I think we are ready for this thread. We can always edit if we get a last minute gem. Please post your cube size/style and immediate includes/tests/cards you're watching from WAR. Also notes from your test runs go here.
The power level of this set is extremely high and with that we have quite a few cube contenders. Unfortunately they are all mythics or legendary rares continuing the trend of cubes skewing towards the same. Not a good set for the wallet, but a very strong set in terms of the number of contributions this set will offer for most cubes.
What a cool set. I don't even like the planeswalker theme, but still cool.
I'm most excited about Blast Zone. I really like boosting Life from the Loam
The other two includes are straight upgrades. They're not too exciting, but can't complain.
Testing: Saheeli, Sublime Artificer <= Man o’ War: Broader archetype support, and I don’t run any Show and Tell - type cards, so jellyfish is at best a Reveillark trick or Recruiter target. Vivien’s Arkbow <= Song of Freylise: I feel like Arkbow does something unique, so it’s worth a try. But where Song is explosive, Arkbow is extremely inefficient, so I don’t expect it to last, and won’t even experiment with it if it stays over $2. Mizzium Tank <= Chandra’s Phoenix: Bridges artifacts into the spells/aggro line. Also lets me trade Molten Rain for Stone Rain, which I’ve been hoping to do. Teferi, Time Raveler <= Lyev Skyknight: Skyknight’s secretly a boss, but still I like the Teferi Flash thing, and am willing to give it a shot. The numbers of loyalty on Teferi make me a little suspicious, and kind of imply it’s a 3-mana Repulse+2 life, but I really like the Teferi gimmick and am willing to proxy it for a meetup.
Around 1600, low power. I add cards as I open them, and only order my absolute favorites otherwise. This is quite the set! Lots of great cards without even looking at the rares and mythics.
I'm most excited about Karn and Ashiok. Lazotep Reaver almost went in, and Kaya, Bane of the Dead was closer than I would have thought to going it. It definitely overperformed in draft.I opened Sarkhan in a prize pack, but my whole playgroup agrees he sucks.
Liliana's Triumph for Diabolic Edict
Vivien's Arkbow for Fleetwheel Cruiser
God-Eternal Bontu for Sadisi, Undead Vizier
Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin for Sin Prodder
Testing (my prerelease ranking):
God-Eternal Kefnet (for Sphinx of Jwar Isle?)
Finale of Devastation
Domri, Anarch of Bolas (for Cindervines?)
Saheeli, Sublime Artificer
Gideon's Blackblade
Teferi, Time Raveler
Angrath's Rampage
Explosion Zone
Ilharg, the Raze-Boar (for Keldon Vandals?)
Dreadhorde Arcanist
Massacre Girl
360 Powered, just slotting in Blast Zone and Finale of Devastation. Blast zone looks like a staple, and Finale looks great too. Not sure what to cut yet, but for green I'm guessing Oracle of Mul Daya is getting the boot and for colorless Coercive Portal is possibly getting dropped (although Portal has been super good for us, there are just so few other cuts). Thoughts?
WAR test/watchlist:
Whirler Rogue > God-Eternal Kefnet
Najeela, the Blade-Blossom > Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin
Koth of the Hammer > Ilharg, the Raze-Boar
Oath of Druids > Vivien's Arkbow OR Finale of Devastation
Ancient Grudge > Domri, Anarch of Bolas
Saheeli, the Gifted > Saheeli, Sublime Artificer
Hedron Archive > Blast Zone
Land: Blast Zone in over Westvale Abbey. This is my easiest swap. Abbey has basically been a wasted slot. I don't understand how everyone on this board is not snap including this land. Objectively the best card in the set IMO. Mobilized District in for ????. I think this land will have some play but I'm not sure what to cut for it yet.
Includes:
White: Finale of Glory over Mirror Entity. Mirror Entity's kinda outlived its time in the cube, but never actually got cut. I'd initially identified this as a cut for Gideon Blackblade, and then maybe for Oketra, but ultimately, I think that Finale is the best white card to add from the set.
