This is my 23rd 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.
Ixalan is a fun set, and it explores (no pun intended) some interesting design spaces and cool themes. Unfortunately, not a ton of them transferred into staple cube cards. This set is geared towards providing solid but unexciting options for medium-sized cubes (450-630 range) but didn’t give us many cards that are playable in the smallest of cube lists. That being said, I was able to find 20 I thought were interesting enough to merit discussion, and I’ll go over them with you here.
What I Like: The land that GRoI transforms into is a really good land. It can provide a late-game boost for decks saturated with cheap mana creatures that are planning on casting gigantic monsters. In decks that are both loaded with cheap creatures and larger fatties, this can provide a mid-game enabler that can set up big plays. Selesnya token/ramp shells and mana-dork -> Craterhoof kinds of decks might find some use from this effect.
What I Don't Like: The front side of this card is at a rate too fair for more powerful cubes. It’s just the worst Impulse effect you can think up; costing 3 mana, being sorcery speed, and being limited to just creatures makes it hardly a selection spell at all, and even if you are presented with options, the mana exchange to do so isn’t great. And, while it can find you a body, you’re esentially taking a turn off of the board development that can help enable it. Meaning that even if you cast a creature every turn, and none of them ever die to the opponent’s removal, you’re looking at having this card transform at the end of the 5th turn at the earliest. That’s a tough pill to swallow.
Verdict: The card looks fun and interesting, but I think it’ll ultimately be too slow and inconsistent to be a powerful cube contender. Larger cubes featuring a lot of token and ramp strategies might be able to shoehorn this into their list, but even medium-sized cubes will likely shy away from the card.
What I Like: The ability to repeatedly churn out 3/3 trampling tokens is a solid creature engine, and the {-X} ability can be used as both removal and the ability to disrupt blocking. The {+} ability is limited in its applications, but if Hualti comes down after a solid midrange 4-drop, it can represent a reasonable amount of lifegain.
What I Don't Like: Despite being a solid card, it suffers from simply not having a home to slot into. Boros decks range for us from aggro to Wildfire shells all the way into dedicated control decks, but Hualti just doesn’t shine in any of those builds. The {+} ability is too limited and inconsistent for the slower decks, and just doesn’t offer much incentive to more aggressive decks.
Verdict: If you play a lot of generic good-stuff midrange/superfriends shells, Hualti can really shine there. We don’t, so she won’t be breaking into our cube, but there’s a good chance that she could occupy a slot in deeper guild sections after the top-shelf of more important Boros cards are already included.
What I Like: In cubes centered around assembling combos for the majority of their archetypes, these disruptive 2-drops have historically been useful. The stat/ability boost isn’t completely irrelevant, and it can throw a wrench into a lot of decks’ gameplans.
What I Don't Like: If your cube is more centered around pressure and combat, Fiend/Maggot aren’t as critical of inclusions. I don’t think +0/+1 and flying makes up for the inability to hit creatures, so I prefer its predecessors to this version, despite the stat boost. A 1/2 flying creature isn’t a good body, so I’m paying for the effect. And if I’m paying for the effect and not the body, I might as well be playing the better version of the effect. The ability to grab creatures is important—even in some combo matchups—so I don’t expect this to be a mainstay disruptive cube creature.
Verdict: If your cube is centered around assembling game-ending combos, and you just can’t get enough disruptive 2-drops to combat those strategies, Freebooter will be a fine inclusion. But if you don’t already run Fiend/Maggot, I don’t see this being better enough to decide to include over them.
A Flying Men variant with some built-in protection.
What I Like: For tempo-oriented shells, the ability to play an early evasive creature that can protect you and your threats is going to have some value. There are a lot of spells that target creatures and players, and protecting your gameplan from those effects will prove useful.
What I Don't Like: A 1/1 creature isn’t particularly threatening, and the requirement to hold up mana to keep the defenses open can prove problematic for tempo decks trying to use up their mana effectively. It’s also relatively limited in what kinds of decks are willing to play it, so it can’t be freely tossed into any blue deck and function well.
Verdict: If you want to represent some number of blue 1cc creatures, this is one of the better ones available. A reasonable #23 card for tempo-centric shells, it provides some value for those kinds of decks. Cubes in the 630-720 range that heavily support tempo might want to give it a test run and see how the playgroup enjoys it.
What I Like: 3/1 creatures have historically had issues with trading off in combat too easily. 4 life is a steep payment, but it forces the opponent to a decision when deciding to block it. Instead of them being able to trade their blocker with your attacker, they have to choose to chump-block it instead, and decide if the body is worth 4 damage to the opponent. In matchups where your life total is less important, keeping a threat around is worth paying for. Additionally, there are lots of situations that can arise where a board-sweeper is the opponent’s only real chance at stabilizing. When it’s Wrath or bust, and the Wrath no longer kills all the opponent’s threats, they can be put into a really bad spot.
What I Don't Like: In matchups where you might not always be the beatdown, being a 1/1 on defense and having a steep payment of 4 life are both relevant drawbacks. I can foresee problems with the life payment in aggro mirrors and against healthy midrange decks. While the Vanguard can really shine against control, your aggro decks are already favored in those matchups. But in aggro mirrors and against control matchups where you can face real challenges, Vanguard doesn’t shine there.
Verdict: Vanguard is a fine beater. There are situations where it can be very good, and there can be spots where it’s well below average. Probably too swingy for what most decks wanting a 2cc beater are in the market for, but it could very well be worth testing in larger cubes because of it’s ability to punch through utility blockers and survive Wraths.
What I Like: For a relatively cheap investment, you can build towards a transformation that will both ramp you and provide you with an engine that can churn out bodies. You get a body up front to help towards the critical mass needed to flip, and the lifelink can be good when you combine the effect with anthems and the like. As lactameon pointed out in the SCD, it can be a good card for Stax decks. It gives you two permanents to sacrifice to Smokestack, as well as potentially flipping into an engine that can single-handedly pay for the upkeeps on Braids and Abyss kinds of cards.
What I Don't Like: The knee-jerk comparison is Kjeldoran Outpost, but the cards are actually quite dissimilar. Outpost is engineered to function in threat-light decks, helping shoehorn in grindy win conditions without having to dedicate slots to that function. The flip requirement might be harder to reach outside of dedicated token shells though. As Usman pointed out, Kytheon’s has similar transform requirements (1 mana, gives you one of the 3 required attackers, etc) and Kytheon doesn’t actually transform all that often. While they’re not completely identical, it provides us a bit of a roadmap in terms of what we can expect transform-wise. Experience with Kytheon/Gideon lets me know that Legion’s Landing will need to go into token-heavy lists almost exclusively, since just creature-heavy aggro decks might still have a hard time flipping it.
Verdict: Cool for Stax shells. Solid for token-centric builds. But probably not good enough on its own for generic white decks. If my cube was a little bigger, I’d find room for this since I do play token-based strategies in all my white color combinations. But I just can’t quite find the room at 540 at the moment.
What I Like: Defense! This planeswalker is a hard card to get rid of, and provides a lot of value in the process. It resolves with 6 loyalty and can immediately tick up to 8 …while giving herself a blocker at the same time. And her {-3} ability can kill any artifact, creature or enchantment, and produces a Treasure along with it. And her ultimate is attainable after two loyalty upticks, and reduces the opponent’s life total to 1. She’s one of the better planeswalkers that can try and win the game on their own; if you resolve her with a clear path, you can create two threats with menace, and then ultimate her to make either one of their connections lethal. It’s also important to note that neither black or green are particularly deep on 6cc permanent department, which makes her an attractive option for midrange Golgari decks looking to fill out the curve there.
What I Don't Like: The competition at the top of the Golgari section is strong, and the guild has relatively good depth too. It would be very hard to make room for her in anything with less than 5 gold cards in the guild.
Verdict: I think this planeswalker is better than it looks. Good loyalty, strong useful abilities and a unique ability to close out games on its own. If your guild section is deep enough, I’d try to find room for her, at least for some extended testing. I think that somewhere between the 630 and 720 sizes, guilds would be deep enough to find a home for her.
What I Like: In decks that have enough saturation at the 1 and 2cc creature slots to all but guarantee the Raid trigger on this card, it’ll be very good. It has the potential to generate card advantage the turn it resolves, and threaten to have its card advantage spiral out of control if the game goes long. In decks with a low enough curve to maximize its lifeloss drawback, you should have enough cheap bodies to enable Raid with regularity.
