What do we think of this one? A little overcosted at every effect, but incredibly flexible, and at 5 mana pretty dang good (scry 1, draw 1, bounce, make a 4/4).
I think this is easily testable. It's just good in so many situations.
Edit - Obviously it's bad when your opponent has a good ETB creature and you don't, but then you can just play a 4/4 or a bad opt, and I don't think that scenario is that common.
Reminds me of Mulldrifter / Shark Typhoon, which is a good place to start. The 5 mana mode is very reminiscent of picking all 3 modes of Mystic Confluence, except you don't get to choose what you bounce and you get a 4/4 instead of countering a spell. I think this card is pretty decent given its flexibility and the 5 mana mode is pretty strong.
This is a good spell, but I think there are a few knobs that needed to be turned the other way to really crack my blue section. Being an instant, choosing what you're able to bounce, and / or the 4/4 having flying would have gone a long way. As is, I don't think I need this since Shark Typhoon / Mulldrifter / Mystic Confluence already does a lot of what this card wants to do. 10/10 design though, hopefully we see more cards like this in the future.
Interesting card! I feel like the opt and the edict-bounce modes are so bad at those mana costs that I'm a bit skeptical, but as you mentioned, the 5-mana mode is great... it's tempting! Probably will give it a shot.
I wish it was an instant and/or the bounce was a Disperse effect, but overall it's solid, splashable, and flexible. But at least the bounce is a may, so you can elect not to do it even if the opponent has a good creature (for them) to bounce back to their hand.
The 5 mana mode is solid but I agree with steve_man that this doesn't quite get there. Unless the bounce effect can get you value its gonna be a mediocre card. But great for people who want to support blink/bounce and spells-matter with one card.
I like the design of the card - Strong early game, strong late game, really helps to smooth out the curve.
But I feel we're looking at another "almost playable". I would be a bit more interested in this card if you can pick which creature to bounce.
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I wish it was an instant and/or the bounce was a Disperse effect, but overall it's solid, splashable, and flexible. But at least the bounce is a may, so you can elect not to do it even if the opponent has a good creature (for them) to bounce back to their hand.
Oh I missed it was a may. Yeah so there's no scenario where it's actively bad, but a lot where it does nothing or very little.
A. This card is powerful. A 4U 4/4 bounce something, scry 1, draw a card is a great normal use case. If the opponent has a creature with a good ETB trigger, you can target yourself to bounce your own creature with a good ETB trigger or negative aura, and if neither side looks good just don’t choose a target player for that mode — you still get a 4/4 with scry 1 draw a card.
B. This card is flexible. When you’re stuck on two mana, it’s an Opt to help find a land. If you’re getting beaten down on turn 3, it’s a bounce spell. If you’re getting beaten down on turn 4, it’s a bounce spell or a 4/4.
C. This flavor is charming! It’s my favorite card for Cube from Strixhaven previewed so far (other than some of thenewCommands).
This doesn't do enough and compares poorly to nearly every major blue cube card I can think of. Its like a worse Enter the God-Eternals.
I don't agree with the Enter the God-Eternals take at all. Multiple Choice is mono colored, 1 pip, and scaleable where Enter the God-Eternals is multi colored, triple pip, and has a fixed cost. The 5 mana mode on Multiple Choice is very comparable to Enter the God-Eternals only mode, IMO.
My point was the ceiling on this card overall compares to Enter the God-Eternals and I don't think its high enough for blue. Shark Typhoon and Mulldrifter do this job better.
My point was the ceiling on this card overall compares to Enter the God-Eternals and I don't think its high enough for blue. Shark Typhoon and Mulldrifter do this job better.
In that it's a similar effect, sure, but enter the god eternals isn't splashable. If enter the god eternals just cost 4U it would be a pretty damn good cube card as it would basically be a better FTK in blue.
A. This card is powerful. A 4U 4/4 bounce something, scry 1, draw a card is a great normal use case. If the opponent has a creature with a good ETB trigger, you can target yourself to bounce your own creature with a good ETB trigger or negative aura, and if neither side looks good just don’t choose a target player for that mode — you still get a 4/4 with scry 1 draw a card.
B. This card is flexible. When you’re stuck on two mana, it’s an Opt to help find a land. If you’re getting beaten down on turn 3, it’s a bounce spell. If you’re getting beaten down on turn 4, it’s a bounce spell or a 4/4.
C. This flavor is charming! It’s my favorite card for Cube from Strixhaven previewed so far (other than some of thenewCommands).
D. All of the above.
The problem is not the card isn't playable in cube - the problem is there are too many good options these days at every single slot. Unfortunately, I've found that cards that are hyper flexible, decent floor + ceiling are often the 24th card in a draft deck.
The problems is blue is so crowded right now I had to cut both Vedalken Shackles and Mystic Sanctuary, despite being excellent cards. (Blue is a bit too overdrafted in my play ground, its not reasonable to expect the player to have that many islands)
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It depends how many slots you want for this kind of flexible blue value spell. Multiple Choice fits right into cubes like mine where blue focuses on spells matter payoffs, a heavy density of ETB creatures for the blink archetype, and drawing lots of cards. My ranking for flexible blue value spells is roughly Mystic Confluence > Cryptic Command > Shark Typhoon > Mulldrifter > Sublime Epiphany > Multiple Choice > Enter the God-Eternals. Multiple Choice is near the bottom because it’s not an instant, but at 540 I plan to find room for all seven.