Blue: God-Eternal Kefnet over Thirst for Knowledge. Somewhat similar position to Mirror Entity, Thirst for Knowledge doesn't really get drafted highly these days.
Black: Liliana's Triumph over Chainer's Edict. Switching an expensive flashback out for instant-speed. This would otherwise have been Diabolic Edict.
Red: Ilharg, the Raze-Boar over Goblin Dark-Dwellers. I really wanted to add Ilharg, but the only viable cut was another 5-drop, since there are so many of them in my cube right now. GDD doesn't perform nearly as well as the rest, so it gets the axe.
Green: Vivien's Arkbow over Berserk. Berserk is fairly terrible in cube drafts, but has survived largely due to nostalgia and wanting for green to have some instants. Vivien's Arkbow isn't a card that I'm convinced will stick around, and there may be a better card to fill this gap, but it gets first dibs since it's new. Finale of Devastation over Collected Company. Collected Company is fine, but I'm more excited to have another Zenith effect with upside in a massive ramp strategy.
Colorless: Blast Zone over Fleetwheel Cruiser. Finding space for another utility land was tougher than expected. Fleetwheel Cruiser is fine, but I didn't want to axe another land or colorless creature.
Testing/Maybe: God-Eternal Oketra. I like this card in theory but don't have a cut identified for her. Liliana, Dreadhorde General over Liliana, Death's Majesty. I've cooled on this Liliana since PAX, but will take her for a spin if I open her. Vivien, Champion of the Wilds over Nissa, Voice of Zendikar. I'm only really comfortable replacing this Nissa as opposed to another slot in green, but am not convinced that Vivien will perform at this level. She can't protect herself nearly as well, but like the options she theoretically provides.
Cards I am going to test extensively, but don't expect to stay around.
Ilharg, the Raze-Boar: Replacing Thundermaw Hellkite. I don't think it's better than Thundermaw, but it's the easiest change to make to test. That tends to be how I test new cards unless they need to synergize with other similar cards. Vivian's Archbow: Replacing Hermit Druid. I love that little guy, and my group loves to play him, but there's only so much room to make changes and I imagine similar decks will enjoy the Archbow. Nexus decks will miss Druid though. Finale of Devastation: Replacing either Chord of Calling or Selvala's Stampede. While stampede is an awesome card, my it's the least played of all the cheatty cards in my group and goes late quite often. My cube is unpowered, but designed like a Vintage cube to be just one turn slower, and that makes Stampede noticeably worse. Chord of Calling is the easiest cut since they are similar cards. But I'm curious if having all of these in the cube together will make the green toolbox strategy my group loves more consistent. God-Eternal Bontu: Replacing Tasigur, the Golden Fang. Tasigur is a card that always sees play, but is never really a great card. Kind of like Goyf in that it's a cheap threat with some applications, but I think as creatures have gotten better over time, neither of those cards are necessary anymore. I'm sure banana man will end up back in my cube at some point, but I want to test Bontu. I don't expect him to be great, but the fact that he can just draw your deck in some scenarios I think is super awesome. I know one time I'm going to draft a sweet sultai deck, sac all my permanents to draw my deck, play Crucible + Fastbond, replay all my lands, cast Nexus for infinite turns
Cards that I really want to add/test but I probably wont:
Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin: I think he will eventually end up in my cube. Right now I have three red three-drops on the cuter end: Squee, Goblin Nabob, Goblin Sharpshooter, and Combat Celebrant. After more testing I plan on cutting one of those cards and replacing it with Krenko. Fblthp, the Lost: I love the character, and an Elvish Visionary isn't bad. Maybe if the toolbox deck gets enough better with both Vivian's Archbow and Finale of Devastation. So if both of those cards pass the test, I'll try out this cut boi. Narset, Partner of Veils: This is the kind of card that is awesome in decks that my playgroup loves, but just has too much competition to add right now. I really like the combo with draw sevens, and I think she will eventually make it in my list if even for a short while.
Cards i'm testing. Ranked by my estimation it'll stay around for a year+.
