Welcome to this ongoing project! Our goal is to evaluate the cards you might want to include in your peasant cube. If you are looking at this thread for the first time, feel free to join in the current conversation. (Previous thread here).
Card listings begin in the second post.
It goes without saying that every cube is different. Each cube owner has their own views on a number of factors that influence their cube environment. As such, the following baseline or general guides are used for these evaluations.
General Power over Colour Pie / Flavour
Some people shape their cube based on their perspective of the colour pie, and include/exclude certain functions and flavour for each colour. Maybe you don’t want green to have flyers. Maybe you will never play Ray of Command because you think only red should have temporary creature stealing. Maybe you really want to push green counterspells. None of these considerations are taken into account for the purpose of these evaluations. Only the general power level of the card.
The exception to this rule (based on common agreement in the peasant community) are most protection or landwalk effects. While they are more powerful with the ability than if they didn’t have it, many consider them 'hosers'. Usually those cards only get a look-in if they do something no other card does (e.g. Phantom Centaur). If you want that type of effect by all means go for it!
Rarities
Some cards have only been released online as uncommons, but don’t have a printed version. Some older cards have some questionable rarities. Some people like to play those cards, and some don’t. These cards will be discussed here, but will be noted for those that want to avoid them.
The ‘Average Cube environment’ Evaluation
If your cube is 90% artifacts, Shattering Spree is a bomb. If your cube has zero artifacts, it’s a dead card.
For the purpose of these card evaluations, it’s assumed there is an ‘average’ mix of different cards types. All colours are equally (or close to) represented. Artifacts are in the cube but are not a focus, as are enchantments. There are creatures in every colour and spread over the mana curve, and so are other spell types.
As stated earlier, every cube is different and every card may be worse or better based on your specific environment. When possible, it will be noted in the card description which environments might change the valuation of a card. E.g. Reassembling Skeleton gets better the more sacrifice for benefit effects you have.
Card Listing & Scoring Methodology
Card Name - Score Description - Can include what is strictly better than it, why it's good, if it hoses certain archetypes, if it gets better or worse in particular environments etc. Anchors : Archetypes that this card signals are probably in the cube. Pulls you into that archetype. Supports : Might not pull you into an archetype, but if you are already in this archetype, the value of this card goes up.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good. 3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect. 2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds). 1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect. Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Notes about colour classifications / Multi-colour evaluations
Cards are classified according to their colour identity in gatherer. This means that Jilt is a blue card. Hybrids are multi-colour, even if in practice they might be primarily played in one colour (Azorius Guildmage is often considered a white card for example). This is the easiest way to score these cards as this project progresses; this may be re-evaluated once this project is ‘finished’ and just requires maintenance. Where applicable, it will be noted the common approach to how the card is classified, but don't feel like you have to follow suit; do what works for you!
Most cubes only have limited space for true gold cards, and therefore most are evaluated with a ‘gold tax’; if they are only marginally better than a mono-coloured / hybrid analogue that will fit into more decks, they probably aren’t going to make the cut. Where appropriate, the closest analogue will be included in the description.
As most cubes do not include them, 3+ colour cards are not evaluated here.
Converted Mana Cost Classification
Some cards might have variable or alternate costs, but all cards are grouped by Converted Mana Cost, based on Gatherer. This means Dismember is a 3 mana card, Spectral Procession costs 6, and Treasure Cruise costs 8. You can always classify them however you want for your own purposes.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Carnophage Description – 2 power for B is where black aggro likes to be. The drawback limits this guy to decks that want to turn guys sideways; if you are losing life you definitely want to be dishing it out. Key piece for aggro decks. Anchors: Aggro Support:
Diregraf Ghoul Description A 2/2 for B is awesome value. Coming into play tapped means you miss a turn of blocking, but most of the time you didn’t want to block anyway, you wanted to smash face. While he suits aggro perfectly, he might find homes in other decks due to the lack of a long-term drawback. Anchors: Aggro Support:
Gnarled Scarhide Description : Gnarled Scarhide has some great flexibility. Of the top, he is a 2/1 for B, making him solid for aggro. You probably didn’t want to block anyway. But he’s more than that; once you hit 4, you can slap that 2 points of power on something else and swing with it immediately, and still get back the Scarhide if the creature dies. For some added flexibility, you can put it on an opponents troubling blocker to force through some final points of damage. This makes him a solid staple. It's hardly the reason you would play him, but also supports any 'enchantment matters' themes that might pop up. Anchors: Support: Aggro, Enchantment Matters
Vampire Lacerator Description - Great aggro card. The decks that want to play this are usually trying to get that life total down as quickly as possible, making the drawback pretty negligible. Anchor - Aggro. Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Carrion Feeder Description – Makes your opponents removal worse
Builds into a sizable threat until he finally gets answered (or he gets answered early and is card neutral and often mana positive). Enables sacrifice/graveyard strategies for no additional mana, and keeps a permanent buff (compared to cards like Nantuko Husk). Makes attacking/blocking a little more complicated (and fun). Anchors: Support:
Disowned Ancestor Description - Can be a roleplayer in setting up early defense. As a baseline not too exciting but can stall some aggro or midrange decks. You can always beef him up if you've got nothing else to do and can take a turn off blocking. Anchors: Support: Control, +1/+1 counters
Grasping Scoundrel Description - It sits just below most of the other 2 power creatures for B options, though not by much. Other options might have better upsides that aggro decks may care about a little more (2nd point of toughness, bestow), but this can block and doesn't have life loss as a drawback in stall situations. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
Pharika's Chosen / Typhoid Rats Description - It's not flashy, but it can trade with a lot of stuff for just a single mana. Ruthless Ripper is strictly better but depends if you care about morph. Anchor - Supports -
Plagued Rusalka Description - Decent as a sac outlet for your creatures on the way to the bin. Can mess with combat by threatening to sac some guys after combat to take out their big threats. Gets better with tokens or recursion cards like Reassembling Skeleton, but can fit into a lot of different deck types. Anchor - Supports - Tokens
Ruthless Ripper Description - Strictly better than Typhoid Rats, but depends if you want to support morph. This guy can be good for combat tricks to take down almost anything on the ground. Anchor - Supports -
Thoughtpicker Witch Description - Little investment if your creatures are already on their way to the yard, to impact the opponents card quality. As with all sac outlets, gets better the more other cards in your cube that trigger off creatures dying. Anchor - Supports - Sacrifice decks
Tormented Hero Description - Another decent black aggro 1-drop. Coming in tapped and missing the second point of toughness makes it a smidge worse than some other similar options. The heroic is probably not going to trigger often, but is a nice upside. Anchor - Supports - Aggro
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Deathgreeter Description - If you have a sac deck, the life gain might buy you time to get your engine running, or help stall against aggro in a control decks, but the effect is not strong. Creatures die in games, and if you support life gain matters themes it is a free effect that is repeated reasonably frequently if you are really looking for that effect. Anchors: Support: Sacrifice
Festering Goblin Description – Fume Spitter is going to be the better 1-drop for a similar effect most of the time, but it may be worth noting that Festering Goblin can actually trade with x/2’s. ok if you want some redundancy. Anchors: Support:
Festering Mummy Description - It can take out x/2's on it's own if required, but even just making a larger creature a little smaller can still be beneficial even if it can't trade. A little better in a defensive deck than aggressive, and slightly better if you can sacrifice it. A -1/-1 counter theme is probably not a thing in most cubes, but if you do you might want to give it more consideration. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Festering Newt Description – On power level this is the same as Festering Goblin given we don’t have Bogbrew Witch. To avoid confusion about your card pool you are probably better to play Festering Goblin, unless you are looking for maximum redundancy. Unless you also include Bubbling Cauldron, which raises this guys value. Anchors: Support:
Fume Spitter Description – It doesn’t have much board presence, but at least it can threaten to mess with combat math, or take out utility creatures. Anchors: Support:
Guul Draz Vampire Description : 3/2 and intimidate for B? Sign me up! Except… you need to get your opponent down to 10 first. And before you get your opponent down to 10, you don’t want this card. It’s an interesting tension, but if you want this in an aggro deck you already need a critical mass of similar aggro cards, which makes this a slim inclusion. Anchors: Support: Aggro
Indulgent Aristocrat Description - The baseline isn't amazing, but even without tribal support you can grow this occasionally if you have spare mana while one of your team is on the way to the graveyard. It doesn't reach stellar heights with tribal support, but most cubes include enough vampires incidentally (Heir of Falkenrath, Olivia's Bloodsworn, Vampire Lacerator, Blood Artist, Drana's Emissary, Vampire Nighthawk, Falkenrath Noble). Needing 2 mana makes it a bit slow though. Anchors - Supports - Vampire Tribal, +1/+1 counters, sacrifice
Putrid imp Description - Not amazing as a creature, but is a cheap early discard outlet if you really want to push that as an enabler for graveyard shenanigans. Anchor - Supports - Reanimator, Threshold, Dredge
Qarsi High Priest Description - Can help in sacrifice decks, or replace creatures on the way to the graveyard. Anchor - Supports -
Reaver Drone Description - It's a 2 power 1 drop, but there are enough other options that this is far down the chain. It will probably only make the cut in larger cubes, or if you specifically want to push a colorless deck in your cube. Anchors - Aggro Supports - Colorless Matters
Rimebound Dead Description - This is only playable if you have access to snow mana. It probably means unplayable in most cubes,(if Coldsteel Heart is the only snow mana producer in your cube) but is a solid staller if you let players choose snow lands for their basics. In that case, it can hold back creatures on the ground in decks that want to stall. Anchor - Supports -
Sanitarium Skeleton Description - 3 mana is a bit much, but it's the closest thing peasant gets to having a Squee, Goblin Nabob. Fast cubes need not apply, but more grindy cubes can get extra use out of discard outlets like looting or discard for effect. It's no Reassembling Skeleton, but it can be used in that way (chumping or sacrifice fodder) if you need the numbers. Anchors - Supports -
Shadow Alley Denizen Description - Not exciting, but an early drop that can help get some damage past enemy lines. Anchor - Supports -
Shadow Guildmage Description - Pingers are often useful, but this is not a very exciting one. Anchor - Supports -
Tenacious Dead Description - This might see play as support for sacrifice recursion decks. You probably want Reassembling Skeleton before this guy, but he can make a second. Anchor - Supports - Sacrifice decks
Thrull Parasite Description - Extort can help over time. The counter removal effect will depend on what is in your environment. The more prevalent Undying and Persist creatures are in your cube, the better this guy gets. Anchor - Supports - Extort
Tormented Soul Description - On it's own, relentlessly pings for damage but it aint much. It gets better the more pieces of power boosting equipment and auras you have in your cube but generally isn't that exciting. Anchor - Supports -
Vampire Cutthroat Description - It might not be terrible, but it isn't particularly exciting either. Might make the cut in cubes that have a life gain matters theme, as it should get through enough to create triggers. Anchors - Supports - Life Gain Matters
Viscera Seer Description - Gives you something to do with those creatures on their way to the graveyard, but not a high impact. Anchor - Supports -
Will-o'-the-Wisp Description - If you need your black control decks to survive to the late game, this is an option to absorb damage. Fills a role, albeit a narrow one. Anchors - Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Accursed Centaur - Downside too big. Not being able to cast this turn 1 loses all appeal.
Acolyte of Xathrid - Can’t kill anything, can’t survive a block, and prohibitive activation cost.
Asphodel Wanderer - The decks that would want a regen blocker have much better tools available, and he does nothing on offense.
Bile Urchin - Doesn’t do enough and is strictly worse than Death Cultist.
Blight Keeper - It's an evasive 1-drop, but there isn't really a reason to cube it.
Blood Pet - If you want to trade cards for speed, play Dark Ritual.
Bog Rats - Even when it is on, ability has little impact on the game. Tormented Soul can play the same role.
Cabal Trainee - Just doesn't do enough to affect the board.
Carrion Beetles - If you want this ability, you want it on something that does something other than be a 1/1.
Carrion Rats - A 2/1 for 1 wants to be in an aggro deck. Your opponent is either going to play some spells, or lose some creatures to your assault and turn this guys damage off a few times, giving them more time to stabilise. No thanks.
Circling Vultures - 3/2 flyer for B is awesome. But that drawback requires too long to keep it on the board for more than a few turns.
Ghost-lit Stalker - Repeat discard is nice, but for the cost you may as well play something like Fugue (which is not to say you should).
Ghoulcaller's Accomplice - It's going to be too slow for most cubes. The second body is expensive, and by design you will never have both on the battlefield at once. Minor support for self-mill / graveyard decks. While this comes with an initial body attacked, you are probably better off with Graf Harvest to get multiple uses.
Mardu Shadowspear - On a clear board and viewed through the right lens, this has the same effect as a 2/1 for 1 black mana. But the board is not always going to be clear, and sneaking some life loss past blockers doesn't make up for not being able to take out x/2's. The dash doesn’t really add much to the package.
Rancid Rats - The skulk doesn't add enough when you compare it the 1 drop versions with deathtouch. It means it can't be blocked by 1/1's and such (which means you aren't trading up) but the times when getting in for a few turns compared to paying the extra mana don't seem worth it.
Ruthless Sniper - This isn't very good if you aren't getting triggers. The effect is fine, but it isn't going to get triggers consistently enough, even if you cube all of the better looters and 'discard for effect' cards.
Skittering Heartstopper - Having to pay for the deathtouch is much worse downside than the marginal toughness gain when compared to other 1-drop alternatives.
Thornbow Archer - It's a 1 drop that can sometimes deal 2 damage, but not being able to trade with opposing bears is a decent detractor though.
Urborg Skeleton - Cheap regeneration cost can make this guy ok as a staller, but with 0 power he doesn't threaten to kill anything. Once you are willing to pay the kicker, you may as well just get a much better card to fit the same role.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Dauthi Horror Description - Solid evasive creature for aggro decks, but can also be an evasive threat for control decks. It can even evade white shadow creatures you might have in your cube. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Blood Artist Description - Creatures die all the time in Magic. Without any specific support, this can be good for that reason alone. With some support, it can grind out a lot of advantage over a game. Gets better with tokens, or with sacrifice outlets. A free sacrifice outlet (like Goblin Bombardment) plus Blood Artist provides reach equal to the amount of creatures you control, which can make your opponent very nervous, and allow you to win out of nowhere. Anchors - Sacrifice decks Supports -
Gifted Aetherborn Description - Great on curve and still fine in the late game. Threatens to kill their biggest attacker, break down most defenses (even if it will trade) or pad your life total if they are reluctant to trade. The biggest factor for exclusion is the double black in the mana cost. Anchors - Supports -
Thrill-Kill Assassin Description - Versatile card. 'Leashed' it can be used as a blocker to trade up. As an attacker well suited to an aggro deck, eating through any low power / high toughness defenders (Wall of Blossoms, Wall of Denial) the opponent would throw in its way, and still able to trade up once it becomes outclassed. Anchors - Supports -
Vile Bile Description - If you are ok with Un-cards, this plays like a 2/3 for 2 mana with 'every two times this deal combat damage to a player, deal them an extra damage'. Which is a strict upgrade compared to similar cards like Erg Raiders or Shambling Ghoul... so long as you don't touch it of course. Anchors - Supports -
Wasp of the Bitter End Description - It's the only black 2/1 flyer for 2 mana without a drawback, making it solid support for aggro decks. Power level aside, the Bolas line might be too inelegant for some, and Dauthi Horror is a better pure aggro creature (but can't block). Anchors - Supports -
Wight of Precinct Six Description - Can be a good finisher in a control deck that intends to go long, fighting attrition battles, or in decks with incidental milling. Can be randomly good against dredge / graveyard decks, and even decent in aggro decks after a few trades. Anchors - Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Battle Brawler Description - A 3/2 first striker for 2 mana is good value. Can be slightly unreliable and could get turned off mid-combat with removal, but decent enough upside if you lean more towards one of the support colours. Anchors - Supports -
Black Knight Description - There are few black creatures with native first strike if that matters. The double black in the casting cost can be troublesome, giving you something that is somewhat efficient, but doesn't really stand out. Anchors - Supports -
Blind Creeper Description - Downside can be played around, but sometimes you will be trumped in combat by an instant, or an opponent will play a creature post-combat. Aggro-oriented, so you will usually know what you are attacking into, and can factor it into what you want to cast post-combat. Anchors - Supports -
Blood-Chin Rager Description - On it's own, a 2/2 for 2 with evasion in black is decent. Most cubes have enough warriors in a few other colours that others will also benefit from this. Well suited for an aggro deck, but can see play as a cheap threat in a control deck. Anchors - Supports -
Carrier Thrall Description - The two-in-one body can help a variety of decks; as a control card you can trade early against aggressive decks, and then use the scion to accelerate into your bigger spells, it provides two bodies for sacrifice outlets, provides insurance against removal / sweepers, and you aren't embarrassed to play it in aggro if you need more 2-drops. Anchors - Supports - Tokens, Sacrifice
Cuombajj Witches Description - Can be an ok creature for black control, with other creatures with higher than average toughness to give your opponent few chances to remove your creatures. Anchors - Supports - Control
Dauthi Slayer Description - The extra toughness over Dauthi Horror will matter occasionally (divisible burn, pingers) but the double black in the casting cost hurts more than that upside. The attack each turn clause means nothing because you were going to do that anyway. Black Knight is more flexible at the same cost, a bit less useful on the attack (lacking evasion) but can put up a defense. You would play this if you want to give aggro some tools that other decks don't want. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
Fledgling Djinn Description - 2 mana, 2 power creatures with built-in flying are not common for mono-black. The drawback is worth it for the cheap evasive power, primarily in aggro decks. Anchors - Aggro Supports - Skies
Fretwork Colony Description - It is definitely aggro oriented, and cast on curve it can get big quickly. It comes with some risk though, and against a developed board you might not be able to afford the life loss. 1 life a turn isn't huge, but your opponent responding with a tapper or Pacifism will also wreck your plans, and it can't even chump if you are behind. Anchors - Aggro Supports - +1/+1 counters
Hand of Cruelty Description - Double black in the casting cost makes it hard to swallow, but being a 3/3 in combat for 2 mana can make attacking or blocking awkward for your opponent in early turns. By comparison to Black Knight, this will kill x/3's (Augur of Bolas) that Knight will leave behind, but this will die to 3/2's like Borderland Marauder. Which of these is better (if it comes down to these two) will depend on your specific environment. Anchors - Supports -
Heir of Falkenrath Description - A solid addition for aggro decks with a nice balance of risk / reward. Best if you get some other benefit from the discarded card (madness or graveyard retrieval), but sometimes you can just dump something that doesn't advance your game plan. You can get 2 for 1'd in response to the activation (or even after), but if it sticks it is likely to get in for a bit of damage. Anchors - Supports -
Knight of Infamy Description - Can turn itself into an attacking 3/2 for 2 mana if alone, but still easy enough to kill. The exalted is nice to have and might help a 1-drop get in if you play this on turn 2. It isn't bad, but it's hard to imagine a deck where it will truly excel. Pro-white will turn some off. Anchors - Supports -
Knight of Malice Description - A 2/2 first striker for 2 is solid enough, and even if your opponent isn't playing white, you can also put white permanents in your own deck, making it more in your control. Some people don't like hexproof, but this version still allows a bit of interaction. Anchors - Supports -
Mardu Skullhunter Description - Excellent value when it triggers, and useful in most stages of the game. You don't want to play this turn 2 without a 1-drop swinging with some consistency, so to get the most value you want to have sufficient aggro 1-drops in black and whichever other aggro colours you support, but still playable in a slower deck. Anchors - Supports -
Mesmeric Fiend Description - Can come down on turn 2 and strip their best card, or their on-curve card, to disrupt them. The body is nothing, but you can always treat it like a 2 mana Thoughtseize, and just keep it out of combat; if they use removal to get the card back, that isn't a bad trade. Almost identical to Brain Maggot; your choice will depend on whether Brain Maggot being an enchantment matters more to you / your environment than the stack tricks that are possible with Mesmeric Fiend. Anchors - Supports -
Nezumi Cutthroat Description - Solid evasive creature that can work well as part of an aggro assault team, or even in a control deck to chip away at the opponents life total. Obviously worse against black decks, where you might side it out. Anchors - Supports -
Nezumi Graverobber Description - Solid utility creature. As a vanilla 2/1 for 2 mana it isn't entirely embarassing for aggro decks, with the ability giving an option in the late game if plan A doesn't work out. While slower, can be an inevitable engine for grindy midrange / control decks, especially when combined with ETB creatures and/or sacrifice effects. Sometimes it will come down so late that the ability just isn't worth pursuing. In some cases can randomly hose graveyard decks. Anchors - Supports -
Olivia's Bloodsworn Description - Solid evasive aggro creature, as long as you don't have too many similar creatures with the 'can't block' rider in your cube. The activation is mostly considered flavor text, but in the Rakdos aggro deck it can give itself haste as a bonus, or other incidental vampires in your cube. Anchors - Supports -
Onyx Mage Description - Helps all of your creatures match up against the enemy if you can afford the payment. Combined with a repeatable token generator can lead to inevitability with chumpers / attackers that can trade with anything in the way. Good with first strikers or pingers. However it is pretty slow. Anchors - Supports -
Reassembling Skeleton Description - A role player in different types of decks. In defensive decks that need to buy time you can chump their biggest attacker, and then return him to the battlefield EOT to untap and do it all over again. Good with loot / dredge cards, as you can just get it back out of the 'yard. Good with sacrifice outlets, as you can just keep returning it to the battlefield. The main downside is needing to leave mana up to activate at the right times, and can be too slow against fast decks. Anchors - Supports -
Shambling Ghoul Description - It doesn't require anything in the way of support, but isn't particularly exciting. If you are aggro, there are better aggro options. If you want a defensive creature, there are better options. But it does have the versatility of being able to slot into any deck. Anchors - Supports -
Sinuous Vermin Description - It's mostly a 'filler' 2-drop, but if you can curve it into a 5/5 menace (or just threat of activation after attacking) you aren't going to be upset. Less good if you have to pay 7 mana in the late game, but the opportunity cost is low. If you are looking for more +1/+1 counters in black, you might consider it a bit higher. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Spiteful Returned Description - This has a kind of reach, allowing you to force life loss even against a wall of blockers. Best when bestowed, allowing you to swing for the 2 life loss immediately (giving it pseudo-haste), and if the creature is killed in combat you still get the Spiteful Returned to swing again next turn. So it is often an automatic 4 life loss even if it can be dealt with in combat. Anchors - Supports -
Sultai Emissary Description - In a vacuum, it can work as a staller for a control deck. Not exciting, but you get a 1/1 and 2/2 for 2 mana. Sometimes the manifested card will become something, but not something you should rely on. Gets a little better in sacrifice decks, and scales with the number of scry or similar effects to manifest something you can flip up. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Wretched Anurid Description - This fits into the suicide aggro deck when you want to maximise power to cost. If you are not the beatdown this guy can hurt, especially if your opponent can put up a high toughness defender that doesn't kill it. Anchors - Supports -
Zulaport Cutthroat Description - On the surface it is less powerful than Blood Artist; this only triggers on your creatures dying, not your opponents, and the point of power will rarely make up for it. However, it will still rack up some life drain over the course of a game, especially if your game plan is active sacrifice as opposed to attrition. For most, it will be the third card considered after Blood Artist and Falkenrath Noble if you want another one of this effect. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Augur of Skulls Description - One of few cards in Peasant that can take 2 cards for 2 mana, albeit with a turn delay. A specific line of play can be to use Unearth or Undying Evil to quickly strip your opponents cards. A turn 2 Augur of Skulls followed by Undying Evil during upkeep on turn 3 gives you an early 4 for 2, leaving your opponent with little to do. It is situational however, and your opponent has a turn of opportunity to remove it (though forcing removal on it may not be so bad), and is poor if your opponent is in top deck mode. Anchors - Supports -
Basilica Screecher Description - It's stats and flying for cost are not great, but can be a support card for extort / drain archetypes. Anchors - Supports - Extort / Drain
Bloodthrone Vampire Description - The sac ability can mess with combat, potentially eating something that was going to die to take out a bigger attacker. In swarm/token decks, the opponent may have no choice but to block to avoid a killing blow. It is conditional on the board position and you don't want to eat your creatures unless it presents enough advantage, but can also support some graveyard recursion strategies such as Reassembling Skeleton. Generally considered worse than Nantuko Husk, as the baseline if you aren't sacrificing creatures is significant. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice Decks, Tokens
Brain Maggot Description - Can come down on turn 2 and strip their best card, or their on-curve card, to disrupt them. The body is nothing, but you can always treat it like a 2 mana Thoughtseize, and just keep it out of combat; if they use removal to get the card back, that isn't a bad trade. Almost identical to Mesmeric Fiend; your choice will depend on whether this being an enchantment matters more to you / your environment than the stack tricks that are possible with Mesmeric Fiend. Brain Maggot is also more prone to removal as a result of being an enchantment. Anchors - Supports - Enchantment Matters
Child of Night Description - Reasonable aggressive creature. Nothing spectacular, but decent. Allows you to race, and even if it trades you still end up ahead. Not ideal if you are on the defensive, but at least it can help keep you stay alive a little bit longer. Anchors - Supports -
Corrupt Court Official / Dirty Rat / Ravenous Rats Description - It's a 2 for 1, but it leaves behind a not very exciting body. It gets better if surrounded by other discard options to create an aggro/disruption deck to capitalise on the 2 for 1. You should probably only cube Dirty Rat if you've got something to go with it. Anchors - Supports -
Dhund Operative Description - 3/2 deathtouch for 2 is great, but you really need strong artifact support in your cube to make this worth it. Anchors - Artifact Matters Supports -
Disciple of Griselbrand Description - The body is nothing, so you need the ability to do something. Sure, activating it when something is going to die anyway is nice, but the life gain isn't huge impact. If you just need a sacrifice outlet, many other sacrifice outlets are going to have a bigger impact on your game. Anchors - Supports -
Dusk Legion Zealot Description - It is somewhat 'filler', but it might be something you want for your control decks to put down a roadblock. Anchors - Supports - Control
Duskhunter Bat Description - The prospect of a 2/2 flyer for 2 is solid, but there are alternative evasive 2-drops that don't ask as much set up. Probably only worth considering if you want to ramp up your black +1/+1 counter support. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Embraal Bruiser Description - Black doesn't get a lot of 3/1's for 2 at peasant. The 1 toughness means you either need to clear the way seeing as it dies to anything, so it probably only warrant inclusion if you are trying to support a black artifact theme. Anchors - Artifact Matters Supports -
Erg Raiders Description - Erg Raiders has decent stats for cost, and the drawback relates to something you want to be doing anyway; attacking. Only fits in aggro decks. Worth noting that it's drawback can be exploited by opponents with tap down effects, Pacifism etc. Shambling Ghoul and Thrill-Kill Assassin are similar cards that are playable in a wider variety of decks, but you might include Erg Raiders if you want to give aggro a card that no-one else is going to want and is more likely to wheel. Its minor, but Erg Raiders is the only one of those cards that can block before it starts swinging (if you want the aggro version of Thrill-Kill Assassin). Anchors -
Fallen Askari Description - It might be an ok creature if you want something purely for aggro decks. Eats defending bears, and can't be double blocked by 1/1 tokens, but other black creatures can serve a similar role. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
Foul Imp Description -Fledgling Djinn may end up costing you more life in the long run, but having to pay upfront is worse, as is the need to pay double black. However it is still 2 flying power for 2 mana in black, so it might make the cut in larger cubes or if you really want to push Skies in black. Anchors - Supports - Skies
Frightcrawler Description - A 3/3 evasive creature for 2 mana sounds pretty nice, but is not going to be reliable; 2 mana for a 1/1 is pretty bad, even if it has fear. If you give black or other support colours lots of ways to fill the graveyard, it might be ok. If your cube doesn't support threshold often, You may want to consider Blind Creeper or Wretched Anurid if you want a 3 power 2 mana black creature. Anchors - Supports -
Gatekeeper of Malakir Description - 2/2 for 3 mana and force the opponent to sacrifice a creature is solid. When all 3 of that mana has to be black, it makes it a little harder to swallow. It's inclusion will depend on whether you want to reward mono-colour drafters. Anchors - Supports -
Gnawing Zombie Description - The body isn't exciting, but the 3 toughness can at least stall some of the smaller aggro creatures, or eat 2/1's. 2 mana for the sacrifice ability is a bit on the expensive side, reducing your ability to instantly end the game if you have more creatures than your opponents life total. It's still ok as support for life drain style decks, or with creatures that like being sacrificed / Blood Artist type effects. If your cube is on the faster side, this is probably not going to pass muster. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Golgari Thug Description - There is no noteworthy body attached, so you need to get value from the other effects. The biggest value is dredge, if combined with other cards that like being in your graveyard. The retrieval doesn't net you advantage, but can be useful to get a critical creature ready for the next turn you may have dredged away. You have to push graveyard matters themes to make this worth it, but the high number on the dredge can help support those strategies. Anchors - Dredge / Graveyard Matters Supports -
Hand of Silumgar Description - It isn't as good as other options if heading the pure aggro route, but it isn't embarrassing there (and it may force trading up if the opponent is on the back foot), and can help slower defensive decks take out larger incoming threats. Worth noting that Thrill-Kill Assassin is more flexible and will survive to kill again in situations where this will die. Anchors - Supports -
Keeper of the Dead - 1 Description - The core ability (destroying creatures) is a really powerful repeat ability. The trick then is to have lots of creatures in your graveyard. As such, this is probably only worth drafting, and therefore including in your cube, as support for graveyard matters themes. So you need a specific archetype present which this will narrowly fit into. Good for killing tokens, as they won't fill your opponents graveyard. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Kitesail Freebooter Description - If you can take a card and chip in for evasive damage if the sky is clear, it's a pretty good deal. Less good in peasant than it might be in rare cubes or constructed formats, as the density of noncreature spells in decks will be lower. Anchors - Supports -
Marang River Skeleton Description - As a base without considering Megamorph, it's unexciting. It's a 1/1 with cheap regeneration, which can be an ok chumper, but the power isn’t going to kill much on defense, and the regen, while cheap, still costs mana. The megamoprh doesn't add much. 2 power is a lot better than 1, but still costs a total of 7 mana before it gets there. It is strictly better than Drudge Skeleton and friends. Anchors - Supports -
Oathsworn Vampire Description - Clearly a payoff for a life gain deck, and the only reason to cube it is if you give that archetype a bit of support. Still somewhat slow by virtue of entering the battlefield tapped. Anchors - Life Gain Matters Supports -
Painsmith Description - Narrow, but could fit in a heavy artifact theme Anchors - Supports -
Pale Rider of Trostad Description - There is some power here, but you need to support the right themes to overcome the inherent card disadvantage, whether it is madness or other graveyard themes. Worth noting the discard is not a cost; if this is your last card in hand, there is no downside. A 3 power skulker sits at an interesting threshold; the big stuff can't block it, and if it is getting through, the damage can add up quickly. There are likely to be only so many creatures in your cube that can actually trade with it, and less that can just flatout win, without resorting to double blocks. Anchors - Supports -
Pit Keeper Description - If you aren't retrieving a creature, the baseline is bad. Can be unreliable in 'normal' decks, but gets better in dredge decks or other graveyard matters themes. Anchors - Supports -
Plague Witch Description - It's a graveyard enabler that can kill off utility creatures, but is a little slow and sometimes there won't be any worthwhile targets. Might be worth noting errata makes this an Elf if you support that tribe. Anchors - Supports -
Rathi Trapper Description - It is not as good as counterparts Goldmeadow Harrier & Gideon's Lawkeeper, but is the best tapper in black. The extra mana cost does make it noticeably worse (you aren't likely to use it for aggro support) but can still play a role in control decks. However it may depend on the rest of your black control support cards; if you use sweepers like Barter in Blood and Drown in Sorrow, Rathi Trapper doesn't synergise well with them. Anchors - Supports -
Returned Phalanx Description - A cheap enough wall with reasonable stats to stall early aggro starts. The faster your aggro decks are, the better this will generally be, as it will not only survive but kill most grounded 2-drops. If you happen to be playing blue, you can use it offensively once the game is under control. In slower cubes or where aggro is less prevalent, it is likely to be less useful. Anchors - Control Supports -
Seekers' Squire Description - Either mode is ok, but doesn't really add a lot to your cube. It does provide minor support for +1/+1 counters and graveyard matters themes. Anchors - Supports -
Skirk Ridge Exhumer Description - It kind of has a few synergies going for it; graveyard enabler, token producer, decent sacrifice fodder. They are all pretty loose, and you probably need all three of those to matter in the one deck to make this worth considering. Anchors - Supports -
Skulking Ghost Description -2 evasive power for 2 mana is ok, but there are a number of similar options. If they were going to target it, it was probably with intent to remove it anyway. It's going to be randomly bad against some cards (Mother of Runes, Goldmeadow Harrier, Tumble Magnet, Crystal Shard). If equipment is a big part of your aggro decks, this gets a little worse.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro
Thriving Rats Description - It's a 2/3 attacker for 2. Shambling Ghoul is an obvious comparison; this can block immediately if you need it to, but assuming you have no profitable attacks and aren't going to lose the game this turn, Shambling Ghoul can untap and block as a 2/3, which is probably more relevant. You probably only want this instead if you are going heavy on energy, or you have lots of +1/+1 lords. Anchors - Supports - Energy, +1/+1 counters
Undertaker Description - It takes a turn to come online so you won't be using this is an aggro deck, but on its own it can trade excess lands into creatures, or upgrade any lesser creatures into the best tool for the job. With a dredger, you can discard the dredger to get a creature, draw the dredger next turn and increase your targets, repeat. Great with ETB triggers, especially if you can sac them for benefit. Evoking a Mulldrifter with this on the board just feels unfair. Phyrexian Reclamation isn't a discard outlet, but is more reliable, and provides value if you can afford the life loss. Anchors - Supports -
Vampire Interloper Description -2 evasive power for 2 mana is usually solid enough for aggro decks, and the drawback doesn't matter if you are aggro. However it is strictly worse than Olivia's Bloodsworn, which is also worse than Wasp of the Bitter End. It's still ok in its own right; the main reason to cube it would be if you don't like the extraneous text or off-colour activation, or want maximum depth in this role. Anchors - Supports -
Vault Skirge Description - 1/1 flyers for 1 mana are not particularly exciting, but the lifelink is marginal upside, you can play it any deck, and it is an artifact if you are supporting any artifact themes. Nice if you can equip it early with power boosting equipment, making it difficult to race if the opponent can't mount an air defence. Anchors - Supports -
Wall of Souls Description - Can be an anti-aggro card, but aggro decks will probably accept the damage and win a race unless you otherwise stabilise. Can support a draining theme. Anchors - Supports - Drain / Extort
Wanted Scoundrels Description - 4/3 for 2 is obviously an excellent rate and is great if this doesn't die. However, 3 toughness won't be too hard to take down in combat, and your opponent might be able to cast removal and follow up with another spell, providing them tempo advantage. Even if you get in for 8 damage, if you let your opponent accelerate by 2 mana on turns 4-5, it probably lets them recover. You might give it more consideration if you have a cube light on removal and heavy on combat tricks, and it weirdly gets better if you cube more exile / lock down removal. Anchors - Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Aether Poisoner - It's a deathtoucher, but it doesn't really do much the others can't do. You get a token if you attack, but you often don't want to be attacking with a 1/1 deathtoucher.
Agent of Shauku - Probably ok if it had an extra point of power for aggro decks. But it doesn't.
Baleful Eidolon - You can get cheaper deathtouchers. The bestow is expensive, but even if the creature you put it on dies, you still get this back for another deathtoucher, so you are at least at card parity. There are board states where this would be good, but too conditional to rely one.
Brood of Cockroaches - It's recursive, but only returning end of turn makes it too slow. If you chump block in a control deck, it takes 2 turns before you can block again. This restriction makes it too hard to abuse in a sacrifice deck.
Butcher Ghoul - As an attacker, your opponent may just let it through most of the time because it simply isn't much of a threat. If you want it to be defensive, then you probably just want a better defensive creature. Minor mileage for sacrifice decks, but you probably just want better creatures to sacrifice.
Cabal Inquisitor - Too conditional for repeat discard. By the time you set this up, you could just have Honden on Night's End or other permanent discard.
Corpse Hauler - For the total mana cost, you need to get more value while it is in play than just the sac ability. So you need to get into combat, and you can sac before damage is on the stack and not trade. And you need the mana open when it would otherwise die. Too narrow.
Culling Drone - It's a 2/2 black creature for 2 without a drawback, which is something you don't often see in black. But that alone is not enough, and there isn't enough support to make ingesting worthwhile in cube.
Dauthi Cutthroat - It might have a few targets if you have other shadow creatures in your cube, but probably not often enough to make up for this being a 1 power 2-drop.
Dauthi Ghoul - There aren't going to be enough other shadow creatures dying to have this matter.
Dauthi Warlord - There are not likely to be enough other shadow creatures to make this worthwhile.
Deathspore Thallid - On its own, It's a 2 drop that doesn't provide any threat until 3 turns later. And even then the threat is slim.
Desperate Castaways - The upside (stats for cost) isn't high enough compared to the hoop you have to jump through. Shambling Ghoul might not be able to block the turn it comes down, but would almost always be better than this.
Dire Fleet Hoarder - You won't always be able to have this die when you want. It might be fine on turn 2 when you can threaten to trade and accelerate into something, but it is going to be too inconsistent and later in the game is probably just a bad 2-drop.
Doomed Dissenter - Outside of some corner cases, Sultai Emissary is better, as sometimes you can manifest it into something big.
Dregscape Zombie - Without activating unearth, it is a vanilla 2/1 for 2 mana, which is bad. It's not a significant enough body that adding unearthing it is going to be significantly threatening. Helps out sacrifice decks by getting 2 uses, but you probably want better effects for that than this, and it's probably not going to make the cut in decks that don't have a few sac outlets.
Drekavac - Not going to be worth the card disadvantage most of the time. If it let you discard creatures to support reanimation it might have some play… but it doesn't.
Drudge Skeletons / Restless Dead / Unworthy Dead - Strictly worse than Marang River Skeleton, depending on if you care about morph. They can be chumpers, and the regeneration is cheap, but they won't kill much.
Graf Rats - You can give players both during drafting, but then you are giving them something that is often just going to be a 2/1 vanilla for 2. Nope.
Grim Roustabout - Aggro mode not effective enough for aggro decks, and more efficient versions of the defensive mode.
Kuro's Taken - A 2/2 blocker with regen could be an ok staller, but there are better options for defensive decks. You would never consider it as an attacker as they will just let the 1 damage though.
Leeching Licid - I suppose you could block, attach, then deactivate this to create an endless blocking loop. But you can do that with better cards. The aura mode is not worth talking about.
Lurking Nightstalker - Wei Ambush Force is strictly better as it is the same card but doesn't cost double black.
Malakir Cullblade - This takes too much work to be good. A 3/3 for 2 mana would make this good, but getting that within a turn of it hitting play is going to be rare. In which case black has other immediate 3/3's with drawbacks for 2 mana you could be playing (or just paying an extra mana for).
Manor Skeleton - The haste doesn't make up for higher regen cost of similar cards, or its comparison to Reassembling Skeleton.
Miasmic Mummy - It's difficult to really capitalise on the symmetry in a draft environment.
Mire Shade - Maybe if the effect wasn't sorcery speed. But it is, so it's not worth considering.
Nether Shadow - Too hard to abuse. Not too difficult with graveyard strategies to have 3 creatures above it and put it into play, but outside of using cards that have no use anywhere else, its hard to repeat and not worth the effort.
Nezumi Bone-Reader - Attached to a weak body. You will rarely want to activate the ability, maybe if you have a lot of tokens, but still pretty rare at sorcery speed.
Nightscape Familiar - 95% of the time any old mana rock is going to be better. This has upside if you cast multiple spells of the right colour a turn, but a mana rock can be used for activated abilities and is more resilient.
Null Champion - A 7/3 that regenerates for a single mana would be difficult to handle. But it costs 14 mana to get there. And a 4/2 for 5 mana is also not good.
Nyxborn Eidolon - Base mode is vanilla badness. 5 mana for bestow to give something a small power bonus… you end up with a 2/1 if it dies, but still too much investment.
Olivia's Dragoon - If you want a free discard outlet, there are better options.
Oona's Blackguard - There are a handful of rogues that might see play, but probably not enough to influnce the inclusion of Oona's Blackguard. The +1/+1 counter trigger matters more, but will need to push that as a theme to make this worth considering.
Puppet Conjurer - As a baseline, it can create chumpers while you are on the defensive. It puts creatures into play if you have anything that triggers off that. It creates tokens you can sacrifice to anything (including things that want artifacts). And even if you have death triggers like Blood Artist, you don't even need another sacrifice outlet; Puppet Conjurer creates the tokens and kills them all by itself. However By virtue of being limited to only being effective in Dimir decks, it really limits the types of decks it will go in.
Qarsi Sadist - If played in 'spell mode', it's expensive for no effect on the board. It's not worth considering for those times when you might have a token lying around.
Raving Oni-Slave - This is probably going to cost you 6 life by the time you are done, and the extra power is not worth this downside.
Returned Reveler - 1/3 vanilla needs something more. It plays into graveyard themes, but needing to die first instead of an ETB effect makes this bad.
Roofstalker Wight - Too much to pay. There are a other 2 mana 2 power flyers with drawbacks which are more palatable than this cost.
Rotting Giant - Too difficult to reliably get online early (when the power to cost ratio matters) and maintain.
Rotting Rats - The symmetry attached to a meaningless body makes it hard to be excited. It can get better if you support graveyard themes, both because of the discard, and the unearth if it makes it into your grave from dredge etc. but there are still better options to support that type of deck.
Ruin Rat - You would have to be really reaching for graveyard hate to consider this over superior 1 mana versions.
Ruthless Cullblade - 4/2 for 2 mana is great. Played on turn 2, it is going to be vanilla. To reliably get big, it needs a fairly big suite of aggro 1 and 2 drops alongside it. And once you've included those in your cube, you probably don't have room for this. And even when it is big, it still only has 2 toughness which is not difficult to take care of.
Salvage Slasher - Requires 2 artifacts in your graveyard just to make it worth the cost. Too hard to get good upside.
Sangrophage - Not big enough upside for that damage.
Shepherd of Rot - Tribal. The symmetry makes it hard to break.
Sickle Reaper - If you are on the attack, it is probably just going to trade with something regardless of the wither. On defense, it either trades, or makes something smaller, in which case you wish you had a better blocker or removal instead. There are some commonly played 0 power defensive guys (Wall of Blossoms, Wall of Omens, Nyx-Fleece Ram) but not enough to consider this.
Skittering Skirge - The drawback is to offset the fact that it is cheap… you want it to be cheap so you can cast it early… but then you can't follow up. Could have limited applications as a cheap efficient creature you can protect with counterspells, or sequence plays so this is the last creature you play alongside something else.
Skullsnatcher - If you want a graveyard clearer, it isn't attached to an embarassing body for the cost. But still too narrow for most cubes to include.
Sky Scourer - You can get 2 power flying creatures in black that might have drawbacks, but they don't make you jump through hoops.
Slaughter Drone - Black is stating to get 2/2 creatures for 2 with upside, but requiring colorless for activation makes this a lot worse than Hand of Silumgar or Onyx Mage.
Slith Bloodletter - Heavy black cost is not appealing. Even played on turn 2 anything with 2 toughness can block it. Played after turn 2 it becomes terrible.
Soldevi Adnate - It's a sacrifice outlet, it can help you ramp… but as a package it just doesn't add up to enough or contribute enough to a deck you would want to draft.
Stromgald Crusader - Double black in casting cost and activation makes it hard to swallow. Pro white will also turn off some cube owners. Equally good or better aggro options without the double casting cost.
Surrak Marauder - If you want intimidate, you aren't intending to block. In which case, Nezumi Cutthroat is better.
Tainted Monkey - Combos with Lantern of Insight and Wizened Snitches. Or bounce that puts to the top of the library. Which is not enough to make this playable.
Vampire Hexmage - One of few black creatures that have first strike. But the double black cost is not worth the first strike, and removing all counters from something isn’t important enough in peasant cube.
