This is my 10th 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 couple articles, 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.
M15 looks to be a pretty decent set for the cube. A couple staples, a few more cards that will go into some medium sized builds, and several more cards that will be perfect for bigger lists and niche lists.
What I Like: A lot of cubes feature tribal themes, and this is a powerful card in soldier/goblin/etc kinds of decks. The convoke provides a path to get the card down to the table at an affordable cost, and the ability is undeniably powerful in decks that can take advantage of it buffing multiple creatures. It even has applications in some token decks as an anthem that can boost tokens so long as they share a type. And best of all, it's asymmetrical. You won't incidentally buff your opponent's critters like Coat of Arms does.
What I Don't Like: Unless you have a tribal subtheme in more than one color, I think it's going to be really hard to find room for the card. It may incidentally buff a handful of random elves or humans, but I think you'll need a critical mass of tribal dudes to make it a worthwhile inclusion.
Verdict: I think the card will largely be limited to tribal cubes or cubes with multiple strong tribal subthemes.
What I Like: This card has the potential to put on a lot of pressure for cheap. If your cube list features a lot of cheap artifacts, you have the opportunity to make a legitimate threat from them for 2 mana. It has a pretty high ceiling; enchanting a 0-1cc artifact on T2 and swinging for 5 is pretty serious business.
What I Don't Like: The card puts you at risk for being 2-for-1'd by your opponent. An artifact/creature is a vulnerable combination, and it'll be used early in the game when your opponent will still have those kinds of spells at their disposal.
Verdict: Larger cubes in the 720+ range that support an artifact subtheme might very well be interested in this kind of effect. I could see it sneaking into smaller cubes if the cube group is more comfortable with the risk.
What I Like: When you need stuff gone forever, this card does the job for you. It activates on the same turn as the previously cubeable colorless sweepers do, and exchanges their other potential upsides for the ability to simply exile everything. Vault sweeps away the threats and prevents the chance for your opponent to get use of those cards later on.
What I Don't Like: I think the upsides on the existing colorless sweepers are greater than they are on this one. My cube would have to be relatively large before I'd consider Oblivion Stone, and I consider that card to be better than the Vault.
Verdict: 720+ card cubes that want additional colorless answers to permanents and extra sweepers. May fit into smaller lists if the exiling is particularly relevant for the way your cube is constructed.
What I Like: Immediately ticking to 6 loyalty is a lot for a 4cc planeswalker. It can fuel the 'yard, fix Brainstorm/Top/Library/Rack arrangements, and be a general nuisance when bouncing permanents. That's a lot of boomerangs for 4 mana, especially if you have an opportunity or two to tick him up in the process.
What I Don't Like: He's lacking the "wow" factor that I really like to see in my 'walkers. The + ability doesn't recover card parity, nor does it impact the board. The - ability will be a bummer to race, but it's nothing insurmountable for them.
Verdict: I think this card got an unfair rap when it was spoiled, and he's probably better than a lot of people think he is. Personally, I wouldn't cube it until the 720+ range, but I see his merits and wouldn't fault anyone for wanting to cube it.
What I Like: Hornet Queen and Ophiomancer have shown me the value of cheap deathtouch creatures when they don't cost you a full card to trade. In that same vein, one chump block from the Nest will generate 2-3 blockers that can trade with attackers in future turns. So for your 3 mana investment, you get to chump one attack step and then generate pretty serious card advantage over the course of the game as those tokens trade with full cards from your opponent. It's also a cool card for incidental damage dealers like Wildfire and Earthquake, which will net you a Hornet Queen ETB trigger when you have this guy in play. Also awesome with pingers if you play with those guys.
What I Don't Like: It's a little slow, and it has to block or suffer damage before it does anything. If your opponent is simply killing you with an evasive threat, this card literally does nothing for you while you sit there and lose. It also takes a while to see the results of the card. It would be a staple with a 3rd toughness or if it cost 2 mana, but at 3, the cost is just right for a fair and balanced effect, which isn't exactly what I want.
Verdict: At face value it's probably good enough for 720+ card cubes. If you have lots of damage sweepers and/or pingers in your cube list, the value goes up and it may be worth including even in smaller lists.
The first of many 6-drops from M15 worth mentioning.
What I Like: 6 for a 6/6 is a good start. It has evasion through the majority of the cube's creatures, it can't be chump blocked, and a 6-damage death trigger is a significant amount of damage. It's pretty nasty with Recurring Nightmare and Sneak Attack.
What I Don't Like: I could see this guy getting tangled up on the board, fighting with beast tokens and just hanging out. I think Trample would've been a considerable upgrade on the evasion side, and considering the increased amount of exiling and O-Ring style removal, you might not get a death trigger from it when it's dealt with.
Verdict: This guy certainly doesn't suck. I'm not sure at exactly what size I'd be looking for multiple additional colorless 6-drops, but I would imagine the cube would have to be pretty big. I'm going to slot this creature as a ~720 card for now, but hopefully I'm mistaken and it will fit well into smaller lists as well.
What I Like: 4 damage reaches an important threshold for killing creatures that expect to survive burn. It also often gives reach and planeswalker damage that's just right. Convoke is an ability that will be randomly useful, especially if you have later game 1-drops you're trying to squeeze into the curve somewhere.
What I Don't Like: I like to burn my targets down and then attack with my creatures. The very nature of Stoke prevents that from happening.
Verdict: I'm not as sold on this card as I probably should be. I could see playing it at 720, and probably testing it at 630. 4 damage is nice when the cost can be reduced below 4 mana in any way.
A good token/anthem booster at the top of the curve.
What I Like: 6 for a 6/6 vigilance is an awesome baseline for creatures like this that can put on lots of pressure and protect you at the same time. The lifelink as an added bonus to the double-Anthem trigger it has is just crushing. I can't really imagine losing a game where I can untap with this, even if he's on his own! He'll be bashing for 8, gaining 8 life, and once I have a team assembled, the game simply ends.
What I Don't Like: Competition is fierce at the 6+cc slot nowadays in white. But as soon as I have room for it, it would very likely be the next inclusion I'd consider.
Verdict: A conservative rating would say that I'd have room for him at 630. With a full token/anthem support suite, it may drop into lists smaller than that.
A pretty solid big robot that protects all your other stuff.
What I Like: 6 for a 6/6 with trample is a great baseline, especially for a colorless creature. I prefer this evasion to the form gifted to the Doom Engine, simply because it can still push damage through over beasts or a Thrun/Masticore, for example. And the ability, once you have the ability to untap with it, can protect itself and all your other permanents for the rest of the game, until you need to play additional spells, that is.
What I Don't Like: I think that the 5-mana activation cost on the ability is a touch too high. It'll be too hard for me to use this card aggressively, protect it with his ability, and also have mana available to cast the spells I need to protect myself after the Soul resolves.
Verdict: I think the baseline stats plus the self-protection are good enough to try this guy out at 630. I could be wrong and perhaps this creature and the Doom Engine should trade places, but I slightly prefer the trample and the global permanent protection to the abilities on the Engine.
