The Spring 2025 Pauper Cube Quick Hits

Foundations Quick Hits

First off, a small apology for the delay in the quick hits, in general we've been slow on this one as Duskmourn was hot off the back of our Modern Horizons 3 and Bloomburrow update, featuring arguably the most impactful set in years for a variety of formats, we have Duskmourn, which has… Personality?

## White

[[!Trapped in the Screen]]

Omni: another in the vast waves of “this is better than the previous version, but unexciting”

Neveron: The main question here is probably whether it replaces a two-mana pacifism variant or one of the three-mana options that can deal with [[Desert]].

Solset:  My distaste for the flavor aside, this is a good card and will improve white’s overall removal package.  As others have implied, this lacks just a bit of versatility compared to some options, but is likely better 90% of the time. So for the cut,  the big question is do we prioritize strength or versatility in what it will replace.

Usman:  I personally like it more than an O-Ring, but less than a Pacifism.  Mostly universal removal which makes the maindeck in most white decks. Poor Mike Teavee.  :(

Phizzled: As O-ring variants go, it’s fairly clean in explaining exactly what it can remove. Ward sometimes runs the risk of more “feel bad” moments (compared to “this ability costs more to cast/activate”), but I haven’t seen so much distaste for it that I would not consider this for inclusion.

[[!Possessed Goat]]

Omni: I like this one in the same vein as [[Ecstatic Awakener]], I do wish it had any sort of keyword somewhere to not just be [[Eager Cadet]], but we can’t be too choosy.

Neveron: Being instant speed is good; not drawing a card like Awakener does is a bit rough.

Solset: <i> </i>I am one of Ecstatic Awakener’s biggest fans.  Overall, I do think this compares favorably.  Black cares about sacrifice; white cares about counters.   Awakener lets you “cycle” your worst creature on board; Goat lets you ditch a card you haven’t wasted any tempo casting yet. Finally, even if Awakener is likely the better card in a vacuum, Goat is in a color that can really use more one drops that improve mid to late game.

Usman:  My issue with this is that it doesn’t really give you anything that special when you discard a card, just combat stats.  Being a combat trick (even if it’s on-board) is nice for combat, since it makes blocking it tough but I’m not feeling this one, even as a lover of beatdown 1-drops.

Phizzled: I guess I like that after your third or fourth land, you can draw a [[Hunger of the Howlpack]] to advance your boardstate, but this feels lacking compared to some of the explosive growth creatures other colors get.  Technically, that’s fair for White, and it is entirely possible that activating the goat just ends the game anyway, so not getting to draw a card is maybe not disqualifying.

[[!Fear of Surveillance]]

Solset:  For anyone that has played [[Looter il-Kor]], they know how consistent card selection can take over a game. I was a fan of  [[Attentive Sunscribe]], and this just blows that up.   For a generic cube, this is likely good enough, and it is currently the best common in its own draft format.   More, an early vigilance creature is also a great option to suit up with counters and equipment in Green White. While it is a bit worse early, I imagine this little enchantment is better than  [[Topan Freeblade]] most of the time.

Usman:  This reminds me a lot of the saboteurs without evasion, where it wants to consistently attack to do something but gets stymied in its goals by blockers.  The whole “this gets outclassed quick” is somewhat cliched but I can’t help but think that when I see this.  Admittedly, I’ve had a grand total of one draft of DSK and it’s one of the better performers in one of the better-performing colors, per 17lands but… eeeeeh.

Phizzled: I think this likely performs better where every color gets some more delirium payoffs, which are generally lacking in The Pauper Cube.  A bear with vigilance is fine to throw into combat, but more and more creatures in other decks feel as likely to kill it as to stonewall this.  Weirdly, I might like it more with an ETB surveil.

## Blue

[[!Unable to scream]]

Omni: This one’s a sidegrade to [[Witness Protection]] and I’m still undecided which I prefer. This one walls your 1/1 forever vs trading with a token down the line.

Neveron: I think this probably replaces one of the one-mana tap-downs, perhaps, like [[Bubble Snare]]. Getting rid of static and triggered abilities is increasingly relevant.

Solset:  For more tempo oriented cubes, this is likely worse than options that remove the creature from the combat phase, but I think for us, this is just better to survive until blue’s late game plans.

