This is my 19th installment of the "top 20" set preview articles! Just like the previous reviews, it will be in a spoiled top X 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 few 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.
Kaladesh is a really cool universe, and I was hoping that the effects would be massive and long-lasting for the cube. I think that Kaladesh overall is a little weaker than other recent sets for a typical medium-sized cube list. But there are some really good cards in this set, and some interesting ones that are certainly worthy of discussion. It wasn’t hard finding 20 powerful and interesting cards to talk about or anything like that, but I just like the setting so much that I was hoping for more goodies.
What I Like: The easiest comparison is Augur of Bolas, since the function of the card is similar. It goes into a shell that’s saturated with a particular subtype of card, and generates some card advantage and provides a defensive body. But I think the Crane is quite a bit better. While it needs to go into a deck with a lot of artifacts in it, the ability to look a 4th card deep increases the chances of generating value, and the flying is a nice added ability over the older Augur design. There are cube archetypes that run lots of artifacts, and in those decks, this will easily make the final 40.
What I Don't Like: The artifact count needs to be quite high for this to have a reasonable chance to hit; about 11 in your deck before this has a 75+% chance of finding one. That’s a lot ...too many for anything other than a dedicated artifact.dec. Additionally, while the effect is good in those decks, the Crane isn’t a card that I’ll see in a pack and have it put me into the artifact.dec ...it’s a card I’ll only be interested in taking once I’m already dedicated to that shell.
Verdict: For artifact-themed cubes this is a slam-dunk. For regular cubes, I think that you need to support artifacts-matter really deep AND have a pretty large cube before this is worth considering. I love the artifact.dec and draft it often ...and even for me this wouldn’t make the cut for anything smaller than 720.
What I Like: This creature is a really solid defensive body. The combination of lifelink and vigilance on a 2/3 body can make it a nightmare roadblock for aggressive decks if they can’t immediately remove it. It has a good combination of stats and abilities for a 3cc creature.
What I Don't Like: The obvious comparison here is Vampire Nighthawk. Except the Nighthawk has a few things going for it that really raise its estimated value. First, the lifelink is more valuable in black, where it’s both rarer and needed to offset the color’s multiple lifeloss effects. Secondly, the deathtouch allows Nighthawk to trade up, meaning that it has value regardless of what kind of decks you match up against (unlike the Responder, which basically just doubles-down on its anti-aggro abilities). Those things, in combination with the fact that the 3cc creature slot is very powerful and crowded in white, will keep it out for me.
Verdict: This is a good creature, and a cheap stat-monster. But I have a few white 3cc creatures that are already on the outside looking in, and I wouldn’t be able to find room for the Responder in my own cube until my cube was at least 720 cards or larger.
What I Like: 5 mana for a 5/5 haste isn’t a bad starting point for a planeswalker that can come down early (thanks to green’s ramp) and can immediately tick herself up to {6} loyalty. Her {-3} ability will randomly be able to regrow some clutch permanents for you, and her ultimate is actually available the turn after she resolves!
What I Don't Like: The 5cc suite in green is pretty competitive, and I’m not even certain she’s better than other 5cc green planeswalkers I’m not currently running. For example, a comparison to Garruk, Primal Hunter shows them to be pretty comparable. The creature mode of his is smaller, but permanent. The card advantage mode on Garruk has a much higher ceiling, and even a quick Nissa ultimate needs several more turns (and land drops) to match that kind of CA (even if he only draws 3 off one of his own beasts). And he has a game-ending ultimate. I don’t think her easier cost, higher loyalty and Nature’s Spiral effect completely make up for those deficiencies. And I don’t even run that Garruk anymore...
Verdict: One of many examples of value planeswalkers being squeezed out for failing to contribute to a specific archetype or being completely nutters. I think I might try this if my cube was quite a bit bigger (might be testable at 720, but unsure) but I don’t think she can hack it against the competition in smaller lists. Plow Under is a hell of a drug.
What I Like: The ability to randomly turn some mana dorks and/or utility creatures into a 5/5 beater is a nice upside for a mana rock to have. In testing, this showed some promise, especially on defense where having a random 5/5 blocker can catch the opponent off-guard, and really ruin their plans. Of all the 3cc rainbow mana rocks with an upside, this is probably the one I like the most (that can only produce one mana).
What I Don't Like: Crew 3 hurts a lot, and is ultimately just flavor text in a lot of post-Wrath situations. The ability is certainly a nice one to have around when you can use it without it hurting your primary gameplan, but ultimately it wasn’t enough of an upside to make me want to run a 3cc mana rock that only taps for one mana.
Verdict: I think that this would be the first 3cc mana rock I’d be willing to play (outside of the ones that tap for multiple mana). The fixing is nice, and the secondary ability is randomly relevant. I’d probably test this at 630+, and I think it could find a home in 720 cubes or larger.
What I Like: Not a card you want to see resolve against you when you’re playing aggro. Tempo recovery, trades off with one of your attackers and replaces itself when it dies. And it’s a great card when combined with a lot of various engines (Nightmare, Feldon, Welder, etc). It’s solid enough value to make a lot of final 40s at face value, but it’ll be a nice card to have around when you can abuse it.
What I Don't Like: I wish the draw trigger was a LTB trigger instead of a death trigger, because that would make it “combo off” with a lot more cards. I think that outside of Nightmare/Feldon/Welder decks, it’ll probably be relegated to being a sideboard card that comes in against aggro, and that’s not really the kind of card I’m looking for at the moment.
Verdict: This is a decent value creature, and I might test it at 630 and play it at 720+ ...but it’s not a card that I think can compete in smaller cube lists.
What I Like: The {+1} ability protects himself and can mitigate powerful activated abilities. The {-1} ability of both gaining life and drawing cards is a really powerful effect for control decks. And the ultimate is nothing to scoff at either, as a 1-sided Static Orb is no joke.
What I Don't Like: There’s nothing bad about Dovin at all. The issues come from the need and the competition. I simply don’t need yet another good 4cc value control card for white or blue. And the competition in the Azorius section is quite powerful, be it from strong cards, important cards or flexible cards that currently take up all the slots there.
Verdict: I think this card can compete for the #6 card in the Azorius section. Meaning for me, it would go in at 720 but for a lot of other folks, this could be a solid 630 inclusion.
Enemy fastlands!
Good aggressive land options.
