10 cards: 6 solid inclusions, 4 cards in the test phase. Wonderful set overall: Angel of Inventions, Chandra, and Scrapheap Scrounger look to be long-term staples and vehicles will be interesting to see as being pseudo-equipment. Gearhulks could have been better, I actually really like the blue one but there's just no space for him Only big complaint is that the black Gearhulk really could have cast 5
This set is pretty crazy for my EDH cube, the sheer number of includes it's disgusting. EDM had one include and two maybes for me; KLD has at least eight of each and spoiler season still has the better part of a week left for some spicy surprises. To top that off, a lot of the includes are straight fire unlike Conspiracy where there were quite a few but they were mostly just solid. I definitely am picking up a box.
Includes: Metallurgic Summons - Slam dunk, easy. Gives instants and sorcery generals a value engine, and I still feel like I didn't support them enough so this makes me feel better. Blue has so many value spells that blue artifact generals are gonna get a huge boost out of this too. Two archetypes with at least 3 generals each that I felt needed more support want this badly. I basically can't say no to it. Combustible Gearhulk - I pity the sorry fool that says no to this in a cube with as many 7+ drops as mine. This is just a 6/6 for 6 that draws three cards. The decks that are running this are things like Jhoira, Mayael, Animar, and Daretti and saying no to any of those is essentially gambling on 15 or more damage to the face. No one is gonna risk taking nearly half their starting life to the face for the team in multiplayer. Nissa, Vital Force - This is a no-brainer too. It either ticks up and ults for an un-removable value engine if you can protect it, or it ticks down and starts recurring cards for sick value instead. Cloudblazer - The first card that isn't a windmill slam include, it's just really solid at what it does and gives blink a strong effect to slot into the toolbox. Azorius has lots of underperforming cards just holding slots that this goes in over. Rashmi, Eternities Crafter - Probably replacing Edric, since he doesn't have the small evasive dudes he needs to shine. A really fun and very "EDHy" effect. Not bad at all. Cultivator's Caravan - Rocks and fixing are both super important to the point that I even run Manalith in my cube. This is really solid since it turns the abundance of utility dorks into a modest beater. I'll take it. Metalwork Colossus - Artifact decks get a big beefy recursive beater, and decks that cheat out fatties like Mayael and Animar both get a somewhat playable include. Basically any deck can play him though, since my cube is heavy on utility artifacts that everyone wants. Panharmonicon - Holy hell, I can't believe they even printed this. Another card that I basically can't skip because it's so good. Almost every deck can get value out of this, and a blink deck like Brago goes totally off the rails. God damn. Skysovereign, Consul Flagship - Solid body, turns utility dorks into an evasive beater, and blasts opposing dorks and sometimes faces. Another card that basically any deck wants to play for value. It's basically a legendary creature, so I'd probably look the other way if someone wanted to make it the general of a colorless artifact deck.
Maybes: Angel of Invention - May be more expensive than it's worth for me. (Currency wise) Supports tokens, blink, artifacts somewhat. Straight fire in Jor Kadeen, who is criminally underated. I don't know if it's big enough impact in EDH to justify shelling out for. If I open one it's definitely going in, otherwise we'll see about the pricetag. Wispweaver Angel - I like blink effects and it's a solid body, but I think I have more than enough at this point. Probably too inefficient to make the cut over Flickerwisp or Restoration Angel. Aethersquall Ancient - Hoo baby. I love leviathans and this one has a splashy effect and an evasive body. The only thing holding this back is if the effect is too slow without energy support, and I'm leaning towards it being too slow. Probably still edges out Tomocratis, though. Saheeli's Artistry - Hard to say. It's a cool copy effect, but Stolen Identity works out to just be better 95% of the time and I don't think I have room for both. That said, Stolen Identity is a absolute bomb that usually works out something like two or more Thran Dynamos or Gilded Lotuses, and holding anything to that standard is gonna make it look disappointing. That's what it has to compete with though, I guess. Torrential Gearhulk - Being instants only is the hardest thing about this card; it's really strong but I'm not sure if it's good enough often enough since the really splashy stuff is all sorceries. Another part of me wonders if it really has to live up to that standard, because a 6/6 flash artifact creature that usually draws a couple cards in blue is still a strong consideration. I'll probably find a cut for it. Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Like Angel of Invention, this is only a maybe for budget reasons. I'm afraid of how expensive this might be, but red ramp and card advantage is hard to turn down. The removal ability is mostly irrelevant, but it might snipe a dork. The face-burn ability is largely irrelevant. Still, it's hard not to like a planeswalker with five abilities. Cultivator of Blades - This would be included over Wild beastmaster or Pathbreaker Ibex and I don't know if it can edge out either. Beastmaster is really cheap and efficient, just add equipment, and Ibex is an oppressive beating if you untap with it. This guy comes with a squad, but when he does he's pretty gimped. Token support is nice, and blink support is nice, but only a few green generals want blink cards and they have to get them from white or blue. (Green has no artifact generals, so the servos being artifacts is really just a detriment.) Aetherworks Marvel - I like cards that cheat stuff out, (my general list includes Jhoira, Narset, Mayaela, and Jeleva so cheating out big stuff is a major theme in red) and this fuels itself nicely. I should test it to see if it gets counters quick enough to make it worth it. Almost certainly Aethersquall Ancient and this will either make it in together or not at all, since the two support each other well and make a case for the other. (And the same fatty-cheating decks want both) They still need to be self suffcient, though.