95%+
Liliana's Triumph
Ilharg, the Raze-Boar (After testing, my playgroup loves it)
75%+
Liliana, Dreadhorde General (I believe she's 95%+ Elspeth/Chandra tier.
The card is being slept on and very powerful imo)
Vivien's Arkbow
God eternal Kefnet
50%+
Saheeli, Sublime Artificer
Finale of Devastation
Domri, Anarch of Bolas
25%+
Blast Zone
Angrath's Rampage
Gideon Blackblade
10%-
Roalesk, Apex Hybrid
Vivien, Champion of the Wilds
God-Eternal Bontu
Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner
Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves
Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God
Cards I may eventually test:
Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin
Ugin, the Ineffable
Dreadhorde Invasion
Evolution Sage
Teferi, Time Raveler
Dreadhorde Arcanist
Bolas's Citadel
Paradise Druid
Return to Nature
Despark
Enter the God-Eternals
Exciting news. I'm also in the early stages of devoloping a secondary Arfifact Cube for my group. Timing of this decision was very good here (it seems) with the unexpected return of PROLIFERATE!! So...more cards..
I think this is one of the more exciting cube sets in a while, but I guess that is not exactly a hot take. My current test plan:
Ilharg, the Raze Boar
God-Eternal Kefnet
Krenko, Tin-Street Kingpin
Vivien's Arkbow
Saheeli, Sublime Artificer
Domri, Anarch of Bolas
Blast Zone
I cannot remember the last time I wanted to test 7 cards from a set; I am usually quite picky and I'd rather not spend the loot. Will be playing with 4 players on Thursday, hopefully I can report back then.
God-Eternal Kefnet
- Blue really makes the most out of the recursion ability since it can easily dig up Kefnet after it dies and re-deploy it almost immediately. Being a strong spells matters cards on top of being a recursive stat monster itself is super solid.
Vivien's Arkbow
- Pretty useless early game, but helps solve ramp's big weakness early game and that's running out of steam. Being able to deploy uncounterable threats at instant speed is great against ramp's worst matchup, control. One thing I've seen more than once is how useful Arkbow is against Teferi. Not only does it make his -3 very weak against creatures, but you're able to play around the counterspell mana that Teferi leaves open.
Blast Zone
- I'm pretty sold that this is the best card from WAR for multiple reasons
- It's very rare for a land to be able to generate card advantage on its own
- Can slot into any deck
- Unlike the other Keg / EE variants, this taps for mana and can reasonably hit bigger targets. Seriously, I could've blown up an Atarka today if I wanted
to.
Saheeli, Sublime Artificer
- I've only seen it in a burn deck so far, and I'm not even sure that was a good shell for her. The one time I saw her go off with artifacts, I was able to race / wall her with Meloku.
I've yet to see Gideon / Krenko / Liliana's Triumph in action, but there's already so many close analogies that I don't need to test those cards to know they're good (especially Liliana's Triumph since that's pretty much a strict upgrade). Finale of Glory is another card that I haven't seen in action yet, but right now I'm pretty convinced that it's not any better than Secure the Wastes, because the surprise factor is so huge for that card.
Kaya's Ghostform
I cut this. Comboing with Sun Titan was a cute idea, but after seeing Ghostform go last each draft I decided to give it up. If one or two more cards are printed in the future that work with it, I could see giving it another try, but there's not enough synergy in the cube to make it good yet.
Krenko
No clue where this sits on the red 3's list, but I'm still happily testing it. Not blown away, and not unimpressed. Probably going to take more drafts before I get a real feel for it.
Wall of Runes
I've been impressed here. Aggro was dominating in my cube, and I've been making changes to help control. This seems to be a good one so far. For the control decks that don't get the cheap removal, this has been a good late pick to help absorb some damage early on. I originally thought it might only show up in mono blue, since that deck has no cheap removal options, but someone maindecked it in a Jeskai Splinter Twin deck, and it seemed fine. I may still end up cutting it since it's a terrible topdeck, but I have no plans to do so currently.
I run a 450 unpowered.
