Journey Into Nix Cube Pre-Review
So this is my first attempt at one of these and I am going to blatantly rip off the wtwlf123 format and do a top 20 countdown. These are my personal impressions and not playtest reviews of these cards. I run a high intensity non-powered 360 cube. If I have a skew, it is for cards I know my group will love and will create great stories.
Personally I am very excited to move on from Born of the Gods.
Top 20
Hydra Broodmaster
I do want another 6 drop in green. This can easily have 19 power over 4 bodies in two turns. But it lacks an ability that so helps these green fatties. It needs trample, hexproof, haste, intimidate, or regeneration. So for me I will continue to recommend Prime Time as the the only 6 drop in 360. Silvos comes in at number 2. After that this guy is perfectly above the curve for a very large cube, but fails to stand out from the pack of other near miss 6 drops.
Launch the Fleet
Tokens are starting to take over everyone’s cube, and with good reason. Spreading power across bodies makes the opponents removal worse. I see Launch the Fleet slotting nicely into a token heavy cube, basically doubling your board presence. Scalability is important here. Many times just using this for 1-3 critters to up your pressure level and smooth your curve will be the right play. It does rely on a significant board presence, and will be limited in size as the best deck for it won’t be packing that many lands. I have my eye on this one, as I currently have no haste effects in white, and these tokens can take someone out of nowhere. Try it out if you really enjoy tokens.
Mogis’s Warhound
A flexible 2 or 3 drop in red, that can help push early creatures through midrange defense. Perfectly serviceable if not flashy. The drawback is pretty minor for red. Considering red is fairly soft at 3, I could see this making larger or C/U cubes.
Harness by Force
Threaten effects are fun and powerful, and they do not get any cheaper than 3 mana. This has strive and can potentially double the impact of the surprise. These cards are great for putting your over the top or with sacrifice effects, but are pretty bad when you are behind. I don’t hold out hope for this as the rest have fallen by the wayside. Zealous Conscripts is still better because of combo potential and the ability to steal non-creatures.
Hypnotic Siren
Probably shouldn’t make the list, as I know it is not good enough, but it is exactly the card I was hoping wizards was going to make with bestow. If the creature half was a little better or bestow cost was a little less it would have been amazing. I wouldn’t fault anyone for liking the design and could have potential in decks looking to bounce and reuse their creatures.
Pull from the Deep
A double regrowth for blue, sign me up. But…. It has to be exactly an instant and sorcery. I think most of the time classic card draw is better, there is a reason that the more expensive versions of regrowth aren’t used. Much later in the game and your good card isn’t that great. Also it is key to have enough mana to replay the card you regrow. Combo cubes may like it but All Sun’s Dawn hasn’t done anything, so I don’t think this will either.
Green/White finally gets a planeswalker. He is powerful and even has two +1 abilities. But for 5 mana, he is pumping a creature, or kind of drawing a card. Decks sporting these colors have great choices at 5, and most are a lot more scary for your opponent. Could have potential in Bant or 5 color Superfriends but that would expose his lack of ability to protect himself. I expect more will be gotten out of him than I expect but that might move him to #6 in the guild instead of #10. For the time being that is not near high enough to compete for a gold slot.
Temple of Malady
Cubes are getting larger, and there are only some many come into play untapped duals available. The enemy colors don’t have fastlands or manlands. Worse yet Bayou is over $100 now and the fetch is on its way. Scry has proven its worth, and this is a contender in larger (540-720) cubes, and is perfectly serviceable in small cubes for new those spending their big money outside of the lands.
Hall of Triumph
I am now cubing with mass token makers in every color. Aggro is supported in 3.5 of my colors. 3 drop anthems have worked well in cube. Honor of the Pure wasn’t good enough. Will the ability to choose a color and give non white decks an anthem be enough for this card? Some have said the power level isn’t high enough. For me the flexibility to go in any deck at the table may show that there is always someone who could use an anthem. If you support swarm strategies in multiple colors and have a full table of drafters, try it out.
Temple of Epiphany
I have the same logic here as I did for the golgari temple. The difference is that Izzet likes the scry more. And for the cost of a Volcanic Island and Scalding Tarn you can get a collector’s edition Black Lotus and Time Walk.
Twinflame
I am not going to say this card isn’t risky, you need to have a board presence, you need to be able to attack to get value; and how is this better than including another spearing spear? But I think the key to this card is that it is in red, and that is modal. Red is already will to cast dorks like lightning elemental, keldon marauders, avalanche riders, and hell’s thunder that don’t last very long anyway. So would I spend two mana to get another one of those? Sure.