What I Like: There are a ton of creatures in the cube with ETB triggers, and this critter shuts them all off. The flash helps for it to generate some card advantage if you can play it in response to a creature with a trigger being cast, and may lead to more if that trigger would've been killing off one of your cards.
What I Don't Like: It's hard to leave 3 mana available to have this guy flash ready at a moment's notice. There will be windows where it'll be great, but I think a lot of the time he'll be a 3-mana 2/1 flying that will be a minor inconvenience to your opponent before they remove it and get back on plan A. Not to mention the sheer number of cards that he interferes with, which can be a problem during drafting and deck construction. Am I really willing to pass on great ETB creatures just to shut off my opponent's ones?
Verdict: I like the effect, and I think the creature will probably provide a fair amount of valuable cube disruption in the future. But the 3cc white creature section is tough to crack, and I can't see this guy being tested until the ~630 range at the earliest.
What I Like: 7 mana is a lot, to be sure, but once this guy resolves, he'll take it the rest of the way for you. It kills threats, it makes threats, it preserves your life total ...it'll be a tough card to beat once it resolves.
What I Don't Like: It cost 7 mana, and I can't reanimate it. Additionally, there's some insane competition in the Golgari section as it is, to the point where I'm excluding a handful of cards I consider to be better than Garruk already. But those are the only real drawbacks. It's expensive, and it's in a tight guild.
Verdict: I think he could reasonably be the 6th or so best Golgari card, which would have me slot him into the 630 range. But I could see cubes at ~540 being excited about his potential and giving him a trial run. He's a big splashy 'walker that will win the game when he comes down, and I'm sure there will be a lot of cubers who are attracted to that.
A big body with strong built-in reach and removal.
What I Like: 6 for a 6/6 first strike is sweet. It gives it combat superiority over all the cube's other Titan-sized monsters. And the ability represents huge damage, removing most of the cube's monsters and providing some serious reach at the same time.
What I Don't Like: There's only so much room for big monsters in red, due to the way the color plays ...and this guy is a little shy of Inferno Titan.
Verdict: As soon as you're ready for a second 6cc creature in red, this becomes the go-to dude, IMO. Which for me, will settle in around the 540-630 range, depending on composition.
What I Like: The ceiling on this card is completely crazy, if you untap, draw and cast a draw-7 spell, it becomes a 9/9 immediately that gives you 8 islandwalking squids when it dies. Of course, that's not the average case performance, but the fact that those plays exist (in multiples) is definitely worth paying attention to. And even at face value, gaining a +1/+1 counter and an extra future squid every turn is solid enough. Reasonably, you'll pair it with one draw spell over the course of the game, and even if it's just a Brainstorm or something, it's not insignificant.
What I Don't Like: It costs 3 mana and will average out being a 2/2 on T4 in a lot of games. If you don't have the time to invest in a much later game threat, it's hard to justify including it. Plus, it's blue, which makes it much harder to find room for.
Verdict: I think this creature's really solid, and has a great ceiling. I'd play it at 540 myself.
What I Like: This card can do some absurd things, especially with dividable damage. +2/+0 and first strike is a hell of a trigger for a 2-drop, especially one with 2 base power. And the haste is relevant too! Bolt a creature in the late game and come in with a hasted 4-power creature for 2 mana.
What I Don't Like: I have no idea how often it will just be a Goblin Piker, but my experiences with Morbid correlate to it being too often for my taste. I think it needs to be playtested to see how often the floor and the ceiling are met to determine what its average performance will look like.
Verdict: It may turn out to be a Goblin Piker more often than not, and if so, it may not be good enough. But I anticipate the ability being relatively valuable, and I'd place this guy in the 450-540 range.
What I Like: This 'walker has a nice splashable casting cost, and has two solid abilities. The first one works well in midrange decks that have a lone solid attacker that they want to buff. The second ability is a solid anthem variant, that also happens to proliferate your other 'walkers. He's a great dude for Naya superfriends, especially if a couple of your other 'walkers can make tokens for him to buff.
What I Don't Like: It's not necessarily the card, but the composition of my white section that will keep this guy out. Our white decks are typically swarm aggro decks, tokens/anthems or white control decks. And this iteration of Ajani simply doesn't play all that well in any of those decks. Not to mention how absurd the competition is at the white 4cc noncreature slot.
Verdict: A good versatile, flexible 'walker with a nice casting cost. I would expect it to see play at 540 for sure, and may squeeze into some 450 lists as well.
What I Like: This creature has an awesome ceiling. There's a huge number of 4-6cc creatures in the cube that would love to come down 2 turns early with haste. Basically, the ceiling is super high, and it all depends on the target you get for it to have it prove its worth.
What I Don't Like: The only real criticism is the quality of the card when he's targetless. If you don't have a good target for it, and it winds up spending a bunch of time as a Goblin Piker, that's no good. Also, having his spell be countered or immediately answered is a difficult pill to swallow.
Verdict: I was definitely planning on testing this card out at 450. It may prove to be more of a 540+ creature, but I think it's worth a trial run in a cube that has enough bigger targets for it to ramp into.
What I Like: This 'walker serves multiple roles. It can untap 2-4 lands for you each turn, making it function like a super-ramp enabler to power you into your 7-10cc spells as early as the turn after she resolves. But in addition to that, she can make 4/4 trampling threats out of your lands (which can attack right away if Nissa's topdecked later on in the game). And, once she's made 4/4 trampling lands, she can use her other ability to untap them, giving them pseudo-vigilance and being able to protect her loyalty. And her ultimate wins the game if you untap with it.
What I Don't Like: She's a pretty one-dimensional 'walker if you don't support the super-ramp package. And I think that's the main deciding factor in which cubes will elect to use her.
Verdict: This was a slam dunk for me when I was supporting the super-ramp deck at 450. Now that my cube is smaller and that package isn't as prominent, she's going to miss the cut. I think she's a 540 card on her own, a solid performer in 450 even with a few big targets floating around, and will probably make the cut at any size (including 360) if you support the super-ramp package.
What I Like: Sorry for the boring card as one of the best cards in the set, but here we are. If you've played Gore-House, you know how this guy will play. It attacks as a 3/2. Unlike the Chainwalker though, this one can elect to chump-block in the late game even if it was swing for 3 earlier.
What I Don't Like: It's kinda just a bland attacker. If you liked Gore-House, you'll love this card. If you thought the Chainwalker was good but not great (like I did) that'll be your opinion of this creature too.
Verdict: I considered Gore-House Chainwalker to be a 450 card that might be good enough for 360 lists if I purged some interesting red stuff for more burn/aggro redundancy. I feel the same way about Marauder.
What I Like: This card is full of value. You get a Raging Goblin, a Goblin Assault, and a 2/2 creature that inflates its power for 2R. And it outpaces every other 3cc creature in the cube in terms of its raw damage output. In addition to being a stellar creature for token-based decks, Pox/Stax decks and being a complete baller in aggro.
