I expect Chart a Course, Carnage Tyrant, and Hostage Taker to be long-term adds... probably the Spyglass too (and the Lancers with the rule change). The rest all feel close to the bubble in their respective colors and may only stick for a short while.
For me it's just Spyglass, biggreen T Rex, and Chart a Course. Kind of pumped to have a light set honestly. Still trying to catch up from the past couple blocks.
Was able to get some games in yesterday. I never seed packs so was only able to see two new cards in action.
Sorcerous Spyglass
- I think this is the best Pithing Needle effect. If you're a fan of Needle, you'll love this. If you're not a fan of Needle, I highly recommend you give Spyglass a test. Being able to act as an Oblivion Ring + peek or a Mesmeric Fiend for 2 colorless mana is a great bargain. Shutting down my opponent's Elspeth from their hand while getting information felt so good.
Chart a Course
- Nothibg flashy, but the true power of this card is its flexibility. This can go into any blue deck and set up many plays. Chart a Course may look like a subtle card, but it is very good. Since it's not a flashy, bombastic card, I imagine it'll take a while for a lot of players to truly appreciate how good of a cube card Chart a Course is.
Overall, XLN feels a lot like AER. Not a lot for small cubes, and everything is generally utility. Not every set can be Kaladesh, which introduced vehicles and a very flashy Chandra that's easily a top 5 red card. No big shakeup cards, but the new planeswalker rule has a big impact not on just gameplay, but on both deck and cube construction.
Was able to get some more testing in this weeekenx. Chart a Course / Sorcerous Spyglass / Carnage Tyrant / Hostage Taker are all seeing regular play as expected. I got some reps in with Search for Azcanta in a Dimir Recurring Nightmare deck and it was pretty good. It’s definitely the best repeatable card filter effect that’s not on a planeswalker and being 2-cmc puts it way ahead of Thassa. I was only able to transform it once, but I was dead next turn so it didn’t matter much. Still needs more testing, especially with the land side, but the enchantment by itself is fine.
Here’s my Dimir Recurring Nightmare deck in case anybody was wondering. The deck ran very smoothly thanks to Chart a Course and Search for Azcanta. I went 2-1 overall, but 1-1 in practice since I had a bye round 2. Lost finals to Steve_Ice who was playing Grixis Reanimator / Control hybrid. Reanimator mirror matches are weird : /
This is why I am taking very little stock in the 'raid is tough to trigger in blue decks' criticisms, as these types of decks come up often both IRL and on xmage/modo/etc. Like yeah, UW no-creature control prob won't want this at least as anything other than a desperation 22nd/23rd card, but there are very few cube lists that lend to that being the only UW/UB/etc deck. It's been solid in my own experience so far as well.
After prerelease weekend I have fully committed to testing Vraska, Relic Seeker as the card was absolutely bananas in normal limited. Her minus feels like Karn and her plus protects her and makes significant threats. The ultimate can't be ignored on the card either, because if you play her while your at all ahead on board the game will most likely end 2 turns later when you use the ultimate.
Hello Cube Community on MTGSalvation. I love all the discussions that goes on in these threads for new cards and what people are planning on playing and testing. What I feel is lacking, is a continued discussion after initial testing has occurred. I'm just now settling on what I'm planning on added and came to look to see if anyone had learned anything yet with little to no success. Anyone else feel this would be valuable? Once I have testing results, I would be inclined to share them.
Hello Cube Community on MTGSalvation. I love all the discussions that goes on in these threads for new cards and what people are planning on playing and testing. What I feel is lacking, is a continued discussion after initial testing has occurred. I'm just now settling on what I'm planning on added and came to look to see if anyone had learned anything yet with little to no success. Anyone else feel this would be valuable? Once I have testing results, I would be inclined to share them.
In some of the individual threads there is more discussion, but this is overall a pretty weak set for cube so there's not a lot to talk about. A number of posters are testing ~5 cards max, and there is some discussion going on in the Search for Azcanta and there was some going on in the Rampaging Ferocidon thread. Most of the theory crafting occurred before the set came out, and sometimes you don't need much more on top of 'this is good' or 'this is bad' since the reasons why are generally covered.
Still, the best way to start discussion is to just start it yourself, so please share when you can!
can say w/ certainty that Search for Azcanta is legit; card selection & "blue ramp" rolled into 1. hell the thing might be vintage playable. blue's Sylvan Library
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Ripjaw Raptor (maybe)
Sorcerous Spyglass
Hostage Taker
Chart a Course
Ruin Raider
I already have a proxy of my puppy in as Carnage Tyrant. Hoping to get some playtest results after next weekend.