Including
God-Eternal Kefnet in for Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin in for War-Name Aspirant
Domri, Anarch of Bolas in for Xenagos, the Reveler
Liliana's Triumph in for Chainer's Edict
Will Test
Finale of Glory in for Entreat the Angels
God-Eternal Oketra in for Thalia's Lancers
God-Eternal Bontuin for Tasigur, the Golden Fang
Ilharg, The Raze-Boar in for Bosh, Iron Golem
Finale of Devastation in for Curse of Predation
Will Watch
Finale of Eternity
Vivien's Arkbow
Saheeli, Sublime Artificer
The power level of this set is extremely high and with that we have quite a few cube contenders. Unfortunately they are all mythics or legendary rares continuing the trend of cubes skewing towards the same. Not a good set for the wallet, but a very strong set in terms of the number of contributions this set will offer for most cubes.
Testing, probably won't make a cut, but I liked the cards
http://www.cubetutor.com/cubeblog/63569
Blast Zone
Return to Nature
Liliana’s Triumph
Testing
Saheeli, Sublime Artificer
Angrath's Wrath
What a cool set. I don't even like the planeswalker theme, but still cool.
I'm most excited about Blast Zone. I really like boosting Life from the Loam
The other two includes are straight upgrades. They're not too exciting, but can't complain.
Saheeli, Sublime Artificer <= Man o’ War: Broader archetype support, and I don’t run any Show and Tell - type cards, so jellyfish is at best a Reveillark trick or Recruiter target.
Vivien’s Arkbow <= Song of Freylise: I feel like Arkbow does something unique, so it’s worth a try. But where Song is explosive, Arkbow is extremely inefficient, so I don’t expect it to last, and won’t even experiment with it if it stays over $2.
Mizzium Tank <= Chandra’s Phoenix: Bridges artifacts into the spells/aggro line. Also lets me trade Molten Rain for Stone Rain, which I’ve been hoping to do.
Teferi, Time Raveler <= Lyev Skyknight: Skyknight’s secretly a boss, but still I like the Teferi Flash thing, and am willing to give it a shot. The numbers of loyalty on Teferi make me a little suspicious, and kind of imply it’s a 3-mana Repulse+2 life, but I really like the Teferi gimmick and am willing to proxy it for a meetup.
There's so much incidental hate in this set! Narset, Parter of Veils, Tomik, Distinguished Advokist, Return to Nature, and Karn, the Great Creator just to name a few. These are all "hatebears" in that their hate comes in a package that is otherwise useful for something. I like having cards like that around.
Commons/Uncommons I definitely want to try:
Rares/Mythics I want to actively acquire at some point:
Commons/Uncommons I might try (depending on my sister's opinion):
Rares/Mythics I'll probably try if I open (again depending on my sister's opinion):
EDIT:
Goblin Freerunner --> Neheb, Dreadhorde Champion
Serpentine Spike --> Finale of Promise
Soulflayer --> Bolas's Citadel
Halo Hunter --> God-Eternal Bontu
Naturalize --> Return to Nature
Manaforge Cinder --> Angrath's Rampage
Call of the Nightwing --> Ashiok, Dream Render
Sturdy Hatchling --> Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner
Corpsejack Menace --> Storrev, Devkarin Lich
Cankerous Thirst --> Deathsprout
Filling free colorless slot: Karn, the Great Creator!
I'm most excited about Karn and Ashiok. Lazotep Reaver almost went in, and Kaya, Bane of the Dead was closer than I would have thought to going it. It definitely overperformed in draft.I opened Sarkhan in a prize pack, but my whole playgroup agrees he sucks.
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.
Liliana's Triumph for Diabolic Edict
Vivien's Arkbow for Fleetwheel Cruiser
God-Eternal Bontu for Sadisi, Undead Vizier
Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin for Sin Prodder
Testing (my prerelease ranking):
God-Eternal Kefnet (for Sphinx of Jwar Isle?)
Finale of Devastation
Domri, Anarch of Bolas (for Cindervines?)
Saheeli, Sublime Artificer
Gideon's Blackblade
Teferi, Time Raveler
Angrath's Rampage
Explosion Zone
Ilharg, the Raze-Boar (for Keldon Vandals?)
