More versatile white removal. Can't say I'm a big fan of this one though since any Oblivion Ring variant will be better most of the time, not to mention Oblivion Ring doesn't care about CMC / how many colors you can produce.
I like this card. I think I like Portable Hole a bit more because it's more efficient at killing 2cc targets, but this is still versatile removal that can kill a wide range of really important cards for cheap. And in 3+ color decks, it can exile a huge number of targets. I know Reid Duke likes this spell a lot, and I trust his evaluation skills more than my own, lol.
This isn't good in mono-white, and is worse than the O-Rings when dealing with bigger targets, but the flexibility of doing all of those things is super nice.
Being able to hit 1 mana and moxen for one is a big deal, it’s a big part of the allure of portable hole for people.
Why I like this in comparison
- artifact/enchantment hate has drastically improved in the last few years. [card/card] Pest invasion vs Indrik stomphowlerfor example.
- most decks in my cube are not mono colored, and 5 color fixing or off color moxen make it so hitting that third color is not unlikely, heck even a fourth is possible.
I just think for 0-1 mana cards ending is better, for 2 mana cards hole is better, and for 3+ ending is obviously better. I don’t think hole is enough better for a 2 mana card to swing in its favor.
The scaling is atrocious, but it does scale. Primarily it seems to be a tool for turns 1-2, with the option to go bigger. I think the decision to include comes down to how desperate your control decks are to have more early answers. I'm a little higher on Portable Hole because it seems like the perfect spot of versatility and cheap cost ... but I could end up playing this too if I wanted a greater concentration of interaction for W/x control decks.
I slightly prefer portable hole, but I like this quite a bit in agro heavy cubes.
I used to be frustrated at the lack of good turn 1 removal for white, but this recent batch of spoilers is giving a couple new options.
Hitting agro 1 drops/sol ring/signets/elfs on curve is an important quality of answers. Scaling to hit bigger threats (3 mana planeswalkers) in a pinch is nice as well.
Prob won't include both this and portable hole, but not outside of the realm of possibilities.
I think I slightly prefer this over hole...hole getting disenchanted is a real liability whereas this permanently exiles.
There's a reason Council's Judgment is way better than Oblivion Ring, and an artifact Oblivion Ring would be a decent amount worse than the real Oblivion Ring.
I prefer hole by a longshot. Being capable of Clearing Oko/Arcane Artisan/Sulfuric Vortex/etc is big game, but 3 colors is pretty inconsistent to get that early in the game. This is going to be a 2-mana portable hole half the time which is sorta lame. Not to mention we don't get to make p-hole jokes with this one, which I value very highly.
I'm actively maintaining a comprehensive article to help explain to new cube players how some complex vintage level cards work in a cube environment. Vintage Cube Cards Explained
Repeating what I said about Portable Hole, White is lacking in good 1-mana options for control, so any card that can fill that niche deserves consideration. I don't like Prismatic Ending as much though, as the inability to trade up and the need for multicolor sort of relegates this card exclusively to control decks. This card would've been a shoo-in if not for Portable Hole, but as it stands I'm not sure that I want to include both.
For me I'm trying to find a balance of running sufficient cheap answers vs O-Ring effects. Portable Hole is awesome and this card is almost as good.
I'm treating it like a cheap removal spell that likely removes a 0-2 CMC card. To me that should be good enough. These versatile removal spells really get me excited so looking for any reason to include them.
PRO-
Exiles permanently
Possibility of hitting 3+ cmc permanents.
Sorcery > Artifact. Worse for tutoring/synergy purpose, but that's outweighed by all the hyper efficient artifact destruction in
powered cube.
CON-
Double the mana cost vs 2 mana permanents.
Much worse in mono white weenie, you'll likely have SOME duals, but there's a solid chance on turn 2 you'll only have WW.
I think portable hole being easily destroyable is underrated, but prismatic endings weakness in mono white agro is also being under appreciated.
After much thought (stuck in a hotel room in quarantine haha) In my cube with double fetches and excellent fixing, I'm guessing that primsatic ending is slightly better. In a standard cube I'd say portable hole is better.
I've been trying to understand this card since it was printed and I would appreciate some help here.
So, I cast this for and I can kill & mana value targets.
If I spend I can kill , and mana value targets.