What I Don't Like: I guess it's a drag if it gets bolted right away. It's also a bummer if your opponent can continually stonewall the first (and then the recurring) Raging Goblin, and has a blocker that threatens the Rabblemaster himself. Ophiomancer might be a problem for this guy if you're a turn behind them and you don't have any burn.
Verdict: Red lacks 3-drops that pack a serious punch, and this guy outpaces every 3cc creature in terms of raw damage output in the cube. Red wants more enablers for the token-based decks it assists, and this card is a monster in those decks. There's nothing not to like, it has a great casting cost and it fills pretty much every need that red currently has. I'd play it in every cube size, 360 all the way up.
What I Like: It's still 2 power. It maintained the 2G cost. The trigger became a "may". Oh, and it can now blow up enchantments as well as artifacts. Yowza.
What I Don't Like: It's not very good if your opponent doesn't have any targets for it to blow up.
Verdict: Every cube, every size. This is the best ETB Naturalize/Disenchant creature we've seen.
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Please feel free to leave comments and questions below. Thanks for reading!
I saw Soul of Theros in action recently, although not in the cube.
I think he may be good enough for most 540s. Other than Sun Titan and Elesh Norn, I think he may be the #3 best 6-7cmc white creature. Giving your guys first strike and lifelink is ridiculously good, especially on a 6/6 vigilance. If you get to untap with him, it's hard to lose from there.
I know you used Eternal Dragon at 450, but I could see cutting Eternal Dragon for this guy at that size and never looking back. Sure, Eternal Dragon has some cool synergy with a lot of things in the cube, but this guy is just a straight up absolute bomb if you get to untap with him.
I also think Generator Servant and Hornet Nest as underrated in terms of cube size on your list (both of them can fit into smaller lists).
Other than that, I agree with the vast majority of your analysis on cards and am glad we got a lot of cards in a core set to add and discuss! Thanks for the review, very helpful.
Soul is certainly beastly. I ranked him behind Sun Titan, Elesh Norn and Angel of Serenity in my head, but maybe he's better than the latter and belongs one cube size smaller. I can't say for sure.
I hope you're right about the Servant. It would be awesome if he turned out to be a stellar creature for the cube long term.
You mention that the sage isn't very good if they don't have anything to blow up but the "you may" makes it better than any of the other three mana options in that scenario.
Good review. M15 looks like a fun set but fairly shallow for cube.
Thanks for the review. It's really a pity that Nissa isn't going to make the final cut in your tighter cube. In testing, she's felt like the missing piece that makes the mega-ramp deck really come together, but that's the way it goes I guess. I like the way she plays out better than some of the staple Garruks.
Glad to see you came to the same conclusion on Rabblemaster though. I feel like red decks have been asking for this card forever, whether it's in tribal, token, or aggro lists. I've already seen it first-picked a few times in my playgroup (unpowered 450).
Any chance Genesis Hydra might make make the cut in some super-ramp lists? In theory it should be around the same power level as Enlisted Wurm, but the chance to make an arbitrarily large monster alongside a self-Bribery seems like upside worth considering if you support the deck that can make that happen.
You mention that the sage isn't very good if they don't have anything to blow up but the "you may" makes it better than any of the other three mana options in that scenario.
Good review. M15 looks like a fun set but fairly shallow for cube.
I mentioned the "may" in the review. Still doesn't make it good if they don't have a target though. Just better than the abysmal option of blowing up your own stuff.
Agreed about the set overall. Solid, but nothing too spectacular. We did get two staple cards though, so that's nice.
Thanks for the review. It's really a pity that Nissa isn't going to make the final cut in your tighter cube. In testing, she's felt like the missing piece that makes the mega-ramp deck really come together, but that's the way it goes I guess. I like the way she plays out better than some of the staple Garruks.
Glad to see you came to the same conclusion on Rabblemaster though. I feel like red decks have been asking for this card forever, whether it's in tribal, token, or aggro lists. I've already seen it first-picked a few times in my playgroup (unpowered 450).
When I was testing the M15 cards in the 450 configuration, Nissa was really awesome, I agree. In the right deck, she's damn-awesome.
I think M15 is pretty deep for many cubes except the really small ones, as there appears to be a lot of 'fringe' cards that are really good but maybe not quite there for 360 and the likes. There was some very good depth to the review and I agree with all of it, really. My thoughts on specific cards anyway:
Maybe I slightly prefer Scuttling Doom Engine to the Soul - it's not certain, but I probably won't have room for either. The dies trigger is pretty nifty whatever way you get it into play. Soul may be more interesting with its graveyard activated ability. They are both good and will see cube play.
I'm really excited to try out Chasm Skulker, more so than the obvious top 3 or 4 cards. I see a lot of potential there and a single draw spell makes it a total bomb. Being splashable is key there as the tempo decks splashing blue will want this guy. Also, cube-relevant Islandwalk makes me smile.
I'm also quite tempted by Nissa, who is pretty favourable in comparison to Mirari's Wake: it's mono-colour, it provides 3-4 mana (we never have use for 10 mana anyway, so it's a wash really), and it makes 4/4's instead of giving +1/+1 to a team (I prefer the former). It's also much better to stabilize or on an empty board unless I'm holding a Ulamog or something equally pricy. Definitely interesting. I'm not sure it's good enough outside of super-ramp decks, though, and if not then it's an easy exclusion.
Any of those 1R guys could be a long-term inclusion, and I'll probably test them all in the course of time.
The Hippogryff is potentially cool but looks a little awkward. For a narrow and potentially symmetrically detrimental effect I'l like a bit better of a body than 2/1 in this case. Spirit of the Labyrinth was a similar conundrum and at least that is a 3/1 for 2, which is pretty high already.
Worth pointing out with the red Soul that plays great with red's looting effects - if you're not in a position to reach the six mana any time soon, pitching him and redeeming for 3+3 damage later as a freebie is immense, and is well worth 5 mana anyway. Again, I don't know that I need another six drop, although if Burning of Xinye doesn't materialize in the new FTV, I'll hold off on that and Wildfire and add Soul in their stead.
Hornet Nest is very efficient and the only real obstacle to the card's inclusion is being a bit dead against control and evasive attackers. That's not a great thing for midrange decks. It is very good in control, though, and in those Stax decks and anything with global damage. I think it's a miss but it's got a really high ceiling and it's just a lot of fun.
Thanks for the detailed reply! I agree with all the points you made, although I'm not sure if a single Soul of Shandalaar activation from the graveyard is cubeworthy. It's a hell of a 6-drop though if you can play it, gt an activation on the board and an activation from the 'yard it's probably GG. Hippogryff needed to be a 3/1 or a 2/3 to put it over the top, IMO. Oh well. He's cool, but far from spectacular.
Hornet's Nest:
The fact that it produces 1/1 green Insect tokens with flying and deathtouch means that we'll get tokens printed.
Stoke the Flames:
You said you like to burn then attack. I see "Instant", which leads my brain straight into opponent's EOT shenanigans. I think it being an instant helps it's value slightly.