What I Don't Like: It HAS to trigger the turn it comes down. If you wait, the effect telegraph itself terribly, and any Piker or Bear controlled by the opponent can prevent this from being anything more than a vanilla 3/2 for 3 mana. If the opponent has removal for your early attackers, this card can come down and do literally nothing for you. Pain Seer is better if you’re relying on the creature itself to generate the “Raid” trigger on its own, so make sure you have enough creatures to trigger it, and make sure they survive.
Verdict: I think the 3cc creature competition in black is far better than it ever has been before, and that’ll keep Raider from slotting into smaller lists. But for cubes pushing black aggro that are in the 630+ range, it could be a potentially playable beatdown creature.
What I Like: Control decks don’t like to sacrifice their own resources in order to mitigate problematic lands the same way that aggressive decks do. Field of Ruin gives you the ability to get a Ghost Quarter kind of effect into your final 40 without having to account for the lost resources and the colorless mana producer. If you have a target for Field of Ruin, you can kill off a troublesome manland of the opponent’s, and fix your own mana. Plus, the basic that enters play comes in untapped! If you’re playing the kind of deck that might really want an Evolving Wilds, you can get that sort of effect and strap a free Ghost Quarter activation to it.
What I Don't Like: While good for dealing with problem lands, it doesn’t actually help keep the opponent’s resources under control the same way that other Wasteland effects do. It doesn’t really disrupt the opponent much at all. The tradeoff, of course, is that it doesn’t disrupt you as much either. Under 1 condition …it needs a target. As asmallcat pointed out in the SCD, in situations where your opponent opens up on 3-4 basic lands, it shuts off this card’s ability to activate. Which is really bad for decks that were relying on the Expanse/Wilds kind of fixing it provides, and that can really cripple its potential value.
Verdict: I actually like this land, and it probably deserves some extended testing to determine how good it is for this format. If I bumped up to 630, I’d find a way to test this land out for a while. It may prove to be a sleeper.
What I Like: 3 mana for a 3/3 menace is a decent rate. Preventing lifegain is randomly useful, and the incidental symmetrical damage will likely hurt the opponent more than it hurts you. I also like the way that the menace encourages the opponent to play multiple creatures, which then allows its direct damage triggers to be more punishing. Good design.
What I Don't Like: There’s nothing not to like, really, other than the competition inside the 3cc creature slot in red. It’s largely dominated by utility and value creatures though, so if you’re in the market for a more red zone centric critter, this one fits the bill well. My current attacking 3-drops are Rabblemaster and Garrison though, and I think they both smoke this creature in terms of powerlevel and overall archetype contribution.
Verdict: Medium-large sized cubes are probably in the market for another true beater in the red 3cc creature slot, and this one is quite solid. I know I’d be looking for one more creature for that role if I increased my cube size to 630.
What I Like: Playing with Sovereign and Thalia have shown me how good the ability to force all the opponent’s creatures to enter tapped can be. It gives all your creatures an extra turn of beats before blockers come online, and it’s particularly effective in the midrange matchups, where aggro decks have the hardest time. And +0/+2 and flying over Sovereign is not insignificant, because it makes the effect more survivable, increases value in the red zone and helps provide some evasive damage. Probably well worth the 1 mana in a heads up comparison.
What I Don't Like: The white 3cc creature section is one of the strongest and deepest in the cube, and making cuts there is really hard. Sunwing is a great creature, and yet none of the cuts look attractive because the section is so tight.
Verdict: I already have good white 3cc creatures sitting on the outside looking in …but Sunwing might very well be atop that list. I think if my cube was slightly bigger, I might be able to find room for this. At least for some extensive testing.
What I Like: If you like to cube in Magical Christmasland, a lot of your daydreams can start with what to do the turn after you Spell Swindled a giant cube spell. Practically, you can use this card to bridge you from a good mid-game counter into a game-closing finisher. Casting this on the opponent’s T4/5 play and untapping should provide you with all the resources needed to cast your Karns and Ugins with ease. It also has applications in artifact shells, where you can have Swindle give you a bunch of Lotus Petals that you can Tinker, Daretti and Weld away to your heart’s content. Not to mention turning your Academy into a monster ramp land! And honestly, those are pretty average case scenarios for Swindle. You can always live the dream of countering something like a Craterhoof and killing your opponent with a massive Profane Command or something on the following turn. Or setting up a gigantic Upheaval turn… Plus, it can be a good card to have around in a reactive shell, because you can immediately cash in the Treasures to cast more permission, draw spells or flash creatures in the same turn—allowing Swindle to function like a Rewind of sorts too.
What I Don't Like: 5 mana is a lot of mana, and the competition is pretty stiff. There are cases where this card can be great, but there are also a lot of instances where this would be better off as a Desertion; especially if you’re missing the bomb follow-up spell you really want to break. In powered cubes, I have access to Mana Drain, and this kinda feels bad compared to that spell.
Verdict: I like this spell quite a bit. If I had room in the cube for one more blue 5cc spell, I think I prefer this one to most of the others that are next up. At 630+ (or perhaps smaller in unpowered cubes or budget cubes without Mana Drain available) I’d find room for this.
A red card advantage engine plus repeatable reach.
What I Like: Outpost Siege is a fringe playable cube card by itself. Despite this being unable to hit lands, aggro decks can use Cannons to a similar advantage, and also unlock opportunity to transform into one of the most insane lands ever. If you’re playing an aggro deck that was looking for an engine to grind out reach/gas/card advantage anyways, you might as well use one that has the ability to win the game on its own if it can flip.
What I Don't Like: Siege isn’t commonly cubed, and when it is, it can sometimes be used as a Coercive Portal variant for midrange and control decks. You can’t really do that with Cannons, since the non-land function of its trigger really hurts its non-aggro applications.
Verdict: I have a feeling this card will play better than it looks. Once an aggro deck hits 4 mana, it will be able to cast every non-land hit that Cannons reveals. And with a low enough curve and a turn or two using your mana on revealed cards, it won’t be too difficult to cobble together a 3-spell turn; especially with Cannons’ trigger. I would add this in as my next 4cc red noncreature spell, so I think it might very well be worth testing at 630.
What I Like: My first reaction when I see a 4/5cc creature with 5-toughness is think about its applications for Wildfire decks. And Raptor is perfect for those shells. Not only will it resolve in front of the sweeper(s) and survive, but it’ll also draw cards. And not just Wildfires, but also Earthquakes and other damage-based sweepers too. Also, Fiery Confluence creates 3 separate instances of damage when it resolves, so it’ll combine with Raptor to give you a free Harmonize when cast in that mode. Additionally, you can aim an extra point of dividable damage at it when casting spells like Arc Lightning, turning them into Electrolyzes. On its own, it’s a good blocker, since the opponent would have to throw away an attacker and give up an extra card to attack into it, and its ability can work as pseudo-evasion too, since the opponent won’t want to block this creature in combat if it means both chump blocking and giving up an extra card.
What I Don't Like: All of those interactions it has that make it great are all in red/green. It doesn’t have a ton of interactions in the other color combinations, and it’s only a mediocre creature at face value.
Verdict: I really wish this was a Gruul creature with slightly more pushed stats. Since it’s going to function as a Gruul guild card anyways, I might as well get whatever the added bonuses would’ve been if it had been a gold card. As it stands, it won’t displace any of my current green 4-drops, but I’d want to give it a spin as my next green 4-drop, so I think I’d test it at 630.
What I Like: From a flavor perspective, this is one of my favorite cards in a long time. Using a treasure map to determine your direction and ultimately finding a land full of valuable treasures is so cool. And from a gameplay perspective, it provides okay value up front, and has a pretty significant payoff. If you transform this on time, you can untap on T6 with up to 10 mana available! That can be a big boost to ramp decks and fatty cheating decks that want both the scry and the eventual ramp. And in midrange and control decks, you can split your plunder between ramping and drawing cards. Essentially finding a cool combination of ramp, mana fixing and card advantage is a payoff worth questing after. It has good uses in the artifact.dec too, since it’s an affordable utility artifact on the front side, and will give you 3 more artifacts when it flips.
What I Don't Like: The card is mediocre on the front side, and definitely has to transform with at least some regularity in order to be worth using. And it’s slow. You need to cast it and activate it three times before the payoff, which puts it at ~T5/6 as the earliest it’ll be available for use.
Verdict: I ultimately think this card will be too slow, but it’s so fun and flavorful that I want to give it some time so shine if it can. I’ll be testing this at 540, but it may prove not to be good enough, even for cubes larger than that. But if there’s any chance the card can be successful, I aim to find out.