What I Like: If you don’t need access to C, these fastlands have proven to be really strong fixing lands for aggressive color combinations. For all my non-blue guilds, in cubes that don’t need colorless-exclusive mana, these are probably the #5 lands in their respective guilds.
What I Don't Like: Nothing not to like here! I wish these had been available before they made C cards and printed the enemy manlands ...they would’ve been so useful on so many occasions.
Verdict: I think these lands can compete in 540 lists if you don’t need access to C. And depending on your colorless demand, they can see play in cube sizes up to 630 or 720. At any rate, they’re very good lands, and the aggressive color combinations will be happy to have access to them.
What I Like: The scaleability and splashability work well together to form a pretty flexible spell. While the floor of being a 3-mana Regrowth isn’t good, the splashable Restock mode is nice, and when games go long you’ll have access to a big mana spell that can return multiple powerful cards back from the ‘yard. This reminds me a lot of Quarantine Field, where the base mode is just plain worse than other effects we have access to, but once you start scaling up, the effect becomes better than any other options we’ve seen for its respective costs.
What I Don't Like: I tested this quite a bit, because I really wanted it to be great. Ultimately, I just wasn’t able to find a cut for it that I liked, even though it was decent in testing. The biggest issue was that it was too often a 2G Regrowth ...and that floor was just too low to make up for the ACS of being a slightly improved Restock at 4G.
Verdict: This is a solid card, and the flexibility is nice. If my cube was bigger, I would’ve tried to provide some longer-term testing for it. I think I’d bring this in for some lengthy testing at 630 or bigger.
What I Like: This hits about 90% of the targets that Disenchant can get, for half the mana. That’s a strong ratio of costs to targets, and in proactive decks, it’ll make for one of the better Disenchant variants for the cube. It can kill a lot of cube cards for a single mana, which is nothing to turn your nose up at.
What I Don't Like: Some of the targets that this card misses are pretty clutch cards to be able to remove. In comparison to Disenchant, losing the instant-speed is a big deal on this kind of effect specifically. And in comparison to Seal of Cleansing, this card loses a lot of the interactions and lines of play available to the Seal that give it an edge.
Verdict: I like this Disenchant variant, and if my white section was looking for one more effect of this ilk, this would be the one I’d add in. I would probably include this in 630-sized cubes and feel pretty happy about having another good Disenchant variant floating around.
What I Like: This is a big body with flash that will be able to grab a pretty deep suite of valuable instants and allow you to cast them for free. And it’s in the perfect color for the effect too, because pretty much every instant that costs 4+ mana in the cube is blue ...and they’re all insane to snap back with this Gearhulk. Cryptic, FOF, Mystic and Dig are all going to be completely bonkers when you can bring ‘em in for free.
What I Don't Like: A lot of the other targets in blue that aren’t the insane instants lead to relatively fair exchanges for this mana cost. Flashing in a lot of the cheaper countermagic and selection spells will be decent, but nothing that will feel like a true 6-mana play in this format. I mean, flashing this in and recasting an Impulse is so fair in comparison to say ...resolving a Consecrated Sphinx... that this Gearhulk does feel pretty fair when put head-to-head against blue’s other 6+cc options.
Verdict: I actually like this creature more than Frost Titan, and I’d play it as the #3 6cc creature in blue. I’d have room for such a body if my cube were 630 cards or bigger.
What I Like: This is their legendary, mythic vehicle. And it’s definitely pushed in a lot of ways. The ETB trigger is the biggest selling point of this vehicle, so that you don’t have to spend 5 mana and take a turn off of doing something proactive. It’s (albeit overcosted) colorless removal at the very least, and it can kill off a creature for you when it comes down. In decks that have the creature saturation and the power saturation to keep Skysovereign active, it can be a pretty good card. I mean, allowing a Beast token to attack for essentially 9 damage is big game. The decks I found that liked this the most were green midrange decks, where both the removal and the evasion were rare (and needed) AND they were the decks that had the highest concentration of single creatures that could crew the airship on their own.
What I Don't Like: Crew 3 is a huge bummer. So many of the creatures in the cube are either small utility creatures, aggro creatures, or really big creatures. And what happens with this card, is that the Crew 3 activation telegraphs itself pretty strongly, and the opponent can react to get you under 3 power, or cast a sweeper. The latter situations are the ones that hurt the most, because it can be hard to be able to re-crew the Skysovereign post-sweeper effect, and it can leave you with essentially a 5-mana Volcanic Hammer. That, and crewing for exactly 3 is hard sometimes, and you wind up having to over-crew the vehicle in order to activate it, which isn’t nearly as good. Tapping my lone Primeval Titan to activate this isn’t nearly as good a deal.
Verdict: This vehicle has a high ceiling, and the ETB effect goes a long way towards making it good. But the Crew 3 is rough, and it winds up making the airship struggle in the matchups where you need it to shine the most in. I tested this pretty extensively at 540 and I think it just misses the cut. I would include this at 630+, but probably not before that.
What I Like: 8 power with trample for 5 mana is a good deal. Being able to distribute half the power across the rest of the team is also important. It brings symmetrical boards back into your favor, and allows this creature to pass the removal test if the opponent blasts it. Getting a 6/6 trample and an Elven Rite for your 5 mana investment is certainly solid.
What I Don't Like: The artifact card type on this creature leaves the main body vulnerable to a host of artifact removal. Which is particularly problematic for green midrange decks, since they tend to run a fewer number of artifacts ...the opponent is just waiting for this to resolve to give their Manic Vandal something to kill. In testing, the times where this was bad, it would’ve been better off as Kalonian Hydra, and the times where it was good, it was just doing a poor impression of the Hydra to start with.
Verdict: The power/cost ratio is great, and if I needed another 5cc beater besides the aforementioned Hydra, this would be it. At 540, I’m comfortable with my current suite of 5-drops, but at 630+ there would be a home for this creature.
What I Like: The ceiling on the {-2} ability is absurdly high, and can often feel worth the 3 mana on its own. The {+1} ability is good when you’re ahead; providing a little extra pressure and keeping you in gas. The ultimate has potential in artifact.dec shells, and can be worth striving to get it in those kinds of decks. Saheeli was fantastic in tempo decks. When you’re the beatdown, the {+1} ability does good work, and the {-2} ability copies your curve-topper when it resolves and pretty much ends the game on the spot.
