After Theros came out, a set that was nice, but barely contained any playable cards in a format other then standard, here comes the first set of Khans, which had not one, not two, not three, but four format warping cards (Monastery Swiftspear, Treasure Cruise, Dig Through Time, and Jeskai Ascendancy). Monastery Swiftspear is being run in pretty much every deck with red, including various legacy decks, Jeskai Ascendancy prompted a new deck built around it, and Dig Though Time and Treasure Cruise are both being used as powerful draw engines in control decks.
Here's my question. Of the two, Treasure Cruise sees a lot more play in modern and legacy, whereas Dig Through Time sees a lot more play in standard. I'm wondering why this is. Is it because the cheapest DTT can get is 2 mana, whereas Cruise can practically be an ancestral recall?
I think Dig is better in Standard by default because it is a slower format. It allows you to find the perfect card(s) for the situation at hand, and you see much deeper. Cruise is more "engine" to me. You run 4 in a deck that can handle it, but you hate whiffing and drawing like 3 lands, which happens a lot in a format like Standard, where ~24 is the current average. Cruise is also better for decks that like redundancy, rather than fetching specific cards.
Cruise is more powerful in a vacuum, but Dig is "bigger." It's better to go big in Standard, I'd say, more times than not.
I think it depends on the deck. If you are running a deck like Jeskai Aggro where you have a ton of redundant cards, then Treasure Cruise is likely going to be better. Add in that this deck isn't going to get UU needed for Dig Through Time as reliably as many others and I think it is pretty easy to see why Cruise is the better choice.
I do agree that the current standard is absolutely a go bigger format and, therefore, the idea that Dig the default card when picking between the two makes a lot of sense.
Dig is the better overall card because you get to see what you get, but Cruise sees much more play in eternal formats because it is more common to splash for spells and one blue is much easier to have on board than two.
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100% depends on deck. As mentioned, cruise is splashable, and gives more card advantage. Dig is instant and digs deeper. So Cruise is better in a deck that needs a lot of spells but cares less about what they are, and dig is better in a deck that needs specific answers and plays lots of countermagic or other instant speed responses.
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Here's my question. Of the two, Treasure Cruise sees a lot more play in modern and legacy, whereas Dig Through Time sees a lot more play in standard. I'm wondering why this is. Is it because the cheapest DTT can get is 2 mana, whereas Cruise can practically be an ancestral recall?
Modern
UBR Grixis Control
U Merfolk
Pauper
U Mono U Delver
Ancestral Visions is freed
Cruise is more powerful in a vacuum, but Dig is "bigger." It's better to go big in Standard, I'd say, more times than not.
I do agree that the current standard is absolutely a go bigger format and, therefore, the idea that Dig the default card when picking between the two makes a lot of sense.
― Anthony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential
I will always firmly stand by the belief that Magic is a game first and a collectable second.