A card selection engine that flips into a powerful land.
What I Like: Cube players have discovered over the years that repeatable scry effects can be valuable. But they usually come at a premium. Either costing 3+ mana for the base effect, requiring mana every turn in order to continue scrying, or the effect is strapped to a fragile body that’s easy to disrupt. Search gets around most of these issues. And the effect is largely better than scrying every turn, since it can also be used to feed your graveyard for flashback effects, delve fuel, or recursion shenanigans of any kind. Threshold is a place that blue decks will ultimately reach anyways, and Search accelerates your path to getting there. And once the card transforms, it’s great. It ramps you and provides useful additional mana—all without having to dedicated deck slots to ramp-exclusive effects. And the activated ability is a useful effect that all reactive blue decks can take great advantage of. Digging for spells will be useful for control, spells matters decks and combo decks looking for enablers. And it has such a low opportunity cost since the effect on the front side of the card is both useful and something that the deck might’ve been in the market for anyways. And it has particularly good value even as a lategame topdeck, when a lot of other grindy selection engines would be at their worst. It can also help you bin unwanted cards off the top of your library, giving you extra value with cards like Brainstorm, Jace, Top, Rack, Library and others.
What I Don't Like: There’s not much to dislike, other than the fact that competition for blue slots in the cube is always at a premium.
Verdict: This may be another sleeper in the set. I think it provides a lot of repeatable value as a card selection engine, and it transforms into valuable ramp that can also be used as a card advantage engine as the game progresses. I plan on testing this at 540, and it’s the kind of card that could easily swing dramatically in one direction or another. It may prove to not be good enough, but it also has the potential to become a competitive card even for the smallest of lists. I plan on testing it extensively to find out.
A good tempo creature with big card advantage potential.
What I Like: Hostage Taker functions as a hybrid between Leonin Relic-Warder and Fiend Hunter, with a 2/3 body. The body is relevant, because there’s so many Pikers and Bears in the cube that it can provide reasonable defense against their early drops after exiling their biggest threat. And all that value is assuming that the opponent can deal with Hostage Taker before you cast the spell it exiled. If you get to cast the target you exiled before the opponent can deal with it, it’s amazing value. 3-for-1 card advantage that impacts the board with all 3 cards is just great. And the window to get rid of it is really small for the opponent. They basically have to kill it on their next turn before you untap or that window will close, and you’ll be on your way to value town. Most importantly, Hostage Taker provides your Dimir deck with an answer to a resolved artifact; something that is hard to come by for that color combination. And depending on the artifact, it can be a really powerful swing when you get to play it yourself. Particularly for powered lists, when you have opportunities to exile and immediately play Moxen—and Hostage Taker’s trigger will essentially be a Mwonvuli Acid-Moss on a 2/3 body for 4 mana.
What I Don't Like: The competition in the slot for midrange Dimir value creature is pretty solid, as players have this, Dragonlord Silumgar and The Scarab God to choose from when it comes to casting a value body that can provide additional advantages. That, and there’s already a lot of competition at the 4cc value creature slot for these colors, making that spot in the curve even more congested.
Verdict: I think this has a chance to compete with some of the mid-tier Dimir cards, and it could very well be somewhere in the #4-#6 card in Dimir. Making it a card worth consideration in the 450/540 range if it plays well. For folks that don’t like some of the more common Dimir inclusions, this might see play in lists even smaller than that though, since opinions about that guild can be polarizing.
What I Like: When your midrange green deck is at its worst (playing against a blue control deck with a lot of countermagic and creature theft) …Carnage Tyrant is at its best. Both the uncounterability and the hexproof are huge advantages against control decks. And that’s what this card will be. A control killer. I’ve been testing it for months since it was spoiled early, and despite being unexciting, it does win games. It simply resolves and turns sideways until the opponent is dead. It closes out games both when cast or when cheated into play early via Natural Order, reanimation or the like.
What I Don't Like: It can be a relatively fair against midrange decks, since they’re likely to have a couple of medium-sized creatures on the table and this can just trade away with a couple of Beasts. And despite being an effective creature, it is a boring card to play with and against. It just comes down and does its thing, and it’s not particularly interactive or interesting.
Verdict: Green is the color that wants 6cc creatures the most, and it only really has one great creature in that slot. I believe Carnage Tyrant is the 2nd best creature for that slot, and it’s not particularly close. If you can get past its boring nature, it can be a real workhorse. I think this is a easy include at 450+ sized cubes, where that 2nd green 6-drop slot may have previously been vacant or filled with a placeholder.
What I Like: This card has multiple uses and functions, and can range from solid to amazing depending on the deck and the situation. At face value, it’s just a good card selection spell, providing you with a Tormenting Voice effect that is just better in every way. Being able to draw first before discarding gives you the most information before making a decision, and it might be the only blue spell under 3 mana that can draw 2 cards and discard any card to the graveyard without being card disadvantage. That has value in and of itself, without looking at which specific decks may be able to take full advantage of that effect. Discarding cards is valuable for more than just reanimation decks nowadays. It can power Welder/Daretti shenanigans for the artifact.dec, it can pitch flashback cards or spells for Snapcaster/JVP/Gearhulk plays. It can give you fodder for delve spells …it has utility beyond just setting up a good Necromancy. But that’s only part of what Chart can do. It also has the ability when the “Raid” is active to straight draw 2 cards for 2 mana. Which hasn’t been seen on cards this cheap and flexible in blue without coming with an unplayable baseline. Tempo decks are going to love this card. But not just tempo shells, lots of blue decks feature small utility creatures or cheap evasive creatures that can help turn on Chart’s card advantage potential. But beyond that, the best part of Chart is its flexibility. I love how the discard part of the card can be used to your advantage even when you’re attacking. Want to discard? Play it in the precombat main phase. Want card advantage? Play it in the 2nd main phase after attacking. It seems like such a useful and valuable card, that has applications both at face value as a significantly improved Tormenting Voice, or as a graveyard enabler for decks using the ‘yard as a resource, OR as a card advantage spell in situations where your combat step was active. Great card.
What I Don't Like: I know it would’ve been far too good as an instant, but that’s my only gripe with the effect.
Verdict: It’s been a long time since I’ve managed a powered 360 card cube, and I imagine the blue slots there are just insanely competitive. Maybe too much so to allow this card to slot in. But even at 450, I think there’s room to at least test this spell out. It’s one of the better card selection spells we have available now, and it’s so flexible that I’d just have to test it and see. At 540+, this is a windmill-slam include.
What I Like: I love Needle effects in the cube. My cube has ~75 cards that get shut off by Spyglass completely, and just over 100 additional targets that get crippled by the effect. Some more than others, but there are a ton of great targets in the cube regardless. To put that in perspective, that’s right around 33% of my cube list! Most of us know how Needle plays, but Spyglass provides some additional utility that Needle doesn’t have. With these kinds of effects, you want the most information possible before choosing your target, and the revealed information you get from Spyglass can change what you name. Not just because the player can reveal a more powerful target that you wish to name instead, but because the contents of their hand can change the context in which the most powerful target is determined. For example, your opponent may have a Goblin Welder and a Skullclamp in play. You might want to turn off the ‘Clamp at first, but if your opponent reveals a discard outlet and a Inkwell Leviathan in their hand, you may need to name the Welder now. But more commonly, you may see a juicy target in their hand, and you’ll now have the choice between “O-Ringing” their active target on the board, or “Mesmeric Fiending” the JTMS they just revealed in their hand. Needle and Revoker don’t have this aspect to their gameplay available. In the SCD, KMAYER pointed out how relevant Spyglass can be against fetchlands! You may see a Polluted Delta in their hand or something, and have the opportunity to strand resources, which is quite good. And it also has additional value against all the Needle targets that have “haste”, like equipment and planeswalkers and the like. You can prevent the opponent from getting any value at all off those kinds of cards, which is very good. It’s always nicer to strand that Garruk in their hand instead of O-Ringing it off the board after it’s made a beast token.
What I Don't Like: There’s nothing I don’t like about this card. Being a 2cc Oblivion Ring against a huge number of cube targets is great, and this one can also Mesmeric Fiend away a ton of relevant cards as well.
Verdict: I would play this card even in the smallest of cubes. It’s such a flexible and cost-efficient answer against a huge number of powerful cube cards, and the extra information not only provides new avenues of play, but it’s always better to be working with perfect information. I’d play this at 360, but even if you’re not as big a fan of Needle effects as I am, the additional value from Spyglass should make this an easy include even in 450 cubes.
