MTG Salvation

Flash and the 0cc pitch-cast option enough to make this another viable Anthem for cubes? Seems like it has some potential.

Getting to add substantial power/toughness to the board for free is not something to be trifled with. The floor is reasonable, and the ceiling will push many aggressive starts over the edge. Red players are going to be really irritated when their burn spell gets stymied by this.

Dictate of Heliod seemed like it would be good, but didn't seem to actually affect the board all that often. Maybe being able to tap out and still cast this is worth the card disadvantage and pumping only half as much?

I think this is a lot better than Dictate. Turns out that free spells are better than 5cc ones. The advantage of being free is the reason why the card is good. And it'll be an interesting way to get more meaningful "combat tricks" into the cube to make the combat step less of a predetermined outcome. I'll probably test this out.

This is one of those cards that if someone told me it was good I would say "Yeah I can believe that" but if someone told me it was bad I would say "Yeah I can believe that".

The alternate cost can be distracting I think. "Ugh, do I really want to spend two cards to get an anthem effect?"

Until not that long ago most cube were running Glorious Anthem. Then Spear of Heliod came along and replaced it. But spear is only like 10% better than the OG anthem in my experience. That rattlesnake effect rarely mattered as much as I though it would. Dictate of Heliod taught me that flash on an anthem is great. Dictate also taught me that 5 mana is too much for an anthem effect. I think a Glorious Anthem with flash is the best three mana mass pump effect we've seen yet and easily outstrips Spear.

Add in the alternate cost and we have a true spicy meatball. You often won't want to spend the resources to cast it for free but when those situations show up you will be glad you can. Also, the alternate cost on this card is essentially free in that you don't have to pay an inflated mana cost to just cast the spell for it's mana cost like you do with Force of Will or Force of Negation.

I'm definitely going to be testing this card.

EDIT: READING IS KEY!

At four mana I'm less excited for this effect but it's still worth discussing.

The spell is not free, it costs you a relevant card, it just doesn't cost any mana. AND you have to play it on your opponent's turn.
I'm not interested in Anthem on their turn, I want it on mine.
Pass for me.

I would slam dunk this if you could flash it in for free during your combat step. Also MTGsalvation had the spoiler as 1WW... Bummer.

I'm not super excited about this card, and I predict it underperforms initial impressions.

I don't know if I want this card, but

Imagine landing your Hero of Bladehold / Leonin Warleader on-curve. Opponent casts Wildfire or Languish. You flash this in while tapped out. I think you win that game.

I think this is the closest cubeable anthem/"combat trick" we have gotten (other than the Spear). The card is fair when cast for 2WW since it is Glorious Anthem + Flash. Card seems near impossible to analyze without testing. I mean we know about Dictate of Heliod which isn't far from being good enough itself, but how the free mode impacts an anthem remains to be seen. Definitely one to watch.

I cut Spear of Heliod and haven't cared. This is mostly because I moved to Anthem creatures, which has been a pretty big hit over here. The reason they have felt so good is because of the tempo. They're both an individual threat and boost your team. The "free" part of this card can function similarly, because you can affect the board with a threat and still play an anthem. I'm still not sure I want it, but I will test it. And it's a SLAM DUNK for my Combat Cube.

Flash on an Anthem seems like really high potential. I hope this works out, because a relevant combat trick would be nice for the draft environment.

The tempo it can create is impressive, but I'm skeptical about the cost of an additional card.

Anthems by nature want more resources (creatures on the board), so sacrificing resources to play one seems counter-productive.
I'll test it out, because it's hard to evaluate... and free spells tend to overperform expectations. But I expect it to underperform.

In general I'm not a fan of the current suite of enchantment anthems for cube.

I am liking anthems on a stick a ton but agree that there aren't enough at this point. I would love a flash creature with an anthem. The GW Trostani is the type of card I want (except in mono white).

Not even sure if I'll test this card but may give it a go. Recently cut Dictate which is a card I loved but 5cc is just too much for it.

Would love more combat tricks in the Cube and the experience with Dictate was awesome in that regard.

I think this card is pretty nuts. Yes anthems want more gas so giving up a card isnt usually ideal. but thats because you are usually dropping your anthem on turn 3 and having gas to follow up is more of a challenge. dropping this on turn 0 you still have plenty of gas in hand and can just smash the *****.

really interested in how this will test.

I would say the one downside to this card is the Exile instead of Discard. Would love to have been able to discard Lingering Souls turn 1

how has this been testing for people so far?

Card's been sweet. Much, much better than the Glorious Anthem variants.

@wtwlf123

I was waiting on some feedback on this one. I know it is only a buck, but I was so on the fence I wasn't even sure I wanted to spend the buck to test it...lol. Do you think this one has a shot at 450 and where would you slot it in? http://www.cubetutor.com/cubeblog/34371

I like it more than Spear of Heliod. But if you want to increase the number of anthems, I like it more than Entreat the Angels, FWIW.

Quote from allred123 »

how has this been testing for people so far?

I'm cubing much less these days , but I've gotten a few cubes with it and it felt great (not busted, but a fine include).
Basically, if you are land light, you are happy to pitch a spell to get a free delayed glorious anthem.
If you are starting to flood, waiting until turn 4 is a perfectly acceptable floor.

This should be a card evaluation axiom.
Free spells are always better than they seem.