Vile Manifestation - You would have to have a massive contingent of cycling cards to make this worth it.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Hypnotic Specter Description - Considered almost broken by some as an evasive damage source that comes down early enough to generate some decent card advantage. Unless you run accelerants, by the time this comes online it isn't likely to be stripping lands that would cripple the opponent the same way Hymn to Tourach can, but it often puts your opponent in a tough position regarding their sequencing. Anchors - Supports -
Vampire Nighthawk Description - It sits in the weird space where it is exceptionally good, but is still only a bunch of stats and combat-related keywords (it doesn't have ridiculous activated or triggered abilities that enable specific strategies). It does excellent work at any point in the game, whether it is sitting back waiting to trade with their best creatures when you are behind (while padding your life total), or getting in early to secure a demanding lead, or turning around a tight race by going overhead and undoing your opponents damage with the lifelink. While it doesn't enable any silly plays, some players may remove it for simply being too far above the standard rate and a no-brainer first pick. Anchors - Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Bone Shredder Description - As a minimum, you get a 3 mana sorcery speed Terror that can chump an attacker during your opponents next attack phase, which is a pretty decent floor. A 1/1 flyer isn't much, but in the late game you might be willing to pay the echo cost. The echo helps it bin itself if you have ways to recurse it, which gives it a unique edge. Anchors - Supports -
Dauthi Marauder Description - 3 near-unblockable power for 3 mana. If you want to support black aggro, this is perhaps the best in the 3-drop slot. It might be excluded from lists on the basis that it doesn't promote interactivity. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Chilling Shade Description - Scored on the basis of allowing your players snow basics, the threat of activation can make this powerful (most similar creatures are bad in multi-color decks). Playing turn 3, dropping your land turn 4 and swinging in with a potential 5/5 flyer can be solid. Caveat that it gets worse the more prevalent instant speed removal is in your cube. Not bad once you are in top deck mode either. Anchors - Supports -
Chittering Rats Description - Good support for aggro / control decks. Sometimes it feels like time walking an opponent, particularly if they are relying on their draw step to draw into more lands. Unless your opponent is on an empty hand, it's a 2 for 1 with an ok body. Anchors - Supports -
Cursed Minotaur Description - Fine for black aggro. Doesn't do anything flashy, but the menace will help it get through, and potentially open your opponent up to combat tricks if they double block. Anchors - Supports -
Dead Reveler Description - Another solid contributor to the black aggro decks, it is often difficult to deal with on the ground if cast unleashed on curve. It beats pesky 1/3 control oriented creatures in the early game, and the fourth point of toughness puts it out of range of most cheap red burn or trading with other 3 drops. Even if you are behind, casting as a 2/3 can still survive or trade often enough. Anchors - Aggro Supports - +1/+1 counters
Fleshbag Marauder / Merciless Executioner Description - At its basest, it can act as 'removal' for your opponents worst creature, but is effective at removing some threats other black removal may have trouble with; black creatures, artifact creatures, hexproof, etc. Sometimes though you will really wish you had targeted removal if they have a sacrificial lamb available. Good in aggro decks to keep the way clear while potentially upgrading the power of an early drop, or upgrading tokens. Being a creature can open it up to some recursion. Fleshbag Marauder will usually get the nod, because the Zombie creature type matters more than Orc. Anchors - Supports -
Liliana's Elite Description - If you just cast it on curve it might not be up to snuff, but even in games without specific graveyard shenanigans, basic attrition can start making it a solid beater. If you have any form of self-mill, it can start getting big quickly. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Liliana's Specter Description - A decent card, instant card advantage with a reasonable evasive power attached. It doesn't scream out to fill any particular archetype, but is reasonable in almost any black deck. Anchors - Supports -
Mogis's Marauder Description - At it's worst, it is a 2/2 haste for 3 with initial evasion. That alone is not great, but you will usually cast it with at least one other black permanent on the board, giving you the chance to march past a handful of blockers in the mid game, either to win outright or put your opponent on such a low life total that it restricts their options. Anchors - Supports -
Nantuko Husk / Phyrexian Ghoul / Vampire Aristocrat Description - A poster child for sacrifice decks due to the free cost of the sacrifice. With a few creatures on the board, this can make blocking tricky for your opponent, as you have all the choices after combat. You will be more willing to attack with something that might end up in a losing trade, because you can always pump this. If they block this with a larger creature, you can sacrifice other early drops or tokens to improve board position. At some point, they have to block because you may be able to threaten lethal if they don't. You have to be wary you don't end up with just a 2/2 on your next turn and you can become undone with timely removal, but this certainly makes combat more interesting. Choose the creature type that has the most synergy with your cube. Anchors - Sacrifice Supports -
Necrogen Scudder Description - It's fine as a black aggro evasive option. On overall power Dauthi Marauder is better, though this does have the benefit of surviving single points of damage / Pyroclasm / Drown in Sorrow etc. or can find a place alongside the Marauder in larger cubes or cubes that want to go deep on 3cc aggro creatures. Anchors - Supports -
Ogre Marauder Description - You can just play Dauthi Marauder so they can't block at all, but this is still fine. Not common, but can create scenarios where they sacrifice something so they can block (usually because they can't afford to keep taking the damage), and you respond with removal on the blocker or some way to save it. Anchors - Supports -
Phyrexian Rager Description - It can feel a bit like filler, but it fits into almost any black deck. It replaces itself, and is fine if you can trade with something in a control deck. The biggest downside, if you want to consider it one, is that it doesn't really add definition to your cube. Anchors - Supports -
Sorceress Queen Description - It's essentially a 3 mana onboard combat trick that takes a turn to come online, but it can be a powerful repeatable effect. It makes blocking choices difficult for your opponent given you can use it at instant speed. Aggro can use it to save their best creature after blocks, and in control it can prevent the damage from the biggest incoming threat, or help you win a combat which would have been a trade. It's also fine at pairing up with -x/-x or burn spells to completely destroy large threats. Anchors - Supports -
Stinkweed Imp Description - While Dredge 5 means you can't repeat it forever, the baseline is a blocker that can take almost anything out, making it playable in most defensive decks. It screams out to be in a deck that cares about having cards in the graveyard though, and is a fine role player in that deck. When it hits the board, your opponent either stalls, buying you time, or they attack into and potentially accelerate your game plan. Anchors - Dredge / Graveyard Matters Supports -
Undead Gladiator Description - It's a very grindy card, but in cubes of the right speed it can be a decent card filtering tool. A 3/1 isn't so good that trading your worst card for it is going to turn games around, but when it isn't going to have board impact, you can keep cycling away dead cards to dig deeper into your deck. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Banewhip Punisher Description - It's floor is a sorcery speed kill spell for 2BB which is not something you'd play, but it has some additional flexibility by being a creature, and it might affect the board state before you have to sacrifice it. It can kill a 1 toughness creature, or just stall the board. Anchors - Supports -
Blind Zealot Description - It will suck against other black decks, but that's when you sideboard it out. Elsewhere it can be ok, being evasive damage when you need it, and trading with their biggest threat when you need to. It can be awkward though. Anchors - Supports -
Cabal Torturer Description - No way it belongs in fast cubes, but it might be ok in slower cubes that supports graveyard decks. 5 mana activation is a lot, but repeat -2/-2 is also powerful. Anchors - Supports -
Crypt Rats Description - 3 mana is a lot for a 1/1, but can be a good proxy for Pestilence for sweeper control decks. It is a bit awkward though. Anchors - Sweeper Control Supports -
Daggerclaw Imp Description - 3 evasive power is good for 3 mana, but Dauthi Marauder is almost strictly better. There are other 3 power flyers that have other drawbacks, but don't die when they run into spirit tokens, like Necrogen Scudder. It might be an option for bigger cubes that want to go deep on this type of creature. Anchors - Supports -
Dauthi Jackal Description - While not the most aggressive, it is evasive and can mess with your opponents blocking. Anchors - Supports -
Dauthi Trapper Description - Make anything virtually unblockable? Sounds good, but you are invested a card, have to take a turn off to cast it, and it takes a turn to come online. Its appeal is limited, but could find a home in ramp decks or alongside saboteurs to get combat damage triggers. Anchors - Supports -
Deadbridge Shaman Description - It's not bad, it's just 'meh'. It probably works fine as a value card in either aggro or control to trade while forcing discard, but it doesn't really help define your cube. Death trigger synergises with sacrifice decks. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Deathbloom Thallid Description - It's unassuming, but enough value to consider, particularly if you support sacrifice themes. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Demonic Taskmaster Description - It could have a place in control decks, either played as an early threat and then suppress opposition, or more traditional blue / black control to play it in the mid game with protection backup. It is fine in that role and is an option if you want to push your players in that direction, but isn't likely to see much play elsewhere. Anchors - Supports -
Ebon Drake Description - It promotes a certain risk / reward style of play, with excellent stats and abilities for cost, but the drawback can add up. Best in fast environments; if most games go long in your cube, this isn't likely to see much play, and Necrogen Scudder is probably a better option. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
Eyeblight Assassin Description - It is strictly worse than Tooth Collector. On its own it is ok, allowing you to take out some utility creatures or some cheap aggro creatures, or cast after combat for some early creatures to trade up. Only if you need a second version. Anchors - Supports -
Felhide Petrifier Description - Most decks will be happier with Thrill-Kill Assassin, but a 2/3 deathtoucher for 3 isn't too bad. Tribal is mostly flavor text, but may confuse players that there is a tribal theme. Anchors - Supports -
Gutless Ghoul Description - It can support dedicated sacrifice decks by giving them a sacrifice outlet for fodder. Most other decks won't want a 2/2 that costs 3 mana though. Nice to have around so you can sac stuff that would otherwise be on its way to the graveyard, but not something most decks will want to invest in. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Hidden Horror Description - Could have some applications for reanimator / dredge / madness or other graveyard matters themes, but is pretty narrow on those themes. Not having evasion or some other benefit, and requiring specific card type for discard, knocks it down. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters, Reanimator
Kozilek's Shrieker Description - If you are going to push an aggro colorless deck in your cube, this might be an option. Narrow, but ok in that archetype. Anchors - Colorless Matters Supports -
Lord of the Accursed Description - It's a clear signal card for a Zombie deck, but they might not be as prevalent in your cube as you might initially think. If you cube it, you will need to dedicate some additional slots to at least a couple of other zombie matters cards, which most non-Zombie decks won't want. Anchors - Zombie Tribal Supports -
Malakir Familiar Description - Flying deathtouchers can be annoying. It isn't great, but might be an option if you want your black removal to be combat-based, or so your decks have options to deal with hexproof creatures. It does have the life gain matters ability, but even if you actively support that archetype, it isn't your primary consideration. Anchors - Supports -
Mischievous Poltergeist Description - Barring a few types of evasion, it blocks everything without trample for the paltry sum of 1 life, so you can keep developing your board instead of needing to hold regen mana up. It doesn't really add anything specific though, and you would only include it if you are looking to fill this specific hole and going deep on black control. Anchors - Supports -
Necromancer's Assistant Description - It supports graveyard matters decks while at least having power equal to casting cost. The rest of the decks are just going to want better creatures though, given that this dies to the first thing it runs into. You might be happy with it if you think the graveyard decks need stuff to stem early damage while setting up their engine. You probably want to consider Crow of Dark Tidings first, unless the third point of power matters to you more than the evasion (e.g. you find these types of blocking more often than not and you want to be able to kill x/3's). Anchors - Supports -
Nettling Imp Description - It supports a specific 'punisher' deck if you want to push that particular theme. Most decks apart from that aren't going to want it, though it could make a sideboard card. The kill condition can make it useful for dealing with utility creatures who can tap their way out of attacking. Anchors - Forced Attack / Punisher Supports -
Nirkana Cutthroat Description - You can turn it into a 4/3 attacking on turn 4, but that may be enough time for most opponents to have 3 power on the board to trade with it. The final mode is solid, but costs 12 mana total to get there. If you are considering it, you may want to dial down on instant speed removal, so your opponent can't kill it in response to leveling up. Anchors - Supports -
Pawn of Ulamog Description - It can be an engine piece in a sacrifice deck, providing you double the fodder when sacrificing nontoken creatures for benefit. While you wouldn't want to make it your entire game plan as the tokens have 0 power, it does have synergy with token boosters like Intangible Virtue. It can be a little awkward to set up and generate sufficient value. Anchors - Sacrifice Supports -
Plague Spitter Description - If your aggro drops include most of those with 2 or more toughness (Diregraf Ghoul, Vampire Lacerator, Thrill-Kill Assassin etc), then this can help clear out opposing tokens or help those early drops trade up once the opponent starts dropping larger creatures. With a sac outlet it can become a proxy Drown in Sorrow, or it can make for interesting decision making while blocking in a slower decks. Anchors - Supports -
Priest of Gix Description - It can fit into an aggressive deck that wants to drop its hand early. Dropping this plus another 3-drop on turn 3 is decent, but there are going to be times where you just can't curve out like that, providing you with a mediocre drop, especially if you cast it off the top. It's a Best Case Scenario mindset, but with the right mana-free enablers (discard or sacrifice) you could Reanimate, Unearth or Undying this and also accelerate. Marginal support for storm. Anchors - Supports - Storm
Ravenous Skirge Description - It compares closely to Daggerclaw Imp; upside of being able to block if you really need to (albeit poorly), and cornercase downsides such as with cards like Rabid Bite. Dauthi Marauder almost strictly better, and there are other flying 3 power for 3 with other drawbacks that don't die when they run into spirit tokens. Might be an option for bigger cubes going deep on this type of creature. Anchors - Supports -
Sibsig Icebreakers Description - You need a specific cube with a density of effects that can take advantage of this, with solid graveyard matters or madness themes. You can always break the symmetry by having no cards in hand, but you shouldn't rely on that being the case. Anchors - Supports - Reanimator, Graveyard Matters, Madness
Skull Collector Description - It is narrow, but can support a bounce theme in black if you are really into that sort of deck. Strongly depends on what ETB effects you have on your black creatures. Paired with blacks premier 2-for-1's (Nekrataal, Shriekmaw, Skinrender) it can be unfair. It's harder to support regen mana if you have to recast creatures, but a 3/3 with regen is a reasonable threat. Anchors - Bounce Supports -
Spined Fluke Description - 5 power for 3 mana with regeneration is interesting enough to deserve at least a glance. The more first strikers or pingers in your environment, and the higher density of exile / 'prison' removal in your environment, the worse it gets. The more cheap sacrifice fodder you have (like Eldrazi tokens), the better it gets. Set up cost is high, but if it sticks and you can swing for 5 every turn it may be hard for an opponent to recover. Anchors - Supports -
Stronghold Rats Description - There are potentially good scenarios, but they require some set up and for you to have the right cube / deck and break the symmetry. You need to support madness, graveyard matters, or the type of aggro deck that drops its hand in the first 4 turns. Once hands are empty, it is still a mostly unblockable threat. Anchors - Supports -
Undercity Informer Description - Most decks play 17 lands, so you will have an idea about when you can 'combo off' with this card based on lands on the table. It can always sit on the board and sacrifice creatures when they are on the way to the graveyard anyway until you hit that point. Best in a deck that pumps out tokens, but its base stats are at least passable enough that it doesn't need to be your main win condition. You can always target yourself if you have the type of deck that will benefit from it. Anchors - Supports - Tokens, Sacrifice
Vengeful Rebel Description - It's a conditional 2 for 1. Clearly worse than the always on Skinrender etc, but this one does only cost 3, and making your players work for it might be more appealing to you. Anchors - Supports -
Wakedancer Description - It can be a reward card for sacrifice decks (more likely to have handy triggers for morbid while getting 2 replacements), while still potentially seeing play in some aggro decks that trade early, though relying on your opponent to trade when you want is less than desirable. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Weaponcraft Enthusiast Description - You need to be dedicated to go wide or sacrifice strategies where the extra bodies mean something; you don't include this in your deck with the intention of casting it as a 2/3. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice, +1/+1 counters
Zombie Scavengers Description - It's aggressive stats with mana free regeneration, but if you are not in a graveyard deck, you probably won't be able to regenerate this that frequently. Even a single regeneration may still generate a 2 for 1 though, so it may be worth it. Most graveyard decks are more likely to want to re-use the creatures in the graveyard as other resources instead of this. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Alley Grifter - Too much needs to go right to get value.
Ambuscade Shaman - A 4/4 hasty guy for 4 is is decent, but having to pay every turn will stack up. It might be an ok curve topper for black aggro but it isn't going to be top of your list. Other creatures getting the bonus will only matter if you have a bunch of other hasty guys, or a couple of ways of giving your guys haste, such as Lightning Greaves. Too much work.
Arrogant Bloodlord - It's nice stats for cost, but the feel bads when you can't attack means you won't want to consider this (unless you remove all token creators and 1 power guys from your cube…)
Ashiok's Adept - Not effective enough. There aren't going to be enough cards you want to cast to overcome the poor base stats.
Big Game Hunter - You would be looking to fill a niche to play this card. It only hits big creatures, making it a lot worse than Nekrataal and Shriekmaw, unless you really want something black that hits big black creatures or want to limit your removal. The small body hardly makes it a 2 for 1 compared to those creatures.
Cinderbones - It's too slow at whittling away creatures at the 3 mana cost.
Contagion Nim - Likely outcomes are that it will just trade in combat. Or you attack with it a few times and give your opponent a few poison counters, and then they kill it and you've done nothing to their actual life total.
Foundry Screecher - The only reason I can think of to cube this is to give you an aggro 3 power flyer with artifact support that other black aggro decks don't want, which doesn't seem worth it over just playing actual 3 power evasive 3 drops.
Frightshroud Courier - It's like an awkward aura that costs 6 mana before it does anything while also having a secondary mode of being a bad creature.
Gangrenous Zombies - If you want the sweeper effect, you don’t want it attached to a creature vulnerable to a variety of removal that takes a turn before you can threaten activation.
Jumbo Imp - This could be fun flashed into play at the end of an opponents turn; being able to attack with up to a 12/12 flyer is appealing. But that scenario is too narrow to consider cubing it.
Knight of Dusk - It is semi-evasive, as your opponent just won't block it if you have the mana up. But then you could just include better evasive creatures like Dauthi Marauder.
Mad Auntie - If this was red, it woud be fine. But there aren’t enough playable black goblins to consider this or have as a splash card for the red cards.
Markov Patrician - At three mana and one toughness, it is likely to gain you 3 life once and no longer contribute to your gameplan.
Merciless Eternal - In some board states it might be able to threaten a bunch of damage early in the game, but if it's the first thing you cast you still won't kill them if they don't block, and if you curve out, you won't have cards to threaten this being big enough to end the game.
Nirkana Assassin - While it might support life gain matters themes, there are better options that just have deathtouch all the time, like Thrill-Kill Assasin, or Felhide Petrifier.
Putrid Cyclops - It has high toughness compared to a lot of other 3 power 3-drops, but it doesn't have evasion and sometimes it is going to kill itself. Not worth the risk.
Quagmire Lamprey - It's a 3 mana 1/1 that they can ignore, but still have the option to block it if they need to. It can even be actively bad against undying creatures.
Ragamuffyn - The option of heavily conditional card draw is not worth playing a 3 mana 2/2.
Raiding Nightstalker - Scathe Zombie with occasional unblockability is not worth it.
Rakdos Drake - A 2/3 flyer that can't block isn't terrible, but there are better evasive options to warrant considering this.
Ruthless Knave - It has potential, but it will be difficult to realise. The most likely scenario is activating when something is about to die and trying to draw cards, but it just doesn't seem efficient enough to consider.
Sanguine Guard - It isn't costed well enough to be aggressive, so you would only want it on defense, in which case good old Drudge Skeletons is probably better to fill that role.
Screeching Bat - On curve, you only have 3 lands on the upkeep after you cast it, so you have to wait for the transformation. Big dumb creatures can be ok if you get them out early enough, but you end up paying 7 mana and it lacks the protection of comparable creatures like Blastoderm / Calciderm. Being able to transform back so you can get evasive if the ground has stalled is a fine option, but overall this card doesn't quite get there.
Servant of Nefarox - The stats make it feel like it wants to be played alongside other aggro creatures, undermining the exalted.
Servant of Tymaret - It looks like an ok blocker if you want to stall, but your opponent either won't attack, or their board will be developed enough that they don't mind attacking into it and forcing you to pay 3 mana.
Skirsdag Supplicant - It does provide reach and is a discard outlet, but with all the playable drain effects and other discard oulets, I don't see a need to play a symmetrical effect.
Skittering Horror - Only in a control deck that would use this as a finisher. Demonic Taskmaster is better for the deck that would want this.
Skulking Fugitive - And Tar Pit Warrior. Dead Reveler can attack just as good without the glass jaw, and can carry equipment, auras, be targeted by combat tricks etc. It can't block quite as well, but you don't want to be blocking with this and widen the window of opportunity for your opponent to have a targeted effect.
Skymarch Bloodletter - Looks fair… a little too fair. Maybe you could stretch and include it to support a life gain matters theme, but there doesn't seem a reason to cube it.
Slate Street Ruffian - It's a Grey Ogre that may get in a few times, but paying 3 mana for a 2/2 is not what you want to be doing for the marginal upside.
Sly Spy - There are 6 versions, but I don't think any of them are quite good enough. They all have to get in for damage, and 2/2's for 3 aren't great for that, and the upsides aren't going to be consistent enough.
Smokespew Invoker - There doesn't seem to be a reason to consider playing this over other 3 power creatures.
Soot Imp - Bad for cube, when you will mostly play multi-colour decks.
Thraben Foulbloods - Delirium — Thraben Foulbloods gets +1/+1 and has menace as long as there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard.
Voracious Null - It sits at a crossroads of synergies; +1/+1 counters and sacrifice fodder. The sorcery speed undoes it though, and most cubes will need to have no bounce or instant speed removal to consider playing it.
Voracious Vampire - The majority of the time it is going to be a worse Cursed Minotaur.
Walking Desecration - There are better options, like Nettling Imp, if you really want this effect.
Wall of Blood - Not something you will be willing to pay for.
Wall of Limbs - It could work in a life gain matters deck, but it is a very narrow payoff card for that archetype. Elsewhere it is going to be trash, so isn't worth including in your cube.
Zombie Master - Most players will see the Swampwalk as randomly hosing black players. The regen is fine, but there doesn't seem a need to look past Undead Warchief for tribal support.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Nekrataal Description - Excellent 2 for 1 which will almost always have a target, and after it hits it even has first strike to boot. The main reason you might not see it in cubes is to avoid density of this type of effect (Shriekmaw and Skinrender being similar options), rather than power level. Anchors - Supports - Bounce / Flicker
Ravenous Chupacabra Description - Amazing 2 for 1, and one of the most elegant of the 'ETB, kill something' black creatures. It hits more targets than any other version, however the targeting limitations on other versions might be a feature for some cube designers. Anchors - Supports -
Skinrender Description - While it's one the 'fairer' versions as it can't kill everything, it is still going to provide great value on just about any board state. As with Nekrataal & Shriekmaw, you might not want all of them. Anchors - Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Corpse Augur Description - It's a double-edged sword because there is limited control of how much life you lose (note that you can choose either players graveyard though), but it's hard to argue with the power of drawing a fistful of cards. The decent power plus low toughness can make this a deterrent to attacks on the ground, letting you trade with a lot of creatures while drawing into gas... as long as it doesn't kill you. Anchors - Supports -
Falkenrath Noble Description - The base stats are nothing exciting and not worth playing alone, but the drain can really start to add up quickly. It can be a fine curve topper in aggro, where you can suicide in your team to drain the last few points even if they get swallowed. Good for sacrifice decks, or if you support attrition decks that like to trade and grind out value over the course of a game. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice, Life Gain
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Accursed Witch Description - It only drains once it dies, but it does have a bit of flexibility. In an aggro deck the 2 toughness means it is going to trade, but they can't take 4 forever and if you've applied pressure before this hits the table the drain provides reach. On defense it will trade just the same, but it can take out a reasonable incoming threat, and then provide some slow bleed. The 'cost 1 less' clause isn't too impactful either way. Anchors - Supports -
Bellowing Saddlebrute Description - A decent aggro creature. Ideally you won't be losing any life in the bargain, but the stats for cost are probably worth that life anyway, particularly if you cast it on curve. Anchors - Supports -
Blightcaster Description - It's clearly an anchor card for an enchantment theme. There are several black options for enchantment based removal (e.g. dead Weight, Seal of Doom) which you would probably want to play to support it. Anchors - Enchantment Matters Supports -
Bone Picker Description - Paying a single mana for this is excellent, and even at 4 mana it isn't bad. Getting a creature to die isn't a foregone conclusion but happens frequently in games of magic. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Entomber Exarch Description - It has some flexibility and you usually gain a card worth of value, but the immediate board impact of a 2/2 for 4 mana is underwhelming and worth less than a card on its own. Anchors - Supports -
Gavony Unhallowed Description - The baseline isn't too exciting, but creatures die all the time in Magic. It can provide some level of inevitability; in a board stall you can always run another creature into the opposition they either have to trade or take the damage, and a fine support card for sacrifice decks. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice, +1/+1 counters
Haunted Dead Description - It isn't high impact, but there is some value here. The baseline is slightly underwhelming, but the discard ability at instant speed gives you some space to play with. If you've got 2 cards in hand, you can always threaten to add an extra defensive power to your board if you opponent attacks. Gets better if you have graveyard themes and madness. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Keening Banshee Description - It isn't super powerful and requires some though, but it isn't too hard to get an evasive creature while taking out something else. Anchors - Supports -
Marsh Flitter Description - for beat-down it gets better the more goblin tokens other cards in the cube create, and it's fine with flicker and bounce effects. It's also decent in sac decks, giving you 3 targets (or 6 if you can find a way to reanimate it...) It does a lot of things pretty well, but in a fair way. Anchors - Supports -
Mer-Ek Nightblade Description - It is perhaps a little deep on the +1/+1 counter theme, but if you have several other creatures with +1/+1 counters, giving most of your team deathtouch can be pretty solid. And if your opponent doesn't attack into your deathtouchers, you can sit back and outlast. You probably only cube it you support +1/+1 counter themes, but it might see play in control decks with marginal synergies. Anchors - +1/+1 counters Supports -
Null Caller Description - It's not the most efficient, but it can provide some value for grindy control decks. It's not the best fit due to the costs involved, but sacrifice decks can put cards in the graveyard, and then get a token to sacrifice. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Orc Sureshot Description - Good with token producers, especially those at instant speed. That aside, it is still a 4 power creature that can swing in, and you can still clear some weenies in the normal course of play, or shrink something before combat to swing it in your favour. Fringe synergies with bounce / blink. Anchors - Supports - Bounce / Flicker
Thorn of the Black Rose Description - It's bad stats for 4 mana, but you get a death toucher to take out anything grounded they throw at you which helps you to retain the crown and keep drawing cards. Anchors - Supports -
Vulturous Aven Description - It's not really ideal if you play the 'spell' version and pay 4 mana for a Night's Whisper. However, if you are upgrading one of your outclassed ground troops or something locked under a Pacifism etc. for a flyer while drawing some cards, then it can be reasonable. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Wei Night Raiders Description - It's a virtually unblockable 2 damage every turn while controlling your opponents resources. The cheaper Hypnotic Specter or Dauthi Marauder are similar cards; here you get a little more inevitability and a near guarantee to mess with their hand, making this more control oriented than those cards. Anchors - Supports -
Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed Description - It's a 3 power unblockable threat straight off the bat, which is reasonable. While the ability is a bit on the narrow side, getting back a key removal spell or a 2 for 1 like a dead Shriekmaw is going to be a fine play. It's durdly, but you can use the likes of Death Denied to grind out value. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Abattoir Ghoul Description - 3 power first strikers can deal with a reasonable number of threats. It lacks a little speed for aggro decks, but on defense it will either prevent attacks in the first place or pad your life total. Even if you are playing defensively, the first strike can sometimes get in some attacks that otherwise wouldn't be profitable. Not an exciting card and may not stack up against the powerful beaters of a similar mana cost (Blastoderm etc), but will rarely be bad. The main knock is that it just doesn't really fill a hole. Anchors - Supports -
Bloodbond Vampire Description - It requires some dedication to the life gain matters theme, but it can become a big beater in the right deck, but can be a little inconsistent. Anchors - Life Gain Matters Supports -
Bloodhunter Bat Description - It's not a high power option, but it at least provides a little reach while being an evasive threat. Anchors - Supports -
Dauthi Mindripper Description - You would prefer one of the better aggressive shadow creatures, but 4 mana to force them to discard 3 cards, albeit a turn delayed, still seems reasonable. And if they have no cards, it is still a nearly impossible to block creature. Anchors - Supports -
Erebos's Emissary
Description - It might be worth considering for specific cubes that care about enchantments and want discard outlets, or really care about delirium. Giving something that is already a decent size +3/+3 and threatening to go even bigger is likely to be hard to deal with.
Anchors -
Supports - Enchantment Matters, Graveyard Matters
Faceless Butcher Description - It's lower power than similar creatures like Shriekmaw and Nekrataal, and more akin to Banisher Priest. It's still fine on its own, but you are probably only playing it if you are lowering the power of your removal in black, or if you care about exile which black doesn't get a lot of. Anchors - Supports -
Gravedigger Description - You get card advantage while developing your board which is nice. However, unless you are flooded, the turn you play it you are getting a 2/2 for 4 which can sometimes be too low impact if you are under pressure. Entomber Exarch has more options with a slightly harder casting cost. Anchors - Supports -
Howling Banshee
Description - It isn't bad in aggro decks, providing a little reach on a decent body. You might consider Necrogen Scudder as a cheaper and slightly easier to cast alternative, but both are similar. Banshee can always chip away 3 life in the face of relevant blockers, where Scudder might just sit in your hand.
Anchors -
Supports -
Maulfist Squad Description - A 4/2 menace for 4 isn't setting the world on fire, but isn't a terrible baseline. Having the option of 2 bodies if the board demands it or you want sacrificial lambs is nice, plus the servo can support some artifact matters themes. Not a standout, but the combination of those synergies can make it worth cubing if you support them. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters, artifact matters, sacrifice
Nightshade Seer Description - It's slow, but in slower cubes it might be good enough for control. If you can start sandbagging cards you can take out almost anything. 7 mana before it does anything, and does nothing if you've had to drop your hand… super low floor but a reasonable ceiling. Anchors - Supports -
Ovalchase Daredevil Description - The base stats means that when it is on the board, it can trade with a decent amount of stuff. You wouldn't play it on that basis alone, but if you've got enough support, after it trades you can then get that threat back. It isn't going to be consistent, but it triggers off ETB, not casting, so it triggers off cards with investigate, and combos with cards like Sensei's Divining Top. Anchors - Artifact Matters Supports -
Paragon of Open Graves Description - Only if you want to push black devotion. The bonus is going to be more important than providing deathtouch given that it is a tap ability, but deathtouch can help you trade up. Anchors - Supports -
Returned Centaur Description - Maybe if you want push reanimator or other graveyard themes; it isn't particularly exciting, but the 4 toughness will at least hold some things off while setting up your graveyard shenanigans. Anchors - Graveyard Matters Supports -
Sengir Autocrat Description - It's narrow support for token / sacrifice decks, but is one of few ways to get 4 bodies for 4 mana. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Slum Reaper Description - In aggro decks you can sac your outclassed early drops, and if you are on the defensive you can get rid of an early drop and have a 4 power creature to trade on defense. Fairly inconsistent though; the 4 mana here is a significant difference over 3 mana versions where you are more likely to hit the target you want. Anchors - Supports -
Ukud Cobra Description - It's hard for your opponent to attack into; it can win combat with lots of creatures. It isn't going in any aggro decks, but it can make a reasonable attacker; the deathtouch kills traditional high toughness blockers, and the high toughness might require multiple blocks, with the deathtouch then killing multiple opponent creatures. Keepsake Gorgon is a more interesting variant, but the extra mana might matter more if you are looking for a 4-drop that can stem early aggro. Anchors - Supports -
Undead Warchief Description - Zombies costing 1 less is probably neither here nor there if you are already at 4 mana, but the tribal boost is decent. It will depend entirely on how many zombies are in your cube; there are several playable ones, but you'd have to play with most of them and maybe some alternates to make this worth it. Pretty nasty when combined with Curse of Shallow Graves, and there are a couple of other fringe token makers you might consider. Anchors - Zombie Tribal Supports -
Whisper, Blood Liturgist Description - It's a lot of set up cost; you have to have Whisper on the battlefield, waited a turn cycle to activate, AND have a creature in your graveyard that is better than your worst 2 creatures on board (Whisper can sacrifice itself though). Still, in the right deck (particularly with multiple token generators) you can get some value out of it. Anchors - Supports - Tokens, Graveyard Matters, graveyard recursion
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Abyssal Nightstalker - You could make an argument for it being easier to cast, but Hypnotic Specter is the better option.
Abyssal Specter - The cheaper cost of Hypnotic Specter is more important than the 3rd point of toughness, or you could go Wei Night Riders for better evasion.
Accursed Horde - It doesn't seem completely out of the question with enough zombies, but you'd cube better support cards before this one.
Accursed Spirit - It's just 'meh'. If you want something evasive, you can just have Dauthi Marauder.
Ashen Ghoul - Base stats are not amazing, you aren't even guaranteed to get it back once, and getting it back more than once requires you to jump through a lot of hoops.
Bad Ass - You don't get much taht is close to this in black, but it looks bad compared to greens alternatives (Wolfir Avenger, Cudgel Troll) and doesn't compare with the general power of blacks other 4 drops.
Bala Ged Scorpion - You can swap this for Nekrataal for an extra black for much more flexibility in the kill.
Balduvian Dead - It doesn't pass the vanilla test as a black card, and it isn't efficient enough as Rakdos card.
Brain Gorgers - Bad. Giving the opponent the option to counter it with a worse creature is not good.
Brain Weevil - It may as well be a 4 mana Mind Rot, because you certainly aren't playing a 1/1 creature for 4 mana.
Cabal Executioner - Hardcast makes it unlikely to get through, as most opponents will be able to put something in the way to trade. Throat Slitter gives you similar play with more likelihood of getting a trigger.
Cabal Paladin - The upside isn't high enough to consider supporting this.
Cavern Lampad - Inefficient no matter which way you look at it.
Childhood Horror - If the threshold version was the baseline it would be a fine evasive aggro curve topper, but it's too inconsistent and won't be 'on' often enough.
Crowd of Cinders - It isn't going to be big enough often enough.
Crypt Champion - It only makes sense as a Rakdos card, but even then you are still effectively at parity if you both Unearth. A 4 mana 2/2 double-striker isn't bad, but not enough to warrant playing.
Dark Revenant - Just meh. On creature stats alone, Crazed Skirge is better and also not worth playing. Putting it back on top of your library seems like a trap.
Dirkwater Wraith - Too much investment, and you can't even pump it to make it live.
Dirty Wererat - It comes with a built-in enabler, but I don't think I'd ever play this over something like Bellowing Saddlebrute, even in a deck with graveyard / threshold stuff going on.
Drifting Shade - It's evasive and might just get therein a mono-black deck, but it certainly isn't enough to warrant heading in that direction while drafting.
Driver of the Dead - There is some inherent value, but in practice it isn't going to be consistent and there are two few decks where it will do what you want.
Dross Crocodile - It's the most power for the cmc, but it dies to everything.
Drudge Reavers - It's just meh. It's a 5 mana combat trick, and even then not a very good one.
Dungeon Shade - It's evasive and might just get therein a mono-black deck, but it certainly isn't enough to warrant heading in that direction while drafting.
Dusk Charger - A 5/5 for 4 isn't so much upside that it's worth the times that it's just a 3/3.
Duskmantle Prowler - Nowhere near enough upside to warrant playing a 4 mana 2/2.
Earsplitting Rats - There are better ways to make your opponent discard and better discard outlets.
Escape Null - A 4 mana creature that gets to deal 1 damage to your opponent each turn? No.
Evernight Shade - Sure, it can come back, but it's just too much investment.
Famished Ghoul - Stats aren't enough for the cost and the ability is rarely relevant.
Fathom Fleet Cutthroat - The best case is alongside a pinger of some sort, but outside that you are likely relying on running one of your creatures into theirs. Too inconsistent.
Forlorn Pseudamma - So you play it, wait a turn to attack with it, then untap it, pay mana, and then wait ANOTHER turn before you get to attack with your first zombie token.
Grim Strider - There might occasions where this would perform, but not consistently enough, especially when even if it's best mode it is still a vanilla big creature, with potential for downside chucked on.
Lesser Werewolf - It requires a bit of investment to actually whittle something down, and you can only do it twice per combat (without power pumping effects).
Painbringer - You get a 1/1 for 4 mana, so you'd better be getting mielage out of that ability. And that just isn't going to happen often enough.
Perilous Shade - It might be a little better than most shades because it can at least block the turn you play it and it has a use if you don't want to invest mana. But it still doesn't do enough.
Scandalmonger - I could see it finding a place as a curve topper in a low to the ground aggro deck, then forcing your opponent to discard their hand before they can drop bigger threats, but it hardly seems worth the effort.
Shadow Rider - This doesn't seem terrible, but too underwhelming to cube.
Shoreline Salvager - It's a smidge bigger than similar saboteurs, but it's essentially a gold card and without an additional edge like evasion it doesn't seem worth it.
Skitterskin - There doesn't seem to be a reason to cube it; there are better large 4-drops with drawbacks and the colorless support isn't going to happen often enough.
Smogsteed Rider - Mogis' Marauders is a more appealing version.
Smoldering Butcher - Most things that would block it would die from the 4 power anyway; the number of creatures where wither will mean anything are too low.
Smuggler Captain - On the one hand, getting a free draw into what is probably a strong card you drafted prior sounds decent... on the other hand, if you draw that other card first then you just paid 4 mana for a 2/2. Not worth that inconsistency.
Soul Snuffers - There isn't a deck that can really take advantage. Plague Spitter might be a better alternative for this type of effect.
Souldrinker - It just feels like a trap; there might be particular game states where it does something, but you need to spend 6 life to make the stats worth the mana cost, and then you can just get hit by removal. Unspeakable Symbol doesn't have a body attached, but gives you much more flexibility in combat with multiple creatures.
Vampire Champion - There just doesn't seem to be a reason to cube it. It can trade against big stuff, but if you are being aggressive it also trades with a number of defending 3-drops. At this cost, Ukud Cobra just seems like a better version.
Vampire Outcasts - A 4/4 lifelinker is reasonable, but having a condition makes it too inconsistent; if you ever pay 4 mana for the 2/2 version, you are going to be pretty unhappy about it.
Wall of Distortion - Pay 7 mana to make them discard their first card and give up your blocker? Nope.
Wandering Tombshell - This can block and survive Blastoderms and the like, but that hardly seems like enough incentive to play this over Ukud Cobra which would be better in a lot more situations.
Waning Wurm - Bad; it can just be chump blocked for a couple of turns.
Zulaport Chainmage - There isn't enough ally support to overcome the times when this is a vanilla 4/2, and the upside if you have multiple allies still isn't that impressive.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Shriekmaw Description - One of blacks best cards and the best in class of the 'ETB, destroy something' creatures, combining a wide range of potential targets with evasion. The evoke can also allow for some shenanigans, whether it is getting it back from the grave afterwards with graveyard recursion tools, or bouncing / flickering it while the sacrifice triggers is on the stack. May be removed from some cubes for being too efficient at what it does. Anchors - Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
None.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Fallen Angel Description - It's a sacrifice outlet and can be a finisher, especially when paired with tokens or other sacrifice fodder. It can be inconsistent depending on the board state, and you have to avoid playing into removal, but it can end games quickly if unchecked. Anchors - Sacrifice Supports -
Gray Merchant of Asphodel Description - A 2/4 for 5 isn't great, and played onto an empty board the 2 life gain swing probably still doesn’t make it worth it, but draining for 5 or more isn't unreasonable. Can be a win condition in a bounce / blink deck. Anchors - Supports -
Keepsake Gorgon Description - Ukud Cobra shaves a mana to get the base creature, which is an annoying defender to attack into. But with this version, you should be able to stabilise long enough to get the creature kill on top of it. If you've stabilised, a 3/6 death toucher is going to peck away and probably requires a double block to get rid of, giving you another potential 2 for 1. Anchors - Supports -
Rakshasa Gravecaller Description - At worst, it is a vanilla 3/6 for 5. Not good, but at least a decent blocker. Being able to cash something else in for a couple of zombies is what makes it worthwhile. Even if you are just sacrificing another zombie token, you are up two creatures. Not so good on an empty board (you rarely want to exploit itself) but you should get reasonable value most of the time. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Corpse Connoisseur Description - Upfront your get a 3/3 for 5 which is not good, so it depends on the quality of your graveyard matters creatures more than anything else. At 5 mana it isn't an efficient reanimator enabler, so it is more designed for grindy graveyard decks. Anchors - Supports -
Ghoulsteed Description - You aren't too excited to hard cast it, but being able to trade 2 cards for a 4/4 isn't too bad. The activation cost does also give you the opportunity to filter it early and get a 4/4 as early as turn 3 which is an aggressive start. Anchors - Supports -
Okiba-Gang Shinobi Description - It feels good if you can grab a couple of cards, but it is going to be inconsistent. Minor synergy if you can attack and bounce something with an ETB effect. Anchors - Supports - Bounce
Old-Fashioned Vampire Description - I guess it's beefy enough if you only ever bring your cube out after dark. Anchors - Supports -
Sadistic Hypnotist Description - There is an enticing ceiling, but there is some risk and set up. For it to be good, your opponent has to be holding a bunch of cards, and you have to trade in your own board presence which you invested mana into. However stripping 4 cards from your opponents hand by sacrificing a few outclassed creatures might seriously kill a slower decks game plan. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Sengir Vampire Description - It's a flyer with reasonable stats. The triggered ability probably doesn't contribute much; if they couldn't mount a defence against a 4/4 flyer in the first place, throwing a small flying chump blocker in the way and getting a +1/+1 counter isn't likely to change the outcome that often compared to a vanilla 4/4 flyer. Overall, a decent size evasive creature in black, but doesn't stand out against some of blacks other higher cost creatures. Anchors - Supports -
Throat Slitter Description - One of the better upsides on a ninja, though often you only get in once when you ninjustu it in, as it is pretty easy to block thereafter unless you grant it some form of evasion. Anchors - Supports - Bounce
Warren Pilferers Description - Forget the goblin tribal element. It's a bit clunky at 5 mana, but it still represents value. The odd occasion where you get back a Beetleback Chief or whatever and get a hasty 3 points of damage is just gravy. Anchors - Supports - Goblin Tribal
Yargle, Glutton of Urborg Description - I don't see many cubes where this can be consistently good as it will trade with many cheaper creatures. But with 9 power, the stories it can generate might make it worth some cube owners time. Giving it some form of evasion is nice, but if you don't have enough ways to do that in your cube (or other ways to leverage the high power), you should definitely pass. Anchors - Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Banshee of the Dread Choir - It's missing evasion. It's going to come down too late to really hit much, and there are simply better board impacting 5-drops.
Bleak Coven Vampires - You aren't like to get metalcraft in peasant cube, and even if you do drain for 4, you are still left with a 4/3 you paid 5 mana for.
Blood Host - It's a trifecta of sacrifice outlet for sacrifice decks, repeat life gain for life gain matters, and it gets +1/+1 counters to get benefits from your +1/+1 lords… but the baseline is just too bad for cube.
Carrion Wurm - 3 cards is a lot, but the moment they have the option of triple blocking or whatever with no threat of losing anything, you are going to be sad that you played this card.
Evil Eye of Orms-by-Gore - It can block well, but you'd rather have something with better stats at this cost.
Evil Eye of Urborg - Opponents can chump, but this is difficult to trade with in combat, and 6 damage hits hard. Howver, most cubes have enough 'shutdown' effects like Pacifism, Icy Manipulator, Gideon's Lawmaker etc that it becomes a liability that can just make you lose the game because you can no longer attack.
Fallen Cleric - Pretty narrow, you can get bigger options at this mana cost with better upsides.
Geyserfield Stalker - I'd be in for a 5/4 menace for 5, but by the time you hit 5 mana, it's going to an overcosted Cursed Minotaur more often than not.
Hollow Dogs - You can get a 5/3 (or something better) at this mana cost.
Hooded Horror - It encourages you to play less creatures, which makes it less likely that you will want to attack with it for fear of the crack back.
Horror of the Broken Lands - It doesn't look horrible, with two modes that aren't a complete fail, but it also is rarely going to be really good either.
Hunter of Eyeblights - On it's own, it is too slow. It has more targets if you support +1/+1 counter creatures in your cube, but then it feels like an odd hate card against that archetype.
Midnight Scavengers - It might have been ok if it didn’t have a cmc restriction. And the meld doesn't make up for it, even if you let your drafters get both sides in a single pick.
