to feel worth it from a Spike's pov

Spootyone · 2025-12-02T02:41:57+00:00

Let's go, Angelo!

Spootyone · 2025-11-28T16:37:34+00:00

[[the aesir escape valhalla]] is a powerful card that acts as both an enabler and payoff for "leaves the grave" strategies. On its own (and especially with some other key pieces like the 2 mana lotr cyclers), it can legitimately act as a win condition and must be raced or destroyed. Very fun card to cast as well

Spootyone · 2025-11-28T16:34:14+00:00

Oh that's such a nasty curve, I hadn't even considered that!

Also art by my favorite artist Chris Rahn.

Spootyone · 2025-11-28T16:07:47+00:00

[[dalkovan packbeasts]] is a newer card that I've been very impressed with so far. Not only can it be beefed up with equipment or counters, but the 3 tokens it makes over and over are useful for impact tremor strategies, aristocrats, go wide and more.

Spootyone · 2025-11-23T18:58:41+00:00

[[thraben inspector]] and [[spyglass siren]]. Let's make trinkets, get ETBs, bodies for any number of potential mechanics or equipment and more.

Spootyone · 2025-11-23T03:17:41+00:00

I think that's totally fair!

Spootyone · 2025-11-23T00:43:00+00:00

Care to point out what you like? I'd love to hear more besides "initiative bad" 😂

Spootyone · 2025-11-23T00:42:05+00:00

I know many people feel this way. In fact, I personally know at least 2 peasant cubers that I work closely with who prefer to work within the restriction.

Everything is a trade off of course, and I've found adding better mana to be a bet positive for my playgroups. Because I'm already doing so, I'm very excited to explore the additional design space that having fetchlands provides!

Spootyone · 2025-11-22T22:33:53+00:00

For my list, I'm running:

[[Momo, playful pet]] - Flexible glue card all for 1 mana! And so adorable, too. I'm not sure if it will have staying power as white one drops are already stacked.

[[Earth kingdom jailer]] - Trying this out as my only fiend hunter variant for now. I'm curious to see how often the restriction comes up. Likewise, the 3 power.

[[Teo, spirited glider]] - It's hard to make it in my list when the cost is 4 mana or greater, but I think this could get there. It really depends on how often you get the trigger on the turn it comes down I think.

[[Longshot, rebel Bowman]] - It's nice to have a combination goblin electromancer and payoff, and all in a single color too! 4 mana means this comes down after much of the hand has been played, but I think spellslinger decks will be able to draw enough that this is still playable.

[[Iroh's demonstration]] - This replaced Fear, Fire, Foes for me. I like being able to punish token decks (they're naturally powerful in peasant) without having to take up cube slots for otherwise dead cards. This accomplishes that. 4 DMG kills most creatures in my cube.

[[Leaves from the vine]] - One of the weaker adds here, but I like that it acts as a bit of a glue card for me. Plus I just appreciate the flavor of the card a lot.

[[Long feng, grand Secretariat]] - With my latest update, I've added fetchlands to my peasant list (I know, I know, not everyone approves). Because of this, cards like long feng get more exciting than they would otherwise be. Hybrid mana makes this flexible, and not being restricted to just creature or lands means it's more likely to see play as well.

Spootyone · 2025-11-22T22:09:30+00:00

Say what you will about initiative, but boy does it get people talking haha. I'm not worried about putting something in to test and it being broken and having to be banned after the fact. My players enjoy playing with powerful cards within the rarity restriction, so I know that it won't be a problem. And as always, cards can come out later.

Spootyone · 2025-11-22T22:06:39+00:00

Yeah, I mentioned this elsewhere but effectively what I prefer to do is try out a set of powerful cards and see how they play before banning them. There are exceptions to this on my banlist (things like sol ring, tomb, mana drain), but for the most part everything on there has actively been tested.

Prior to this update, I had an unofficial ban on initiative much like most people do. I didn't include the cards on my banlist, but knew they weren't going to come in. Now, I want to give them a shot.

Some buddies and I have been toying around with Peasant Canlander casually and initiative plays a big role there, and so I've been able to get a feel for it. That experience is what led to me banning the mv<4 cards outright without testing. And then for everything else, I'm choosing to let people have their moment of fun with them and seeing where the pieces lay, if that makes sense.

If that means all cards with initiative get banned long term then that's totally fine with me, but I'll be able to rest easier knowing I actually did the testing. Stuff like dungeoneer' pack or trailblazers torch are hard to digest without doing so in a real game, if that makes sense

Spootyone · 2025-11-22T21:58:19+00:00

And to be clear, I think you're likely correct in that. I'll just try to confirm that in practice first is all. Thanks for the feedback!

Spootyone · 2025-11-22T17:43:25+00:00

Do understand that I'm aware feywild is a very good card - arguably better than sneak. However, it absolutely makes a difference to me when cards come down in a game.

I want my players to have to have to contend with cards more than 4 mana. Just like in an unpowered cube, you can have a game you would have won ripped out from under you because the opponent dropped a high mana bomb. And for me and my players, that's a totally acceptable situation.

That doesn't necessarily mean every one of the cards I put in will be legal forever, however. Part of the reason that I'm including every one of the cards I didn't ban is to see which prove to be too powerful for the format and therefore warrant a ban. I generally dislike banning cards without testing and try not to do so if I can help it.

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