Usman:  Not bad out of 10; I think I like it better than Witness Protection but they’re close enough.

Phizzled: I agree with Neveron.  If we make the swap, this is more of a kind with the tap-removals aimed at removing a Gruul monster or some repeatable effect.

## Black

[[!Innocuous Rat]]

Omni: Oh hey, it’s [[Sultai Emissary]] but better! I’m sure others can explain why they love this one but for me it’s just a slight upgrade on a card most haven’t been complaining about.

Neveron: For those who wonder, we’ve probably reached the limit on how many dies-into-a-body creatures we should have in the cube. This probably replaces Emissary rather than existing alongside it.

Solset: Aristocrats has plenty of support in the 2 drops, so we should expect this to replace an option.   [[Putrid Goblin]] is better if you are looking for pressure, but it is worse in a deck that wants to actively sacrifice or fill up the graveyard compared to Emissary.  For the diversity of effects, I’d expect Emissary to leave.

Usman:  Slight upgrade is upgrade but still fine.

Phizzled: Manifest dread has seemed better and better the more I’ve played with it, but again, graveyard synergies in Duskmourn have maybe inflated the importance and value of binning one of the top two cards.  The 1/1 is clearly less impressive, but there is just enough reanimation that I’m leaning towards inclusion, currently.

## Red

[[!Clockwork Percussionist]]

Omni: I might be the dissenting voice here but I am not as high on this [[Raging Goblin]] with upside as a lot of folks. I won’t throw the wildest fit if this is what people want I just don’t think this is it.

Neveron: As the resident Raging Goblin Fan, I definitely feel a bit mixed on this one. “Drawing” a card when it dies is a good effect, but there’s a lot of similar cards competing for those slots.

Solset: This is really close to me when I compare it to our one drops that die into a guy or compared to [[Fanatical Firebrand]].  Might be worth asking for a vote to directly compare them.

Usman:  Absolutely love this thing.  Can’t wait to get some equipment on it but I’m good with this replacing something mediocre at 1-2 mana.  It’s going to be awkward when this hits a combat trick but I think that’s likely its worst case, not usual case.

Phizzled: This is just such a cute Ragavan reference and I have no complaints about the flavor. I’m more interested in this for a Rakdos pauper constructed aristocrats build than I am in the cube right now, though.

[[!Turn inside out]]

Omni: This seems like a pretty solid combat trick that doesn’t care nearly as much about winning combat vs ensuring it trades up and nets you a 2/2. Good stuff.

Neveron: This card has been making waves in Standard in the turn two kill decks, but for us this is probably just a good combat trick. [[Otherworldly Outburst]], [[Felonious Rage]]... We’ve come a long way, huh?

Solset:  This is nuts in standard when copied for free, but it is still a really solid and versatile card.  For most red decks, I imagine it will be a [[Lava Spike]] 95% of the time. However, the alternative mode of killing an annoying blocker and getting to upgrade the creature at the same time for 1 mana, makes it much better than our favorite Arcane bolt.

Usman:  This may be best in class in terms of a combat trick that does something when the creature trades up (Felonious Rage, etc) and on-rate, it’s fine as a 3-damage spell.  I’m unsure how often it’ll come up where you’d rather just have a [[Shock]], which is its main point against it.  Worth a whirl, though.

Phizzled: We’ve had several variants, as noted by my fellow committee members, and I think you’re just taking the one or two that feel most flavorful to you.  This adds reach in two ways to some of Red’s smaller beaters, but, again, it doesn’t do anything that feels especially new.

[[!Vicious Clown]]

Solset: Well, our community hates this card, but have you thought about how this hits on the play when you follow it up with a  [[Beetleback Chief]] or [[Hordeling Outburst]]?  Forget those fantastic follow ups, most of the time I think this is going to play as well as  [[Skophos Reaver]]. Yet, when we have dedicated an archetype to go wide, it will often be much better. Give it a thought, and revote if you think this should be given a shot.

Omniczech: Besides passing value of jokes at your opponent’s expense (cause really, who’s a bigger clown than them?), I do think this is a card that presents a pretty must answer threat. It’s not the craziest idea to think this triggers once or twice pretty easily and does give those outsized early game creatures a little more utility in the mid to late game.