What about come into play effects? Mulldrifter, Flametounge Kavu, Zealous Conscrips, Manic Vandals etc have spell like effects that are all worth two mana.
Two mana clone effects are awesome, but not being able to target your opponents creatures sucks. How often will this sit in your hand, or be a one turn goblin guide vs. be a blowout is the real question. If you like to gamble with red (you run final fortune) this card may be for you. The idea of hitting a turn 5 copy of my Hellrider and Keldon Maraders makes me think this has potential.
Having played rapid hybridization in cube and constructed I got immediately excited here. It was great for gotcha moments in combat, upgrading blockers, or as a cheap out to really scary baddies. The problem was that the 3/3 was often non enough to really get someone in a meaningful way.
The new card is more expensive but leaves us with a 4/4 flyer, as well as has the multiple target potential. In a lot of cubes this may function as a poor man’s entreat the angels. You will often be able to crack back out of nowhere to end them in 1-2 turns. And if you are forced to transform their guy you can get a sphinx for yourself at the same time to establish parity. Tokens are easy to deal with for blue, so the downside might be manageable.
In the end, blue might just be too stacked. If I decide I need a combat trick in all colors this is probably the best, but I fear my blue decks may lack the sufficient early chumps to sack to this thing.
Athreos, God of Passage
The Orzhov god is probably the most controversial card for my list. Some people just hate punisher mechanics, and I am usually one of them. To me this is a constant value engine. I have devoted a ton of space to make cheap aggro viable in white and black so any card that go with them, in addition to Armageddon, gets me excited. This will either be refueling your hand or going to the dome. White/Black is also the two color combination that is most likely to get the devotion level there. And the big reason this should be looked at is that it only cost three mana. All of the gods are risky and situational, and for me that is what I like from my 1-3 drops. At 4-5 I expect a lot more consistency for my investment.
Punisher mechanic can be bad when the opponent has an easy decision, and they will here, but they can be very good when either decision is good for you all the time. Vexing devil sees play in older formats because of context. I think it will be the same for Athreos. Are your little dudes getting wrathed all the time? Running our of steam agaist midrange? This might just be the card for you.
I also rank Orzhov as the 2nd worst guild for cards in my cube so I am ready to shake things up.
Dictate of Heliod
I think anthems can be great and fun cards but I have never been able to justify more than one in my white section at 360. Spear of Heliod has the lock on spot one, but this is definitely my number two. Flash can be a blowout but most of the time this will be just adding 6-10 hasty power on the board which is really lacking from white curve toppers. White 5 drops are great but unlike red, the curve toppers don’t affect the board right away. My hunch is that this is a lock for 450, but varies wildly based on your dedication to tokens.
Disciple of Deceit
This probably has the most level of unknown for me. I actively dislike the inspired mechanic but I cannot deny the power of free transmute. Coming down on turn two as a 1/3 mean it will get a safe attack most games and force removal. Inspired is painfully slow but on turn 4 you should be getting a tutor for the combo piece you need. Combo and reanimator are particularly good with this lady, Deep Analysis is great here, but I see some potential in tempo decks as well. It doesn’t hit hard but this lady can function like a dimir Stoneforge Mystic. I hear that card is kind of good. I want to draft this and Umezawa’s Jitte. Once equipped she becomes terrifying in combat, and transmutting for the rest of the game should seal the deal.
Master of the Feast
3 mana 5/5 flying. More conservative cubers may want things like Lliana’s Spectre. Not my group. They are willing to take all sorts of gambles for a payoff of this magnitude. The reason I will recommend it to others is that it really is that far above the curve, and the card draw penalty doesn’t come until you get to start attacking. For those still playing Bone Shredder, time to say goodbye. 360-450 material
Banishing Light
Who doesn’t like Oblivion Ring. The differences are so minor that I think we can all assume we know how this card will work out. Some may move out D-Sphere, or Journey to Nowhere. I think the Kor Sanctifiers are leaving for me. As a bonus it is some of my favorite art from the set. I hope it looks as good in foil.
Mana Confluence
City of Brass has been one of my most played cards of all time. It is handy, powerful , and balanced. I would have preferred a ‘new’ card offering 5 color fixing, but I am not complaining. I would take at least 2 more just like it. 180 cube staple.
Prophetic Flamespeaker
Now this is a card to get excited about. Only once has wizards printed trample and double strike on a creature, and it cost 10 mana! Some may bemoan the lack of pump spells in cube, but that is more than made up for by the crazy equipment we have. Ghor-Clan Rampager, Berserk, Rancor and Wolfir Silverheart are popular cube cards that will make this soar. Best of all, this card comes in the most aggressive color’s least aggressive slot. I know my cube users are getting very tired of coming to turn 3 with vandals in their hand and the only artifact is their own equipment. Most people play only 2/2 red 3 drops.
You may be saying “what about all that text about card drawing?” Well, it doesn’t matter. It will quite often pick you up a few cards, play opponents lands (As if Armageddon needs to get better), and with trample you can do some silly things to get those cards. What I am saying is that card drawing will be a little unpredictable but this guy is so much fun without it, just slot it in and let the cards be a bonus.
Gnarled Scarhide
Wow another black 2 power 1 drop. How much is enough? For me I like about 6 in black at 360. The reason I am actually excited is that this guys is better than many of the ones we already have, so if by some reason you don’t play them all this is one you still want to include. Not perfect, as the creature type is not human or zombie, but it actually has some late game utility. Drop him later to pump a guy and get pseudo haste, as well as removal resilience. Bestow plays well with sacrifice effects. The best corner case is when you need a falter effect, and you drop it on an opponent’s creature.
Overall with 5 cards I want to slot in right away, and another 5 that I would be happy to try I am very excited. I included 5 cards from Born of the Gods so it doesn't seem like that big of a difference, but the variety, and level of tier 2 cards is way higher.
For reference from Born I included:
Pain Seer (Serviceable 2 drop, but I ma sure will be replaced some day)
Herald of Torment (Flexibility has been good but it hasn't been great for me yet)
Courser of Kruphix (Value comes to slowly for us, it is on the chopping block)
Kiora (Stone cold number one in Simic now)
Brimaz (Very solid, not much to say about it, except 3 drops are a crowded place in white)
My 360 cuts for Jouney into Nyx
Mana Confluence - Ancient Tomb
Gnarled Scarhide - Desecration Demon
Prophetic Flamespeaker - Chandra's Phoenix
Banishing Light - Kor Sanctifiers
Disciple of Deceit - Shadowmage Infiltrator
Dictate of Heliod - Revielark
Athreos - Unburial Rights (moving to black)
So this is my first attempt at one of these and I am going to blatantly rip off the wtwlf123 format and do a top 20 countdown. These are my personal impressions and not playtest reviews of these cards. I run a high intensity non-powered 360 cube. If I have a skew, it is for cards I know my group will love and will create great stories.
Personally I am very excited to move on from Born of the Gods.
Top 20
Hydra Broodmaster
I do want another 6 drop in green. This can easily have 19 power over 4 bodies in two turns. But it lacks an ability that so helps these green fatties. It needs trample, hexproof, haste, intimidate, or regeneration. So for me I will continue to recommend Prime Time as the the only 6 drop in 360. Silvos comes in at number 2. After that this guy is perfectly above the curve for a very large cube, but fails to stand out from the pack of other near miss 6 drops.
Launch the Fleet
Tokens are starting to take over everyone’s cube, and with good reason. Spreading power across bodies makes the opponents removal worse. I see Launch the Fleet slotting nicely into a token heavy cube, basically doubling your board presence. Scalability is important here. Many times just using this for 1-3 critters to up your pressure level and smooth your curve will be the right play. It does rely on a significant board presence, and will be limited in size as the best deck for it won’t be packing that many lands. I have my eye on this one, as I currently have no haste effects in white, and these tokens can take someone out of nowhere. Try it out if you really enjoy tokens.
Mogis’s Warhound
A flexible 2 or 3 drop in red, that can help push early creatures through midrange defense. Perfectly serviceable if not flashy. The drawback is pretty minor for red. Considering red is fairly soft at 3, I could see this making larger or C/U cubes.
Harness by Force
Threaten effects are fun and powerful, and they do not get any cheaper than 3 mana. This has strive and can potentially double the impact of the surprise. These cards are great for putting your over the top or with sacrifice effects, but are pretty bad when you are behind. I don’t hold out hope for this as the rest have fallen by the wayside. Zealous Conscripts is still better because of combo potential and the ability to steal non-creatures.
Hypnotic Siren
Probably shouldn’t make the list, as I know it is not good enough, but it is exactly the card I was hoping wizards was going to make with bestow. If the creature half was a little better or bestow cost was a little less it would have been amazing. I wouldn’t fault anyone for liking the design and could have potential in decks looking to bounce and reuse their creatures.