Morkrut Banshee - Looks a little embarrassing next to Shriekmaw, Nekrataal and Skinrender. Only if you care more about making your players work for their 2 for 1's rather than cube straight up value cards.
Muck Drubb - There doesn't seem to be a use case for this.
Nested Ghoul - It's mostly a 4/2 that will leave behind a 2/2, and that isn't worth 5 mana. Getting more out of it is going to be pretty slim.
Noxious Ghoul - You are only considering it as anchor card for zombie tribal in your cube given that it is symmetrical. And then, you should just consider the other zombie lords.
Okiba-Gang Shinobi - Taking a couple of cards is nice, but it's too much set up for not enough payoff.
Predatory Nightstalker - It's worse than Shriekmaw by a decent margin, but it's still always a 2 for 1. If you find Shriekmaw and friends to be too consistently good this can be an option, but only if depowering this type of effect.
Prowling Pangolin - It's not so far above the curve that it is worth the times when your opponent will sacrifice a couple of tokens or bears or what have you.
Prowling Pangolin - It's not so far above the curve that it is worth the times when your opponent will sacrifice a couple of tokens or bears or what have you.
Street Wraith - It essentially makes your deck smaller, but if you use it for that it is just tying up a cube slot you could be using for something else.
Stromkirk Patrol - The chance of it getting it through in the first place at this cost is not good enough.
Swarm of Bloodflies - By the time this comes down, alternatives that are cheaper and count creatures already in the grave are probably going to be better.
The Wretched - So your opponent might just let it through… which means you paid 5 mana for an unblockable creature that can actually be blocked.
Twins of Maurer Estate - Paying 3 mana for this does sound pretty good… but it just isn't going to happen consistently enough unless you are really designing your cube around madess and discard outlets.
Woebearer - Bad against black, does nothing if killed before it gets to do something; you are likely better off with a Gravedigger or variant that guarantees you your card.
Zombie Assassin - It's probably one of the more fair creatures with removal attached. Too fair.
Zombie Boa - I don't see a reason to play this when you could just play Ukud Cobra or Keepsake Gorgon.
Zombie Cutthroat - You can get a much better deal than 3 mana and 5 life for a 3/4 in colorless, let alone black.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Gurmag Angler Description - It is just a vanilla, but it's a decent size vanilla that can come down cheap enough frequently enough, whether you 'curve' into it, or are able to cast it later in the game for only a few mana alongside another spell. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Dark Hatchling Description - It's not as efficient as some of the other 'ETB, kill something' creatures, but the fact that it flies is an important difference, particularly given that sometimes you can kill the only thing they have that could block it. Anchors - Supports -
Morkrut Necropod Description - It's big and menace makes it hard to chump block it. If they don't have 7 points of power on the board to kill it, they are probably in trouble. Once you can cast it, you can probably afford to sacrifice a few lands. Anchors - Supports -
Phyrexian Gargantua Description - Reasonable value, though a grounded 4/4 for 6 mana isn't amazing, and might be outclassed. Still, drawing a couple of cards can start getting you ahead. Anchors - Supports -
Sultai Scavenger Description - It only takes a couple of cards to be a Phantom Monster, which is not impressive but playable, and it can get better from there. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Grixis Slavedriver Description - There is some value to be had, potentially giving you 4 creatures in total, though it isn't a huge impact when you first cast it. Sacrifice themes in a cube makes it value go up, though just having a stream of blockers to trade with in a control deck might be worth it for some decks. You can discard it for 'value' and unearth it, though that feels like playing a 2/2 for 4 mana with a one-shot attack which isn't thrilling. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice, Graveyard Matters
Havoc Demon Description - A 5/5 flyer is pretty solid if it sticks, but it is quite expensive. The upside here compared to other large (and usually cheaper) evasive threats is that if it dies you are probably wiping out most of the opponents board. Cube it if you are looking for a control finisher with insurance, or possibly a reanimation target. If your cube is loaded up on exile or aura-based removal, you might not consider it as highly. Anchors - Supports -
Lingering Phantom Description - It's a pretty slim inclusion, but you might include it for an artifact matters deck. This plus Ovalchase Daredevil can give an artifact deck some late game punch (if they survive long enough). Anchors - Supports -
Noxious Dragon Description - You could get Sengir Vampire at a mana cheaper, but this comes with an insurance plan, and you are likely to have a target often enough. Fine, but doesn't stand out much against other options. Anchors - Supports -
Sibsig Muckdraggers Description - At 5 mana it is a decent deal, but it fits in less decks that more 'generic' delve creatures which can usually come down early enough in aggro decks. It might also not gel entirely with your other graveyard based decks, particularly if you focus on repeat recursion, given this empties your graveyard. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Twisted Abomination Description - You would mostly consider it if you have reanimation spells, allowing you to cycle it and then get back a decent size creature with cheap regeneration, which will be hard for your opponent to keep up with. If you don't have any reanimation spells, it can still act as a finisher but 6 mana is a decent amount. Anchors - Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Corpulent Corpse - Shriekmaw is going to be better a million times.
Corrupted Harvester - 6 power with the option to regenerate is interesting, but not for the costs involved; just get a 6 drop that has better survivability in the first place.
Shambling Attendants - It's hard to imagine this being better cast as early as Ukud Cobra or Keepsake Gorgon often enough.
Skeletal Wurm - I like the cheap regeneration cost, but by the time you can cast this you could have cast any number of 5-7 drops that would be more impactful.
Thorntooth Witch - Interesting effect, but isn't going to come up consistently enough in cube.
Thoughtrender Lamia - Not the card you are looking for if you want an enchantment matters theme.
Toxic Nim - You might consider it as a control finisher, but they can always just ignore they first 2 hits (pump spells notwithstanding), and it is otherwise not impactful enough.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Reanimate Description - A single mana to get back a creature is usually an amazing deal. While it can support actual reanimator decks (with the appropriate discard / self-mill support) most decks are happy to play it to cheaply get back a threat. An aggro deck that can get back something that costs 2-4 cmc alongside another threat maintains solid pressure. Larger creatures lose more life, but the mana saving is almost always worth it if you've got something else to do with the rest of your mana and sufficient life total. Anchors - Supports - Reanimator
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Booster Tutor Description - You'll need some form of house rule to play this, and if you are at 360 and often draft with 8 players, you won't have any cards left over to 'open'. On average there will be a handful cards that will be in your colours, and you will probably hit at least one card that will suit your deck. It's value goes up the more colours you are playing to open up more choices. The fact that it is instant gives you the opportunity to find an answer to a specific problem exactly when you need it. Anchor - Supports -
Darkblast Description - Darkblast can support a number of strategies. It's value goes up the more x/1's in your cube, and most cubes include a decent percentage of those. Being able to draw it anytime you need it to deal with a relevant creature for just B gives it plenty of long game value. It's value also goes up the more graveyard matters themes you include. It helps put cards in your graveyard for flashback, threshold, reanimation, delve, cards that count what is in your graveyard, and good old Reassembling Skeleton. Anchor - Supports - 'Graveyard Matters' themes
Inquisition of Kozilek Description - As a reference, the 360 card peasant cube has (at the time of review) 245 nonland cards that have a CMC of 3 or less, 68% of the cube. So that's better odds than the majority of these types of discard. Of course, your cube may vary, and deck building curves might not align exactly to the cube curve, but they are pretty good odds. Anchor - Supports -
Quest for the Gravelord Description - This is a black card. Black likes to kill creatures. It shouldn't take too long to trigger this guy. Great in the early game, but not a great top deck when you are down to the wire. Size compares favourably to nearly everything in cube outside of greens ramp targets. Anchor - Supports -
Sarcomancy Description - On it's own, it is decent for aggro decks based on stats for cost. Unlike similar black cards, this one doesn't have a drawback while the creature is in play, but once it leaves play. So if the token is quickly taken out that can be a bummer. However, if you are playing Sarcomancy you are probably playing other black aggro cards which happen to be zombies, mitigating the drawback somewhat. Incidental gating/bounce/sac-for-effect is also nice, though the card is good enough without going out of your way. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
Undying Evil
Cheap enough that you can leave the mana open when you need it to restore a creature to the board. +1/+1 makes it more than just a regen, plus the ability to re-use comes into play abilities shouldn't be overlooked. Anchors - Supports -
Unearth Description - Solid for aggro, but also playable in a variety of decks. Solid due to efficient use of mana to get a creature back on the board, plus the ability to cycle if you are in top-deck mode and don't have a relevant target. Anchors - Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Blackmail Description – Not the best turn 1 play, but as the game goes on you are much more likely to get a target you want. Anchor -
Supports -
Dark Ritual Description - Not everyone will want it in their cube, but can be played across a spectrum of archetypes. It won't always be consistent, and the card disadvantage won't always be worth it. Late game it is often going to be a dead draw. Still, on some occasions you'll get an explosive start. Anchor - Supports -
Dead Weight Description - Fair 'removal' at the 1 mana spot. With a lot of toughness affecting black removal, if it's too big you are out of luck. Dead Weight is never dead, as you can always make something big a much lesser threat in a pinch. Still, most of the time you'd rather have something that cost a little more and deals with more threats with finality. Anchor - Supports –
Disfigure Description – Fair removal for the cost. Gets the job done. Anchor - Supports -
Divest Description - Hitting creatures is the most prevalent card type, but hitting the occasional equipment or troublesome artifact is nice upside when it comes up. Not the sort of effect you'd probably notice missing from a cube, but fine enough. You might also consider Harsh Scrutiny if you don't cube the best artifacts, which has more consistent upside in those scenarios. Anchors - Supports -
Duress Description – 137 targets in the average 360 Peasant on Cubetutor. Less targets than Despise which is a similar effect. Still, might have a place to get rid of buyback spells and the like that might be floating around in your cube. Anchor - Supports -
Fatal Push Description - It's decent removal. Nothing spectacular at peasant cube level, but the appeal is the single mana at instant speed, and the revolt shouldn’t be too hard to turn on if you really need it to deal with a threat. Anchors - Supports -
Funeral Charm Description - Two reasonable modes; instant speed discard can be nice, and the second option can help push through some damage, with the flexibility to kill utility x/1's or to finish a creature off after combat. The final mode won't matter most of the time, but random evasion as a bonus is nice. Anchor - Supports -
Fungal Infection Description - It's unassuming, but for a single mana it can do some work, particularly in aggro decks for keeping up pressure. Anchors - Supports -
Harsh Scrutiny Description - This effect isn't too splashy and you might sometimes whiff, but generally decent card due to the choice. Anchors - Supports -
Paralyze Description - Good as a tempo spell that can remove early creatures from affecting the board, and even when the opponent has the mana it is still expensive to keep a creature active in the game. It might not turn off the most powerful creatures your opponents have and it's value goes down the longer the game, but it never does nothing. Anchor - Supports - Aggro
Phyrexian Reclamation Description - Solid as a potential recursion engine to grind out card advantage over time. Can add more value in sac decks to get benefits from the recursion, extort decks to offset the life loss while replaying cards and getting to extort again, and graveyard fillers so you have more targets. You just have to be careful of the lifeloss. Anchor - Graveyard Creature Recursion Supports - Extort, Sacrifice, Self-Mill
Raven's Crime Description - Solid re-usable discard. Can be a first turn play if you've got nothing else, and after you hit your required mana base, all lands you draw can turn into a discard spell. Best in a control deck to prevent your opponent from holding onto anything, but could still be in an aggro deck pushing a really low curve to strip slower decks of their cards once they hit the desired mana base. Also serves in reanimator decks because you can target yourself for a single mana. Anchor - Supports -Reanimator
Skeletal Scrying Description - Solid for control decks. More conditional than something like Night's Whisper or Ambition's Cost, but by the time you want to cast it you probably have the resources in the yard. Being instant also really helps. Anchors - Supports -
Skulduggery Description - 1 mana is nice for a combat trick. The impact isn't huge but is likely to turn around enough combats to be worthwhile. (Steal Strength currently at 1, drop to no reason to cube). Anchors - Supports -
Supernatural Stamina Description - Protects from most removal and helps win combat for a single mana. Negative compared to some protection spells; creature comes back into play tapped. Upside; retriggers enter the battlefield triggers, and 'protects' creatures from sacrifice effects. Anchors - Supports -
Tortured Existence Description -It can get your best creatures back form the yard, but having to discard another creature means you are at a card disadvantage as you have to invest in putting this on the board. Gets a lot better with dredgers or other ways to get more creatures in the yard for more selection. Anchors - Supports - Dredge
Tragic Slip Description - One of the few 1 mana black spells capable of killing just about every creature in cube... when it gets triggered. Creatures die a lot in any case, plus if you are playing this you are probably playing other black kill spells or sacrifice. Anchors - Supports -
Ulcerate Description - This will kill a decent number of creatures in most cubes, or finish something after blocks are declared. 3 life can hurt though. You want this card if you want push aggro mana efficiency to the limit, but is playable elsewhere.
Anchors -
Supports -
Unnatural Endurance Description - If you prefer your removal to be combat-oriented, this might be an option to help your smaller creatures scale up and survive combat, which is fine either on offense or defense. It also provides 1 mana protection for your creatures against a lot of removal as a back up option. Coat With Venom is a comparable alternative; it guarantees trading up, while this is slanted to guaranteeing your creatures survival. Anchors - Supports -
Vampiric Rites Description - Thrown in any deck, it may not excel but can provide an insurance policy against removal or losing combats, or turn outclassed creatures into draws. It becomes an excellent sacrifice outlet if you have creatures with death triggers, or if you have some token generators. You aren't likely to give up a creature just to trigger some life gain matters cards, but that is another minor synergy, and the incidental life gain can add up over the course of a game. It's a nice build-around if you draft it early. Anchors - Sacrifice Supports - Life gain Matters
Vendetta Description -Better against small guys, but being able to kill larger ones in exchange for more isn't really a downside. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Coat With Venom Description - Most of the time, you will just want a non-combat removal spell instead of this. But it gets a mention as a spell that can help kill hexproof creatures, and may randomly save a creature you want to keep or rarely deliver the final point of damage. Anchors - Supports -
Cremate
Description - This is not the sort of effect that everyone will want in their cube, as it unlikely to matter in most games. But as a 1 mana cantrip, you can always play it to make your deck smaller so long as there is 1 card in a graveyard. Anchors - Supports -
Crippling Blight Description - You would cube this to give aggro decks a cheap way to remove their most relevant blocker or kill an x/1. Anchor Supports - Aggro
Executioner's Capsule Description - On it's own, it is almost always worst than Doom Blade. However, it can become more powerful if you have ways to tutor/retrieve/abuse it in an artifact matters theme. Anchor - Supports - Artifact Matters
Duh Description – This will be very swingy between different cube environments. It could hit lots if you try and make your cube new player friendly, or next to nothing if you pimp out with textless cards. Cheap and instant, so if you have enough creatures that fit the criteria it might make a reasonable alternative to blacks commonly used removal in the 2 cc spot. Anchor - Supports -
Ghoulcaller’s Chant Description - Return a single creature to your hand from your grave is not terribly exciting as a base. Gets better if you support dredge or otherwise chuck cards into your yard. 2 creatures? Now we are talking. It seems to force tribal, but there are a number of zombies which see play in cubes without forcing tribal themes; a number of those support black aggro which is likely to see some of its creatures die early. Anchor - Supports – Black aggro
Graf Harvest Description - It's a tribal card that works by itself, but is a bit slow given the activation cost. The tokens ETB untapped, so you can always hold mana up until the opponent attacks. Graveyard based decks probably have better things to do, but it works there as well. The menace can help you alpha strike, and this will probably be brutal if you ever pair it with Curse of Shallow Graves. Anchors - Supports - Zombie Tribal, Tokens, Graveyard Matters
Innocent Blood Description - It's the cheapest of this type of effect, which means you can cast it as soon as they have a creature out. But it is also symmetrical (compare to Diabolic Edict). Probably only worth cubing if you want to support creature light decks, or decks that want their stuff to go to the graveyard. Anchors - Supports -
Stop That Description -Could be ok if you are ok with un cards. It's cheap enough that if you only catch your opponent out once it's a nice two for one. If you only get one activation, it isn't worth it. Anchors - Supports -
Suffer the Past Description -Drain Life variant that doesn't hit creatures? Nah. Clears graveyards? Nah. But if you want a graveyard clearing effect that has some other upside, at least you get that so it isn't a dead card when graveyard clearing doesn't matter. Anchors - Supports -
Vile Rebirth Description - If you are looking for the exile from graveyard effect, this one gives you some extra value in the form of a 2/2 at instant speed for B. Anchors - Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Aphotic Wisps - Once off, non-guaranteed unblockability. Nah.
Burnt Offering - There might be some best case scenarios, but the probability of them happening is pretty slim. Dark Ritual more reliable.
Cabal Therapy - Not going to work in cube due to the singleton status of the format. You could cast it and then flash it back to get something good, but you may as well just be playing a better card to begin with.
Call to the Netherworld - Just black creatures is very narrow, and madness does not make up for it.
Cateran Summons - May have a place if mercenary tribal is a theme.
Cruel Feeding - Not sure there is a board position where I would want to play this card over anything else.
Cry of Contrition - 2 cards for 1 black mana sounds good, but there are too many hoops to jump through, and as your opponent gets the choice, they are more likely to know when to hold back a land for the second discard.
Culling the Weak - 2nd turn 5 mana sounds pretty nuts, but I don't see it playing out very consistently; you need a 1 drop plus this in your opening 8-9 cards, plus relevant cards to play with that 5 mana that just cost you two cards. Getting 3 for 1'd from some cheap removal will not make you a happy camper. Dark Ritual is the card you want for more flexibility and consistency.
Deadly Allure - Unless the opponent only has one open blocker, you don't get to choose what to kill. You would rather have straight out removal, though effects like this may go up in value if you eschew removal in favour of combat tricks.
Ebony Charm - None of the modes are that exciting. Can be a way of including graveyard clearing without dedicating a full slot, but decks won’t want the other two effects either.
Encroach - You are going to whiff the vast majority of the time.
Genju of the Fens - Too mana intensive to matter most of the time. If you are attacking, you've already spent 3 mana, leaving little mana left to push the attack (or cast anything else). The recursive nature does give it some marginal synergy with sacrifice decks, but not good enough.
Gruesome Deformity - The best case is that you spend 1 mana and a card, and get one of your bigger attackers through. But the threat of your opponent playing the right colour and or being 2-for-1'd by removal is too great a risk.
Horrifying Revelation - Because the opponent has choice of discard, other discard options at this mana cost are preferred. The graveyard dumping doesn't add anything worthwhile.
Lurking Jackals - A 3/2 on the cheap looks great, but the fact that it is useless until your opponent has lost half their life makes it unplayable in the decks that want it.
March of the Drowned - There isn't really the density of cube worthy Pirates to consider it; play Ghoulcaller's Chant instead.
Marsh Gas - If you want this effect, you probably just want Darkness.
Misinformation - This is not worth the card disadvantage in the vast majority of situations.
Molting Snakeskin - Black aggro likes cards that can hit for 2 power for 1 mana, and this is a pseudo-version of doing that with haste. But it carries the big downside of opening you up for a 2 for 1, and it isn't an extra body which the opponent has to block.
Organ Harvest - Could be a powerful mana booster but too narrow an effect for a cube to take full advantage of (Maybe has some value if you play team games).
Peppersmoke - Unless you have enough Faeries, Lose Hope is better.
Planar Void - Too narrow an effect to care about if it isn't attached to a body.
Postmorten Lunge - If we are going to be bringing something back and paying this much, we want it to stick around, not disappear at the end of the turn.
Rat's Feast - Tormod's Crypt is the card you want.
Restless Dreams - You end up down a card, which is a bummer. You can swap out poor creatures in your hand for better ones in your graveyard, but that seems like a lot of setup. If you are playing good cards, the ones in your hand shouldn't be that much worse than the ones in your yard anyway.
Shamble Back - If you really want this effect, the instant speed on Vile Rebirth is better; it lets you exile creatures in response to reanimation or retrieval spells, while also helping set up ambush blocks.
Shrieking Affliction - Has no early relevance, and most players are likely to hold onto at least 1 card as a bluff. By the time you play this on an empty hand, your opponent is likely to just hold onto a couple of lands. Too conditional to get going or get value.
Shrouded Lore - Way too conditional to get what you want.
Sinister Concoction - It's a delirium enabler in its native format, but removal that demands you 2 for 1 yourself is not good enough in peasant despite what it may enable.
Songs of the Damned - Hard to take advantage of in cube environment. Harder to load your graveyard, and even if you do not an abundant number of ways to abuse the mana.
Soul Stair Expedition - While cheap, other effects that get your creatures back more consistently are preferred.
Soul Strings - It could have some play in an aggro deck to reload after some early trades, but once you start paying more than a few mana you may as well have Death Denied.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Cast Down Description - Contender for the top three black removal spells (Go For The Throat and Ultimate Price being the other two). The drawback is small, cost is cheap, and instant speed. You might not need or want all of these variants, but it is top tier removal. Anchors - Supports -
Demonic Tutor Description - Great card for all black decks, and sometimes worthy of a splash. Let's you find any answer to the current board state, or find synergistic pieces for what your deck is doing. Only costing 2 mana gives you the opportunity to cast the card you find the turn you play it. If you have ways to get it back from the graveyard it can set up combos all by itself. Value goes down slightly in purer aggro decks that may not want to spend 2 mana that doesn't affect the board. Anchors -
Doom Blade Description - One of blacks best removal spells, it will hit the majority of creatures you face. You will rarely be wanting for targets, as even if your opponent is also playing black, they are likely playing a second colour. Anchors - Supports -
Go For The Throat Description - One of blacks best pieces of instant removal, hitting the vast majority of creatures in cubes. Anchors - Supports -
Hymn to Tourach Description - The best 2 mana discard spell available to black. Being random discard makes this particularly potent, as it does not allow the opponent to keep their best cards, and it can hit lands. Its for this reason that some cube owners may avoid this card; cast on turn 2 and even taking a single land can be devastating and knock some players out of their game. It's a 2 for 1 for 2 mana in most stages of the game, and in the late game its rare that an opponent will play every single card on the turn they draw it. Consider Wrench Mind if you want a 'fair' 2 mana discard 2 cards spell. Anchors - Supports -
Ultimate Price Description - Outside of the handful of artifact creatures, Eldrazi and multi-colour creatures that most cubes have, this hits everything else, making it the top black removal spell that is playable in any deck, and is likely to be splashed even if you aren't playing black. Anchors - Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Animate Dead Description - Animate Dead is a solid card in almost any fair black deck, getting you back your best creature for only 2 mana. 1 less power usually doesn't matter if you only paid 2 mana for a 4+ drop. You don't need to support reanimator for Animate Dead to be good but it also has that upside. Turn 1 discard outlet, Turn 2 Animate Dead on Trostani's Summoner is going to be tough to beat. Anchors - Supports - Reanimator
Night's Whisper Description - The mana cost is cheap for draw 2, offset by the life loss. Most decks will be happy to pay that though. The cheaper cost can make it playable in an aggro deck, allowing it to play this after dumping its hand and potentially playing the drawn threats that turn. Similarly control decks can cast this while keeping mana up for counterspells or other responses, or to activate on-board control. Anchors - Supports -
Terror Description -Doom Blade and Go For The Throat both have more targets, but this still hits a lot of targets. It also kills regenerators. Anchors - Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Corpse Churn Description - Raise Dead is usually not considered a great card and this costs twice as much, but the self-mill effect and instant speed make this worth considering. Outside of more dedicated graveyard decks it still has some play, getting back your best creature, and potentially putting a better target into your yard. Graveyard decks will be where it shines, whether it is to help hit threshold, put potential reanimation targets in the yard, help your delve cards etc. Anchors - Graveyard Matters Supports -
Dance of the Dead Description - Similar to Animate Dead, with power and toughness upside, inability to block the turn you reanimate due to coming in tapped downside, and upkeep downside. The downsides make this less applicable to 'fair' decks (though still ok) and more appropriate for reanimation decks that are happy to pay 2 mana on turn 3 to untap their 9/9 Ulamog's Crusher. Anchors - Reanimator Supports - Graveyard Matters
Death Denied Description - Paying 3 mana for a Raise Dead is bad. Paying 5 mana at the end of the opponents turn to get 3 creatures back is gravy. The flexibility in casting cost and being an instant makes this a solid card for attrition-based midrange or control decks. Hana Kami on it's own is narrow, but is an engine when combined with this card. Less effective in an aggro deck. Anchors - Supports -
Devour In Shadow Description - The combination of double black and life loss make this one harder to swallow than other removal. But it has upside over similar costed black removal in that it will kill virtually anything you want. For most it still won't be worth the downsides, but is certainly not unplayable. Value goes up if you have lots of regnerators in your card pool. Anchors - Supports -
Distress
Description - In terms of effect, stripping any nonland card is quite powerful. The question becomes is that additional power worth paying 2 black mana, over the more conditional 1 mana versions? The answer is likely to be no, as the 1 mana versions can let you better sequence plays, but this is still a playable piece of discard.
Anchors -
Supports -
Grasp of Darkness Description - Serviceable if you want to control the effectiveness of your removal, and want your players to commit to black for their removal. Can give ramp / reanimator strategies a little more of a chance while still hitting a significant number of creatures in the cube. Anchors - Supports -
Last Gasp Description - Kills a lot of things in cubes, but you need to combine with something else to take out bigger threats. Your Doom Blades and Go For the Throat are generally better, and the inclusion of Last Gasp can help ramp / control decks with larger threats have more of a chance. Anchors - Supports -
Lay Bare the Heart Description - For most peasant cubes, this just means 'nonland card'. That is a fine range of targets for 2 mana. Playable if you want this type of effect but not essential. Anchors - Supports -
Macabre Waltz Description - Trade this and a card you don't want (or that you want in your graveyard) for the 2 best creatures in your graveyard. You don't end up ahead, but have (or should have) improved card quality. Has synergy with graveyard decks which can put more targets in the graveyard in the first place, and the discard effect of this card, but still works fine in other decks. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Shadows of the Past Description - It does nothing the turn that it comes into play… and potentially for a few turns after that. But creatures die in games, so you should get a number of scry's out of it, which can add up over the game. Gets better in sacrifice decks which can control the scry. Worth noting that when lots of creatures die, you might find the card you want in your first scry, making further triggers until your next draw step redundant. You won't want to rely on the drain effect, but is a nice bonus if you have the mana spare or if a couple of activations are all that is needed to finish a game. Primarily for control / attrition decks that intend to go long. Anchors - Supports -
Sinkhole Description - If you want to push a land destruction package in black, this is your only 2 mana option. The better the nonbasic lands in your cube, the better this gets. However unless you support land destruction as a theme, on its own it is going to be very narrow targeted removal for those cards. It can be good in aggro decks to help slower decks off their bigger spells after laying down some threats. Anchors - Supports -
Smother Description - It hits less targets than the likes of Doom Blade and Go For The Throat, and doesn't kill larger creatures that are more likely to be the ones you want to kill. But it is instant speed and doesn't discriminate against colour. It's inclusion in your cube is probably based on intentionally lowering the power level of removal in your cube, or giving your slower decks specific removal against aggro decks. Anchors - Supports -
Victim of Night Description - Without checking any particular cubes, it probably hits more creatures than any other 2 mana black destroy spells with the possible exceptions of Go For The Throat and Ultimate Price. But it's probably not enough to make up for the double black to consider it before some of those other options. Still a fine piece of removal. Anchors - Supports -
Walk the Plank Description - It has among the highest number of targets for a 2 removal spell. Balanced by being sorcery speed and needing to commit to black, though for some these will be features you are looking for in your removal suite rather than drawbacks. Anchors - Supports -
Wrench Mind Description - Potentially the next best 2 mana for 2 discard spells after Hymn to Tourach. The player choice makes it worse than Hymn, but makes it fairer if you are finding the randomness of Hymn to reduce the fun factor. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Bile Blight Description -Last Gasp is easier to cast and will be better the vast majority of the time, but you might want to consider this if you want a card to deal with token decks. Anchors - Supports -
Blight Description - You don't get too many 2 mana land removal spells, though the opponent does get one more use out of the land. You need to be pushing a land destruction deck pretty hard, but at least you give it a 2 mana option for the curve. Anchors - Supports - Land Destruction
Cabal Ritual Description - Narrow enabler for a storm deck. It could be an accelerator in a dredge deck, putting you up 3 mana once you hit threshold, but by the time you've hit threshold you are less likely to need that extra mana. Anchors - Supports - Storm
Chainer's Edict Description - Can be useful for control decks to stall an aggro start and get an extra use in the late game, You won't care if you flip it early, but has synergy with dredge decks Anchors - Supports -
Corrupted Zendikon Description - You can attack turn 3 with a 3/3, but if you want to use it as a creature, you tie up a mana for each subsequent turn. Can be ok in a low curve aggro deck, but not likely to get much play outside of that. Anchors - Supports - Aggro
Diabolic Edict Description - It's instant and great against single targets like Jetting Glasskite, but the player choice means you are less likely to actually get what you want. Might be worth it in slow cubes where decks curve out at higher end, and you don't support tokens. Anchors - Supports -
Exhume Description - You get your best creature, but so does your opponent, and you are down this card. But if you want to maximise cheap reanimation cards, this can be an option; ideally your creature will cost significantly more than your opponents if you have discard / looting support. If you are finding reanimator decks too often being wrecked by enchantment removal (Animate Dead & friends), this gives you another cheap option alongside Reanimate. Anchors - Supports - Reanimator
Grave Strength Description - This card has a low floor but a high ceiling. The ceiling can be hard to reach in most decks, as it will have little value in the early game, but may provide a decent creature boost after some attrition battles. It does still open you up for a 2 for 1. Other cards can provide a boost more reliably, but the self-mill also helps other graveyard strategies as well. Anchors - Supports -
Grim Discovery Description - The only reason you would consider this is if you were getting the 2 for 1 on a regular basis, which probably requires some form of land matters theme. There are cards that it might be able to do some work with (Goblin Trenches, Foundry of the Consuls, dead manlands) but you need a critical mass of those types of cards to consider this.
Anchors -
Supports -
Grim Harvest Description - Grim Harvest offers creature recursion ad infinitum, but in practice is tricky to use. You always need the mana open to recover it, so your battle plan needs to account for this, which might be by holding it in hand until you know the mana will be available, or waiting until you are ready to trigger a sacrifice effect. Can provide long term value, but only fits in grindy value decks that can survive aggro assaults long enough to play it. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Grotesque Mutation Description - It won't save something as well as something like Giant Growth, but the power boost plus lifelink combo is solid in racing situations, particularly if you have a black evasive contingent. If you are on the back foot, you can trade up a creature while padding your life total, helping you to get back in the game. It might never be a blowout, but it does something no matter where you are in the game. Anchors - Supports -
Marsh Casualties Description - Against most opponents you will want to be getting the larger effect. 5 mana is a lot for the effect, but can apply to different situations. Against aggro or token decks, it may wipe out most of their team. Played before combat against larger creatures, you make them all ineffective blockers, either dying to your attackers, or letting the damage get through. Or played as an 'after combat trick' to ensure creatures that were dealt damage during combat die. Situational and smidge more than you want to pay, but a 1 sided Infest is worth considering. Anchors - Supports -
Moment of Craving Description - The only reason to cube it is to seed more incidental life gain for a life gain matters archetype. You are giving up a fair bit of power compared to Disfigure or Doom Blade variants, but it might meet specific cube design goals. In a pinch it can be used to 'gain 4 life' against an incoming creature. Anchors - Supports - Life Gain Matters
Nameless Inversion Description - In most cases this is just going to be a Lasp Gasp with some downside (you can't just make a big creature small and have your creature survive combat). Does have upside of allowing power boosting your creatures with high toughness, though this mode is unlikely to be used often. Marginal upside of being about to be tutored by some tribal cards. Anchors - Supports -
Rime Transfusion Description - If you let your players have snow basics, this can be a power booster and make the creature almost unblockable. Decent upside, but still at the mercy of 2 for 1, and having to pay a mana every turn can hurt early development. Anchors - Supports -
Rush of Vitality Description - An ok trick. The small power boost might not help you upgrade much, but your creature is almost guaranteed to survive, the lifelink and indestructibility is relevant, especially if you are on the back foot. Can be used on an evasive creature in a pinch to get some life gain needed to race, or to counter most black and red removal against key creatures. Anchors - Supports -
Sign In Blood Description -Night's Whisper is going to be the better card most of the time. This has the extra flexibility of being able to force through the final 2 life loss on your opponent, but with the rare times that will happen, you will want the easier to cast of Night's Whisper. Maybe for larger cubes where you want additional redundancy of this effect. Anchors - Supports -
Smallpox Description - It has a powerful effect, but there isn't really a deck or arcehtype that can make great use of it. Anchors - Supports -
Steal Strength Description - Conditional, but could turn around 2 combat trades, or kill some utility creatures. However is still situational. Anchors - Supports -
Subtle Strike Description - The combination can give you a few lines of play during combat, and even in some cases removing a 1 toughness blocker before swinging in. If you have +1/+1 counter reward cards, this might be your black combat trick of choice. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Transgress the Mind Description - The biggest problem is that it costs 2 and you can get similar effects for 1 mana, which will suck when it whiffs. It might still be a metagame choice if you want your black-based decks to be able to strip game ending cards but let your slower decks keep their low cost answers which might get stripped with the likes of Inquisition of Kozilek. Any devoid synergies are likely to be incidental. Anchors - Supports -
Trial of Ambition Description - You are generally better off playing the instant speed Edicts (and those may already be a little shaky); the only reason to consider this is if you also cube enough cartouche's. Getting multiple activations out of this IS going to add up, but you obviously need to dedicate a bit of space in your cube to the Trial / Cartouche subtheme. Anchors - Supports -
Visions of Brutality Description - If you want removal that is slanted towards aggro that your control decks don't want, this might be an option. It doesn't help if you are losing, but if you are the beatdown this is mostly going to act like a Pacifism. Anchors - Supports -
Withering Boon Description - This deserves a mention as a card that is relatively unique in blacks arsenal. Removal doesn't require the timing that this does, but it can deal with some problem creatures like Blastoderm / Calciderm, Jetting Glasskite, and 'counters' any ETB effects when removal would be too late. Anchors - Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Abandon Hope - Even if you have a deck that wants to put stuff in the graveyard, you are still down a card and it is expensive if you want to throw multiple cards.
Addle - A reasonable discard card. While different than the 1 mana options, it's not likely to give you more results and therefore not likely worth investing the extra mana.
Altar's Reap - At least it is instant speed. But the casting is very situational, restricted to both when one of your creatures is about to die, and you have the 2 mana spare. For those reasons it isn't going to make the cut.
Bile Blight - Last Gasp is better because it requires less commitment to black. It can be used against token decks, but if you support tokens, you probably don't want a hoser.
Brain Pry - For the most part, you will see the opponents hand and draw a card, for which there are better options. There might be some game states where you will know what they have (bounce spells for example) but not enough to make this playable.
Call the Bloodline - It costs you 2 cards before it does anything, and what you get is not worth the cost. There are better discard outlets.
Chain of Smog - You could target yourself for reanimator decks or other graveyard themes, then target your opponent, but probably too variable and unreliable to get the outcome you want.
Circle of Affliction - It requires you to be damaged in the first place, you need to invest mana and you don't always have control over when the damage is going to hit you, and most opponents have 2+ colour decks and can play around it.
Claim of Erebos - Need to invest 2 cards, opening you up to 2 for 1's, plus need to invest 2 mana every turn. I could see this being used end of turn in a quirky defender deck, but most creatures you would enchant are likely to be better off swinging or using their other abilities.
Clinging Darkness - If you don't want flat out kill spells, Last Gasp is better than this.
Cloak of Confusion - If you invest a card, you want bonus, not swapping damage for something else.
Contaminated Ground - Going first and played turn 2, this could either deal some damage or stunt the opponents development if they avoid the damage, or even turn off a colour for them in early turns, but is easy enough to play around. Played later, it is terrible and is likely to make up the majority of the time.
Costly Plunder - It's instant speed, but the casting is very situational, restricted to when one of your creatures / artifacts is about the get binned, and you have the 2 man spare. If you are casting it at other times, you are probably throwing resources away.
Dark Favor - The upside of being able to swing with an evasive creature with an extra 3 damage on the turn you cast this makes this somewhat appealing, but not enough to overcome potential 2 for 1.
Death Stroke - Just get better removal, unless intentionally monitoring power level of removal.
Devour Flesh - It's instant and great against single targets like Jetting Glasskite, but the player choice means you are less likely to actually get what you want. Giving them life is bad when you can just play Diabolic Edict. There may be rare times when you could use this on your own creature that is about to die because you need the life gain, but that is incidental upside that should not impact on whether you play this card or not.
Die Young - Only if depowering your removal to support an energy theme.
Disturbed Burial - 5 mana for no board impact is too slow an engine except in the super durdliest of cubes.
Disturbing Plot - Having to pay 2 mana instead of Raise Dead's 1 means you need to get value out of conspire to make this worth it. While that is not impossible, you either aren't going to have the two black creatures, or if you do won't want to tap them down instead of attack or be available as blockers, often enough to warrant this.
Dragon Shadow - Doesn’t do enough as an aura. The graveyard retrieval is rarely going to happen.
Drain Life - Consume Spirit strictly better (can drain more than life total / toughness).
Drudge Spell - Requiring 2 cards to exile means you won't get a critical mass of tokens even in a graveyard based deck. Being regenerators, it is at its best in an attrition based defensive deck, and it can provide some extra creatures for a sacrifice deck. But even in those decks, it is still not going to be that impressive.
Feebleness - Dead Weight is better as an aura, and if instant speed matters then you probably want something like Last Gasp.
Festering Wound - Magical Christmas Land sees this being cast on a defender and the opponent has not way to remove it and you have time to wait. But in 99% of games this will do very little.
Font of Return - Death Denied much more flexible / powerful. The only upside this has is that you don't need two black mana on the same turn, but you would play this effect late enough in the game that it doesn't matter.
Gate to Phyrexia - Poor use of resources. Unless you REALLY want black to have an option for artifact removal.
Gaze of Pain - Very narrow. It could have some use in evasive decks to help wipe the opponents creatures. But is very conditional on board state, and if you are the evasive player, you probably just want to be dealing that damage to the player and winning the game. Does nothing if you are not already winning.
Ghoul's Feast - It might do some work as a finisher in a graveyard based deck, or an attrition deck, but is too narrow and is not going to be very effective outside of those decks.
Grave Consequences - Minor hoser if your opponent has a graveyard strategy. It just doesn't do enough. And if you are black, you are more likely to be playing some graveyard matters cards yourself.
Grave Peril - Lack of control over what you kill is bad. Even if you have enchantment recursion, this is too poor outside of that interaction to warrant inclusion.
Imp's Taunt - At the cheap cost you want it as a cantrip, and too expensive to re-use for this effect.
Infernal Harvest - Too narrow. Need to be mono-black to make it work, and even in those decks unless it is really late in the game, it is going to set you back too much.
Infernal Scarring - It can get around the inherent 2 for 1 of auras (unless it is on the stack) but it doesn't do enough.
Insubordination - A fine drain card if you can put it on a defender, but in most games it is not going to do anything, and your opponent is going to want to attack you anyway.
Kiku's Shadow - It's not bad removal, but there are much better options without the double casting cost.
Liliana's Caress - It has a 'build around me' feel, but you need far too much discard to be in your cube to be reliable enough to outclass other cards that just deal damage to your opponent.
Lingering Death - They still get to have one more attack; you would rather just have better removal. Maybe in the durdliest of cubes with Dowsing Shaman or other recursion.
Marchesa's Decree - I want this card to have a home, and if it just said 'draw a card' it might be palatable in the right deck. However, it does want your opponent to attack to get the trigger, and there is a chance your opponent can just take the crown, meaning you lose out on the advantage (especially as you just played a card that didn't impact the board).
Mind Knives - Either shave a mana and get targeted discard, or go double black for Hymn to Tourach to get two cards.
Mind Swords - It can support all out aggro as the last card it plays, or even play for a free by saccing an outclassed creature. But just play Hymn To Tourach. It's not like other decks go out of their way to steal all of aggro's discard spells to consider this.
Morgue Theft - Paying 7 mana all up is too much for this effect.
Mourning - Doesn't do enough to affect the board, and the return doesn't add much.
Murderous Compulsion - You probably only care about it if you are lowering the power of your removal and you are trying to push madness themes.
Nausea - It's a sweeper, but -1/-1 is going to be situational.
Nightcreep - There might be cards that synergise with this on some level, but they are either so minor or so specific, and the card does nothing outside of that, that this is worthless in most cubes.
No Rest For The Wicked - It has a higher ceiling than Raise Dead, but the timing issues required to gain card advantage make it rare that you will get optimum plays. Sorceries like Death's Duet are going to give yo more consistency.
Oblivion Crown - Investment city for short term rewards. If you need to get cards into your graveyard, there are much better ways.
Painful Memories - Sorcery speed, so you prevent them from seeing a new card on their next turn. Because it is not affecting the board and is still costing you a card, it doesn't do enough.
Premature Burial - Too conditional. Doesn't kill the worst threat on the board if you top deck it, and limited window to use it on each creature, impacting your ability to play other spells. If it cost 1 mana, it might be worth it, but not at 2 mana when there are much better options.
Pretender's Charm - I don't see any scenarios where you would want to play this.
Prowess of the Fair - You need to be full on tribal to make this into something. It doesn't affect the board itself, and there aren't enough incidental Elves to make this worth it.
Psychic Miasma - It at least ensures the opponent can't just hold onto land as targets for your discard spells. But targeted options are better.
Pulling Teeth - The opponent gets the choice, and when it is a 1 for 1, you feel bad.
Reave Soul - You might play it if you drafted it as it isn't unplayable, but there are many other better options given its limited targets and the sorcery speed.
Rite of Consumption - It's reach, but black has other forms of reach. It's conditional, requiring you to have a creature to get rid of at sorcery speed. It doesn't hit creatures, and it will usually do nothing until you are ready to actually end the game.
Rouse - It's free, but it isn't enough impact. Mutagenic Growth is a strict upgrade.
Scent of Nightshade - It's rarely going to be better than Last Gasp, and this forces you to reveal information to your opponent. As a top deck, it is a completely useless card.
Seizures - If you put this on an opponent's creature, they aren't going to attack with it or activate it's tap abilities… unless they are going to win anyway. So just play removal instead.
Shrivel - It's a sweeper, but the small value makes it situational. You can always cast it after combat if you are attacking into larger creatures, but it is still too situational to consider for most cubes.
Sickening Dreams - It's a powerful effect for 2 mana. Dealing 4 damage and wiping out 4+ opposing cards would be amazing… but will cost you 5 cards total. It's too difficult to reliably use.
Simulacrum - You have to wait until you receive the damage first. So you can't undo your opponent swinging for lethal or throwing the final burn at your dome. And you have to have a creature in play to 'sacrifice'. It's like giving yourself a 2 for 1 for some life gain. Would be nice with Spitemare... but it's not playable.
Skulltap - Not at sorcery speed. Too high a cost to be consistently playable.
Soul Exchange - A very conditional reanimation spell. If you could reliably get the +2/+2 bonus, that upside might make it worth a look-in, but there are only a couple of playable Thrulls.
Soulless Revival - The baseline is a bad Raise Dead, with very few synergies to get upside. Death Denied probably fills the same role.
Specter's Wall - Random discard can be good, but it's worth paying the double black for Hymn to Tourach.
Spinal Graft - It has some nice upside, but giving one of your creatures the skulk ability via an aura almost guarantees you will be 2 for 1'd by just about anything. You might get a hit in if your opponent is tapped out, but you'll be lucky for more than a couple.
Spiteful Shadows - Too narrow. You would rather just remove the target.
Stitch Together - You would only want to include this in your cube / deck if you expected to resolve this card with threshold on a regular basis. By the time you've hit threshold, you can usually cast Zombify or something cheaper but more reliable than this.
Strength of Lunacy - Doesn't have enough impact. The madness doesn't add enough to consider it over other options.
Treacherous Link - Too hard to abuse, you will usually just want removal instead.
Trespasser's Curse - Doesn't do enough; you can get this type of effect attached to creatures or with other upside.
Twisted Experiment - Not enough upside to cast on your own creature over Sinister Strength which isn't really playable, and the -1 toughness isn't enough to consider this for removal.