Usman: Initial thought is if this is better than [[Witty Roastmaster]] and I think the answer’s yes, for rate.

Phizzled: My first thought was, of course, the various token generator spells, but then my second thought was Rakdos aristocrats.  There remain enough creatures that die into other tokens and trigger this so long as you have an instant speed sacrifice ability. If this triggers consistently, it’s Skophos Reaver, but we already already have several go-wide payoffs, and I couldn’t tell you how we’ll know we have too many of them.

## Green

[[!Flesh Burrower]]

Solset:  This is currently polling poorly, but I feel it is a great addition to green.  A bear is always welcome, and an early deathtouch creature will help you stabilize.  Late game, this is sure to trade up on defense, and later giving a trample creature deathtouch is a fantastic combo once you are turning big green guys sideways.  I may be alone, but I think this is just what green wants in a bear, more than a teenage mutant samurai frog.

Usman:  This may be a subtle way of getting green to play more of an aggressive role with small creatures that can’t be blocked effectively, might also be something good with tokens, since it doesn’t “pair up” with a specific creature ala Soulbond, it just chooses a buddy when it attacks.  Yeah, this could do something.

Phizzled: I thought of the “backup” ability before Soulbond, but either way, this is a cheap creature I’d rather draw late, which is awkward to draft as a focal element of the Cube, but improves every 4/4 trampler immensely.  The best play pattern being awkward is the biggest mark against this: if your trampler could potentially close the game out anyway, isn’t this worse to draw late than [[Predator Strike]] or [[Massive Might]] (already in the Cube)?

[[!Monstrous Emergence]]

Omni: This has to just be the best version of this effect we’ve gotten right? By a country mile? The fact you can blast something away just by having your late game threat in hand is nice utility.

Neveron: When this first appeared in Ikoria’s uncommon [[Charge of the Forever-Beast]], people worried about what this meant for the future of Green. Turns out that they never returned to this mechanic until now, though, and having green be able to actually do stuff on an empty board is a fun addition to common.

Solset:  This is about as close to  [[Fell]] as I think we will get in green for a long time.  It seems small, but by making your choice a cost rather than a target and allowing the pick from your hand  this is so much better than our fight and bite spells since it is completely immune to the typical responses.

Usman:  I’ve generally been eh on 2-mana fight/bite spells (especially at sorcery speed) in green since they lag behind removal in other colors, but being able to get around spot removal helps it not just get punked by a Doom Blade.  We likely have room for this.

Phizzled: At sorcery speed, technically there is a downside, but not needing to have already cast your Dreadmaw to remove anything on the board is almost too good to pass up.

[[!Slavering Branchsnapper]]

Omni: I don’t know where I fall on this vs other cyclers, do we need 2, all those various conundrums and will likely fall back on the rest of the committee, but it is cool to see a better dreadmaw show up in a standard release.

Neveron: This overgrown lizard can’t even be found with [[Commune with Dinosaurs]], smh. Seriously, though, it’s probably fine? I’ve long been a fan of cards like [[Greater Sandwurm]], where you cycle them early and cast them late, and the question is mostly just whether or not it beats the competition for high-MV green slots. It’s a tough race, and we aren’t even running [[Timberland Ancient]].

Solset:  While slightly different, this fits a similar spot to [[Greater Tanuki]]. The more I pauper cube, the less I want to want ramp on turn 3.  Unless I am in a multicolor pile, I think I like Branchsnapper just better, and with a slew of new saclands, our multicolor options are doing just fine.

Usman:  I agree that this &gt; Tanuki, but this could easily replace something else at 5 and I wouldn’t bat an eye either.  I used to love playing the cyclers in my own pauper cube as cards that could do a thing early and be cast late game as a giant beater.  Maybe this is better than [[Krosan Tusker]]? Not that I think that’s what we’d cut for it…

[[!Wary Watchdog]]

Omni: We liked this when it was a cat, I still like it as a dog, the question is do we need 2 in the cube?

Neveron: As a cat person, I’ll probably stick with [[Wary Thespian]]. This is slightly less wordy due to the new wording of “enters”, I guess?

Solset: Well, the druid type on Thespian could matter in the future  and people already own it, so I think we stick with what we have.  No need for two of these.