What I Don't Like: Her inability to protect herself really damaged her playability in the artifact.dec ...an archetype that is notoriously susceptible to early pressure as it is. She wound up being relegated to exclusively tempo-oriented play. Which is fine, because she’s good in that deck, but not good enough for me to snap her early and have her be the reason my draft moves in that direction. So ultimately she wound up being slightly too narrow to crack my 4-card guild section, despite playing very well in a draftable deck type.
Verdict: After playing quite a bit of Saheeli in the cube setting, I think she can absolutely compete for the #5 slot in Izzet. At whatever size you include 5 Izzet cards, she can certainly hold her own in that company.
What I Like: Tendo Ice Bridge has been good in my cube, both for helping support C decks and generic aggro decks. Bottom line, is that these kinds of lands come into play untapped and can immediately produce all 6 types of mana. And it also has a few interactions like blinking/bouncing and recurring the Hub which can give it a small edge over the Bridge in some rare situations.
What I Don't Like: The land is serviceable, but unexciting. There’s nothing I dislike per se, but it’s not going to be a card I slam down from a pack and am super stoked to have.
Verdict: After playing a lot of Tendo Ice Bridge, I’m more than happy to have a second copy available. Especially one that has some corner-case scenarios that can make it ever-so-slightly better. I’ll be happy running both at 540 for as long as both C and aggro are both supported.
What I Like: Most 5cc Wrath variants don’t do enough to justify costing an extra mana. But the lifegain on Fumigate makes a pretty good case for it. Wiping the board and gaining 3-4 life is exactly what control wants to be doing, because it can pull your life total out of burn range, make up for a lost early attack step, or mitigate the damage from the first attack that comes in post-wrath after the opponent starts rebuilding. All of those things equate to giving the caster more time ...which is exactly what control is looking to do. The lifegain doesn’t mean as much against midrange, but it means a lot against hard aggro decks, which is the kind of thing control is looking for help against.
What I Don't Like: At the end of the day, it’s still a 5-mana wrath. And the upside (while great, and often relevant) isn’t enough to make up for not costing 4 mana when you’re facing down a big early board and are waiting for the mana to cast your sweeper. So this won’t replace a wrath being run in a smaller cube, but it may be the first 5cc wrath we’ve seen with an upside relevant enough to run it alongside the staple cube sweepers.
Verdict: I think that 540 can justify running a single 5cc Wrath effect ...we’ve just been waiting for the right one. I think that Fumigate can absolutely be that card. I’ll be playing it at 540, but I don’t think it’s needed in cubes smaller than that.
What I Like: Crew 1 opens up a lot of opportunities to get small utility creatures and tokens to be able to bash for 3/3 fliers in combat. When you’re crewing this with an aggro beater, you might not maximize the crew/power ratio, but even with +1 power, evasion and a loot trigger, it makes it a serviceable way to add pressure to an early board. Note that the trigger occurs on attacking (and blocking!) ...not on damage or being unblocked. So you can attack ‘walkers and get tangled in combat and still get your loot trigger.
What I Don't Like: It can be awkward when you have to severely overcrew the vehicle, so it doesn’t work well with bigger creatures and curve-toppers. Not a huge complaint, but it can show up sometimes where you’re not getting much of (if any) increase to your clock by having it on the board, and aggro might not benefit much in those situations.
Verdict: This is a good vehicle, and even just testing it to experience the mechanic means that this should see play in small-medium sized cubes. The looting can keep you in gas, the evasion can keep on the pressure, and it’s a nice tool to resolve against early ‘walker pressure. I’ll play this at 540, and it warrants extensive testing at 450.
What I Like: This was kinda surprising to see. It’s a 3-power beater for 2 and with a surprisingly relevant upside too. This is everything I ever wanted Despoiler of Souls to be. It has the perfect casting cost, a second point of toughness, and a much easier recursion trigger that will allow you to apply a lot of additional pressure with the Scrounger post-death. The recursion is not only good for applying additional late-game pressure, but it also works well with sacrifice effects, making this an ideal support card for like a Braids/Smokestack shell.
What I Don't Like: Other than the fact that it can be Disenchanted, this is a pretty ideal aggro body. The fact that it’ll be stolen by non-black aggro decks when I’m trying to wheel it for my Braids shells will be a bummer tho.
Verdict: Great aggro creature. Easily fits into 450 cubes, and can probably be squeezed into lots of 360 lists out there too.
What I Like: This is essentially a colorless Skizzik that leaves behind a pseudo-Grafted Wargear variant. I mean, it immediately bashes for 5 with trample and haste when it resolves, and after that, every time you crew it with a piker or a bear you’re basically granting +3/+2 (or +3/+1) ...and trample (and sometimes haste!) to all your aggro beaters. The decks that play this card are overloaded with 2/X creatures, so the Crew 2 is ideal. When I first started testing it, I thought it was going to be a great non-red aggro creature because red already has access to cards like this. But after seeing it in action, it’s often better than red’s curve toppers despite them being similar in powerlevel and function. After playing with this card for a while, this might be the best 4cc curve-topper for hard aggro decks in the cube.
What I Don't Like: Watch out for 3-power creatures with first strike.
Verdict: Needs to be seen in action to understand it, but this card is easily a slam-dunk in 450 cubes and belongs in most 360 cubes too, as long as you support aggro decks.
What I Like: The flexibility on this card is key. But let’s evaluate Angel solely in Servo mode for a minute. It creates 6 power across 3 bodies, including evasion and lifelink. And it comes with its own Glorious Anthem strapped to it, so it pumps your entire existing team the turn it resolves too. That in and of itself allows it to compete for among the best (if not the best) 5cc army-in-a-can card available. CGR gives you an extra body and is more resilient against cheap dividable burn, but it doesn’t come with an Anthem and it doesn’t have the lifelink. Angel also has the advantage of being fetchable by both Recruiters, and targetable by Reveillark and Alesha. Oh right, and it also has a completely different mode it can resolve in that can be tailored to dominate specific board states. There are situations where a vigilant Gisela is just amazing ...shutting off the opponent’s ability to pressure you with smaller threats, and creating an 8 point life swing on its own every time it gets in. Oh, and it never loses the anthem effect it distributes no matter which mode it resolves in.
What I Don't Like: I wish it had a fatter butt and/or first strike, but that’s being awfully picky for a fantastic cube 5-drop.