Tyrant's Choice - It's a guaranteed 4 life loss for 2 mana. It's not terrible reach and can help finish an aggro start, but the fact that it only hits opponents makes this a glorified Lava Spike.
Urge to Feed - Some vampires you might see in peasant cubes; Blood Artist, Bloodthrone Vampire, Child of Night, Falkenrath Noble, Moroii, Pawn of Ulamog, Sengir Vampire, Vampire Interloper, Vampire Nighthawk, Viscera Seer. The question is, how many do you need in your cube to consider this over the easier to cast Last Gasp? The answer is unclear, but requiring the vampires to be untapped sucks. You might consider this if you want your removal to be less splashable and reward players committed to black.
Vessel of Malignity - Breaking it down into two payments makes it a little easier to swallow, but it's still 4 mana. Any fringe uses from being an enchantment don't make up for it.
Zombie Infestation - 2 cards is a lot to ask. Too much. Graveyard synergies don't make up for it.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Curse of Shallow Graves Description - Excellent value if you intend to attack. Curving a 1 and 2 drop into this can be hard for your opponent to recover from, demanding little from you to get those tokens on the board. Anchors - Supports -
Dismember Description - 4 life is nothing to scoff at, but it can be a 1 mana removal spell which takes out a decent number of creatures and can be played in decks of any color, while having a flexible casting cost in black decks. Anchors - Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Ashes to Ashes Description - The instant speed of Reckless Spite may be preferred, however this has two upsides; it can target black creatures which are more prevalent than artifact creatures, and it exiles so can reduce recursion. 5 life isn't nothing, but getting a board impacting 2-for-1 for 3 mana is a strong play. Anchors - Supports -
Necromancy Description - It's a fine reanimation spell with a few nuances. You can always cast it at instant speed as a combat trick if you really need to, and it can grab the opponents creatures too. It's cheap enough that it can be used for value even if you have no way of dumping fatties into your graveyard. Anchors - Supports - Reanimator, Creature Recursion
Read the Bones Description - It lets you dig up to 4 cards deep if you are really looking for an answer. One of the better black card draw spells for black decks;Night's Whisper is often considered a better option as it can help you dig for your 3rd land, but you probably want both in any case. Anchors - Supports -
Reckless Spite Description - Instant speed, remove two creatures from the board. Excellent impact on the board, and being able to cast it in the middle of combat or in response to combat tricks / double blocks can make this a blowout. 5 life is nothing to sneeze at, but presumably you will be saving that by not getting hit by two creatures each turn. If you want to target black creatures, you can trade in the instant speed and get Ashes to Ashes. Anchors - Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Choking Sands Description - A decent option if you want land destruction in your cube, which is best as aggro support. Given most decks will include some form of nonbasics, you'll get the damage often enough while also turning off fixing. Can also be fine to sideboard in against 3+ colour decks with greedy mana bases. Anchors - Supports - Aggro
Drown in Sorrow Description - Solid black sweeper for control decks in conjunction with higher toughness creatures, with the scry letting you recover faster and keeping threats coming. You can always attack into larger threats and then cast this post combat to remove something annoying. Anchors - Sweeper Control Supports -
Eyeblight's Ending Description - You could just play Murder, but if you want your black removal to be more splashable, this can be an option. Only large cubes are likely to break into the double digits for number of Elves in the cube so is likely to hit more targets than most of the 2 mana removal. Anchors - Supports -
Golden Demise Description - It's a decent sweeper. You probably aren’t playing it in a deck with small creatures to start with, but in the late game once you've got the City's Blessing, reducing your opponents board even if you don't kill anything can allow for an alpha strike. It would be fine in a general control deck, but if you want to support a more dedicated sweeper control deck it should probably be in your cube. Anchors - Sweeper Control Supports -
Haunted Crossroads Description - At face value, you get to keep drawing creatures as long as you have some in your graveyard, which is fine if you are trading; you'll eventually end up ahead in card quality / board presence, particularly if any of those creatures provide 2 for 1's or incremental advantages. Fun with evoke creatures; you can even have Mulldrifter draw itself. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters, Creature Recursion
Kor Dirge Description - It's only slightly conditional; you can block and just deal the damage back to the attacking creature if you can't kill it outright, or if you really want to save that blocker. Turning a trade into a win and also taking out a utility creature sitting on the sidelines is a decent play. The biggest downside is that it is a 3 mana combat trick. Anchors - Supports -
Murder Description - Simple and elegant. In general, you will prefer the cheaper slightly conditional versions, but this is still fine and hits almost everything those don't. You might also consider it if you want your black removal to still be strong but less splashable. Anchors - Supports -
Rend Flesh Description - Spirits are more prevalent than they used to be, but this is still going to hit a decent number of targets. This could be a tweak if you want to marginally increase the resiliency of certain Spirit cards in your cube. Anchors - Supports -
Seal of Doom Description - While clearly less powerful than the top tier black removal, the effect is still fine. It's an on board threat so your opponent can play around it (if you don't activate it immediately), but you can always play it when you've got the three mana and no threats and keep developing your board. You might play it if you care about enchantment matters themes or have some delirium cards you want to support. Anchors - Supports -
Stupor Description - Among the better of the 3 mana discard 2 options. The random discard can mess with plans, but isn't as back breaking as Hymn To Tourach. Anchors - Supports -
Victimize Description - It takes a bit of set up work, but the payoff can be worth it. If you've got a token lying around, upgrading to your two best creatures in your graveyard, especially if they have enter the battlefield effects, is solid. Due to the setup, it is best as support for midrange attrition / self-mill decks as opposed to reanimator. Anchors - Supports - Creature Recursion
Withering Wisps Description - If you let your players play with snow basics, this is close to strictly better than Pestilence. You can't use nonbasic or nonland sources for black mana, but you often don't want to blast for the full amount anyway. Good for clearing out opposing aggro creatures if you've got a few high toughness creatures, or threatening to use both pre- and post-combat to mess with combat decisions. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Buried Alive Description - It is a pretty specific effect, but can be a build around for your graveyard decks, letting you kickstart your dredge, get you your fatty for reanimator, get Wonder online or a variety of other effects. You will want it to be worth it, given that you are spending a turn to not affect the board. You probably pick it early and build around it, or take it late if you've happened to fall into the type of graveyard deck that can benefit. Anchors - Graveyard Matters, Reanimator Supports -
Butcher's Glee Description - It's probably a mana more than you want to pay, but for combat heavy cubes this offers some decent upside. The power boost almost ensures you can trade anything up, the regen ensures your creature survives, and the lifelink combined with the power boost either gets you far ahead or helps you get back into the game. Anchors - Supports -
Cartouche of Ambition Description - It's not great removal, and there are only so many of your own targets where the power boost and life link combo will be great (mainly evasive creatures). Probably only for cubes that have depowered their removal to make auras a little better. Anchors - Supports -
Crippling Fatigue Description - It can be a slow 2 for 1 against cheaper creatures, but you can always play it on larger creatures pre or post combat if the situation calls for it. It is still a lot worse than a lot of other removal. Anchors - Supports -
Crypt Incursion Description - It's not unreasonable that this could earn you 12 or more points of life, particularly if you are playing an attrition game. It can also be a subtle graveyard hoser while not been narrow and useless outside of that role. It's effectiveness may depend on the speed of your environment; if your aggro decks overrun your control decks before much is hitting the graveyard, it isn't a good recovery card. Anchors - Supports -
Dark Banishing Description - Doom Blade is pretty close to being strictly better. Usually if you've included regenerators in your cube, you don't want to hose them anyway. Still, you might choose this if you find Doom Blade a little too good. Anchors - Supports -
Desolation Description - It's pretty narrow, but it is a powerful effect. If you can get out ahead in an aggro deck, it can prevent the opponent from catching up and curving into their bigger drops. Drafting enough nonland mana producers to cast spells or use abilities and avoid using lands is probably a tough ask, but might be possible if you include enough in your cube. The hosing of Plains will turn some off even if the rest looks attractive (or just house rule it). Anchors - Supports -
Engineered Plague Description - It may hose some token decks, but it can also see play outside of those match-ups, making it a bit less obvious. Depending on whether you play older card printings, could be an errata nightmare for some creature types (Humans, I'm looking at you). Anchors - Supports -
Expunge Description - The baseline is worse than other options, with the upside of being able to cycle if there are no targets. You probably won't cycle if often, but if you want to add some deck smoothing options in black, this is a reasonable option.
Anchors -
Supports -
Fortuitous Find Description - It's generally going to be weaker than Death's Duet as creatures are more reliable and plentiful, but you might include this to support an artifact deck in black. Anchors - Artifact Matters Supports -
Flaying Tendrils Description - It is an option if you want to go deep on the black sweepers, or you could make the swap from Drown in Sorrow / Hideous Laughter if you want to support colorless matters themes. Anchors - Sweeper Control Supports -
Footbottom Feast / Gravepurge Description - It requires some set up; you need enough creatures in your graveyard to make this worthwhile, which could happen either be attrition or proactively filling your graveyard. Guaranteeing you are going to draw creatures for the next 3+ turns in a row is likely to put you ahead on the board compared to your opponent. Paying a bit more for Death Denied may be a better option to get them all in your hand now rather than setting up draws. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Grim Affliction Description - It can give something -2/-2, while supporting a +1/+1 counter theme. Corner case of being able to save your Undying creatures another time if it really matters by using the -1/-1 counters to offset the +1/+1 counter. Raw power gives the nod to more efficient removal, but you might care more about synergies. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Heartless Pillage Description - Of the '3 mana, opponent discards 2' options, it doesn't really add much. You might swap it for similar options if you want to strongly signal aggro control (given the raid trigger), but it is probably stretching to consider it incidental support for an artifact matters theme. Anchors - Supports -
Hissing Miasma Description - It only belongs in 'punisher' decks and needs a critical mass of similar effects or drain type effects to put your opponent in a position where attacking is not profitable. Go wide decks are affected the most, but opponents with Pelakka Wurms will probably shrug if off unless you've applied lots of early pressure. Anchors - Supports - Punisher / Forced Attack
Icequake Description - Straight up land destruction if you want it for your cube. Best as support for aggro. You will probably want to consider Choking Sands first, though this has upside if you allow your players snow basics. Anchors - Supports - Aggro
Ichor Slick Description - It looks flexible, but is a bit clunky. It's inclusion in your cube is probably reliant on how many discard outlets you have to take advantage of the madness, though even madness decks will probably just play the 'better' removal spells if given the choice. Anchors - Supports -
Infest Description - Drown in Sorrow is strictly better, but you may want the redundancy. Anchors - Sweeper Control Supports -
Kill Destroy Description - The baseline is good enough that you might consider it. Probably only short term before people start playing around it. Anchors - Supports -
Malevolent Awakening Description - Among similar graveyard recursion cards (Haunted Crossroads, Phyrexian Reclamation), this is perhaps the most difficult to get to work due to the mana investment required (it's 6 mana before you get a creature back to your hand, not the board), and it's hard to keep 3 mana up to be able to respond to removal. However it is better in token decks so you can actually generate card advantage, and it can more easily cycle multiple creatures that have enter the battlefield abilities. Anchors - Supports - Tokens, Sacrifice
Mind Slash Description - You are giving up board position to hit the opponents hand, so this doesn't go in any deck. You preferably need token generators / recursion to get the best effect. Anchors - Supports -
Noxious Field Description - It's inherently powerful, but success will be dependant on the board state and it may have difficulty finding a deck. You can't draft it with x/1's, but if your black aggro decks have enough 2+ toughness creatures it can help clear opposing tokens, or help trade up. It may be better in a more midrange deck; control decks might not be able to afford the life loss against aggro. Anchors - Supports -
Oubliette Description - Only if you want to increase your enchantment count for any enchantment themes. Outside of some corner cases it's a worse Banishing Light (creature comes back with counters and auras it left with) which is still ok, but black has generally better options for removal. Anchors - Supports - Enchantment Matters
Rakshasa's Secret Description - It narrowly supports graveyard decks, but the base effect is worse than other options like Stupor. Only consider if you want to push self-mill. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Reaping the Graves Description - The average case is probably getting back 2 creatures. Scenario 1 which is probably the most common; you cast it on your opponents turn and you get 2 creatures after they cast a spell. Scenario 2 which is rare; you get 3+ creatures after your opponent casts 2 spells (or you have a massive turn). Scenario 3 which probably happens enough to be annoying; you wait for your opponent to cast something on their turn, and they don't. You either wasted your mana if you want to hold out, or you get back just 1 creature. Anchors - Supports -
Stab Wound Description - It's not the most efficient at removing small creatures, but it can also be effective against larger creatures. It can be a 'bleeding' card, where you are happy to let the reduced creature through (or you put it on a defender) while they keep taking 2 a turn. Or put the opponent in a position where they lose 2, and are then forced to attack to stem the bleeding, with the stat reduction allowing you to easily deal with the threat. Anchors - Supports -
Sudden Death Description - It's an ok removal option. You can get Murder for the same cost and have more targets, but the split second upside is a nuance you don't get anywhere else. While it might not be relevant frequently, it will be just often enough to matter. It can take out Mother of Runes, prevent sacrifice for effect in response, or get around an active Crystal Shard. Anchors - Supports -
Swarm Surge Description - Only if you want to give colorless a push, but it isn't great compared to other pump. Sorcery speed gives your opponent all the information, but if it IS played in a colorless deck, the first strike still makes it harder for the opponent to profit. Anchors - Colorless Matters Supports -
Syphon Life Description - Re-usability is fine, but it's hard to imagine a deck where you are truly happy to play it as it has no effect on the board. If you have life gain matters themes then you might consider it, and it could be a niche effect in an aggro deck that can use it as reach once it hits 3-4 lands. Anchors - Supports - Life Gain Matters
Unspeakable Symbol Description - 3 life is a lot to pay for a +1/+1 counter, but the lack of any mana cost should not be overlooked. If you have a decent life total, you can threaten to win almost any combat, and if you are ahead, force blocks for fear of just pumping for lethal. However, you probably want to be playing it in an environment with lower power removal, specifically more sorcery speed removal, to avoid blowouts. Minor synergies with lifelink or drain strategies, and specific synergy with Kitchen Finks. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Wander in Death Description - You could view it as a black Divination, with some caveats. It has upside of always getting you business spells to cast, where a Divination can draw you lands you don't need. If you don't have targets, you can always cycle it. Can help with other recursion creatures like Eternal Witness to grind out advantage. Death Denied has a higher ceiling, but this is more splashable and smooths draws if that matters for your cube design. Anchors - Supports -
Wicked Pact Description - Reckless Spite is strictly better by virtue of being an instant, and Ashes to Ashes hits more targets in most cubes. However you might want this if you want to extra deep on this type of 2 for 1 removal, you want this effect but find the instant speed of Reckless Spite too much of a blowout, or you intentionally don't want to hit black creatures. Anchors - Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Aspect of Gorgon - Not good enough for potentially 2-for-1'ing yourself.
Asphyxiate - Only if you are depowering your removal. If you draw it while your opponent is swinging, you will only ever be able to cast it on something with summoning sickness.
Assassinate - Only if you are depowering your removal. It lets something attack you first or get in an activation. It doesn't help get rid of annoying blockers.
Bog Down - It's the best of the Mind Rot variants, though I doubt you would be happy to kick it frequently enough to consider it. Similar creature versions like Liliana's Specter and Chittering Rats seems to fill this type of role better.
Bone Harvest - Footbottom Feast / Gravepurge strictly better.
Bottomless Pit - There are some decks where it could work to minimise the symmetry (mainly super fast aggro), but not consistently enough to warrant inclusion in your cube over other disruption options.
Cruel Finality - Only if you are depowering your removal.
Dark Dabbling - The other advantages on Butcher's Glee are likely to be better than the card draw.
Dark Deal - You end up on the worst end of this deal, and the potential upsides (dumping relevant stuff in your graveyard) can be had elsewhere without the card disadvantage.
Dark Inquiry - 3 mana 1 for 1 with no impact on the board.
Dauthi Embrace - It costs 5 mana before you can make your first creature unblockable, requires 3 black mana to be able to use it the turn you drop it, and requires 4 black mana if you want threaten swinging with 2 creatures. Rogue's Passage is probably going to deliver much better value for the same effect.
Delirium Skeins - Unless you've already dumped your hand, this costs you 4 cards and spending mana on your turn to force your opponent to discard 3 cards. You can achieve your graveyard / madness dreams via other means.
Demonic Torment - It can still block, and it doesn't prevent annoying walls from being able to block.
Desperate Charge - Sorcery speed and not protecting your creatures kills it.
Dimir Machinations - Even if you want to push a 'Fateseal' type control deck, the fact that this is not repeatable, doesn't affect the board and is card disadvantage makes this not worthy of consideration.
Endbringer's Revel - You cast it, then give your opponent the first opportunity to use it. I want to like it, but breaking the symmetry requires too much work.
Footsteps of the Goryo - It isn't instant. It doesn't grant haste. So maybe you get an enter the battlefield trigger and then it goes away. The corner cases don't make up for it being bad in most instances.
Foul Presence - It costs you two cards to get a mediocre effect.
Horobi's Whisper - It's mostly just a worse Murder. Being able to target black creatures is worth more than the rare times you will splice this on onto Kodama's Reach or some other random arcane card.
Howling Fury - Sorcery speed that doesn't increase the survivability of your creature? Yuck.
Necra Sanctuary - Requires too much set up and doesn't have an impact on the board.
Necrobite - It's just a 'meh'. You could get removal for the same price or cheaper. Only if you are depowering your removal and looking for combat tricks.
Nest of Scarabs - Too inconsistent; you need to trigger it 3 times almost immediately for you to get value, and that just isn't going to happen often enough.
Nettling Curse - As a black card it doesn't do enough. As a Rakdos card, it doesn't compete with the mono-red Lust For War.
Night Terrors - You wouldn't play it over the 1 mana versions.
Noxious Vapors - An aggro deck might be able to drop its hand quickly and then play this, but the odds of it being better than Stupor etc are low, and the rest of the times it will be bad.
Rain of Tears - You don't need this after better options; Sinkhole, Choking Sands et.
Rancid Earth - You couldn't say it is strictly better than Rain of Tears. Aggro decks are the ones most interested in land destruction, which are more likely to play 1 toughness creatures. There doesn't seem to be a deck that really wants this effect that cares about threshold, so I can't see a reason to include it in your cube over other options.
Reap the Seagraf - Two inefficient castings and effectively a gold card. Nope.
Screams From Within - The best case scenarios make me giggle with glee, watching their army of tokens disappear. But something approaching that is not going to happen anywhere near cosistently enough to make you happy about it.
Stench of Decay - It promotes a black artifact deck, but there isn't enough support for that type of deck.
Strangling Soot - It's a 2 for 1, but the combination of conditional targets, mana costs, and needing to count as a gold card to really be worth it push it out of contention.
Succumb to Temptation - It's an instant black card draw spell which may be worth noting if you really want to push draw / go type effects in black, but most black decks will prefer the cheaper or more effective sorcery speed versions.
Tormented Thoughts - You could construct a deck around it, but it is too hard for cube. You need this to be 3+ cards to matter more than Stupor, and you will rarely want to sac a 3+ power creature at sorcery speed.
Tribute to Hunger - You get their worst creature, and it costs 1 more mana than other versions so they have more time to have more options on to the board.
Triumph of Cruelty - If you are laying down aggro beats early, you would prefer more immediate disruption. If you are control, you want a more consistent card like Honden of Nights Reach.
Unburden - Sure, you can cycle it if they have no cards, but it doesn't seem worth the harder casting cost over similar versions.
Virulent Plague - If you are supporting tokens as a theme, you don't want this hate card.
Vow of Malice - Doesn't seem to be a good use case; if you use it on an opponents creature, they can still block with the now pumped creature.
Wail of the Nim - Doesn't seem to be a need for these effects.
Waking Nightmare - Bog Down / Rakshasa's Secret strictly better.
Warped Devotion - It's too deep down the rabbit hole. You could draft a bunch of Man-o-war and Unsummon effects, but not enough to feel like you got your moneys worth.
Witch's Mist - These types of effects are usually not that great, and while repeatable this one is very slow.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Diabolic Servitude Description - On your first casting, you get back the best creature in your graveyard. This makes it fine for reanimator decks spending the first few turns getting a fatty into the graveyard (though the exile clause means you can't use another reanimation tool if it dies). However it can generate great value even in 'fair' decks, just by getting to re-use most creatures in your graveyard if creatures keep trading. The value goes up higher if you do have ways to get creatures from your hand or deck into your graveyard, and with sacrifice effects so you can get the Diabolic Servitide back to get your next target. It's not the reason you'd cube it, but it may also provide fringe support for 'enchantment matters' by getting to recast it multiple times. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters, Sacrifice
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Snuff Out Description - Killing something for free is excellent. 4 life isn't 'free', but if you are the beatdown, laying down threats on curve while taking out their best blocker is a very strong play. The right control deck also doesn't mind paying the 4 life while setting up a defensive board; you can always pay the 4 mana later if that makes more sense. Anchors - Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Barter In Blood Description - This can work in creature light control decks, as long you support it with enough other similarly oriented control cards. It can also play as a support card for sweeper control decks, either after you've swept their board of small fries and then take out a couple of bigger creatures, or just to dwindle down a go wide deck until you find your next sweeper. Anchors - Supports - Sweeper Control
Bitter Revelation Description - If you are going to pay 4 mana for black card draw / filtering, this is among the better options, although at sorcery speed it can be a bit slow, particularly if aggro is strong in your cube. It does allow you to dig and find what you need, while also putting cards in your graveyard, so it can make it for a fine support card for reanimator / graveyard matters archetypes. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Dread Return Description - A reanimation tool option. The flashback is costly, but the opportunity cost is low. Tokens is not a huge theme in black, but a bunch of 1/1's is probably the only acceptable offering for most board states / targets. At least if you are playing self-mill effects, you still have a way to reanimate your target. Anchors - Supports - Reanimator
Hideous Laughter Description - One of few sweepers which can be cast at instant speed, making it solid addition if you support sweeper control, and provides it more options mid-combat, or in response to your opponent spending cards or mana on pump spells or equip costs. Splice is trinket text. Anchors - Sweeper Control Supports -
Moan of the Unhallowed Description - It's an ok card on first casting, making it flexible as a control tool when matched up against aggro or useful in a token sacrifice deck, with further upside once you hit 7 mana. It isn't a high pick for a graveyard focused deck, but the flashback gives it some play there too. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Pestilence Description - While less powerful in fast cubes, there is still some raw power here. Cast on curve it doesn't do anything the turn you cast it, but it can put you in a strong position to control the board after that, especially if you've drafted higher toughness creatures to complement it. Combos well with Lashknife Barrier and Spitemare. It's biggest drawback is that, powerful as it can be, if you are losing you might not be able to afford the damage from activating it. Anchors - Supports - Sweeper Control
Slaughter Description - A 4 mana kill spell isn’t the most efficient the format has to offer, but if you haven't been pressured early you can use the buyback to start buying card advantage that affects the board. Good against non-aggressive decks, and better if played alongside drain effects. Anchors - Supports -
Torment of Scarabs Description - It's an oddball card. It can fit as an aggro curve topper; by the time you've cast it, ideally you've pressured their life total and they have to start sacrificing their board presence which can start sealing the game. If you are seeding it as a control card, make sure your cube has enough other ways of pressuring their resources. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Ambition's Cost Description - It's a fairly basic, and splashable, draw 3. The card selection and potential graveyard synergies of Bitter Revelation make that a better card in most circumstances, but larger cubes might want this for their black control decks. Anchors - Supports -
Biting Rain Description - The 3 mana options (Drown in Sorrow) are generally better, however you might lean towards this if you are trying to push madness heavily. Anchors - Supports - Madness
Evincar's Justice Description - It's on the lower end of black sweepers, to the point of needing to be desperate or really caring about the niche interactions to consider it. The downsides are that it costs 1 more than similar options, and it deals damage instead of reducing toughness so it may miss a few targets (indestructible, regeneration, Phantom Centaur etc). Buyback offers limited value; getting 4 damage in a turn is going to be a dream, and your opponent can start playing around it once they know you have it. Damaging players is a double edged sword; if you are playing sweepers you are probably the more control oriented player so you may not be able to afford the life, but if you are in control of the game and are ahead in the life race, you might be able to buy it back and chip away. Anchors - Sweeper Control Supports -
Eyeblight Massacre Description - Drown in Sorrow is the better card in a vacuum, but you might consider this if you have enough Elves in your cube and you really want to push it as a tribal subtheme. Anchors - Elf Tribal, Sweeper Control Supports -
Gisa's Bidding Description - Moan of the Unhallowed is more universally playable. You would only make the swap if you are going all in on madness. A turn 2 Merfolk Looter or Looter il-Kor into this on your third turn is solid value, but only just ok without it. Anchors - Supports - Madness
Honden of Night's Reach Description - Probably the weakest of all the Shrines, as it is the only one that might simply do nothing (outside of supporting other Shrines) if your opponent has played out their cards. That said, even if you have no other Shrines, a control deck that can play this on curve usually forces the opponent to make some hard choices. If they've got 3+ cards in hand, they may have to reavaluate their sequencing and gameplan, and they can never hold on to tricks or anything that requires timing. Anchors - Shrines Supports -
Makeshift Mannequin Description - It's a 4 mana reanimation spell, which is the top end if you are looking for 'combo' reanimator to get a big threat out of your graveyard. The problem with most of those decks is that they are already vulnerable to removal, and this just opens up the range. If it was sorcery, this would be a dud. However, the instant speed here is worth noting, whether for reanimator or midrange decks. Being able to throw your best threat in front of an attacker at instant speed or during their end of turn makes it less likely your opponent can answer it immediately. High risk / reward card; you could get some value plays, but sometimes it might sit in your hand while you face down a Gelectrode or something. The density of target effects in your cube that normally wouldn't kill the target can make a difference in how effective it is in your cube. Anchors - Supports - Reanimator
Midnight Recovery Description - It certainly looks like you could get some value from it, but you are probably only happy playing this if you have enough evasive creatures, and if they are getting through you might just be winning anyway. Still, ciphering this to some shadow guy and getting back your evoked Shriekmaw every turn has some durdle appeal if that is your thing. Anchors - Supports -
Oblivion Strike Description - Unless you count the hard to cast Unmake, there isn't another unconditional black removal spell that exiles that is cheaper than this. Generally this is going to be considered low powered removal and won't see play in cubes unless you are depowering, but you might care if the exile matters, or rarely because of colorless matters. Anchors - Supports - Colorless Matters
Rising Miasma Description - You probably have to be going deep and have a larger cube to consider it, but it can be an option for sweeper support. The awaken cost is somewhat prohibitive; you need 8 mana if you want to capitalise and attack your 3/3 into a shrunken creature the -2/-2 doesn't kill. Anchors - Sweeper Control Supports -
Strands of Night Description - An interesting grindy graveyard card. It takes some resources to get going; 6 mana, 2 life and a land before you get your first creature back, so it probably won't help recover against aggro decks. However threatening to get back your best creature in your yard at instant speed can make things interesting. There are some synergistic pairings; Arborback Stomper, Filigree Familiar and Kitchen Finks mitigate the life loss, and Filigree Familiar can help draw you into more Swamps, and Borderland Marauder and similar creatures can help find Swamps... or just get back decent sized midrange creatures and just win the attrition war before you run out of either. How powerful it is relies on the overall speed of your cube. Anchors - Creature Recursion Supports - Graveyard Matters
Tendrils of Agony Description - Storm is a narrow deck, but this can be a payoff card if you want one. Anchors - Storm Supports -
Vigor Mortis Description - It's an option for reanimator decks. The double black makes it a bit harder to cast than the baseline Zombify. I see this as a black card with upside if you are in green; the main reason I would include this instead of Dread Return at the same casting cost is if you have more support for +1/+1 counters than sacrifice / tokens in your cube. Anchors - Reanimator Supports -
Vile Requiem Description - It has a very low floor and an incredible ceiling, but odds are it will trend towards the lower side. When you desperately need removal, it is going to be a 6 mana removal spell that makes you wait a turn. If you can buy a bit of time, especially against colours which can't deal with enchantments, it has the chance to take over how the game plays. Anchors - Supports -
Zombify Description - The most basic version of this effect; it isn't the most efficient in terms of mana cost, so may not be included even in cubes that are supporting reanimator. Consider Vigor Mortis and Dread Return at this mana cost for alternatives with upside but heavier mana costs. Anchors - Reanimator Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Agonizing Memories - 4 mana, does nothing to the board, and is bad if you are both in top deck mode.
Aphetto Dredging - You would need to be too heavy tribal for this to do much.
Befoul - It might be the sort of low power removal you want and it is flexible as land destruction, but not something that most cubes are going to consider.
Blood Reckoning - It goes with all the 'forced attack' cards that I want to make work one day… but it doesn't affect the board, and if you are behind your opponent can still wilfully attack while you sit there with your 4 tapped mana. There are limited scenarios where this will actually turn around a game, in which case other cards probably could have done something similar.
Blood Tithe - Doesn't do enough for a spell that doesn't affect the board.
Breeding Pit - Too much investment; Weaponcraft Enthusiast gets you much better and immediate value, and that's just the first card I thought of.
Caustic Rain - If you want land destruction in your cube, this is not the card you want.
Chainer's Torment - It isn't fast, you are paying a decent amount of life if you expect to get a decent size token, and you will be extremely sad if it just gets removed.
Chill to the Bone - 4 mana, instant speed, kill almost everything seems like a fine 'low power' removal spell, but it doesn't make any cube of standard power level.
Consecrated by Blood - You want a little more upfront for your 4 mana to cover the standard aura risk, and the regeneration costs too much to care about.
Creeping Dread - It's intriguing, but how do you get value out of it?
Crytpwailing - I'd rather play any number of sorcery discard spells over the intensive costs required to get a 2 for 1 out of this.
Dark Bargain - It doesn't compare favourably enough to other card draw / filtering alternatives. It's instant, but costing 4 puts it out of contention.
Flesh Allergy - If you want to sacrifice a creature, play Bone Splinters; Launch Party is a strictly better version, or you can play Hideous End for some tacked on life loss without a sacrifice.
Fodder Launch - If this was a red card, where all of the already playable goblin token generators are, it would probably be worth it. But there aren't enough worthwhile goblin cards in black to force this card.
Grisly Spectacle - It's not making it into any cubes with a decently powerful removal suite, but worth noting that in environments with low power removal, it can support a niche mill deck while still being playable; it is 4 mana, but it is still instant speed and kills anything.
Gruesome Discovery - Not going to be consistent enough for 4 mana; sorcery speed definitely makes the timing more difficult.
Hoarder's Greed - If you lose, you essentially paid double for Night's Whisper. If you win once, 4 cards for 4 life and mana doesn't seem too bad… but do you cast this if you are at 4 life? Or 6? The two spectrums of poor card draw or accidentally killing yourself make this unappealing.
Measure of Wickedness - Too tricky to use. 8 life is a decent chunk, and it probably isn't too difficult to set it up so you cast it when you sacrifice something in the right deck. But even then, it won't trigger until the opponents next end step, giving them time to attack you or do something else to give it back to you.
Mental Vapors - You might get 2 cards the turn you play it if you cipher it to something evasive, but it isn't going to be consistent enough and does nothing if they have no cards.
Minion's Murmur's - It's interesting and the prospect of drawing 5 cards is appealing (if you can survive it), but with limited control over how it scales and the potential for it to do nothing, it is too inconsistent.
Mire's Malice - Too inconsistent. The 4 mana version is not great, and sometimes you can hold out for the 6 mana option and your opponent drops their hand before you get there.
Morsel Theft - If you can pay the prowl cost consistently, this might be ok, but you won't have enough Rogues to care about it.
Parasitic Implant - Too low impact. It doesn't get a blocker out of the way, they can still attack with the target the next turn, and if it dies before your next upkeep you don't even get the token.
Sink Into Takenuma - You need at least 3 cards to make this worth the mana cost before considering other costs. You also probably need to cast it close to on curve to hit 3 or more targets, but you probably can't afford to do that until you have 6+ lands in play. Nope.
Stronghold Discipline - The symmetry makes it unappealing and does nothing if you are losing.
Struggle For Sanity - While there is a decent ceiling, at 4 mana this isn't going to do as much as you want it to. You never get the best card, and if they are holding 2-3cards, you only ever get 1, and if they are only holding 1 you get nothing. If they have 6 then you get 3 cards and at least get the second best one, but it just isn't going to happen often enough.
Syphon Mind - Not efficient enough in a one on one match.
Takklemaggot - It's too slow to do anything worthwhile.
Tendrils of Corruption - You would only play it in a mono-black deck, and it doesn't really do enough to draw you into that deck.
Witness the End - The exile isn't going to matter often enough that your players will want to pay 4 mana for this effect, even with some life loss attached.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Ribbons of Night Description - While not cheap, this is solid removal if you are in Dimir. Kill a creature, add a life buffer, and drawing a card is critical to the value. You aren't playing this as a black card. It is a bit 'generic' if you want your gold cards to be signals, though it does suit control decks more than aggro at this cost. Anchors - Supports -
Unburial Rites Description - A fine Orzhov value card. It's less of a reanimator support card and more of a value card, letting you re-use your best creatures. White isn't the best graveyard support colour, but also good in decks that self-mill or otherwise fill their graveyard, letting you flash this back to retrieve something you need. Anchors - Supports - Reanimator
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Annihilate Description - 5 mana is a lot for removal, but it's an instant speed board affecting 2 for one that is rarely not going to have a target. Anchors - Supports -
Contagion Description - Free is always good, especially when it can impact the board. It shouldn't be hard to engineer at least card parity even if you are pitching a card, and it isn't unreasonable to hard cast it later in the game where 2 for 1's become possible. Anchors - Supports -
Dakmor Plague / Famine Description - Not much to say, except it is a black sweeper if you want to support sweeper control, and it deals 3 damage which there aren't many of. Exactly how good it is (particularly compared to Drown in Sorrow etc) is how toughness lines up in your cube. Anchors - Sweeper Control Supports -
Homicidal Seclusion Description - It makes your lone creature quite strong; the power boost will help it kill a lot of things it would tangle with, the minor toughness boost might get it out of a few scrapes here and there, and the lifelink help you race if your opponent doesn't block, and if you are behind you can get a decent life boost just from blocking. Cube it if you want to support a loner theme. Anchors - Supports -
Incremental Blight Description - Might not slot in the best for aggressive decks (that may not get to 5, or force the opponent to trade early and not have a built out board), but decent elsewhere. It can support a sweeper control theme, but also fine in any midrange deck where the opponent is likely to have at least a few creatures out. You need three targets, but in a pinch you can give one of your creatures a -1/-1 counter if you really need to hit their two creatures. Anchors - Supports - Sweeper Control
Murderous Cut Description - Decent removal; less good in the early game compared to the 'best' removal, but potentially costing a single mana later in the game at instant speed for almost any target is very good. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
The Eldest Reborn Description - If you think about it as getting a Diabolic Edict, Raven's Crime and Zombify in one card that sounds like awesome value. If you consider it as only getting a Diabolic Edict for 5 mana on the turn you play it, it doesn't sound so hot. If you can survive the first couple of turns after you cast it though, you are getting good value. Bonus points if you reanimate Eternal Witness or some other retrieval spell for some grindy value. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Deadly Wanderings Description - Homicidal Seclusion is going to better most of the time, but this can be an analogue if you really want it. Anchors - Supports -
Final Parting Description - It's certainly not efficient when you compare it to Demonic Tutor, but you might cube it to support graveyard themes. It can dump a fatty in the yard while finding a reanimation spell, though it might also be worth noting you've reached 5 mana by that point so you probably aren't getting major value. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters, Reanimator
Mind Sludge Description - Gets a mention if you really want to support mono or heavy black. If you get 4 cards, that is really solid. The downside being that your opponent just may not have cards in hand. Anchors - Supports -
Necrologia Description - It's not efficient if you pay low amounts of life, with 4 life probably the minimum you want to pay. At 5 mana, paying life, and essentially sorcery speed you will often be vulnerable the turn you cast this, but the upside of filling your hand can be a game winner if you aren't against the ropes. It's hardly necessary to support a drain / extort theme for this to be in your cube, but this can fit that style of deck nicely. Anchors - Supports -
Necromantic Summons Description - It's a reanimation option, but it on the lower end of 'Zombify with upsides' variants. You could say it supports spells matters and +1/+1 counters, but the link is pretty tenuous, and you often just want a 4 mana version or upside that is always on. Anchors - Supports - Reanimator
Razaketh's Rite Description - 5 mana isn't really what you want to be paying for a tutor, and Demonic Tutor is the gold standard. However you can always cycle this at instant speed if you just need to draw a card or don't need to find a specific answer. You may want to give it more consideration if you have a significant amount of build arounds and want to add in some redundancies. Anchors - Supports -
Rescue from the Underworld Description - An interesting reanimation variant. You can't cast it without a creature already on the board, so it doesn't really suit traditional reanimator, but more of a midrange card that can also do some work with ETB effects. It's hardly a combat trick at 5 mana, but you can cast it in response to removal to essentially negate the effect. Anchors - Supports - Reanimator, Sacrifice
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally
Broken Visage - There are better options for a weird removal / combat trick hybrid.
Call for Blood - It's 5 mana for removal with upside… wait, there's no upside. And it has a steep additional cost. And it still doesn't kill everything. Horrible.
Contract Killing - Only if depowering your removal, and even then this is pretty low for the average peasant cube. If you are, this does provide support for artifact matters though, if you care about that.
Exile into Darkness - I guess it would be most effective against aggro, where they drop their hand and you can use this repeatedly to take out their early drops… except the mana efficiency is terrible and they will probably kill you before you can cast this anyway.
Fearsome Awakening - One or two potential Dragons in your cube is not worth playing this worse version of Zombify.
Festering Evil - It might be worth noting that it does have the ability to deal a total of 4 during your next upkeep, or 3 damage at instant speed once it is on the board. but it's just too much investment.
Unmake the Graves - You aren't likely to ever want to play this over Death Denied.
Urborg Uprising - It's a 3 for 1, and 2 of your cards are business spells… but at 5 mana sorcery speed it's still a little hard to find time to cast it (It bears comparison to Jace's Ingenuity, but instant speed is very relevant).
Vicious Betrayal - Too all in, and without granting any form of evasion it isn't very good.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
None.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Enslave Description - It can be an option for control decks to steal threats while also slowly pinging away if you still aren't in a position to attack. 6 mana is a lot, but it is a 2 for 1 (unless they remove it). Anchors - Supports -
Stir the Sands - 2 Description - Getting 3 2/2's for 6 isn't amazing but acceptable. The cycling mode can sometimes serve as a surprise blocker or let you 'flash' in a zombie end of turn if you haven't hit 6 mana. Give it a bit more consideration if you want multiple bodies for sacrifice themes or cube a Zombie lord. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice, Zombie Tribal
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Dead Drop Description - While it has delve, the high cost means it has a bit more variance than cheaper delve spells. The bad thing about sacrifice spells is that the opponent gets to choose, but getting 2 targets makes it a lot better than one. It's best home is in grindy attrition decks, so cube it if that is a thing in your cube. Anchors - Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is
little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Absorb Vis - It's a black color fixer I suppose. But no real reason to play it.
Betrayal of Flesh - Getting both modes is going to be great, but if this is in hand you probably want to cast this as soon as you get to 6, and dropping down to 3 lands doesn't seem like a good idea. And only casting one mode is pretty underwhelming.
Caustic Tar - If you are considering this, you should probably cube Torment of Scarabs.
Certain Death - Only if depowering your removal. A lot.
Corrupt - You could cube it to support mono-black as a deck, but it is a lot worse than the majority of other removal.
Dark Withering - Yes, the madness cost is cheap, but given the strength of removal at 2 or 3 mana, it isn't worth the risk of not havinga discard outlet.
Mindstab - Suspended on turn 1, this will probably feel pretty good. Once you get past the first few turns though it is going to pretty bad though. They will either have less than 3 cards in their hand, or you are paying 6 for the effect.
Morbid Hunger - Two bad spells stapled together does not make for a good spell.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Cloudfin Raptor Description - Nice as an early drop for aggro decks to go over the top when you can follow it with a steady stream of creatures. Not a great top deck, but neither are most 1-drops. May have a place in more creature-oriented control decks, with some possible fringe benefits from effects like blink / bounce. Anchors - Supports - Aggro
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Enclave Cryptologist Description - This guy slots into almost any blue deck that likes to play things slow. While fragile, there isn't much investment to start card filtering, and not a huge investment to turn that into true card advantage. Shame he can't trade with anything. Anchors - Supports - Control, graveyard matters, reanimator
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Delver of Secrets Description - You have to push Delver of Secrets to make it worthwhile, and ensure you have enough targets in your deck. Gets marginally better the more scry or similar effects are in your cube. Anchors - Supports - Spells Matter
Drowner Initiate
Description - This is ideally suited for a mill deck, but can also support a blue-based graveyard matters deck. If you aren't supporting at least 1 archetype that can benefit from this, it doesn't belong in your cube. Anchors - Mill Supports - Graveyard Matters themes
Nephalia Smuggler Description - Expensive to use, but can be used to blank an attacker, and re-use ETB effects. With mana open, your opponent has to play around it, especially for stuff like removal. Anchors - Blink Supports -
Phantasmal Bear Description - ok as a blue aggro card. Many things your opponent was going to throw at it were intended to kill it anyway, but will be annoying to lose it to repeatable tapdown effects and similar. Anchors - Supports - Aggro.
Siren Stormtamer Description - It's among the better 'Flying Men'. The ability is hard to judge, as you won't always know when your opponent has been holding something back due to threat of activation, but being able to protect your game winning threats from removal later in the game is good. Anchors - Supports -
Wingcrafter Description - ok for granting another of your creatures evasion, and applies to any theatre of play. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Cursecatcher Description -Judge's Familiar is strictly better, but this card can be ok if you don't want to dedicate a multi-colour / hybrid spot for it. While it has a control element, it works better in aggro/midrange decks against control decks. Anchors - Supports -
Dakra Mystic Description - Can help with filtering card quality on both sides of the table. Has minor synergy with graveyard matters themes. But it is a little slow. Anchors - Supports -
Drifter il-Dal Description - Can be good in blue aggro, but needs sufficient support of other aggro cards in blue. Anchors - Supports - Aggro
Drowned Rusalka Description - This card is functional, but not terribly exciting. It's a nice thing to have on the table to get some incremental value, but not worth going out of your way to draft. Minor graveyard matters support, as it is cheap and can always cycle itself as early as turn 2 to get a relevant target in the yard. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters themes
Faerie Impostor Description - Cheap cost probably means you can replay the bounced card. Lack of flash removes some options, so use of this card is relegated to ETB effects or saving creatures from random negative enchantments. Anchors - Supports -
Gudul Lurker - 1 Description - 1/1 unblockabe is a slow clock. 4 mana for a 2/2 unblockable is... better. But you may as well be playing Latch Seeker. Only worth it if you really want to go deep on unblockability. Gets better if you have a removal-lite environment with stat boosting auras/equipment. Anchors - Supports -
Hedron Crab Description - The obvious place is in a mill deck. In that deck it will be a great 1st turn play, but it's value goes down after that. Still, can be good support. Can do some extra work in decks that care about the graveyard by targeting yourself. Good synergy with specific cards Sensei's Diving Top, Brainstorm, or similar effects that play with the top of the library. Without benefiting from any of those effects or in a deidcated mill decks, it is trash. Anchor - Mill Supports -
Jace's Phantasm Description - Unexciting in it's normal mode. It's going to take a bit of effort to turn this 'on', but the upside is good. Probably best in a blue/black deck that takes full advantage of discard, counters and kill to fill the opponents graveyard. Probably a trap to play this in a mill deck; you either want to win by decking, or by killing the opponent. A true mill deck would rather have something like Fog Bank than waiting for this guy to get good on defense. Anchors - Supports -
Sidisi's Faithful Description - Of itself, a 0/4 for a single mana is not exciting; it can't kill anything, but at least it can be a minor roadblock to aggressive decks. Being able to bounce a creature may be effective against some threats or a good tempo play later in the game. You can always sacrifice something else, but that is pretty conditional. Anchors - Supports -
Spindrift Drake Description - Might have a place in aggro, but you probably just want Drifter Il-Kor instead. Anchors - Supports -
Triton Shorestalker / Mist-Cloaked Herald Description - Unblockable is a powerful ability, but this is small. With some equipment or other pumps this could turn it into a clock that needs to be answered. Anchors - 'Pants' Supports -
Trusted Adviser Description - The hand size rider doesn't mean anything. This is another creature that only has a place in the blink / bounce decks. The fact that the creature has to be blue is restrictive, but there are plenty of playable blue creatures that you are happy to replay. e.g. Augur of Bolas, Sea Gate Oracle, Man-o-war. Anchors - Supports - Blink / Bounce
Vedalken Certarch Description - Needs a heavy artifact theme, but would be strong in that environment. Anchors - Artifact matters Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Artificer's Assistant - A 1/1 flyer alone usually doesn't make the cut, and while the upside here would be welcome in a deck with heavy artifacts, it doesn't seem worth cubing to support that deck alone.