Thanks for reading and please comment below! Cheers, and happy cubing.
Nice write up as usual. Had a feeling the #1 card would be Sorcerous Spyglass. I think it's the best overall Needle effect in any non-aggro shell. I just tested it for the first time today, hitting an Elspeth, Knight-Errant felt really good.
Ripjaw Raptor has hidden evasion and blocks like a boss. Did that not make enough of a difference in your testing?
I think you talked me out of Ruin Raider, so thanks for saving me a few bucks.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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
Great article as usual. This set has too many tribal, explore, and safe flip cards. But it has some decent cube offerings. For me, I am already happy with even 1 great cube include.
Hostage Taker - what you pointed out, that it can remove or steal artifacts is interesting. There are problematic artifacts like Stax or Orb that stealing will just not do.
Carnage Tyrant - I think it is a general consensus that this is one of the best green 6 drops. It is a general consensus that it is boring as well. Personally I will wait it out, till the price drops or something better comes along.
Chart a Course - I am in the mindset that drawing cards and counterspells are maxed out in blue, and we simply ignore any newcomers. But as we saw in recent years I am wrong. Is this testable over Ancentral Visions in 450?
Sorcerous Spyglass - I am a fan of needle effects and this was an early include since it was spoiled. Can't wait to test this.
I originally was only interested in chart and tyrant. Chart because of the reasons you gave (it does everything blue wants to do), and tyrant because I've been waiting for wotc to print this card (played crusher was close before this).
Card may be boring, but it is practical.
Spyglass looks great as a needle variant, and almost works as a pseudo discard spell for pws and (most) artifacts. Kind of like a colorless duress
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"And you, you've invoked me before. From the midwife's role to the burier's toll my presence grows within you all."
Great article as usual. This set has too many tribal, explore, and safe flip cards. But it has some decent cube offerings. For me, I am already happy with even 1 great cube include.
Hostage Taker - what you pointed out, that it can remove or steal artifacts is interesting. There are problematic artifacts like Stax or Orb that stealing will just not do.
Carnage Tyrant - I think it is a general consensus that this is one of the best green 6 drops. It is a general consensus that it is boring as well. Personally I will wait it out, till the price drops or something better comes along.
Chart a Course - I am in the mindset that drawing cards and counterspells are maxed out in blue, and we simply ignore any newcomers. But as we saw in recent years I am wrong. Is this testable over Ancentral Visions in 450?
Sorcerous Spyglass - I am a fan of needle effects and this was an early include since it was spoiled. Can't wait to test this.
Taker - Well, sure. There's always a couple of targets that may not line up perfectly. You can just leave 'em in exile and try and protect the body.
Tyrant - You can always wait for price to settle, but in terms of waiting for something better ...we've had to wait years to get something that can sit alongside Titan like this can.
Chart - I would, yes. Enabling 'yards without coughing up card disadvantage just isn't available on spells under 3 mana. It'll be a while before we get another utility spell as flexible as this one.
Spyglass - It's been great! You won't be disappointed.
I originally was only interested in chart and tyrant. Chart because of the reasons you gave (it does everything blue wants to do), and tyrant because I've been waiting for wotc to print this card (played crusher was close before this).
Card may be boring, but it is practical.
Spyglass looks great as a needle variant, and almost works as a pseudo discard spell for pws and (most) artifacts. Kind of like a colorless duress
You're welcome. Glad it was enjoyable.
Even creatures with activated abilities can be snagged. There's a ton of uses for Spyglass!
Good review as always. I still am baffled by Vance's Blasting Cannons but I am hopeful I am completely wrong as the land side is nuts and it would let me include most of the cycle, if only the black one was a bit more palatable. I had sort of been ignoring Chart a Course, I didn't know people thought so highly of it but I may give it a shot for the reasons mentioned.
"since the opponent won’t want to block (and especially not double-block) "
Just a heads up if you double block a creature with enrage it only triggers once since the damage is simultaneous.
Really? I assumed it two simultaneous instances of damage. Good to know, I would be playing this all wrong. I expect to see people forgetting this at pre-release.
EDIT: Ugh, just check prices, Carnage Tyrant is like £16, hopefully it will crash but I have a feeling I wont bet getting one till it rotates.
Good review as always. I still am baffled by Vance's Blasting Cannons but I am hopeful I am completely wrong as the land side is nuts and it would let me include most of the cycle, if only the black one was a bit more palatable. I had sort of been ignoring Chart a Course, I didn't know people thought so highly of it but I may give it a shot for the reasons mentioned.
Thanks!
I don't think Cannons is great, but I do think it's better than it looks. Again, in aggro it's a very similar effect to Outpost Siege, which is fringe playable. And I think the inability to hit lands with the front side is more than made up for with how powerful the back side of that card is. At 630+, I'd want to at least give it an opportunity to see if it's worthwhile.
Chart is a really solid card. I was surprised when playtesting it how often the discard was relevant even when I thought it wouldn't be, and how often the "Raid" trigger is active. It's just a good card.
Chart a Course - I am in the mindset that drawing cards and counterspells are maxed out in blue, and we simply ignore any newcomers. But as we saw in recent years I am wrong. Is this testable over Ancentral Visions in 450?
I think Chart a Course is the best pure blue card draw spell after Ancestral Recall / Dig Through Time / Fact or Fiction / Deep Analysis. I think it beats out things like Treasure Cruise / Thirst for Knowledge / Ancestral Visions due to its sheer versatility.
Thanks so much! I love reading these and really appreciate that you take the time to do the top 20s.
I'm adding the top three to my cube for sure (450 Powered). Hostage Taker is problematic for me. I want to add it, but then I'd need to either cut a Dimir card (I run 'tog, Tezz, and Strix) or expand my guild section. Neither is particularly appealing.
I quibble on how high up on the list you put Treasure Map, but it is a fun card.
@rant: You're welcome! Hostage taker won't replace a top 3 card, so just leave it out for now. I placed Map higher than where it really belongs, and I tried to explain why in the article.
I'm adding the top three to my cube for sure (450 Powered). Hostage Taker is problematic for me. I want to add it, but then I'd need to either cut a Dimir card (I run 'tog, Tezz, and Strix) or expand my guild section. Neither is particularly appealing.
Cheers,
rant
I was at the same spot. As a test, I cut Tog for Dragonlord Silumgar. As I've said elsewhere, no one but me ever drafted or liked Tog, so it was a tough cut for me but not for my group. Hostage Taker is going in for Silumgar now.
I've also toyed with running a guild card or two in the section where I run a few shard and wedge cards. I don't want a full cycle of those, since I think they include some pretty bad cards, but adding an extra Dimir card isn't going to be noticeable to anyone but you.
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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
Nothing really to add to the discussion beyond a hearty thanks for the set review, wtwlf! Sorry that you had to spend so much time on such a disappointing set, but rest assured that we're all grateful
Nothing really to add to the discussion beyond a hearty thanks for the set review, wtwlf! Sorry that you had to spend so much time on such a disappointing set, but rest assured that we're all grateful
I'm glad you guys do. Coming up with meaningful commentary for 20 cards in this set was kinda a stretch. But I try to write in an optimistic light.
Good list. Definately one of your lists I agree the most with.
I would probably switch 1 and 2, and I won't be cubing 3 myself. Not because it isn't good, but because it's simply too boring. Green already lacks in fun factor, and this beater won't help.
So from your list I'll be cubing 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 in my 510 card cube.
Good list. Definately one of your lists I agree the most with.
I would probably switch 1 and 2, and I won't be cubing 3 myself. Not because it isn't good, but because it's simply too boring. Green already lacks in fun factor, and this beater won't help.
To be fair, the playables are limited, so it makes sense that the tops of our lists are going to be closer than usual.
I think the competition is too stiff, and it coughs up a lot of resources as a drawback. Comeuppance os a little easier to cast than Settle the Wreckage, and it can also redirect noncreature damage, and kills off most of the same attackers without giving lands away.
Thanks for the great read! I look forward to your reviews each set, even though my cube is quite a bit different. I especially appreciated your detailed analysis of search for azcanta, as that was a card I completely dismissed out of hand.
Thanks again as always. I was overseas for the whole spoiler season so it's nice to just be able to come for your writeups every set and find out which cards I should be looking for.
Spyglass looks like a nice one, looking forward to slotting that into cube. Chart the Course will find a home as well, draw/discard effects are at a super premium in my cube as my players love getting graveyard value.