Bleh. That was a long write up, but there's a so damn many amazing cards in this set. On top of that, most of the inventions slot right into the cube were I to open one, but I'm not going out of my way to buy them. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be.
(in order of awesomeness) Chandra, Torch of Defiance (might become a top 5 red card in my cube) Scrapheap Scrounger (I still can't believe how pushed this is) Angel of Invention (don't have to cut CGR yet but will instead of this when the time comes. AoI has been awesome for us) Verdurous Gearhulk (this card has been so great for us and is already a group fav) Fleetwheel Cruiser (easily the best of the vehicles we have so far) Saheeli Rai (my opinion of this walker continues to rise the more I see her in action) Smuggler's Copter (great all around vehicle, lots of fun interactions and plays defense really well, which is something that escaped my initial evaluation) Skysovereign, Consul Flagship (this guy has been pretty good so far but I can see how Crew 3 could be an issue... but my group loves it so I'll continue testing)
Aether Hub (will replace my proxied Tendo Ice Bridge, no big whoop)
Scrapheap Scrounger - Nezumi Graverobber's looking a little long in the tooth these days now that we've been getting better black 2-drops. Scrapheap Scrounger looks like it'll be the final nail.
Mecatitan Cataclismico - The Spanish name's way cooler, verdad? I know white 5s are stacked, but I think this boardwipe on a beefy stick has the potential to be the sleeper set. I'm not sure why this isn't more popular, but I think Baneslayer Angel can take a break while I figure out if I'm out to lunch.
Gonti, Lord of Luxury - Stupid name, but this looks like a solid value dude in the color that can abuse it best.
Dovin Baan - Not the most exciting walker ever printed, but it looks solid for control decks. I'll test it over Sphinx's Revelation, an equally narrow control-only card.
Saheeli Rai - I've felt that Ral Zarek is a less than exciting walker for quite a while now. We'll see if this is worse.
Voltaic Brawler - The floor is a bit lower, but the ceiling's much higher on this than Flinthoof Boar. It'll be a shame to lose that haste, though.
Fleetwheel Cruiser - I really like this take on Juggernaut. I'm not convinced it's better than Masticore, but Masti gets passed over quite a bit in my cube so it's worth a shot.
Smuggler's Copter - This may be a bit too low impact to want to tap a creature for every turn, but a colorless 3/3 flying looter for 2 definitely deserves a test instead of Cursed Scroll for a bit.
Filigree Familiar - This also may be too low impact, but it seems like pretty good value for control and recursion decks. Cut to be determined.
They'll probably cost a mint, but I'd be thrilled to pull Masterpiece copies of any of the artifacts I'm running that I haven't pimped out and if the price isn't too ridiculous I'll try to trade for or buy the Masterpiece Solemn Simulacrum.
All in all, this looks like an interesting and flavorful set with a lot of cool cards and interesting mechanics to try out, but only a few really obvious windmill slams. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of Kaladesh.
In
Scrapheap Scrounger - No Question
Chandra (Probably in 6 months when she hits $10) - It's great and all but I don't think it will change my red section so much that I am rushing out for one
Testing
Smuggler's Copter - hard to argue with it at face value but I am very very low on vehicles for 360 cubes (If vehicles are much better than i think, which this forum indicates I will try the cruiser)
Meh-Maybe
Angel of Invention - Seems a marginal upgrade to what I have and may be an expensive mythic that will be in one of my most competitve slots in cube and isn't unique, I'm in no rush
Masterpiece-Inventions
There are a crapload here I want because they look great and are cube staples I know I will get lots of use out of. Also if I happen to get the any of the non-red Gearhulks I will include them because they are interesting and close enough to include for bling factor.
Overall I am happy enough with the set. The art and theme are amazing and I love the inventions. But from a small cube standpoint there isn't much I am excited about. We may finally have a mandatory Chandra which would be great.
x
Smuggler's Copter
Filigreed Familiar
Fleetwheel Cruiser
That's where I'll start. Will probably hold off on Chandra until it gets to $20 or so. Not sure about cuts, but I'm expanding to 450 anyway, so much of my list is in flux.
I can't say I'm pleased to see you and must warn you I may have to do something about it.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: URDelver
Modern: UGRDelver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
I've not tested anything yet, but my inclusion list so far looks like this...
Definitely In
Angel of Invention
Scrapheap Scrounger
Chandra, Torch of Defiance
Fleetwheel Cruiser
Smuggler's Copter
Aether Hub
Saheeli Rai
Possibly In
Verduous Gearhulk - This would be more likely to make it if we hadn't just gotten Regal Behemoth in CN2.
Skysovereign, Consul Flagship - I was more hyped on this card until I started reading about how difficult the crew cost can be. For those that have played both at this point, how do you like this vs Scuttling Doom Engine? I've been a pretty big fan of SDE, so I'm iffy on that swap.
I'd go ahead and toss all three vehicles in. Cruiser and Copter are fantastic and Skysovereign has been really good for me even though crew 3 can be more restrictive. Think about it this way: Cruiser is a great curve topper in any aggro deck, Copter is just an overall well costed card that has the added benefit of being great in decks that need card filtering and discard, and Skysovereign is good in just about any creature based deck (I've seen in do well in both aggro and midrange). Each of the three vehicles has their own niche.
