This is my 9th installment of the "top 20" set preview articles.
Just like the previous review, it will be in a spoiled top 20 countdown format, with each section having an image, a brief summary/description, and my verdict on what cubes I think it could potentially see some play in. I got a lot of positive feedback on the format from the last article, so I’m going to keep the “what I like” and “what I don’t like” sections.
Keep in mind (just like the others) that this is a set preview. Similar to draft predictions in professional sports, this list is an educated guess at best. Some cards I value highly in here may turn out to not last long in the cube. Other cards that are lower down on the list (or even missed entirely) could (well, very likely may) turn out to be great cards. Even Tom Brady was drafted in the 6th round! Again, this is not intended to be gospel, set in stone or written as a review for posterity. This is simply written to be an enjoyable guess at cards I like for cubes, and hopefully it'll allow some cube managers to evaluate cards they may have otherwise overlooked and/or put some cards in perspective that may've been overhyped. Nothing more.
Journey Into Nyx was a solid set for the cube, especially considering it was a smaller one. Much better than Born of the Gods was, at any rate. In addition to the cards featured in this top 20 list, there were a handful of honorable mentions that missed the cut. Pretty refreshing to get a set that wasn’t too good or too bad in terms of cube impact. This one is just right.
An interesting Threaten variant with a pretty high ceiling.
What I Like: Threaten effects have always been a bit lackluster in terms of their performance in the cube. But stealing two creatures with the same Threaten is pretty strong. Especially if it can function as a 3-mana variant too. If you don’t hit your 6 mana, it’s still playable. But if you can, it can cause a lot of damage on its own. And of course, if you’re really flooded in the super late game, it’ll probably win the game on the spot for 9 mana.
What I Don't Like: There are only a couple things I don’t like about it. First, if you fail to reach your 6 mana, all you’re left with is a harder to cast Threaten. Second, the mana cost requirements can be steep ...needing 1RR in the first form and 3RRR if you strive with it.
Verdict: It’s probably the most interesting Threaten variant we’ve seen to date, and outside of Zealous Conscripts and Sarkhan Vol, it’s very likely the best one. If you’re playing a larger cube that wants this effect, I’d give it a shot.
What I Like: Token engines typically give your opponent a turn to plan on how to deal with an onslaught of threats. I like that Launch the Fleet makes tokens that have haste. Additionally, the card has a nice casting cost—always being splashable regardless of the number of tokens it creates.
What I Don't Like: One of the advantages of traditional token engines is the ability to create an army of bodies from nowhere. This card doesn’t do that. You need to have a board presence to increase your board presence. Additionally, you’re limited not by mana, but by how many threats you have out. It feels like it should be an X spell, but I can be sitting on 7 mana and be limited to only making 2 threats because of my existing board.
Verdict: It plays more like a token support card rather than a token generator, but still ...having a XW spell that can make hasted tokens that double your number of attackers will likely find a home to be tested somewhere. Large cubes that really push a dedicated token/anthem archetype might decide to test it out.
A cheap tempo beater that makes your removal cheaper.
What I Like: Being a 2-power beater for 2 mana that reduces all my targeted bounce and removal by 1 isn’t a bad way to start off a card. Additionally, there are some great cards that benefit in a big way from the ability. Dividable burn like Arc Lightning and Flames of the Firebrand start to cost R. If you play big splashy spells like Comet Storm, you can get those multiple X values really high. Speaking of, it does nasty things with Profane Command. But simply giving you a price reduction on all of your bounce and removal isn’t bad. If you can use it more than once in a game, it basically pays for itself.
What I Don't Like: It needs to go into a very specific deck. One that will expected to recoup at least 2-3 mana worth of discounts over the course of the game. I think it might be limited to just RU tempo decks in terms of where it’s playable simply because no other combination will have a high enough concentration of spells that benefit from the discount.
Verdict: Big cubes that play U/X tempo decks with a lot of removal and also support a “spells matter” subtheme that he can contribute to will perhaps be willing to test him out.
A Boros god that makes your team evasive and unkillable.
What I Like: Make no mistake, Goblin War Drums is no slouch of an effect. It will allow a lot of damage to be pushed through that otherwise would’ve been tied up in combat. Additionally, keeping your attackers alive (while not the main reason to play the card) is a nice added bonus when you’re striving to activate the god. It has a built-in ability to preserve some of your devotion, which is nice.
What I Don't Like: The competition. Both in the guild and at the CMC in the mono-colored sections. There aren’t a whole lot of 4cc cube cards that I wanna drop from my final-40 for a card that’s simply going to grant evasion most of the time.
Verdict: Depending on how dedicated your sections are towards activating this god, it may be worth a trial run in larger cubes. While I think it’s probably worse than the aforementioned War Drums in the average scenario, there will be times where both the protection and the body will be relevant. It has a shot at being maybe the 7th or 8th best Boros card, which would make me think it can settle in the 720-810 range.
What I Like: One of the things that showed itself to be problematic about Mana Flare and Heartbeat of Spring is that you give your opponent a 6-8+ mana turn before you get to benefit from your own spell. Despite costing more mana, Dictate removes that drawback. Flash it in at the end of their turn, and untap with 10-12+ mana available on your turn, giving you the benefit before they get any. This can be particularly backbreaking with effects that can bind up your opponent’s resources, like Terastodon, Sundering Titan or even Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre or Woodfall Primus. Also, with one mana dork, this gets you to kicked Tooth and Nail range on T5.
What I Don't Like: The green 5cc suite is jammed up on both sides with amazing creatures and spells. And unfortunately, despite being a really powerful effect, it’s only really valuable in one decktype, which I don’t support in my cube (big mana Eldrazi-esque type ramp builds).
Verdict: This is probably a card a lot of people will be surprised to hear me mention, since it’s not my cup of tea. That being said, it’s a hell of an effect for doing what it does, and if I was playing a green super-ramp deck trying to hardcast Eldrazis, you can be assured I’d be using this spell to try and do it.
What I Like: Blue doesn’t have many playable 1cc creatures. Being able to manipulate the quality of your draws (while also potentially keeping dangerous cards away from your opponent) is a nice thing for a cheap creature to be able to do. You’re in complete control of the effect. If you see something you’re happy with, no harm no foul. If you see a situation where your opponent is going to benefit greatly and your revealed card is a dud, trash them both and get something more useful. In addition to the face-value of the effect, it’s great to be able to bin unneeded cards after top of library manipulation like Brainstorm, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Sensei's Divining Top and the like. You can also randomly use it to feed the ‘yard with cards you want there, but it’s an unreliable card for that kind of effect.