As much as I know Carnage Tyrant is an amazing 6 drop, I just can't bring myself to run such a boring fatty. At the end of the day cube is about splashy fun for me, so I'm going to be giving this guy a miss.
Have you had a chance to test out Search for Azcanta yet? I love me some value lands, but I feel like it might be a little slow given how tight blue is these days.
Thanks again as always. I was overseas for the whole spoiler season so it's nice to just be able to come for your writeups every set and find out which cards I should be looking for.
Spyglass looks like a nice one, looking forward to slotting that into cube. Chart the Course will find a home as well, draw/discard effects are at a super premium in my cube as my players love getting graveyard value.
As much as I know Carnage Tyrant is an amazing 6 drop, I just can't bring myself to run such a boring fatty. At the end of the day cube is about splashy fun for me, so I'm going to be giving this guy a miss.
Have you had a chance to test out Search for Azcanta yet? I love me some value lands, but I feel like it might be a little slow given how tight blue is these days.
You're welcome!
Ya, Spyglass has been great. And the flexibility and utility on Chart has been really valuable so far.
Carnage Tyrant is good, but I can't fault someone for not being interested in it.
Search was late to my testing game, and it's only gotten into one deck of mine so far. It resolved once and played great ...but in that particular game, the opponent was on a multi-card mulligan and I was probably going to win anyways. Looking forward to more testing though. On paper, it looks pretty solid.
This is my 23rd 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.
Ixalan is a fun set, and it explores (no pun intended) some interesting design spaces and cool themes. Unfortunately, not a ton of them transferred into staple cube cards. This set is geared towards providing solid but unexciting options for medium-sized cubes (450-630 range) but didn’t give us many cards that are playable in the smallest of cube lists. That being said, I was able to find 20 I thought were interesting enough to merit discussion, and I’ll go over them with you here.
Without further ado, I can start the countdown!
Growing Rites of Itlimoc // Itlimoc, Cradle of the Sun
A card selection // Gaea’s Cradle hybrid card.
What I Like: The land that GRoI transforms into is a really good land. It can provide a late-game boost for decks saturated with cheap mana creatures that are planning on casting gigantic monsters. In decks that are both loaded with cheap creatures and larger fatties, this can provide a mid-game enabler that can set up big plays. Selesnya token/ramp shells and mana-dork -> Craterhoof kinds of decks might find some use from this effect.
What I Don't Like: The front side of this card is at a rate too fair for more powerful cubes. It’s just the worst Impulse effect you can think up; costing 3 mana, being sorcery speed, and being limited to just creatures makes it hardly a selection spell at all, and even if you are presented with options, the mana exchange to do so isn’t great. And, while it can find you a body, you’re esentially taking a turn off of the board development that can help enable it. Meaning that even if you cast a creature every turn, and none of them ever die to the opponent’s removal, you’re looking at having this card transform at the end of the 5th turn at the earliest. That’s a tough pill to swallow.
Verdict: The card looks fun and interesting, but I think it’ll ultimately be too slow and inconsistent to be a powerful cube contender. Larger cubes featuring a lot of token and ramp strategies might be able to shoehorn this into their list, but even medium-sized cubes will likely shy away from the card.
Huatli, Warrior Poet
A solid good-stuff planeswalker.
What I Like: The ability to repeatedly churn out 3/3 trampling tokens is a solid creature engine, and the {-X} ability can be used as both removal and the ability to disrupt blocking. The {+} ability is limited in its applications, but if Hualti comes down after a solid midrange 4-drop, it can represent a reasonable amount of lifegain.
What I Don't Like: Despite being a solid card, it suffers from simply not having a home to slot into. Boros decks range for us from aggro to Wildfire shells all the way into dedicated control decks, but Hualti just doesn’t shine in any of those builds. The {+} ability is too limited and inconsistent for the slower decks, and just doesn’t offer much incentive to more aggressive decks.
Verdict: If you play a lot of generic good-stuff midrange/superfriends shells, Hualti can really shine there. We don’t, so she won’t be breaking into our cube, but there’s a good chance that she could occupy a slot in deeper guild sections after the top-shelf of more important Boros cards are already included.
Kitesail Freebooter
A new Mesmeric Fiend/Brain Maggot variant.
What I Like: In cubes centered around assembling combos for the majority of their archetypes, these disruptive 2-drops have historically been useful. The stat/ability boost isn’t completely irrelevant, and it can throw a wrench into a lot of decks’ gameplans.
What I Don't Like: If your cube is more centered around pressure and combat, Fiend/Maggot aren’t as critical of inclusions. I don’t think +0/+1 and flying makes up for the inability to hit creatures, so I prefer its predecessors to this version, despite the stat boost. A 1/2 flying creature isn’t a good body, so I’m paying for the effect. And if I’m paying for the effect and not the body, I might as well be playing the better version of the effect. The ability to grab creatures is important—even in some combo matchups—so I don’t expect this to be a mainstay disruptive cube creature.
Verdict: If your cube is centered around assembling game-ending combos, and you just can’t get enough disruptive 2-drops to combat those strategies, Freebooter will be a fine inclusion. But if you don’t already run Fiend/Maggot, I don’t see this being better enough to decide to include over them.
Siren Stormtamer
A Flying Men variant with some built-in protection.
What I Like: For tempo-oriented shells, the ability to play an early evasive creature that can protect you and your threats is going to have some value. There are a lot of spells that target creatures and players, and protecting your gameplan from those effects will prove useful.
What I Don't Like: A 1/1 creature isn’t particularly threatening, and the requirement to hold up mana to keep the defenses open can prove problematic for tempo decks trying to use up their mana effectively. It’s also relatively limited in what kinds of decks are willing to play it, so it can’t be freely tossed into any blue deck and function well.
Verdict: If you want to represent some number of blue 1cc creatures, this is one of the better ones available. A reasonable #23 card for tempo-centric shells, it provides some value for those kinds of decks. Cubes in the 630-720 range that heavily support tempo might want to give it a test run and see how the playgroup enjoys it.
Adanto Vanguard
A 3/1 beater with some self-protection.
What I Like: 3/1 creatures have historically had issues with trading off in combat too easily. 4 life is a steep payment, but it forces the opponent to a decision when deciding to block it. Instead of them being able to trade their blocker with your attacker, they have to choose to chump-block it instead, and decide if the body is worth 4 damage to the opponent. In matchups where your life total is less important, keeping a threat around is worth paying for. Additionally, there are lots of situations that can arise where a board-sweeper is the opponent’s only real chance at stabilizing. When it’s Wrath or bust, and the Wrath no longer kills all the opponent’s threats, they can be put into a really bad spot.
What I Don't Like: In matchups where you might not always be the beatdown, being a 1/1 on defense and having a steep payment of 4 life are both relevant drawbacks. I can foresee problems with the life payment in aggro mirrors and against healthy midrange decks. While the Vanguard can really shine against control, your aggro decks are already favored in those matchups. But in aggro mirrors and against control matchups where you can face real challenges, Vanguard doesn’t shine there.
Verdict: Vanguard is a fine beater. There are situations where it can be very good, and there can be spots where it’s well below average. Probably too swingy for what most decks wanting a 2cc beater are in the market for, but it could very well be worth testing in larger cubes because of it’s ability to punch through utility blockers and survive Wraths.
Legion's Landing // Adanto, the First Fort
A solid token support card.
What I Like: For a relatively cheap investment, you can build towards a transformation that will both ramp you and provide you with an engine that can churn out bodies. You get a body up front to help towards the critical mass needed to flip, and the lifelink can be good when you combine the effect with anthems and the like. As lactameon pointed out in the SCD, it can be a good card for Stax decks. It gives you two permanents to sacrifice to Smokestack, as well as potentially flipping into an engine that can single-handedly pay for the upkeeps on Braids and Abyss kinds of cards.
What I Don't Like: The knee-jerk comparison is Kjeldoran Outpost, but the cards are actually quite dissimilar. Outpost is engineered to function in threat-light decks, helping shoehorn in grindy win conditions without having to dedicate slots to that function. The flip requirement might be harder to reach outside of dedicated token shells though. As Usman pointed out, Kytheon’s has similar transform requirements (1 mana, gives you one of the 3 required attackers, etc) and Kytheon doesn’t actually transform all that often. While they’re not completely identical, it provides us a bit of a roadmap in terms of what we can expect transform-wise. Experience with Kytheon/Gideon lets me know that Legion’s Landing will need to go into token-heavy lists almost exclusively, since just creature-heavy aggro decks might still have a hard time flipping it.