One thing I like about Skysovereign is how great it is in green based decks that don't often have enough ways to kill creatures and walkers or easily accessible fliers, not to mention they tend to be able to crew it better. Garruk Wildspeaker and Treetop Village are Skysovereign's best friends. We also continually get 3 power 2 drops and token producers, all of which help with the crew 3 requirement.
Needless to say, I'm a huge fan of all three of these vehicles and can only see their stock rising over time.
I'd go ahead and toss all three vehicles in. Cruiser and Copter are fantastic and Skysovereign has been really good for me even though crew 3 can be more restrictive. Think about it this way: Cruiser is a great curve topper in any aggro deck, Copter is just an overall well costed card that has the added benefit of being great in decks that need card filtering and discard, and Skysovereign is good in just about any creature based deck (I've seen in do well in both aggro and midrange). Each of the three vehicles has their own niche.
One thing I like about Skysovereign is how great it is in green based decks that don't often have enough ways to kill creatures and walkers or easily accessible fliers, not to mention they tend to be able to crew it better. Garruk Wildspeaker and Treetop Village are Skysovereign's best friends. We also continually get 3 power 2 drops and token producers, all of which help with the crew 3 requirement.
Needless to say, I'm a huge fan of all three of these vehicles and can only see their stock rising over time.
But my questions is "Do they compete for space in the cube/deck with equipment?" Do to the high level of removal my group likes to use, which they draft highly I find great great equipment slides down the pack, so much so I am reevaluating how many swords I play in 360, to keep them more special. Or is the ability to play a summoning sick creature and activate the vehicle awesome? The equip costs often lags a turn before you go into transformer mode.
360 Cube:
Definite: Chandra, Torch of Defiance, Scrapheap
Vehicles: Don't have time to test but I plan to include at least one. I may wait for Aether Revolt to evaluate all vehicles.
With Kaladesh I think my artifact cube is going to have a revamp. I will introduce color pair archetypes as well as artifact archtypes. For example, RB will probably be sac and recur. W will have equipment matters. UG can have an investigate theme (which obviously work with sac and affinity themes). SO all these maybe's here are dependent on the archtype that will be supported.
360 Cube:
Definite: Chandra, Torch of Defiance, Scrapheap
Vehicles: Don't have time to test but I plan to include at least one. I may wait for Aether Revolt to evaluate all vehicles.
With Kaladesh I think my artifact cube is going to have a revamp. I will introduce color pair archetypes as well as artifact archtypes. For example, RB will probably be sac and recur. W will have equipment matters. UG can have an investigate theme (which obviously work with sac and affinity themes). SO all these maybe's here are dependent on the archtype that will be supported.
Cool stuff man, I'll be interested in seeing your artifact cube once you implement the update. Do you have a list posted somewhere?
Angel of Invention
This new 5-drop seems like a perfect fit for the cube. It fills just so many roles at the same time. Need an army-in-a-can? Check. Need an anthem? Check. Need a flying lifelink better? Check. Definitely looks super strong. Simply the best none-Chandra card in the set IMO. Versatility is the key. For those reasons, I think it have a serious shot at replacing either Baneslayer or Cloudgoat Ranger in the long run.
Fumigate
I think this wrath is the best one we had since RTR Supreme Verdict. In fact, the significant amount of life it can provide seems to be the perfect way to balance the card for the extra mana it cost. I can see easily see this become a staple in any cube larger to 540. For those who still run either Rout, Hallowed Burial, Akroma’s Vengeance or Martial Coup, I think it’s a card that you definitely had to test.
UBLUEU
Torrential Gearhulk
This one is real close. The fact that it's a reasonable Tinker target may force us to test it at some point. For now, we are going to pass on it, but we think it has a good shot at surpassing Frost Titan, which is not in the cube at the moment, in the blue 6-drop slot. If we need another one some day, we'll look at it with no shame. About the card, I can imagine scenarios in which it would shine when paired with Daretti or Goblin Welder. Trade a mana rock with it to get it back to the field and recast a removal spell or CA spell sounds crazy. The flash keyword makes it also pretty good at trapping creatures in combat.
BBLACKB
Scrapheap Scrounger
Black 2-drops seems to have fall from the sky a lot recently, but still, I think this one will prove that he deserves a spot, even in most tight list. This little robot offers reliable recursion for stax strategies and, at the same time, a reasonable bodies for aggro decks. Seriously makes Despoiler of Souls looks silly… And don’t make the mistake to run that card into the colorless section, Scrapheap Scrounger is a black creature.
Harsh Scrunity
We’ve been looking for good one mana discard spell for a while now. As a functional reprint of Ostracize, with the addition of scry, it looks pretty interesting. I think black aggro decks that like to plan their turns and actions according to their opponent’s resources would like it and would enjoy gain extra value from the library manipulation. At 600, it’s definitely a test for us.
Fretwork Colony
With the ridiculous amount of black 2-drops we add in the recent sets (didn't know I was going to say that one day), it seems like there's no space for those little insects. Although, a few years ago, I could have imagine myself run that pseudo Scute Mob. Really close call. Competition is just too hard for it even at 540-630. Maybe this could be test at 720 for those who still run Knight of Infamy.