Soul of Theros:
I just gave Yosei his 3 day eviction notice.
Soul of Shandalar:
Skizzik is a pet card. But I think he's gone with this guy now available.
Altac Bloodseeker:
typo on "huge"
Generator Servant:
Will find a home with me. The fact that his mana doesn't NEED to go towards a creature is also helpful.
Goblin Rabblemaster:
His name is actually Goblin for "auto-include". Love this guy. What makes him good in my mind, besides all the reasons you listed, is that he's so efficient that he doesn't need your deck to be build around goblins to be good. He provides everything he needs to be great.
Silent Edge's Tidbits of Wisdom: The Lewis Theory - When the presence of a single card makes every other card in your deck better (see Lewis, Ray). The Rubber Edict - You'd rather have it and not use it, than need it and not have it. The Shotgun Wedding - Don't commit early unless you absolutely have to.
Damnit, I had a comment in there about the Stoke -- knowing you'd say your critters are tapped out anyways -- but I deleted it. I was going to say if they get a 4-toughness dude in play that stymies your attack on that turn, the EOT Stoke opens it up for your next turn. I think it being an Instant strengthens it in that case, a case that will be it's most likely play.
Silent Edge's Tidbits of Wisdom: The Lewis Theory - When the presence of a single card makes every other card in your deck better (see Lewis, Ray). The Rubber Edict - You'd rather have it and not use it, than need it and not have it. The Shotgun Wedding - Don't commit early unless you absolutely have to.
Hornet's Nest seems too dependent on being in the right place at the right time to me. There will be times where it's chumping a beast token wearing a grafted wargear and giving me 6 guys. More often than not, he'll be blocking a 2-power aggro beater or utility creature, which basically makes for a defensive 2-for-1 with suspend. I like the Skulker a lot more, because I think it has a higher ceiling that's more obtainable (my opponent has no control over it), and I can ...attack with it.
I don't think a plain 6/6 trample is worth 6 mana in the cube. So the ability on Soul of New Phyrexia is absolutely relevant to its evaluation. Both when it's in play and from the graveyard. The flashback on those other spells isn't as relevant as it is on Soul, because the initial cost on the spells are more cost effective. If I firebolt their 2-drop, we've got card parity and I'm up a mana. If they disenchant my SoNP, we've got card parity again, but I'm down 4 mana in the exchange. That makes the cost inefficient "flashback" far less appealing as a selling point. This applies to all the Souls, which is why the one with the "best" pseudo-flashback ability happens to be the best Soul creature, IMO.
I think you should let Garruk resolve a few times if you think his abilities are all far too tame. I don't think he's worth 7 mana (or worth bumping one of BG's stellar selections), but I certainly don't think you'll lose the average game he resolves in. I like it slightly more than Vraska, though neither are stellar.
Damnit, I had a comment in there about the Stoke -- knowing you'd say your critters are tapped out anyways -- but I deleted it. I was going to say if they get a 4-toughness dude in play that stymies your attack on that turn, the EOT Stoke opens it up for your next turn. I think it being an Instant strengthens it in that case, a case that will be it's most likely play.
That's fine, but I think those situations will be pretty few and far between, and in the average case, I'd be better off with a different burn spell and being able to cast it and attack with my whole team.
I can agree with that. It didn't blow me away by any means. I was just making a case for it not being totally useless by it being an Instant. That thing as a sorcery blows goats. LOL
Silent Edge's Tidbits of Wisdom: The Lewis Theory - When the presence of a single card makes every other card in your deck better (see Lewis, Ray). The Rubber Edict - You'd rather have it and not use it, than need it and not have it. The Shotgun Wedding - Don't commit early unless you absolutely have to.
Awsome write up man, always respect your analysis and look forward to reading it. Easy to digest writing style, with reasoning to back up your points. FWIW Have very similar opinions on the cards of this set..
Semi- tempted to test the new ajani over the old one, exclusively because of the 3W casting cost (am 90%+ certain it is a less powerful card). My playgroup isn't too high on ajani 1.0, but Im of the personal opinion that they are under estimating him. Think he's extremely powerful in white weenie so can't bring myself to even temp cut him. Know you are of the same opinion on his power level.
I must say tho, I have played quite a few midrange decks, or R/w decks where I wanted to splash Ajani, but his 2WW forced me to not play him. Have you ever had this experience?
Curious to hear your experiences with generator servant after more extensive testing.
I have had some decks where the WW has kept him out, but where he really shines is in token decks, which are typically pretty heavily seated in white. For regular Boros aggro decks, there are other 4cc cards that are stronger, more threatening mainboard options. What makes Ajani Goldmane shine is the one thing that's missing from the new iteration--the mass vigilance. Every mirror match and every race can be decided damn-near on the spot by a resolved Ajani Goldmane. Which is really important for my cube, because we do encounter a lot of aggro mirrors. I'm keeping Goldmane despite the worse cost because it's better in token decks (we play a lot of token/anthem decks) and the global vigilance he grants is a total blowout.
Servant was cool while we were testing him, but the concentration of more expensive creatures that he helped to power out came down, and so I decided to let it go when I dropped to 375.
Magic 2014.........4
Theros.............5
Born of the Gods...2
Journey Into Nyx...4
Commander 2013.....5
Conspiracy.........8 (and that's with no conspiracies)
Magic 2015.........2
So ya, it's tied for the least impactful cube set (for me) in the last 12 months.
Excellent write up as usual, sir. The only thing I personally disagree with is how low you rank the two artifact fatties. I'm running them both at 555 and don't feel like I had to sacrifice much to make that happen. There are quite a few really good artifacts out there, but the bigger the cube gets, the more we start stretching to fill those slots and I feel that's the case even at 540. I welcomed these two guys with open arms. I cut Razormane Masticore and Triskelion (I know you won't agree with that one) to make room for these two guys and I think those cuts were right for my group. So far we've only seen the Doom Engine in play but he performed better than either of those guys have in a long while.
Anyway, I'm glad you're keeping this series alive. They're always enjoyable and sometimes even a little eye opening. With your recent podcast appearance, have you ever thought about taking this top 20 format live and doing it via podcast?
Ya, you're right about artifacts thinning out as the cube gets bigger. At 360 and 450 the slots are competitive and the cuts are tough. At 540+, the artifacts don't have to be quite as good. I could see running one of the two at 540, depending on the rest of the composition.
Magic 2014.........4
Theros.............5
Born of the Gods...2
Journey Into Nyx...4
Commander 2013.....5
Conspiracy.........8 (and that's with no conspiracies)
Magic 2015.........2
So ya, it's tied for the least impactful cube set (for me) in the last 12 months.
Thanks for sharing that observation!
Don't have much to add right now without having much experience with M15 cards yet myself but great review as always. I am curious though about the above list though. Which cards are you talking about in it?