Faerie Miscreant/ Flying Men / Zephyr Sprite - Pretty unexciting, even as a 1-drop in a Skies deck. Jace's Phantasm has upside over this, and the true unblockable creatures are going to be better in most cases. Faerie Miscreant may be misleading unless you have some house rules to give them more than 1 copy.
Shrieking Drake - This is the dregs of gating creatures, and only serves a purpose in a deck that is really pushing the bounce / blink theme. In that deck, it does have the advantage of being cheap to give you a good chance of replaying the bounced creature the same turn. But it doesn't have flash, which is bad. It can bounce itself, but there aren't enough good triggers to take advantage of that fact.
Shore Keeper - Doesn't really add enough when you will rarely activate it.
Stormscape Apprentice - Unplayable on the basis that you don't want to waste multi-colour on this. Goldmeadow Harrier etc. do this in mono-white, and the black ability is largely irrelevant.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Looter il-Kor Description - Strong evasion, which means the card filtering is almost always on, which is great whether it is support for aggro decks that want to keep up pressure, or control decks trying to find appropriate answers or threats. Also provides additional support for graveyard decks or reanimator. Also handy with equipment. There is rarely a blue deck that won't want it. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters, Reanimator
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Carnivorous Death-Parrot Description - Great for blue aggro, but also playable in any other deck, as long as you are ok with Un-cards and remember to say it. Anchors - Supports - Aggro / Skies
Merfolk Trickster Description - It has some flexibility in application; it can be used as a combat trick to turn off a key ability, tap down a potential attacker on the opponents turn, or tap a potential blocker. The double blue does push it out a little, but otherwise a very good card. Anchors - Supports -
Skyship Plunderer Description - A 2/1 flyer for 2 mana without a drawback is already solid for most blue decks. The triggered ability obviously supports +1/+1 counters, but there are a bunch of other uses; you can throw extra -1/-1 counters on your opponents creatures, extra level counters on yours, charge counters and the like. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Vaporkin / Welkin Tern / Tattered Haunter Description - The inability to block forces this into aggro decks more than others, but it's not unreasonable as a cheap evasive threat for control decks. It's an evasive 2 power 2-drop whose drawback is not going to be relevant most of the time in those decks. Anchors - Aggro, Skies Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Augury Owl Description - The body it leaves behind is not impressive, but scry 3 digs enough that it can be worth being a chump blocker to stall while setting up plays, or getting in a few points of evasive damage. Anchors - Supports -
Azure Mage Description - The stats are flexible enough that it might see play in both control and aggro decks. It can allow control decks some card draw once stabilised, and give aggro the opportunity to draw some cards as a back up plan if it runs out of gas. Anchors - Supports -
Briarberry Cohort Description - Can support blue aggro decks that want to go wide. It will have 2 power less consistently than some other cards that fill a similar role (like Welkin Tern, Gossamer Phantom), but when boosted the extra toughness can help it better survive divisible burn or opposing flying tokens. It's not the greatest fit for a control deck, but is a better fit than other cheap blue evasive creatures. Anchors - Supports -
Cloudskate Description - Most 2 power evasive 2 drops are saddled with 1 toughness. The extra point of toughness here is not massive, but lets it attack into spirit tokens or other flying 1/1's. The fading relegates it to decks that want to win quickly, so you need to be pushing blue aggro to include this. Anchors - Aggro / Skies Supports -
Curious Homunculus Description - The frontside is ok for supporting the spells matters deck, though probably not quite enough on its own. Becoming a 3/4 prowess guy for an initial investment of 2 mana though is pretty solid though, that can hit the red zone while still being an 'accelerator'. Anchors - Supports -
Fog Bank Description - Sits back and blocks nearly everything your opponent throws at you, and is great for buying time in a control deck, or even in an aggro/control deck that lays cheap evasive threats and then stalls the opponent. Depending on where you want this type of card on the curve, you may also consider Guard Gomazoa for a similar effect that can actually deal damage. Anchors - Supports - Control
Frost Walker Description - Blue aggro, here we come. Best if there are support cards for an aggro control or aggro tempo deck that lays threats like this, and keeps the way clear with removal, tap down, or bounce effects to get hits in. It will die to a bunch of stuff, but you only paid 2 mana for it, and if your opponent was going to target it, they were probably trying to kill it anyway. It can be inconsistent, and if you don't have sufficient tempo based support
(tap down / bounce) to ensure the 4 power matters, you might want to look elsewhere. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
Gossamer Phantasm Description - A decent 2 power evasive 2 drop for aggro. You will probably want to consider Welkin Tern / Vaporkin ahead of this if you want to support blue aggro, as this will be easier for your opponent to remove. You get to block more stuff with this, but if you are spending time blocking, you probably want something more robust than this anyway. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
Halimar Wavewatch Description - This can come down on turn 2 to block most aggro creatures, and with a minor upgrade can block almost anything on the ground. You would wait until you've got the game under control, but once you are ready you can dump spare mana into it to turn it into a threat. Anchors - Control Supports -
Invisible Stalker Description - You can get cheaper 1/1's that can’t be blocked… but the hexproof combined with power boosting auras or equipment can make this a powerhouse. It needs the support of those cards to be good (which are not uncommon in most cubes), but for some players it goes straight from bad to being unfair and unfun as there are few ways to interact with it. Anchors - Pants / Voltron Supports -
Kitesail Corsair Description - It's strictly worse than Skyship Plunderer if you only have room for one 2/1 flyer, but is about on par with Welkin Tern and variants, they can just block different things (these are currently a 3 and should go to 2) Anchors - Supports -
Labyrinth Guardian Description - Most cards of this type also trigger on effects, but this only triggers on spells, making it much better; most of the time if your opponent is going to cast a spell on your creatures, it is some form of removal anyway. Decent stats, and something worth considering if you want to push blue aggro, while also being two bodies for sacrifice decks, or even control decks that need an early blocker. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice, Graveyard Matters
Magical Hacker Description - At a quick glance, this could affect the following types of cards; opposing boosting auras and equipment (Griffin Guide, Grafted Wargear), you can make your unleashed creatures block, endless recursion with persist and undying, turn opposing +1/+1 counter strategies and prowess into a disadvantage, kill opposing Wild Nacatl / Kird Apes, add versatility to both your combat pumps or tougness based removal while nullifying your opponents, and makes monstrous hard for your opponent to activate. You won't play it in an aggro deck and you will want enough cards in your cube that it will interact with, but that is not hard for most cubes. Perhaps one of the best foils for Curse of Predation. Anchors - Supports -
Merfolk Looter / Thought Courier Description - Cheap, repeatable card filtering. You will probably want to consider Looter-il-Kor before this for a similar effect with combat damage upside (though you do have more timing control here). Helps support graveyard themes while just being solid at improving your card quality in other decks. Anchors - Supports -
Omenspeaker Description - Good card for control, puts a reasonable butt on the board to stall aggro, while digging for what you need. Not the best target for Crystal Shard / bounce decks, but is cheap enough to recast to get that decks engine going. Anchors - Supports - Bounce
Quickling Description - A cheap evasive creature that can let you re-use another creatures ETB ability. Best use is to save from removal or other destruction; take care if just using to bounce otherwise. If you cast this when you have 1 other creature, your oppoenent can cast removal while this is on the stack, forcing a 2 for 1. Anchors - Supports - bounce
Sejiri Merfolk Description - You wouldn't play this as just a blue card, but has good enough abilities to fit in blue / white decks of any speed, even if it isn't flashy. Combination of abilities make it a good candidate for power boosting auras and equipment. Anchors - Supports -
Sigiled Starfish Description - ok for blocking bears and then scrying at the end of your opponents turn to improve your card quality. It's not tricky and is just generally solid in any deck that isn't trying to win quickly, though it can support cards that care about what is on the top of your deck should you have any of those in your cube. Anchors - Control Supports -
Storm Fleet Aerialist Description - A 2/3 flyer for 2 mana is great. You might not always have a 1-drop attacker, but even if you have to wait until turn 3 to cast it, that is still just above the curve for a 3-drop. Decent if you have the requisite support for blue aggro. Anchors - Supports -
Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive Description - An interesting build-around that can act as a serviceable 1/3 unblockable even if you don't have other threats, but can help blue aggro. Working with toughness makes it the most interesting, with a handful of 2/1's and 3/1's that can become unblockable and threaten some more serious damage. Best friends with Tandem Lookout. Anchors - Supports - Saboteurs
Vedalken Mastermind Description - Good for bounce decks. Baseline lets you block with something and then boune it before damage is dealt as a stalling tactic, but once you start throwing ETB effects into the mix then you start generating incremental advantage. If you suspect removal, you can always hold up this effect. Anchors - Bounce Supports -
Wall of Tears Description - Tempo card that can hurt aggro decks, and even it doesn't survive it still gets to return the creature. The more prevalent ETB effects are in your cube, the less effective this will be. Kaijin of Vanishing Touch slightly worse (3 toughness) but may be an option if you find this too good at anti-aggro in your environment. Anchors - Supports - Control
Waterfront Bouncer Description - It's a card disadvantage trade for tempo, but can be useful for graveyard filling for reanimator. In the late game it turns all your extra lands into bounce spells to keep big threats off the board or remove blockers. It won't be your go-to for Crystal Shard decks, but can provide that deck some extra support. Fringe use of 'countering' removal by trading the target with the worst card in your hand. Anchors - Supports - Bounce, Reanimator, Graveyard Matters
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Aether Theorist Description - As a base, a 1/3 for 2 that can scry is an acceptable filtering card, but it bears similarities with Sigiled Starfish and Omenspeaker; the immediacy of Omenspeaker is likely better. The Starfish is better in a long game, but the point of power on Aether Theorist might help hold off 2/1's or help with double blocking in some match-ups. Ultimately, the inclusion of other energy cards in your cube is likely the determining factor. Anchors - Supports - Energy
Alluring Siren Description - Supports a narrow 'punisher' deck with cards that deal damage or otherwise punish the opponent whenever they attack, or force small creatures into Spitemare, or high toughness creatures with at least some power. It is very situational, given that your opponent is probably going to want to attack you anyway. May have more value in slower, grindier cubes. Almost useless against quick aggro decks. Anchors - Punisher decks Supports -
Aquamoeba Description - At a glance it can support graveyard and reanimation strategies while having stats just ok enough to block small aggro creatures. But it's fairly narrow compared to other options. Anchors - Supports - Reanimator, Dredge, Graveyard Matters
Augur of Bolas - 1 Description - Not consistent enough for most decks, making it most likely to be played only in spells matters decks that are high on sorceries and instants. Omenspeaker is much more flexible while still supporting that deck. Anchors - Spells Matter Supports -
Balduvian Conjurer Description - If you let your player play with snow basics, this might actually be playable in a control deck that intends to go long, letting you throw excess lands either on the attack or helping with blocks, or to sacrifice outlets. However it is still situational and is really only good in the late game in slower cubes. Anchors - Supports - Control, Sacrifice
Cloud of Faeries Description - It fits narrowly into aggro decks that just want to get threats on the board early, allowing you play this and another threat. It also lets control decks play a threat while keeping mana up for counters / answers. It's evasive, but it is still a 1/1. Marginal opportunities for fixing, or acceleration with bounce lands. Can also provide Storm support. Anchors - Supports - Storm
Deranged Assistant Description - Blue will usually want a less fragile accelerator, such as any mana rock. The assistance it provides to graveyard matters themes is minor, but by virtue of milling a single card, can be useful if you have enough effects like scry or look at the top of your library to hit the cards you want and improve the quality of your draws. It could be worth including then, because even without those synergies, it is still at least an accelerator. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Drake Familiar Description - Difficult to use unless pushing an enchantment theme, though occasionally it can be used as temporary removal for opponents enchantments. You probably only want this in your cube if you are going really deep on pushing the enchantment theme. Cute synergies with Sarcomancy. Anchors - Enchantment Matters Supports -
Dream Stalker Description - You are probably not going to play this turn 2 as you will probably have to return a land, but it can survive combat with almost everything up to 4-drops. It's good for bouncing ETB creatures, but can also bounce auras like Banishing Light if you want to replay them. It can even keep bouncing itself if you have ways to benefit from repeatedly playing spells or creatures entering / leaving play. Anchors - Supports - Bounce
Dreamscape Artist Description - It trades 2 cards for 2 cards. The lands don't come into play tapped, so it sort of only costs 1 mana. It fills your graveyard for threshold, and let's you discard other cards that might benefit from being in the graveyard. After a few activations, you really thin your deck of lands, increasing your chance of drawing business spells. BUT, if you play this on turn 2 and activate it on turn 3 to get your engine running, it's 2 turns with no meaningful interaction with your opponent. Only for slower cubes. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters, Reanimator
Elusive Spellfist Description - None of the stats or abilities are bad, but it looks like it doesn't quite know what it wants to be doing. It could be defensive, but there are better options. It could be aggressive, but there are better options. It can go in a variety of decks, but it is not likely to be a standout in any of them. Anchors - Supports - Spells Matter
Erdwal Illuminator Description - The baseline is probably borderline acceptable. It does a decent job of halting 2/1 aggro guys, including those of the flying variety, or stalling bears. However, the triggered ability might imply you are pushing a clue theme. If your players know, it probably won't be an issue. You probably want to include at least 1 card that makes clues so the synergy is at least there. Otherwise get Seacoast Drake. Anchors - Supports -
Fathom Seer Description - Gush is good, but this is not the same as Gush on legs. You can pay 3 mana and get a 1/3 and 2 cards which sounds good, but you can't do that effectively on turn 3. Gush doesn't demand any mana. It might be ok in slower cubes that can afford the setup time. Anchors - Supports -
Glint-Nest Crane Description - It's easy to ignore this on the basis of the artifact clause, but a 1/3 flyer for 2, while not being exciting, might be a metagame choice for defensive decks to slow down aggro decks. The artifact rider is almost flavour text; even in an artifact deck it isn't going to hit often. Anchors - Supports - Artifact Matters
Kaijin of the Vanishing Touch Description -Wall of Tears is strictly better, but this is another analogue for larger cubes if you want it, or you just want to temper the effect. Tempo card that can hurt aggro decks, and even it doesn't survive it still gets to return the creature. The more prevalence beneficial ETB effects are in your cube, the less effective this will be. Anchors - Supports - Control
Meletis Astronomer Description - Only in an enchantment heavy theme. Fits into an aura-based Voltron theme, though fairly narrow on that theme. Anchors - Supports - Pants / Voltron
Plaxmanta Description - You might consider this as a 2 mana mono-blue spell that counters anything that targets creatures you control, like removal. In that role, it's probably a bit narrower compared to other counterspells for the mana cost. You might class this as a Simic spell for cube construction, where it is gravy if it does cause a 2 for 1. Anchors - Supports -
Renowned Weaponsmith Description - 2 mana is fairly solid acceleration, but you need several artifacts to make good use of it. At the very least it's a 1/3 for 2 mana, which is not great but at least can block smaller creatures. Including this in your cube may make it look like you have the two artifacts it searches for, which is unlikely to be the case. Anchors - Artifact Matters Supports -
Riddlesmith Description - It's narrow, but can support an artifact matters theme. Outside of that particular archetype it probably won't see much play, but can be aggro filler if you need to fill out your curve. Anchors - Artifact Matters Supports -
Screeching Skaab / Sultai Skullkeeper Description - Without taking advantage of the cards being put into the graveyard, you probably won't include this deck, except maybe as aggro filler. Does a little extra work in graveyard matters themes, whether it is chucking dredgers, unearth creatures, or enabling Worm Harvest / Spider Spawning / threshold cards. But even then, it will rarely see play outside of those types of decks. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Spellstutter Sprite Description - Countering a spell while putting an evasive creature into play is reasonable. However, it is quite conditional, given that the vast majority of the time, you can only counter 1 mana spells (Quickling and Pestermite might help out, but rarely). While there are some good removal spells you might want to counter, you might be holding up mana for something that isn't there. Probably only for control decks that were going to hold up mana anyway. Anchors - Control Supports -
Stitcher's Apprentice Description - If you have something that is about to die from removal or chumping in combat, you can always replace it. It might have spotty performance outside of sacrifice decks, but is probably good enough to make the cut sometimes in stalling decks. In sacrifice decks, you get a replacement, giving you an endless stream for triggers like Falkenrath Noble. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Thrummingbird Description - It will do the most work with cards that have +1/+1 counters, so you would need enough of those cards in your cube. The dream is turn 2 Thrummingbird, turn 3 Curse of Predation, swing. But without anything else on the board, it's a bad flyer. So it only fits narrowly into that theme. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Tide Drifter Description - If you are going to support a colorless matters deck, this may be one of the anchor cards that you want. Anchors - Colorless Matters Supports -
Vodalian Arcanist Description - It’s clear what deck wants this. Questionable whether this is better than a 2cmc mana rock; this is more vulnerable, but can enter combat when needed and be early defense, and is a signal card if you want it. Anchors - Spells Matter Supports -
Wall of Deceit Description - It gives control decks an early wall that can turn into a bear when you are ready to turn the game around. But it's still a 0 power wall until then. Halimar Wavewatch is comparable and likely to be preferred over this. Anchors - Supports -
Willbender Description - The payoff can be great, redirecting removal back to an opponents creature. But it does come with the caveat that you need enough other morphs to give it the surprise factor, and you also need to hold up mana for the 'right time', making it situational. Anchors - Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Daring Sleuth - There aren't going to be enough clues in cube to make this worthwhile.
Deepwater Hypnotist - Requires too much set up and too situational on board state.
Diligent Excavator - You aren't going to mill your opponent with this alone, and it doesn't seem worth cubing just to support other better mill cards. Self-mill is more relevant, but you won't be getting enough triggers to warrant it (although it admittedly gets very good with Sensei's Divining Top).
Jeering Homunculus - You need another creature for the goad to really mean much, and it is too low value.
Jeskai Elder - Prowess at least provides for some uncertainty if you attack with it, but its base stats are bad enough that it will still be outclassed too easily just for the potential of card filtering.
Manic Scribe - Mill cards that are one-offs are bad, they need to be repeat effects to be considered. This one can at least block, but how long before delirium turns on? But also by being a creature, your opponent can save their removal for this. It's just not going to perform consistently, even in the deck designed to use it.
Metathran Soldier - Bad. Get cheaper unblockables, or get Looter-il-Kor.
Metatrhan Zombie - As this forces you to play black, you would just include Drudge Skeletons. This is not a card you would include in your cube to force Dimir.
Metropolis Sprite - You would rather play any of the 2 mana flyers with base 2 power (Welkin Tern) over this.
Minamo Scrollkeeper - There are better defenders, or better creatures that can fit a defensive role while also being able to attack if required.
Seacost Drake - It can at least block a lot of the flying tokens and a lot of aggro flyers. But you probably want a more aggro oriented flyer yourself, or a better defensive flyer.
Seeker of Insight - It has three toughness, and looks like it anchors spells matters, but you would nearly always just prefer Merfolk Looter.
Shape Stealer - Can either trade with or just block the biggest attacker, but opponent can usually kill it with his smallest blocker so it doesn't really pose a threat.
Shaper Apprentice - Too tribal.Shielded Aether Thief - You would have to be all in on an energy theme before this is good enough.
Shipwreck Looter - Doesn't do enough. The ability is fine, but it isn't going to trigger on curve often enough.
Shriekgeist - Not enough stuff to push this type of mill theme.
Thalakos Seer - It's just meh. It has a 'leaves battlefield' trigger, so you can draw cards from bouncing it, but that is pretty narrow.
Thought Eater - Not enough upside to overcome not being able to play it effectively on turn 2.
Umara Entangler - It might look like it can serve as an aggro beater for blue in a spells matter deck, but it's problem compared to most other prowess creatures is that raising the toughness from 1 to 2 doesn't increase its survivability by much.
Vedalken Engineer - The colored mana is not going to make any difference in 99% of cases. Renowned Weaponsmith is better.
Vertigo Spawn - A tempo blocker, but requires your opponent to only be attacking with bears to maximise value. Wall of Tears has a similar but more effective impact.
Viscerid Drone - If it was mono-colored, the repeat kill might be worth something.
Vizier of Tumbling Sands - It has a few quirky interactions, and it has multiple modes, but each mode isn't particularly good and the flexibility doesn't make up for it.
Zuran Enchanter - A bit slow and not good enough as a Dimir card.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless
you ban them for being too good.
Man-o-War Description - Great in aggro decks played on curve to keep the board clear for your team to get through for damage, essentially being virtual card advantage if they never get the chance to play out their cards. Still fine in control decks against aggro to keep threats off the board long enough to hit your land drops and hit your bigger spells. Anchors - Supports -
Serendib Efreet Description - Perhaps blues premier aggro creature that is also playable in all but the most defensive decks. Great stats for the cost with evasion, with a very manageable upkeep cost. Anchors - Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Eldrazi Skyspawner Description - Puts 3/2 of stats across multiple bodies on the battlefield which is fine for control to deal with aggro. With one of them being flying, you can get in for some damage, and potentially use the token to cast a 5-drop the next turn. Has some minor synergies with blink / bounce. Anchors - Supports - Blink / Bounce
Latch Seeker Description - 3 power for 3 mana with the ultimate form of evasion, while being happy to block if the situation demands it. Great if you want blue aggro to be a thing, but also ok as a clock in control decks if you've otherwise got board control. Anchors - Supports -
Tandem Lookout Description - Great saboteur option. It gets around the usual 'hard to get through' challenge of saboteurs by being able to grant it to other creatures that are easier to get through. Good if you can pair it was an evasive 1-drop or 2-drop the turn it hits play. If you can clear the way for both, that's gravy. Anchors - Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Aerial Guide Description - It isn't too flashy, but pairing it with a solid midrange grounded creature can push through some damage, particularly green and red beef. Anchors - Supports -
Aether Adept Description - It's strictly worse than Man-o-War due to the harder casting cost, but is fine as a second version of the effect. Fine in aggro tempo decks to help early drops push through, or in control decks just to slow down your opponent. Anchors - Supports - Tempo
Arctic Aven Description - Solid when considered as an Azorius card. A 3/2 flyer for 3 mana is already a solid deal, and the lifelink combined with the evasion can help win races. Anchors - Supports -
Calcite Snapper Description - It can be an annoying blocker for the opponent to deal with, especially aggro decks with lots of x/1's. If you switch up the power and toughness, it will die if it runs into anything, but 4 damage is a decent threat. Anchors - Supports -
Cloud Spirit / Rishadan Airship / Skywinder Drake Description - Fine as evasive aggro creatures with solid power in blue. Not really much to say apart from being solid beaters. Anchors - Supports - Aggro
Fettergeist Description - Serendib Efreet is better for the 'big cheap flyer with a drawback' role, but this could be fine if you want to lean more towards a low-creature count deck as opposed to something that aggro wants. Anchors - Supports -
Frost Lynx / Watertrap Weaver Description - This is a solid card for aggro / tempo decks, while being flexible enough that it can serve a role in slowing down the opponent in control decks. It can lock down a creature pre-combat that an opponent left open for blocking, prevents them from re-attacking, and then prevents blocking the following turn. The bounce of Man-o-War is better in general, though most cubes have a reasonable number of creature with enter the battlefield abilities, and if they recast it they can always block with it the following turn. Stitched Mangler is comparable; choose one of these for a slight nudge towards defensive decks, but you may want both anyway. Anchors - Supports -
Geist of the Archives Description - It's unassuming, and it is a 3 mana wall with 0 power which is underwhelming. Scrying every turn can be powerful though, and is going to be fine in control decks looking to play long. Aether Theorist is a close alternative; Geist's effect is permanent and the 4th toughness can matter sometimes, although the Theorist can actually kill some things. Wall of Tears can also fill a similar role, but Geist is better when matched up against opponents who aren't applying much pressure, when Wall of Tears might be doing nothing. Anchors - Supports -
Illusory Angel Description - It's conditional, but played turn 4 or 5 alongside something else is solid board development. Sometimes you might be able to live the dream of a turn 3 play alongside Burning-Tree Emissary. Also synergises with suspend or rebound cards. Anchors - Supports -
Ingenious Skaab Description - A decent creature, slanted a little more towards aggro due to threat of activation. The prowess also plays nicely into the activated ability. You can always threaten this to become a 4/1 to trade up if required, so it gives you options in combat. Anchors - Supports -
Jhessian Thief Description - A decent saboteur. The base power is not amazing, but with some mana open, you can swing in threatening a combat trick / prowess trigger, or provide it some evasion to keep the cards flowing. Anchors - Supports - Saboteurs
Marang River Prowler Description - Unblockable damage, plus the ability to play repeatedly. Not being able to block means you can't just recast defensively, but it is resilient to removal. Could fit into a Dimir sacrifice deck or graveyard based deck to get maximum benefit. Attacking with it, saccing to something like Vampiric Rites, recasting the same turn, repeat next turn sounds fun. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice, Graveyard Matters
Nimbus Naiad Description - While the baseline is not amazing, being able to bestow it more than makes up for it, essentially giving you evasive hasty +2/+2 that turn. Anchors - Supports -
Pestermite Description - Can play multiple roles; flash in before combat to tap down an attacker, basic flash in as a surprise blocker or untap another blocker, flash in at end of turn to tap down something they intended to block with while putting an attacker on the board they weren't expecting. Pretty solid given it is also evasive. Anchors - Supports -
Sea Drake Description - Evasive 4 power for 3 mana is worth investigating as an aggressive option. You will almost never want to play this on turn 3; it's more likely to come down a few turns later alongside something else, or when you miss a land drop that you can replay. It comes with an inherent risk/reward proposition, but it does get a little worse the more bounce or flicker effects in your cube your opponent could target it with, and marginally better if you have landfall effects in your cube. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
Sea Gate Oracle Description - A solid option to support control decks. The toughness is just enough to hold off some early aggro creatures, and even if you lose it in combat, you are still at card parity and you get the opportunity for card quality. Anchors - Supports -
Silumgar Sorcerer Description - It isn't likely to be a massive upgrade over something else you sacrifice, but it does have evasion and provides some synergy with sacrificial lambs and token strategies. You probably won't want to play it without exploiting often, but a 2/1 flyer with flash isn't terrible if they don't cast a creature spell for you to counter. Anchors - Supports -
Spiketail Drakeling Description - It's a slightly harder to cast Wind Drake, but you are constantly threatening to counter their best spell while also presenting a threat. You might not be able to counter anything in the late game, but at least you still get a creature. Anchors - Supports -
Spined Thopter Description - Effectively a 2 mana 2/1 flyer that any deck can play. Decent addition to your cube to provide all your aggro decks the option. If you are blue, you can always pay the extra mana if you draw it late. Anchors - Supports -
Stitched Drake Description - Solid evasive stats for cost, but you may be unable to cast this on curve. Better in cubes that have more cheap creatures that can sacrifice themselves, or cheap self-mill effects to enable this early, but still playable in other decks. Anchors - Supports -
Stormbound Geist Description - A resilient flyer for aggro decks, though it's often not hard for your opponent to just take the 2 damage each turn to prevent you from getting a bigger flyer. Fringe benefits in sacrifice decks or +1/+1 counter themes. Anchors - Supports -
Trained Condor Description - Wingcrafter is probably better in general for this effect, but at least this won't be impacted by mid-combat removal. It's not a Simic card, but probably fits best in those decks to give green midrange / fatties evasion, or help outclassed grounded 2-drops hit the skies once this can start swinging. Anchors - Supports -
Wall of Frost Description - It survives blocking almost anything. It doesn't kill anything but locks down the next attack step as well (sans vigilance creatures) making it similar in function to blocking 2 creatures. Good way to buy time against ground-based aggressive decks. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Armored Skaab Description - It can fill the role of defensive creature while setting up some graveyard synergies if you have them. It isn't spectacular and there are better defensive creatures, but filling two roles may make it worth considering, depending on your environment. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Artful Looter Description - Gets a mention primarily if you are the sort of cube owner who has all of one basic land with in their land box, which might cause this to trigger enough to consider it. Everyone else will just want Merfolk Looter. Anchors - Supports -
Balduvian Frostwaker - ??? Description - Slow, but maybe if you support snow basics? Anchors - Supports -
Benthic Infiltrator Description - It can come down early and then start swinging once you are in control or the board has stalled. On its own it is a very slow clock, but is fine with power boosting equipment, paired with Tandem Lookout etc. Anchors - Supports - Pants / Voltron
Clam Session Description - It depends on your idea of fun, BUT a 2/5 for 3 mana is good stats. It's not anything more than stats though. Anchors - Supports -
Cloud Elemental / Scrapskin Drake Description - The decks that are willing to field a flyer that can only block other flyers generally want to be attacking. While the higher power of Cloud Spirit may seem preferable on that basis, the higher toughness here might be something to consider if your cube can create lots of flying 1/1 tokens, or to diversify your air fleet and make it less susceptible to pingers, Pyroclasm, Drown in Sorrow etc. Anchors - Supports - Aggro
Court Hussar Description - It is a fine Azorius card, but you can get a similar effect in mono colour with Sea Gate Oracle. That card is good enough though that you might be willing to have a second harder to cast copy. Anchors - Supports -
Courtly Provocateur Description - It can set up some awkward attack or blocks, but is conditional on the board state. Anchors - Supports -
Crystalline Nautilus Description - If you are looking for blue aggro, a 4/4 for 3 mana is decent. If your opponent was going to target it, they were probably going to kill it anyway, though it obviously still scales with the number of non-kill effects in your cube (Tumble Magnet, Infantry Veteran) and is more susceptible to divisible burn. The bestow on your own creatures is risky and probably not your primary mode, but casting it on an evasive creature while your opponent is tapped out might close out the game, or if they do deal with you are still left with a 4/4. It also has weird upside where you can bestow an opponents creature and then target it to kill it. Anchors - Supports -
Deceiver Exarch Description - It doesn't have the power to make flashing it in a big threat on its own, but being able to do it after attackers are declared and untapping one of your creatures can turn a combat around, or casting end of turn to tap down an opponents creature while you get ready to swing. The defensive body makes it not perfectly suited to that role though. Anchors - Supports -
Dewdrop Spy Description - It's a 2/2 flyer for 3 with 2 pieces of upside, though only the flash is really relevant. It fights in a spot with a lot of similarly costed flyers, but you might want the flash to promote flash / go decks while still being ok elsewhere. Anchors - Supports - Flash / Go
Dream Thief Description - Your cube needs to be designed to take advantage of it, primarily with a more focused version of the spells matters deck that focuses on spell velocity with cantrips and surge spells. But this is just the type of card that deck wants. Anchors - Supports -
Drift of Phantasms Description - It's a flyer with a decent butt so can safely block a decent amount of attackers, with the transmute giving it some upside if you have some better targets in your deck for the board state. Anchors - Supports -
Esperzoa Description - While it needs other artifacts to be decent, even without them it can serve a defensive role in a control deck. If your opponent has led with a Diregraf Ghoul and a Borderland Ranger, dropping this probably leads to them just swinging with the Marauder, netting you a trade but also preventing 2 damage. Or you take out the Ghoul, and just replay this after you bounce it. If you are the big spells deck, they can't just hold back while you cast it every turn and hit your lands drops. You would only include it in your cube with a handful of other cheap artifacts though, preferably some of those that have charge counters so you can get extra value out of them. Anchors - Supports - Artifact Matters
Grizzled Angler Description - For most decks / cubes, it is just going to be a repeatable self-mill card, and ultimately you only want to include it if that is an effect you are looking for. If that is a marginal consideration for your cube, most decks will want Ingenious Skaab or various other creatures in this slot. Transforming is probably not going to happen frequently, and forcing attacks might not be an ideal use of mana, but in the right board state it can help you dwindle your opponents board. Anchors - Supports - Spells Matters, Graveyard Matters
Guard Gomazoa Description - It costs 1 more than Fog Bank, but still deals its own damage so can actually kill stuff. Bigger butt means it is also outside the range of some burn. Fine if you want a defensive option for control decks, but is narrow in that role. Anchors - Supports -
Headless Skaab Description - A 3/6 for 3 is great stats, but it may be difficult to cast on curve and if you have to wait it is a vanilla. Preferably you want some self-mill / card filtering effects in your cube to help enable it as quickly as possible. The more of this type of effect you have or delve cards, the worse it can get. Anchors - Supports -
Hinterland Drake Description - You might occasionally be sad when you can't block that lethal Galvanic Juggernaut or whatever, but for the most part this is a solid flyer for the cost, lining up well with other 3 mana flyers which are usually around the 2/2 mark. That said, there just isn't a lot to entice you to cube it. Anchors - Supports -
Horseshoe Crab Description - It might have some combo synergy, but you will have to force the design on your cube to make it worthwhile. Anchors - Supports -
Illusionary Servant Description - Evasive and aggressive stats. Many times if your opponent was going to target it they were trying to kill it anyway. Reasonable option for cheap flyer with a drawback if you are looking for density in those. Anchors - Supports -
Jeskai Windscout Description - You need to support decks that can take advantage of the prowess to make it worth it, but it can be fine there. Anchors - Supports -
Jorubai Murk Lurker Description - As a Dimir card, the 2/4 stats are passable as a defensive card. It can be fine against aggro, and the lifelink can thwart some attacks even if you can't outright kill the threats. Once you've developed your board, it can be used to start racing, especially if you have something evasive. However while you don't need that many activations to have a decent effect on your life total, the lifelink is still mana intensive. Anchors - Supports -
Lantern Spirit Description - With mana open you can dodge removal, or block whatever your opponent throws at you and bounce. That is still a 4 mana investment each turn though. Sadly there aren't enough peasant cards that trigger on other creatures entering the battlefield to really take advantage of it. Anchors - Supports -
Mistblade Shinobi Description - It is probably going to be inconsistent and getting additional triggers after the first may be challenging, but could see play in a skies or evasive deck, or support for self-bounce decks. Anchors - Supports - Self-bounce
Nebelgast Herald Description - It bears similarities to Pestermite but that card is probably slightly better; this can't untap your permanents thereby removing surprise blockers, and tapping down non-creature permanents can be relevant sometimes. The upside here is repeatability if you have a bunch of spirits, and there are enough playable spirits that you might get an extra trigger or two from this; a niche interaction are some of whites token generating spells being able to tap down your opponents board. Anchors - Supports - Spirit Tribal
Neurok Commando Description - Because you can't target it yourself it makes it harder to get through, but is a little better against control decks full of removal or lockdown effects. Can see play if you support it with other tempo plays, but other saboteurs are likely to be a little more universally playable and consistent. Anchors - Supports - Saboteurs
Neurok Invisimancer Description - Good fit for an unblockable archetype, and can help get through saboteur creatures, but doesn't stand out elsewhere. Anchors - Supports - Pants / Voltron
Niblis of the Breath Description - It's not the most efficient, but it is flexible, being able to lock something down if you can't swing in. Anchors - Supports -
Phantom Warrior Description - It's fine if you really want to push unblockable creatures in blue. You would go Latch Seeker before this and Neurok Invisimancer, unless the second point of toughness is a really important consideration for your removal suite. Anchors - Supports -
Prodigal Sorcerer / Rootwater Hunter / Zuran Spellcaster Description - They are a little slow, but repeat direct damage with a one-time investment is still fine. Marginally better if your environment has a few first strikers, or other direct damage to pair them with. Anchors - Supports - Pinger Control
Riptide Chimera Description - Narrow. Only in enchantment heavy environment, and even then would need the right enchantments to support it (Sarcomancy comes to mind). Anchors - Enchantment Matters Supports -
Ruination Guide Description - Only if you are pushing a colorless theme or have a lot of artifact creatures. Anchors - Colorless Matters Supports -
Sage of Fables Description - Because it doesn't come with any of its own +1/+1 counters it's a little narrow, but can be fine as a draw engine in the right deck. Nice with undying creatures and Lorescale Coatl. Anchors - +1/+1 counters Supports -
Sailor of Means Description - It's a roadblock that can accelerate you to 5 next turn while fixing. Some of blues defensive 2-drops are going to stem damage earlier, but sometimes a 5-drop coming down earlier is going to stabilise you. If you care about supporting artifacts, you'd give it higher consideration as a card that creates artifacts but can be played in other decks. Anchors - Supports -
Seasinger Description - Most cube designers tend to avoid hosers, but this can play out a little differently than most if you don't mind having some sideboard cards in your cube. It doesn't prevent you from playing the hosed colour, and it doesn't exactly hose blue; you can steal any colour creature (number of islands permitting) which can be very strong. Anchors - Supports -
Shaper Parasite Description - It is a little on the expensive side, but it can be a 2 for 1 in blue. Anchors - Supports -
Stealer of Secrets Description - A decent saboteur. Jhessian Thief probably gets the nod for being a better creature if you can get a prowess activation, or Tandem Lookout for other synergies, but some cubes may want to push a saboteur archetype or have space for more of this effect. Anchors - Supports - Saboteurs
Thalakos Dreamsower Description - It is a little slow, but you can keep their best creature in lockdown while pinging away for 1 damage every turn; you can always untap it, swing and target the same creature before it gets to untap. Anchors - Supports - Control
Thalakos Mistfolk Description - Probably better to go with Marang River Prowler, although it isn't strictly better. As it's shadow, it's activated ability can't be used as a blocking soak, but it may help you save an evasive threat. Anchors - Supports -
Thalakos Scout Description - Evasive creature with some built in protection. You might have some occasional synergies to take further advantage of the disacrd. Anchors - Supports -
Tideforce Elemental Description - It can attack, and then tap down your opponents best creature if you hit a land drop. It does only attack for 1 though, and it is going to be inconsistent. Sometimes you can lock down a couple of key creatures to get the rest of your team in. Anchors - Supports -
Trinket Mage Description - You need to provide this some specific support to make it cubeable; it takes a bit of work but isn't impossible. Check the 1-drop artifact section for ideas. You may want to consider some lower power versions of other effects in your cube. Some may also consider allowing players some number of artifact lands as 'basics' during construction so it has a chance at being a Borderland Ranger if you don't draft anything else. Anchors - Supports - Artifact Matters
Trophy Mage Description - There are a few excellent targets available (Grafted Wargear, Loxodon Warhammer, Crystal Shard), but you probably need to draft multiple of them before this becomes decent. It's an obvious statement, but only cube it if you have enough 3cmc artifacts to go along with it. Anchors - Supports -
Umara Raptor Description - While tribal, with only one other support card it is still better than a lot of other 2/2 flyers for 3, plus it's a Wind Drake that automatically benefits from +1/+1 counter enablers. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Vedalken Anatomist Description - Expensive activation but taps down opponents creatures and eventually whittles them away, plus fringe uses with your own undying creatures. The speed may put it outside the realm of playability for some cubes. Anchors - Supports -
Warden of Evos Isle Description - It clearly supports a Skies theme, but it can be a little inconsistent. Following this with 2 3-drops on turn 4 is the elusive dream, but occasionally the extra mana will help you play something else or get down a larger drop earlier than expected. Anchors - Skies Supports -
Wormfang Drake
Description - It's one of the more conditional and risky of the 'cheap blue evasive with a drawback' creatures. You can't cast it on an empty board, and with one other creature on the board you can get blown out by removal. You also miss out on of your other creatures, which is ideally no relevant to the game state. You can exile an ETB creature so you get the effect again if they deal with the Drake or by chaining sacrifice effects, but that is respectively board dependant and leaning towards a best case scenario mindset.
Anchors -
Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Academy Drake - The baseline is ok, and the flexibility is nice, but there isnt likely a cube where other Wind Drakes with upside aren't better inclusions.
Academy Researchers - Need to be more in the realm of Constructed to help make use of this ability.
Chambered Nautilus - Not the most effective card. It doesn't work on defense, so you want to be attacking, but it isn't that aggressively costed to go in aggro decks.
Cheatyface - Probably not going to be getting this into play once people know it is in the cube.
Civilized Scholar - When you want a looter, you usually want it to be a looter. Getting 5 power is worth paying attention to, but the lack of flexibility doesn't make it appealing.
Dewdrop Spy - It doesn't seem terrible, it's just a bit too 'meh' to care about.
Disruptive Pitmage - You have to essentially pay four mana for a 1/1. You will get the surprise once, which might be nice to counter something. But it is going to be too inconsistent. There are some corner cases where you could repeat untap it with the likes of Pemmin's Aura, but it won't be consistent enough.
Disruptive Student - Disruptive Pitmage strictly better, as long as you don't mind playing morph.
Dream Fighter - It really only serves one purpose, allowing it to block virtually any ground creature. Fog Bank is probably better in most situations, but this does avoid tramplers.
Eternal of Harsh Truths - The downside of blocking isn't big enough. It's going to be a 3 mana creature that makes them lose 2 life and gets eaten by something bigger far too often.
Exultant Cultist - Filigree Familiar is close enough to strictly better.
Glacial Wall - It's too generic, and Wall of Tanglecord is going to serve almost the same role as a cheaper colorless card. If you want a massive butt wall in blue, you could go Wall of Frost.
Gomazoa - While the effect can remove a big attacker, it is slow, an on board threat the opponent can play around, and you can't activate it the turn you play it if you really need to block.
Hover Barrier - Fog Bank or Guard Gomazoa are likely to fill this role better; minor upside here is it is out of burn range and the occasional midrange trampler, but they can block almost anything. Or go for some flexibility with Drift of Phantasms.
Krovikan Sorcerer - It's not terrible in a Dimir deck that intends to pitch black cards, but you would still probably play Merfolk Looter for the cheaper casting cost even in that deck.
Leech Bonder - So you attack with it, activate it to make it a 2/2 that turn and give an opponents creature -1/-1. Tthe average case is that it will still trade that turn and won't become a 3/3, which doesn't seem great.
Psychic Membrane - It's looks anti-aggro, but a defender with only 3 toughness costing 3 mana isn't quite good enough. Wall of Tears is a better option.
Riptide Survivor - The best case scenario is enticing; you either have an empty hand or a couple of useless cards, and for 6 mana you get to put a creature on the board and draw 3 cards. A 4-for-1 is pretty awesome, but it is going to be a lot worse than that most of the time.
Rishadan Cutpurse - Too inconsistent and leaves behind a bad body for the cost.
River Darter - Just bad. The upside will rarely come up, and there are a lot of otherwise better options.
Sage's Row Denizen - It isn't going to be a win condition, which relegates it to self-mill, in which case there are options that have enter the battlefield triggers which are better.
Seer of the Last Tomorrow - At least it has the decency to have a big butt if you are going to the effort of supporting mill. But even if you support mill, you don't want something that costs you a card each time you activate it.
Simic Fluxmage - There are some best case scenarios where this will be good, but poor base stats and requiring 2 mana to Sinuous Striker - I thought the Eternalise side might just maybe get there, until I realised it also costs you another card… Nope.
Spiny Starfish - There are probably going to be times when playing against this would be annoying, but it doesn't really do enough to get you back into a game you are losing.
Survivor of the Unseen - At its worst, you play it, then during your next upkeep, you activate and it replaces itself. 2 turns, you pay 5 and end 1 card up. But you can't attack or block with it if you do. Nah.
Tidewalker - Too hard to make work well. Even in monoblue, probably takes 6 Islands before it is worth it.
Timid Drake - Narrow. Need sufficient beneficial cards that trigger off creatures coming into play for this to matter, and you just won't have the critical mass in cube.
Triton Fortune Hunter - You need very specific support that most cubes aren't going to have.
Updraft Elemental - It's an ok blocker, but Guard Gomazoa seems to fill the role better as you aren't likely to be attacking with this enough to matter.