Verdict: It didn’t take long for this Angel to cement itself as one of the best white 5-drops available. One of its two modes alone is comparable to the best 5cc effect of its respective ilk, and the other option is also quite potent in certain situations. This may very well be the second best white 5cc creature in the cube behind Reveillark. I would play it at 360, and not even have to think twice about it.
What I Like: The combination of abilities and the sheer number and diversity of them is staggering. This is essentially a 5-ability ‘walker, since the first ability can serve double-duty. The first {+1) ability can function as potential card advantage or guaranteed reach, whichever you need. It can play out like a 1-sided Sulfuric Vortex or an Outpost Siege, depending on what the board state calls for. Then she has a second {+1} ...that ramps you. By adding RR to your pool?! That ability has proven itself to be insanely strong in all my red decks, but especially midrange and control decks (and flat incredible in Wildfire decks). Then she has a {-3} ability that can blast creatures for 4 damage, which can do a great job of protecting Chandra. And her ultimate is completely bonkers, and ends games really quickly. Mind you that this is all occuring on a ‘walker that resolves with {4} loyalty that can immediately tick up to {5} in two different ways. For 4 mana. To summarize, that’s repeatable reach/’walker damage, potential card advantage, ramp, removal and an absurd ultimate all rolled up into one card.
What I Don't Like: This is too good not to play. There aren’t decks that don’t want it, and instead of being a great card for the right deck, she just gets tossed into everything. It’s almost uninteresting how powerful she is, honestly.
Verdict: She’s the best red planeswalker, and she belongs in every cube of every size that doesn’t have an intentionally capped powerlevel.
Please feel free to comment below! Thanks for reading, and happy cubing!
Spoiler season just does not feel complete without your top 20 (P)review. A very valuable resource, thank you very much for taking the time to write this!
Wildest Dreams might be a good card for the more combo-oriented Cubes, I guess?
Great write up as usual. The only thing that threw me off was Wildest Dreams at #13. Probably better in powered cube than a non-powered, though so that may just me my bias.
Spoiler season just does not feel complete without your top 20 (P)review. A very valuable resource, thank you very much for taking the time to write this!
Wildest Dreams might be a good card for the more combo-oriented Cubes, I guess?
Thanks Konfusius! Dreams might be better in combo, but I think it'll be at its best in the midrange slugfest cubes, where green is desperately looking for late-game action against the control decks in the format. The spell gets quite good at 7+ mana.
Great set review once again. I'm still a bit more sold on the Skyship. But my cube is a bit slower than yours, so tat miht make it better.
It might. The airship is certainly good, there's no doubt about it. But when I needed it at its best (midrange vs control post-wrath recovery) it was at its worst. It's a good card for green midrange decks though, particularly if they're heavily-built around 3-4 drops with 3 power.
Great write up as usual. The only thing that threw me off was Wildest Dreams at #13. Probably better in powered cube than a non-powered, though so that may just me my bias.
Do you mean that it's being over- or undervalued? Because I tested it in powered, and my best guess was that it would be better in unpowered.
Nice write up dude! I'll be adding #1-4 and #6 in my 420. Also keeping an eye out for Saheeli.
100% agree with Chandra. She's got to be one of the best red cards printed... ever. I'd have a hard time choosing between her and Goblin Guide or even (gasp) Sulfuric Vortex.
Just wanted to say, thanks. I just moved to Beijing & haven't managed to tap into the mtg community here – this sort of thing helps me feel connected to the (other) joga bonito. At least I can play with all the new cards on Forge, soon...
When the first Gearhulk was spoiled, I thought this might be a set with 10+ cards for managers of even medium-sized cubes to think hard about. Since the cycle ended up being such a disappointment, this set seems a little worse than the last few sets that've come out. Still, there are some sweet cards that I can't wait to play with.
Thanks for the write up. Going back and rereading through all the old ones made building my cube over the summer much easier.
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I can't say I'm pleased to see you and must warn you I may have to do something about it.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: URDelver
Modern: UGRDelver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
Glad they helped. Ya, with the way the spoilers started, this looked like another 10-12 card set for ~540 cubes. But the spoilers slowed down and I cooled on a lot of cards after seeing them in action. Overall a solid set, but I really love the plane and was hoping to be able to include tons of stuff.
Interestingly enough, even though this has less inclusions than most of the main sets from the last year or so, it may have the most cards playable for really small cubes. I mean, 4 cards that I'd be comfortable including for 360 card cubes is pretty nice. Overall, a solid B+.
I really appreciate the fact that you get in so much testing with these spoiled cards and share the results so long before release weekend. In this case, you've probably saved me a fair bit of money an trade stock since so many just didn't live up to the hype for you. I wish I could get in similar early testing of my own.
Most of your evaluations look spot (as always) on to me, and I'm pleasantly surprised to hear that Angel of Invention is turning out so much better than Cloudgoat Ranger than you expected. I expected it to be a solid playable as a flexible stat monster + anthem, but apparently it has even more synergies than I'd realized.
I was surprised to see no mention of Voltaic Brawler, which looks to me like a solid option for Gruul if you're pushing aggro in this guild. I was impressed enough with it during prerelease to want to test it. Did you test Brawler in your cube?
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465 card Unpowered cube thread. Draft it here and I'll be happy to return the favor.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Great write up as usual. The only thing that threw me off was Wildest Dreams at #13. Probably better in powered cube than a non-powered, though so that may just me my bias.
Do you mean that it's being over- or undervalued? Because I tested it in powered, and my best guess was that it would be better in unpowered.
Thanks!
Over, I didn't expect it to crack the top 20.
Kind of weird to think about powered vs unpowered with this card. On one hand, you can get things like Time Walk / Recall in a powered cube, but a slower unpowered cube is more likely to grind this out for maximum value. A moot point, I guess.
Can you comment on what "extensive testing" means for you? Are you doing drafts with these cards added in to your packs, or are you taking finished drafted decks, and adding these cards in logical spots?
We ended up not even testing Copter because we just didn't see what decks would actually want it. In your environment, what kind of decks did Copter end up seeing play in?
It's funny, in the Cursed Scroll thread Spike Rogue and I were just having a conversation about how only Razormane Masticore among artifacts could do 3 points of direct damage somewhat cost-effectively and repeatedly to a creature. Here we have another artifact that comes out bolting and can keep doing so when you attack and it hits planeswalkers too.