Dreadhorde Arcanist
Massacre Girl
My 540 card Powered Cube last updated March 2022
- God-Eternal Kefnet
- Liliana's Triumph
- Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin
- Vivien's Arkbow
- Blast Zone
Might test / watchlist
- Finale of Glory
- Gideon Blackblade
- Finale of Devastation
- Saheeli, Sublime Artificer
- Mobilized District
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
Liliana's Triumph (over Diabolic Edict - strict upgrade)
God-Eternal Kefnet (over Deprive - only tempo decks played Deprive, and not even all of them wanted it)
Ilharg, the Raze-Boar (over Neheb, the Eternal - a creature I would still recommend if you are heavily supporting Wildfire, but Ilharg is better)
Domri, Anarch of Bolas (over Tattermunge Maniac - there are enough aggro 1-drops in those colors)
God-Eternal Bontu (over Raven's Crime - drafted reanimator a couple weeks ago and Raven's Crime was unnecessary)
Blast Zone (over All is Dust - no one played All is Dust)
Testing:
Finale of Devastation (over Den Protector - a perennial late pick and underperformer)
Vivien's Arkbow (over Birthing Pod - people draft this and can never make it work)
Saheeli, Sublime Artificer (over Ral Zarek - Ral has only done one awesome thing in all the years I've cubed with him)
Check out my competitive Ezuri, Claw of Progress primer!
WAR updates:
Diabolic Edict > Liliana's Triumph
WAR test/watchlist:
Whirler Rogue > God-Eternal Kefnet
Najeela, the Blade-Blossom > Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin
Koth of the Hammer > Ilharg, the Raze-Boar
Oath of Druids > Vivien's Arkbow OR Finale of Devastation
Ancient Grudge > Domri, Anarch of Bolas
Saheeli, the Gifted > Saheeli, Sublime Artificer
Hedron Archive > Blast Zone
White:
Finale of Glory in over Sram's Expertise. More flexibility and more power.
God-Eternal Oketra in over Thalia's Lancers. I think this god will play better in practice than the theory-craft predicts.
Blue:
God-Eternal Kefnet in over Clever Impersonator. Kefnet is a bomb and Impersonator has been squishy for us.
Black:
Liliana's Triumph in over Diabolic Edict Strict upgrade!
God-Eternal Bontu in over Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath. Ob Nix should have been cut a while ago. I think Bont2 is going to be very strong.
Red:
Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin in over Manic Vandal. If I miss Vandal too much I'll slot him back in over Pia Nalaar.
Ilharg, the Raze-Boar in over Shrine of Burning Rage. This will be my fourth red 5.
Green:
Vivien's Arkbow in over Oath of Nissa. Arkbow seems like it will have a bigger impact all around.
Finale of Devastation in over ???? (Den Protector, Untamed Kavu, and Jadelight Ranger are possible cuts).
Land:
Blast Zone in over Westvale Abbey. This is my easiest swap. Abbey has basically been a wasted slot. I don't understand how everyone on this board is not snap including this land. Objectively the best card in the set IMO.
Mobilized District in for ????. I think this land will have some play but I'm not sure what to cut for it yet.
Multicolor:
Domri, Anarch of Bolas in for Fires of Yavimaya. (Gonna have to find a replacement for Sarkhan Vol at some point but I'm not in a hurry).
Saheeli, Sublime Artificer in for Dack's Duplicate. I'll have three walkers in Izzet and will likely replace one of them with Expansion//Explosion as soon as I get my hands on a copy.
Saheeli, Sublime Artificer in for Ral Zarek
Domri, Anarch of Bolas in for Ghor-Clan Rampager
Blast Zone filling my last land slot.
Watching:
Vivien's Arkbow
Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin in for Legion Warboss
Wall of Runes in for Thing in the Ice
Kaya's Ghostform in for Buried Alive
Watching:
Ilharg, the Raze-Boar
God-Eternal Oketra
White, Red and Green Finales
Massacre Girl
[180 classic cube]
White:
Finale of Glory over Mirror Entity. Mirror Entity's kinda outlived its time in the cube, but never actually got cut. I'd initially identified this as a cut for Gideon Blackblade, and then maybe for Oketra, but ultimately, I think that Finale is the best white card to add from the set.