I think Generator Servant is going to be the suprise card of the set for a lot of people. I think the hast clause is actually a mental trap for people, because they A) focus on creatures and B) think about all the creatures with haste already. This distracts from discussions of T3 Plow Unders and Kalonian Hydras and swords onto swinging bodies. Acceleration is always difficult to theory craft because it's easy to underestimate the difference it makes when something arrives early. i know we have all had an awesome card in our hand that we just never managed to get out because the board state kept forcing us to do other things.
This is my 10th 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 couple articles, so I’m going to keep the “what I like” and “what I don’t like” sections.
M15 looks to be a pretty decent set for the cube. A couple staples, a few more cards that will go into some medium sized builds, and several more cards that will be perfect for bigger lists and niche lists.
Hope you enjoy!
Obelisk of Urd
An asymmetrical Coat of Arms variant.
What I Like: A lot of cubes feature tribal themes, and this is a powerful card in soldier/goblin/etc kinds of decks. The convoke provides a path to get the card down to the table at an affordable cost, and the ability is undeniably powerful in decks that can take advantage of it buffing multiple creatures. It even has applications in some token decks as an anthem that can boost tokens so long as they share a type. And best of all, it's asymmetrical. You won't incidentally buff your opponent's critters like Coat of Arms does.
What I Don't Like: Unless you have a tribal subtheme in more than one color, I think it's going to be really hard to find room for the card. It may incidentally buff a handful of random elves or humans, but I think you'll need a critical mass of tribal dudes to make it a worthwhile inclusion.
Verdict: I think the card will largely be limited to tribal cubes or cubes with multiple strong tribal subthemes.
Ensoul Artifact
A pretty aggressive artifact Zendikon.
What I Like: This card has the potential to put on a lot of pressure for cheap. If your cube list features a lot of cheap artifacts, you have the opportunity to make a legitimate threat from them for 2 mana. It has a pretty high ceiling; enchanting a 0-1cc artifact on T2 and swinging for 5 is pretty serious business.
What I Don't Like: The card puts you at risk for being 2-for-1'd by your opponent. An artifact/creature is a vulnerable combination, and it'll be used early in the game when your opponent will still have those kinds of spells at their disposal.
Verdict: Larger cubes in the 720+ range that support an artifact subtheme might very well be interested in this kind of effect. I could see it sneaking into smaller cubes if the cube group is more comfortable with the risk.
Perilous Vault
An exiling Oblivion Stone.
What I Like: When you need stuff gone forever, this card does the job for you. It activates on the same turn as the previously cubeable colorless sweepers do, and exchanges their other potential upsides for the ability to simply exile everything. Vault sweeps away the threats and prevents the chance for your opponent to get use of those cards later on.
What I Don't Like: I think the upsides on the existing colorless sweepers are greater than they are on this one. My cube would have to be relatively large before I'd consider Oblivion Stone, and I consider that card to be better than the Vault.
Verdict: 720+ card cubes that want additional colorless answers to permanents and extra sweepers. May fit into smaller lists if the exiling is particularly relevant for the way your cube is constructed.
Jace, the Living Guildpact
Jace gets toned down and gets a fat butt.
What I Like: Immediately ticking to 6 loyalty is a lot for a 4cc planeswalker. It can fuel the 'yard, fix Brainstorm/Top/Library/Rack arrangements, and be a general nuisance when bouncing permanents. That's a lot of boomerangs for 4 mana, especially if you have an opportunity or two to tick him up in the process.
What I Don't Like: He's lacking the "wow" factor that I really like to see in my 'walkers. The + ability doesn't recover card parity, nor does it impact the board. The - ability will be a bummer to race, but it's nothing insurmountable for them.
Verdict: I think this card got an unfair rap when it was spoiled, and he's probably better than a lot of people think he is. Personally, I wouldn't cube it until the 720+ range, but I see his merits and wouldn't fault anyone for wanting to cube it.
Hornet Nest
A flavorful and playable green Rukh Egg variant.
What I Like: Hornet Queen and Ophiomancer have shown me the value of cheap deathtouch creatures when they don't cost you a full card to trade. In that same vein, one chump block from the Nest will generate 2-3 blockers that can trade with attackers in future turns. So for your 3 mana investment, you get to chump one attack step and then generate pretty serious card advantage over the course of the game as those tokens trade with full cards from your opponent. It's also a cool card for incidental damage dealers like Wildfire and Earthquake, which will net you a Hornet Queen ETB trigger when you have this guy in play. Also awesome with pingers if you play with those guys.
What I Don't Like: It's a little slow, and it has to block or suffer damage before it does anything. If your opponent is simply killing you with an evasive threat, this card literally does nothing for you while you sit there and lose. It also takes a while to see the results of the card. It would be a staple with a 3rd toughness or if it cost 2 mana, but at 3, the cost is just right for a fair and balanced effect, which isn't exactly what I want.
Verdict: At face value it's probably good enough for 720+ card cubes. If you have lots of damage sweepers and/or pingers in your cube list, the value goes up and it may be worth including even in smaller lists.
Scuttling Doom Engine
The first of many 6-drops from M15 worth mentioning.
What I Like: 6 for a 6/6 is a good start. It has evasion through the majority of the cube's creatures, it can't be chump blocked, and a 6-damage death trigger is a significant amount of damage. It's pretty nasty with Recurring Nightmare and Sneak Attack.
What I Don't Like: I could see this guy getting tangled up on the board, fighting with beast tokens and just hanging out. I think Trample would've been a considerable upgrade on the evasion side, and considering the increased amount of exiling and O-Ring style removal, you might not get a death trigger from it when it's dealt with.
Verdict: This guy certainly doesn't suck. I'm not sure at exactly what size I'd be looking for multiple additional colorless 6-drops, but I would imagine the cube would have to be pretty big. I'm going to slot this creature as a ~720 card for now, but hopefully I'm mistaken and it will fit well into smaller lists as well.
Stoke the Flames
A Lightning Blast with casting options.
What I Like: 4 damage reaches an important threshold for killing creatures that expect to survive burn. It also often gives reach and planeswalker damage that's just right. Convoke is an ability that will be randomly useful, especially if you have later game 1-drops you're trying to squeeze into the curve somewhere.
What I Don't Like: I like to burn my targets down and then attack with my creatures. The very nature of Stoke prevents that from happening.
Verdict: I'm not as sold on this card as I probably should be. I could see playing it at 720, and probably testing it at 630. 4 damage is nice when the cost can be reduced below 4 mana in any way.
Soul of Theros
A good token/anthem booster at the top of the curve.
What I Like: 6 for a 6/6 vigilance is an awesome baseline for creatures like this that can put on lots of pressure and protect you at the same time. The lifelink as an added bonus to the double-Anthem trigger it has is just crushing. I can't really imagine losing a game where I can untap with this, even if he's on his own! He'll be bashing for 8, gaining 8 life, and once I have a team assembled, the game simply ends.
What I Don't Like: Competition is fierce at the 6+cc slot nowadays in white. But as soon as I have room for it, it would very likely be the next inclusion I'd consider.
Verdict: A conservative rating would say that I'd have room for him at 630. With a full token/anthem support suite, it may drop into lists smaller than that.