Vectis Silencers - Not good enough as a Dimir card, let alone a blue one.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Whirler Rogue Description - Among the best blue cards, because it provides so much value. 4/4 worth of stats, 2 of which is flying, is solid enough to make any blue deck. Adding on the unblockable ability just crams more value, particularly as you can use the ability the turn you play it on something else you already had in play. Anchors - Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Clone Description - Getting another copy of the best creature on the battlefield is great. If you have the best creature, you get to reinforce your advantage. If your opponent is ahead (especially if they've spent resources ramping into something) you can start matching their quality. Anchors - Supports -
Mist Raven Description - A solid tempo spell, clearing a path for your team while laying down an evasive threat. Great for supporting aggro / tempo decks. Anchors - Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Aberrant Researcher Description - The baseline is slightly under where you want it to be, but it sets up incidental mill, which is fine for the decks that want it, and if it does flip the stats are solid. It's better in a deck that jams a bunch of spells, but still fine elsewhere. Anchors - Supports - Spells Matter
Long-Finned Skywhale Description - It's decent aggro support. In decks that don't care about blocking, 4 power evasion for 4 mana is fine. The double blue hurts a bit. Anchors - Supports -
Lu Xun, Scholar General Description - Decent value driven card as it is mostly unblockable. Deal your opponent 1 damage and draw an extra card every turn doesn't have immediate impact, but it starts snowballing. Anchors - Supports -
Ninja of the Deep Hours Description - Hard cast mode there are plenty of better saboteurs. The ninjas benefit is that he can sneak once you've attacked with something your opponent can't or doesn't want to block. If you are returning something with an ETB effect that is nice, but this is going to be inconsistent as it will rely on your opponent behaving how you want. Anchors - Supports - Saboteurs
Thassa's Emissary Description - The basic version is fine; certainly not the most efficient stats as a Hill Giant, but among the largest of similar saboteurs. If you know you won't be able to get it through, you can always hold out for bestowing it on something evasive or a beefy trampler. Cute with double strikers. Anchors - Supports - Pants
Voyager Drake Description - The baseline of a 3/3 flyer for 4 isn't setting the world on fire but is fine. The kicker won't always be relevant, but the floor isn't that low, and in the late game you might just win a stalled game. Anchors - Supports -
Wing Splicer Description - You get 4/4 worth of stats for 4, with 3/3 of that flying, but your flyer is vulnerable to the splicer being removed mid combat. In a vacuum you might prefer the safer Voyager Drake so your evasion is always on, but adding any other golems to your cube might sway you in this direction. Anchors - Supports - Golem Tribal
Wonder Description - Underwhelming on hard cast, but it can make up for it with later game upside, particularly as it can't be 'removed' once it is on unless you are cubing some narrow cards. Sometimes it can be a great rattlesnake, simply because your opponent doesn't want to attack into it and grant your team flying. It provides some value for graveyard based decks, and can be a decent trick with instant speed discard. Green ground pounders will be happy to see this around. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard matters
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Aerie Worshippers Description - It's narrow, and the support for this type of card is usually limited in most peasant cubes. A 2/4 for 4 doesn't have the highest chance of getting in profitable attacks, so without that support you'd rather play something else. Vehicles, convoke, and ways to give it evasion are the better options; you can search for effects that tap your untapped creatures as a cost, or untap creatures, but most of them are not worth cubing. It's a corner case, but it is a way to repeatedly put enchantments in play if you care about that. Anchors - Supports - Enchantment Matters
Archaeomancer Description - The body is terrible and won't trade with a lot of what your opponent throws at you, so most of your mana is going towards getting a card back. With a lot of other spells matters support cards, you probably need to be going deep to consider this one. While Mnemonic Wall costs 1 more, you may want to consider it as it can keep you alive long enough to recast your spells. It can also support self-mill or graveyard strategies to get back something you mill. It does form a combo with Ghostly Flicker if you pair it with another ETB effect. Anchors - Spells Matter Supports -
Cephalid Broker Description - In the majority of cases, the cheaper cost and getting started sooner with something like Merfolk Looter is preferred. However, this can help fill your graveyard faster for graveyard themes once it is online, and it digs further. You'll rarely want to help your opponent filter cards, but if you support a mill theme you can always target them if they have an empty hand. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Cloaked Siren Description - Looks like right cost for what you get, but mostly forgettable. Probably only worth cubing if you want to support flash / go. Anchors - Supports - Flash / Go
Crookclaw Transmuter - 1 Description - It's somewhat conditional, but you can play it as a combat trick to either save a creature or kill something sometimes. It can straight up kill 0 power creatures. If you don't get a bonus out of the ability it is underwhelming, but flashing in a 3 power flyer is never terrible. Anchors - Supports -
Cryptic Annelid Description - It doesn't add up to scry 6; if the stuff you want is on the top of your deck, then the floor is essentially scry 3. In most cases you are better off with cards that can actually provide advantage like Drownyard Explorers (with extra power to boot).Only play it if you like to include combos or deep synergies in your cube and you really want the filtering. Anchors - Supports -
Darkslick Drake
Description - It's a reasonable card for defensive decks, but isn't high impact.
Anchors -
Supports -
Deadeye Quartermaster Description - It's value will depend on the relative power of equipment and vehicles compared to the rest of the cards in your cube. You need to run enough that you can draft them together often enough. That said, 4 mana for a 2/2, even when you get to 'draw' a card, isn't pressuring the board. If you aren't under pressure though, this is a creature to equip / crew the vehicle. Anchors - Supports - Artifact Matters
Drownyard Explorers Description - It doesn't do enough for most cubes, even though there is some value. Probably only worth it if you are going deep on artifact themes. Anchors - Supports - Artifact Matters
Gurmag Drowner Description - Sorcery speed Impulse is not worth 4 mana, so you need to sacrifice something of low value. It probably won't make the cut in a deck without a sacrifice theme, but in the right deck you get to sac something and filter to advance your gameplan, and it's a 2/4 which can block some cheaper drops. Anchors - Sacrifice Supports -
Impaler Shrike
Description - It CAN be a Concentrate that does 3 damage, which sounds fine... however you have to wait a turn to get your cards, AND it has to get through. The lack of reliability and subpar baseline are unappealing, but you do have options. You wouldn't design your cube around it, but if you can get some recursion going with clear skies that would be sweet.
Anchors -
Supports -
Jalira, Master Polymorphist Description - It requires 7 mana before it does anything, but the ability can be useful in the right deck. Exchanging your worst creature for something better is good, especially if you've drafted a bunch of creatures with ETB effects, or you can upgrade multiple token makers (Hordeling Outburst) into other creatures. Make sure your cube can support that speed of play. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Keymaster Rogue Description - If you just want a 3 power unblockable you can got for Latch Seeker, but as long as your cube is built to make use of the 'drawback' then it is fine. If you get to re-use an ETB effect that is great, if you lose tempo that is bad. Anchors - Bounce Supports -
Living Tsunami Description - It can tussle with most non-green creatures at this cost, and almost anything in the air. The drawback is significant, so you probably only want this as an aggro topper for blue, but there might also be some cute stuff with landfall triggers. Anchors - Supports -
Nevermaker Description - Only if you are really looking for a lock down piece to go with your Crystal Shard and other self-bounce cards. The stats don't seem good enough to warrant a spot as a 'trade with something and slow the opponent down' card in control decks. Anchors - Supports - Bounce
Rushing-Tide Zubera Description - It's perhaps a bit cute, but you have a decent chance if you throw it under the bus on defense you can get an Ancestral Recall out of it, unless your opponent is attacking you with creatures with exactly 3 power. It could be a good control card to ward off attacks, but Illusory Ambusher is probably just the better card to fill the role even if it costs more. Anchors - Supports -
Shimmering Glasskite Description - Whether this is worth cubing is probably reliant on how other decks deal with flyers; if most colours are light on flyers and reach creatures and rely on targeted removal, this might be worth the slightly underwhelming stats. Anchors - Supports -
Soratami Savant Description - If you untap with this, it might threaten to put your opponent off their game plan while they try and play around it, but it is a bit clunky. Anchors - Supports -
Stinging Barrier Description - It isn't 'good', but it might be a tool for control decks. It blocks well enough while being able to ping away at end of turn. Anchors - Supports -
Storm Sculptor Description - You can get 3 mana unblockable without the drawback. The only reason to cube it is to get cute with re-using ETB effects, which might meet some specific cube design goals. Anchors - Supports -
Tempest Caller Description - Considered on its own it is fine, but bears comparison to Sleep and Turnabout. Sleep is the most aggressive (particularly if you have at least a few creatures), shutting down opposing boards 2 turns in a row. Turnabout has a few other tricks due to being so modal. The biggest draw for Tempest Caller is being a creature. You get a creature that can block, though Sleep might also be better in some of these situations. It's not particularly efficient, but it can be flickered / bounced. You would probably consider it as an extra Sleep effect rather than an alternative (I can't imagine needing much board presence to win a game if you curve Tempest Caller into Sleep). Anchors - Supports -
Thieving Magpie Description - Lu Xun, Scholar General is strictly better (unless you cube every Horsemanship creature printed), so you'd only cube this for cube interactivity design considerations. Anchors - Supports -
Tower Geist Description - by the time it hits the board the body may be outclassed, but you do get an extra card, and the evasion helps if they don't have aerial defense. Marginal upside of being able to get a card in the graveyard. Anchors - Supports -
Vedalken Entrancer Description - If you really want to push a mill theme, this might make the cut. Enchantment and artifact versions are more resilient to removal, but this can block and still activate at end of turn. You can mill yourself, so blue based graveyard decks might be willing to use it. Anchors - Mill Supports - Graveyard Matters
Viral Drake Description - From a cube design perspective, it is probably a trap and may make players think Infect is a thing. If you consider as though it just had wither, it can make for a reasonable blocker, and may hold off attacks that would otherwise be profitable if it was a vanilla 1/4. It's really the instant speed proliferate that makes you really care, and you probably only want to cube it if you have +1/+1 synergies or a number of other counters in your cube. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Water Servant Description - There isn't anything particularly standout about it, particularly with double blue in the cost, but the base stats are decent enough, with some flexibility in combat with some mana up. Anchors - Supports -
Youthful Scholar Description - Drawing two cards is enticing, but by the time it hits the board it isn't likely to go toe to toe with other similarly costed creatures. At least the fail case is 'prevent some damage, draw cards', and if you get to trade with something then it's pretty decent. Filigree Familiar fills a similar role and is a better option for most decks (and therefore cubes), but you might cube this to support a sacrifice theme.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Advanced Hoverguard - Doesn't do enough.
Aetherplasm - Interesting design, but too much set up.
Amphin Cutthroat - Strictly better stuff.
Amphin Pathmage - 3 mana doesn't seem like a bad rate for repeatable unblockability, but with the baseline as bad as it is, you really need to rely on getting value out of that ability, and it doesn't seem enough.
Aphetto Runecaster - Too narrow.
Aquamorph Entity - Neither mode is great for the mana cost, and the morph doesn't make up for it.
Ascending Aven - Bad.
Aspiring Aeronaut - Too low impact.
Aven Augur - Just play Undo or other bounce options.
Aven Fisher - Doesn't do enough.
Aven Fleetwing - Doesn't do enough.
Aven Fogbringer - Meh.
Aven Initiate - Seems fairly costed, but not a card that peasant cubes are interested in.
Aven Reedstalker - Underwhelming.
Aven Smokeweaver - Random hoser and bad otherwise.
Azure Drake - You'd rather have something with more impact.
Balshan Collaborator - Not good enough as a gold card.
Benthic Explorers - There isn't a deck that wants this.
Blockade Runner - Bad. Just play Phantom Warrior.
Breaching Hippocamp - It looks best as am ambusher, but there are better options.
Breezekeeper - Bad.
Brine Hag - Interesting card, but it just isn't going to work out without jumping through a bunch of hoops.
Brine Seer - There might be games where this is a lockout, but having it be better than a Mana Leak isn't going to happen often enough, on top of the initial mana and broadcasting.
Brushstroke Paintermage - Nope.
Cephalid Sage - Meh.
Chameleon Spirit - Not going to be consistent, and it gets worse as you start to win and clear their board.
Chorus of the Tides - You will rarely get the heroic triggers.
Clambassadors - It's just bad.
Clinging Anemones - There are plenty of other defensive options.
Cloud Manta - Strictly better options.
Coastline Chimera - It can survive some burn, but there is little reason to play this over Guard Gomazoa.
Cryptic Crusier - Not enough worthwhile enablers for cube.
Deadeye Rig-Hauler - The problem is that this type of effect is best triggered before combat, but you can only use this after combat.
Descendant of Soramaro - Base stats are underwhelming, and it requires ways to get cards off the top of your library (aside from drawing them) to really dig and get the best benefit.
Dream Prowler - Too inefficient.
Dreamwinder - Bad.
Drunau Corpse Trawler - Doesn't do enough.
Elguad Shieldmate - There are scenarios where the hexproof on something else will be good, but a random underwhelming 4-drop doesn't seem to fit any particular game plan; if you need to protect something, just use better spells.
Enigma Eidolon - Not going to do enough in cube.
Enlightened Maniac - There doesn't seem to be a place in cube for this. It doesn't add enough to the board and there are better flicker / bounce targets.
Ethereal Whiskergill - Bad.
Faerie Harbinger - Tribal.
Faerie Mechanist - Glint-Nest Crane is a better option.
Faerie Swarm - You need 2 other blue creatures just to equal a Phantom Monster. Not going to be consistent enough.
Fallowsage - Doesn't do enough.
Fatestitcher - Too low impact.
Fencer Clique - Outside of some corner cases, you would always want the similar card that can bounce itself back to your hand.
Fighting Drake - There are strictly better options.
Filigree Sages - Not enough targets.
Fledgling Mawcor - Just 'meh'. While it can attack in the air if it has nothing to ping, it just isn't efficient.
Floodgate - Too narrow.
Fortress Crab - It can block 'derms, but so can Guard Gomazoa.
Ghost Ship - It probably doesn’t play terribly, especially in a heavy blue deck, but it just doesn't compare well enough to other options.
Giant Octopus - Bad.
Giant Oyster - Bad.
Glen Elendra Pranksters - Too limited in timing.
Glowing Anemone - Doesn't do enough.
Gravity Negator - Doesn't do enough.
Gulf Squid - Doesn't do enough.
Harmattan Efreet - Too low impact.
Headwater Sentries - It's the cheapest creature with these stats… but if you want a 4 mana defensive creature, there are plenty of other more interesting options.
Homarid Explorer - It can support graveyard matters decks (or mill decks if you really want to stretch) but there are better cards that can do this.
Hoverguard Observer - Bad.
Illusionary Forces - Bad.
Incubator Drone - It doesn't compare well enough to similar alternatives that put two bodies on the board (Eldrazi Skyspawner, Talrand's Invocation, Whirler Rogue).
Inspired Sprite - Tribal.
Iridescent Drake - You can support aura themes, but unless that theme is pervasive throughout your cube this is not a card you want.
Jolting Merfolk - It might play fine in retail limited, but in cube you just have better alternatives across the board; Sleep or Turnabout to tap the entire team, or Tumble Magnet and Icy Manipulator for tapping down single threats.
Keeneye Aven - Bad.
Kingfisher - Doesn't do enough.
Kinscaer Harpoonist - Doesn't do enough.
Kukemssa Serpent - Bad.
Laboratory Brute - 4 cards is a decent amount, but there are better graveyard enablers.
Labyrinth Minotaur - There are cheaper, better versions.
Latchkey Faerie - Tribal.
Living Airship - Meh.
Louts Path Djinn - A bit on the underwhelming side. You'd rather have Voyager Drake.
Lumengrid Drake - It's too underwhelming when it isn't on. Mist Raven is a playable version with a slightly harder casting cost.
Makeshift Mauler - It isn't bad if you cast it on curve, but it doesn't really stand out by being a vanilla creature.
Marchesa's Emissary - Not going to be consistent enough.
Master of the Veil - Bad.
Master Thief - Narrow.
Mercurial Kite - I'm just not seeing a 'best case scenario' that is any good. Maybe you get to tap down their 1/3 blocker once in a while, but most of the time you are just trading off your underwhelming 4-drop for little advantage.
Merfolk Seastalkers - It's just on the underhwleming side.
Merfolk Skyscout - Not impactful enough.
Merrow Harbinger - Tribal.
Merrow Levitator - Doesn't do enough; it's an underwhelming flyer for the cost, and if you just want to give something flying there are better options.
Mesmeric Sliver - Tribal.
Mirozel - It protects itself from spot removal, but it's a liability against too many repeat effect permanents in the vast majority of cubes.
Mirror Wall - Bad.
Mistfire Adept - It's hard to be excited. You can get Voyager Drake for the same cost, and while prowess can make this bigger, the always on evasion is going to trump it.
Mistfire Weaver - Doesn't do enough for the investment.
Mistform Seaswift - Bad.
Monastery Loremaster - Too slow.
Moon Heron - Bad.
Murk Strider - It's too many hoops to jump through for cube
Naga Oracle - The body isn't good, and the ability doesn't add enough.
Nameless One - Tribal.
Narwhal - Random hoser.
Nephalia Seakite - Just 'meh'. Doesn't really contribute to a deck at this cost.
Nimble Innovator - Doesn’t do enough.
Nivix Barrier - The ETB effect can turn around a trade, but so can cheaper combat tricks.
Numbing Jellyfish - Milling opponents isn’t a thing, and there are better self-mill options if you want those.
Oboro Envoy - Doesn't do enough.
Ojutai Interceptor - It isn't efficent enough.
Opal Lake Gatekeepers - Bad.
Oraxid - Just bad.
Outrider of Jhess - Yuck. Completely underwhelming.
Paragon of Gathering Mists - It doesn't do enough consistently.
Pendrell Drake - Just underwhelming.
Phantasmal Dragon - The biggest benefit of 'skulkers' is usually the effects opponents would target them with were intended to kill them anyway, and they don’t get mana efficieny. At 4 mana, you aren't going to maintain that mana parity, it dies to any removal spell plus a bunch more stuff.
Phantasmal Forces - It's 4 flying power for 4 mana, but it dies to anything that can block it and the upkeep isn't worth it when you could just get a better 4 drop.
Phantom Beast - May as well just go Phantasmal Dragon if you are considering this (but don't do that either).
Phantom Monster - Voyager Drake is strictly better.
Primal Plasma - Just 'meh'.
Question Elemental? - There are just better options?
Rainbow Crow - Bad.
Rimewind Cryomancer - If you allowed snow basics, this is still going to be too inconsistent, and it's actively bad against decks that are just turning guys sideways.
Rishadan Footpad - On curve your opponent is probably going to have sac something, but it is going to be too inconsistent.
Riverwise Augur - It's at least the equivalent of a 4 mana 2/2, draw a card. Which is a bit less than what you want, and there isn't enough shuffling in peasant to get extra value from shuffling away useless cards.
Rummaging Wizard - I like the effect if it was a 'free' bonus, but it needs to be on a body I care about.
Runewing - Doesn't do enough.
Sage Aven - Too low impact.
Sailmonger - Bad.
Saprazzan Legate - Bad.
Saprazzan Outrigger - You not only lose your board prescence, you also lose your draw step, and pay 4 mana every turn for the privilege.
Scaldkin - Not efficient enough.
Scion of Glaciers - Just 'meh'.
Scornful Aether-Lich - Nope.
Screeching Drake - Just 'meh'.
Secretkeeper - It isn't going to be consistent enough. Either get a flyer with a drawback at this cost, or wait an extra turn and get Air Elemental.
Sentinels of Glen Elendra - Just 'meh'. Doesn't really contribute to a deck at this cost.
Separatist Voidmage - It's actually a fine card in its own right, but there is no reason to cube it with the strictly better Man-o-War around.
Serum Raker - Only with strong madness support.
Shifting Sliver - Tribal.
Shipwreck Moray - Doesn't do enough.
Silent Observer - Coastline Chimera strictly better.
Silver Erne - Doesn't do enough.
Siren Reaver - A 3/2 flyer for 3 seems fine, though not exactly exciting, but bad at 4 mana. Latch Seeker gives you similar results.
Snapping Drake - Bad.
Soratami Mindsweeper - There isn't a mill deck where this will do enough.
Soratami Mirror-Guard - It's too low impact based on stats, and too low impact on its ability.
Soulsworn Spirit - Detain is nice, but not enough when compared to better unblockable creatures.
Spire Winder - A 3/4 flyer for 4 is ok, but this won't be consistently good enough.
Spy Eye - Only for the fun of it. Drawing from your opponents deck means you draw cards that don't suit your game plan, or that you simply may not be able to cast.
Steamcore Weird - It's not likely to be bad in Izzet decks, but when you can cube Fire Imp in mono-colour it compares poorly.
Stern Mentor - Only if really pushing a mill theme.
Stitchwing Skaab - It doesn't have enough impact at these costs, particularly as it is so fragile. Advanced Stitchwing will fill this role better in most decks.
Stomrwatch Eagle - Bad.
Stronghold Zeppelin - Bad.
Talas Air Ship - Bad.
Telekinetic Sliver - Tribal.
Thalakos Drifters - At a glance it can be a discard enabler, and it can block early, and then be unblockable in the late game. But it just doesn't seem efficient enough or effective enough at anything to consider cubing it.
Thought Harvester - Even if you supported colorless matters you would not want this.
Tidal Courier - Tribal.
Tolarian Sentinel - Bad.
Torch Drake - There are better Izzet options.
Treetop Sentinel - Bad.
Triton Cavalry - I can see some interesting interactions, but it is heading towards Magical Christmas Land for cube environments (cast Rancor, get back Gryff's Boon, draw cards off my Mesa Enchantress, repeat…)
Turtleshell Changeling - Maybe the changeling ability adds in some obscure synergies, but there doesn't seem a reason to play this.
Unblinking Bleb - Doesn't do enough.
Vaporous Djinn - Bad.
Vedalken Infuser - Narrow. Only if artifact theme really pushed.
Veiling Oddity - Underwhelming as a hard cast and suspended takes too long and the opponent can prepare.
Vizier of the Anointed - Too narrow.
Vodalian Serpent - Yuck.
Voidmage Husher - Too slow and too low impact.
Walking Dream - The drawback is too much.
Wall of Vapor - Fog Bank or Guard Gomazoa exist.
Wall of Wonder - Too low impact.
Water Servant - It probably plays ok in a limited environment; it just doesn't really add any definition to your cube and that fact plus the double blue in the cost means you aren't likely to see it in cubes.
Waterspout Djinn - Bad.
Wave Elemental - There are better options for tapping down opponents creatures.
Wayward Soul - Outside of some corner cases, you would always want the similar card that can bounce itself back to your hand.
Weldfast Wingsmith - Voyager Drake strictly better.
Whirlpool Drake - It's got some specific card interactions with stuff like Land Tax, but not enough to consider cubing it.
Wilderness Hypnotist - Bad.
Windrider Eel - The upside isn't high enough.
Windscouter - Bad.
Wizened Snitches - Bad.
Wormfang Crab - Bad.
Wu Elite Cavalry - It's virtually unblockable, but you can get better unblockable creatures.
Zenith Seeker - Not going to trigger often enough.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Mulldrifter Description - Fantastic value when you cast it, it's a 5 mana 3 for 1 that includes a creature. Even if you are behind, you get a blocker and the opportunity to draw into more spells. It's a solid bounce or flicker target, especially when you can do it with the evoke trigger on the stack. Anchors - Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Infiltrator il-Kor Description - Solid aggro blue card, particularly if you can suspend it on turn 2. Latch Seeker can block, but this doesn't demand heavy blue and fits into curves better. Anchors - Supports -
Riftwing Cloudskate Description - You can get the hard cast version in Mist Raven, but being able to suspend this is decent upside, especially if you suspend it on turn 2, or even fit it into your curve later if you have other things to do with your mana. Your opponent can only do so much to play around it. It's probably rare, but if you really think they are playing around it, you can bounce the Cloudskate itself and then just threaten to hard cast it. Anchors - Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Advanced Stitchwing Description - You can better value upfront, but being able to trade in your two worst cards to get another go at a reasonable sized evasive creature isn't a bad deal. You might also cube it if you want blue to be part of your graveyard themes; discard this from a turn 2 Merfolk Looter, Tormenting Voice etc, then discard other stuff that likes being in the yard to get this on the board turn 3 can be a good start for a graveyard deck. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Illusory Ambusher Description - It requires timing and the right situation, but this can change the dynamics of a game and it isn't hard to engineer a situation where it is decent. A 5 mana combat trick that trades with something and potentially draws 3+ cards is great. If the coast is clear, you can always cast it end of opponents turn and swing in; it does have 4 power after all. Anchors - Supports -
Lu Meng, Wu General Description - Essentially a 4/4 unblockable for 5 mana, that can sit back and be a blocker if you need it. It represents a 5 turn clock on its own if your opponent doesn't have removal. You might want your creatures to be more interactive. Sun Ce, Young Conqueror is probably the better card if you are comparing horsies, but this is a faster clock. Anchors - Supports -
Murder of Crows Description - Fine flyer. Reasonable stats, with a reasonable ability. It's decent, but not a standout. The synergy is minimal, but the ability does help sacrifice and graveyard decks. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Peregrine Drake Description - Kind of free IF you have other spells to play with the lands you untap, though at 5 mana it isn't going to play into an aggro 'drop your hand' strategy very well. Can be a support card for more traditional blue control to lay down a threat while still holding up protection mana. You should give it higher consideration if you cube bouncelands or effects like Dawn's Reflection, and can generate mana when paired with flicker effects. Anchors - Supports -
Relentless Skaabs Description - By the time you get to 5 mana, it shouldn't be too hard to pay the additional cost. Being a vanilla isn't great, but 4/4 plus undying provides some interesting decision points; it's big enough that your opponent can't ignore it if you attack, most cubes don't have many 1/5's etc that could just stonewall it, and if they do trade, you get back an untapped 5/5. Similar story on defence. Anchors - Supports -
Sun Ce, Young Conquerer Description - It’s got a few things going for it, though there are some comparisons to make. You can get cheaper unblockackable creatures (Latch Seeker) and cheaper evasive bouncers (Mist Raven) but this is a solid combination of those abilities, and this survives spells that deal with 2 toughness. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Air Servant Description - The downside of losing a toughness compared to some other options is somewhat mitigated by being able to tap down opposing flyers to get through, or if you are on the back foot, it can just hang back while locking down their flyers. It does die to Last Gasp, Lightning Bolt and similar analogues (or even 3 power reach creatures) that something like Murder of Crows would survive, so depends on your specific environment. Anchors - Supports -
Belltower Sphinx Description - It points towards a mill theme, but you really need to be dedicated for it to do something. If you have enough other cards supporting that theme (Sphinx's Tutelage etc), this helps that deck by being a decent blocker while also accelerating your game plan. Anchors - Mill Supports -
Cache Raiders Description - It's 'bad' at first glance because it isn't even overstatted to account for the 'drawback', but might support a few specific strategies. You can get back any blink or bounce target, or retrigger landfall if you cube any of those cards. If you are being cute like that, at least this is a 4/4 that can block reasonably well. Anchors - Supports -
Coveted Peacock Description - You can get flyers with that extra point of power at this cost, but the effect is somewhat unique, and can be a way to eat some of your opponents creatures and whittle their board if the skies are clear and you've got something else reasonable to block with. Even if you don't block the target, it might open up attacks on your next turn. Cards like Murder of Crows and variants are going to better in the majority of cases, but it opens up lines of play you don't get from many cards. Anchors - Supports -
Gryff Vanguard Description - It is overshadowed byMulldrifter, but this is still a reasonable card in its own right. Probably only worth cubing if you find Mulldrifter too much value, or the extra point of power really matters for your cube environment. Anchors - Supports -
Jwar Isle Avenger Description - A 3/3 flyer for 3 is excellent, but you probably want at least a little bit of support. Rebound, suspend and free spells are the best, but it can also be fine in a U/x aggro deck, dropping a 1 or 2 drop alongside it in the mid game. The fail case is underwhelming but not terrible, so the risk isn't super high. Anchors - Supports -
Ominous Sphinx Description - You probably want to be fairly heavy on looters and other discard effects, but if you can activate those effects at instant speed this can help change combat math. Murder of Crows is probably more universally playable and you would cube that if you don't have sufficient ways to trigger this, but a 4/4 flyer for 5 is still a decent baseline if you don't get the trigger. Anchors - Supports -
Prescient Chimera Description - It's a support card for the spells matter deck. These stats aren't terrible on a flyer, but you can get similar card filtering from Murder of Crows which would beat this in combat. Anchors - Spells Matter Supports -
Whitewater Naiads Description - You aren't considering this unless you are pushing an enchantment theme, but at the very least you get a 4/4 for 5 that is likely to push some damage through the turn it comes into play. Anchors - Enchantment Matters Supports -
Windrider Patrol Description - How good it is will probably depend on how power and toughness line up in your cube. Any of the flying 4/4's with upside are probably a better inclusion, but if this would survive most of the things they would, this might be a reasonable alternative. Anchors - Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Cloudreader Sphinx - It isn't terrible, but there doesn't seem enough here to consider it over Murder of Crows.
Coastal Hornclaw - Err… no. I like looking for the silver lining, but who would ever cube this over Voyager Drake for some weird land / graveyard theme?
Cyclone Sire - It isn't bad value, but there doesn't seem a compelling reason to play it over other options (unless you go super deep on land creature themes).
Drelnoch - It looks like value, but it just won't get blocked when it doesn't matter, and will get blocked when you drawing extra cards may not matter.
Experimental Aviator - It could be a blink target, but not a very good one in the first instance, and not good enough to see play on its own.
Faerie Invaders - Seems fairly costed, but there doesn't seem a particular reason to cube it.
Floodtide Serpent - I'm a sucker for weird synergies, but this is just too narrow. Cache Raiders probably fits the same bill without being so narrow.
Mindeye Drake - It doesn't really support anything. Whether you are trying for a mill deck or a self-mill strategy, you want that ability to be reliable rather than on a death trigger on a defensive creature you probably want to keep alive so you have time to make your strategy work...
Siren of the Fanged Coast - You always get the worst out of the deal. You can't even get an Air Elemental if your opponent has no creatures, they'll just choose not to pay tribute and you have to target your own creature.
Wind Spirit - Not efficient enough. Being able to get past a Serra Angel on occasion for the win isn't worth the times you wish you just Murder of Crows or something else instead.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Errant Ephemeron Description - You really don't want to hard cast this, but it can be worth it in a control deck, where mid-game you can suspend it and still hold up counter magic, and have all your mana to protect it the turn it enters the battlefield. Even on turn 2 in an aggro deck you cast cast something else the turn this hits play and turns sideways. Anchors - Supports -
Jetting Glasskite Description - A solid control finisher by being able to protect itself from targeted removal, although it it still vulnerable to targeted abilities followed by removal. It's not necessary, but you can pair it with targeted discard to minimise their chance of holding onto removal until they get 2 ways to target it. Anchors - Supports -
Phyrexian Ingester Description - It ends up being a vanilla after it hits the board, but it is an odd blue card that effectively kills just about any creature, and it can still be a decent size vanilla. Good control top end to put down a threat while removing their best creature. Anchors - Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Cryptic Serpent Description - It's vanilla, but at 5 mana you are getting a decent deal, and card filtering or graveyard fillers might even make it come down earlier. Certainly signals a spells matters deck. Anchors - Spells Matters Supports -
Jodah's Avenger Description - It can be a control finisher, with a range of options given the abilities. Give it shadow and unblockable for 4 damage. Or give it vigilance as well and drop to 2 damage, but threaten a double striker on blocks. Or don't activate anything before blocks if they have a weak board, allowing you to double strike in for 6 damage or kill a 3 toughness creature they might block with. The ceiling on its own isn't high, but it does pair nicely with pump and pants. Anchors - Supports -
Striped Riverwinder Description - It cycles for a single mana, which does allow you to set up a turn 2 renimation spell on a hexproof creature, which is a solid start. At 7 mana it's a bit more underwhelming if you have to hard cast it. Aside from reanimation, cubes with pants or pump spells might be another reason to consider it. Anchors - Supports - Reanimator, Pants
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Angler Drake Description - It's a good size flyer with a decent ability. It's never going to be bad, but the bounce is a little worse once you are in the late stages of the game, where it might be a once-off opportunity to push some damage through as opposed to the early tempo hit of something like Man-O-War. Anchors - Supports -
Benthic Giant / Cold-Water Snapper Description - Jetting Glasskite is a similar option, but this is another option if you want something that is truly hexproof beef. You will probably also consider Striped Riverwinder which is more expensive, but cycling makes it more flexible and a better reanimator target. Anchors - Supports - Pants
Mahamoti Djinn Description - It's blues biggest evasive creature, but it does cost 6 mana and is otherwise somewhat uninteresting. Given that it is a french vanilla, the main consideration is on how power and toughness and power line up in your cube, particularly against other creatures with flying / reach. Skysnare Spider is only one card, but if you have that and enough similar creatures around the same cost or cheaper that can tussle with the Djinn, then it's value goes down. Anchors - Supports -
Mindscour Dragon Description - If you cube it, it should be because you can benefit from targeting yourself, not your opponent. I can see including it for more blue support for graveyard-based decks, but you are taking a minor power hit. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Skaab Goliath Description - It costs 6 and an additional cost, but there isn't much outside of green's 7 drops that could block it. The additional cost prevents it from being a creature-lite control deck finisher, but those stats are impressive. It's not resilient to removal, but if your opponent doesn't have any in hand it is going to be a difficult to deal with reanimator target. Anchors - Supports - Reanimator, Graveyard Matters
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Æthersnipe - It's missing flash or something else to make you consider it.
Archetype of Imagination - It makes everything you have essentially unblockable, but you can get blown out by instant speed removal. It can break board stalls but isn't likely to turn around games where you are behind, it isn't a good finisher for a control deck, and at 6 mana you will almost want something better. The board states where it will really perform just seem too narrow.
Aven Fateshaper - I think they forgot to print 'put one of them into your hand' on the card…
Bastion Inventor - If it was consistently 4 mana on curve it might be fine, but you need to go pretty deep for that to happen.
Gearseeker Serpent - Making it truly unblockable is reasonable, but even if you are pushing an artifact theme you can get Mahomti Djinn for a mana cheaper.
Novijen Sages - You need to be really supporting the +1/+1 theme. Card drawing is nice, but sacrificing your board presence to do it isn't great. It has some synergy with Lorescale Coatl, and gets silly if you also have Corpsejack or Winding Constrictor, but not enough to consider it.
Qumulox - You would need a pretty dedicated artifact cube for this to have a big enough discount consistently enough.
River Serpent - Even if it didn't have the downside, it probably wouldn't make the cut.
Riverwheel Aerialists - Reasonable size and potential for tricks mid-combat, but it will rarely be larger than Mahamoti Djinn. For power, choose the Djinn; for cube design reasons, you might cube this if you want more cards to be splashable, or you want to more clearly signal spells matters as an archetype.
Shoal Serpent - It isn't going to be able to attack any time you want it to.
Shoreline Ranger - The cycling isn't enough for such a bad hard cast mode.
Silburlind Snapper - Not going to be able to attack consistently enough, and it doesn't even work with combat tricks you would want to cast mid-combat.
Slinn Voda, the Rising Deep - An 8/8 for 8 on its own is not great. The ability looks nice, but for the most part you are going to bounce everything (including your other creatures) except for this, but then your opponent has the opportunity to replay them… which is likely given that you need TEN mana.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Condescend Description - Solid counterspell, which can somtimes be the equivalent of a Mana Leak on turn 2 with scry attached. Anchors - Supports - Control
Preordain Description - This is a solid card. It isn't flashy, but sets up your draws in the early game, and clears lands or other unwanted cards in the late game. It slots into most blue decks, with the probable exception of aggro decks that want to stick to using all of their mana to play threats. Also useful to hold and cast when a particular threat is presented to give you the best option of finding an answer at the time. Anchors - Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Ponder
Description - This is a solid card for getting you closer to what you need. While it can be used to set up sequences of future play, it can also be held until a specific threat comes along that needs to be dealt with; this then gives you 4 different chances to find the right answer on that turn, with a marginal advantage if you shuffle and don't find what you are looking for (over getting the next 3 which you know aren't what you need). Anchors - Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Aqueous Form Description - This opens you up for 2 for 1's so it's value gets better the less direct removal in your cube. But if unanswered, it has some decent upside if you have at least mid-sized creatures to put the opponent on a decent clock, as well as lining up your future draws. Anchors - Supports -
Artful Dodge Description - Can be used to force through some damage for relatively cheap. While not great, it can let a finisher get through unopposed for a couple of turns, or let a couple of creatures through for the final few in a more aggro or midrange build. Also has some synergy with some of the 'spells matters' creatures (Kiln Fiend etc) by giving them a boost from casting while also letting them through unopposed. Also friendly with combat triggers (Stealer of Secrets etc). Anchors - Supports - Spells Matters
Blustersquall Description - Can turn off their attack if cast during your opponents turn, and let you swing in. Conditional on the board state, but can be swingy. Anchors - Supports -
Brainstorm Description - Brainstorm is worse in the Peasant cube format than its profile in Constructed and even compared to powered cubes. One of the preferred uses of Brainstorm is to put cards you don't need right now on the top of your deck and then shuffle. Most peasant deck decks don't have a steady stream of shuffle effects, so you get some marginal card quality for a couple of turns, but end up in the same place. It might be what you need to hit your land drops or find you the critical spell you need if it happens to be sitting near the top of your deck. Anchors - Supports -
Careful Study Description - Given the card disadvantage, you want the card filtering to be worth it. In which case, you need to be supporting some form of Graveyard Matters theme. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters, Reanimator
Curiosity
Description - Good on evasive guys (especially shado / unblockables) and pingers, but can also be good when you can simply tap down your opponents creatures or make blocking annoying. Opens you up for 2 for 1's, but the upside is high. Cinder Pyromancer is cute. Consider Curious Obsession for something more aggressively tuned. Anchors - Supports - Pants
Curious Obsession Description - Bears comparison to Curiosity. The +1/+1 can help get attacks in that might not otherwise be possible with Curiosity, but Curiosity sticks around when you have no profitable attacks and triggers off non-combat damage. You might cube it to fuel aggro decks, particularly of the evasive variety. Anchors - Supports -
Distortion Strike Description - Bears similarities with Artful Dodge. You don't need to spend an extra mana, but you lose the flexibility of using it all up in one turn. As an extra bonus, you can do some extra damage. Good with spells matters or combat triggers. Anchors - Supports - Spells Matters
Essence Flux Description - It's a blue Cloudshift. Can be used to 'counter' a spell or effect targeting the creature, shift out after blocking so that it survives, or simply re-trigger an ETB effect… preferably more than 1 of those at a time. Bonus if you have spirits in your cube, but fine without them. Anchors - Supports - Blink
Flood Description - Flood can be solid in control decks that want to gum up the ground until stabilised, or to turn off key blockers to make an alpha strike. It's effectiveness scales depending on how many flyers you have in your cube and the general speed of the cube. Heavy blue can make it hard to use. Anchors - Supports -
Force Spike Description - Can be a great early tempo play for any type of deck, but good for aggro tempo plays. Loses potency in the mid to late game. Anchors - Supports -
Genju of the Falls Description - Decent 'manland' card, that can give control decks some long game by being able to trade or chump, or having a repeatable evasive beater in the late game. Anchors - Supports - Control
Gitaxian Probe Description - This card is a solid support card. Most cube designers consider this to be colourless, as it can make any deck smaller. While it offer some minimal support to something like a storm archetype, it is often just a 'good' card. Can help with blue decks that want to check the opponents hand before countering a spell, or verifying whether removal should be reserved for another threat. Anchors - Supports - Storm
More or Less Description - A quirky card that has a lot of fringe uses, but you will often have something to use it on. Kill X/1's. Boost or reduce a power or toughness as a combat trick. It can cycle itself alongside most draw spells. Prevent Pyroclasm from wiping out your board... or make it kill all their 3 toughness creatures. Anchors - Supports -
Mystical Tutor Description - Best used as redundancy in a deck that needs its best answers or high impact spells despite the card disadvantage. While any deck can use it, probably more suited to control decks to find sweepers or lockdown effects. Anchors - Supports -
Repeal Description - This provides mana and card parity, which isn't exciting. But the tempo might be worth it. It can target any permanent, but in most cases it is likely to target creatures, and something like Repeal is probably more applicable and a better tempo play. Great for killing tokens for a single mana while drawing a card to boot. Anchors - Supports -
Serum Visions Description - Worse than Preordain because it doesn't let you filter to get the card you need this turn, but still playable and serves a similar function. Anchors - Supports -
Sleight of Hand Description - This is worse than Preordain, but still ok for this effect if you want extra redundancy. Anchors - Supports -
Triton Tactics Description - For 1 mana, this can do some interesting things. It says 'I'm optimal when blocking' but it isn't a requirement. You might use it when swinging in to save 2 of your guys from trades, with the upshot of being able to block on your opponents next turn. Just untapping 2 guys for 1 mana isn't a bad deal, though admittedly not many cubes have a plethora of strong tap for effect guys. If you are on the defense, being able to lock down two of their creatures is a pretty solid play for 1 mana. It's limitation is having enough stuff on the board to take reasonable advantage. Anchors - Supports -
Unsummon Description - An old classic that doesn't need much cube support to make it effective, as it works in a range of decks. In general, it's best use is as a tempo effect to return a creature that cost your opponent much more than the Unsummon, allowing you to swing in with what you've already cast, and hopefully cast something else alongside it. Can be used in a pinch to save a finisher from being removed, or to reu-se a critical ETB effect. Anchors - Supports -
Vapor Snag Description - The standard mode for Unsummon effects is to bounce your opponents creature, which means that the mandatory life loss on Vapor Snag is nearly always upside, and helps advance the aggro/tempo game plan. It will still occasionally be the correct play to take the life loss and save a critical creature on your side of the board. This is going to give Vapor Snag a leg up on Unsummon in most cubes. Anchors - Supports -
Word of Undoing Description - This is an oddball card. It gets the same score as Unsummon on the basis that it will be just an Unsummon most of the time, with some marginal upside. On the other hand, it might provide signals that you are supporting something specific, so you may not want to include it if you don't support some form of Azorius aura theme. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Cerulean Wisps Description - Cycles and can create a surprise blocker or re-use a relevant tap ability. Pretty conditional on the right board state, but with cycling can create a 2 for 1 in the right situations. Anchors - Supports -
Clutch of Currents Description - The base mode is strictly worse than Unsummon. While the baseline is the more likely mode, it has the awaken upside. It might be an include as a way to shoehorn +1/+1 counter support into your chosen bounce effect. Anchors - Supports -
Courier's Capsule Description - The only reason to cube it is in support of an artifact theme. There are plenty of other options for card draw. However if you do cube it, it isn't so bad that other decks wouldn't play it from time to time. Anchors - Artifact Matters Supports -
Curfew
Description - You aren't always going to want a symmetrical effect, but it does have some interesting applications. It can be used to save a creature from removal while setting your opponent back, or similarly just to re-use a ETB effect while affecting your opponents tempo. Minor note that due to non-targeting it can force your opponent to bounce hexproof guys if they have nothing else. But the non-targeting can also be a downside, and limit the times where you can cast this profitably; mainly because your opponent can choose the best option, which may include one of their own ETB creatures. Peel From Reality is often going to be the better card because it does similar but targets, but you may want this for maximum redundancy, or if the single mana really matters to your cube design. Anchors - Supports - Bounce / Flicker
Diminish
Description - Narrow scope, but could find a place as a blue removal spell. It require some set up and the right board state. Anchors - Supports -
Disrupt Description - At it's worst (your opponent can pat the 1), you are card neutral and mana neutral. But when it works, it will be 2 for 1, and hopefully with a big tempo advantage by costing only a single mana. Anchors - Supports -
Dive Down Description - It will depend on the make up of spells in your particular cube, but it can act as a 1 mana counterspell for burn / removal against creatures, and might be more of a sideboard card against removal heavy decks. The toughness boost is likely to be less relevant, perhaps turning a trade into a win, but it is still card parity at that point. Anchors - Supports -
High Tide
Description - The card disadvantage is probably not going to be worth it. You may want to include it as an accelerator if you really want to push mono-blue as a thing in your cube. Anchors - Supports -
Mark of Eviction Description - This is going to be too slow on most opponents creatures as it takes a full turn. On the plus side, it is repeatable, though the time delay can be painful and give your opponent time to do something profitable, like attack you. Could be used as a slightly awkward support card for bounce / blink strategies. Anchors - Supports - Bounce / Blink
Mystic Speculation Description - At it's base, Mystic Speculation offers you future card quality for card disadvantage. In a weak opener, it can set up your land drops and early plays. It's best benefit comes from the buyback and being able to always draw your best cards. In some scenarios better than Crystal Ball (because you can play it turn 1) and in other instances worse (long term Crystal Ball is cheaper). Also has synergy with Spells Matters decks as a relatively cheap buyback spell. Anchors - Supports -
Opt Description - While the base effect is slightly worse than Preordain, this is an instant, which may matter if you are pushing a more 'draw-go' style in blue, or have Isochron Scepter. Anchors - Supports -
Piracy Charm Description - Has some flexibility in being able to pump someone, kill a small dude, or use some instant speed discard. Consider occasional evasion a bonus. Anchors - Supports - Aggro / Tempo
Pongify / Rapid Hybridization Description - Deserves a mention for being a 1-mana blue spell that can kill almot anything. Giving the opponent a 3/3 isn't exactly ideal though. It's best use will be against big creature decks, but even then you are just downsizing their creature. Has some minor upside in that you can flash in a 3/3 in response to some removal or one of your creatures on their way to the bin, so could be a conditional 3/3 for u in an aggro based deck, but that is a pretty narrow application. Anchors - Supports -
Rush of Ice Description - At a single mana it might be good enough for pushing aggro strategies, with upside if you reach 5 mana. There are plenty of other cards with this effect, the reason you might play this one is if you really want to push a 1 mana version, or really reinforce +1/+1 counters in blue with the awaken option. The bounce of Clutch of Currents is probably a little more universal, with this being a bit better in some aggro strategies or against ETB creatures. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Seal of Removal Description - The lack of instant speed casting means this offers less surprise than Unsummon. However you can drop it any time you have the spare mana instead of holding onto the instant. It's a decent analogue if your cube cares about enchantments, or you have any devotion to blue themes. Anchors - Supports - Enchantment Matters, Blue Devotion
Shadow Rift Description - Single mana, card parity to get your best creature through for some damage. But still susceptible to a 2 for 1 if they remove your target in response to casting. Anchors - Supports - Aggro
Sigil of Sleep Description - Sigil of Sleep can have some reasonable upside if it sticks, but is generally only going to be worthwhile on an evasive creature that can get multiple activations to maintain tempo advantage. Most cubes have a lot of good ETB effects, so it's value goes down the more you have given that the bounce is mandatory. Anchors - Supports -
Slip Through Space Description - Single mana to get your best creature through while being at card parity. Susceptible to a 2 for 1 if they remove your target in response to casting. Almost interchangeable with Shadow Rift with the devoid being mostly flavour text, but if you want to support a colourless deck this might sway you. Anchors - Supports - Saboteurs, Colorless Matters
Spell Burst Description - The effect itself is not great, but could be used as a late game lock, perhaps in a ramp deck... in which case you might be better off ramping into other threats. Regardless, the option is there if that type of deck is your cup of tea. Anchors - Supports - Ramp
Spell Snare - Description - Hits 110 targets out of 360 in the average peasant cube on cubetutor on the cheap. But as a reactive counterspell you have to cast it at the most opportune times. So you may counter a non-ideal threat just because it fits the criteria and you aren't sure when the next one will come along. Restrictive removal can always be cast after something hits the table, but you have a limited window to use this. Anchors - Supports -
Spell Pierce Description - 137 targets out of 360 in the average peasant cube on cubetutor. 42% of nonlands in the cube (324). Though its questionable whether the average cube deck contains the same percentage of noncreatures spells (9-10). Instinct says restricted targets plus reduced usefulness in the late game indicates playable but far from amazing. Anchors - Supports -
Thought Scour Description - Can be viewed simply as an instant speed cantrip. It can support a mill theme, and gives some synergy with dredge or other graveyard matters themes. If you want to support those themes, Mental Note is technically strictly worse, but can give a clearer signal to those new to your cube. Anchors - Mill Supports - Graveyard Matters
Turn Aside Description - While narrow, if your opponent is targeting your stuff with a spell, it's mostly likely to destroy it or permanently disable it... but your opponent may not be playing any, or very few of those spells. Anchors - Supports -
Twisted Image Description - Could be an ok combat trick that cycles, but will depend on the makeup of creature stats in your cube. Can kill 0 power creatures, so this may be stronger if you have a number of those walls in your cube. Anchors - Supports -
Unstable Mutation Description - This can be effective if you are pushing blue aggro. You just want to make sure that after you cast it, you are going to kill them within the next 3 turns. Suffers from the usual 2-for-1 trade on auras. Anchors - Aggro. Supports -
Void Snare Description - Most of the time, Void Snare is going to bounce a creature. In which case, you may as well move to Unsummon / Vapor Snag, which can give you instant speed. Still, the option is here if you really want the flexibility of all permanents, and it does still offer tempo advantage at sorcery speed. Anchors - Supports -
Whispers of the Muse Description - You need a bit of work to make Whispers of the Muse good in your cube. If your cube is fast, Whispers is not going to make it. It costs 6 mana if you want to use it as a card draw engine, for your first buyback. For 13 mana, you can buy it back twice and recast, to replace it with 3 other cards. For 5 mana, you can cast Jace's Ingenuity. It's best upside over Jace is not to forget that it only costs 1 mana. So the likely best use is to cycle it early game, and view the buyback as a bonus. Anchors - Supports -
Wind of Zendikon Description - This is a 2/2 flyer for 1 mana, with the quirky drawback of 'costing' a mana when you attack with it. Once cast, you could always view it as now having the option of swinging for 2 if you don't have enough other ways to maximise your mana... but you probably want to be swinging if you spent a card. At least you aren't a land down permanently if it gets removed. Anchors - Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Breakthrough - Looked at primarily as a draw card, this requires 5 mana to draw 4 cards and keep them all if this is the only card in your hand, with downside if you had more in your hand. But it could help dump stuff in your graveyard. Looking at 4 cards is decent so can be used to dig for reanimate cards or targets in the early turns, but that is going all in as you will have to dump a whole bunch of other cards.