Blue:
God-Eternal Kefnet over Thirst for Knowledge. Somewhat similar position to Mirror Entity, Thirst for Knowledge doesn't really get drafted highly these days.
Black:
Liliana's Triumph over Chainer's Edict. Switching an expensive flashback out for instant-speed. This would otherwise have been Diabolic Edict.
Red:
Ilharg, the Raze-Boar over Goblin Dark-Dwellers. I really wanted to add Ilharg, but the only viable cut was another 5-drop, since there are so many of them in my cube right now. GDD doesn't perform nearly as well as the rest, so it gets the axe.
Green:
Vivien's Arkbow over Berserk. Berserk is fairly terrible in cube drafts, but has survived largely due to nostalgia and wanting for green to have some instants. Vivien's Arkbow isn't a card that I'm convinced will stick around, and there may be a better card to fill this gap, but it gets first dibs since it's new.
Finale of Devastation over Collected Company. Collected Company is fine, but I'm more excited to have another Zenith effect with upside in a massive ramp strategy.
Multicolor:
Domri, Anarch of Bolas over Bloodbraid Elf(?). I'm really excited about Domri! I'm not sure that BBE is the best cut, but BBE also rarely feels like a Gruul card. I'm not ready to cut Sarkhan Vol.
Saheeli, Sublime Artificer over Dack's Duplicate. As others have noted, this brings me to 3 Izzet walkers as well. I also want to fit Expansion//Explosion in, but for now, it would be replacing Izzet Charm.
Colorless:
Blast Zone over Fleetwheel Cruiser. Finding space for another utility land was tougher than expected. Fleetwheel Cruiser is fine, but I didn't want to axe another land or colorless creature.
Testing/Maybe:
God-Eternal Oketra. I like this card in theory but don't have a cut identified for her.
Liliana, Dreadhorde General over Liliana, Death's Majesty. I've cooled on this Liliana since PAX, but will take her for a spin if I open her.
Vivien, Champion of the Wilds over Nissa, Voice of Zendikar. I'm only really comfortable replacing this Nissa as opposed to another slot in green, but am not convinced that Vivien will perform at this level. She can't protect herself nearly as well, but like the options she theoretically provides.
Draft my cube! (630 cards)
God-Eternal Kefnet: Replacing a 3cc Utility creature. Champion of Wits/Man-o'-war. Note, I play Exclusion Mage for a humans package so I think cutting Man-o'-war is fine.
Saheeli, Sublime Artificer: Replacing Niv-Mizzet, Parun. While that card is a powerful and awesome card, 6cmc threats are abundant. I support the spells matters archetype, the artifact deck, and token strats. Saheeli feels like a slam dunk.
Blast Zone: No clue what to cut. The easiest cut is Throne of the High City, but I really like that card and will likely look for something else.
Liliana's Triumph: easy swap with Diabolic Edict.
Cards I am going to test extensively, but don't expect to stay around.
Ilharg, the Raze-Boar: Replacing Thundermaw Hellkite. I don't think it's better than Thundermaw, but it's the easiest change to make to test. That tends to be how I test new cards unless they need to synergize with other similar cards.
Vivian's Archbow: Replacing Hermit Druid. I love that little guy, and my group loves to play him, but there's only so much room to make changes and I imagine similar decks will enjoy the Archbow. Nexus decks will miss Druid though.
Finale of Devastation: Replacing either Chord of Calling or Selvala's Stampede. While stampede is an awesome card, my it's the least played of all the cheatty cards in my group and goes late quite often. My cube is unpowered, but designed like a Vintage cube to be just one turn slower, and that makes Stampede noticeably worse. Chord of Calling is the easiest cut since they are similar cards. But I'm curious if having all of these in the cube together will make the green toolbox strategy my group loves more consistent.