Soul of New Phyrexia
A pretty solid big robot that protects all your other stuff.
What I Like: 6 for a 6/6 with trample is a great baseline, especially for a colorless creature. I prefer this evasion to the form gifted to the Doom Engine, simply because it can still push damage through over beasts or a Thrun/Masticore, for example. And the ability, once you have the ability to untap with it, can protect itself and all your other permanents for the rest of the game, until you need to play additional spells, that is.
What I Don't Like: I think that the 5-mana activation cost on the ability is a touch too high. It'll be too hard for me to use this card aggressively, protect it with his ability, and also have mana available to cast the spells I need to protect myself after the Soul resolves.
Verdict: I think the baseline stats plus the self-protection are good enough to try this guy out at 630. I could be wrong and perhaps this creature and the Doom Engine should trade places, but I slightly prefer the trample and the global permanent protection to the abilities on the Engine.
Hushwing Gryph
An ETB bullet with flash.
What I Like: There are a ton of creatures in the cube with ETB triggers, and this critter shuts them all off. The flash helps for it to generate some card advantage if you can play it in response to a creature with a trigger being cast, and may lead to more if that trigger would've been killing off one of your cards.
What I Don't Like: It's hard to leave 3 mana available to have this guy flash ready at a moment's notice. There will be windows where it'll be great, but I think a lot of the time he'll be a 3-mana 2/1 flying that will be a minor inconvenience to your opponent before they remove it and get back on plan A. Not to mention the sheer number of cards that he interferes with, which can be a problem during drafting and deck construction. Am I really willing to pass on great ETB creatures just to shut off my opponent's ones?
Verdict: I like the effect, and I think the creature will probably provide a fair amount of valuable cube disruption in the future. But the 3cc white creature section is tough to crack, and I can't see this guy being tested until the ~630 range at the earliest.
Garruk, Apex Predator
Golgari gets it's Bolas-esque epic 'walker.
What I Like: 7 mana is a lot, to be sure, but once this guy resolves, he'll take it the rest of the way for you. It kills threats, it makes threats, it preserves your life total ...it'll be a tough card to beat once it resolves.
What I Don't Like: It cost 7 mana, and I can't reanimate it. Additionally, there's some insane competition in the Golgari section as it is, to the point where I'm excluding a handful of cards I consider to be better than Garruk already. But those are the only real drawbacks. It's expensive, and it's in a tight guild.
Verdict: I think he could reasonably be the 6th or so best Golgari card, which would have me slot him into the 630 range. But I could see cubes at ~540 being excited about his potential and giving him a trial run. He's a big splashy 'walker that will win the game when he comes down, and I'm sure there will be a lot of cubers who are attracted to that.
Soul of Shandalaar
A big body with strong built-in reach and removal.
What I Like: 6 for a 6/6 first strike is sweet. It gives it combat superiority over all the cube's other Titan-sized monsters. And the ability represents huge damage, removing most of the cube's monsters and providing some serious reach at the same time.
What I Don't Like: There's only so much room for big monsters in red, due to the way the color plays ...and this guy is a little shy of Inferno Titan.
Verdict: As soon as you're ready for a second 6cc creature in red, this becomes the go-to dude, IMO. Which for me, will settle in around the 540-630 range, depending on composition.
Chasm Skulker
A Lorescale Coatl variant with a serious death trigger.
What I Like: The ceiling on this card is completely crazy, if you untap, draw and cast a draw-7 spell, it becomes a 9/9 immediately that gives you 8 islandwalking squids when it dies. Of course, that's not the average case performance, but the fact that those plays exist (in multiples) is definitely worth paying attention to. And even at face value, gaining a +1/+1 counter and an extra future squid every turn is solid enough. Reasonably, you'll pair it with one draw spell over the course of the game, and even if it's just a Brainstorm or something, it's not insignificant.
What I Don't Like: It costs 3 mana and will average out being a 2/2 on T4 in a lot of games. If you don't have the time to invest in a much later game threat, it's hard to justify including it. Plus, it's blue, which makes it much harder to find room for.
Verdict: I think this creature's really solid, and has a great ceiling. I'd play it at 540 myself.
Altac Bloodseeker
A huge ceiling on a Goblin Piker base.
What I Like: This card can do some absurd things, especially with dividable damage. +2/+0 and first strike is a hell of a trigger for a 2-drop, especially one with 2 base power. And the haste is relevant too! Bolt a creature in the late game and come in with a hasted 4-power creature for 2 mana.
What I Don't Like: I have no idea how often it will just be a Goblin Piker, but my experiences with Morbid correlate to it being too often for my taste. I think it needs to be playtested to see how often the floor and the ceiling are met to determine what its average performance will look like.
Verdict: It may turn out to be a Goblin Piker more often than not, and if so, it may not be good enough. But I anticipate the ability being relatively valuable, and I'd place this guy in the 450-540 range.
Ajani Steadfast
A hybrid of all Ajani's effects.
What I Like: This 'walker has a nice splashable casting cost, and has two solid abilities. The first one works well in midrange decks that have a lone solid attacker that they want to buff. The second ability is a solid anthem variant, that also happens to proliferate your other 'walkers. He's a great dude for Naya superfriends, especially if a couple of your other 'walkers can make tokens for him to buff.
What I Don't Like: It's not necessarily the card, but the composition of my white section that will keep this guy out. Our white decks are typically swarm aggro decks, tokens/anthems or white control decks. And this iteration of Ajani simply doesn't play all that well in any of those decks. Not to mention how absurd the competition is at the white 4cc noncreature slot.
Verdict: A good versatile, flexible 'walker with a nice casting cost. I would expect it to see play at 540 for sure, and may squeeze into some 450 lists as well.
Generator Servant
A unique ramping Piker for red.
What I Like: This creature has an awesome ceiling. There's a huge number of 4-6cc creatures in the cube that would love to come down 2 turns early with haste. Basically, the ceiling is super high, and it all depends on the target you get for it to have it prove its worth.
What I Don't Like: The only real criticism is the quality of the card when he's targetless. If you don't have a good target for it, and it winds up spending a bunch of time as a Goblin Piker, that's no good. Also, having his spell be countered or immediately answered is a difficult pill to swallow.
Verdict: I was definitely planning on testing this card out at 450. It may prove to be more of a 540+ creature, but I think it's worth a trial run in a cube that has enough bigger targets for it to ramp into.
Nissa, Worldwaker
A super-ramp enabler that's also a win condition.
What I Like: This 'walker serves multiple roles. It can untap 2-4 lands for you each turn, making it function like a super-ramp enabler to power you into your 7-10cc spells as early as the turn after she resolves. But in addition to that, she can make 4/4 trampling threats out of your lands (which can attack right away if Nissa's topdecked later on in the game). And, once she's made 4/4 trampling lands, she can use her other ability to untap them, giving them pseudo-vigilance and being able to protect her loyalty. And her ultimate wins the game if you untap with it.
What I Don't Like: She's a pretty one-dimensional 'walker if you don't support the super-ramp package. And I think that's the main deciding factor in which cubes will elect to use her.
Verdict: This was a slam dunk for me when I was supporting the super-ramp deck at 450. Now that my cube is smaller and that package isn't as prominent, she's going to miss the cut. I think she's a 540 card on her own, a solid performer in 450 even with a few big targets floating around, and will probably make the cut at any size (including 360) if you support the super-ramp package.
Borderland Marauder
The new and improved Gore-House Chainwalker.
What I Like: Sorry for the boring card as one of the best cards in the set, but here we are. If you've played Gore-House, you know how this guy will play. It attacks as a 3/2. Unlike the Chainwalker though, this one can elect to chump-block in the late game even if it was swing for 3 earlier.
What I Don't Like: It's kinda just a bland attacker. If you liked Gore-House, you'll love this card. If you thought the Chainwalker was good but not great (like I did) that'll be your opinion of this creature too.
Verdict: I considered Gore-House Chainwalker to be a 450 card that might be good enough for 360 lists if I purged some interesting red stuff for more burn/aggro redundancy. I feel the same way about Marauder.
Goblin Rabblemaster
A bonkers red 3-drop.
What I Like: This card is full of value. You get a Raging Goblin, a Goblin Assault, and a 2/2 creature that inflates its power for 2R. And it outpaces every other 3cc creature in the cube in terms of its raw damage output. In addition to being a stellar creature for token-based decks, Pox/Stax decks and being a complete baller in aggro.
What I Don't Like: I guess it's a drag if it gets bolted right away. It's also a bummer if your opponent can continually stonewall the first (and then the recurring) Raging Goblin, and has a blocker that threatens the Rabblemaster himself. Ophiomancer might be a problem for this guy if you're a turn behind them and you don't have any burn.
Verdict: Red lacks 3-drops that pack a serious punch, and this guy outpaces every 3cc creature in terms of raw damage output in the cube. Red wants more enablers for the token-based decks it assists, and this card is a monster in those decks. There's nothing not to like, it has a great casting cost and it fills pretty much every need that red currently has. I'd play it in every cube size, 360 all the way up.
Reclamation Sage
The best Vandal/Monkey variant to date.
What I Like: It's still 2 power. It maintained the 2G cost. The trigger became a "may". Oh, and it can now blow up enchantments as well as artifacts. Yowza.
What I Don't Like: It's not very good if your opponent doesn't have any targets for it to blow up.
Verdict: Every cube, every size. This is the best ETB Naturalize/Disenchant creature we've seen.
..........
Please feel free to leave comments and questions below. Thanks for reading!
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I think he may be good enough for most 540s. Other than Sun Titan and Elesh Norn, I think he may be the #3 best 6-7cmc white creature. Giving your guys first strike and lifelink is ridiculously good, especially on a 6/6 vigilance. If you get to untap with him, it's hard to lose from there.
I know you used Eternal Dragon at 450, but I could see cutting Eternal Dragon for this guy at that size and never looking back. Sure, Eternal Dragon has some cool synergy with a lot of things in the cube, but this guy is just a straight up absolute bomb if you get to untap with him.
I also think Generator Servant and Hornet Nest as underrated in terms of cube size on your list (both of them can fit into smaller lists).
Other than that, I agree with the vast majority of your analysis on cards and am glad we got a lot of cards in a core set to add and discuss! Thanks for the review, very helpful.
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Soul is certainly beastly. I ranked him behind Sun Titan, Elesh Norn and Angel of Serenity in my head, but maybe he's better than the latter and belongs one cube size smaller. I can't say for sure.
I hope you're right about the Servant. It would be awesome if he turned out to be a stellar creature for the cube long term.
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Good review. M15 looks like a fun set but fairly shallow for cube.
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Glad to see you came to the same conclusion on Rabblemaster though. I feel like red decks have been asking for this card forever, whether it's in tribal, token, or aggro lists. I've already seen it first-picked a few times in my playgroup (unpowered 450).
Any chance Genesis Hydra might make make the cut in some super-ramp lists? In theory it should be around the same power level as Enlisted Wurm, but the chance to make an arbitrarily large monster alongside a self-Bribery seems like upside worth considering if you support the deck that can make that happen.
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I mentioned the "may" in the review. Still doesn't make it good if they don't have a target though. Just better than the abysmal option of blowing up your own stuff.
Agreed about the set overall. Solid, but nothing too spectacular. We did get two staple cards though, so that's nice.
When I was testing the M15 cards in the 450 configuration, Nissa was really awesome, I agree. In the right deck, she's damn-awesome.
Ya man, Rabblemaster is nutterz.
..........
Thanks for the comments guys!
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Maybe I slightly prefer Scuttling Doom Engine to the Soul - it's not certain, but I probably won't have room for either. The dies trigger is pretty nifty whatever way you get it into play. Soul may be more interesting with its graveyard activated ability. They are both good and will see cube play.
I'm really excited to try out Chasm Skulker, more so than the obvious top 3 or 4 cards. I see a lot of potential there and a single draw spell makes it a total bomb. Being splashable is key there as the tempo decks splashing blue will want this guy. Also, cube-relevant Islandwalk makes me smile.
I'm also quite tempted by Nissa, who is pretty favourable in comparison to Mirari's Wake: it's mono-colour, it provides 3-4 mana (we never have use for 10 mana anyway, so it's a wash really), and it makes 4/4's instead of giving +1/+1 to a team (I prefer the former). It's also much better to stabilize or on an empty board unless I'm holding a Ulamog or something equally pricy. Definitely interesting. I'm not sure it's good enough outside of super-ramp decks, though, and if not then it's an easy exclusion.
Any of those 1R guys could be a long-term inclusion, and I'll probably test them all in the course of time.
The Hippogryff is potentially cool but looks a little awkward. For a narrow and potentially symmetrically detrimental effect I'l like a bit better of a body than 2/1 in this case. Spirit of the Labyrinth was a similar conundrum and at least that is a 3/1 for 2, which is pretty high already.
Worth pointing out with the red Soul that plays great with red's looting effects - if you're not in a position to reach the six mana any time soon, pitching him and redeeming for 3+3 damage later as a freebie is immense, and is well worth 5 mana anyway. Again, I don't know that I need another six drop, although if Burning of Xinye doesn't materialize in the new FTV, I'll hold off on that and Wildfire and add Soul in their stead.
Hornet Nest is very efficient and the only real obstacle to the card's inclusion is being a bit dead against control and evasive attackers. That's not a great thing for midrange decks. It is very good in control, though, and in those Stax decks and anything with global damage. I think it's a miss but it's got a really high ceiling and it's just a lot of fun.
Thanks for the review, always a fun read!
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
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The fact that it produces 1/1 green Insect tokens with flying and deathtouch means that we'll get tokens printed.
Stoke the Flames:
You said you like to burn then attack. I see "Instant", which leads my brain straight into opponent's EOT shenanigans. I think it being an instant helps it's value slightly.
Soul of Theros:
I just gave Yosei his 3 day eviction notice.