RREDR
Chandra, Torch of Defiance
What to say about that card? It simply great. Great in all kind of red decks. From aggressive one to control one. The red Mind Sculptor will be a cube staple for a very long time. It can repeatedly provide card advantage. It can ramp you into your Wildifre-Upheaval stuff. It can kill creature, even the ones with big butt. It has a game ending ultimate that is realistically achievable. Nothing to say. That card is gold.
GGREENG
None
AZORIUS
Dovin Baan
I was definitely expecting more from this UW walker. Disappointed is the word. It’s certainly not bad as a card, but it just doesn’t seem to bring enough to the table for a guild card. In a pseudo way, it can protect himself from a board that is low on creature, but at the end, the only reward you can reliably get from it is a few extra cards. Overall, not enough impactful. Still interesting, but just not as strong as some monocolored comparable option, like Architect of Thought. If there was no RTR set in Magic, maybe this card could have a shot in some mid-large cube.
IZZET
Saheeli Rai
I don’t really know what to think about this card. It seems playable and I assume it will make the cut for now, but at the same time, it seems to lack of versatility. Ping your opponent and scry 1 every turn could be decent. Unfortunately, only specific decks may want to use those effects. And copying stuff, while having the potential of being gamebreaking once in a while, can lack of consistancy in most average scenarios. The ultimate for its part seems like a nice ability to build around. The consensus is that it makes the cut. The question is for how much time.
LANDS
Fast Lands
Enemy color fast lands. Please, yes. We’ve been looking for those since a long time. Orhzov, Golgari and Boros would enjoy receiving those. The Izzet one is also close, but URx control decks may be bother with them entering tapped after turn 4. Since we’ve just added an entire land to the cube, the first three would fit perfectly. At 450-450, I think they also, at some point, deserve a spot in cube that run all types of aggro deck and that don’t matter about colorless mana. Really satisfied with that printing. At first, I thought they was the Enemy battle lands, which would have been fine, but this is just even better!
COLORLESS
Filigree Familiar
This little fox almost makes it. While having some part of Solemn Simulacrum and Kitchen Finks abilities is a nice start, I think it just doesn’t do enough to justify his inclusion in a cube under 720. Under that size, there’s enough artifact that are available to make the colorless section works just fine without it. Close call though. As a active cube manager, I’d keep an eye on it. Recurring Nightmare and Welder/Daretti interactions with it seems just so sweet.
Smuggler’s Copter
One of the few vehicles we add consensus to test. 2 mana looters are always good, and this one has flying and a monstrous P/T ratio. Plus, it can also loot from blocking in combat, which is awesome and unseen so far, while making as much efficient on defense than on offense. And it seems playable in a lot of different types of deck since the crew 1 looks very easy to activate. Really curious about this card.
Fleetwheel Cruiser
I think this is the best vehicle for cube by a significant marge. Being active on the turn you play it is what makes it great. And 5 trampling power looks appealing too. Though this should end up being an aggro card only, I think this is not that much of a deal. At 600, we do need more aggressive and efficient threat on the top of the curve. This also helps balance it out. Being colorless means it serves that role for any aggro decks, regardless of what color they play, and act as a aggro 4-drop addition for all colors at the same time. Our only concern has more to do with the vehicle's mechanic itself. Better, equal or worst than equipment? We’ll see. Our fear is that they end up dying to often in combat and been that way a huge tempo loss for their owners. At least this one will trade with anything that enter the field before it and the Copter has evasion to avoid that while it can also generate value during your blocking phase. Yeah, we'll see.
Includes
Chandra, Torch of Defiance
Testing
Verdurous Gearhulk
Cataclysmic Gearhulk
Aerial Responder
Angel of Invention
Scrapheap Scrounger
Tons of testing card at mythic. I'll probably try it before I actually purchase them.
My cube
My cube on Cube tutor
I'm OP_Forever. I'll be putting this in my signature for a while so everyone know I change my nickname.
BLUE
BLACK
RED
GREEN
COLORLESS
MULTICOLORED
10 cards: 6 solid inclusions, 4 cards in the test phase. Wonderful set overall: Angel of Inventions, Chandra, and Scrapheap Scrounger look to be long-term staples and vehicles will be interesting to see as being pseudo-equipment. Gearhulks could have been better, I actually really like the blue one but there's just no space for him Only big complaint is that the black Gearhulk really could have cast 5
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
Includes:
Metallurgic Summons - Slam dunk, easy. Gives instants and sorcery generals a value engine, and I still feel like I didn't support them enough so this makes me feel better. Blue has so many value spells that blue artifact generals are gonna get a huge boost out of this too. Two archetypes with at least 3 generals each that I felt needed more support want this badly. I basically can't say no to it.
Combustible Gearhulk - I pity the sorry fool that says no to this in a cube with as many 7+ drops as mine. This is just a 6/6 for 6 that draws three cards. The decks that are running this are things like Jhoira, Mayael, Animar, and Daretti and saying no to any of those is essentially gambling on 15 or more damage to the face. No one is gonna risk taking nearly half their starting life to the face for the team in multiplayer.
Nissa, Vital Force - This is a no-brainer too. It either ticks up and ults for an un-removable value engine if you can protect it, or it ticks down and starts recurring cards for sick value instead.
