Peasant Cube Picks for Kaldheim

Kaldheim is here! The frozen tundras of the plane have come upon us and with them a whole bunch of fun cards to play cube with! Today we are going to discuss my Kaldheim picks for my Peasant Cube, which means only commons and uncommons from the set.

This is the cube I play with my Discord in Arena and here is the list for you all to see: http://cubecobra.com/cube/list/zubypeasantcube

Foretell has seriously become one of my favorite new mechanics. I didn’t care for it until I started playing with it more. The first card up for discussion is Shepherd of the Cosmos. In my cube, White has a white weenie and an Angel theme so this card fits perfectly with its ability to bring back a small creature to the battlefield. Being able to cast a 3/3 with flying on turn 4 is a solid play in Limited and will definitely help stablize your board.

Starnheim Courser is another great addition because the cost reduction on artifacts and enchantment opens up equipment- and aura-based strategies. The fact that it's a 2/2 flier for 3 mana is nothing to scoff at as well.

Clarion Spirit easily passes the Vanilla Bear test. A 2/2 for 2 is good value. Clarion Spirit giving you a 1/1 Flying Spirit every time you cast your second spell is the cherry on top. Now, this won’t always happen every turn in Limited, but the help building up your board state makes Clarion Spirit a worthy choice in this cube.

Depart the Realm replaces Select for Inspection in the cube because while scrying is always great, being able to target any nonland permanent gives the newer card the edge. It's also a plus when you can foretell the spell and cast it later at the crucial moment.

Ravenform is a ridiculous blue card. It’s a ridiculous common as well. A 3 mana exile effect in blue, even with the downside, is color pie bending enough that we can expect it to see play in Peasant and Pauper formats. So, in a Peasant cube how could it not make the cut? Blue isn’t always known for removal in Limited; it’s more known for bounce and counterspell effects. Sure, your opponent gets a 1/1 bird. That’s a fair price to play to get rid of a huge 12/12 coming at you.

Poison the Cup easily replaces Murder, not just in this cube but I would imagine most other cubes as well. Not only does it cost the same, but when cast with theforetell ability, you scry 2 as well.

While I usually avoid putting Planeswalkers in my cube, I couldn’t pass up Feed the Serpent. This replaced Final Death which is slightly more expensive at 5 mana. This is the sort of premium removal you want in your unpowered cubes and you definitely want while drafting this cube as well.

Vengeful Reaper is a dangerous card. Sure the power and toughness aren’t the highest but being able to play this turn 3 is good value. That it's also got flying, deathtouch, and haste on turn 3 is even better. The cube's got ways to give Vengeful Reaper vigilance, just in case you want people to hate you.

Picking equipment is always hard for me whenever I build a cube. In most Limited environments, drafting a removal or creature spell always seems better. It’s rare that a piece of equipment makes you go “Ok wow, I MUST have this card.” Goldvein Pick is not a must have, but it has an interesting ability. Creating treasure tokens essentially for free, speeds up your aggro game or helps you get bigger baddies out there.

Kaldheim brings back one of my favorite recent Magic designs: Sagas. Starting off with The Trickster-God’s Heist, we not only potentially steal a great creature, we also potentially exchange a noncreature, nonbasic permanent as well (this includes Lands!). Chapter 3 is where this becomes less interesting but the first two chapters bring a lot of fun in your deck building synergy.

My cube includes a fair amount of recursion, and what better way to add some more spicy recursion than with Kardur’s Vicious Return? Saccing to bolt your opponent or their creature in Chapter 1, and Chapter 2 making players discard, means that you're going to get your original creature or better back into play in Chapter 3. With Haste. And it's bigger. It's a great way to smash face and an all-star finisher in the cube.

Arni Slays the Troll not only slots into your picks as removal, but also enhances the counter synergies built into the cube. Sure, Chapter 3 is a bit lackluster, but the flexibility the card provides in the cube and your deck is worth the pick alone.

Not only is the art amazing for Binding the Old Gods (it’s a real wooden sculpture) but its abilities are insane for any cube. It is a removal, ramp, and aggro card all in one. It removes any nonland permanents your opponent controls while helping you ramp up in the next turn, and ends with giving all your creatures deathtouch.  This is a top shelf Limited card.

Firja, Judge of Valor is another new card that synergizes well with the Angel/Fliers theme, and also works well with Clarion Spirit. Casting a second spell does not happen a lot in Limited but when it does, this gets you digging through your deck to find that answer you need.

Last but certainly not least is Maja, Bretagard Protector. Going wide is a very valid strategy in Green/White in this cube and so you want this card. Not only does it help pump your creatures up but every time a land ETBs, you get another token on the field. Green being plentiful in ramp, this makes this card another role player many, many cubes out there. It just so happens to also work well in mine!

And there you have it folks! My Kaldheim cube card picks for my Peasant Cube. While I wasn’t too hyped for this set, after drafting it a few times and cubing with it, it’s become a hit. I'm very happy to be adding cards with foretell and these other fantastic synrgies to the cube.