I feel a bit silly for overlooking Skysovereign, Consul Flagship now. Magiccards.info hasn't been updated in the last couple of sets, so when I searched for artifacts that deal 3 damage it only brought up Razormane Masticore. I wouldn't cut Scroll for Skysovereign, though, they'd go into completely different decks. I'd look for something higher up the curve to cut for it, maybe something like Precursor Golem.
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465 card Unpowered cube thread. Draft it here and I'll be happy to return the favor.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
So would Fleetwheel Cruiser be a fair straight up replacement for Grafted Wargear?
I wouldn't cut Grafted Wargear for Cruiser. Without seeing your cube list it's hard to recommend a specific cut, but I'd cut something from your colorless top end like Masticore or Precursor Golem instead.
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465 card Unpowered cube thread. Draft it here and I'll be happy to return the favor.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
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This is my 19th installment of the "top 20" set preview articles! Just like the previous reviews, it will be in a spoiled top X 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 few 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.
Kaladesh is a really cool universe, and I was hoping that the effects would be massive and long-lasting for the cube. I think that Kaladesh overall is a little weaker than other recent sets for a typical medium-sized cube list. But there are some really good cards in this set, and some interesting ones that are certainly worthy of discussion. It wasn’t hard finding 20 powerful and interesting cards to talk about or anything like that, but I just like the setting so much that I was hoping for more goodies.
Without further ado, I can start the countdown!
Glint-Nest Crane
The artifact Augur of Bolas.
What I Like: The easiest comparison is Augur of Bolas, since the function of the card is similar. It goes into a shell that’s saturated with a particular subtype of card, and generates some card advantage and provides a defensive body. But I think the Crane is quite a bit better. While it needs to go into a deck with a lot of artifacts in it, the ability to look a 4th card deep increases the chances of generating value, and the flying is a nice added ability over the older Augur design. There are cube archetypes that run lots of artifacts, and in those decks, this will easily make the final 40.
What I Don't Like: The artifact count needs to be quite high for this to have a reasonable chance to hit; about 11 in your deck before this has a 75+% chance of finding one. That’s a lot ...too many for anything other than a dedicated artifact.dec. Additionally, while the effect is good in those decks, the Crane isn’t a card that I’ll see in a pack and have it put me into the artifact.dec ...it’s a card I’ll only be interested in taking once I’m already dedicated to that shell.
Verdict: For artifact-themed cubes this is a slam-dunk. For regular cubes, I think that you need to support artifacts-matter really deep AND have a pretty large cube before this is worth considering. I love the artifact.dec and draft it often ...and even for me this wouldn’t make the cut for anything smaller than 720.
Aerial Responder
The Whitehawk.
What I Like: This creature is a really solid defensive body. The combination of lifelink and vigilance on a 2/3 body can make it a nightmare roadblock for aggressive decks if they can’t immediately remove it. It has a good combination of stats and abilities for a 3cc creature.
What I Don't Like: The obvious comparison here is Vampire Nighthawk. Except the Nighthawk has a few things going for it that really raise its estimated value. First, the lifelink is more valuable in black, where it’s both rarer and needed to offset the color’s multiple lifeloss effects. Secondly, the deathtouch allows Nighthawk to trade up, meaning that it has value regardless of what kind of decks you match up against (unlike the Responder, which basically just doubles-down on its anti-aggro abilities). Those things, in combination with the fact that the 3cc creature slot is very powerful and crowded in white, will keep it out for me.
Verdict: This is a good creature, and a cheap stat-monster. But I have a few white 3cc creatures that are already on the outside looking in, and I wouldn’t be able to find room for the Responder in my own cube until my cube was at least 720 cards or larger.
Nissa, Vital Force
A good midrange beatdown ‘walker.
What I Like: 5 mana for a 5/5 haste isn’t a bad starting point for a planeswalker that can come down early (thanks to green’s ramp) and can immediately tick herself up to {6} loyalty. Her {-3} ability will randomly be able to regrow some clutch permanents for you, and her ultimate is actually available the turn after she resolves!
What I Don't Like: The 5cc suite in green is pretty competitive, and I’m not even certain she’s better than other 5cc green planeswalkers I’m not currently running. For example, a comparison to Garruk, Primal Hunter shows them to be pretty comparable. The creature mode of his is smaller, but permanent. The card advantage mode on Garruk has a much higher ceiling, and even a quick Nissa ultimate needs several more turns (and land drops) to match that kind of CA (even if he only draws 3 off one of his own beasts). And he has a game-ending ultimate. I don’t think her easier cost, higher loyalty and Nature’s Spiral effect completely make up for those deficiencies. And I don’t even run that Garruk anymore...
Verdict: One of many examples of value planeswalkers being squeezed out for failing to contribute to a specific archetype or being completely nutters. I think I might try this if my cube was quite a bit bigger (might be testable at 720, but unsure) but I don’t think she can hack it against the competition in smaller lists. Plow Under is a hell of a drug.
Cultivator’s Caravan
An Ingot that can beat down.
What I Like: The ability to randomly turn some mana dorks and/or utility creatures into a 5/5 beater is a nice upside for a mana rock to have. In testing, this showed some promise, especially on defense where having a random 5/5 blocker can catch the opponent off-guard, and really ruin their plans. Of all the 3cc rainbow mana rocks with an upside, this is probably the one I like the most (that can only produce one mana).
What I Don't Like: Crew 3 hurts a lot, and is ultimately just flavor text in a lot of post-Wrath situations. The ability is certainly a nice one to have around when you can use it without it hurting your primary gameplan, but ultimately it wasn’t enough of an upside to make me want to run a 3cc mana rock that only taps for one mana.
Verdict: I think that this would be the first 3cc mana rock I’d be willing to play (outside of the ones that tap for multiple mana). The fixing is nice, and the secondary ability is randomly relevant. I’d probably test this at 630+, and I think it could find a home in 720 cubes or larger.
Filigree Familiar
Value creature like a fox.
What I Like: Not a card you want to see resolve against you when you’re playing aggro. Tempo recovery, trades off with one of your attackers and replaces itself when it dies. And it’s a great card when combined with a lot of various engines (Nightmare, Feldon, Welder, etc). It’s solid enough value to make a lot of final 40s at face value, but it’ll be a nice card to have around when you can abuse it.