What I Don't Like: Two things. The body and the mana costs. It’s fragile. That’s okay for a 1-drop, but less okay for one that needs to survive over a long period of time to make the investment worth it. It’s also a drag that it’s a casualty of all the mass removal you’ll want to be playing in the same deck. And lastly, paying U every turn is kinda rough. You need to activate it a lot over the course of the game to have the effect be worth a card and the mana investment you’ve sunk into it.
Verdict: Larger cubes might really be looking for additional 1cc blue creatures for their control builds and this might be it. I’d test this card out myself if my cube was bigger, maybe in the 720-810 range or so.
What I Like: It has a nice easy casting cost, it’s got 2-power for 2 mana, and it protects me from a slew of discard effects, edicts and burn/reach spells. It also has a cool interaction with Enlightened Tutor because it’s an enchantment. There are a handful of really nasty effects in the cube that target players (Mind Twist, Profane Command, Bonfire of the Damned, etc) and this protects you from all of them. It also serves as a flag-bearer of sorts, in that your opponent can’t target you or your planeswalkers with reach or burn before they remove this creature.
What I Don't Like: A 2/1 body for 1W just doesn’t cut it any more. It has no evasion, no combat-related abilities and just dies to every body your opponent puts down on the board. In addition to being killed by every removal spell and every disenchant effect. If I really want to pay mana and a card to protect myself from my opponent’s disruption and reach, I want it strapped to a body that can survive on the board for a while. I just don’t think this one can. Would've been more valuable as a 1/3 or an 0/4, probably.
Verdict: I doubt that even larger cubes will have white 2-drops they’ll gladly drop for this creature. However, there are cubes that support combo-based win conditions that target their opponents with game-ending spells. This might be a useful hate-bear in those cubes as a tool to ward off those decks in addition to being a randomly valuable 2-drop beater with an upside.
What I Like: I picture using this in a blue tempo deck on my opponent’s turn to turn my tapped Looter il-Kor into a 4/4 flying blocker out of nowhere, killing off one of their attackers, and then bashing for 4 through the sky on my next turn. At the very least, I see it doing that. Now, as a curve topper, I can do that effect twice over on T5, giving myself two massive surprise blockers and then having 8 power to close the game out with on the next turn. It’s also brutal when you’re upgrading tokens, and it can be used offensively if you have bounce spells to remove your opponent’s threats for good.
What I Don't Like: Well, blue doesn’t have a bunch of slots available to cards that are unplayable outside of creature-heavy tempo decks. Usually none. There are times where it simply won’t be that good, and blue can rarely afford to maindeck cards like that in the average blue deck.
Verdict: This card will be an absolute monster in C/Ubes. Alternatively, in cubes ~720 or bigger with a dedicated blue tempo package, you might wanna give this card a trial run.
What I Like: Temples are solid lands, and blue decks are typically less punished by the ETBT clause than other decks are. So UR seems like a nice place to play this particular land.
What I Don't Like: Lands that ETBT are a drag. And larger cubes will already have one that’s better in Izzet Boilerworks. I can’t see myself dedicating multiple slots to mana fixers that enter play tapped, which will keep this out of smaller lists.
Verdict: I think cubes in the 720-810 range would have a big enough demand for guild-fixing to want this land.
What I Like: This card does a lot of different things. Every time you have a creature of equal or greater size to one your opponent has out, you can use this as removal. Every time creatures get tangled in combat, you can use this as a combat trick to save your guys unexpectedly. Lastly, you can do any of those effects in multiples, typically generating card advantage every time you Strive with this card.
What I Don't Like: It can be very conditional and situational. You might not be able to use the fight effect because of summoning sickness or because you needed to attack with that creature instead.
Verdict: This card is really flexible. If I was playing a 720 card cube, I’d definitely consider it. Especially since we’re always looking for more playable combat tricks, and this could certainly be one of them.
What I Like: Even though this isn’t typically a control combination, I think it’s the Temple I like the most. We play a lot of BG reanimation decks, and I’m always looking for one of the three pieces of the puzzle. This can help me dig for them, and tuck things that don’t further that goal.
What I Don't Like: As a generic fixer, it’s not as good as some of the other options outside of those dedicated reanimation decks that really want the Scry trigger.
Verdict: I like this more than quite a few of the other available lands, simply because of how I use Golgari in my list. I could see myself playing this in the 630-720 range.
What I Like: It’s good for supporting mono-colored aggro decks or token decks where the majority of the token producers are coming from a single color. I mean, in either of those instances, it’s basically a colorless Glorious Anthem.
What I Don't Like: We play so many 2-color decks, I fear that this effect will only benefit about half my creatures in the vast majority of the decks we draft. We had the same problem with Honor back when we ran it.
Verdict: If you play a ton of mono-color decks (especially mono-color token/anthem-centric archetype decks) this card is a shoe in. If you see those kinds of decks occasionally, it will probably be worth adding in at 630, simply because the spell will be so good for those decks when they do show up. If you don't ever see either of those scenarios, don't cube it at all.
What I Like: Transmute is a powerful effect, especially when you can scroll through multiple CMCs worth of targets with each activation. I like the 3-toughness on the card. It helps mitigate the fundamental drawback built in with the Inspire mechanic, and helps keep this critter alive long enough to Transmute. It doesn’t go in everything, but it will be great for combo-centric decks. Tinker decks and reanimation decks will be glad to have the ability to search up the engine cards necessary to make them work. In addition to randomly being able to use this in “Oona’s Prowler mode” to pitch a fatty to your ‘yard in a pinch.
What I Don't Like: While Dimir isn’t stacked with a bunch of universally powerful gold cards, it does have a bunch of good role-players. It’s hard to compete in the UB section against Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas and Duskmantle Seer (in addition to Dimir’s other generic goodies) when you support the artifact deck and UB tempo. Like those other cards, this is a specific support card for combo-based builds.
Verdict: If you support combo decks like Tinker and Reanimator in your UB guild, and you have room in the Dimir section because you don’t include the other archetype-specific support cards, you can probably find some room for this critter. I think I’d be looking to include it somewhere in the 540-630 range myself, if I increased the size of my cube a bit.
What I Like: Regardless of what theater your opponent’s deck falls in, it will be containing a good number of affordable spells. This punishes everybody for casting cheap spells. As we all know, your life total is a resource you can delve into a little deeper when you’re playing aggro. So even if it deals more damage to you over the course of the game than your opponent, it might not matter as much to you. Also, if you happen to support storm, this is a nasty bullet for that deck. It’s also nice that almost every removal spell in the cube that kills it shocks your opponent for doing so.
What I Don't Like: Two significant problems with this guy. First, the RR cost. Outside of decks with ~13 sources of red, this card won’t reliably come down on curve. And the later this thing resolves, the worse it gets. It really needs to be cast on T2 to get enough value out of it. Secondly, if you play a lot of aggro/tempo decks, the self-damage is probably too punishing for the mirror match.
Verdict: If you either support Storm combo and/or play a lot of mono-red, this guy should be included. Throw it in no matter what if both apply to your cube. Otherwise, I could see this being a very testable red 2-drop in the 540-630 range. Don’t underestimate the value of some free shocks over the course of the game. Especially on a 2-power 2-drop.
What I Like: The flash. Flash makes this card really nasty. Instead of just being a card that bolsters your team, it becomes a card that dramatically changes combat across the board, on offense or defense. It erases every trade, causes all your mid-sized dudes to dominate combat, and turns all your chump-blocks into trades. It’s going to be a 1-sided wrath effect half the time you play the card and, oh ya, it leaves you with a double-anthem on the board as well.
What I Don't Like: Five mana is a lot for a combat trick, and it’s a lot for a support card. It’s hard to justify spending 5-mana on a card that requires you to have a developed board to accomplish much of anything with it.
Verdict: We play a lot of token decks, so this was really tempting. And we very well might give it some extended testing time in the future. But as for right now, it just misses the boat for us because of the mana investment. I’d have talked my playgroup into playing it if my cube was at 540 instead of 450.
What I Like: Double-strike and trample is a nasty combination, even with only 1 power (thanks to the number of 1-toughness creatures and tokens in the cube). The card has a super-high ceiling because of all the equipment and other power-modifiers that exist in the cube. And lastly, red doesn’t have a ton of card advantage engines, and they certainly don’t have a lot of 3-toughness creatures that can resolve early. It’s a really unique suite of abilities for red, and it has a really high BCS. Get in for 2 damage, flip a land and a spell, and play both for +2 CA every turn.
What I Don't Like: Without any power manipulation, the damage output is capped at 2. And the 1RR cost can be prohibitive for some decks.
Verdict: I think this creature has the potential to be quite good. I’m testing it out at 450. It might turn out to be 540 material, but it could also go the other way and prove to be valuable at 360 for all I know. All I can say is that a double-striking 3-drop that generates CA needs to be tested to know for sure.
What I Like: It’s a 5/5 flying for 3 mana. By the time this card has attacked for 10 and Goblin Guide has attacked for 10, they’ve both given up the same card disadvantage on average as a drawback. Except this one does it with flying. It’s a really nasty beater for aggro decks. I also like how most of the removal that can kill it is at sorcery speed, so my opponent has to take some damage from it before removing it if they want to benefit from the drawback.
What I Don't Like: Giving away a card to your opponent every turn is a significant drawback. If they can mitigate it with a card that keeps the Master on the board, that drawback WILL cost you the game. Additionally, it dies to disenchant effects, which is kinda a bummer.
Verdict: This creature is really strong. A 5/5 flying creature at that stage in the game is really good. I’m playing it at 450, and it may very well find its way into some smaller lists too.
What I Like: Outside of corner-cases involving exiling your own permanents or instant-speed bounce, it’s another Oblivion Ring. That’s just alright with me.
What I Don't Like: I suppose they could’ve made it cost WW and really made my day?
Verdict: This is an instant 360 staple, IMO. I know it’s boring, but it’s good. It answers every permanent type, and we can’t get enough removal with that upside.
What I Like: This card does so much stuff! First and foremost, it’s a 2-power 1-drop when it needs to be. Aggro will be more than happy to play this on T1. Additionally, the card has two valuable modes in 4cc mode. You can play it to bolster one of your own threats for some wrath protection without giving up pressure, or you can play it on your opponent’s blocker to allow your team to get through for damage. So much value from an aggro creature.
What I Don't Like: It’s not a zombie...
Verdict: This is another 360-quality card. Even if you don’t need more 2-power 1-drops, this is one of the best ones, so it should replace one if nothing else.
Nice article wtwfl123, thanks for putting in the time and thought to put it together. I wholeheartedly agree with all of your rankings, and at 450 (unpowered) I'm including the top 5. This sure has been a blast of a spoiler season.
As always a really great post. Would switch around some things at the bottom, and I do believe your undervaluing Arethos still, but overall good stuff and another solid addition to a solid series.
My only complaint is that your article wasn't out sooner. No, seriously I have your 450 card thread bookmarked as I find I disagree with most other lists when they consider cards to add/cut. Thanks for taking the time to produce quality cubing info.
My top five line up with yours and are the new entrants to my list. Great article, though! Definitely good for understanding what makes it in a cube environment.
Nice one wtwlf! The new format is very good, reads well and provides something to think about positively for every card in the list. My includes currently stand at:
Gnarled Scarhide
Mana Confluence
Prophetic Flamespeaker
Master of the Feast
Banishing Light
and testing
Eidolon of the Great Revel
(possibly) Disciple of Deceit
5-7 includes from a set 165 cards strong is ridiculously good. I expect the Eidolon to do well too making it a solid 6. Since I realised how many 1-3 mana effects we run in all our decks, his impact is far too significant to ignore, RR cost be damned. I think he has to be treated like any other aggro CC creature - which all suffer when topdecked later, and I think he's somewhat better in that regard than many other good two drops, so that aspect doesn't concern me. Going up to two RR creatures is OK at this point, and Ash Zealot isn't totally uncuttable in the future.
Flamespeaker adds a little more depth to red and fleshes out the 'aggro' three drop slot on top of all the utility creatures. The fact that he is also playable in midrange and control pushes him straight to 360 in my opinion. I like the fact he does something other than burn, haste, or killing a land. Red lacks diversity and I like Wizards' attempts to rectify this.
Great P(review) as always! I was checking the forums for it for the past few days.
Could you comment on Ajani and Keranos? Despite being gold I think they have a better shot than most on this list, potentially cracking the top 5 for their respective guilds.
My only complaint is that your article wasn't out sooner. No, seriously I have your 450 card thread bookmarked as I find I disagree with most other lists when they consider cards to add/cut. Thanks for taking the time to produce quality cubing info.
I thought this set was better then it looks like in the post set review. 8-20 are not even close to medium size lists.
Probably not. I try to be relatively generous and optimistic when I write my lists so that people can have some fun testing out more fringe options. There are 3 good cards for small cubes, and 2-3 more cards for medium sized cubes. And that's about it. But from a small set, that's pretty respectable.
My top five line up with yours and are the new entrants to my list. Great article, though! Definitely good for understanding what makes it in a cube environment.
Great P(review) as always! I was checking the forums for it for the past few days.
Could you comment on Ajani and Keranos? Despite being gold I think they have a better shot than most on this list, potentially cracking the top 5 for their respective guilds.
Hope it didn't disappoint!