Pull from the Deep
A double regrowth for blue, sign me up. But…. It has to be exactly an instant and sorcery. I think most of the time classic card draw is better, there is a reason that the more expensive versions of regrowth aren’t used. Much later in the game and your good card isn’t that great. Also it is key to have enough mana to replay the card you regrow. Combo cubes may like it but All Sun’s Dawn hasn’t done anything, so I don’t think this will either.
Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
Green/White finally gets a planeswalker. He is powerful and even has two +1 abilities. But for 5 mana, he is pumping a creature, or kind of drawing a card. Decks sporting these colors have great choices at 5, and most are a lot more scary for your opponent. Could have potential in Bant or 5 color Superfriends but that would expose his lack of ability to protect himself. I expect more will be gotten out of him than I expect but that might move him to #6 in the guild instead of #10. For the time being that is not near high enough to compete for a gold slot.
Temple of Malady
Cubes are getting larger, and there are only some many come into play untapped duals available. The enemy colors don’t have fastlands or manlands. Worse yet Bayou is over $100 now and the fetch is on its way. Scry has proven its worth, and this is a contender in larger (540-720) cubes, and is perfectly serviceable in small cubes for new those spending their big money outside of the lands.
Hall of Triumph
I am now cubing with mass token makers in every color. Aggro is supported in 3.5 of my colors. 3 drop anthems have worked well in cube. Honor of the Pure wasn’t good enough. Will the ability to choose a color and give non white decks an anthem be enough for this card? Some have said the power level isn’t high enough. For me the flexibility to go in any deck at the table may show that there is always someone who could use an anthem. If you support swarm strategies in multiple colors and have a full table of drafters, try it out.
Temple of Epiphany
I have the same logic here as I did for the golgari temple. The difference is that Izzet likes the scry more. And for the cost of a Volcanic Island and Scalding Tarn you can get a collector’s edition Black Lotus and Time Walk.
Twinflame
I am not going to say this card isn’t risky, you need to have a board presence, you need to be able to attack to get value; and how is this better than including another spearing spear? But I think the key to this card is that it is in red, and that is modal. Red is already will to cast dorks like lightning elemental, keldon marauders, avalanche riders, and hell’s thunder that don’t last very long anyway. So would I spend two mana to get another one of those? Sure.
What about come into play effects? Mulldrifter, Flametounge Kavu, Zealous Conscrips, Manic Vandals etc have spell like effects that are all worth two mana.
Two mana clone effects are awesome, but not being able to target your opponents creatures sucks. How often will this sit in your hand, or be a one turn goblin guide vs. be a blowout is the real question. If you like to gamble with red (you run final fortune) this card may be for you. The idea of hitting a turn 5 copy of my Hellrider and Keldon Maraders makes me think this has potential.
Hour of Need
Having played rapid hybridization in cube and constructed I got immediately excited here. It was great for gotcha moments in combat, upgrading blockers, or as a cheap out to really scary baddies. The problem was that the 3/3 was often non enough to really get someone in a meaningful way.
The new card is more expensive but leaves us with a 4/4 flyer, as well as has the multiple target potential. In a lot of cubes this may function as a poor man’s entreat the angels. You will often be able to crack back out of nowhere to end them in 1-2 turns. And if you are forced to transform their guy you can get a sphinx for yourself at the same time to establish parity. Tokens are easy to deal with for blue, so the downside might be manageable.
In the end, blue might just be too stacked. If I decide I need a combat trick in all colors this is probably the best, but I fear my blue decks may lack the sufficient early chumps to sack to this thing.
Athreos, God of Passage
The Orzhov god is probably the most controversial card for my list. Some people just hate punisher mechanics, and I am usually one of them. To me this is a constant value engine. I have devoted a ton of space to make cheap aggro viable in white and black so any card that go with them, in addition to Armageddon, gets me excited. This will either be refueling your hand or going to the dome. White/Black is also the two color combination that is most likely to get the devotion level there. And the big reason this should be looked at is that it only cost three mana. All of the gods are risky and situational, and for me that is what I like from my 1-3 drops. At 4-5 I expect a lot more consistency for my investment.
Punisher mechanic can be bad when the opponent has an easy decision, and they will here, but they can be very good when either decision is good for you all the time. Vexing devil sees play in older formats because of context. I think it will be the same for Athreos. Are your little dudes getting wrathed all the time? Running our of steam agaist midrange? This might just be the card for you.