God-Eternal Bontu: Replacing Tasigur, the Golden Fang. Tasigur is a card that always sees play, but is never really a great card. Kind of like Goyf in that it's a cheap threat with some applications, but I think as creatures have gotten better over time, neither of those cards are necessary anymore. I'm sure banana man will end up back in my cube at some point, but I want to test Bontu. I don't expect him to be great, but the fact that he can just draw your deck in some scenarios I think is super awesome. I know one time I'm going to draft a sweet sultai deck, sac all my permanents to draw my deck, play Crucible + Fastbond, replay all my lands, cast Nexus for infinite turns
Cards that I really want to add/test but I probably wont:
Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin: I think he will eventually end up in my cube. Right now I have three red three-drops on the cuter end: Squee, Goblin Nabob, Goblin Sharpshooter, and Combat Celebrant. After more testing I plan on cutting one of those cards and replacing it with Krenko.
Fblthp, the Lost: I love the character, and an Elvish Visionary isn't bad. Maybe if the toolbox deck gets enough better with both Vivian's Archbow and Finale of Devastation. So if both of those cards pass the test, I'll try out this cut boi.
Narset, Partner of Veils: This is the kind of card that is awesome in decks that my playgroup loves, but just has too much competition to add right now. I really like the combo with draw sevens, and I think she will eventually make it in my list if even for a short while.
Social Media: Twitter, Twitch
MTG Articles: 200+ Articles on StarCityGames.com, MTG Draft AI Article
MTG AI Code: Limited Draft Bot, CubeCobra Recommender System
95%+
Liliana's Triumph
Ilharg, the Raze-Boar (After testing, my playgroup loves it)
75%+
Liliana, Dreadhorde General (I believe she's 95%+ Elspeth/Chandra tier.
The card is being slept on and very powerful imo)
Vivien's Arkbow
God eternal Kefnet
50%+
Saheeli, Sublime Artificer
Finale of Devastation
Domri, Anarch of Bolas
25%+
Blast Zone
Angrath's Rampage
Gideon Blackblade
10%-
Roalesk, Apex Hybrid
Vivien, Champion of the Wilds
God-Eternal Bontu
Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner
Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves
Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God
Cards I may eventually test:
Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin
Ugin, the Ineffable
Dreadhorde Invasion
Evolution Sage
Teferi, Time Raveler
Dreadhorde Arcanist
Bolas's Citadel
Paradise Druid
Return to Nature
Despark
Enter the God-Eternals
Last Updated 02/07/24
Streaming Standard/Cube on Twitch https://www.twitch.tv/heisenb3rg96
Strategy Twitter https://www.twitter.com/heisenb3rg
Eldrazi Displacer -> Gideon Blackblade
Sea Gate Oracle -> Wall of Runes
Baral's Expertise -> God-Eternal Kefnet
Divest -> Liliana's Triumph
Ahn-Crop Crasher -> Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin
Goblin Dark-Dwellers -> Ilharg, the Raze-Boar
Explore -> Return to Nature
Ripjaw Raptor -> Vivien's Arkbow
Regal Behemoth -> Finale of Devastation
Kird Ape -> Domri, Anarch of Bolas
Ral Zarek -> Saheeli, Sublime Artificer
Thought-Knot Seer -> Blast Zone
I'll be watching Oketra, Bontu, and Finale of Glory as well, but unless I open one I don't plan to test them out.
For my main cube:
Blast Zone
Karn's Bastion
God-Eternal Oketra
Finale of Glory
God-Eternal Kefnet
Narset, Parter of Veils(maybe)Eternal Taskmaster
God-Eternal Bontu
Liliana's Triumph
Liliana, Dreadhorde General
Ob Nixilis, the Hate-TwistedThe Elderspell(we play MP games)Dreadhorde Arcanist
Ilharg, the Raze-Boar
Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin
Return to Nature
Domri, Anarch of Bolas
Saheeli, Sublime Artificer
Exciting news. I'm also in the early stages of devoloping a secondary Arfifact Cube for my group. Timing of this decision was very good here (it seems) with the unexpected return of PROLIFERATE!! So...more cards..