Cloudblazer - The first card that isn't a windmill slam include, it's just really solid at what it does and gives blink a strong effect to slot into the toolbox. Azorius has lots of underperforming cards just holding slots that this goes in over.
Rashmi, Eternities Crafter - Probably replacing Edric, since he doesn't have the small evasive dudes he needs to shine. A really fun and very "EDHy" effect. Not bad at all.
Cultivator's Caravan - Rocks and fixing are both super important to the point that I even run Manalith in my cube. This is really solid since it turns the abundance of utility dorks into a modest beater. I'll take it.
Metalwork Colossus - Artifact decks get a big beefy recursive beater, and decks that cheat out fatties like Mayael and Animar both get a somewhat playable include. Basically any deck can play him though, since my cube is heavy on utility artifacts that everyone wants.
Panharmonicon - Holy hell, I can't believe they even printed this. Another card that I basically can't skip because it's so good. Almost every deck can get value out of this, and a blink deck like Brago goes totally off the rails. God damn.
Skysovereign, Consul Flagship - Solid body, turns utility dorks into an evasive beater, and blasts opposing dorks and sometimes faces. Another card that basically any deck wants to play for value. It's basically a legendary creature, so I'd probably look the other way if someone wanted to make it the general of a colorless artifact deck.
Maybes:
Angel of Invention - May be more expensive than it's worth for me. (Currency wise) Supports tokens, blink, artifacts somewhat. Straight fire in Jor Kadeen, who is criminally underated. I don't know if it's big enough impact in EDH to justify shelling out for. If I open one it's definitely going in, otherwise we'll see about the pricetag.
Wispweaver Angel - I like blink effects and it's a solid body, but I think I have more than enough at this point. Probably too inefficient to make the cut over Flickerwisp or Restoration Angel.
Aethersquall Ancient - Hoo baby. I love leviathans and this one has a splashy effect and an evasive body. The only thing holding this back is if the effect is too slow without energy support, and I'm leaning towards it being too slow. Probably still edges out Tomocratis, though.
Saheeli's Artistry - Hard to say. It's a cool copy effect, but Stolen Identity works out to just be better 95% of the time and I don't think I have room for both. That said, Stolen Identity is a absolute bomb that usually works out something like two or more Thran Dynamos or Gilded Lotuses, and holding anything to that standard is gonna make it look disappointing. That's what it has to compete with though, I guess.
Torrential Gearhulk - Being instants only is the hardest thing about this card; it's really strong but I'm not sure if it's good enough often enough since the really splashy stuff is all sorceries. Another part of me wonders if it really has to live up to that standard, because a 6/6 flash artifact creature that usually draws a couple cards in blue is still a strong consideration. I'll probably find a cut for it.
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Like Angel of Invention, this is only a maybe for budget reasons. I'm afraid of how expensive this might be, but red ramp and card advantage is hard to turn down. The removal ability is mostly irrelevant, but it might snipe a dork. The face-burn ability is largely irrelevant. Still, it's hard not to like a planeswalker with five abilities.
Cultivator of Blades - This would be included over Wild beastmaster or Pathbreaker Ibex and I don't know if it can edge out either. Beastmaster is really cheap and efficient, just add equipment, and Ibex is an oppressive beating if you untap with it. This guy comes with a squad, but when he does he's pretty gimped. Token support is nice, and blink support is nice, but only a few green generals want blink cards and they have to get them from white or blue. (Green has no artifact generals, so the servos being artifacts is really just a detriment.)
Aetherworks Marvel - I like cards that cheat stuff out, (my general list includes Jhoira, Narset, Mayaela, and Jeleva so cheating out big stuff is a major theme in red) and this fuels itself nicely. I should test it to see if it gets counters quick enough to make it worth it. Almost certainly Aethersquall Ancient and this will either make it in together or not at all, since the two support each other well and make a case for the other. (And the same fatty-cheating decks want both) They still need to be self suffcient, though.
Bleh. That was a long write up, but there's a so damn many amazing cards in this set. On top of that, most of the inventions slot right into the cube were I to open one, but I'm not going out of my way to buy them. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be.
EDIT: I can't spell card names...
Generals meant to be drafted first in a single pack of 6 cards.
And here is the actual cube, meant to be drafted in 4 regular sized packs. (60 card decks)
Chandra, Torch of Defiance
Angel of Invention
Vendurous Gearhulk
Scrapheap Scrounger
Scrapheap Scrounger
Chandra
Angel of invention
Plus testing for the three vehicles and green gearhulk if I can find space for him.
Oh and Saheeli too.
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
White:
Angel of Invention
Blue:
None
Black:
Scrapheap Scrounger
Red:
Chandra, Torch of Defiance
Green:
Verdurous Gearhulk (test)
Multicolor:
Dovin Baan (test)
Saheeli Rai
Colorless:
Smuggler's Copter
Filigreed Familiar
Fleetwheel Cruiser
Skysovereign, Consul Flagship
Draft my cube! (630 cards)
(in order of awesomeness)
Chandra, Torch of Defiance (might become a top 5 red card in my cube)
Scrapheap Scrounger (I still can't believe how pushed this is)
Angel of Invention (don't have to cut CGR yet but will instead of this when the time comes. AoI has been awesome for us)
Verdurous Gearhulk (this card has been so great for us and is already a group fav)
Fleetwheel Cruiser (easily the best of the vehicles we have so far)
Saheeli Rai (my opinion of this walker continues to rise the more I see her in action)
Smuggler's Copter (great all around vehicle, lots of fun interactions and plays defense really well, which is something that escaped my initial evaluation)
Skysovereign, Consul Flagship (this guy has been pretty good so far but I can see how Crew 3 could be an issue... but my group loves it so I'll continue testing)
Aether Hub (will replace my proxied Tendo Ice Bridge, no big whoop)
Planning to windmill slam:
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker will likely be the cut here.