There are only two problems with Ajani, and neither are because the card itself is bad. First off, the competition in the Selesnya guild is packed. I mean, ridiculously jammed up. It would be really hard for new WG cards to crack the top 8-10 in that section, which makes it really hard for them to crack this top 20 list. The bigger problem is the competition at the 5cc slot in white and green. Ajani is a 5cc CA engine. It takes a long time for him to start having a profound impact on the board. The +1/+1 counter tricks are cool, but if you look at what the average 5cc cube card is accomplishing in either of those two colors, this starts to look significantly worse. And what's perhaps most disappointing is that he doesn't contribute to a specific strategy or archetype. He just kinda does his own thing. Which is fine, but it's also harder to find room for him in the final 40 when he doesn't pull in the same direction as the rest of the deck. Again. Nothing wrong with him, but I can't see him making the cube against the WG competition or making the final 40 against the mono-colored competition.
Keranos was one of my honorable mention cards. But here's the problem with him. He's a 5-mana card advantage engine. He resolves too late to have a dramatic impact on the game, unless the game goes unnaturally long. For example, I can play Tidings at that mana cost and get 4-for-1 card advantage immediately, and be able to cast multiple new spells on the following turn. Or I suppose I could use him and wait until turn 9-10 to do the same thing. Or, if I plan on having the game go really long, there are other options for CA out there in the late stages of the game. If I'm planning on having 6+ mana for several turns following his resolution, I'd rather draw 2 cards a turn every turn than get 1 card and a Bolt. I can do that with Honden of Seeing Winds, and have it be easier to cast and only one color. RU usually doesn't have the board filled up with mana symbols, so I don't see him going into creature mode very often. So I'm making a mono-colored effect slightly worse and adding an irrelevant ability and indestructibility at the cost of making it gold. Even in a weaker guild, I don't see this being valuable in most cubes compared to the other available options for late-game card advantage.
RE: Ajani... At five mana, I would nearly always rather have a threat instead. As a four mana aggro-viable curve topper, we'd be in a totally different place. Five mana cards in aggro, if run at all, have to have a huge immediate impact - Thundermaw Hellkite for example, and even then sometimes it won't make the cut. That leaves Ajani for midrange, where his +1 looks kind of sad and I would rather have a Vorapede, Baneslayer or Thragtusk.
Quote from wtwlf »
Keranos was one of my honorable mention cards. But here's the problem with him. He's a 5-mana card advantage engine. He resolves too late to have a dramatic impact on the game, unless the game goes unnaturally long. For example, I can play Tidings at that mana cost and get 4-for-1 card advantage immediately, and be able to cast multiple new spells on the following turn. Or I suppose I could use him and wait until turn 9-10 to do the same thing. Or, if I plan on having the game go really long, there are other options for CA out there in the late stages of the game. If I'm planning on having 6+ mana for several turns following his resolution, I'd rather draw 2 cards a turn every turn than get 1 card and a Bolt. I can do that with Honden of Seeing Winds, and have it be easier to cast and only one color. RU usually doesn't have the board filled up with mana symbols, so I don't see him going into creature mode very often. So I'm making a mono-colored effect slightly worse and adding an irrelevant ability and indestructibility at the cost of making it gold. Even in a weaker guild, I don't see this being valuable in most cubes compared to the other available options for late-game card advantage.
I agree with the top 3, as those 3 are what I'm putting in my cube. Have to think about what to replace with Mana Confluence. It's the card that surprised me the most. After seeing their land for like the last 4 years, I wasn't expecting something of this level.
Have to disagree about Mana Confluence art, though. I think it is splendid.
I agree with the top 3, as those 3 are what I'm putting in my cube. Have to think about what to replace with Mana Confluence. It's the card that surprised me the most. After seeing their land for like the last 4 years, I wasn't expecting something of this level.
Have to disagree about Mana Confluence art, though. I think it is splendid.
Ya, it was a complete shocker.
And as far as the art goes ...I like it just fine. Just had to find something to criticize it about.
Thanks for putting this together, I've found all of your set previews incredibly helpful in putting my cube together. Even though I'm fairly new here, I went back and read all of your older set (p)reviews for ideas for cards to add to my cube. They've also helped me with evaluating cards for this particular format.
As my cube is still pretty new and I'm working on upping the power level I have a bit more wiggle room to try out newer cards. My definite includes:
You've convinced me to take a second look at Eidolon of the Great Revel, too. I'd initially written it off as a narrow storm hoser - an archetype I'm not running at all, but I'd overlooked its implications for red aggro as almost a Sulfuric Vortex on legs.
Thanks again for your hard work!
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
465 card Unpowered cube thread. Draft it here and I'll be happy to return the favor.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
There are only two problems with Ajani, and neither are because the card itself is bad. First off, the competition in the Selesnya guild is packed. I mean, ridiculously jammed up. It would be really hard for new WG cards to crack the top 8-10 in that section, which makes it really hard for them to crack this top 20 list. The bigger problem is the competition at the 5cc slot in white and green. Ajani is a 5cc CA engine. It takes a long time for him to start having a profound impact on the board. The +1/+1 counter tricks are cool, but if you look at what the average 5cc cube card is accomplishing in either of those two colors, this starts to look significantly worse. And what's perhaps most disappointing is that he doesn't contribute to a specific strategy or archetype. He just kinda does his own thing. Which is fine, but it's also harder to find room for him in the final 40 when he doesn't pull in the same direction as the rest of the deck. Again. Nothing wrong with him, but I can't see him making the cube against the WG competition or making the final 40 against the mono-colored competition.
Keranos was one of my honorable mention cards. But here's the problem with him. He's a 5-mana card advantage engine. He resolves too late to have a dramatic impact on the game, unless the game goes unnaturally long. For example, I can play Tidings at that mana cost and get 4-for-1 card advantage immediately, and be able to cast multiple new spells on the following turn. Or I suppose I could use him and wait until turn 9-10 to do the same thing. Or, if I plan on having the game go really long, there are other options for CA out there in the late stages of the game. If I'm planning on having 6+ mana for several turns following his resolution, I'd rather draw 2 cards a turn every turn than get 1 card and a Bolt. I can do that with Honden of Seeing Winds, and have it be easier to cast and only one color. RU usually doesn't have the board filled up with mana symbols, so I don't see him going into creature mode very often. So I'm making a mono-colored effect slightly worse and adding an irrelevant ability and indestructibility at the cost of making it gold. Even in a weaker guild, I don't see this being valuable in most cubes compared to the other available options for late-game card advantage.
Hope that helps!
Does this change in an unpowered environment? You've made me value Keranos less but I still think Ajani is quite good in an unpowered cube since the games go longer and GW is rarely dead on turn 5. Also, 3 +1/+1 counters does affect the board in any regular GW deck...
I am definitely putting in the top 3 in my 450 unpowered.
Functional reprints may be boring, but especially with the mana fixing, makes the cube better.
The gnarled scarhide is really exciting for a one drop. It even combos with tormented hero for a mini Theros block synergy
As usual, great article and a very enjoyable read.
Yet another great review. Thanks again for your tireless efforts.
I think I might have to enact the fabled Sharpie of House Rules and add the word "Zombie" for Gnarled Scarhide. The art kinda makes it look like a Zombie...right?
Thanks for putting this together, I've found all of your set previews incredibly helpful in putting my cube together. Even though I'm fairly new here, I went back and read all of your older set (p)reviews for ideas for cards to add to my cube. They've also helped me with evaluating cards for this particular format.
You've convinced me to take a second look at Eidolon of the Great Revel, too. I'd initially written it off as a narrow storm hoser - an archetype I'm not running at all, but I'd overlooked its implications for red aggro as almost a Sulfuric Vortex on legs.
Thanks again for your hard work!
Remember that they're designed to be read as previews and not necessarily for posterity. Going back and reading the older ones will give you a lot of old information combined with several bad guesses.
I think the Eidolon has potential as an aggro beater IF you play a lot of mono-red. In a typical 2-color aggro deck, having the RR force him down 1-2 turns late really kills his validity.
Does this change in an unpowered environment? You've made me value Keranos less but I still think Ajani is quite good in an unpowered cube since the games go longer and GW is rarely dead on turn 5. Also, 3 +1/+1 counters does affect the board in any regular GW deck...
Being unpowered doesn't change my opinion of him. He's still a subpar choice for the same reasons, IMHO. The counters impact the board in a regular GW deck, but nowhere near as much as any other 5cc card would in either white or green. And the competition for a Selesnya slot is still just as competitive in an unpowered cube as it is in a powered one. Again, the card's not good, but I just don't see him A) pushing a better WG card out of the cube, or B) pushing a better 5cc card out of my final 40. Pretty much ever.
Yet another great review. Thanks again for your tireless efforts.
I think I might have to enact the fabled Sharpie of House Rules and add the word "Zombie" for Gnarled Scarhide. The art kinda makes it look like a Zombie...right?
That's the only mark against him. Oh well, I can live with it.
I am definitely putting in the top 3 in my 450 unpowered.
Functional reprints may be boring, but especially with the mana fixing, makes the cube better.
The gnarled scarhide is really exciting for a one drop. It even combos with tormented hero for a mini Theros block synergy
As usual, great article and a very enjoyable read.
At least both cards aren't technically functional reprints by definition, so even people that are stingy about not using cards that are functionally identical can still include the new O-Ring and the new City without removing the old ones.
This is my 9th installment of the "top 20" set preview articles.
Just like the previous review, it will be in a spoiled top 20 countdown format, with each section having an image, a brief summary/description, and my verdict on what cubes I think it could potentially see some play in. I got a lot of positive feedback on the format from the last article, so I’m going to keep the “what I like” and “what I don’t like” sections.
Journey Into Nyx was a solid set for the cube, especially considering it was a smaller one. Much better than Born of the Gods was, at any rate. In addition to the cards featured in this top 20 list, there were a handful of honorable mentions that missed the cut. Pretty refreshing to get a set that wasn’t too good or too bad in terms of cube impact. This one is just right.
Hope you enjoy!
Harness by Force
An interesting Threaten variant with a pretty high ceiling.
What I Like: Threaten effects have always been a bit lackluster in terms of their performance in the cube. But stealing two creatures with the same Threaten is pretty strong. Especially if it can function as a 3-mana variant too. If you don’t hit your 6 mana, it’s still playable. But if you can, it can cause a lot of damage on its own. And of course, if you’re really flooded in the super late game, it’ll probably win the game on the spot for 9 mana.
What I Don't Like: There are only a couple things I don’t like about it. First, if you fail to reach your 6 mana, all you’re left with is a harder to cast Threaten. Second, the mana cost requirements can be steep ...needing 1RR in the first form and 3RRR if you strive with it.
Verdict: It’s probably the most interesting Threaten variant we’ve seen to date, and outside of Zealous Conscripts and Sarkhan Vol, it’s very likely the best one. If you’re playing a larger cube that wants this effect, I’d give it a shot.
Launch the Fleet
An aggressive token producing card.
What I Like: Token engines typically give your opponent a turn to plan on how to deal with an onslaught of threats. I like that Launch the Fleet makes tokens that have haste. Additionally, the card has a nice casting cost—always being splashable regardless of the number of tokens it creates.
What I Don't Like: One of the advantages of traditional token engines is the ability to create an army of bodies from nowhere. This card doesn’t do that. You need to have a board presence to increase your board presence. Additionally, you’re limited not by mana, but by how many threats you have out. It feels like it should be an X spell, but I can be sitting on 7 mana and be limited to only making 2 threats because of my existing board.
Verdict: It plays more like a token support card rather than a token generator, but still ...having a XW spell that can make hasted tokens that double your number of attackers will likely find a home to be tested somewhere. Large cubes that really push a dedicated token/anthem archetype might decide to test it out.
Battlefield Thaumaturge
A cheap tempo beater that makes your removal cheaper.
What I Like: Being a 2-power beater for 2 mana that reduces all my targeted bounce and removal by 1 isn’t a bad way to start off a card. Additionally, there are some great cards that benefit in a big way from the ability. Dividable burn like Arc Lightning and Flames of the Firebrand start to cost R. If you play big splashy spells like Comet Storm, you can get those multiple X values really high. Speaking of, it does nasty things with Profane Command. But simply giving you a price reduction on all of your bounce and removal isn’t bad. If you can use it more than once in a game, it basically pays for itself.
What I Don't Like: It needs to go into a very specific deck. One that will expected to recoup at least 2-3 mana worth of discounts over the course of the game. I think it might be limited to just RU tempo decks in terms of where it’s playable simply because no other combination will have a high enough concentration of spells that benefit from the discount.
Verdict: Big cubes that play U/X tempo decks with a lot of removal and also support a “spells matter” subtheme that he can contribute to will perhaps be willing to test him out.
Iroas, God of Victory
A Boros god that makes your team evasive and unkillable.
What I Like: Make no mistake, Goblin War Drums is no slouch of an effect. It will allow a lot of damage to be pushed through that otherwise would’ve been tied up in combat. Additionally, keeping your attackers alive (while not the main reason to play the card) is a nice added bonus when you’re striving to activate the god. It has a built-in ability to preserve some of your devotion, which is nice.
What I Don't Like: The competition. Both in the guild and at the CMC in the mono-colored sections. There aren’t a whole lot of 4cc cube cards that I wanna drop from my final-40 for a card that’s simply going to grant evasion most of the time.
Verdict: Depending on how dedicated your sections are towards activating this god, it may be worth a trial run in larger cubes. While I think it’s probably worse than the aforementioned War Drums in the average scenario, there will be times where both the protection and the body will be relevant. It has a shot at being maybe the 7th or 8th best Boros card, which would make me think it can settle in the 720-810 range.