Usman: Not a cat :( :chrono: .  If our green was more aggressive, I’d like it more as a way to bolster early aggressive curves with another on-rate body that does something on the way in and out, but I don’t think we necessarily need two.

Phizzled: Double dipping on the same body (except creature type) doesn’t seem critical. I’m comfortable passing.

## Colorless

[[!Abandoned Campground]]

Abandoned Campground and its cycle are rarely going to matter more than a gate, but it is profoundly impactful that we have our first common dual cycle that could enter untapped.  While the 13 life clause isn’t going to speed up aggressive decks nor will it excite control decks, it opens the door to many other conditional untapped duals at common.  Not for us now, but the future is bright.

Usman:  The “Death’s Door” mechanic is one of my favorite things about the Darkest Dungeon series, but I’m middling on these lands since it’s rough to put yourself that low and getting the opponent that low may not happen until the late game for non-aggro.  It’s something we could consider down the line for the aggro color pairs but I’d rather just have a Thriving type land.

Phizzled: This is exciting because of what it presages for the future, not for what it offers right now.

[[!Glimmerlight]]

Omni: This isn’t [[Ancestral Blade]], but it’s not that far away. Yes this doesn’t auto equip to the token but it’s still a pretty large percentage of a card that we’ve been happy with so far.

Neveron: A good comparison might be [[Flayer Husk]], which we’re currently running. Conventional wisdom for Equipment would be that MV2/Equip 1 is better than MV1/Equip 2, so… maybe?

Solset: Flayer husk gives every aggro deck another reasonable 1 drop, but no deck is happy to drop a [[Naths Buffoon]] out without the elf hate.  I imagine this is a fine late drop in those decks to keep things moving and to have a mana sink, but it’s never a needed card in any mode. I think it is a pass even if it has a high win rate in its grindy format.

Usman:  It’s probably my undying love of living weapon and friends but I love this thing.  It mostly emulates [[Sickleslicer]], as a virtual 3-mana 2/2 that can be thrown around to other things; I like the 1 mana equip mode to give +1/+1 over the 4-mana mode to give something +2/+2, since the latter mode can be a time walk in the mid-game.  Equip 1 is just so good and the +1/+1 is a decent size buff, especially given how compacted stats are in this format.

Phizzled: This is a lovely glue card and I couldn’t tell you easily which other colorless card this is the best replacement for.

Duskmourn Quick Hits

## White

[[!Banishing Light]]

**Omniczech**: We’ve had access to [[Oblivion ring]] at common for ages, now we get the version with “fixed” text. I can’t wait to hear out opinions on this one.

**Solset**: I think I am ok moving the curve up a bit fit for flexibility.  With us having three 2 mana options that hit artifacts and creatures, this could slot into the [[Realmbreaker’s Grasp]] slot, and I’d be happy.

**Neveron**: Something probably worth noting when it comes to Oblivion Ring’s “broken” text is that we don’t really have the enchantment flicker required to abuse the separate ETB and LTB triggers. Banishing Light, then, is mostly just a second copy of it - and is that something we want over our abundance of two-mana removal?

**Usman**:  I’ve generally been meh on 3-mana removal, but it’s a classic and tends to do decently well, although I don’t think that’ll be the case for too long (maybe another year?)  Hard to say.  It’s aight.

**Phizzled**: I’m apparently don’t have as many strong feelings on the functional-equivalent issue these days, but, at least potentially, this is stronger than at least one currently included aura because it potentially turns off static abilities.  I think this may be obviated by some pacifism variants, when we get down to sorting through the MH3+ update.

[[!Nettle Guard]]

**Solset**: Our white two drops are becoming super tight, but this one seems a strong inclusion.  [[Cathar Commando]] has been a big hit with drafters, and this trades flash for a defensive ability.  While our cube doesn’t an abundance of free ways to target it, between equipment, tappers, or combat triggers like [[Combat Professor]] I imagine the ability will be relevant.

**Neveron**: [[Cathar Commando]] is still better, but this is probably my favorite iteration on white’s conditionally–a-3/3-for-two thing. (Compare, say, [[Armory Mice]].)