Broken Dam - Sorcery speed so can't save from attack, which means its best use is to tap down creatures so you can get through. In which case, Artful Dodge is probably better.
Drafna's Restoration - Only playable in a very heavy artefact cube, and even then narrow in effect, card disadvantage for card quality over the next few turns.
Energy Tap - Compare to Dark Ritual; upside, can get more mana if cast on higher cost creature; downside, need to have a creature, it needs to be untapped, you need to tap it so it can't be used for something else, mana is colourless, card is sorcery speed. Blergh.
Gift of Tusks - It doesn't do enough. It either isn't upgrading your early drops enough, or it isn't minimising your opponents creatures enough.
Gigadrowse - In most cases other cards dedicated to tapping down all of your opponents creatures or having additional effects is going to provide better results.
Rescue - The loss of returning your opponents stuff is too much lost flexibility compared to the upside of being able to target any permanent you control.
Saving Grasp - This forces a particular type of play style, but could be used to take advantage of ETB creatures in a defensive bounce deck. Generally there are better options though.
Venarian Glimmer - You have to be going SUPER deep on a draw go deck that wants this type of effect; they either cast it before you get the mana to strip it, or it just costs a budketload of mana.
Vision Charm - Only the first is going to matter in a mill deck, in which case you want Tome Scour.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Mana Drain Description - Occasionally it might just be a counterspell if you top deck it or just don't have anything, but other times it will lead to absolute blowouts, resulting in massive board advantages. Great in any deck with enough islands. Anchors - Supports - Control
Mana Leak Description - Excellent tempo counterspell or early play for a control deck. Only costing a single blue makes it more likely you can cast it on turn 2 over options like Counterspell to stem early aggro, as well as the ability to cast other blue spells while holding up Mana Leak. However it can lose some steam in the late game when they have the 3 mana spare. Can be a good support spell for aggro decks to counter the opponents answers and maintain board pressure. Anchors - Supports - Control, Aggro / Tempo
Remand Description - One of the best tempo plays available. Sure, they get the threat back, but if it required timing or finesse, that is out the window. It can mess with your opponents sequencing, can keep the board clear if you are the agressor, and if you counter a 4+ cmc card and are still using the rest of your mana, you are clearly ahead. On top of that, the card draw keeps you at parity. Excellent whether you need to push your advantage, or just buy some time to get back into the game. Anchors - Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Counterspell Description - It's a baseline for hard counters, but the double blue in conjunction with non-Constructed mana bases can make the U1 soft counters more desirable, depending on the deck. But still a solid counter for most blue based control decks, particularly for long games. Anchors - Supports - Control
Daze Description - Most of the time it is going to be cast in the mid-game when your opponent taps out for a midrange threat, providing you a solid tempo boost while having minor impact on your ability to keep affecting the board. Anchors - Supports -
Impulse Description - Great for digging and finding the answer / threat that you need, and fits in nearly every blue deck. It doesn't enable anything specific; it's just good everywhere. Instant speed lets you dig for the answer you need at the exact time you need it. Anchors - Supports -
Into The Roil Description - Solid and flexible tempo card. Early game you can simply clear an early threat and push a board advantage, and late game you can throw card draw in to maintain card parity. Anchors - Supports - Tempo
Jilt Description - You might consider this a blue+ card, or an Izzet card. There are better pure blue options for creature bounce, but is still ok as just bounce for tempo. When kicked it can clear the board for a turn and usually results in strong tempo advantage while maintaining card parity. The rating reflects how powerful it can be in red / blue decks. Anchors - Supports -
Singing Bell Strike Description - Great tempo-based removal for blue. Removes most creatures from the game completely, though in the late game they can untap it if they have nothing else to spend the mana on. Anchors - Supports -
Snap Description - Good tempo card, allowing you to set back your opponent while still using the mana to develop your board. Also supports Storm if you are pushing that. Minor synergies with bouncelands to accelerate, or cast Snap and untap other lands you weren't representing. Anchors - Tempo Supports - Storm
Standstill Description - Standstill is an interesting card because it is either great or it is terrible. If you are in a dominant board position, you can lay it down and your opponent has to respond. If you top deck it while you are behind, it does nothing. For those reasons, it is best in blue-based aggro decks that can get out ahead quickly, forcing the opponent to respond. Also works well with manlands. If your blue section is slow and only control focused, you probably don't want this in your cube. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Arcane Denial Description - It's the only unconditional counter that doesn't have 2 water drops in its casting cost. It does give your opponent extra cards, but if you are playing the tempo game and just need to keep the board long enough to win, the cards in their hand won't matter. You also get to draw into (hopefully) more tempo-oriented spells to keep the pressure going. In a slower control deck, the card disadvantage is likely to matter more. Anchors - Supports -
Boomerang Description - There are better ways to bounce creatures, but being able to bounce lands puts this in contention. Setting your opponent back in the early game can make this a great tempo play, epecially against lands that enter the battlefield tapped. Brutal against bouncelands if you have them in your card pool. It still plays as creature bounce once your opponent has a stable land base. Anchors - Supports - Tempo
Cartouche of Knowledge Description - As long as you get it into play, the replacement draw mitigates the usual aura drawback, and power boost plus evasion is decent, particularly if your opponent doesn't have an answer. Depending on the board state, can also be a decent top deck. Anchors - Supports -
Censor Description - It will feel good when you hit something, and while the window of opportunity is low, you can also cycle it when it isn't likely to help your game plan any more. Anchors - Supports -
Chart a Course Description - 2 cards for 2 mana is a good deal, and even if you aren't attacking the filtering is still reasonable. It's also fine as a 2 mana enabler for graveyard / reanimation strategies. Aggro decks are happy to play it as an efficient way to get gas in the middle of the game. Anchors - Supports -
Compulsion Description - The filtering can be useful, though is unlikely to make the cut in faster cubes. In slower cubes, the extra time can improve your card quality while helping dump relevant cards in the graveyard for any graveyard matters theme. It has more resiliency than creature based version, and with sufficient mana on the board can help you really dig for the answer you need. Opens up the opportunity for a turn 3 filter plus Reanimate. Anchors - Supports - Reanimator / Graveyard Matters
Essence Scatter / False Summoning / Preemptive Strike / Remove Soul Description - You will always have targets, but the lack of flexibility hurts it a little. You'll sometimes wish you just had a soft counter like Mana Leak in the early game for non-creature threats (e.g. Curse of Predation), but is better in the late game for control decks that want to go long. Sometimes the extra mana matters, but Exclude gives you card advantage for an additional mana and may be the preferred spell. Anchors - Supports -
Hands of Binding Description - It has some high upside, particularly if you can pair it with something evasive. The first cast also makes it more likely you will get through, allowing you to keep a big threat in lockdown, or over a couple of turns guarantee 2 creatures are out of action. Gets more value if your cube has some unblockables, shadow etc. Anchors - Supports -
Legacy's Allure Description - Played on turn 2, this can be a powerful effect to have on the board, forcing your opponent to make hard decisions about what they commit to the board. The instant speed flexibility to activate can make it hard to play around and is therefore resilient to enchantment removal. Once it has enough counters, your opponent has to consider the possibility of activating it end of their turn and then swinging with the target. However, it is situational and if you are behind, it can be a bad top deck unless you are going to survive another few turns. Anchors - Supports - Control
Memory Lapse
Description - It's not great if the spell is truly powerful because it will come back next turn, but if the spell required timing, it can be almost as good as a regular counterspell. You also know they have the spell, allowing you to play around it next turn if needed. Anchors - Supports -
Miscalculation Description - The difference between 2 mana here and the 3 mana on Mana Leak is considerable, but this counter serves mostly the same purpose. It just fizzles a bit sooner, but has the bonus of being able to cycle in the late game, or if you just need to draw a threat Anchors - Supports -
Narcolespy Description - Decent blue removal, but it doesn't tap upon casting, which doesn't allow you to get past blockers that turn, and if it has a tap ability, it can still be used in response. Anchors - Supports -
One With the Wind Description - It's efficient enough and can represent a reasonable clock if unanswered, but the standard aura drawbacks apply. Best in environments with a bias towards sorcery speed removal, or looking to give blue some pants support. Anchors - Supports - Pants
Prohibit Description - Decent if a little unexciting. There are a number of decent targets at 2 mana (including most removal). In the late game you probably don't mind paying the kicker cost to hit the majority of targets. Anchors - Supports -
Riddleform Description - A 3/3 flyer for 2 is obviously great, but only if it is on consistently enough. If it is only every other turn it equates to 1.5 damage per turn, but there are a couple of other upsides. With mana open and cards in hand, they might choose not to attack into it, which might make it worth the 2 mana even without a lot of actual activations. It can also provide insurance against sorcery speed removal and sweepers if those are prevalent in your environment. Anchors - Supports -
Telekinesis Description - On it's own, this can take out a creature for 3 attack phases, which is excellent against mid-size creatures or ramp targets if you just need to survive a bit longer. However enchantments like Singing Bell Strike can do that more permanently. The double blue makes it harder to recommend over some of those options. Anchors - Tempo Supports -
Think Twice Description - It's not particularly fast, but it is inevitable card advantage. You aren't going to be particularly excited about it in a dredge deck. Better in control decks full of instants or flash creatures to be able to hold up mana and cast at end of opponents turn if there is nothing better to do. Anchors - Supports - Draw/Flash Go
Unsubstantiate Description - It's card disadvantage, but it is a flexible tempo spell. Two mana is more than Vapor Snag, and bouncing a spell is usually worse than Mana Leaking it, but this is effective at dealing reactively with spells as well as dealing with creatures already on the board. Anchors - Supports -
Withdraw Description - Answering your opponents tapout on turn 4 or 5 and returning 6 or more mana's worth of creatures to their hand is a good beating. The last clause makes it bad in the late game, but decent for a tempo-based deck that just wants to keep the way clear long enough. The double blue isn't terrible, as you won't want to play it in the first few turns. May have some legs in a bounce deck by targeting your own creature with the second effect (they don't need to be controlled by the same player) while also setting your opponents board back. Worth noting that you must have two targets to be able to cast it. Anchors - Supports - Bounce
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Agoraphobia Description - It removes a threat, but you still have to attack into it. However it may still have a place in control decks that just need to shut down early threats. Anchors - Supports -
Anticipate Description - It's worse than Impulse, but it is still playable if you want redundancy of the effect, giving you instant access to the top 3 cards if you need an immediate answer. Anchors - Supports -
Call to Heel Description - Most bounce leans towards your opponents creatures with the upside of targeting yours in a pinch, but this is the opposite. Can help save a creature from removal while generating card advantage, or provide assistance to a bounce deck. In a pinch, you can always clear a blocker or a truly threatening creature. Anchors - Bounce Supports -
Chronic Flooding Description - It doesn't affect the board, but could be useful if you want to go deep for dredge / delve / threshold strategies. Potential for player to assume you have mill win conditions in your cube if they see this without understanding the archetypes you are pushing in your cube. Anchors - Dredge, Graveyard Matters Supports -
Confound Description - It has limited targets, but it counters most removal as well as opposing creature buffs while providing card advantage. Anchors - Supports -
Delay Description - So long as you are going to win in the next 3 turns, it doesn't matter that the spell is coming back. It makes this counterspell a bit narrower than others, but can help give aggro / tempo decks a counterspell that 'hunker down' control won't want. Some spells might fizzle or be less than optimal if they do come back. Anchors - Supports - Aggro / Tempo
Deprive Description - It's obviously worse than Counterspell, but is a 2 mana hard counter. You won't be playing it early, but allows you to hold up two mana in the late game when the likes of Mana Leak are too late to be effective. Aggro / tempo decks might have more option to give up the land drop a little earlier, but the soft counters are probably going to be just as effective there. Anchors - Supports -
Echoing Truth Description - Tempo decks are going to much prefer Vapor Snag / Unsummon. There will be occasions where you will want to bounce an artifact or enchantment, but auras and equipment will still fall off if you bounce creatures. The mana difference will be relevant more frequently. This can hose tokens if you want a card to counter those types of decks; consider Disperse if you don't want that effect. Into The Roil is going to strictly better unless you really care about dealing with tokens. Anchors - Supports -
Eel Umbra Description - It's functional, but not exciting. It's best use will be where the +1/+1 is enough to win a combat that was going to be a loss, and then have the totem armor provide a sort of 2 for 1 by surviving another combat. But that is all situational and it is likely to be stranded in your hand for a while. Anchors - Supports -
Familiar's Ruse Description -Counterspell is 'strictly' better because it doesn't have an additional cost, but this has narrow applications in a bounce deck. You might play it outside of that archetype, but it will be inconsistent and sometimes just stranded if you don't have a creature on the board. Anchors - Supports -
Ideas Unbound Description - It can help graveyard based decks, but has minor use outside of that archetype given that it ends up being card disadvantage. It could be used in explosive aggro decks as the last card in hand that it plays in the mid-game, to fill up the hand and cast stuff the same turn, but that is pretty narrow, and the double blue doesn't help. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters, Reanimator, All-out aggro
Jace's Scrutiny Description - It can win a combat you would normally trade, or just prevent some damage to you if the situation calls for it. It would be bad without the investigate; it isn't efficient but at least you don't end up down a card. Anchors - Supports -
Mage's Guile Description - It's like a narrow counterspell for removal, with some flexibility upside with cycling. Or you could view it as a 1 mana cantrip to make your blue decks smaller with shroud upside. Anchors - Supports -
Merchant Scroll Description - It's usefulness will largely depend on other blue instants in your cube and the decks you are pushing, but the narrow target range means it often won't make the cut. Anchors - Supports -
Military Intelligence Description - Could be worth it for blue / X aggro decks, particularly for 'Skies' or tempo based aggro, using the card draw to continue to lay down aggro threats, or bouncing / tapping down opponents resources. Can also work in a token deck, but it is the kind of card you want to go to work for you right away, not wait around in your hand. Minor tension with whether to drop this or drop threats first. Anchors - Supports - Aggro / Tempo
Negate Description - There are some powerful noncreature spells in cube. This might end up being a sideboard card, but its inclusion in your cube scales with the quality and quantity of your noncreature spells. Other soft counters are more flexible and likely to be more desirable for decks than this. Anchors - Supports -
Ongoing Investigation Description - Military Intelligence costs the same and straight up draws you cards, so how different are the conditions? This only requires a single attacker, but it must get through, so it favors evasive creatures. Blue usually has the requisite number in most cubes. Still, it is conditional on how combat normally plays out in your cube. It might not be enough for decks without green, leading you to count it as a Simic card. That ability helps you draw cards while keeping you in the game, so it can be strong there. Anchors - Supports -
Open into Wonder Description - It looks a little clunky, but there is certainly some upside to be had. There is opportunity for lots of lines of play, but they will ultimately depend on what you include in your cube. If you support blue aggro / tempo, sending in 2 or 3 guys to get the opponent low and draw into the likes of Undo or Man-o-War could seal the deal. In a control deck that is going wide, you might be able to win in one swing. Anchors - Supports -
Ovinize Description - It's not an outright kill spell, but this can serve as blue removal, letting you kill an attacker as long as you have something with at least 1 power to block with. Conditional, but is a blue 'removal' option. Anchors - Supports -
Perilous Research Description - At least as an instant, you can sac something that is about to chump or is the target of removal. Provides some minor synergy with sacrifice decks, but most decks will want their card draw to be more flexible. Minor support for sacrifice decks with the likes of Blood Artist / Falkenrath Noble / Hissing Iguanar. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Spectral Flight Description - It comes with the standard 2 for 1 aura problem, but evasion and a decent boost for a reasonable cost can make this one worth consideration, primarily for decks that want to end games quickly before the opponent can answer the threat. Anchors - Supports -
Strategic Planning Description - Let's you filter for card quality, while also being able to dump stuff in the graveyard. At 2 mana, you can either have better digging options with Impulse, or some of the 1 mana cantrips. This might be a swap if you want keep card filtering but give your graveyard matters decks a little push. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Telling Time Description - Reasonable card filtering. As an instant can help you filter or dig when you need to. Impulse is better because you get to dig a card deeper. While it's definitely a niche archetype, this supports 'top of deck matters' cards. Anchors - Supports - Top of Deck Matters
Words of Wisdom Description - You end up at card parity, but you get to cast it end of turn, so you get to play your 2 new cards first. Could fit in a tempo deck that gets an early board presence and keeps bouncing the opponents permanents, and they won't benefit from the extra cards before they're dead. However it is pretty narrow on that archetype. Anchors - Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Alexi's Coat - It kind of says "counter target spell or ability that targets a creature you control". Confound is better for that. The ongoing shroud doesn't really make up for that.
Aura of Dominion - Token decks with pingers? Block and then protect with Mother of Runes? Outside of those narrow combos, any other instance where it might be useful, say untapping a big attacker so it can block, you would rather have just played another creature or something else that affected the board.
Brain Freeze - There isn't enough support for a dedicated mill deck, and you don't want to cast it on yourself for graveyard strategies because it does nothing to the board. Not reliable enough for storm decks.
Customs Depot - Enclave Cryptologist, Looter il-Kor and Merfolk Looter are going to be more consistent. They are creatures and a bit more vulnerable, but having to pay mana and having no effect on the board renders this short of playable.
Dampen Thought - Not enough good support to make dedicated mill into a thing.
Dance of Many - Too much investment and setup required.
Disdainful Stroke - Well, it’s guaranteed to give you mana advantage! But you want more flexibility from your counterspells, given that most (well constructed) decks won't have many cards 4 and above outside of ramp decks.
Downpour - While not essentially unplayable, there are enough better options that serve a similar purpose, like Frost Breath, Sleep, Crippling Chill, all of which can maximise value even if the opponent doesn't have 3 creatures.
Dragon Wings - Narrow. Need to have sufficient fatty support, plus enough ways to get this into the graveyard. Maybe in Simic ramp? Probably not useful elsewhere. And probably better ways to give flying to things anyway.
Dramatic Reversal - There are some scenarios where this will do stuff (surprise blockers, accelerate with the likes of Thran Dynamo, convoke), but not consistently enough.
Early Frost - You could make a case for it supporting an aggro tempo deck to lock down opposing lands, but it's too inconsistent to rely on.
Ensoul Artifact - Requires too much support to be consistent enough.
Era of Innovation - Too narrow for cube, even with an artifact theme.
Evasive Action - Mana Leak (or many other counterspells) will be better than this vast majority of the time.
Excavation - The symmetry is too hard to break given that you have to invest the card. Nice with Land Tax, but not worth it for that synergy.
Expel from Orazca - Into the Roil is going to give you more consistent upside. Forcing them to recast their 7 drop provides more mana discrepancy, but needing Ascend makes this worse.
Eye of Nowhere - Boomerang strictly better because it is an instant.
Fascination - Sorcery speed kills it. The card draw gives you’re opponent a full turn to use everything they have drawn. The milling is not efficient.
Fate Foretold - It needs a creature in play before you can cantrip it. If the target is removed in response, you get nothing. And you have to have it die to get the extra card. A lot of things need to go right.
Fatigue - This is going to be too inconsistent to matter.
Flood of Recollection - Mana intensive and narrow targets. It CAN get you back your best spell and ups your spell count for spells matters triggers, but you probably don’t need to go this deep.
Font of Fortunes - It costs 4 mana for 2 cards. While there are some advantages to being an enchantment, it's not close enough to playable to make it in enchantment matters deck.
Force Away - The conditional card filter isn’t strong enough to make up for the extra mana cost over Unsummon / Vapor Snag.
Homarid Spawning Bed - It costs 5 mana before it does anything, and either requires an additional sacrifice upfront, or timing to respond to removal etc. Too intensive.
Hoodwink - You would not want this over other bounce options.
Lat-Nam's Legacy - It looks similar to 'draw 2, discard 1', which would be excellent at 2 mana. You get rid of a card you don't want, and get the opportunity to draw 2 more. But it doesn't enable graveyard strategies like a discard effect would, and it's a terrible top deck for 2 reasons; you have to wait a turn, so you can't refill and cast straight away, and you MUST shuffle a card in. It's useless if you don't have another card.
Logic Knot - For two blue mana, you could just actually counter it…
Lost in Thought - It might be ok in blue aggro decks when they won't have 3 cards, but other blue 'removal' effects are better.
Mana Vapors - Could be a tempo card, but relies on your opponent having tapped all their lands. It might seal a game that is even or where you are ahead, but it is too unreliable.
Manipulate Fate - Paying two mana to slightly improve your draws doesn't do enough.
Memory's Journey - It's not a cantrip, and the flashback is off-colour… There are decks that might benefit from this effect, but not with this narrow application.
Metamorphose - About the only time you would be happy to play this was if your opponent had an empty hand. It might get rid of a truly threatening card in other situations, but will usually still be replaced with something else.
Mind Sculpt - Aggro' mill is not deep enough to support, stick to repeatable effects if you really want mill.
Misstep - It relies too much on the opponent having tapped them first. Exhaustion costs more but is likely to be more robust. Frost Breath may also be worth considering if you want this type of effect.
Nagging Thoughts - The baseline compares so poorly to similar spells like Impulse and Telling Time. The madness is the obvious 'upside' here but isn't a big enough draw.
Ordeal of Thassa - Bad. Minor immediate impact, inherent card disadvantage.
Peel From Reality - It's a narrow application, but it might work in a bounce deck to get you back an ETB creature while setting your opponents board back. Outside of a deck with sufficient ETB creatures (and therefore enough in your cube), it's unlikely to see play. You could cast it in response to removal, but you are probably looking at parity; you both spend mana casting a card, and you both get set back on the board. But that is pretty narrow upside, and not enough to warrant space in your cube.
Peer Through Depths - Given the narrow search criteria and limited cards, this supports a spells matters deck (setting up your next trigger), but is not playable anywhere else. You could include it to throw that deck a card other decks don't want, but there are generally better cards for that.
Pendrell Flux - At first glance it looks like a form of blue removal, but your opponent has the choice of paying if they are still going to win the next turn by keeping the creature around.
Perilous Voyage - The occasional bonus isn’t worth the 2 mana cost compared to other options.
Power Leak - Targets too conditional and bad in the late game.
Power Taint - Targets too conditional and bad in the late game.
Predict - You need a specific environment / deck to make this more than a 2 mana cantrip. You need too much scry / top of deck matters cards to get good advantage for this.
Press for Answers - It's sorcery speed. Ergh. Crippling Chill, or several other variants, are going to be better in vast majority of cases.
Quiet Speculation - It gives you access to 3 spells, which you tutor for, but if the cost of the flashback isn't reasonable then you've wasted your time. You will probably need a pretty specific set of cards supporting this, and then drafted together, to consider spending your second turn setting up. If I could guarantee I could get Crippling Fatigue, Deep Analysis and Roar of the Wurm every time (which also would need to have not already been drawn by the time Quiet Speculation is played) then maybe. But that is across 3 colours, and the chance of drafting those altogether is almost nil. This is going to be too parasitic for most cubes.
Reality Ripple - It doesn't do enough to be considered removal.
Reality Shift - It's instant speed blue removal, but the drawback is too much.
Reset - As a card, can either be used to surprise your opponent and have more mana available than they anticipated, or unorthodox ramp on their turn. In the context of cube, it isn't going to find a home in a deck.
Rites of Refusal - Costs you two cards to be a Mana Leak, and 3 cards to almost guarantee they can't cast a spell. I invoke my rite to refuse this card.
See Beyond - You end up at card parity, but get to see two new cards, both if which you can keep if you have something worse in hand to get rid of. It can help shape your hand early, especially if you are either mana screwed or mana flooded. On an empty hand, it is worse than Preordain. Ultimately it's not bad, but other card filters / draws are generally more efficient or effective, and you won't need to go deep enough on those effects to include this.
Send to Sleep - While not terrible, you would rather pay the extra mana for Frost Breath and guarantee 2 turns of the creatures being out of action. When you don't have spell mastery, which is far from guaranteed, the impact is not enough for the cost of the card.
Skygames - The fact that the activation is only sorcery speed means you should be looking at equipment for your flying needs.
Skyscribing - Too hard to break the symmetry in peasant cube.
Snapback - No mana to clear an opposing creature is a great tempo play, but two cards is often going to be too high a cost, and paying the regular mana cost is too much. Snap is better for the same spot.
Stupefying Touch - It replaces itself, but the effect is too narrow. You would rather have something like Singing Bell-Strike that can target almost anything.
Tidal Bore - In the right tempo-based deck, it can be effective as a free spell to tap down something on your opponents board once you start hitting the top of your curve, but is too narrow an effect compared to other options.
Tightening Coils - They can still block with it, or still trigger attack triggers.
Time and Tide - I thought this sounded like a good end of turn trick until I re-read it and the creatures have to have phasing.
Tolarian Winds - It is inherent card disadvantage. It may provide an improvement to card quality and dump some stuff for graveyard strategies, but it's not worth the card disadvantage.
Train of Thought - The flexibility comes at too high a cost; inefficiency.
Treasure Hunt - Without manipulation, most decks will have about a 60% chance of just getting one card. 40% of the time you get 2 cards… or more. The potential for high upside isn't going to outweigh the times you get 1 card. If you support a narrow 'top of deck matters' deck, it could be ok in that deck.
Truth or Tale - You aren't likely to get the card you want.
Turn to Frog - A form of permanent instant speed removal for blue if you can block the offender in combat. Very conditional, where other removal options (auras etc) are just going to be better.
View from Above - It's only ok (and just ok) in a blue white deck. You wouldn't waste an Azorius slot on this, and unless you are skewing your colours, it is in the best two flying colours anyway.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Psionic Blast Description - One of the best burn spells; kills a good spread of creatures, instant speed, can burn face. The damage to yourself is pretty minor in the scheme of things. Some may not include it for color pie reasons, but in terms of power it is one of the best blue spells. Anchors - Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Compulsive Research Description - You can whiff and end up at card parity, but most times when you cast this you will either have the land already or draw one, making it more likely you get to keep business spells. Fine filtering / digging tool for most decks in general, it's also good for graveyard / reanimator decks to pitch a couple of cards they want in the yard. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Exclude Description - Countering a spell while generating card advantage is excellent. Creatures are the most prominent card type played, so you will always have targets. Anchors - Supports -
Propaganda Description - Great anti-aggro card… possibly too good. Played on curve, it can single-handedly crush aggro's momentum, forcing them to choose between attacking with what is already on the board, or using mana to develop their board. All the while, you get to keep developing your board unhindered. Absence from a cube is usually a conscious choice to make aggro more relevant. Anchors - Supports -
Repulse Description -Great tempo play without the cost of a card. You either get to clear out an opposing creature to get your guys through, or just slow down your opponent if you are the control deck. You can cast mid-combat to mess up double-blocks, and in a pinch you can save one of your critical creatures from removal. Anchors - Supports -
Thirst For Knowledge Description - Solid inclusion even if you don't have many artifacts in your cube. Decks are more likely to keep 2 cards off of Compulsive Research, but the instant speed here can be important (particularly for reactive control decks), and from a cube design perspective raises the value of other artifacts during the draft process. Anchors - Supports -
Time of Ice Description - This can be a beating in aggro if you can curve into it, giving you plenty of time to put the nail in the coffin. Less relevant for a more ontrolling deck as it is inherent card disadvantage, but it does buy some time. It isn't like to come up often, but you can also return your own creatures and re-buy ETB effects if the opportunity arises. Anchors - Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Anchor to the Aether Description - In aggro decks it can help your early plays get past a blocker, and potentially delay your opponents land development by a turn. On defence it can buy you a turn, but is a little less impactful. It's fine, but is conditional on the board state and the opportunity to take advantage of it. Anchors - Supports -
Claustrophobia Description - It's decent removal for blue. The double blue in the casting cost is not ideal, but once it hits it is more consistent than most other blue options. Probably not significantly better compared to 2 mana variants, but could be fine for larger cubes. Anchors - Supports -
Cloudform Description - The mana cost for a 2/2 flyer with hexproof is not a bad base. Manifest is pretty unreliable, but that is essentially upside to the baseline. Anchors - Supports -
Complicate Description - Sometimes you get something mid-game, you can cycle it late game when it would otherwise not be valuable, and occasionally you get a blowout when they tap out and you get the 2 for 1. Anchors - Supports -
Dissolve Description - It's an ok counterspell, but fights among a whole bunch of other options. It costs more than Counterspell and may not compete quite as well as the 2 mana splashable soft counters, but is among the better of the 3 mana hard counters, with the scry being something that decks that want to counter spells will welcome. Consider it if you want more deck smoothing options, want more hard counters, or just want counters to not be as splashable. Anchors - Supports -
Forbid Description - Without providing it specific support the buyback makes you 2 for 1 yourself, but if you have excess lands, or even just cards that like being in the graveyard, it can be worth it. In decks that can generate card advantage over the long game it can lead to lockouts, particularly with something like Land Tax. Anchors - Supports -
Forbidden Alchemy Description - For the first casting it seems like a more expensive Impulse, but that effect at 3 mana is still reasonable even if you are just in blue. It has the obvious upside of being able to be cast a second time in Dimir decks, but it also dumps cards in the graveyard, which can be relevant depending on the rest of your cube, while also being a card that doesn't mind being dumped into the graveyard itself (7 mana is significant, but most graveyard decks want to go long anyway). Anchors - Control Supports - Graveyard Matters
Frantic Search Description - You end up at card disadvantage, but you get improved card quality with no tempo loss. If you play bouncelands, Wild Growth etc you can even net mana. If you are digging for answers, you may get to play the answer straight away, plus the discard can help enable graveyard shenanigans. It's the perfect card if you want to support reanimator; discard your fattie, find your reanimation spell and cast it straight away. The inherent card disadvantage means you won't just throw it in any deck, but it enables a lot of things without much work. Fine for storm, supporting Illusory Angel etc. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters, Storm, Reanimator
Ghostly Flicker Description - Solid for the blink archetype but sometimes playable elsewhere. The baseline can let you block and then flicker them as a peseudo-Fog. Obviously great with enter the battlefield effects, and can reset creatures with vanishing / fading, reset cards with limited counters like Serrated Arrows etc. If you flicker Eternal Witness, you can get the Ghostly Flicker back while flickering some other ETB creature repeatedly. Anchors - Supports - Blink
Grip of the Roil Description - Frost Lynx and Stitched Mangler give you mostly the same effect, but put a creature on the board instead of a card in your hand. Upsides here is that it is instant, so you can prevent two attacks instead of preventing two blocks. It might be a better choice than the creature versions if you want to push a control deck that buys time, where the card draw might be more relevant. Instant + card flow also helps spells matters decks, and the surge fits nicely there as well. Anchors - Supports - Spells Matter
Hour of Need Description - In the mid to late game, it can turn a couple of your early stallers into real threats. The fact that it can do it at instant speed means it can be used as a combat trick before blocks, or on the opponents end step to come in swinging with a couple of Sphinx's. Anchors - Supports -
Magic Word Description - If you don't mind the Un- aspect, it is a reasonable piece of blue removal. It can tap down immediately and every turn. Marginal upsides that it works even if your opponent can untap the target, with occasional downside compared to versions that don't let them untap (pingers or cards that tap for effect). Anchors - Supports -
Probe Description - As a blue card, the base effect is reasonable card filtering. It keeps you at card parity but you get to see three new cards and it can support graveyard matters themes. You could either classify it as a 'blue+' card or a Dimir card; casting it with kicker is solid but is fine just as a blue card. Anchors - Supports -
Rushing River Description - A decent and flexible bounce option. Paying 3 mana for the base mode isn't the most efficient, but most times you will pay the kicker and being able to bounce two creatures at instant speed is very strong. The land sacrifice isn't nothing, but you either don't play it on curve (you probably want to wait for optimum targets anyway) or you play it in low curve decks in the first place where the sacrifice doesn't matter so much. Anchors - Supports -
Slow Motion Description - Reasonable tempo card. It can help stall the opponent early by costing them 2 each turn. They can choose to lose the creature and develop their board or cast something else, but you start generating card advantage. Eventually they can just afford the payment and it might be a poor top deck, but early this can be very disruptive. Anchors - Supports - Prison
Sphinx's Tutelage Description - An anchor build-around card for a mill control deck. Perhaps the best repeat option, as sometimes it will mill for more than 2 naturally. The activated ability is incidental upside, but can help you accelerate the mill while also filtering for better spells. It's a build around that needs a couple of redundant options to be worth including. Anchors - Mill Supports -
Undo Description - Solid bounce spell that can be a real tempo hit to your opponent. It's hard to say needing two targets is a downside (as you really want 2 anyway), but you can always target one of your own ETB creatures while setting your opponent back one of their creatures. Anchors - Supports -
War Tax Description - Decent anti-aggro card. Some cube owners may include this as a fairer version of Propaganda, as this requires you to provide ongoing investment, but can also provide a higher upside in the late game. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Call to Mind Description - It's a narrow card for the spells matters deck. You probably just want the effect stapled to a creature, but it is a sorcery itself. You may want to consider Mystic Retrieval and Pull from the Deep. Anchors - Supports -
Capsize Description - It is going to be too slow for some cubes, but you might include it in your cube to support 'lock' decks that can just keep bouncing opponents stuff, particularly in ramp decks. 3 mana is far from ideal for a one-shot bounce spell, but you always have that option. The buyback does provide fringe support to trigger repeat spells matters cards. Anchors - Supports - Spells Matter
Containment Membrane Description - It doesn't tap down the creature, but it will keep it locked down. The surge cost is also really cheap, making it easy to fit in alongside another play and the main reason you would consider playing it instead of more consistent blue removal. It's in a weird place; the surge cost makes you want to play it alongside beaters in an aggro / tempo deck, but because it doesn't tap down blockers it loses value there. Anchors - Supports -
Crow Storm Description - At peasant, it's probably just a bit too… fair. You really want 3 tokens to at least feel like you got enough, and at least 4 to feel like you are getting away with something. Getting three requires you to play two OTHER spells and then spend another 3 mana on this. You would want to have heavy support for storm to consider it. The tokens being evasive makes it reasonable if you can pump out a number of them. Anchors - Storm Supports -
Curse of Inertia Description - Most common use will be to shut down a blocker, which might be fine for aggro decks to push through, probably serving those decks better than something like Claustrophobia because you can always change the target if you don't care as much at being attacked back. Can also give something 'vigilance' if it makes sense. Corner cases of being able to re-use tap abilities, or even casting an extra spell off a land / accelerator untap. Corner cases aside, bodies attached, ala Frost Lynx and Stitched Mangler, are probably going to serve better in most decks. Anchors - Supports -
Curse of the Bloody Tome Description - If you are pushing control decks that can mill out an opponent, Sphinx's Tutelage is your first option, but you probably want a few redundant pieces if you are pushing that type of deck and this has a one-time cost. Anchors - Mill Supports -
Displace Description - It's a strictly worse Ghostly Flicker as it only hits creatures. Larger cubes might be in the market for both if they are pushing the blink / flicker / bounce archetype and you don't want to break singleton. Anchors - Flicker / Bounce Supports -
Dissipate Description - Other hard counters are more effective against the field in general; Counterspell is more efficient, and Dissolve helps smooth your deck. However, against certain cards / decks this may be better by turning off recursion elements, keeping them off threshold etc. Consider it if you want to include some ways of counteracting those strategies. Anchors - Supports -
Dominate Description - It's a Control Magic variant that can't be undone by enchantment removal and can be played mid-combat. However, it can be prohibitively expensive. You might play it if you are depowering your 'removal', and it does become a bit more playable in ramp decks. Anchors - Supports -
Encrust Description - The biggest downside of Encrust is that it doesn't tap down the creature, which makes this less useful in aggro decks to turn off blockers. However, it does turn off activated abilities that might be relevant occasionally, and it does hit artifacts so it can shut down equipment, Crystal Shard's etc. Anchors - Supports -
Exhaustion Description - In the right scenarios it can have high impact, but is conditional on those scenarios happening. Against aggro, you get to take a turn off from taking damage while disallowing them another turn to set up their board. In a race situation, you get two consecutive swings. But it starts getting a lot worse if they aren't tapped out. Anchors - Supports -
Fowl Play Description - It doesn't lock or tap down like similar options, but removing static abilities is unique for blue removal, and can shut down things like Guttersnipe which other blue removal won't. Makes it better for control decks to slow the opponent. Slightly less good in aggro because they can still block with it, but you would still play it there to remove bigger threats once they come online. Downsides compared to other blue removal is that it doesn't help you deal with positive auras or +1/+1 counters, and they don't suffer tempo loss if the creature was equipped (they don't have to re-equip to something else). Anchors - Supports -
Ojutai's Breath Description - Instead of drawing a card like Grip of the Roil, you essentially draw and play another copy next turn. Other versions, particularly those attached to creatures, are generally better, however this one may get the slight nod in environments that are pushing spells matters themes. Anchors - Supports - Spells Matters
Retreat to Coralhelm Description - Being able to tap creatures down each turn is solid, but it will be inconsistent. Because lands will mostly hit play on your turn, you can't really use it defensively. Anchors - Supports -
Tinker Description - You have to warp your cube around an artifact matters theme to include it. There isn't any redundancy for this effect to find big artifact creatures, and there are few targets to begin with (most of our playable big monsters are Eldrazi). Which leaves the most likely plays being a toolbox approach with some utility artifacts. Could work with some thopter tokens or Clues. Anchors - Artifact Matters Supports -
Void Shatter Description - Only if you want to swap out another counterspell to provide incidental colorless matters support. Anchors - Supports - Colorless Matters
Whisk Away Description - It's a waste on a blocker, but can be an ok stalling tactic against attackers. Anchor to the Aether doesn't need attacking creatures but this can be used in response to opponents combat tricks and mess with the opponent mid-turn. Anchors - Supports -
Windfall Description - It can be a reward card for aggro decks that empty their hand fast, or that have plenty of bounce / temop plays to keep the opponents hand full, so you can restock your hand. Many cubes promote a low curve, so the likelihood of being consistent is low, but it might make sense for some cubes. Anchors - Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Arm with Aether - The applications are too narrow. You really want to return at least 2 creatures to make this worth it. In which case, you could just cast Undo without any setup, or if you are attacking with evasive creatures you expect to get through, you can have the permanent effect of Military Intelligence to fill the 'card I want to play when my guys are going to get through' effect.
Borrowing 100,000 Arrows - Theft of Dreams. Too inconsistent. You need it to be better on average than Divination, and that will be a hard ask. If the opponent has three creatures tapped, it probably means you don't have time to be casting card drawing spells.
Chill of Foreboding - It's a do nothing. Too inefficient and card disadvantage to consider it for self-milling.
Circular Logic - Too unreliable. It does nothing if you don't already have something in your graveyard, and even if you madness it early, it still doesn't count itself.
Convolute - The times when this is going to hit a target when Mana Leak wouldn't are much lower than the times when you have this in your hand looking at 2 open lands and wishing you had a Mana Leak.
Counsel of the Soratami - Amongst other card draw / filtering options at this cost, there just isn't a need to play it.