Dictate of Karametra
A Heartbeat of Spring variant with Flash.
What I Like: One of the things that showed itself to be problematic about Mana Flare and Heartbeat of Spring is that you give your opponent a 6-8+ mana turn before you get to benefit from your own spell. Despite costing more mana, Dictate removes that drawback. Flash it in at the end of their turn, and untap with 10-12+ mana available on your turn, giving you the benefit before they get any. This can be particularly backbreaking with effects that can bind up your opponent’s resources, like Terastodon, Sundering Titan or even Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre or Woodfall Primus. Also, with one mana dork, this gets you to kicked Tooth and Nail range on T5.
What I Don't Like: The green 5cc suite is jammed up on both sides with amazing creatures and spells. And unfortunately, despite being a really powerful effect, it’s only really valuable in one decktype, which I don’t support in my cube (big mana Eldrazi-esque type ramp builds).
Verdict: This is probably a card a lot of people will be surprised to hear me mention, since it’s not my cup of tea. That being said, it’s a hell of an effect for doing what it does, and if I was playing a green super-ramp deck trying to hardcast Eldrazis, you can be assured I’d be using this spell to try and do it.
Dakra Mystic
A 1-mana library manipulation creature.
What I Like: Blue doesn’t have many playable 1cc creatures. Being able to manipulate the quality of your draws (while also potentially keeping dangerous cards away from your opponent) is a nice thing for a cheap creature to be able to do. You’re in complete control of the effect. If you see something you’re happy with, no harm no foul. If you see a situation where your opponent is going to benefit greatly and your revealed card is a dud, trash them both and get something more useful. In addition to the face-value of the effect, it’s great to be able to bin unneeded cards after top of library manipulation like Brainstorm, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Sensei's Divining Top and the like. You can also randomly use it to feed the ‘yard with cards you want there, but it’s an unreliable card for that kind of effect.
What I Don't Like: Two things. The body and the mana costs. It’s fragile. That’s okay for a 1-drop, but less okay for one that needs to survive over a long period of time to make the investment worth it. It’s also a drag that it’s a casualty of all the mass removal you’ll want to be playing in the same deck. And lastly, paying U every turn is kinda rough. You need to activate it a lot over the course of the game to have the effect be worth a card and the mana investment you’ve sunk into it.
Verdict: Larger cubes might really be looking for additional 1cc blue creatures for their control builds and this might be it. I’d test this card out myself if my cube was bigger, maybe in the 720-810 range or so.
Aegis of the Gods
A splashable True Believer variant.
What I Like: It has a nice easy casting cost, it’s got 2-power for 2 mana, and it protects me from a slew of discard effects, edicts and burn/reach spells. It also has a cool interaction with Enlightened Tutor because it’s an enchantment. There are a handful of really nasty effects in the cube that target players (Mind Twist, Profane Command, Bonfire of the Damned, etc) and this protects you from all of them. It also serves as a flag-bearer of sorts, in that your opponent can’t target you or your planeswalkers with reach or burn before they remove this creature.
What I Don't Like: A 2/1 body for 1W just doesn’t cut it any more. It has no evasion, no combat-related abilities and just dies to every body your opponent puts down on the board. In addition to being killed by every removal spell and every disenchant effect. If I really want to pay mana and a card to protect myself from my opponent’s disruption and reach, I want it strapped to a body that can survive on the board for a while. I just don’t think this one can. Would've been more valuable as a 1/3 or an 0/4, probably.
Verdict: I doubt that even larger cubes will have white 2-drops they’ll gladly drop for this creature. However, there are cubes that support combo-based win conditions that target their opponents with game-ending spells. This might be a useful hate-bear in those cubes as a tool to ward off those decks in addition to being a randomly valuable 2-drop beater with an upside.
Hour of Need
A cool blue combat trick/threat upgrader.
What I Like: I picture using this in a blue tempo deck on my opponent’s turn to turn my tapped Looter il-Kor into a 4/4 flying blocker out of nowhere, killing off one of their attackers, and then bashing for 4 through the sky on my next turn. At the very least, I see it doing that. Now, as a curve topper, I can do that effect twice over on T5, giving myself two massive surprise blockers and then having 8 power to close the game out with on the next turn. It’s also brutal when you’re upgrading tokens, and it can be used offensively if you have bounce spells to remove your opponent’s threats for good.
What I Don't Like: Well, blue doesn’t have a bunch of slots available to cards that are unplayable outside of creature-heavy tempo decks. Usually none. There are times where it simply won’t be that good, and blue can rarely afford to maindeck cards like that in the average blue deck.
Verdict: This card will be an absolute monster in C/Ubes. Alternatively, in cubes ~720 or bigger with a dedicated blue tempo package, you might wanna give this card a trial run.
Temple of Epiphany
The Izzet temple.
What I Like: Temples are solid lands, and blue decks are typically less punished by the ETBT clause than other decks are. So UR seems like a nice place to play this particular land.
What I Don't Like: Lands that ETBT are a drag. And larger cubes will already have one that’s better in Izzet Boilerworks. I can’t see myself dedicating multiple slots to mana fixers that enter play tapped, which will keep this out of smaller lists.
Verdict: I think cubes in the 720-810 range would have a big enough demand for guild-fixing to want this land.
Setessan Tactics
Green removal, pump and potential card advantage.
What I Like: This card does a lot of different things. Every time you have a creature of equal or greater size to one your opponent has out, you can use this as removal. Every time creatures get tangled in combat, you can use this as a combat trick to save your guys unexpectedly. Lastly, you can do any of those effects in multiples, typically generating card advantage every time you Strive with this card.
What I Don't Like: It can be very conditional and situational. You might not be able to use the fight effect because of summoning sickness or because you needed to attack with that creature instead.
Verdict: This card is really flexible. If I was playing a 720 card cube, I’d definitely consider it. Especially since we’re always looking for more playable combat tricks, and this could certainly be one of them.
Temple of Malady
The Golgari temple.
What I Like: Even though this isn’t typically a control combination, I think it’s the Temple I like the most. We play a lot of BG reanimation decks, and I’m always looking for one of the three pieces of the puzzle. This can help me dig for them, and tuck things that don’t further that goal.
What I Don't Like: As a generic fixer, it’s not as good as some of the other options outside of those dedicated reanimation decks that really want the Scry trigger.
Verdict: I like this more than quite a few of the other available lands, simply because of how I use Golgari in my list. I could see myself playing this in the 630-720 range.
Hall of Triumph
A 3cc colorless Honor of the Pure.
What I Like: It’s good for supporting mono-colored aggro decks or token decks where the majority of the token producers are coming from a single color. I mean, in either of those instances, it’s basically a colorless Glorious Anthem.