Verdict: Cool for Stax shells. Solid for token-centric builds. But probably not good enough on its own for generic white decks. If my cube was a little bigger, I’d find room for this since I do play token-based strategies in all my white color combinations. But I just can’t quite find the room at 540 at the moment.
Vraska, Relic Seeker
A good, survivable planeswalker.
What I Like: Defense! This planeswalker is a hard card to get rid of, and provides a lot of value in the process. It resolves with 6 loyalty and can immediately tick up to 8 …while giving herself a blocker at the same time. And her {-3} ability can kill any artifact, creature or enchantment, and produces a Treasure along with it. And her ultimate is attainable after two loyalty upticks, and reduces the opponent’s life total to 1. She’s one of the better planeswalkers that can try and win the game on their own; if you resolve her with a clear path, you can create two threats with menace, and then ultimate her to make either one of their connections lethal. It’s also important to note that neither black or green are particularly deep on 6cc permanent department, which makes her an attractive option for midrange Golgari decks looking to fill out the curve there.
What I Don't Like: The competition at the top of the Golgari section is strong, and the guild has relatively good depth too. It would be very hard to make room for her in anything with less than 5 gold cards in the guild.
Verdict: I think this planeswalker is better than it looks. Good loyalty, strong useful abilities and a unique ability to close out games on its own. If your guild section is deep enough, I’d try to find room for her, at least for some extended testing. I think that somewhere between the 630 and 720 sizes, guilds would be deep enough to find a home for her.
Ruin Raider
A 3cc Confidant variant.
What I Like: In decks that have enough saturation at the 1 and 2cc creature slots to all but guarantee the Raid trigger on this card, it’ll be very good. It has the potential to generate card advantage the turn it resolves, and threaten to have its card advantage spiral out of control if the game goes long. In decks with a low enough curve to maximize its lifeloss drawback, you should have enough cheap bodies to enable Raid with regularity.
What I Don't Like: It HAS to trigger the turn it comes down. If you wait, the effect telegraph itself terribly, and any Piker or Bear controlled by the opponent can prevent this from being anything more than a vanilla 3/2 for 3 mana. If the opponent has removal for your early attackers, this card can come down and do literally nothing for you. Pain Seer is better if you’re relying on the creature itself to generate the “Raid” trigger on its own, so make sure you have enough creatures to trigger it, and make sure they survive.
Verdict: I think the 3cc creature competition in black is far better than it ever has been before, and that’ll keep Raider from slotting into smaller lists. But for cubes pushing black aggro that are in the 630+ range, it could be a potentially playable beatdown creature.
Field of Ruin
A hybrid of Ghost Quarter and Terminal Moraine.
What I Like: Control decks don’t like to sacrifice their own resources in order to mitigate problematic lands the same way that aggressive decks do. Field of Ruin gives you the ability to get a Ghost Quarter kind of effect into your final 40 without having to account for the lost resources and the colorless mana producer. If you have a target for Field of Ruin, you can kill off a troublesome manland of the opponent’s, and fix your own mana. Plus, the basic that enters play comes in untapped! If you’re playing the kind of deck that might really want an Evolving Wilds, you can get that sort of effect and strap a free Ghost Quarter activation to it.
What I Don't Like: While good for dealing with problem lands, it doesn’t actually help keep the opponent’s resources under control the same way that other Wasteland effects do. It doesn’t really disrupt the opponent much at all. The tradeoff, of course, is that it doesn’t disrupt you as much either. Under 1 condition …it needs a target. As asmallcat pointed out in the SCD, in situations where your opponent opens up on 3-4 basic lands, it shuts off this card’s ability to activate. Which is really bad for decks that were relying on the Expanse/Wilds kind of fixing it provides, and that can really cripple its potential value.
Verdict: I actually like this land, and it probably deserves some extended testing to determine how good it is for this format. If I bumped up to 630, I’d find a way to test this land out for a while. It may prove to be a sleeper.
Rampaging Ferocidon
A solid beatdown 3-drop.
What I Like: 3 mana for a 3/3 menace is a decent rate. Preventing lifegain is randomly useful, and the incidental symmetrical damage will likely hurt the opponent more than it hurts you. I also like the way that the menace encourages the opponent to play multiple creatures, which then allows its direct damage triggers to be more punishing. Good design.
What I Don't Like: There’s nothing not to like, really, other than the competition inside the 3cc creature slot in red. It’s largely dominated by utility and value creatures though, so if you’re in the market for a more red zone centric critter, this one fits the bill well. My current attacking 3-drops are Rabblemaster and Garrison though, and I think they both smoke this creature in terms of powerlevel and overall archetype contribution.
Verdict: Medium-large sized cubes are probably in the market for another true beater in the red 3cc creature slot, and this one is quite solid. I know I’d be looking for one more creature for that role if I increased my cube size to 630.
Kinjali's Sunwing
A disruptive, evasive 3-drop.
What I Like: Playing with Sovereign and Thalia have shown me how good the ability to force all the opponent’s creatures to enter tapped can be. It gives all your creatures an extra turn of beats before blockers come online, and it’s particularly effective in the midrange matchups, where aggro decks have the hardest time. And +0/+2 and flying over Sovereign is not insignificant, because it makes the effect more survivable, increases value in the red zone and helps provide some evasive damage. Probably well worth the 1 mana in a heads up comparison.
What I Don't Like: The white 3cc creature section is one of the strongest and deepest in the cube, and making cuts there is really hard. Sunwing is a great creature, and yet none of the cuts look attractive because the section is so tight.
Verdict: I already have good white 3cc creatures sitting on the outside looking in …but Sunwing might very well be atop that list. I think if my cube was slightly bigger, I might be able to find room for this. At least for some extensive testing.
Spell Swindle
A fun and exciting big counterspell.
What I Like: If you like to cube in Magical Christmasland, a lot of your daydreams can start with what to do the turn after you Spell Swindled a giant cube spell. Practically, you can use this card to bridge you from a good mid-game counter into a game-closing finisher. Casting this on the opponent’s T4/5 play and untapping should provide you with all the resources needed to cast your Karns and Ugins with ease. It also has applications in artifact shells, where you can have Swindle give you a bunch of Lotus Petals that you can Tinker, Daretti and Weld away to your heart’s content. Not to mention turning your Academy into a monster ramp land! And honestly, those are pretty average case scenarios for Swindle. You can always live the dream of countering something like a Craterhoof and killing your opponent with a massive Profane Command or something on the following turn. Or setting up a gigantic Upheaval turn… Plus, it can be a good card to have around in a reactive shell, because you can immediately cash in the Treasures to cast more permission, draw spells or flash creatures in the same turn—allowing Swindle to function like a Rewind of sorts too.
What I Don't Like: 5 mana is a lot of mana, and the competition is pretty stiff. There are cases where this card can be great, but there are also a lot of instances where this would be better off as a Desertion; especially if you’re missing the bomb follow-up spell you really want to break. In powered cubes, I have access to Mana Drain, and this kinda feels bad compared to that spell.
Verdict: I like this spell quite a bit. If I had room in the cube for one more blue 5cc spell, I think I prefer this one to most of the others that are next up. At 630+ (or perhaps smaller in unpowered cubes or budget cubes without Mana Drain available) I’d find room for this.
Vance's Blasting Cannons // Spitfire Bastion
A red card advantage engine plus repeatable reach.
What I Like: Outpost Siege is a fringe playable cube card by itself. Despite this being unable to hit lands, aggro decks can use Cannons to a similar advantage, and also unlock opportunity to transform into one of the most insane lands ever. If you’re playing an aggro deck that was looking for an engine to grind out reach/gas/card advantage anyways, you might as well use one that has the ability to win the game on its own if it can flip.
What I Don't Like: Siege isn’t commonly cubed, and when it is, it can sometimes be used as a Coercive Portal variant for midrange and control decks. You can’t really do that with Cannons, since the non-land function of its trigger really hurts its non-aggro applications.
Verdict: I have a feeling this card will play better than it looks. Once an aggro deck hits 4 mana, it will be able to cast every non-land hit that Cannons reveals. And with a low enough curve and a turn or two using your mana on revealed cards, it won’t be too difficult to cobble together a 3-spell turn; especially with Cannons’ trigger. I would add this in as my next 4cc red noncreature spell, so I think it might very well be worth testing at 630.
Ripjaw Raptor
A solid 4-drop with some powerful interactions.