Soul of Shandalar:
Skizzik is a pet card. But I think he's gone with this guy now available.
Altac Bloodseeker:
typo on "huge"
Generator Servant:
Will find a home with me. The fact that his mana doesn't NEED to go towards a creature is also helpful.
Goblin Rabblemaster:
His name is actually Goblin for "auto-include". Love this guy. What makes him good in my mind, besides all the reasons you listed, is that he's so efficient that he doesn't need your deck to be build around goblins to be good. He provides everything he needs to be great.
Reclamation Sage:
Bye bye Monkey/Shaman.
Thanks wtwlf123, for another great preview!
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Silent Edge's Tidbits of Wisdom:
The Lewis Theory - When the presence of a single card makes every other card in your deck better (see Lewis, Ray).
The Rubber Edict - You'd rather have it and not use it, than need it and not have it.
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Stoke is an instant, but I want my creatures to be tapped at the end of my opponent's turn too ...from attacking ...the turn before.
Thanks for commenting dude!
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Silent Edge's Tidbits of Wisdom:
The Lewis Theory - When the presence of a single card makes every other card in your deck better (see Lewis, Ray).
The Rubber Edict - You'd rather have it and not use it, than need it and not have it.
The Shotgun Wedding - Don't commit early unless you absolutely have to.
Twitter: @archplus3
I don't think a plain 6/6 trample is worth 6 mana in the cube. So the ability on Soul of New Phyrexia is absolutely relevant to its evaluation. Both when it's in play and from the graveyard. The flashback on those other spells isn't as relevant as it is on Soul, because the initial cost on the spells are more cost effective. If I firebolt their 2-drop, we've got card parity and I'm up a mana. If they disenchant my SoNP, we've got card parity again, but I'm down 4 mana in the exchange. That makes the cost inefficient "flashback" far less appealing as a selling point. This applies to all the Souls, which is why the one with the "best" pseudo-flashback ability happens to be the best Soul creature, IMO.
I think you should let Garruk resolve a few times if you think his abilities are all far too tame. I don't think he's worth 7 mana (or worth bumping one of BG's stellar selections), but I certainly don't think you'll lose the average game he resolves in. I like it slightly more than Vraska, though neither are stellar.
Thanks for the feedback dude!
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That's fine, but I think those situations will be pretty few and far between, and in the average case, I'd be better off with a different burn spell and being able to cast it and attack with my whole team.
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2009 Official Cube Power Rankings
2010 Official Cube Power Rankings
2014 Official Cube Power Rankings
Silent Edge's Tidbits of Wisdom:
The Lewis Theory - When the presence of a single card makes every other card in your deck better (see Lewis, Ray).
The Rubber Edict - You'd rather have it and not use it, than need it and not have it.
The Shotgun Wedding - Don't commit early unless you absolutely have to.
Twitter: @archplus3
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Semi- tempted to test the new ajani over the old one, exclusively because of the 3W casting cost (am 90%+ certain it is a less powerful card). My playgroup isn't too high on ajani 1.0, but Im of the personal opinion that they are under estimating him. Think he's extremely powerful in white weenie so can't bring myself to even temp cut him. Know you are of the same opinion on his power level.
I must say tho, I have played quite a few midrange decks, or R/w decks where I wanted to splash Ajani, but his 2WW forced me to not play him. Have you ever had this experience?
Curious to hear your experiences with generator servant after more extensive testing.
Last Updated 02/07/24
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I have had some decks where the WW has kept him out, but where he really shines is in token decks, which are typically pretty heavily seated in white. For regular Boros aggro decks, there are other 4cc cards that are stronger, more threatening mainboard options. What makes Ajani Goldmane shine is the one thing that's missing from the new iteration--the mass vigilance. Every mirror match and every race can be decided damn-near on the spot by a resolved Ajani Goldmane. Which is really important for my cube, because we do encounter a lot of aggro mirrors. I'm keeping Goldmane despite the worse cost because it's better in token decks (we play a lot of token/anthem decks) and the global vigilance he grants is a total blowout.
Servant was cool while we were testing him, but the concentration of more expensive creatures that he helped to power out came down, and so I decided to let it go when I dropped to 375.
My 630 Card Powered Cube
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My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
Compare to:
M14 - 3 360 staples in Chandra Pyromaster, Imposing Sovereign, and Elvish Mystic, Kalonian Hydra as a definite 450, and Young Pyromancer and Shadowborn Demon as maybe 450's
Theros - Tragic Hero, Soldier of the Pantheon, Firedrinker Satyr, Steam Augury, Hero's Downfall, Sylvan Carytadid, Purphoros, God of the Forge, Master of Waves, Thassa, God of the Sea, Xenagos the Reveler. At least the first four if not five are 360 material.
Born of the Gods - Brimaz, King of Oreskos, Pain Seer, Courser of Kruphix, Spirit of the Labyrinth - this might be the weakest with maybe 1 360?
Journey into Nyx - Mana Confluence, Gnarled Scarhide, Banishing Light, Master of the Feast are all 360-level
Commander 2013 - True-name Nemesis, Unexpectedly Absent, and Tempt with Vengeance all look like 360-level
Conspiracy - Conspiracies if you run them are all awesome, Lore Seeker and Deal Broker and maybe Agent of Acquisitions, also Council's Judgment for sure and maybe a few other of the weirder cards.
Currently Playing:
Legacy: Something U/W Controlish
EDH Cube
Hypercube! A New EDH Deck Every Week(ish)!
Magic 2014.........4
Theros.............5
Born of the Gods...2
Journey Into Nyx...4
Commander 2013.....5
Conspiracy.........8 (and that's with no conspiracies)
Magic 2015.........2
So ya, it's tied for the least impactful cube set (for me) in the last 12 months.
Thanks for sharing that observation!
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
Anyway, I'm glad you're keeping this series alive. They're always enjoyable and sometimes even a little eye opening. With your recent podcast appearance, have you ever thought about taking this top 20 format live and doing it via podcast?
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
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Thanks for the reply!
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
Don't have much to add right now without having much experience with M15 cards yet myself but great review as always. I am curious though about the above list though. Which cards are you talking about in it?
M14:
Imposing Sovereign
Young Pyromancer
Elvish Mystic
Kalonian Hydra
Theros:
Soldier of the Pantheon
Tormented Hero
Hero’s Downfall
Firedrinker Satyr
Purphoros, God of the Forge
Born of the Gods:
Brimaz, King of Oreskos
Courser of Kruphix
Journey Into Nyx:
Banishing Light
Gnarled Scarhide
Master of the Feast
Mana Confluence
Commander 2013:
Unexpectedly Absent
True-Name Nemesis
Ophiomancer
Toxic Deluge
Curse of Predation
Conspiracy:
Council’s Judgment
Grenzo, Dungeon Warden
Dack Fayden
Dack’s Duplicate
Lore Seeker
Deal Broker
Cogwork Librarian
Paliano, the High City
M15:
Goblin Rabblemaster
Reclamation Sage
I hope that's the information you were looking for.
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!