Blast Zone
Karn's Bastion
Karn, the Great Creator
Ugin, the Ineffable
Grateful Apparition
Flux Channeler
Mizzium Tank
Evolution Sage
Jiang Yanggu, Wildcrafter
Vivien's Arkbow
Saheeli, Sublime Artificer
Nahiri, Storm of StoneMerfolk Skydiver
GREAT set overall. I hope they keep this up.
Fully-powered 600-Card "Dream Cube" https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/dreamcube
450-Card "Artificer's Cube" https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/artificer
Cubing in Indianapolis...send me a PM!!
Ilharg, the Raze Boar
God-Eternal Kefnet
Krenko, Tin-Street Kingpin
Vivien's Arkbow
Saheeli, Sublime Artificer
Domri, Anarch of Bolas
Blast Zone
I cannot remember the last time I wanted to test 7 cards from a set; I am usually quite picky and I'd rather not spend the loot. Will be playing with 4 players on Thursday, hopefully I can report back then.
Liliana’s Triumph
Blast zone
Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin
Saheeli, Sublime Artificer (testing)
For Artifact cube I want to up the proliferate cards:
Karn’s Bastion
Evolution Sage
Karn, the great Creator
Vivien’s Arkbow (testing)
Saheeli, Sublime Artificer (testing)
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!
finale of devastation got played in a sweet lands deck to find ramunap excavator for a strip mine lock which was pretty sick.
Mana geode was just a average rock as usual but helped with fixing in a Temur deck while acting as late game filtering.
karn's bastion was good. worked great in my simic counters deck with nissa, voice of zendikar
God-Eternal Kefnet
- Blue really makes the most out of the recursion ability since it can easily dig up Kefnet after it dies and re-deploy it almost immediately. Being a strong spells matters cards on top of being a recursive stat monster itself is super solid.
Vivien's Arkbow
- Pretty useless early game, but helps solve ramp's big weakness early game and that's running out of steam. Being able to deploy uncounterable threats at instant speed is great against ramp's worst matchup, control. One thing I've seen more than once is how useful Arkbow is against Teferi. Not only does it make his -3 very weak against creatures, but you're able to play around the counterspell mana that Teferi leaves open.
Blast Zone
- I'm pretty sold that this is the best card from WAR for multiple reasons
- It's very rare for a land to be able to generate card advantage on its own
- Can slot into any deck
- Unlike the other Keg / EE variants, this taps for mana and can reasonably hit bigger targets. Seriously, I could've blown up an Atarka today if I wanted
to.
Saheeli, Sublime Artificer
- I've only seen it in a burn deck so far, and I'm not even sure that was a good shell for her. The one time I saw her go off with artifacts, I was able to race / wall her with Meloku.
I've yet to see Gideon / Krenko / Liliana's Triumph in action, but there's already so many close analogies that I don't need to test those cards to know they're good (especially Liliana's Triumph since that's pretty much a strict upgrade). Finale of Glory is another card that I haven't seen in action yet, but right now I'm pretty convinced that it's not any better than Secure the Wastes, because the surprise factor is so huge for that card.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
Kaya's Ghostform
I cut this. Comboing with Sun Titan was a cute idea, but after seeing Ghostform go last each draft I decided to give it up. If one or two more cards are printed in the future that work with it, I could see giving it another try, but there's not enough synergy in the cube to make it good yet.
Krenko
No clue where this sits on the red 3's list, but I'm still happily testing it. Not blown away, and not unimpressed. Probably going to take more drafts before I get a real feel for it.
Wall of Runes
I've been impressed here. Aggro was dominating in my cube, and I've been making changes to help control. This seems to be a good one so far. For the control decks that don't get the cheap removal, this has been a good late pick to help absorb some damage early on. I originally thought it might only show up in mono blue, since that deck has no cheap removal options, but someone maindecked it in a Jeskai Splinter Twin deck, and it seemed fine. I may still end up cutting it since it's a terrible topdeck, but I have no plans to do so currently.
[180 classic cube]