A ton of cubes will play this card. Mine won't be one of them. I never liked Thraben Inspector much, and the only times it ever felt playable was when I could blink it for value. This loses the only attractive upside that Inspector had (plus this can't attack, even for 1). I know I'm in the minority on this, but I don't like this card. A blue Wall of Blossoms I'd happily play, since I can bounce/flicker it for value in addition to getting the defensive body + the card for less overall mana ...but this just doesn't do it for me. I expect it to play solidly for those folks that do end up playing it though, since it defends early and essentially winds up not costing you a card in the long run.
The flavor, the art... everything about this card is super cool though.
Interesting in that it's a line that gives you a body in the spells matter deck while also giving you more gas (albeit more expensive than most cantrips). Also gives you an artifact if you care about that. This card does a lot of things, but I think even all of them added together end up not enough for me. Cool design though.
A ton of cubes will play this card. Mine won't be one of them. I never liked Thraben Inspector much, and the only times it ever felt playable was when I could blink it for value. This loses the only attractive upside that Inspector had (plus this can't attack, even for 1). I know I'm in the minority on this, but I don't like this card. A blue Wall of Blossoms I'd happily play, since I can bounce/flicker it for value in addition to getting the defensive body + the card for less overall mana ...but this just doesn't do it for me. I expect it to play solidly for those folks that do end up playing it though, since it defends early and essentially winds up not costing you a card in the long run.
The flavor, the art... everything about this card is super cool though.
I think this card + Thraben is terrible - in theory Thraben fits into any deck (Flicker, Artifacts, aggro, stax, control), but its always been the 24 card during deck building. Space is at its premium, even for 720 card cubes - I've had some pretty difficult cuts.
My general principle with cuts is always cut 24th cards and trim the weaker enablers (my play group is strong enough to know when to draft/ pivot for an archetype if too few enablers are opened).
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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
I think Thraben Inspector is much better than this card because it fits into a variety of white decks that can use the body for equipment and other things. This card seems good in exactly hard control against exactly aggro, and I don’t like how narrow that is.
I love Thraben Inspector but this card falls pretty far short for me by comparison. No attack, no body that can be recurred/flickered for value, and is just in a worse color for playing one drops. I can play Thraben in everything: aggro, midrange, control, even as filler in some ramp decks, but the worse stats on this card and worse color for the effect (not to mention the generally higher barrier of entry for blue cards than white cards) means this is a pass for me.
I'm a big fan of Thraben Inspector, but I'm on the fence here. Yes, blink is more available in white, but more importantly, white needed the cantrip a lot more. There are so many ways to draw cards in blue that this feels clunky by comparison.
It's a little bit like Wall of Omens, but not quite enough. I do like it though.
It's a blue Thraben Inspector that supports spell synergies instead of blink. This is potentially the best blue 1-drop "creature".
The flavor, the art... everything about this card is super cool though.
My 630 Card Powered Cube
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!
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
I think this card + Thraben is terrible - in theory Thraben fits into any deck (Flicker, Artifacts, aggro, stax, control), but its always been the 24 card during deck building. Space is at its premium, even for 720 card cubes - I've had some pretty difficult cuts.
My general principle with cuts is always cut 24th cards and trim the weaker enablers (my play group is strong enough to know when to draft/ pivot for an archetype if too few enablers are opened).
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
My 630 Card Powered Cube
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!
Not a fan of this card.
Thraben is in a colour that specializes in blink, equipment and anthems. all of them synergies with his body
Last Updated 02/07/24
Streaming Standard/Cube on Twitch https://www.twitch.tv/heisenb3rg96
Strategy Twitter https://www.twitter.com/heisenb3rg
It's a little bit like Wall of Omens, but not quite enough. I do like it though.
Low-power cube enthusiast!
My 1570 card cube (no longer updated)
My 415 Peasant+ Artifact and Enchantment Cube
Ever-Expanding "Just throw it in" cube.