Thriving Grubs - OK, maybe not windmill slam, but it's a clear upgrade to Gore-House Chainwalker.
Scrapheap Scrounger - Nezumi Graverobber's looking a little long in the tooth these days now that we've been getting better black 2-drops. Scrapheap Scrounger looks like it'll be the final nail.
Planning to test:
Angel of Invention - I like the flexibility of this, as well as the fact that it's more P/T than Cloudgoat Ranger and it comes with its own Glorious Anthem. I'm less excited about the fact that it dies to Arc Lightning.
Mecatitan Cataclismico - The Spanish name's way cooler, verdad? I know white 5s are stacked, but I think this boardwipe on a beefy stick has the potential to be the sleeper set. I'm not sure why this isn't more popular, but I think Baneslayer Angel can take a break while I figure out if I'm out to lunch.
Verdurous Gearhulk - This seems more flexible and resilient than Kalonian Hydra.
Gonti, Lord of Luxury - Stupid name, but this looks like a solid value dude in the color that can abuse it best.
Dovin Baan - Not the most exciting walker ever printed, but it looks solid for control decks. I'll test it over Sphinx's Revelation, an equally narrow control-only card.
Saheeli Rai - I've felt that Ral Zarek is a less than exciting walker for quite a while now. We'll see if this is worse.
Voltaic Brawler - The floor is a bit lower, but the ceiling's much higher on this than Flinthoof Boar. It'll be a shame to lose that haste, though.
Fleetwheel Cruiser - I really like this take on Juggernaut. I'm not convinced it's better than Masticore, but Masti gets passed over quite a bit in my cube so it's worth a shot.
Smuggler's Copter - This may be a bit too low impact to want to tap a creature for every turn, but a colorless 3/3 flying looter for 2 definitely deserves a test instead of Cursed Scroll for a bit.
Filigree Familiar - This also may be too low impact, but it seems like pretty good value for control and recursion decks. Cut to be determined.
They'll probably cost a mint, but I'd be thrilled to pull Masterpiece copies of any of the artifacts I'm running that I haven't pimped out and if the price isn't too ridiculous I'll try to trade for or buy the Masterpiece Solemn Simulacrum.
All in all, this looks like an interesting and flavorful set with a lot of cool cards and interesting mechanics to try out, but only a few really obvious windmill slams. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of Kaladesh.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Scrapheap Scrounger - No Question
Chandra (Probably in 6 months when she hits $10) - It's great and all but I don't think it will change my red section so much that I am rushing out for one
Testing
Smuggler's Copter - hard to argue with it at face value but I am very very low on vehicles for 360 cubes (If vehicles are much better than i think, which this forum indicates I will try the cruiser)
Meh-Maybe
Angel of Invention - Seems a marginal upgrade to what I have and may be an expensive mythic that will be in one of my most competitve slots in cube and isn't unique, I'm in no rush
Masterpiece-Inventions
There are a crapload here I want because they look great and are cube staples I know I will get lots of use out of. Also if I happen to get the any of the non-red Gearhulks I will include them because they are interesting and close enough to include for bling factor.
Overall I am happy enough with the set. The art and theme are amazing and I love the inventions. But from a small cube standpoint there isn't much I am excited about. We may finally have a mandatory Chandra which would be great.
Angel of Invention
U
---
B
Scrapheap Scrounger
R
Chandra, Torch of Defiance
G
Verdurous Gearhulk
WUBRG
---
x
Smuggler's Copter
Filigreed Familiar
Fleetwheel Cruiser
That's where I'll start. Will probably hold off on Chandra until it gets to $20 or so. Not sure about cuts, but I'm expanding to 450 anyway, so much of my list is in flux.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: UR Delver
Modern: UGR Delver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
Angel of Invention
Fumigate
UUU
None
BBB
Scrapheap Scrounger
RRR
Chandra, Torch of Defiance
GGG
None
None
X T C
Smuggler's Copter
Fleetwheel Cruiser
Aether Hub
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
These are the clearly powerful and/or really cool cards, as well as a few ones that get in because I have an obvious cut for them.
- Torrential Gearhulk
- Noxious Gearhulk
- Chandra, Torch of Defiance
- Verdurous Gearhulk
- Scrapheap Scrounger
- Filigree Familiar
- Smuggler's Copter
- Fleetwheel Cruiser
- Skysovereign, Consul Flagship
Possible InclusionThese card intrigue me and I will most likely test them, but finding a cut for them will be harder.
- Cataclysmic Gearhulk
- Glint-Nest Crane
- Pia Nalaar
- Combustible Gearhulk
- Cathartic Reunion
Energy cardsMaybe I include the energy mechanic, maybe I don't. Depends on how much synergy I can find for these cards.
PS: Holy hell, they are using the Kaladesh Inventions cards for the mouse-overs? That is almost as annoying as the black-colored promo planeswalkers.
Uril, the Miststalker RGW -- Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre C -- Vhati il-Dal BG -- Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer RW -- Animar, Soul of Elements URG
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker R -- Maga, Traitor to Mortals B -- Ghave, Guru of Spores BGW -- Sliver Hivelord WUBRG
Angel of Invention
Fleetwheel Cruiser
Smuggler's Copter
Chandra
Scrapheap Scrounger
Saheeli Rai (maybe)
Kind of nice to have a set without a zillion solid inclusions, to be honest... new cards have come out faster than I can test them lately.
Definitely In
Angel of Invention
Scrapheap Scrounger
Chandra, Torch of Defiance
Fleetwheel Cruiser
Smuggler's Copter
Aether Hub
Saheeli Rai
Possibly In
Verduous Gearhulk - This would be more likely to make it if we hadn't just gotten Regal Behemoth in CN2.
Skysovereign, Consul Flagship - I was more hyped on this card until I started reading about how difficult the crew cost can be. For those that have played both at this point, how do you like this vs Scuttling Doom Engine? I've been a pretty big fan of SDE, so I'm iffy on that swap.
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
Follow me. I tweet.
Angel of Invention
Scrapheap Scrounger
Chandra, Torch of Defiance
Fleetwheel Cruiser
Smuggler's Copter
Skysovereign, Consul Flagship
Maybe Saheeli Rai.
My inclusions
Chandra, Torch of Defiance (duh!)
Scrapheap Scrounger
Angel of Invention
Maybe:
Fleetwheel Cruiser
Smuggler's Copter
Cheers,
rant
My Cube
CubeCobra: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5f5d0310ed602310515d4c32
Cube Tutor: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/1963
Chandra, Torch of Defiance
Scrapheap Scrounger
Angel of Invention
Verdurous Gearhulk
Waiting for more testing results and feedback regarding these vehicles:
Fleetwheel Cruiser
Smuggler's Copter
Skysovereign, Consul Flagship
One thing I like about Skysovereign is how great it is in green based decks that don't often have enough ways to kill creatures and walkers or easily accessible fliers, not to mention they tend to be able to crew it better. Garruk Wildspeaker and Treetop Village are Skysovereign's best friends. We also continually get 3 power 2 drops and token producers, all of which help with the crew 3 requirement.
Needless to say, I'm a huge fan of all three of these vehicles and can only see their stock rising over time.
But my questions is "Do they compete for space in the cube/deck with equipment?" Do to the high level of removal my group likes to use, which they draft highly I find great great equipment slides down the pack, so much so I am reevaluating how many swords I play in 360, to keep them more special. Or is the ability to play a summoning sick creature and activate the vehicle awesome? The equip costs often lags a turn before you go into transformer mode.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
Definite: Chandra, Torch of Defiance, Scrapheap
Vehicles: Don't have time to test but I plan to include at least one. I may wait for Aether Revolt to evaluate all vehicles.
Artifact Cube: will have a massive update!!!
W:Angel of Invention, Master Tinkerer, Toolcraft Exemplar, Visionary Augmenter, Refurbish (Maybe)
U: Padeem, Consul of Innovation (maybe)
B: Fortuitous Find (maybe), Marionette Master, Noxious Gearhulk, Syndicate Trafficker,Underhanded Designs, Weaponcraft Euthanist (maybe)
R: Pia Nalaar, Reckless Fireweaver (maybe), Inventor's Apprentice
G: Cultivator of Blades, Oviya, Verdurous Goliath
Multi: Saheeli Rai, Restoration Gearsmith
X: Animation Module (maybe), Bomat Courier (maybe), Filigree Familiar, Foundry Inspector, Metalwork Colossus, Scrapheap Scrounger
Land: Inventor's Fair
Vehicles: will definitely include a lot but currently I am weighing If I will use equipment space or creature space. Will probably split 50/50.
With Kaladesh I think my artifact cube is going to have a revamp. I will introduce color pair archetypes as well as artifact archtypes. For example, RB will probably be sac and recur. W will have equipment matters. UG can have an investigate theme (which obviously work with sac and affinity themes). SO all these maybe's here are dependent on the archtype that will be supported.
Cool stuff man, I'll be interested in seeing your artifact cube once you implement the update. Do you have a list posted somewhere?
Include:
Angel of Invention
Chandra, Torch of Defiance
Scrapheap Scrounger
Filigree Familiar
Possibilities:
Verdurous Gearhulk
Fleetwheel Cruiser
Smuggler's Copter
Modern:
Dredge | Restore Balance | Titanshift
My [360][Unpowered][Modern-Frame] Cube
Angel of Invention
This new 5-drop seems like a perfect fit for the cube. It fills just so many roles at the same time. Need an army-in-a-can? Check. Need an anthem? Check. Need a flying lifelink better? Check. Definitely looks super strong. Simply the best none-Chandra card in the set IMO. Versatility is the key. For those reasons, I think it have a serious shot at replacing either Baneslayer or Cloudgoat Ranger in the long run.
