Search for Tomorrow has been turned into a creature, which is nice for Craterhoof Behemoth synergy. Some upsides and downsides compared to Search. This can tap for any color, which is nice, but only has haste off suspend, so you can't go Turn 1 elf, Turn 2 this + elf like Search can. I'm no longer playing Search for Tomorrow, but this still might make the cut for me.
I think this is just worse than search TBQH - has all the fragilities of a creature but can never ramp you before turn 3. I'd play basically every 1-mana dork before this guy.
I think most people forget suspend creatures have haste.
You can think of mana dorks as "Suspend 1". This is no Birds of Paradise, but I think its much better than a turn 2 dork as it opens up the mana for turn 2 for a Talisman or 2 drop. I find playing nothing on turn 1, then turn 2 dork has just been too slow.
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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
Thank you, that is a good argument you are making for Rift Sower.
I have noted elsewhere before that I'm also not the biggest fan of CMC 2 dorks, but the ones I play is because they fill multiple roles.
Sylvan Caryatid has Hexproof, rainbow fixing and 3 toughness. This makes her a beast against early pressure and enables splashes. Lotus Cobra has Land shenanigans, rainbow fixing and the very real possibility of ramping more than 1 Mana. Sakura-Tribe Elder has recursion value, gains life against aggressive decks (block, then sacrifice) and also enables Land shenanigans Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary ramps almost always for more than 1 Mana.
Of those four, I actually am closest to cutting Rofellos. The reason I see for this is that the maindeck % of the other cards is way higher and their ACS is also better. Since I don't get to play with my cube very often these days, it has been a long time since I actually saw Rofellos pop off and it feels like a waste of space to me (even as I write this it sounds hilarious, since I still know that Rofellos is a good card). The one I think will stick around for the longest is Sakura-Tribe Elder, since it's incidental value is just very high.
With more and more fixing dorks at CMC 1 I think shaving CMC 2 Dorks is a fine decision, unless they do something very special. I haven't put much thought into redesigning green CMC 2 yet and would need to think about the alternatives before making that change though.
Rift Sower being a 1/3 with rainbow-fixing makes it the most similar to Sylvan Caryatid I guess - I think I can try it out and I'll probably like it.
Rift Sower was in the last iteration of the MTGO Vintage Cube, and it was serviceable. Not great or anything, but it seemed to do it's role well enough. I would have tested this card in my own cube if Ignoble Hierarch wasn't spoiled the day after this was.
Personally I’d run Utopia Sprawl and Wild Growth over this card. Having the mana on turn 2 seems crucial for these effects.
I would too - I actually run all the 1 dorks. I just don't play the traditional 2 dorks.
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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
Rift Sower
Search for Tomorrow has been turned into a creature, which is nice for Craterhoof Behemoth synergy. Some upsides and downsides compared to Search. This can tap for any color, which is nice, but only has haste off suspend, so you can't go Turn 1 elf, Turn 2 this + elf like Search can. I'm no longer playing Search for Tomorrow, but this still might make the cut for me.
[180 classic cube]
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
You can think of mana dorks as "Suspend 1". This is no Birds of Paradise, but I think its much better than a turn 2 dork as it opens up the mana for turn 2 for a Talisman or 2 drop. I find playing nothing on turn 1, then turn 2 dork has just been too slow.
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
I have noted elsewhere before that I'm also not the biggest fan of CMC 2 dorks, but the ones I play is because they fill multiple roles.
Sylvan Caryatid has Hexproof, rainbow fixing and 3 toughness. This makes her a beast against early pressure and enables splashes.
Lotus Cobra has Land shenanigans, rainbow fixing and the very real possibility of ramping more than 1 Mana.
Sakura-Tribe Elder has recursion value, gains life against aggressive decks (block, then sacrifice) and also enables Land shenanigans
Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary ramps almost always for more than 1 Mana.
Of those four, I actually am closest to cutting Rofellos. The reason I see for this is that the maindeck % of the other cards is way higher and their ACS is also better. Since I don't get to play with my cube very often these days, it has been a long time since I actually saw Rofellos pop off and it feels like a waste of space to me (even as I write this it sounds hilarious, since I still know that Rofellos is a good card). The one I think will stick around for the longest is Sakura-Tribe Elder, since it's incidental value is just very high.
With more and more fixing dorks at CMC 1 I think shaving CMC 2 Dorks is a fine decision, unless they do something very special. I haven't put much thought into redesigning green CMC 2 yet and would need to think about the alternatives before making that change though.
Rift Sower being a 1/3 with rainbow-fixing makes it the most similar to Sylvan Caryatid I guess - I think I can try it out and I'll probably like it.
[180 classic cube]
I would too - I actually run all the 1 dorks. I just don't play the traditional 2 dorks.
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