If the bounce mode was targeted it would do so much to help this card. But a 3 mana bounce edict is just so underwhelming. That drastically reduces the value of the card for me to a 2 mana bad preordain or a 5 mana value bundle. The other two modes will occasionally come up but they are so narrow.
I'm a sucker for versatility. 1U: Opt 2U: Edict style bounce (often targeting self) 3U: a 4/4 (a base rate that would've been implausible in the past) 4U: The whole shebang (kind of a nonflying Mulldrifter/ Dream Eater hybrid)
I can't really see myself using the bounce on one of my creatures except in the most dire of topdeck wars. Sorcery speed removal of my own blocker sounds like something I would almost never do in blue, and even if I could replay my Ravenous Chupacabra with this, that is 4UBB to destroy a creature. With that much mana up, I would rather cast it for X=4. And without that much mana up, it just seems so bad to remove my own creature during my turn.
How good then is this edict bounce in a vacuum? I'm not sure.
From theorycrafting, this card seems rather bad to me. Factoring in how one almost always underestimates flexibility on those cards, I guess this is playable in some Cubes, but I just can't imagine a card I would like to cut for it.
Great design. I'll find room for this, as I wanted another 5 mana option in blue. This has added flexibility beyond the 5 mana mode even if the other modes aren't stellar, and it's also another non-creature creature, which helps with U/x spells matter support without sacrificing board presence.
I think the subtle nerfs to the abilities make this card much worse than it initially appears. The controller choosing the bounce, sorcery speed, and the creature being vanilla are all small missed opportunities to push this into my cube. I think I’d play this if the token simply had flying, for example. I’d definitely play it if it were an instant.
Cheap abilities are way overcosted and the "final" ability is mildly overcosted and generally not what you want to be doing in blue.
Broken in limited and could see some play in the right standard format.
What do we think of this one? A little overcosted at every effect, but incredibly flexible, and at 5 mana pretty dang good (scry 1, draw 1, bounce, make a 4/4).
I think this is easily testable. It's just good in so many situations.
Edit - Obviously it's bad when your opponent has a good ETB creature and you don't, but then you can just play a 4/4 or a bad opt, and I don't think that scenario is that common.
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This is a good spell, but I think there are a few knobs that needed to be turned the other way to really crack my blue section. Being an instant, choosing what you're able to bounce, and / or the 4/4 having flying would have gone a long way. As is, I don't think I need this since Shark Typhoon / Mulldrifter / Mystic Confluence already does a lot of what this card wants to do. 10/10 design though, hopefully we see more cards like this in the future.
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But I feel we're looking at another "almost playable". I would be a bit more interested in this card if you can pick which creature to bounce.
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2. Improving Green Archetypes
3. Improving White Archetypes
4. Matchup Analysis
5. Cube Combos (Work in Progress)
Draft my Cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/d8i
Oh I missed it was a may. Yeah so there's no scenario where it's actively bad, but a lot where it does nothing or very little.
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
A. This card is powerful. A 4U 4/4 bounce something, scry 1, draw a card is a great normal use case. If the opponent has a creature with a good ETB trigger, you can target yourself to bounce your own creature with a good ETB trigger or negative aura, and if neither side looks good just don’t choose a target player for that mode — you still get a 4/4 with scry 1 draw a card.
B. This card is flexible. When you’re stuck on two mana, it’s an Opt to help find a land. If you’re getting beaten down on turn 3, it’s a bounce spell. If you’re getting beaten down on turn 4, it’s a bounce spell or a 4/4.
C. This flavor is charming! It’s my favorite card for Cube from Strixhaven previewed so far (other than some of the new Commands).
D. All of the above.
Enter the god eternals is a card that requires 3 colored mana to cast and doesn't replace itself.
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
I don't agree with the Enter the God-Eternals take at all. Multiple Choice is mono colored, 1 pip, and scaleable where Enter the God-Eternals is multi colored, triple pip, and has a fixed cost. The 5 mana mode on Multiple Choice is very comparable to Enter the God-Eternals only mode, IMO.
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In that it's a similar effect, sure, but enter the god eternals isn't splashable. If enter the god eternals just cost 4U it would be a pretty damn good cube card as it would basically be a better FTK in blue.
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
The problem is not the card isn't playable in cube - the problem is there are too many good options these days at every single slot. Unfortunately, I've found that cards that are hyper flexible, decent floor + ceiling are often the 24th card in a draft deck.
The problems is blue is so crowded right now I had to cut both Vedalken Shackles and Mystic Sanctuary, despite being excellent cards. (Blue is a bit too overdrafted in my play ground, its not reasonable to expect the player to have that many islands)
Vintage Cube Cards Explained
Here are some other articles I've written about fine tuning your cube:
1. Minimum Archetype Support
2. Improving Green Archetypes
3. Improving White Archetypes
4. Matchup Analysis
5. Cube Combos (Work in Progress)
Draft my Cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/d8i
1U: Opt
2U: Edict style bounce (often targeting self)
3U: a 4/4 (a base rate that would've been implausible in the past)
4U: The whole shebang (kind of a nonflying Mulldrifter/ Dream Eater hybrid)
Mulldrifter is better, but I'd play both.
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How good then is this edict bounce in a vacuum? I'm not sure.
From theorycrafting, this card seems rather bad to me. Factoring in how one almost always underestimates flexibility on those cards, I guess this is playable in some Cubes, but I just can't imagine a card I would like to cut for it.
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
Cheap abilities are way overcosted and the "final" ability is mildly overcosted and generally not what you want to be doing in blue.
Broken in limited and could see some play in the right standard format.
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