Fumigate
I think this wrath is the best one we had since RTR Supreme Verdict. In fact, the significant amount of life it can provide seems to be the perfect way to balance the card for the extra mana it cost. I can see easily see this become a staple in any cube larger to 540. For those who still run either Rout, Hallowed Burial, Akroma’s Vengeance or Martial Coup, I think it’s a card that you definitely had to test.
Torrential Gearhulk
This one is real close. The fact that it's a reasonable Tinker target may force us to test it at some point. For now, we are going to pass on it, but we think it has a good shot at surpassing Frost Titan, which is not in the cube at the moment, in the blue 6-drop slot. If we need another one some day, we'll look at it with no shame. About the card, I can imagine scenarios in which it would shine when paired with Daretti or Goblin Welder. Trade a mana rock with it to get it back to the field and recast a removal spell or CA spell sounds crazy. The flash keyword makes it also pretty good at trapping creatures in combat.
Scrapheap Scrounger
Black 2-drops seems to have fall from the sky a lot recently, but still, I think this one will prove that he deserves a spot, even in most tight list. This little robot offers reliable recursion for stax strategies and, at the same time, a reasonable bodies for aggro decks. Seriously makes Despoiler of Souls looks silly… And don’t make the mistake to run that card into the colorless section, Scrapheap Scrounger is a black creature.
Harsh Scrunity
We’ve been looking for good one mana discard spell for a while now. As a functional reprint of Ostracize, with the addition of scry, it looks pretty interesting. I think black aggro decks that like to plan their turns and actions according to their opponent’s resources would like it and would enjoy gain extra value from the library manipulation. At 600, it’s definitely a test for us.
Fretwork Colony
With the ridiculous amount of black 2-drops we add in the recent sets (didn't know I was going to say that one day), it seems like there's no space for those little insects. Although, a few years ago, I could have imagine myself run that pseudo Scute Mob. Really close call. Competition is just too hard for it even at 540-630. Maybe this could be test at 720 for those who still run Knight of Infamy.
Chandra, Torch of Defiance
What to say about that card? It simply great. Great in all kind of red decks. From aggressive one to control one. The red Mind Sculptor will be a cube staple for a very long time. It can repeatedly provide card advantage. It can ramp you into your Wildifre-Upheaval stuff. It can kill creature, even the ones with big butt. It has a game ending ultimate that is realistically achievable. Nothing to say. That card is gold.
Dovin Baan
I was definitely expecting more from this UW walker. Disappointed is the word. It’s certainly not bad as a card, but it just doesn’t seem to bring enough to the table for a guild card. In a pseudo way, it can protect himself from a board that is low on creature, but at the end, the only reward you can reliably get from it is a few extra cards. Overall, not enough impactful. Still interesting, but just not as strong as some monocolored comparable option, like Architect of Thought. If there was no RTR set in Magic, maybe this card could have a shot in some mid-large cube.
Saheeli Rai
I don’t really know what to think about this card. It seems playable and I assume it will make the cut for now, but at the same time, it seems to lack of versatility. Ping your opponent and scry 1 every turn could be decent. Unfortunately, only specific decks may want to use those effects. And copying stuff, while having the potential of being gamebreaking once in a while, can lack of consistancy in most average scenarios. The ultimate for its part seems like a nice ability to build around. The consensus is that it makes the cut. The question is for how much time.
Fast Lands
Enemy color fast lands. Please, yes. We’ve been looking for those since a long time. Orhzov, Golgari and Boros would enjoy receiving those. The Izzet one is also close, but URx control decks may be bother with them entering tapped after turn 4. Since we’ve just added an entire land to the cube, the first three would fit perfectly. At 450-450, I think they also, at some point, deserve a spot in cube that run all types of aggro deck and that don’t matter about colorless mana. Really satisfied with that printing. At first, I thought they was the Enemy battle lands, which would have been fine, but this is just even better!
Filigree Familiar
This little fox almost makes it. While having some part of Solemn Simulacrum and Kitchen Finks abilities is a nice start, I think it just doesn’t do enough to justify his inclusion in a cube under 720. Under that size, there’s enough artifact that are available to make the colorless section works just fine without it. Close call though. As a active cube manager, I’d keep an eye on it. Recurring Nightmare and Welder/Daretti interactions with it seems just so sweet.
Smuggler’s Copter
One of the few vehicles we add consensus to test. 2 mana looters are always good, and this one has flying and a monstrous P/T ratio. Plus, it can also loot from blocking in combat, which is awesome and unseen so far, while making as much efficient on defense than on offense. And it seems playable in a lot of different types of deck since the crew 1 looks very easy to activate. Really curious about this card.
Fleetwheel Cruiser
I think this is the best vehicle for cube by a significant marge. Being active on the turn you play it is what makes it great. And 5 trampling power looks appealing too. Though this should end up being an aggro card only, I think this is not that much of a deal. At 600, we do need more aggressive and efficient threat on the top of the curve. This also helps balance it out. Being colorless means it serves that role for any aggro decks, regardless of what color they play, and act as a aggro 4-drop addition for all colors at the same time. Our only concern has more to do with the vehicle's mechanic itself. Better, equal or worst than equipment? We’ll see. Our fear is that they end up dying to often in combat and been that way a huge tempo loss for their owners. At least this one will trade with anything that enter the field before it and the Copter has evasion to avoid that while it can also generate value during your blocking phase. Yeah, we'll see.
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