What I Don't Like: I wish the draw trigger was a LTB trigger instead of a death trigger, because that would make it “combo off” with a lot more cards. I think that outside of Nightmare/Feldon/Welder decks, it’ll probably be relegated to being a sideboard card that comes in against aggro, and that’s not really the kind of card I’m looking for at the moment.
Verdict: This is a decent value creature, and I might test it at 630 and play it at 720+ ...but it’s not a card that I think can compete in smaller cube lists.
Dovin Baan
A solid value planeswalker.
What I Like: The {+1} ability protects himself and can mitigate powerful activated abilities. The {-1} ability of both gaining life and drawing cards is a really powerful effect for control decks. And the ultimate is nothing to scoff at either, as a 1-sided Static Orb is no joke.
What I Don't Like: There’s nothing bad about Dovin at all. The issues come from the need and the competition. I simply don’t need yet another good 4cc value control card for white or blue. And the competition in the Azorius section is quite powerful, be it from strong cards, important cards or flexible cards that currently take up all the slots there.
Verdict: I think this card can compete for the #6 card in the Azorius section. Meaning for me, it would go in at 720 but for a lot of other folks, this could be a solid 630 inclusion.
Enemy fastlands!
Good aggressive land options.
What I Like: If you don’t need access to C, these fastlands have proven to be really strong fixing lands for aggressive color combinations. For all my non-blue guilds, in cubes that don’t need colorless-exclusive mana, these are probably the #5 lands in their respective guilds.
What I Don't Like: Nothing not to like here! I wish these had been available before they made C cards and printed the enemy manlands ...they would’ve been so useful on so many occasions.
Verdict: I think these lands can compete in 540 lists if you don’t need access to C. And depending on your colorless demand, they can see play in cube sizes up to 630 or 720. At any rate, they’re very good lands, and the aggressive color combinations will be happy to have access to them.
Wildest Dreams
A scaleable Regrowth effect.
What I Like: The scaleability and splashability work well together to form a pretty flexible spell. While the floor of being a 3-mana Regrowth isn’t good, the splashable Restock mode is nice, and when games go long you’ll have access to a big mana spell that can return multiple powerful cards back from the ‘yard. This reminds me a lot of Quarantine Field, where the base mode is just plain worse than other effects we have access to, but once you start scaling up, the effect becomes better than any other options we’ve seen for its respective costs.
What I Don't Like: I tested this quite a bit, because I really wanted it to be great. Ultimately, I just wasn’t able to find a cut for it that I liked, even though it was decent in testing. The biggest issue was that it was too often a 2G Regrowth ...and that floor was just too low to make up for the ACS of being a slightly improved Restock at 4G.
Verdict: This is a solid card, and the flexibility is nice. If my cube was bigger, I would’ve tried to provide some longer-term testing for it. I think I’d bring this in for some lengthy testing at 630 or bigger.
Fragmentize
A cheap Disenchant variant.
What I Like: This hits about 90% of the targets that Disenchant can get, for half the mana. That’s a strong ratio of costs to targets, and in proactive decks, it’ll make for one of the better Disenchant variants for the cube. It can kill a lot of cube cards for a single mana, which is nothing to turn your nose up at.
What I Don't Like: Some of the targets that this card misses are pretty clutch cards to be able to remove. In comparison to Disenchant, losing the instant-speed is a big deal on this kind of effect specifically. And in comparison to Seal of Cleansing, this card loses a lot of the interactions and lines of play available to the Seal that give it an edge.
Verdict: I like this Disenchant variant, and if my white section was looking for one more effect of this ilk, this would be the one I’d add in. I would probably include this in 630-sized cubes and feel pretty happy about having another good Disenchant variant floating around.
Torrential Gearhulk
Snapcaster Mech.
What I Like: This is a big body with flash that will be able to grab a pretty deep suite of valuable instants and allow you to cast them for free. And it’s in the perfect color for the effect too, because pretty much every instant that costs 4+ mana in the cube is blue ...and they’re all insane to snap back with this Gearhulk. Cryptic, FOF, Mystic and Dig are all going to be completely bonkers when you can bring ‘em in for free.
What I Don't Like: A lot of the other targets in blue that aren’t the insane instants lead to relatively fair exchanges for this mana cost. Flashing in a lot of the cheaper countermagic and selection spells will be decent, but nothing that will feel like a true 6-mana play in this format. I mean, flashing this in and recasting an Impulse is so fair in comparison to say ...resolving a Consecrated Sphinx... that this Gearhulk does feel pretty fair when put head-to-head against blue’s other 6+cc options.
Verdict: I actually like this creature more than Frost Titan, and I’d play it as the #3 6cc creature in blue. I’d have room for such a body if my cube were 630 cards or bigger.
Skysovereign, Consul Flagship
It’s an airship!
What I Like: This is their legendary, mythic vehicle. And it’s definitely pushed in a lot of ways. The ETB trigger is the biggest selling point of this vehicle, so that you don’t have to spend 5 mana and take a turn off of doing something proactive. It’s (albeit overcosted) colorless removal at the very least, and it can kill off a creature for you when it comes down. In decks that have the creature saturation and the power saturation to keep Skysovereign active, it can be a pretty good card. I mean, allowing a Beast token to attack for essentially 9 damage is big game. The decks I found that liked this the most were green midrange decks, where both the removal and the evasion were rare (and needed) AND they were the decks that had the highest concentration of single creatures that could crew the airship on their own.
What I Don't Like: Crew 3 is a huge bummer. So many of the creatures in the cube are either small utility creatures, aggro creatures, or really big creatures. And what happens with this card, is that the Crew 3 activation telegraphs itself pretty strongly, and the opponent can react to get you under 3 power, or cast a sweeper. The latter situations are the ones that hurt the most, because it can be hard to be able to re-crew the Skysovereign post-sweeper effect, and it can leave you with essentially a 5-mana Volcanic Hammer. That, and crewing for exactly 3 is hard sometimes, and you wind up having to over-crew the vehicle in order to activate it, which isn’t nearly as good. Tapping my lone Primeval Titan to activate this isn’t nearly as good a deal.
Verdict: This vehicle has a high ceiling, and the ETB effect goes a long way towards making it good. But the Crew 3 is rough, and it winds up making the airship struggle in the matchups where you need it to shine the most in. I tested this pretty extensively at 540 and I think it just misses the cut. I would include this at 630+, but probably not before that.