I also rank Orzhov as the 2nd worst guild for cards in my cube so I am ready to shake things up.
Dictate of Heliod
I think anthems can be great and fun cards but I have never been able to justify more than one in my white section at 360. Spear of Heliod has the lock on spot one, but this is definitely my number two. Flash can be a blowout but most of the time this will be just adding 6-10 hasty power on the board which is really lacking from white curve toppers. White 5 drops are great but unlike red, the curve toppers don’t affect the board right away. My hunch is that this is a lock for 450, but varies wildly based on your dedication to tokens.
Disciple of Deceit
This probably has the most level of unknown for me. I actively dislike the inspired mechanic but I cannot deny the power of free transmute. Coming down on turn two as a 1/3 mean it will get a safe attack most games and force removal. Inspired is painfully slow but on turn 4 you should be getting a tutor for the combo piece you need. Combo and reanimator are particularly good with this lady, Deep Analysis is great here, but I see some potential in tempo decks as well. It doesn’t hit hard but this lady can function like a dimir Stoneforge Mystic. I hear that card is kind of good. I want to draft this and Umezawa’s Jitte. Once equipped she becomes terrifying in combat, and transmutting for the rest of the game should seal the deal.
Master of the Feast
3 mana 5/5 flying. More conservative cubers may want things like Lliana’s Spectre. Not my group. They are willing to take all sorts of gambles for a payoff of this magnitude. The reason I will recommend it to others is that it really is that far above the curve, and the card draw penalty doesn’t come until you get to start attacking. For those still playing Bone Shredder, time to say goodbye. 360-450 material
Banishing Light
Who doesn’t like Oblivion Ring. The differences are so minor that I think we can all assume we know how this card will work out. Some may move out D-Sphere, or Journey to Nowhere. I think the Kor Sanctifiers are leaving for me. As a bonus it is some of my favorite art from the set. I hope it looks as good in foil.
Mana Confluence
City of Brass has been one of my most played cards of all time. It is handy, powerful , and balanced. I would have preferred a ‘new’ card offering 5 color fixing, but I am not complaining. I would take at least 2 more just like it. 180 cube staple.
Prophetic Flamespeaker
Now this is a card to get excited about. Only once has wizards printed trample and double strike on a creature, and it cost 10 mana! Some may bemoan the lack of pump spells in cube, but that is more than made up for by the crazy equipment we have. Ghor-Clan Rampager, Berserk, Rancor and Wolfir Silverheart are popular cube cards that will make this soar. Best of all, this card comes in the most aggressive color’s least aggressive slot. I know my cube users are getting very tired of coming to turn 3 with vandals in their hand and the only artifact is their own equipment. Most people play only 2/2 red 3 drops.
You may be saying “what about all that text about card drawing?” Well, it doesn’t matter. It will quite often pick you up a few cards, play opponents lands (As if Armageddon needs to get better), and with trample you can do some silly things to get those cards. What I am saying is that card drawing will be a little unpredictable but this guy is so much fun without it, just slot it in and let the cards be a bonus.
Gnarled Scarhide
Wow another black 2 power 1 drop. How much is enough? For me I like about 6 in black at 360. The reason I am actually excited is that this guys is better than many of the ones we already have, so if by some reason you don’t play them all this is one you still want to include. Not perfect, as the creature type is not human or zombie, but it actually has some late game utility. Drop him later to pump a guy and get pseudo haste, as well as removal resilience. Bestow plays well with sacrifice effects. The best corner case is when you need a falter effect, and you drop it on an opponent’s creature.
Overall with 5 cards I want to slot in right away, and another 5 that I would be happy to try I am very excited. I included 5 cards from Born of the Gods so it doesn't seem like that big of a difference, but the variety, and level of tier 2 cards is way higher.
For reference from Born I included:
Pain Seer (Serviceable 2 drop, but I ma sure will be replaced some day)
Herald of Torment (Flexibility has been good but it hasn't been great for me yet)
Courser of Kruphix (Value comes to slowly for us, it is on the chopping block)
Kiora (Stone cold number one in Simic now)
Brimaz (Very solid, not much to say about it, except 3 drops are a crowded place in white)
My 360 cuts for Jouney into Nyx
Mana Confluence - Ancient Tomb
Gnarled Scarhide - Desecration Demon
Prophetic Flamespeaker - Chandra's Phoenix
Banishing Light - Kor Sanctifiers
Disciple of Deceit - Shadowmage Infiltrator
Dictate of Heliod - Revielark
Athreos - Unburial Rights (moving to black)