**Omniczech**: I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this as a side-grade to the cathar. I look at this and can see that this is sometimes gonna be mostly a 3/3 for 2, but also plenty of times is gonna be A [[Blade of the Sixth Pride]], which I’m less stoked on.

**Usman**:  Definitely worse than [[Cathar Commando]] (flash is just so good) but I think even with so few ways to target it, a dollar store version’s not too bad.  We could always adjust our expectations if we get more good cheap equipment but… I don’t see that happening, unfortunately. :(

**Phizzled**: When this was spoiled I absolutely read this as having flash for multiple days.  THe buff may be difficult to trigger, but losing surprise is the real downside.  It’s not the easiest two-card combo to assemble, but there are more things that can target it than you’d expect.  If we have another aggro creature to replace, this is a fine upgrade.

[[!Warren Elder]]

**Solset**: The white side of [[Selesnya Guildmage]] is a super strong card if you are supporting go wide.   The mere threat of activation will both help force through early damage and create lopsided blocks. Later, it is a win condition.

**Usman**:  It can be virtually a time walk to use 4 mana to pump the team, and usually I’ve been meh on team pump but usually its presence is enough to make people think twice about their blocks.  Base mode of being a 2/2 for 1W is not the worst too.  Not bad.

**Phizzled**: I still have fond memories of [[Leonin Sun Standard]].  This team pump is much more expensive, but it pumps itself.  I have generally been open to a number of bears, and this is a decent one.  Potentially playing flagbearer to premium removal in the late game is not necessarily a mark against it.

## Blue

[[!Lightshell Duo]]

**Solset**:  This Duo is likely pretty great at holding down the ground or winning combat when you decide to attack, but is this something our Blue decks have been asking for?  I think I’d still rather have [[jhessian thief]] in this slot which comes down a turn early for defense and feeds the prowess deck’s hand as it strangles control

**Neveron**: It’s a neat card, but it’s at a high enough mana value that I’d prefer something with either evasion (e.g. [[Lotus Path Djinn]]) or more value (e.g. most of our current selection of blue four-drops).

**Omniczech**: I think this one looks similar to Pondering mage and that winds up confusing some ideas, the etb is just fine, the body, fine with prowess, I’m not sold on this one.

**Usman**:  Relatively eh on this one, although it’s at least a good chunk of value for 4.  I just think blue decks can do better for a main phase 4-mana blue card in our world.

**Phizzled**: I wish this had evasian, so, so badly.  It’s big and able to get bigger, but I can’t imagine ever wanting to draft this with an early pick on it.  I don’t know what scenario in draft would make me excited to take this, and I think we have better glue cards that are colorless.

## Black

[[!Diresight]]

**Solset**:  I don’t have a strong attachment to black’s “draw two” types.  I might even like [[Sign in Blood]] over our existing 3 mana options.  Still, if we want a more exciting option, [[Rowans Grim Search]] being an instant is a close call to the guaranteed surveil.  Forced to pick though, I think the new one has a bit more archetype support, and that wins in my book.

**Neveron**: We’ve only really got [[Rowan’s Grim Search]] left as far as our black three-mana divinations go, and I’m not convinced that this one’s better given how many tokens Aristocrats generates.

**Omniczech**: If we still had [[Read the Bones]] in then I’d have a different opinion, but Grim Search just seems better/more interesting than this.

**Usman**:  Another card that I’m pretty *shrug* about since we have a lot of other cards that do similar things and I’m unsure if black midrange decks really need another card like this nowadays.  I think the black card advantage tools in generic midrange/control might be weak enough for this to be worth it, but I’m still just really iffy.

**Phizzled**: I agree with the most of the committee.  We have an instant “draw two” that potentially digs as deep.  I like the guaranteed surveil, but I wouldn’t make the change, unless this is an addition.

## Green

[[!Longstalk Brawl]]

**Neveron**: There are currently six one-mana fight spells available to us by my reckoning (some via discounts), and this one’s probably the most interesting one. Green generally doesn’t care too much about opponents getting tapped 1/1 tokens, and the counter being permanent is very relevant to us. But, of course, it’s a fight and we generally prefer a bite like [[Horrific Assault]].

**Solset**: I am not sure this is good enough, but I do think if we want to see GW function under the banner of “counters” we need to find some room for cards like this that are perhaps side grades but enable some free counter interactions.