Verdurous Gearhulk
A big green 5-drop.
What I Like: 8 power with trample for 5 mana is a good deal. Being able to distribute half the power across the rest of the team is also important. It brings symmetrical boards back into your favor, and allows this creature to pass the removal test if the opponent blasts it. Getting a 6/6 trample and an Elven Rite for your 5 mana investment is certainly solid.
What I Don't Like: The artifact card type on this creature leaves the main body vulnerable to a host of artifact removal. Which is particularly problematic for green midrange decks, since they tend to run a fewer number of artifacts ...the opponent is just waiting for this to resolve to give their Manic Vandal something to kill. In testing, the times where this was bad, it would’ve been better off as Kalonian Hydra, and the times where it was good, it was just doing a poor impression of the Hydra to start with.
Verdict: The power/cost ratio is great, and if I needed another 5cc beater besides the aforementioned Hydra, this would be it. At 540, I’m comfortable with my current suite of 5-drops, but at 630+ there would be a home for this creature.
Saheeli Rai
A good 3cc Izzet ‘walker.
What I Like: The ceiling on the {-2} ability is absurdly high, and can often feel worth the 3 mana on its own. The {+1} ability is good when you’re ahead; providing a little extra pressure and keeping you in gas. The ultimate has potential in artifact.dec shells, and can be worth striving to get it in those kinds of decks. Saheeli was fantastic in tempo decks. When you’re the beatdown, the {+1} ability does good work, and the {-2} ability copies your curve-topper when it resolves and pretty much ends the game on the spot.
What I Don't Like: Her inability to protect herself really damaged her playability in the artifact.dec ...an archetype that is notoriously susceptible to early pressure as it is. She wound up being relegated to exclusively tempo-oriented play. Which is fine, because she’s good in that deck, but not good enough for me to snap her early and have her be the reason my draft moves in that direction. So ultimately she wound up being slightly too narrow to crack my 4-card guild section, despite playing very well in a draftable deck type.
Verdict: After playing quite a bit of Saheeli in the cube setting, I think she can absolutely compete for the #5 slot in Izzet. At whatever size you include 5 Izzet cards, she can certainly hold her own in that company.
Aether Hub
A new Tendo Ice Bridge.
What I Like: Tendo Ice Bridge has been good in my cube, both for helping support C decks and generic aggro decks. Bottom line, is that these kinds of lands come into play untapped and can immediately produce all 6 types of mana. And it also has a few interactions like blinking/bouncing and recurring the Hub which can give it a small edge over the Bridge in some rare situations.
What I Don't Like: The land is serviceable, but unexciting. There’s nothing I dislike per se, but it’s not going to be a card I slam down from a pack and am super stoked to have.
Verdict: After playing a lot of Tendo Ice Bridge, I’m more than happy to have a second copy available. Especially one that has some corner-case scenarios that can make it ever-so-slightly better. I’ll be happy running both at 540 for as long as both C and aggro are both supported.
Fumigate
A life-gain Wrath effect.
What I Like: Most 5cc Wrath variants don’t do enough to justify costing an extra mana. But the lifegain on Fumigate makes a pretty good case for it. Wiping the board and gaining 3-4 life is exactly what control wants to be doing, because it can pull your life total out of burn range, make up for a lost early attack step, or mitigate the damage from the first attack that comes in post-wrath after the opponent starts rebuilding. All of those things equate to giving the caster more time ...which is exactly what control is looking to do. The lifegain doesn’t mean as much against midrange, but it means a lot against hard aggro decks, which is the kind of thing control is looking for help against.
What I Don't Like: At the end of the day, it’s still a 5-mana wrath. And the upside (while great, and often relevant) isn’t enough to make up for not costing 4 mana when you’re facing down a big early board and are waiting for the mana to cast your sweeper. So this won’t replace a wrath being run in a smaller cube, but it may be the first 5cc wrath we’ve seen with an upside relevant enough to run it alongside the staple cube sweepers.
Verdict: I think that 540 can justify running a single 5cc Wrath effect ...we’ve just been waiting for the right one. I think that Fumigate can absolutely be that card. I’ll be playing it at 540, but I don’t think it’s needed in cubes smaller than that.
Smuggler’s Copter
A good utility vehicle.
What I Like: Crew 1 opens up a lot of opportunities to get small utility creatures and tokens to be able to bash for 3/3 fliers in combat. When you’re crewing this with an aggro beater, you might not maximize the crew/power ratio, but even with +1 power, evasion and a loot trigger, it makes it a serviceable way to add pressure to an early board. Note that the trigger occurs on attacking (and blocking!) ...not on damage or being unblocked. So you can attack ‘walkers and get tangled in combat and still get your loot trigger.
What I Don't Like: It can be awkward when you have to severely overcrew the vehicle, so it doesn’t work well with bigger creatures and curve-toppers. Not a huge complaint, but it can show up sometimes where you’re not getting much of (if any) increase to your clock by having it on the board, and aggro might not benefit much in those situations.
Verdict: This is a good vehicle, and even just testing it to experience the mechanic means that this should see play in small-medium sized cubes. The looting can keep you in gas, the evasion can keep on the pressure, and it’s a nice tool to resolve against early ‘walker pressure. I’ll play this at 540, and it warrants extensive testing at 450.
Scrapheap Scrounger
A fantastic aggro creature.
What I Like: This was kinda surprising to see. It’s a 3-power beater for 2 and with a surprisingly relevant upside too. This is everything I ever wanted Despoiler of Souls to be. It has the perfect casting cost, a second point of toughness, and a much easier recursion trigger that will allow you to apply a lot of additional pressure with the Scrounger post-death. The recursion is not only good for applying additional late-game pressure, but it also works well with sacrifice effects, making this an ideal support card for like a Braids/Smokestack shell.
What I Don't Like: Other than the fact that it can be Disenchanted, this is a pretty ideal aggro body. The fact that it’ll be stolen by non-black aggro decks when I’m trying to wheel it for my Braids shells will be a bummer tho.
Verdict: Great aggro creature. Easily fits into 450 cubes, and can probably be squeezed into lots of 360 lists out there too.
Fleetwheel Cruiser
A great aggro curve-topper.
