I've been looking for another 6-drop for my Cube and this seems like a slam dunk for my list. Her passive makes it so that it is hard to attack her with a swarm of small creatures like Bitterblossom or Spirit tokens, and her -4 is an asymmetrical sweeper, as you get to choose what each player keeps. This effect can't be understated, as you effectively keep your best creature, and your opponent is left with their worst. The 2/2 double striking token she creates also represents a fast clock if unanswered, and the +1 not only synergizes with your ETB effects, but can take out an opposing blocker if it's in the way, and the +1 effectively takes out that creature as an attacker as well as it doesn't come back until that player's next end step. Can't wait to play with her!
I love that her +1 has so many niche interactions that are super fun and interesting. Forcing opponent to use Jitte counters, wiping out tokens, resetting Glen Elendra Archmage or cards brought back with Serra Paragon or your Portable Hole... The list is endless and will be explored in cube for a long while.
One important note is that the card is returned on OWNER'S end step, so if targeting an opposing creature, it won't be able to attack the Wanderer during their next turn, which is quite strong! Especially against big evasive creatures.
But the card is so much more than that ability - the token is great on defense, especially when only one creature can attack her in combat, and the facts that you get to choose the cards for her -4 and having it as an option immediately make this absolutely terrifying to play against.
Feels like a slam dunk in any size.
Looks great! All four abilities on this planeswalker can help it protect itself.
I wasn’t seeking an upgrade to Elspeth, Sun's Champion, but I think this might be it. In control decks, I always valued Elspeth’s ability to wrath immediately, and The Eternal Wanderer has a MUCH better and less conditional wrath. I also love the +1 for retriggering your ETBcreatures, killing youropponent’stokens, or yoinking back a creature you own but don’tcurrentlycontrol. The zero ability is good for repopulating the board after you wipe it, or just to establish a stronger presence in situations when neither of the other abilities looks helpful. The passive ability protects The Eternal Wanderer (but not you, the player) from wide attacks, but the -4 ability fills the same “protection from a wide board” role so the passive not protecting the player is OK.
This looks sticky and pretty strong tbh, but I think my white decks that play 6 drops would prefer Elspeth and I don't really think I need two white six drops. I'll be keeping an eye though, especially because I tend to misevaluate PWs.
My initial reaction is that this is worse than Elspeth - can't answer one big threat and puts less bodies onto the board (and doesn't plus to do it). It's a very strong card though.
Super interesting card to me. That +1 seems incredibly good; it's not simply to flicker your own creatures for value but can just eternally blank a huge attacker (although hopefully you're not giving them free etb triggers). And since she can only be attacked by one creature anyhow, it seems she can be quite effective at staying alive if needed. As shermanido37 points out, there's a lot of hijinks available in Cube.
The tokens seem potent enough on a value engine like this. While I remember back in the day being hyped about Venser, the Sojourner's ability to blink stuff, not having a target on the board already made it such a dead card way too often. Just being able to fall back to token production ensures you're never going to be embarrassed by this card.
The removal ability is interesting, and I think rounds out her utility nicely.
While I think it's weaker in terms of raw power than Sun's Champion, it seems like it can play with more pieces in your average cube and I think could make for a fun inclusion.
I love this one, it will replace Gideon Jura in my cube
Same for me.
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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
I have been loving this. The static ability on top of the 0 makes this almost impossible to reasonably answer with creatures. Especially since she can just wrath and come back with a stream of double-strikers. I've seen the blink be great too.
I've been looking for another 6-drop for my Cube and this seems like a slam dunk for my list. Her passive makes it so that it is hard to attack her with a swarm of small creatures like Bitterblossom or Spirit tokens, and her -4 is an asymmetrical sweeper, as you get to choose what each player keeps. This effect can't be understated, as you effectively keep your best creature, and your opponent is left with their worst. The 2/2 double striking token she creates also represents a fast clock if unanswered, and the +1 not only synergizes with your ETB effects, but can take out an opposing blocker if it's in the way, and the +1 effectively takes out that creature as an attacker as well as it doesn't come back until that player's next end step. Can't wait to play with her!
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One important note is that the card is returned on OWNER'S end step, so if targeting an opposing creature, it won't be able to attack the Wanderer during their next turn, which is quite strong! Especially against big evasive creatures.
But the card is so much more than that ability - the token is great on defense, especially when only one creature can attack her in combat, and the facts that you get to choose the cards for her -4 and having it as an option immediately make this absolutely terrifying to play against.
Feels like a slam dunk in any size.
I wasn’t seeking an upgrade to Elspeth, Sun's Champion, but I think this might be it. In control decks, I always valued Elspeth’s ability to wrath immediately, and The Eternal Wanderer has a MUCH better and less conditional wrath. I also love the +1 for retriggering your ETB creatures, killing your opponent’s tokens, or yoinking back a creature you own but don’t currently control. The zero ability is good for repopulating the board after you wipe it, or just to establish a stronger presence in situations when neither of the other abilities looks helpful. The passive ability protects The Eternal Wanderer (but not you, the player) from wide attacks, but the -4 ability fills the same “protection from a wide board” role so the passive not protecting the player is OK.
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
The tokens seem potent enough on a value engine like this. While I remember back in the day being hyped about Venser, the Sojourner's ability to blink stuff, not having a target on the board already made it such a dead card way too often. Just being able to fall back to token production ensures you're never going to be embarrassed by this card.
The removal ability is interesting, and I think rounds out her utility nicely.
While I think it's weaker in terms of raw power than Sun's Champion, it seems like it can play with more pieces in your average cube and I think could make for a fun inclusion.
Better than elspeth on first glance.
Might finally be the card that pushes out sun Titan for me.
I’ll maybe edit this in the future for a longer breakdown.
Last Updated 02/07/24
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Same for me.
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
Awesome card.
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.