If I spend ..(assuming the was also or i.e. in a two-color deck)..I can still only kill a , and mana value targets. No mana value targets though because I only used two colors.
Is that really how this works?
As in, me juicing it up (paying more for X) literally does nothing to make this card more scalable for late game--I am always constrained by the # of different colors. So, until WotC decides to introduce new colors, in no world can this card remove anything with a mana value greater than , is that right?
More versatile white removal. Can't say I'm a big fan of this one though since any Oblivion Ring variant will be better most of the time, not to mention Oblivion Ring doesn't care about CMC / how many colors you can produce.
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This isn't good in mono-white, and is worse than the O-Rings when dealing with bigger targets, but the flexibility of doing all of those things is super nice.
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Why I like this in comparison
- artifact/enchantment hate has drastically improved in the last few years. [card/card] Pest invasion vs Indrik stomphowlerfor example.
- most decks in my cube are not mono colored, and 5 color fixing or off color moxen make it so hitting that third color is not unlikely, heck even a fourth is possible.
I just think for 0-1 mana cards ending is better, for 2 mana cards hole is better, and for 3+ ending is obviously better. I don’t think hole is enough better for a 2 mana card to swing in its favor.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=484979
The scaling is atrocious, but it does scale. Primarily it seems to be a tool for turns 1-2, with the option to go bigger. I think the decision to include comes down to how desperate your control decks are to have more early answers. I'm a little higher on Portable Hole because it seems like the perfect spot of versatility and cheap cost ... but I could end up playing this too if I wanted a greater concentration of interaction for W/x control decks.
I used to be frustrated at the lack of good turn 1 removal for white, but this recent batch of spoilers is giving a couple new options.
Hitting agro 1 drops/sol ring/signets/elfs on curve is an important quality of answers. Scaling to hit bigger threats (3 mana planeswalkers) in a pinch is nice as well.
Prob won't include both this and portable hole, but not outside of the realm of possibilities.
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There's a reason Council's Judgment is way better than Oblivion Ring, and an artifact Oblivion Ring would be a decent amount worse than the real Oblivion Ring.
360 card powered Chicago cube:
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2020 Numerical Power Rankings:
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/the-cube-forum/cube-card-and-archetype/817969-2020-numerical-cube-power-rankings
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I will likely be cutting Disenchant for this with Pest Infestation, Rip Apart and Prismatic command being sufficient for punishing artifacts.
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)
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540 Version: https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/zza
I'm treating it like a cheap removal spell that likely removes a 0-2 CMC card. To me that should be good enough. These versatile removal spells really get me excited so looking for any reason to include them.
My 540 card Powered Cube last updated March 2022
PRO-
Exiles permanently
Possibility of hitting 3+ cmc permanents.
Sorcery > Artifact. Worse for tutoring/synergy purpose, but that's outweighed by all the hyper efficient artifact destruction in
powered cube.
CON-
Double the mana cost vs 2 mana permanents.
Much worse in mono white weenie, you'll likely have SOME duals, but there's a solid chance on turn 2 you'll only have WW.
I think portable hole being easily destroyable is underrated, but prismatic endings weakness in mono white agro is also being under appreciated.
After much thought (stuck in a hotel room in quarantine haha) In my cube with double fetches and excellent fixing, I'm guessing that primsatic ending is slightly better. In a standard cube I'd say portable hole is better.
Last Updated 02/07/24
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So, I cast this for and I can kill & mana value targets.
If I spend I can kill , and mana value targets.
If I spend ..(assuming the was also or i.e. in a two-color deck)..I can still only kill a , and mana value targets. No mana value targets though because I only used two colors.
Is that really how this works?
As in, me juicing it up (paying more for X) literally does nothing to make this card more scalable for late game--I am always constrained by the # of different colors. So, until WotC decides to introduce new colors, in no world can this card remove anything with a mana value greater than , is that right?
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Sunburst and Converge are the two mechanics that work that way. There's a ton of cards with those keywords that have been played over the years.
Just like Painful Truths. Draws 1 card for 2B. 2 cards for 1BR. 3 cards for WBR. Etc, etc.
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My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 49th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from MKM!
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450-Card "Artificer's Cube" https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/artificer
Cubing in Indianapolis...send me a PM!!