What I Like: My first reaction when I see a 4/5cc creature with 5-toughness is think about its applications for Wildfire decks. And Raptor is perfect for those shells. Not only will it resolve in front of the sweeper(s) and survive, but it’ll also draw cards. And not just Wildfires, but also Earthquakes and other damage-based sweepers too. Also, Fiery Confluence creates 3 separate instances of damage when it resolves, so it’ll combine with Raptor to give you a free Harmonize when cast in that mode. Additionally, you can aim an extra point of dividable damage at it when casting spells like Arc Lightning, turning them into Electrolyzes. On its own, it’s a good blocker, since the opponent would have to throw away an attacker and give up an extra card to attack into it, and its ability can work as pseudo-evasion too, since the opponent won’t want to block this creature in combat if it means both chump blocking and giving up an extra card.
What I Don't Like: All of those interactions it has that make it great are all in red/green. It doesn’t have a ton of interactions in the other color combinations, and it’s only a mediocre creature at face value.
Verdict: I really wish this was a Gruul creature with slightly more pushed stats. Since it’s going to function as a Gruul guild card anyways, I might as well get whatever the added bonuses would’ve been if it had been a gold card. As it stands, it won’t displace any of my current green 4-drops, but I’d want to give it a spin as my next green 4-drop, so I think I’d test it at 630.
Treasure Map // Treasure Cove
A fun and flavorful utility artifact.
What I Like: From a flavor perspective, this is one of my favorite cards in a long time. Using a treasure map to determine your direction and ultimately finding a land full of valuable treasures is so cool. And from a gameplay perspective, it provides okay value up front, and has a pretty significant payoff. If you transform this on time, you can untap on T6 with up to 10 mana available! That can be a big boost to ramp decks and fatty cheating decks that want both the scry and the eventual ramp. And in midrange and control decks, you can split your plunder between ramping and drawing cards. Essentially finding a cool combination of ramp, mana fixing and card advantage is a payoff worth questing after. It has good uses in the artifact.dec too, since it’s an affordable utility artifact on the front side, and will give you 3 more artifacts when it flips.
What I Don't Like: The card is mediocre on the front side, and definitely has to transform with at least some regularity in order to be worth using. And it’s slow. You need to cast it and activate it three times before the payoff, which puts it at ~T5/6 as the earliest it’ll be available for use.
Verdict: I ultimately think this card will be too slow, but it’s so fun and flavorful that I want to give it some time so shine if it can. I’ll be testing this at 540, but it may prove not to be good enough, even for cubes larger than that. But if there’s any chance the card can be successful, I aim to find out.
Search for Azcanta // Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin
A card selection engine that flips into a powerful land.
What I Like: Cube players have discovered over the years that repeatable scry effects can be valuable. But they usually come at a premium. Either costing 3+ mana for the base effect, requiring mana every turn in order to continue scrying, or the effect is strapped to a fragile body that’s easy to disrupt. Search gets around most of these issues. And the effect is largely better than scrying every turn, since it can also be used to feed your graveyard for flashback effects, delve fuel, or recursion shenanigans of any kind. Threshold is a place that blue decks will ultimately reach anyways, and Search accelerates your path to getting there. And once the card transforms, it’s great. It ramps you and provides useful additional mana—all without having to dedicated deck slots to ramp-exclusive effects. And the activated ability is a useful effect that all reactive blue decks can take great advantage of. Digging for spells will be useful for control, spells matters decks and combo decks looking for enablers. And it has such a low opportunity cost since the effect on the front side of the card is both useful and something that the deck might’ve been in the market for anyways. And it has particularly good value even as a lategame topdeck, when a lot of other grindy selection engines would be at their worst. It can also help you bin unwanted cards off the top of your library, giving you extra value with cards like Brainstorm, Jace, Top, Rack, Library and others.
What I Don't Like: There’s not much to dislike, other than the fact that competition for blue slots in the cube is always at a premium.
Verdict: This may be another sleeper in the set. I think it provides a lot of repeatable value as a card selection engine, and it transforms into valuable ramp that can also be used as a card advantage engine as the game progresses. I plan on testing this at 540, and it’s the kind of card that could easily swing dramatically in one direction or another. It may prove to not be good enough, but it also has the potential to become a competitive card even for the smallest of lists. I plan on testing it extensively to find out.
Hostage Taker
A good tempo creature with big card advantage potential.
What I Like: Hostage Taker functions as a hybrid between Leonin Relic-Warder and Fiend Hunter, with a 2/3 body. The body is relevant, because there’s so many Pikers and Bears in the cube that it can provide reasonable defense against their early drops after exiling their biggest threat. And all that value is assuming that the opponent can deal with Hostage Taker before you cast the spell it exiled. If you get to cast the target you exiled before the opponent can deal with it, it’s amazing value. 3-for-1 card advantage that impacts the board with all 3 cards is just great. And the window to get rid of it is really small for the opponent. They basically have to kill it on their next turn before you untap or that window will close, and you’ll be on your way to value town. Most importantly, Hostage Taker provides your Dimir deck with an answer to a resolved artifact; something that is hard to come by for that color combination. And depending on the artifact, it can be a really powerful swing when you get to play it yourself. Particularly for powered lists, when you have opportunities to exile and immediately play Moxen—and Hostage Taker’s trigger will essentially be a Mwonvuli Acid-Moss on a 2/3 body for 4 mana.
What I Don't Like: The competition in the slot for midrange Dimir value creature is pretty solid, as players have this, Dragonlord Silumgar and The Scarab God to choose from when it comes to casting a value body that can provide additional advantages. That, and there’s already a lot of competition at the 4cc value creature slot for these colors, making that spot in the curve even more congested.
Verdict: I think this has a chance to compete with some of the mid-tier Dimir cards, and it could very well be somewhere in the #4-#6 card in Dimir. Making it a card worth consideration in the 450/540 range if it plays well. For folks that don’t like some of the more common Dimir inclusions, this might see play in lists even smaller than that though, since opinions about that guild can be polarizing.
Carnage Tyrant
A good green 6-drop.
What I Like: When your midrange green deck is at its worst (playing against a blue control deck with a lot of countermagic and creature theft) …Carnage Tyrant is at its best. Both the uncounterability and the hexproof are huge advantages against control decks. And that’s what this card will be. A control killer. I’ve been testing it for months since it was spoiled early, and despite being unexciting, it does win games. It simply resolves and turns sideways until the opponent is dead. It closes out games both when cast or when cheated into play early via Natural Order, reanimation or the like.
What I Don't Like: It can be a relatively fair against midrange decks, since they’re likely to have a couple of medium-sized creatures on the table and this can just trade away with a couple of Beasts. And despite being an effective creature, it is a boring card to play with and against. It just comes down and does its thing, and it’s not particularly interactive or interesting.
Verdict: Green is the color that wants 6cc creatures the most, and it only really has one great creature in that slot. I believe Carnage Tyrant is the 2nd best creature for that slot, and it’s not particularly close. If you can get past its boring nature, it can be a real workhorse. I think this is a easy include at 450+ sized cubes, where that 2nd green 6-drop slot may have previously been vacant or filled with a placeholder.
Chart a Course
A strong, flexible 2cc spell.
What I Like: This card has multiple uses and functions, and can range from solid to amazing depending on the deck and the situation. At face value, it’s just a good card selection spell, providing you with a Tormenting Voice effect that is just better in every way. Being able to draw first before discarding gives you the most information before making a decision, and it might be the only blue spell under 3 mana that can draw 2 cards and discard any card to the graveyard without being card disadvantage. That has value in and of itself, without looking at which specific decks may be able to take full advantage of that effect. Discarding cards is valuable for more than just reanimation decks nowadays. It can power Welder/Daretti shenanigans for the artifact.dec, it can pitch flashback cards or spells for Snapcaster/JVP/Gearhulk plays. It can give you fodder for delve spells …it has utility beyond just setting up a good Necromancy. But that’s only part of what Chart can do. It also has the ability when the “Raid” is active to straight draw 2 cards for 2 mana. Which hasn’t been seen on cards this cheap and flexible in blue without coming with an unplayable baseline. Tempo decks are going to love this card. But not just tempo shells, lots of blue decks feature small utility creatures or cheap evasive creatures that can help turn on Chart’s card advantage potential. But beyond that, the best part of Chart is its flexibility. I love how the discard part of the card can be used to your advantage even when you’re attacking. Want to discard? Play it in the precombat main phase. Want card advantage? Play it in the 2nd main phase after attacking. It seems like such a useful and valuable card, that has applications both at face value as a significantly improved Tormenting Voice, or as a graveyard enabler for decks using the ‘yard as a resource, OR as a card advantage spell in situations where your combat step was active. Great card.