What I Don't Like: We play so many 2-color decks, I fear that this effect will only benefit about half my creatures in the vast majority of the decks we draft. We had the same problem with Honor back when we ran it.
Verdict: If you play a ton of mono-color decks (especially mono-color token/anthem-centric archetype decks) this card is a shoe in. If you see those kinds of decks occasionally, it will probably be worth adding in at 630, simply because the spell will be so good for those decks when they do show up. If you don't ever see either of those scenarios, don't cube it at all.
Disciple of Deceit
A 2cc combo-tutoring creature.
What I Like: Transmute is a powerful effect, especially when you can scroll through multiple CMCs worth of targets with each activation. I like the 3-toughness on the card. It helps mitigate the fundamental drawback built in with the Inspire mechanic, and helps keep this critter alive long enough to Transmute. It doesn’t go in everything, but it will be great for combo-centric decks. Tinker decks and reanimation decks will be glad to have the ability to search up the engine cards necessary to make them work. In addition to randomly being able to use this in “Oona’s Prowler mode” to pitch a fatty to your ‘yard in a pinch.
What I Don't Like: While Dimir isn’t stacked with a bunch of universally powerful gold cards, it does have a bunch of good role-players. It’s hard to compete in the UB section against Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas and Duskmantle Seer (in addition to Dimir’s other generic goodies) when you support the artifact deck and UB tempo. Like those other cards, this is a specific support card for combo-based builds.
Verdict: If you support combo decks like Tinker and Reanimator in your UB guild, and you have room in the Dimir section because you don’t include the other archetype-specific support cards, you can probably find some room for this critter. I think I’d be looking to include it somewhere in the 540-630 range myself, if I increased the size of my cube a bit.
Eidolon of the Great Revel
A Pyrostatic Pillar on legs.
What I Like: Regardless of what theater your opponent’s deck falls in, it will be containing a good number of affordable spells. This punishes everybody for casting cheap spells. As we all know, your life total is a resource you can delve into a little deeper when you’re playing aggro. So even if it deals more damage to you over the course of the game than your opponent, it might not matter as much to you. Also, if you happen to support storm, this is a nasty bullet for that deck. It’s also nice that almost every removal spell in the cube that kills it shocks your opponent for doing so.
What I Don't Like: Two significant problems with this guy. First, the RR cost. Outside of decks with ~13 sources of red, this card won’t reliably come down on curve. And the later this thing resolves, the worse it gets. It really needs to be cast on T2 to get enough value out of it. Secondly, if you play a lot of aggro/tempo decks, the self-damage is probably too punishing for the mirror match.
Verdict: If you either support Storm combo and/or play a lot of mono-red, this guy should be included. Throw it in no matter what if both apply to your cube. Otherwise, I could see this being a very testable red 2-drop in the 540-630 range. Don’t underestimate the value of some free shocks over the course of the game. Especially on a 2-power 2-drop.
Dictate of Heliod
A double-anthem with Flash.
What I Like: The flash. Flash makes this card really nasty. Instead of just being a card that bolsters your team, it becomes a card that dramatically changes combat across the board, on offense or defense. It erases every trade, causes all your mid-sized dudes to dominate combat, and turns all your chump-blocks into trades. It’s going to be a 1-sided wrath effect half the time you play the card and, oh ya, it leaves you with a double-anthem on the board as well.
What I Don't Like: Five mana is a lot for a combat trick, and it’s a lot for a support card. It’s hard to justify spending 5-mana on a card that requires you to have a developed board to accomplish much of anything with it.
Verdict: We play a lot of token decks, so this was really tempting. And we very well might give it some extended testing time in the future. But as for right now, it just misses the boat for us because of the mana investment. I’d have talked my playgroup into playing it if my cube was at 540 instead of 450.
Prophetic Flamespeaker
A double-striking red Ohran Viper variant.
What I Like: Double-strike and trample is a nasty combination, even with only 1 power (thanks to the number of 1-toughness creatures and tokens in the cube). The card has a super-high ceiling because of all the equipment and other power-modifiers that exist in the cube. And lastly, red doesn’t have a ton of card advantage engines, and they certainly don’t have a lot of 3-toughness creatures that can resolve early. It’s a really unique suite of abilities for red, and it has a really high BCS. Get in for 2 damage, flip a land and a spell, and play both for +2 CA every turn.
What I Don't Like: Without any power manipulation, the damage output is capped at 2. And the 1RR cost can be prohibitive for some decks.
Verdict: I think this creature has the potential to be quite good. I’m testing it out at 450. It might turn out to be 540 material, but it could also go the other way and prove to be valuable at 360 for all I know. All I can say is that a double-striking 3-drop that generates CA needs to be tested to know for sure.
Master of the Feast
Black’s Goblin Guide aggressor variant.
What I Like: It’s a 5/5 flying for 3 mana. By the time this card has attacked for 10 and Goblin Guide has attacked for 10, they’ve both given up the same card disadvantage on average as a drawback. Except this one does it with flying. It’s a really nasty beater for aggro decks. I also like how most of the removal that can kill it is at sorcery speed, so my opponent has to take some damage from it before removing it if they want to benefit from the drawback.
What I Don't Like: Giving away a card to your opponent every turn is a significant drawback. If they can mitigate it with a card that keeps the Master on the board, that drawback WILL cost you the game. Additionally, it dies to disenchant effects, which is kinda a bummer.
Verdict: This creature is really strong. A 5/5 flying creature at that stage in the game is really good. I’m playing it at 450, and it may very well find its way into some smaller lists too.
Banishing Light
Another Oblivion Ring.
What I Like: Outside of corner-cases involving exiling your own permanents or instant-speed bounce, it’s another Oblivion Ring. That’s just alright with me.
What I Don't Like: I suppose they could’ve made it cost WW and really made my day?
Verdict: This is an instant 360 staple, IMO. I know it’s boring, but it’s good. It answers every permanent type, and we can’t get enough removal with that upside.
Gnarled Scarhide
A 2-power 1-drop with 3 valuable modes?
What I Like: This card does so much stuff! First and foremost, it’s a 2-power 1-drop when it needs to be. Aggro will be more than happy to play this on T1. Additionally, the card has two valuable modes in 4cc mode. You can play it to bolster one of your own threats for some wrath protection without giving up pressure, or you can play it on your opponent’s blocker to allow your team to get through for damage. So much value from an aggro creature.
What I Don't Like: It’s not a zombie...
Verdict: This is another 360-quality card. Even if you don’t need more 2-power 1-drops, this is one of the best ones, so it should replace one if nothing else.
Mana Confluence
A better City of Brass?
What I Like: City of Brass was arguably the best mana-fixing land in the cube before Journey Into Nyx. Now it’s the second best one.
What I Don't Like: Not a huge fan of the art...
Verdict: Yowza. This card automatically goes in every cube.
Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it, and please feel free to leave comments and start discussions!
Cheers, and happy cubing.
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EDIT: Oops, I'm including the top 6!
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thats my cube
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/3pq
Gnarled Scarhide
Mana Confluence
Prophetic Flamespeaker
Master of the Feast
Banishing Light
and testing
Eidolon of the Great Revel
(possibly) Disciple of Deceit
5-7 includes from a set 165 cards strong is ridiculously good. I expect the Eidolon to do well too making it a solid 6. Since I realised how many 1-3 mana effects we run in all our decks, his impact is far too significant to ignore, RR cost be damned. I think he has to be treated like any other aggro CC creature - which all suffer when topdecked later, and I think he's somewhat better in that regard than many other good two drops, so that aspect doesn't concern me. Going up to two RR creatures is OK at this point, and Ash Zealot isn't totally uncuttable in the future.
Flamespeaker adds a little more depth to red and fleshes out the 'aggro' three drop slot on top of all the utility creatures. The fact that he is also playable in midrange and control pushes him straight to 360 in my opinion. I like the fact he does something other than burn, haste, or killing a land. Red lacks diversity and I like Wizards' attempts to rectify this.
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
Could you comment on Ajani and Keranos? Despite being gold I think they have a better shot than most on this list, potentially cracking the top 5 for their respective guilds.
Thanks for saying so!
Ooh, I don't know about that one. It was on my top 20 before I started evaluating it closer... I'll answer in more detail below.
Probably not. I try to be relatively generous and optimistic when I write my lists so that people can have some fun testing out more fringe options. There are 3 good cards for small cubes, and 2-3 more cards for medium sized cubes. And that's about it. But from a small set, that's pretty respectable.
I'm playing the top 5 too.
I agree with that for sure. I was very happy to have this set.
Hope it didn't disappoint!
There are only two problems with Ajani, and neither are because the card itself is bad. First off, the competition in the Selesnya guild is packed. I mean, ridiculously jammed up. It would be really hard for new WG cards to crack the top 8-10 in that section, which makes it really hard for them to crack this top 20 list. The bigger problem is the competition at the 5cc slot in white and green. Ajani is a 5cc CA engine. It takes a long time for him to start having a profound impact on the board. The +1/+1 counter tricks are cool, but if you look at what the average 5cc cube card is accomplishing in either of those two colors, this starts to look significantly worse. And what's perhaps most disappointing is that he doesn't contribute to a specific strategy or archetype. He just kinda does his own thing. Which is fine, but it's also harder to find room for him in the final 40 when he doesn't pull in the same direction as the rest of the deck. Again. Nothing wrong with him, but I can't see him making the cube against the WG competition or making the final 40 against the mono-colored competition.
Keranos was one of my honorable mention cards. But here's the problem with him. He's a 5-mana card advantage engine. He resolves too late to have a dramatic impact on the game, unless the game goes unnaturally long. For example, I can play Tidings at that mana cost and get 4-for-1 card advantage immediately, and be able to cast multiple new spells on the following turn. Or I suppose I could use him and wait until turn 9-10 to do the same thing. Or, if I plan on having the game go really long, there are other options for CA out there in the late stages of the game. If I'm planning on having 6+ mana for several turns following his resolution, I'd rather draw 2 cards a turn every turn than get 1 card and a Bolt. I can do that with Honden of Seeing Winds, and have it be easier to cast and only one color. RU usually doesn't have the board filled up with mana symbols, so I don't see him going into creature mode very often. So I'm making a mono-colored effect slightly worse and adding an irrelevant ability and indestructibility at the cost of making it gold. Even in a weaker guild, I don't see this being valuable in most cubes compared to the other available options for late-game card advantage.
Hope that helps!
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Aint that the truth...
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Dack Fayden likes this.
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
Dack Fayden tells pretty much every other Izzet card where to stick it.
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Have to disagree about Mana Confluence art, though. I think it is splendid.
My cube
My cube on Cube tutor
I'm OP_Forever. I'll be putting this in my signature for a while so everyone know I change my nickname.
Ya, it was a complete shocker.
And as far as the art goes ...I like it just fine. Just had to find something to criticize it about.
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As my cube is still pretty new and I'm working on upping the power level I have a bit more wiggle room to try out newer cards. My definite includes:
Mana Confluence
Gnarled Scarhide (replacing Sickle Ripper or Vampire Interloper)
Banishing Light (replacing Crib Swap)
Prophetic Flamespeaker (not sure what to cut yet)
Dictate of Heliod (replacing Glorious Anthem - I already have Spear of Heliod and Marshall's Anthem)
Master of the Feast (replacing Cemetery Reaper or Ebon Drake)
Hall of Triumph (probably cutting Loxodon Warhammer)
both Temples (replacing bounce lands - I can't stand them)
You've convinced me to take a second look at Eidolon of the Great Revel, too. I'd initially written it off as a narrow storm hoser - an archetype I'm not running at all, but I'd overlooked its implications for red aggro as almost a Sulfuric Vortex on legs.
Thanks again for your hard work!
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Does this change in an unpowered environment? You've made me value Keranos less but I still think Ajani is quite good in an unpowered cube since the games go longer and GW is rarely dead on turn 5. Also, 3 +1/+1 counters does affect the board in any regular GW deck...
Functional reprints may be boring, but especially with the mana fixing, makes the cube better.
The gnarled scarhide is really exciting for a one drop. It even combos with tormented hero for a mini Theros block synergy
As usual, great article and a very enjoyable read.
I think I might have to enact the fabled Sharpie of House Rules and add the word "Zombie" for Gnarled Scarhide. The art kinda makes it look like a Zombie...right?
Yeva (88/92 foils)
Raff
Scarab
Rakdos
Wort ($50 budget, 94/97 foils)
Trostani
Remember that they're designed to be read as previews and not necessarily for posterity. Going back and reading the older ones will give you a lot of old information combined with several bad guesses.
I think the Eidolon has potential as an aggro beater IF you play a lot of mono-red. In a typical 2-color aggro deck, having the RR force him down 1-2 turns late really kills his validity.
You're most welcome! Happy it was helpful.
Being unpowered doesn't change my opinion of him. He's still a subpar choice for the same reasons, IMHO. The counters impact the board in a regular GW deck, but nowhere near as much as any other 5cc card would in either white or green. And the competition for a Selesnya slot is still just as competitive in an unpowered cube as it is in a powered one. Again, the card's not good, but I just don't see him A) pushing a better WG card out of the cube, or B) pushing a better 5cc card out of my final 40. Pretty much ever.
That's the only mark against him. Oh well, I can live with it.
No problem! Thanks for posting.
At least both cards aren't technically functional reprints by definition, so even people that are stingy about not using cards that are functionally identical can still include the new O-Ring and the new City without removing the old ones.
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