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WHITE
Adanto Vanguard (Soulfire Grand Master) TESTING
Thalia's Lancers (Baneslayer Angel)
BLUE
Chart a Course (Careful Study)
Search for Azcanta // Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin (Censor) TESTING
RED
Goblin Bombardment (Burning-Fist Minotaur)
Rampaging Ferocidon (Fire Imp) TESTING
GREEN
Carnage Tyrant (Regal Behemoth)
OTHER
Hostage Taker (The Scarab God)
Sorcerous Spyglass (Heart of Kiran)
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
WHITE
Kinjalli's Sunwing (over Consul's Lieutenant)
Thalia's Lancers (over Angel of Condemnation)
BLUE
Chart a Course (over Unsubstantiate)
BLACK
Ruin Raider (over Geralf's Messenger)
RED
Rampaging Ferocidon (over Release the Gremlins)
GREEN
Merfolk Branchwalker (over Vorapede)
Ripjaw Raptor (over Primordial Hydra)
Carnage Tyrant (over Conclave Naturalists)
DIMIR
Hostage Taker (over Agony Warp)
GOLGARI
Vraska, Relic Seeker (over Vraska the Unseen)
COLORLESS
Sorcerous Spyglass (over Steel Hellkite)
I expect Chart a Course, Carnage Tyrant, and Hostage Taker to be long-term adds... probably the Spyglass too (and the Lancers with the rule change). The rest all feel close to the bubble in their respective colors and may only stick for a short while.
Chart a Course
Search for Azcanta (testing)
B
Ruin Raider - This card has massively overperformed in my list, has seen maindeck play in multiple X-0 lists.
R
Rampaging Ferocidon (testing)
G
Ripjaw Raptor
Carnage Dinosaur
Dimir
Hostage Taker
Colorless
Sorcerous Spyglass
Here's my cube! Give it a draft!
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/the-cube-forum/articles-podcasts-and-guides/783178-set-p-review-my-top-20-ixalan-cards-for-the-cube
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!
Thalia's Lancers-> Exalted Angel
Chart a Course -> Stratus Dancer
Carnage Tyrant -> Regal Behemoth (possibly Kalonian Hydra)
Sorcerous Spyglass -> Not sure yet. Maybe Reflecting Pool
Cheers,
rant
My Cube
CubeCobra: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5f5d0310ed602310515d4c32
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Sorcerous Spyglass
- I think this is the best Pithing Needle effect. If you're a fan of Needle, you'll love this. If you're not a fan of Needle, I highly recommend you give Spyglass a test. Being able to act as an Oblivion Ring + peek or a Mesmeric Fiend for 2 colorless mana is a great bargain. Shutting down my opponent's Elspeth from their hand while getting information felt so good.
Chart a Course
- Nothibg flashy, but the true power of this card is its flexibility. This can go into any blue deck and set up many plays. Chart a Course may look like a subtle card, but it is very good. Since it's not a flashy, bombastic card, I imagine it'll take a while for a lot of players to truly appreciate how good of a cube card Chart a Course is.
Overall, XLN feels a lot like AER. Not a lot for small cubes, and everything is generally utility. Not every set can be Kaladesh, which introduced vehicles and a very flashy Chandra that's easily a top 5 red card. No big shakeup cards, but the new planeswalker rule has a big impact not on just gameplay, but on both deck and cube construction.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
100%
Chart a course
Sorcerous Spyglass
90%+
Carnage Tyrant
75%+
Hostage Taker
50%+
Ruin Raider (Too many people are sleeping on this card IMO, If I was running a traditional black agro section, he'd be 90%+)
25%+
Rampaging ferocidon
Cards I'm semi interested in but not currently testing:
Search for Azcanta
Legion's Landing
Vraska, Relic Seeker
Treasure Map
Regisaur Alpha
Ripjaw Raptor
Vraska's Contempt
Siren stormtamer
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Here’s my Dimir Recurring Nightmare deck in case anybody was wondering. The deck ran very smoothly thanks to Chart a Course and Search for Azcanta. I went 2-1 overall, but 1-1 in practice since I had a bye round 2. Lost finals to Steve_Ice who was playing Grixis Reanimator / Control hybrid. Reanimator mirror matches are weird : /
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
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945 Card Commander Cube
Rotisserie Drafted Commander Cube Commanders
In some of the individual threads there is more discussion, but this is overall a pretty weak set for cube so there's not a lot to talk about. A number of posters are testing ~5 cards max, and there is some discussion going on in the Search for Azcanta and there was some going on in the Rampaging Ferocidon thread. Most of the theory crafting occurred before the set came out, and sometimes you don't need much more on top of 'this is good' or 'this is bad' since the reasons why are generally covered.
Still, the best way to start discussion is to just start it yourself, so please share when you can!
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
Performed as expected (really didn’t need to test these to know how they would play out):
- Sorcerous Spyglass
- Chart a Course
- Carnage Tyrant
- Hostage Taker
- Thalia’s Lancers (not really an XLN card)
Exceeded expectations during testing, will survive in my cube for forseeable future:
- Search for Azcanta (sleeper of the set)
Replaceable (lukewarm at best in testing, will be replaced or already has been replaced):
- Rampaging Ferocidon
- Adanto Vanguard
I’m curious to see how Growing Rites of Itlamoc is doing. I think it’s the trap of the set, but I could be wrong.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra