Super weird enchantment land, but this can find Power which is really cool. Might be too slow for powered cubes, but flavor is off the charts on this one though.
Excited for more Sagas in pushed power level set. Maybe that Saga of the Helvault card meant for C21 will show up here.
This feels like playing a Great Furnace in your cube.
It really doesn't have any value outside of a dedicated artifact deck.
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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
If you play this card on turn 2 and have another land (or a rock/dork), you are having a good time as you will likely have two 3/3s (tokens pumped by each other and what you tutor for) by turn 4, which seems pretty fantastic for a line of play that uses nothing from your hand. If you played a 1-drop artifact and end up with two 4/4s, you are doing even better.
Of course, a powered cube gets much better mileage out of this as it is more likely to be mana neutral when it sacrifices itself. Even without that, I'd recommend this thing for experimentation. The opportunity cost is minimal relative to the benefits as it only takes up a land slot and cheap artifacts shouldn't be too hard to come by (depending on the cube).
This card is super wierd. I think this is going to be a pass for me in unpowered.
It's great when you have nothing to do but I'd rather be playing my powerful cube cards then make the constructs... and then i'm going to be set back a land to boot? I dunno if that's what I am looking for, but still a really cool design.
We play powered, so whoever picks this will always have a mox or piece of power to fetch, and a colorless land that can tap to make 2 giant artifact tokens is frankly insane, that being before you even factor in the potential for Wrenn and Six/Crucible of Worlds/Ramunap Excavator/Life from the Loam/Kiora's Follower/any of the other thousand ways to recur or untap lands in cube. This is a legitimate win condition strapped onto an untapped colorless land.
Only real weaknesses are that it's an enchantment that can be hit by Reclamation Sage/Knight of Autumn/Teferi, Time Raveler/Pest Infestation/etc and it's probably not great if you don't have something to fetch. But tbh I think that's only an issue for unpowered cubes since most decks in powered can typically get one copy of an OG Mox/Black Lotus/Sol Ring/Mana Crypt/Mana Vault or even lesser artifacts like Skullclamp/Pithing Needle/Sensei's Divining Top, and even if they don't somebody else who does will gladly pick this card. It should also be mentioned that Sagas trigger only after the draw phase ends, so if you decide to float mana on the third turn in response to the sacrifice trigger you will still have access to the mana until the end of your first main phase, so if you grab a mox off the tutor this will effectively ramp you an extra colorless mana for the turn at no cost.
Absolutely filthy
Edit: Just realized this also grabs Bomat Courier, this just keeps getting better
Too bad it wasn't worded like Trinket Mage ...it would be nice to be able to tutor up Engineered Explosives, Hangarback Walker and Walking Ballista ...but this sees like it's still an awesome support card for the artifact.dec, especially in powered cubes where it cashes itself in for a Mox when it's done. If you can play it in a spot where you can make 2 Constructs and tutor up an artifact ...from a card that took up a land drop... it'll function like a colorless 3-for-1, which is pretty boss. Worth tinkering with to see how it plays, IMO.
This land does a lot in powered cubes. Being able to grab a Lotus / Moxen / Sol Ring / Mana Crypt / Skullclamp / Sensei's Divining Top etc is pretty big game for what it's worth. You can also build two Karnstructs with this, and those things can get out of hand really quickly in the right deck.
For any cube playing Trinket Mage, this is probably going to be a lot better in many scenarios since the opportunity cost is much lower. Not only that, but it's better in more archetypes to. For example, I can run this in a Lurrus deck just to fetch up my Skullclamp / Bonesplitter. Too bad it's specifically worded with mana cost and not mana value, would've been cool to fetch a Lotus Bloom / Engineered Explosives.
Too bad it wasn't worded like Trinket Mage ...it would be nice to be able to tutor up Engineered Explosives, Hangarback Walker and Walking Ballista ...but this sees like it's still an awesome support card for the artifact.dec, especially in powered cubes where it cashes itself in for a Mox when it's done. If you can play it in a spot where you can make 2 Constructs and tutor up an artifact ...from a card that took up a land drop... it'll function like a colorless 3-for-1, which is pretty boss. Worth tinkering with to see how it plays, IMO.
Even if you could fetch them, the XX dudes just die immediately. Unless you mean changing the search restriction *and* the destination zone — but you’ll probably be glad for the 1 mana savings when you’re getting something 1 cost.
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I primarily play limited, so most of my spoiler season comments view cards through that lens.
Very cool design, but probably a safe pass in unpowered. 5 targets in my cube, and skull clamp is the only really exciting one. So it's basically 2 constructs for 6 mana over 2 turns, then you lose your land.
This feels like playing a Great Furnace in your cube.
It really doesn't have any value outside of a dedicated artifact deck.
Great Furnace can’t make two beefy bodies or fetch a skullclamp.
I guess. I could see it being more relevant in a 360 powered cube where you're more or less quarantined to get a Moxen/ Crypt after the third saga to mitigate its drawback.
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It looks super interesting for powered. For unpowered, there are very few profitable targets to grab with the III trigger.
Quote from NotScottMescudi »
It should also be mentioned that Sagas trigger only after the draw phase ends, so if you decide to float mana on the third turn in response to the sacrifice trigger you will still have access to the mana until the end of your first main phase, so if you grab a mox off the tutor this will effectively ramp you an extra colorless mana for the turn at no cost.
This is definitely key, lets you Tinker the thing you just searched up...
This card is busted in decks with fast mana, great in artifact decks, and terrible everywhere else. I'll run it because the ceiling is so high, but I don't like that it mostly just makes the best cards in the cube even better. Though, I do like the idea of turning a Disenchant into Stone Rain...
I want to like this card, but if you don't drop it turn one it is slow and useless. Even then there aren't a ton of targets even with power cube.
It's actually not ideal on T1. You'd want to play it on T2 or T3 (or later) to maximize all of its abilities.
However I do echo your concerns about the number of targets. You're really going to have to aggressively go after them in order to ensure you have enough for it to grab. That will be the hardest issue for it to overcome, IMO.
Quote from Sliver Lord »
Even if you could fetch them, the XX dudes just die immediately. Unless you mean changing the search restriction *and* the destination zone — but you’ll probably be glad for the 1 mana savings when you’re getting something 1 cost.
Yes, I meant having it be worded like Trinket Mage, so I can both hit a broader pool of targets AND have the chosen card go into my hand. This misses quite a few potent targets by having the 0 / 1 restriction instead of mana value ≤ 1. In fact, it has like ~30% fewer targets because of that wording, which is a big deal.
I'm optimistic that it'll be powerful when it's a great fit, but I am concerned with the number of eligible targets for it. In my current powered list, I have 1.7 targets per player per draft (in an 8-man draft). Which means unless I get passed a couple (and never pass any) I may wind up short. This problem is compounded by the fact that the overall powerlevel of the targets is really high (meaning they're less likely to get passed).
I like the cleverness of Urza's Saga's design with its multiple levels of puns and lore references (and what a subtype!). It looks strong for cubes that are powered or artifact-heavy.
That said, in my 540 unpowered with no artifact theme, this card is a miss. At first I was really excited to see the long awaited "enchantment land" type because I'm always trying to make an enchantress/constellation theme work in Cube (without using positive creature auras). It's cute that "enchantment that really cares about artifacts" reflects the mechanical themes of the set Urza's Saga, but what I want from an enchantment land are abilities that support enchantress decks, not abilities that support artifact decks.
So this card taps for 1 mana over 3 turns, can make 2 karnstructs for 3 mana each, and can search for an artifact (17 in my powered cube - sad noises for Lotus Bloom and EE). It can also be recurred with Crucible of Worlds and those effects (this is the more exciting part for me). It's a slow effect, but the prospect of another utility land seems great. Seems powerful enough to warrant a testing!
Excited for more Sagas in pushed power level set. Maybe that Saga of the Helvault card meant for C21 will show up here.
It really doesn't have any value outside of a dedicated artifact deck.
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
Great Furnace can’t make two beefy bodies or fetch a skullclamp.
Interested in Custom Card Creation.
My Cube:Cardinal Custom Cube
A custom version of a third modern masters: MM2019
(filter->rarity to see in set rarity).
If you play this card on turn 2 and have another land (or a rock/dork), you are having a good time as you will likely have two 3/3s (tokens pumped by each other and what you tutor for) by turn 4, which seems pretty fantastic for a line of play that uses nothing from your hand. If you played a 1-drop artifact and end up with two 4/4s, you are doing even better.
Of course, a powered cube gets much better mileage out of this as it is more likely to be mana neutral when it sacrifices itself. Even without that, I'd recommend this thing for experimentation. The opportunity cost is minimal relative to the benefits as it only takes up a land slot and cheap artifacts shouldn't be too hard to come by (depending on the cube).
It's great when you have nothing to do but I'd rather be playing my powerful cube cards then make the constructs... and then i'm going to be set back a land to boot? I dunno if that's what I am looking for, but still a really cool design.
We play powered, so whoever picks this will always have a mox or piece of power to fetch, and a colorless land that can tap to make 2 giant artifact tokens is frankly insane, that being before you even factor in the potential for Wrenn and Six/Crucible of Worlds/Ramunap Excavator/Life from the Loam/Kiora's Follower/any of the other thousand ways to recur or untap lands in cube. This is a legitimate win condition strapped onto an untapped colorless land.
Only real weaknesses are that it's an enchantment that can be hit by Reclamation Sage/Knight of Autumn/Teferi, Time Raveler/Pest Infestation/etc and it's probably not great if you don't have something to fetch. But tbh I think that's only an issue for unpowered cubes since most decks in powered can typically get one copy of an OG Mox/Black Lotus/Sol Ring/Mana Crypt/Mana Vault or even lesser artifacts like Skullclamp/Pithing Needle/Sensei's Divining Top, and even if they don't somebody else who does will gladly pick this card. It should also be mentioned that Sagas trigger only after the draw phase ends, so if you decide to float mana on the third turn in response to the sacrifice trigger you will still have access to the mana until the end of your first main phase, so if you grab a mox off the tutor this will effectively ramp you an extra colorless mana for the turn at no cost.
Absolutely filthy
Edit: Just realized this also grabs Bomat Courier, this just keeps getting better
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For any cube playing Trinket Mage, this is probably going to be a lot better in many scenarios since the opportunity cost is much lower. Not only that, but it's better in more archetypes to. For example, I can run this in a Lurrus deck just to fetch up my Skullclamp / Bonesplitter. Too bad it's specifically worded with mana cost and not mana value, would've been cool to fetch a Lotus Bloom / Engineered Explosives.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
Even if you could fetch them, the XX dudes just die immediately. Unless you mean changing the search restriction *and* the destination zone — but you’ll probably be glad for the 1 mana savings when you’re getting something 1 cost.
Interested in Custom Card Creation.
My Cube:Cardinal Custom Cube
A custom version of a third modern masters: MM2019
(filter->rarity to see in set rarity).
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
I'll probably test this in 360 powered.
360 card powered Chicago cube:
https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/e7r
2020 Numerical Power Rankings:
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/the-cube-forum/cube-card-and-archetype/817969-2020-numerical-cube-power-rankings
2018 CubeTutor Power Rankings:
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/the-cube-forum/cube-card-and-archetype/803301-cubetutor-power-rankings-2018-by-color-and-cmc
I guess. I could see it being more relevant in a 360 powered cube where you're more or less quarantined to get a Moxen/ Crypt after the third saga to mitigate its drawback.
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
This is definitely key, lets you Tinker the thing you just searched up...
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
Fully-powered 600-Card "Dream Cube" https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/dreamcube
450-Card "Artificer's Cube" https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/artificer
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540 Version: https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/zza
Edit: can this get astrolabe? Realizing now that the wording is a bit restrictive. Is a snow colorless the same as one colorless in this ability?
It definitely cannot get astrolabe. Snow mana is not 1 colorless mana.
360 card powered Chicago cube:
https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/e7r
2020 Numerical Power Rankings:
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/the-cube-forum/cube-card-and-archetype/817969-2020-numerical-cube-power-rankings
2018 CubeTutor Power Rankings:
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/the-cube-forum/cube-card-and-archetype/803301-cubetutor-power-rankings-2018-by-color-and-cmc
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It's actually not ideal on T1. You'd want to play it on T2 or T3 (or later) to maximize all of its abilities.
However I do echo your concerns about the number of targets. You're really going to have to aggressively go after them in order to ensure you have enough for it to grab. That will be the hardest issue for it to overcome, IMO.
Yes, I meant having it be worded like Trinket Mage, so I can both hit a broader pool of targets AND have the chosen card go into my hand. This misses quite a few potent targets by having the 0 / 1 restriction instead of mana value ≤ 1. In fact, it has like ~30% fewer targets because of that wording, which is a big deal.
I'm optimistic that it'll be powerful when it's a great fit, but I am concerned with the number of eligible targets for it. In my current powered list, I have 1.7 targets per player per draft (in an 8-man draft). Which means unless I get passed a couple (and never pass any) I may wind up short. This problem is compounded by the fact that the overall powerlevel of the targets is really high (meaning they're less likely to get passed).
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!
That said, in my 540 unpowered with no artifact theme, this card is a miss. At first I was really excited to see the long awaited "enchantment land" type because I'm always trying to make an enchantress/constellation theme work in Cube (without using positive creature auras). It's cute that "enchantment that really cares about artifacts" reflects the mechanical themes of the set Urza's Saga, but what I want from an enchantment land are abilities that support enchantress decks, not abilities that support artifact decks.
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