What I Don't Like: I know it would’ve been far too good as an instant, but that’s my only gripe with the effect.
Verdict: It’s been a long time since I’ve managed a powered 360 card cube, and I imagine the blue slots there are just insanely competitive. Maybe too much so to allow this card to slot in. But even at 450, I think there’s room to at least test this spell out. It’s one of the better card selection spells we have available now, and it’s so flexible that I’d just have to test it and see. At 540+, this is a windmill-slam include.
Sorcerous Spyglass
A new Pithing Needle!
What I Like: I love Needle effects in the cube. My cube has ~75 cards that get shut off by Spyglass completely, and just over 100 additional targets that get crippled by the effect. Some more than others, but there are a ton of great targets in the cube regardless. To put that in perspective, that’s right around 33% of my cube list! Most of us know how Needle plays, but Spyglass provides some additional utility that Needle doesn’t have. With these kinds of effects, you want the most information possible before choosing your target, and the revealed information you get from Spyglass can change what you name. Not just because the player can reveal a more powerful target that you wish to name instead, but because the contents of their hand can change the context in which the most powerful target is determined. For example, your opponent may have a Goblin Welder and a Skullclamp in play. You might want to turn off the ‘Clamp at first, but if your opponent reveals a discard outlet and a Inkwell Leviathan in their hand, you may need to name the Welder now. But more commonly, you may see a juicy target in their hand, and you’ll now have the choice between “O-Ringing” their active target on the board, or “Mesmeric Fiending” the JTMS they just revealed in their hand. Needle and Revoker don’t have this aspect to their gameplay available. In the SCD, KMAYER pointed out how relevant Spyglass can be against fetchlands! You may see a Polluted Delta in their hand or something, and have the opportunity to strand resources, which is quite good. And it also has additional value against all the Needle targets that have “haste”, like equipment and planeswalkers and the like. You can prevent the opponent from getting any value at all off those kinds of cards, which is very good. It’s always nicer to strand that Garruk in their hand instead of O-Ringing it off the board after it’s made a beast token.
What I Don't Like: There’s nothing I don’t like about this card. Being a 2cc Oblivion Ring against a huge number of cube targets is great, and this one can also Mesmeric Fiend away a ton of relevant cards as well.
Verdict: I would play this card even in the smallest of cubes. It’s such a flexible and cost-efficient answer against a huge number of powerful cube cards, and the extra information not only provides new avenues of play, but it’s always better to be working with perfect information. I’d play this at 360, but even if you’re not as big a fan of Needle effects as I am, the additional value from Spyglass should make this an easy include even in 450 cubes.
Thanks for reading and please comment below! Cheers, and happy cubing.
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Ripjaw Raptor has hidden evasion and blocks like a boss. Did that not make enough of a difference in your testing?
I think you talked me out of Ruin Raider, so thanks for saving me a few bucks.
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Just a heads up if you double block a creature with enrage it only triggers once since the damage is simultaneous.
Hostage Taker - what you pointed out, that it can remove or steal artifacts is interesting. There are problematic artifacts like Stax or Orb that stealing will just not do.
Carnage Tyrant - I think it is a general consensus that this is one of the best green 6 drops. It is a general consensus that it is boring as well. Personally I will wait it out, till the price drops or something better comes along.
Chart a Course - I am in the mindset that drawing cards and counterspells are maxed out in blue, and we simply ignore any newcomers. But as we saw in recent years I am wrong. Is this testable over Ancentral Visions in 450?
Sorcerous Spyglass - I am a fan of needle effects and this was an early include since it was spoiled. Can't wait to test this.
I originally was only interested in chart and tyrant. Chart because of the reasons you gave (it does everything blue wants to do), and tyrant because I've been waiting for wotc to print this card (played crusher was close before this).
Card may be boring, but it is practical.
Spyglass looks great as a needle variant, and almost works as a pseudo discard spell for pws and (most) artifacts. Kind of like a colorless duress
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Raptor was only okay when not paired with red. I wish it had been a really pushed card.
Raider is fine, but be aware of how contingent that effect is on having other attackers available. Without them, it's just an expensive Pain Seer.
Fixed. Thanks.
Taker - Well, sure. There's always a couple of targets that may not line up perfectly. You can just leave 'em in exile and try and protect the body.
Tyrant - You can always wait for price to settle, but in terms of waiting for something better ...we've had to wait years to get something that can sit alongside Titan like this can.
Chart - I would, yes. Enabling 'yards without coughing up card disadvantage just isn't available on spells under 3 mana. It'll be a while before we get another utility spell as flexible as this one.
Spyglass - It's been great! You won't be disappointed.
You're welcome. Glad it was enjoyable.
Even creatures with activated abilities can be snagged. There's a ton of uses for Spyglass!
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Really? I assumed it two simultaneous instances of damage. Good to know, I would be playing this all wrong. I expect to see people forgetting this at pre-release.
EDIT: Ugh, just check prices, Carnage Tyrant is like £16, hopefully it will crash but I have a feeling I wont bet getting one till it rotates.
Thanks!
I don't think Cannons is great, but I do think it's better than it looks. Again, in aggro it's a very similar effect to Outpost Siege, which is fringe playable. And I think the inability to hit lands with the front side is more than made up for with how powerful the back side of that card is. At 630+, I'd want to at least give it an opportunity to see if it's worthwhile.
Chart is a really solid card. I was surprised when playtesting it how often the discard was relevant even when I thought it wouldn't be, and how often the "Raid" trigger is active. It's just a good card.
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I think Chart a Course is the best pure blue card draw spell after Ancestral Recall / Dig Through Time / Fact or Fiction / Deep Analysis. I think it beats out things like Treasure Cruise / Thirst for Knowledge / Ancestral Visions due to its sheer versatility.
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I'm adding the top three to my cube for sure (450 Powered). Hostage Taker is problematic for me. I want to add it, but then I'd need to either cut a Dimir card (I run 'tog, Tezz, and Strix) or expand my guild section. Neither is particularly appealing.
I quibble on how high up on the list you put Treasure Map, but it is a fun card.
Cheers,
rant
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I was at the same spot. As a test, I cut Tog for Dragonlord Silumgar. As I've said elsewhere, no one but me ever drafted or liked Tog, so it was a tough cut for me but not for my group. Hostage Taker is going in for Silumgar now.
I've also toyed with running a guild card or two in the section where I run a few shard and wedge cards. I don't want a full cycle of those, since I think they include some pretty bad cards, but adding an extra Dimir card isn't going to be noticeable to anyone but you.
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I'm glad you guys do. Coming up with meaningful commentary for 20 cards in this set was kinda a stretch. But I try to write in an optimistic light.
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I would probably switch 1 and 2, and I won't be cubing 3 myself. Not because it isn't good, but because it's simply too boring. Green already lacks in fun factor, and this beater won't help.
So from your list I'll be cubing 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 in my 510 card cube.
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To be fair, the playables are limited, so it makes sense that the tops of our lists are going to be closer than usual.
Glad you enjoyed it still.
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Too unreliable? Seems like a spell Azorius decks would want....
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"Personally I love high-riak, low-reqars gambles. Life's best with a decent amount of riak. And f*** reqars."
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Spyglass looks like a nice one, looking forward to slotting that into cube. Chart the Course will find a home as well, draw/discard effects are at a super premium in my cube as my players love getting graveyard value.
As much as I know Carnage Tyrant is an amazing 6 drop, I just can't bring myself to run such a boring fatty. At the end of the day cube is about splashy fun for me, so I'm going to be giving this guy a miss.
Have you had a chance to test out Search for Azcanta yet? I love me some value lands, but I feel like it might be a little slow given how tight blue is these days.
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Ya, Spyglass has been great. And the flexibility and utility on Chart has been really valuable so far.
Carnage Tyrant is good, but I can't fault someone for not being interested in it.
Search was late to my testing game, and it's only gotten into one deck of mine so far. It resolved once and played great ...but in that particular game, the opponent was on a multi-card mulligan and I was probably going to win anyways. Looking forward to more testing though. On paper, it looks pretty solid.
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I do have 3 other cards I was looking at that you didn't mention, I was would love your feedback on them.
Wanted Scoundrels - seems like a decent aggro card but is the drawback that game changing?
Captivating Crew - is the cost just to much on a mediocre body?
Daring Saboteur - is this just a bad loiter in the end?