**Usman**:  It may just be our best fight spell, since being able to go one-up and win combat is great, especially since our format tends to have pretty compacted combat stats, and giving a fish isn’t a big deal.  I’m honestly unsure if it’s better than a bite that just deals power, since it can just go over the top and survive anyway.

**Phizzled**: Potentially permanently buffing your ramped out threat and killing something at the same time is decent.  I’d prefer instant speed or bite, but you’re only going to use the alternate mode when your creature is going to survive anyway. This is flexible enough to be powerful, and doggone it, people like it.

[[!Stickytongue Sentinel]]

**Neveron**: There’s probably a lot of shenanigans to be had with a green [[Kor Skyfisher]], even if it largely needs to rely on other colors for the big payoffs. It being a “may” is nice, as well… but in exchange for all that, the base body is a boring 3/3 reach for 3.

**Solset**: The failsafe for this is just fine, so the question becomes if we want a bit of incident ETB support outside UW.  Green has some fantastic bodies with an enter trigger, and in our montly drafts, Bant has been a common inclusion for the flicker deck.

**Usman**:  Green does have some value things, and may just be a way to help green grindy decks with expensive ETB creatures.  Might also be in the right color to do something like GWu for blue things that like to be flickered.  I think I like it, the more that I say.

**Phizzled**: This seems honestly pretty decent.  Some of our ramp creatures are not especially well protected, and I can’t imagine turning down [[Eternal Witness]] in pauper.  The body being an acceptable rate makes me just like it more.

## Gold (Hybrid)

[[!Cindering Cutthroat]]

**Omniczech**: Oh man, I really like this thing, it’s a bit above rate for the vanilla test most of the time and being able to sink mana into some pseudo evasion is nice here.

**Solset**:  I care about symmetry and cycles more than most.  As a gold card, this doesn’t support our Rakdos theme, so I’m not happy putting it there.  If we open some new spot, like a hybrid one, this card would be fantastic there.  A day may come when we embrace the chaos and not care about spots, but it is not this day.

**Neveron**: This is a shoe-in for a hypothetical hybrid slot, but for a gold slot we have to raise the evergreen question of “what do we cut?”. Assuming that we keep the creatures that fit the sacrifice theme, it’s between [[Terminate]] and [[Blightning]], both cards I’d be sad to see go. In any case, though, the Cindering Cutthroat is a fantastic little card and will probably kill a lot of people.

**Usman**:  Certainly in the right color.  In my own cube, I’ve been putting hybrid and multicolor separate (since hybrid isn’t a drawback, like multicolor) as this may just be more of a red card than a black one.  Not really better than anything in BR, though, but I think it’s aggressive enough that I’d want to play it in aggressive decks.

**Phizzled**: The body is fine and the potential for menace is not too shabby, either.  I like the splashability, even, except, as noted above: where does it belong if we put it in the list?

[[!Tempest Angler]]

**Solset**: This one is so on theme, I could easily see us putting this in Gold if we don’t create a dedicated hybrid slot.

**Neveron**: Back when we ran [[Quandrix Pledgemage]], I seem to remember people wishing that there’d be a Izzet version. Well, three years later…

**Usman**:  Pretty much the same as above, where I like it and think it’s likely “good enough” but not better than anything in Izzet’s multicolor cards.

**Phizzled**:  I enjoy grow creatures, and otters are pretty cute.  I’m interested in this card, but struggle, as above, with where to put them if we added this to the list.

## Lands

[[!Hidden Grotto]]

**Solset**:  If we want a couple of these in our cube, I think replacing [[Crystal Grotto]] is likely the right call since surveil is almost strictly better than scry for our environment.   As we continue to adjust our lands though, I’m not sure this survives long even if it gets a shot next to [[Conduit Pylons]].

**Neveron**: Our utility land slots are few enough that I’d prefer avoiding duplicates if possible. That said, this is basically just a straight upgrade over Crystal Grotto.

**Omniczech**: Boring upgrades are still upgrades.

**Usman**:  Indeed, it’s an upgrade.  Might be better for decks overall than [[Skyscanner]]?

**Phizzled**: Simple, clear, effective.

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