What I Like: This is essentially a colorless Skizzik that leaves behind a pseudo-Grafted Wargear variant. I mean, it immediately bashes for 5 with trample and haste when it resolves, and after that, every time you crew it with a piker or a bear you’re basically granting +3/+2 (or +3/+1) ...and trample (and sometimes haste!) to all your aggro beaters. The decks that play this card are overloaded with 2/X creatures, so the Crew 2 is ideal. When I first started testing it, I thought it was going to be a great non-red aggro creature because red already has access to cards like this. But after seeing it in action, it’s often better than red’s curve toppers despite them being similar in powerlevel and function. After playing with this card for a while, this might be the best 4cc curve-topper for hard aggro decks in the cube.
What I Don't Like: Watch out for 3-power creatures with first strike.
Verdict: Needs to be seen in action to understand it, but this card is easily a slam-dunk in 450 cubes and belongs in most 360 cubes too, as long as you support aggro decks.
Angel of Invention
A hybrid between Baneslayer Angel and Cloudgoat Ranger.
What I Like: The flexibility on this card is key. But let’s evaluate Angel solely in Servo mode for a minute. It creates 6 power across 3 bodies, including evasion and lifelink. And it comes with its own Glorious Anthem strapped to it, so it pumps your entire existing team the turn it resolves too. That in and of itself allows it to compete for among the best (if not the best) 5cc army-in-a-can card available. CGR gives you an extra body and is more resilient against cheap dividable burn, but it doesn’t come with an Anthem and it doesn’t have the lifelink. Angel also has the advantage of being fetchable by both Recruiters, and targetable by Reveillark and Alesha. Oh right, and it also has a completely different mode it can resolve in that can be tailored to dominate specific board states. There are situations where a vigilant Gisela is just amazing ...shutting off the opponent’s ability to pressure you with smaller threats, and creating an 8 point life swing on its own every time it gets in. Oh, and it never loses the anthem effect it distributes no matter which mode it resolves in.
What I Don't Like: I wish it had a fatter butt and/or first strike, but that’s being awfully picky for a fantastic cube 5-drop.
Verdict: It didn’t take long for this Angel to cement itself as one of the best white 5-drops available. One of its two modes alone is comparable to the best 5cc effect of its respective ilk, and the other option is also quite potent in certain situations. This may very well be the second best white 5cc creature in the cube behind Reveillark. I would play it at 360, and not even have to think twice about it.
Chandra, Torch of Defiance
Chandra, the Flame Sculptor.
What I Like: The combination of abilities and the sheer number and diversity of them is staggering. This is essentially a 5-ability ‘walker, since the first ability can serve double-duty. The first {+1) ability can function as potential card advantage or guaranteed reach, whichever you need. It can play out like a 1-sided Sulfuric Vortex or an Outpost Siege, depending on what the board state calls for. Then she has a second {+1} ...that ramps you. By adding RR to your pool?! That ability has proven itself to be insanely strong in all my red decks, but especially midrange and control decks (and flat incredible in Wildfire decks). Then she has a {-3} ability that can blast creatures for 4 damage, which can do a great job of protecting Chandra. And her ultimate is completely bonkers, and ends games really quickly. Mind you that this is all occuring on a ‘walker that resolves with {4} loyalty that can immediately tick up to {5} in two different ways. For 4 mana. To summarize, that’s repeatable reach/’walker damage, potential card advantage, ramp, removal and an absurd ultimate all rolled up into one card.
What I Don't Like: This is too good not to play. There aren’t decks that don’t want it, and instead of being a great card for the right deck, she just gets tossed into everything. It’s almost uninteresting how powerful she is, honestly.
Verdict: She’s the best red planeswalker, and she belongs in every cube of every size that doesn’t have an intentionally capped powerlevel.
Please feel free to comment below! Thanks for reading, and happy cubing!
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Wildest Dreams might be a good card for the more combo-oriented Cubes, I guess?
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Thanks Konfusius! Dreams might be better in combo, but I think it'll be at its best in the midrange slugfest cubes, where green is desperately looking for late-game action against the control decks in the format. The spell gets quite good at 7+ mana.
It might. The airship is certainly good, there's no doubt about it. But when I needed it at its best (midrange vs control post-wrath recovery) it was at its worst. It's a good card for green midrange decks though, particularly if they're heavily-built around 3-4 drops with 3 power.
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Do you mean that it's being over- or undervalued? Because I tested it in powered, and my best guess was that it would be better in unpowered.
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Thank you. And ya, pretty much every individual cube manager re-orders all the top 20 lists based on their playgroup preferences, for sure.
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100% agree with Chandra. She's got to be one of the best red cards printed... ever. I'd have a hard time choosing between her and Goblin Guide or even (gasp) Sulfuric Vortex.
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Thanks for the write up. Going back and rereading through all the old ones made building my cube over the summer much easier.
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Interestingly enough, even though this has less inclusions than most of the main sets from the last year or so, it may have the most cards playable for really small cubes. I mean, 4 cards that I'd be comfortable including for 360 card cubes is pretty nice. Overall, a solid B+.
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Most of your evaluations look spot (as always) on to me, and I'm pleasantly surprised to hear that Angel of Invention is turning out so much better than Cloudgoat Ranger than you expected. I expected it to be a solid playable as a flexible stat monster + anthem, but apparently it has even more synergies than I'd realized.
I was surprised to see no mention of Voltaic Brawler, which looks to me like a solid option for Gruul if you're pushing aggro in this guild. I was impressed enough with it during prerelease to want to test it. Did you test Brawler in your cube?
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Over, I didn't expect it to crack the top 20.
Kind of weird to think about powered vs unpowered with this card. On one hand, you can get things like Time Walk / Recall in a powered cube, but a slower unpowered cube is more likely to grind this out for maximum value. A moot point, I guess.
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We ended up not even testing Copter because we just didn't see what decks would actually want it. In your environment, what kind of decks did Copter end up seeing play in?
I feel a bit silly for overlooking Skysovereign, Consul Flagship now. Magiccards.info hasn't been updated in the last couple of sets, so when I searched for artifacts that deal 3 damage it only brought up Razormane Masticore. I wouldn't cut Scroll for Skysovereign, though, they'd go into completely different decks. I'd look for something higher up the curve to cut for it, maybe something like Precursor Golem.
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I wouldn't cut Grafted Wargear for Cruiser. Without seeing your cube list it's hard to recommend a specific cut, but I'd cut something from your colorless top end like Masticore or Precursor Golem instead.
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