Deep Freeze - There are better options for removal.
Deluge - It's either a poor Fog, or a card you don't need if you have flyers as they are going over the top anyway. You could cast it end of turn, but that is a bit unreliable and there are better cards for that anyway.
Drag Under - It will probably play fine in a lot of games, but it is worse than Repulse.
Dream Cache - The instant speed of Thirst for Knowledge is more desirable. The putting cards back on top of your library has such niche uses that you wouldn't consider this.
Dream Fracture - It looks a bit Remand-ish but for most purposes something like Dissolve will just be better.
Etherium Astrolabe - It's effectively a gold card that without any support costs 4 mana to draw a card.
Eyes of the Watcher - It isn't efficient enough. You may as well just play a straight up card draw spell.
Fabricate - There might be cubes where this does something, but they will be off the beaten path for peasant cubes.
Fade Away - There are some best case scenarios which involve your opponent being tapped out and you having no creatures, but on average it is going to be subpar.
Faerie Trickery - Dissolve strictly better (unless you have some random Faerie synergies).
Flux - You end up card parity, but down 3 mana. It has synergy with most graveyard decks to dump stuff, but it doesn't seem to provide any angles other discard outlets don't, and this one lets your opponent improve their card quality as a consequence.
Freed From the Real - Playing it on your opponents creatures is bad rmoval. On your own creatures, most cubes won't have the density of tap for effect creatures you could take advantage of.
Frozen Solid - It doesn’t tap the creature, so it can't remove blockers, and the 'glass jaw' effect won't matter that much in comparison to other blue removal that will just take it out of the equation.
Keep Watch - The average case needs to be above 2 to make this worth it. If your opponent is attacking you with 3 creatures in the early game, do you have time to draw cards? You can cast it on your attack, but it seems a bit awkward.
Liquify - Somewhere down the bottom of the counterspell food chain.
Long-Term Plans - It's card disadvantage and you don’t solve your problem immediately.
Lookout's Dispersal - You won't get the discount, and as a 3 mana counter there are better options.
Lunar Force - Giving your opponent the choice of what gets countered is bad. It could support an aggro start, just to proactively slow them down, but there are better options.
Oona's Grace - You could mount an argument that you can keep recasting it for spells matters triggers, but the spells matters deck is more likely to just want better card draw in the first place.
Ophidian's Eye - The flash is not worth 2 mana over Curiosity.
Quiet Contemplation - It clearly points in the direction of a spells matters deck, but is too awkward to set up. Most times you will have to drop this and pass the turn, meaning it has no impact on the board the turn you play it. The effect attached to other spells / creatures is going to be better in the vast majority of cases.
Reality Acid - There is a corner case if you can bounce it back to your hand to keep recasting it and force them to sacrifice all their stuff, but that is too narrow to consider. It's bad otherwise.
Regress - Rushing River is more universal. Probably the only reason to include this in your cube is to punish greedy mana bases, and even then probably only if you play bouncelands.
Reminisce - Memory's Journey is going to do mostly the same thing for a mana cheaper while having flashback upside.
Rescind - Hard to recommend over Boomerang or other bounce options.
Resounding Wave - You are going to get more mileage out of Rushing River.
Rethink - Other soft counters will be more consistent.
Rhystic Deluge - Too inconsistent, there are better cards if you just want to tap down your opponents creatures.
Rhystic Study - Forcing your opponent to pay the extra seems fine, but you took a turn off, spent a card, and didn't develop your board, so you aren't really taking advantage of them slowing down. If they are the fast deck, they will probably just let you draw cards and streamroll you before you could cast them anyway. Or it's the late game and 1 mana won't mean anything to them anyway.
Theft of Dreams - Too inconsistent. You need it to be better on average than Divination, and that will be a hard ask. If the opponent has three creatures tapped, it probably means you don't have time to be casting card drawing spells.
Thieves' Fortune - There are a few playable Rogues (including mostly unblockable Looter il-Kor) but not enough to warrant including this for the times it will be an overcosted Impulse.
Think Tank - There are certain archetypes where the effect will be welcomed, but it's not efficient enough at this mana cost and the cost of a card.
Toils of Night and Day - It is more flexible than some other tap down options, but you get much better effectiveness out of something like Frost Breath.
Traveler's Cloak - I can't imagine wanting this more than Aqueous Form.
Waterknot - It isn't terrible, but there are enough better options to only consider it if depowering removal.
Web of Interia - If you play this on turn 3 against an aggro deck, you might be laughing. But if they've got more than a couple of cards in your graveyard by the time you drop this, it is probably useless. If they are empty, they can block and trade, putting something in their graveyard so they can swing back next turn. THe best case scenario seems very good (comlpete lock out) but that is going to happen such a small percentage of the time.
Wipde Away - Split second isn't worth the harder casting cost over Regress.
Wistful Thinking - You don't want to cast it on yourself, as you just end up down 3 cards, and there are no payoffs worth that much card disadvantage (or there are better enablers). It functions as a 'discard 2' if played against an opponent, but if they already have more than 2 cards, they get to filter and keep the best ones.
Write into Being - You get a Scathe Zombie… sure, there is potential upside of being able to flip it into something else, but wouldn't you have just rather drawn a better creature that cost 3 mana?
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Control Magic Description - Excellent card, taking their best creature and adding it to your board, so it's the best type of board affecting 2 for 1. It works anywhere, whether it is an aggro deck removing a blocker while adding an attacker for next turn, or a control deck just looking to remove a threat and gain a blocker so it can get to the late game, or even use the stolen creature as the finisher. Anchors - Supports -
Fact or Fiction Description - EOTFOFYL is still pretty applicable at peasant (End of Turn, Fact or Fiction, You Lose). The premier 'card draw' spell in blue. It's easy for the opponent to make 'mistakes' when separating the piles, creating a pile that perfectly complements what is already in your hand. Plus you get to select what goes into your graveyard, making it even better for decks that care about graveyard synergies. There are occasions where you whiff (e.g. 4 lands and a mediocre spell), but it's rare not to get more than your mana's worth. Anchors - Supports -
Talrand's Invocation Description - Great bodies for what you are paying, and by being a sorcery supports spells matters decks while putting bodies on the board. You would play it in the majority of blue decks. Anchors - Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Ray of Command Description - Solid combat trick on defense while being a reasonable aggro card. Stealing an attacking creature and blocking another is excellent, particularly if they trade. Sometimes you are only facing a single creature or the stats don't line up, but you'll usually find a trade. You can always use it offensively like any Threaten effect, but the instant speed really gives it room to breathe in a lot of decks. Anchors - Supports -
Tezzeret's Gambit Description - Most consider this a colorless card. Divination is usually not considered great, but the proliferate can help support some themes while giving card draw to colors that get little. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Abduction Description - It has an upside over Control Magic when you cast it, by untapping the creature and potentially giving you a blocker you didn't have access to. There is a downside of course; they get the creature back in the face of removal or if it dies in combat. Timing of removal might lead to occasional blowouts, but the tempo of a temporary 2 for 1 can still add up. Anchors - Supports -
Aetherize Description - It has the opportunity to stabilise the board, and particularly good against token swarms. Anchors - Supports -
Binding Grasp Description - It's 'worse' than Control Magic, but it isn't strictly worse, and still fine it its own right. You might play it if you want to go deep on this effect or you want to depower Control Magic. Anchors - Supports -
Careful Consideration Description - It sees four cards which is solid if you are trying to find something particular. You need to cast it during your main phase if you want to get card advantage, so it's best for cubes that care more about card selection or getting cards in the graveyard. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Concentrate Description - It's basic but effective enough 3 for 1 card draw. You might consider Jace's Ingenuity which has more lines of play due to instant speed (supporting flash / go types of control decks). Anchors - Supports -
Deep Analysis Description - The first hard cast isn't efficient, but this card has some flexibility. 6 mana and some life for 4 cards is decent, and you can always discard it or mill it and just get the mana efficient side. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Dismiss Description - The casting cost itself is not efficient, so if you have mana open you might be willing to counter anything. However it is a 2 for 1 which can make it playable in control decks to get ahead in the midgame. Anchors - Supports -
Domestication Description - It's fine as a Control Magic alternative; the targets are more limited, but it's still a 2 for 1. In a pinch, you can steal their Pelakka Wurm or whatever for a turn if you just need to get a blocker out of the way. Anchors - Supports -
Foresee Description - It digs deep. It's perfectly fine but interchangeable with a lot of other card filtering / draw. If your cube leans towards cute synergies or combos, its value goes up a little. Anchors - Supports -
Glimmer of Genius Description - Solid card draw. Combo of scry and draw 2 at instant speed means you are likely to get business spells (or lands if you building towards a big play). The energy is just bonus at that point. Anchors - Supports - Flash / Go
Krovikan Whispers
Description - It's a Control Magic variant with a scary looking drawback, but stealing a creature is such a strong base effect that it is often still going to be worth it. The drawback does make it slightly more oriented for aggro decks, where they intend to win before the cumulative upkeep matters, or don't care if they lose a few points of life if the creature dies in a trade while keeping up the pressure.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sleep Description - Can act as a finisher in aggressive or midrange decks. If the alpha strike doesn't get them, the followup often will. It's bad when you are behind, but at least it can act as a Fog in a pinch. Anchors - Supports -
Turnabout Description - The ultimate modal spell. It's most likely to do a poor impression of Sleep, but as this is instant you can ensure their entire team is tapped down if cast end of turn (they can't play extra blockers).It does have a few other uses; you can tap down their land during their upkeep, or untap your team after they attack. The rest are corner cases. Anchors - Supports -
Zephid's Embrace Description - If you want a blue power pumping aura, this is a solid option. The combination of abilities makes it hard to deal with; flying reduces the creatures your opponents can throw in its path, if the creature had any decent stats to begin with the stats boost further reduces the likelihood they can effectively block or attack into it, and the shroud means they can't use spot removal either. Similarly, if you are currently behind, the shroud means your blocker can sit back and wait without fear of being blown out by spot removal. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Chamber of Manipulation Description - It's a little bit of investment, but stealing creatures at instant speed is powerful. It doesn't untap them or give them haste, so it becomes a bit narrower, but it does still challenge a developed board; does your opponent attack with everything which might include some easy blocks for you, or leave something back that you could steal and block with? Can also be decent in a deck with sacrifice outlets. Anchors - Supports -
Choking Tethers Description - You may want to consider Turnabout or Sleep for a similar effect, which is likely to replicate the main mode in a lot of cases. This does have the advantage of having a secondary cycling mode when you are behind to stop a big creature from hitting you while looking for answers. Anchors - Supports -
Coastal Discovery Description - It has upside of being a potential threat later in the game, but the baseline is worse than a lot of other card draw. You probably only want to cube it if you have other synergies like manlands you can make bigger or other cards that care about lands. Anchors - Supports -
Coastal Piracy Description - Repeat card draw is great, as long as your creatures can get through, but you might be better served with a creature that has this ability, or with a straight up card draw spell; this needs to draw you 4 cards to be better than Concentrate. So only for grindy cubes where that is likely to happen at least occasionally. Anchors - Supports -
Cumber Stone Description - Fine for control decks that want to slow the opponent down, and can shut down some go wide / token decks. Dampening Pulse as an alternative or double up to support a soft lock deck. Anchors - Prison Supports -
Dampening Pulse Description - Fine for control decks that want to slow the opponent down, and can shut down some go wide / token decks. Cumber Stone as an alternative or double up to support a soft lock deck. Anchors - Prison Supports -
Dream Tides Description - The nongreen clause is likely what turns people away from playing it (I'd houserule it), but it functions similarly to Propaganda; it doesn't hit vigilance creatures, but it does hit tap abilities. It does hit your own creatures though which makes it considerably worse. You might include it if going deep on prison decks. Anchors - Prison Supports -
Ensnare Description - It taps your creatures, so the only time you really want to play this is on your opponents end step, just before your team untap. The 'free' cost means you can curve out and then tap down if you are ahead for an alpha swing, though Sleep is often going to be a better card. It can still shut down an attack phase after the opponent plays something beneficial pre-combat, and on the odd occasion you might be able to use the bounced lands as another resource or get extra landfall triggers. Still pretty conditional compared to other options. Anchors - Supports -
Fortune's Favor Description - It's an interesting mini-game, but is obviously weaker than its inspiration, Fact or Fiction. Inclusion is probably because you like the decision trees it represents, as opposed to pure power level. Anchors - Supports -
Illusionist's Stratagem Description - You need to get value out of the flickering to be really ahead, and the 4 mana can be hard to find. It's hard to be really behind if you cast it in response to removal or combat tricks. In a pinch you can use it to save blockers who are chumping without being down a card, albeit at a tempo hit. It's super grindy, but you can get cute with Mnemonic Wall, Eternal Witness etc. Anchors - Blink Supports -
Levitation Description - There are going to be some scenarios where this is great (drop it, alpha strike over the top), but it's fairly situational on the board state. Wonder isn't the same (you can't immediately alpha strike), but that card is better if you are behind as it at least gives you a blocker first if that is what you need. Anchors - Supports -
Mystical Teachings Description - It supports a pretty narrow band of decks, but you'd play it in a flash / go deck, or just a Dimir control deck looking to find its instant speed removal and grind the 2 for 1 later in the game. Anchors - Supports - Flash / Go
Pull From The Deep Description - It's a narrow support card for the spells matters deck. It's conditional on having the right targets in the graveyard, but at least you are getting 2 business spells for your mana. Anchors - Spells Matters Supports -
Rewind Description - On paper Rewind looks great; counter a spell without it costing you anything. But you do have to keep 4 mana open, and then for the 'free' aspect to matter, you have to be able to spend that 4 mana on something else. It's a fine card for flash / go decks to counter something and then cast an instant speed threat, but it can be awkward in decks not designed to take advantage of the free mana. Anchors - Supports -
Tricks of the Trade Description - It suffers from the usual 2 for 1 risks from auras, but the upside of putting your opponent on a decent clock may be worth it. Blue is not usually the colour for 'pants' decks, but this can be a way to bleed that deck into blue, but it can also be good on saboteurs, with blue being a primary colour for that archetype. If you are playing all the top-tier instant speed removal, then this is probably not worth cubing. Anchors - Supports - Saboteurs
Wash Out Description - It might be subpar depending on the matchup, but against a deck heavily leaning on one creature it has high upside. Can also be a sweeper against token strategies if you want to support that type of interaction or have an answer to them. Anchors - Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Churning Eddy - Paying 3 extra mana over any 1 mana version just to get a land is not worth it.
Common Courtesy - 4 mana is not a good price, but unlike most counterspells this is a way to spend your mana and guarantee to get a spell you want. It doesn't make it good enough to play though.
Flight of Fancy - It's a card draw spell that can be countered by removal. Nah.
Foil - You end up 3 for 1'ing yourself. Force of Will is what you want.
Fold into Aether - So, it's 2 more mana than Counterspell, and gives your opponent an upside? The niche of countering your own spell and putting something worthwhile from your own hand onto the battlefield is deep into Magical Christmas Land.
Frozen Aether - This mostly matters if you are aggressive. If you aren't, their stuff being tapped, particularly creatures so they can't block, doesn't matter too much. And if you are aggressive, you are usually only happy if this comes down exactly on curve, it is pretty bad late in the game.
Fuel for the Cause - The baseline is bad enough that even if you want to promote proliferate type effects, this is not good enough.
Grasp of Phantoms - It does end up being a 2 for 1, but 8 mana is a lot for the second casting, and not worth being more inefficient than better baseline versions.
Griptide - If you are paying this much, it is rare you aren't bouncing the creature outside of combat, so Whisk Away is going to be better.
Hieroglyphic Illumination - Glimmer of Genius has a better effect. The cycling here is worth something, and it is an ok card, but not enough to warrant cubing.
Hindering Touch - At this cost you could just play a better counterspell.
Idle Thoughts - I like the effect, but not the do-nothing 4 mana investment.
Juxtapose - Just play Control Magic or a variant instead.
Last Thoughts - Other options are more consistent; Concentrate just draws you card, and Coastal Piracy can have a similar effect with evasive creatures while being more resilient.
Lay Bare - Too low impact compared to other counterspells.
Learn From the Past - For the most part, this is a 4 mana do nothing. Yes, it doesn't cost a card and you are likely to get some improved card quality, but it will matter a lot less than you might think, especially if you have to take a turn off to cast it.
Leave in the Dust - It can hit all permanents, but Repulse is better.
Legerdemain - Just play Control Magic or a variant instead.
Mystic Meditation - More decks will have creatures to discard, but Thirst for Knowledge is a better filter spell that digs this deep, especially given it's instant speed, or you could play Concentrate.
Ransack - It's card disadvantage. There might be times when you can make them draw 3 lands in a row or similar so the card quality is equivalent to them being down 1 or more cards too, but without consistency it isn't worth it.
Repel - If you are paying this much, it is rare you aren't bouncing the creature outside of combat, so Whisk Away is going to be better.
Scatter Arc - It's certainly worse than Exclude, which is cheaper and will have more targets. Some noncreature spells can be quite powerful, but holding up 4 mana just in case doesn't seem worth it.
Scattering Stroke - It's a 4 mana counterspell with no guaranteed upside.
Sight Beyond Sight - Too low impact; just get your cards straight away with Glimmer of Genius.
Skywise Teachings - There is too much set up. It costs you 6 mana before you get your first djinn, and only if you have the spell to cast… and 2 mana left over when you cast it.
Temporal Eddy - At this mana cost, the target is usually going to be a creature, so you are better off with the cheaper versions like Anchor to the Aether.
Thwart - 4 mana is a lot. Free is nice, but three islands is also a lot. A cheaper soft counter is probably going to be better in a vast majority of scenarios.
Treasure Trove - I like repeat card draw, but you by the time you've paid 16 mana, you could have just cast Jace's Ingenuity, or played Honden of Seeing Winds.
Trial of Knowledge - Glimmer of Genius (and probably some other filtering cards) is better in the majority of situations that you wouldn't want to cube these, even if you care about Trials / Cartouches.
Unity of Purpose - It's too conditional for a 4 mana spell. If you don't have 2 creatures to put counters on, you are very sad.
Way of the Thief - You would play Tricks of the Trade before this.
Weave Fate - Glimmer of Genius is strictly better.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Force of Will Description - You two for one yourself most of the time, but it doesn't cost you any mana so it can be a tempo hit for your opponent. A U/x aggro deck is probably happy to play it so it can develop the board while disrupting the opponent… as long as it has a blue card to exile. It's less important at peasant than in rare cubes that are chock full of broken cards, but answering a critical threat for free is still good. Anchors - Supports -
Gush Description - It's the alternate mode that really makes this card (though you can hard cast it). If you are stuck on 4 lands, you can tap them, return 2 Islands to your hand, then replay one so you cast your 5-drop. Mid to late game, you get to mitigate one of the drawbacks of most draw spells; the tempo loss. In the late game, you can often just cast Gush and then cast 1 or 2 other spells. It also opens up some other lines of play with effects requiring a discard; a Psychatog with a single card in hand might not be too threatening, but if that card is Gush, it can be worth 6 damage. Also consider higher if you care about landfall. Anchors - Supports -
Mind Control / Persuasion Description - Control Magic is strictly better, but at 5 mana the ability is still very strong. It can either be a second Control Magic, and some cube owners have been known to 'depower' Control Magic and play this instead. Anchors - Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Jace's Ingenuity Description - Elegant and efficient. It isn't overly powerful, but is simple and effective enough that it forms a baseline to compare other card draw against. Anchors - Supports -
Psychic Spiral Description - It can be a control finisher, as long as you provide it with enough support. If your control decks are full of 1 for 1 trades, or a lot of incidental self-mill or card filtering, then this can be a win condition. Note that it is inherent card disadvantage, and the improvement to card quality will take several turns to equal a card, so don't cube it unless you have decks that can win with it. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Tidings Description - Drawing 4 cards is a decent amount; this might be a choice if you want your control decks to take risks and tap out instead of hold counter magic and cast instant speed card draw. If you are in stable position, those extra cards are going to add up. Sits in a similar power level to Jace's Ingenuity and Opportunity, but you'd cube those if you want decks that lean more towards 'draw / go'. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Honden of Seeing Winds Description - It is one of few cards that, on its own, can draw you a card every turn without any further investment. You could just play Jace's Ingenuity for the same cost for instant cards, but if you've stabilised and heading for the long game you are likely to overwhelm the opponent with card advantage. It can be played on its own, but you are probably only cubing it as part of a Shrines package. Anchors - Shrines Supports -
Pore Over the Pages Description - Interesting design, in that the untap clause potentially lets you cast something you draw (particularly if you are on more than 5 lands), mitigating some of the drawback of sorcery speed card draw (doing nothing to affect the board that turn), although it nets you less cards than something like Jace's Ingenuity. The discard provides some incidental graveyard matters support, and it will feel more at home in cubes with bouncelands or Wild Growth variants. Anchors - Supports -
Quicksilver Geyser Description - Undo seems a lot better, but this does do instant speed and can hit artifacts and enchantments if it needs to. Anchors - Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Biting Tether - I suppose it is a somewhat interesting take on Control Magic, but not something you would ever want to cube unless you are depowering the effect.
Corrupted Conscience - You would probably play it, but you probably shouldn’t cube it. It leans more defensively than most Control Magic variants.
Dispersing Orb - 9 mana investment before it does anything AND requires you to sacrifice your board for a short term gain.
Double Take - I wonder if this might actually be good for a reanimator deck cast game 1, given you will be discarding on your first turn, but it is pretty bad.
Drake Umbra - There will be scenarios where this is better than Zephid's Embrace, but not enough to warrant inclusion.
Essence Fracture - I suppose you could cube it if you think Undo is too cheap, but not a card you should generally cube.
Fervent Denial - A counterspell that needs 5 mana before you can cast its first mode is not something you want to play.
Fool's Demise - So one option is you can cast it on one of your creatures, and keep getting it back when it trades / dies, recast and repeat, which might be relevant for sacrifice decks. Or, cast it on an opponents creature so you can gain control of it, repeat. But either way, you really have to have ways to force the creatures to die, otherwise you've invested all this effort in an engine that isn't running.
Rite of Undoing - Outside of some pretty specific interactions, this is not a card you would ever play.
Rush of Knowledge - Too inconsistent compared to the always on options. It has a reasonable ceiling, but does nothing on an empty board. If you have a Pelakka Wurm out, do you really need to draw 7 cards?
Shrewd Negotiation - You need an artifact which isn't going to happen often enough (though I would note it might work in an environment where people have access to some number of artifact lands as basics.)
Switcheroo - You might not always have the right targets, and sometimes the upgrade will be marginal.
Temporal Fissure - It's sorcery, so taking advantage of the Storm is going to be inconsistent. You could support it with rebound / suspend spells, or any of the myriad of 'free' spells (Mutagenic Growth, Burning-Tree Emissary, Peregrine Drake etc). But it seems like a lot of planning of effort to go to, when you could just have a less convoluted game plan and play Quicksilver Geyser.
Vapor Snare - It's a 'depowered' Control Magic. The only reason to give it consideration is if you have sufficient landfall triggers or similar.
Void Squall - It looks like a tempo finisher, but there are cheaper cards with the 'tap creature, it doesn't untap' effect that is going to have similar results on the game.
Weight of Memory - The marginal upside isn't worth an otherwise bad card.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Treasure Cruise Description - One of blue's better card spells, simply because you can often wait until it is going to be really cheap before refilling your hand. The number of looting and self-mill cards in your cube can play a part in how often it is excellent, but even without them general attrition can still make it cheap. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Confiscate Description - It's a catch all, though creatures will be the most prominent target. Even at 6 mana, removing your opponents best thing and adding it to your board is still reasonable. Give it more consideration over Control Magic / Mind Control if you play the powerful nonbasic lands or artifacts. Anchors - Supports -
Mirror Match Description - It is fairly unique in its effect, and can really turnaround a combat. For creatures with toughness greater than power, you can always multi-block with your other creatures. You also get any ETB effects. It won't always be amazing (sometimes it will be Fog) but it can lead to stellar blowouts. Anchors - Supports -
Opportunity Description - Drawing 4 cards on your opponents end step is probably going to make them groan. If you only want one instant draw 3+ spell, Jace's Ingenuity is a similar consideration; this gives you an additional card, but will suck if you are on 5 lands for multiple turns. Anchors - Supports -
Rise from the Tides Description - It's conditional and high variance, but if it puts half a dozen zombies on the battlefield you are probably going to be pretty happy (as long you don't die before you untap). You just need enough spells to make spell-heavy control decks viable, but you can maximise its value in your cube by including self-mill and card filtering to morph it into a graveyard matters strategy as well. Anchors - Spells Matters Supports - Graveyard Matters
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Amnesia Description - It's fairly unique in blue. There are more efficient ways in other colours to control your opponents hand, but this can give blue control a way to be more proactive in attacking the opponent. You may want to have artifact ramp in your cube so that it isn't a blank too often.
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Advice from the Fae - It isn't going to be efficient enough or consistent enough.
Five-Finger Discount - Confiscate gives it to you without having to re-cast it. I can't imagine it is worth cubing this instead for the times when getting a cast / ETB trigger is worthwhile.
Roiling Waters - It's a couple of powerful effects, but at 7 mana there aren't many decks that are going to be able to maximise on it.
Scour the Laboratory - I'd rather have the always 'discounted' Concentrate or just pay 5 mana for the instant speed Jace's Ingenuity.
Sea God's Revenge - Bouncing 3 creatures is powerful, but the way you win when you cast this is to attack into their empty board. In which case, Sleep or similar effects are better options.
Set Adrift - Not going to be cheap enough consistently enough; it's the sort of effect that you really want to cast as early as possible for it to be effective.
Shifting Loyalties - There doesn't seem to be a use-case for this when for the same cost or cheaper you can just outright steal stuff (Control Magic, Confiscate).
Take Possession - You wouldn't ever cube this over Confiscate. Preventing sacrificing or responses are too corner case to warrant paying an additional mana.
Thassa's Bounty - There are better card draw spells. It does have some other upside if you are playing a graveyard based deck, but not enough to warrant cubing a bad card draw spell.
Volition Reins - There will be times when the untap matters, but the easier casting cost on Confiscate is more important.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Arbor Elf Description - Excellent card for helping accelerate your plays. Only the most marginal downside over mana-generating contemporaries (can't create mana if your green source is not from a Forest, rare occasions where your untap on the stack is responded to in a meaningful way), but has other upsides if your card pool includes Wild Growth, Utopia Sprawl, Dawn's Reflection etc. Arbor Elf on turn 1 followed by either Wild Growth or Utopia Sprawl can lead into 4-drops being possible on turn 2. Other synergies are marginal, but can interact with Genju of the Cedars and other land animation effects, or the likes of Squirrel Nest. Anchors - Supports - Midrange, Ramp
Experiment One Description - Excellent turn 1 play for an aggro/midrange deck that can follow up with almost anything to start making it bigger. Doesn't require much in the way of support to make it good. Anchors - Supports - Aggro, Midrange
Joraga Treespeaker Description - Among the top green mana accelerators; there isn't much better than a turn 1 Treespeaker, turn 2 level up into some more acceleration. Has some marginal upside with a full level up with some token themes. Anchors -
Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Elvish Mystic / Fyndhorn Elves / Llanowar Elves Description - This is a solid staple for greens mana acceleration plan, whether into midrange, into a 2nd turn Cultivate for ramp decks, or helping control deck set up. In an aggro deck, it can even beat down for 1 and provide support later. It's not uncommon for cubes to include more than 1 of these if the cube owner doesn't care about functional reprints. Anchors - Supports -
Kessig Prowler Description - Not everyone supports green aggro, but if you do this is probably the premier 1-drop in the colour. If you get to transform it, it may be difficult for some opponents to deal with effectively. Anchors - Supports - Aggro
Wild Nacatl Description - It almost forces you into red or white, but as a 2/2 for 1 mana, this is good value. If you get it to 3/3, that's just gravy. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Gnarlwood Dryad Description - A 1/1 deathtoucher is fine, though it may compete with Wasteland Viper; some cubes might want both. Your opponent might let a 1/1 wander past their troops, but once it becomes a 3/3 it becomes a bit harder to ignore. Anchors - Supports -
Jungle Lion Description - Has a place in aggro decks that just want to be swinging. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
Narnam Renegade Description - Solid deathtoucher as a baseline, but with decent upside if you can turn on revolt. Anchors - Supports -
Scythe Leopard Description - It only fits green aggro decks, but this can be a card to help push that particular deck. It needs the support of similar aggro cards to be worthwhile. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
Twinblade Slasher Description - While mildly mana intensive to activate, the wither can help get around some low power/high toughness blockers that might be floating around in your cube. Anchors - Supports - Aggro
Wasteland Viper Description - Seems decent for green aggro. It either pings through for damage, or can trade with anything. Can also use bloodrush to take out larger threats and survive fights, or in a pinch deal that extra damage to the opponent. Anchors - Supports - Aggro
Young Wolf Description - It doesn't need any support and is not a threat before dying, but is likely to keep pinging through for damage because your opponent doesn't want to block it. Can be ok as a chump blocker that upgrades or useful as a sacrificial lamb. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Avacyn's Pilgrim Description - As a general ability, the acceleration ability is solid regardless of colour produced. However most cube owners are likely to consider this a Selesnya card (which is what it will signal), and it isn't exciting for those limited slots however. Anchors - Supports -
Basking Rootwalla Description - This is marginal as an aggro 1-drop due to the threat of activation, though if you do activate it, it slows down your development. Madness is fine if you want to maximise a looter etc, but this is unlikely to influence your decision to include it in your cube. Almost strictly worse than Twinblade Slasher as the madness is rarely going to be relevant. Anchors - Supports -
Blisterpod - 1 Description - Not a particularly thrilling card, but if you are trading with 2/1's or 3/1's you end up on top. If you are facing off against an aggressive deck, trading / chumping and then using the once off acceleration can be a decent play to get out bigger threats. Minor support for token theme or sacrifice decks. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Boreal Druid Description - It accelerates, even if it is colorless. This still has value in cubes, but there are a lot of options that produce coloured mana. This could make the cut if you are supporting some form of snow in your cube. Anchors - Supports -
Elves of Deep Shadow Description - Another mana accelerator. As with other non-green mana critters, this signals a specific direction even though it is decent in non-black decks. Damage knocks its stock down slightly, but most of the time you will be happy to take the hit and accelerate. Anchors - Supports -
Elvish Herder Description - It's in the color of decent-sized creature, but requires the right conditions to be decent. Can support ramp creatures that don't have trample, or help step over chump token blockers. Anchors - Supports - Ramp
Elvish Pioneer Description - Has some upside over mana accelerators; they can be more easily removed than a land being put on the table. On the downside, Elvish Pioneer is a terrible top deck. This inconsistency limits its appeal. Anchors - Supports -
Essence Warden Description - Life gain isn't going to be relevant most of the time. You'll get more out of it if you support tokens (and may keep you in the come against aggro decks whgile you build a critical mass of them) but not too exciting. Has little value in the late game. Anchors - Supports -
Ghazban Ogre Description - It's hard to ensure you can manage the drawback, but with strong aggro support in green this might find a place. Anchors - Supports - Aggro
Gladecover Scout Description - Requires the support of the Voltron deck (equips and auras), but can be solid as a first turn play in that deck to follow up. Without that, he is a vanilla 1/1 most of the time and not worth a place in your cube. Anchors - Voltron Supports-
Granger Guildmage Description - Off-colour activation is not great, but a pinger often has impact on the board. Anchors - Supports -
Groundskeeper Description - Gets a mention for being the only repeatable effect like this. Has specific synergies with Constant Mists, Genjus, looters, retrace cards, and Forbid. While those synergies exist, adding 1G to those effects will create a slow engine. Perhaps the biggest knock is that there is no redundancy, meaning your inclusion should support other themes, not push its own archetype. Anchors - Supports -
Ivy Elemental Description - It's always going to be smaller than whatever you could cast for the same mana cost. It's flexible, but you are probably going to feel slightly underwhelmed in most cases when you cast it. Probably the only reason to give it real consideration is if you are pushing +1/+1 counters themes pretty hard. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Nettle Sentinel Description - Can work in heavy-green aggro deck, as a turn 1 play should be able to attack without much of a drawback. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
Pouncing Jaguar Description - Needs the support of other aggro cards, but is unexciting. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
Quirion Ranger Description - Has utility, but most cubes don't have a lot of creatures that tap for effect that you would want to use this for. Can still set up blocks after you've attacked, get out from some opponents tap effects. It can also re-use mana accelerators, replay Forets for landfall triggers, and if you don't have a land drop for the turn, pseudo-acceleration. While those synergies exist, they aren't high impact most of the time. Anchors - Supports -
Rogue Elephant Description - Only fits into aggro, and the loss of a land is a decent hit to your development. Played alongside something else around turn 3 is probably the sweet spot to maintain early pressure. Anchors - Supports -
Scattershot Archer Description - It's application is pretty limited, but may differ depending in your cube. Most likely targets are spirit and bird tokens, with a few other x/1's in blue. You might be able to use this in conjunction with a blocker to take something out, but generally this is pretty narrow. Has downside of hitting your creatures too should you have any. Anchors - Supports -
Scythe Tiger Description - Similar to Rogue Elephant, this can suit an aggro deck. It loses out on a point of toughness, allowing 2/x's to trade with it, but the shroud can prevent you from getting effectively 2 for 1'd. Anchors - Supports -
Servant of the Scale Description - If you are going to play a 1/1, being able to transfer a single +1/+1 counter upon death is ok, but not exciting. It's value goes up if you support a +1/+1 theme where there is sufficient opportunity for it to get more counters. Has synergy with Cenn's Tactician. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Skarrgan Pit-Skulk Description - It's not a 1 drop you want to play on turn 1, but can support a Sligh style deck full of 1 and 2 drops. Anchors - Supports - Aggro
Skyshroud Archer Description - Scattershot Archer is probably better, because it gives you extra toughness and hits everything at once. Minor upside is that this sometimes you might be able to make larger creatures small enough to survive a block. But it has limited targets and only useful in very specific board states. Anchors - Supports -
Spore Frog Description - It's a fog effect, which is something. Given that you have to have it on the board, it doesn't provide the surprise of most Fog effects. Being a creature opens it up to potential recursion, but it's a bit of work. Anchors - Supports -
Sunblade Elf Description - Decent card for Selesnya, if not terribly exciting. Secondary ability does have some synergy with token strategies, which often happen to be in those colours. However you need to be looking for a 1 mana 2/2 for those colours or have the pump ability be very relevant to consider it over other options. Anchors - Supports -
Taunting Elf Description - Narrow applications. Can be used as a 'finisher', but beware removal. You can swing in with everything, this dies to removal and then your opponent can eat your attackers. Most decks will want better forms of evasion than this. Anchors - Supports -
Thornscape Apprentice Description - The tap down effect is good, but forcing it into two colours makes it less likely to find its way into both decks and cubes. The first strike is not particularly appealing; it's upside to what is essentially a Selesnya card. Anchors - Supports -
Tinder Wall - 1
Description - This can be used to stall early in a game if required, with some minor upside of being able to kill something it blocks. The bigger upside is usually to accelerate into something else. Can be used as a Gruul monster ramp card, but it's perfectly fine in a non-red ramp deck. It can also be used aggressively, either as turn 1 play into 2 red 1-drops, or into a turn 2 Lava Hounds/Blastoderm etc. Like Dark Ritual, it might not be worth the card disadvantage, but it does have more flexibility than pure acceleration. Anchors - Supports -
Veteran Explorer Description - It can be good where the symmetry works more in your favour, which is mostly against aggro decks, so you can ramp into bigger spells. It might make it a sideboard card some of the time, but can at least absorb an attack while accelerating you. Anchors - Supports -
Wild Dogs Description - Can still switch sides once it is on the board, but downside mostly mitigated by being able to cycle. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Centaur's Herald - You paint yourself into a corner to maximise this card. Essentially becomes 4 mana to cancel a ground attack and put a 3/3 into play, but you have to have the mana available at the right time.
Copperhorn Scout - Not enough tap abilities that would matter, and the pseudo-vigilance is unlikely to matter much and is very fragile.
Crossroads Consecrator - Too narrow. It's not the same color, but Infantry Veteran is a better option.
Deepwood Wolverine - It might force through for 1 for a number of turns, but that isn't great, and the opponent can trade whenever they feel like it.
Diligent Farmhand - Just play Sakura-Tribe Elder. This technically has upside because it can be played a turn earlier to attack or block, but it's not likely to matter.
Diregraf Escort - Only if your green section is getting pummelled by black decks. Which probably means change something else.
Elvish Skysweeper - Probably just to use that mana to put a creature with reach into play.
Ezuri's Archers - Only effective at 1 thing, and is still going to die to most flyers anyway.
Folk of An-Havva - A 1-drop that can take out x/3's doesn't sound too bad. But it's a 1 trick pony that only serves that specific purpose, and is terrible otherwise.
Hana Kami - Hana Kami's value is directly proportional to what other arcane spells you include and how many; generally this will be not enough to care about. ]Death Denied is a nice engine card. Kodama's Reach is a staple, though not exciting to get back. After that, most arcane cards are worse versions than anything else available, and is not enough to support this card.
Harvest Mage - Down a mana and a card for your mana fixing. Nope.
Heritage Druid - Even in an Elf token deck, you just want better mana fixers.
Martyr of Spores - Sure, it's on a creature, but you'd rather have an actual pump spell that is reliable and doesn't force you to reveal your hand to the opponent.
Mossdog - If they are going to target it, they are most likely killing it anyway.
Mtenda Lion - If each player only plays 2 colours, you have a 40% chance they are playing blue. Could be a good sideboard card if you are playing green aggro. Which means it doesn't belong in your cube.
Nimble Mongoose - Most of the time this is going to be a 1/1. Shroud doesn't make it good. The times when it will be a 3/3 for g are unlikely to outweigh the times when it will be bad.
Simic Initiate - Costing g plus a card to put a +1/+1 counter on another creature is bad.
Skyshroud Elite - This is not going to be consistent most of the time unless you have more than average nonbasics, and your drafters aggressively draft them.
Skyshroud Ranger - Sakura-Tribe Scount strictly better (no sorcery speed).
Skyshroud Ridgeback - Most likely it will be blocked or trade with something, or be unplayable in the mid to late game.
Spike Drone - 3 mana and a card to put a +1/+1 on something else, and this card is likely to have much utility before then.
Spike Tracer - Not a significant enough form of evasion.
Squirrel Dealer - It's fine if you get 2… I guess you could either house rule it, but then that doesn't seem fair, and if you get 1 it is bad.
Traproot Kami - It could be annoying late game, but early game it is going to have a hard time defending against most stuff. Maybe if mono-coloured decks are a thing in your cube.
Viridian Acolyte - The fact that it doesn't accelerate hurts too much.
Virulent Sliver - Even if you support sliver tribal, you don't want them to be normal creatures sometimes, and all poisonous other times. Either a dead card in your hand, or you get your opponent to 9 poison counters, dies to removal, and then you have to deal 20.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Duskwatch Recruiter Description - Excellent frontside, let alone transformed. It's a fine 2-drop at any point in the game, allowing you to dig into your deck for gas. Playing it on turn 2, you can play its ability and just pass the turn to get it to flip, then next turn you might be able to cast multiple creatures. Sure, he will flip back, but sometimes you will actually WANT the frontside. Can be a must-kill creature; if you stabilise with this on the board, you can play attrition while generating card advantage. Anchors - Supports -
Sakura-Tribe Elder Description - Excellent accelerator and fixer while also able to be a 'free' speed bump, stemming damage in the early game against aggro, or even a large late game threat. Possibly the only time you wouldn't play it is in a blistering fast green/x aggro deck that doesn't want to take time off from swinging. Anchors - Supports -
Wall of Roots Description - Can stall early aggro for a couple of turns while still getting value from the acceleration. Can help squeeze out extra value by providing mana in your opponents turn if you have combat tricks, flash creatures, or instant speed activated abilities. Top tier accelerator Anchors - Supports - Flash / Go, Ramp
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Devoted Druid Description - It lets you untap on turn 3 into 5 mana if you hit your land drop, which can lead to an explosive start. You wouldn't rely on it, but you might eke out 3 or more mana in a single turn if you can boost it's toughness. Anchors - Supports - Ramp
Jade Mage Description - It might not make the cut is super-fast aggro decks, but even there it gives you something to do with spare mana. Left alone a while it can build a solid board state that is useful to most types of decks. Can be a contributor to a sacrifice deck, or a more controlling version of a token deck. Anchors - Supports - Tokens, Sacrifice
Leafcrown Dryad Description - Its flexibility makes it solid. 2/2 with reach isn't setting the world on fire, but is still ok in a range of decks. The bestow is where it shines, giving you the option of setting up a strong defensive creature, or just keeping up pressure by casting and then swinging. Supplementary support for enchantment matters theme if you include them in your cube. To n00b1n8tR, it is a crime not to consider the art in your evaluation. Anchors - Supports - Voltron, Enchantment Matters
Mire Boa Description - The swampwalk may turn some cubers away as it punishes black, but a 2/1 that regenerates for a single mana is solid in aggro decks to survive combat where it would usually trade, or to sit back in a more controlling deck and ward off attacks. Anchors - Supports - Aggro
Nest Invader Description - A bear+ that provides some synergies for a few different types of decks. The additional mana on the following turn can help cement a board prescence for aggro / midrange decks. It fits into sacrifice decks, and works particularly well with the morbid ability. It doesn't set the world on fire for token decks, but helps you go wide if you have power boosters. At worst in a control deck, you get a couple of blockers against early aggro decks to survive until you can make your late plays. Anchors - Supports -
River Boa Description - The islandwalk may turn some cubers away as it punishes blue, but a 2/1 that regenerates for a single mana is solid in aggro decks to survive combat where it would usually trade, or to sit back in a more controlling deck and ward off attacks. Anchors - Supports - Aggro
Strangleroot Geist Description - Good enough upside to consider double green on a 2-drop. Swings for 2 on turn 2 with a good degree of resiliency. Even on the defensive, starting at 2 power and upgrading to 3 means you will usually have the opportunity for a couple of trades. Also has some value in getting a couple of uses from sacrifice decks. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Wall of Blossoms Description - Solid for ramp or control decks, providing an early blocker without the cost of a card. It's not a juicy target for bounce decks, but can get some card draw going for that deck if it needs it. Anchors - Supports - Ramp, Bounce
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Ainok Survivalist
Description - It will depend on your stance on morph, but is a reasonable piece of enchantment / artifact removal. It costs 5 mana if you need that removal right now, but the morph options mean you can break down those costs depending on the game state. Sometimes you might just need a 2-drop to sequence your plays and hit your curve. Anchors - Supports -
Albino Troll
Description - The echo can make it harder to sequence, but you can always drop it turn 2 to stem some early aggro until you can hit your regen mana. In an aggro deck you aren't going to want to pay for your 2 drop twice, but the 'split' cost of echo can can help you drop 2 creatures later as you curve out. Anchors - Supports -
Ambush Viper Description - It's most common use would be as a 'removal' spell for non-flying attackers. In that light, it is a pretty narrow removal spell, but this is green. It is also a creature you can flash in at the end of your opponents turn and beat down with if you need it to. Ultimately it is not bad, just not exciting. Maybe if you are looking for options for a Simic flash / go deck. Anchors - Supports - Flash / Go
Beastbreaker of Bala Ged Description - It can potentilly swing into just about anything on turn 3 for 4, but you have to give up other third turn board development to do so. In topdeck mode, dropping this for 5 mana for a 4/4 is not efficient but not terrible. The upside of the final level is not enough to consider spending the extra 9 mana unless you have nothing else to do. Anchors - Supports - Aggro / Midrange
Borderland Explorer Description - It's a 3 power 2-drop for aggressive decks, and if it is in your opener you can keep land light hands that might otherwise be sketchy. It does let your opponent search too which seems like a drawback, but for some this can actually be a feature, and lead to less non-games. Being able to discard a card of choice provides some marginal synergy with graveyard themes. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters, Reanimator
Boreal Centaur Description - The score is on the assumption you let your players have snow basics, in which case it can be ok as an aggro creature. It can make combat decisions more difficult for your opponent in the early game, and having the mana spare isn't likely to be a problem later. Anchors - Supports -
Broodhatch Nantuko Description - If your opponent is the beatdown, this can be an ok early staller, chumping to get some number of token replacements. Difficult to abuse, and requires your opponent to be willing to attack you, but if you support enough morph creatures for this to be a surprise it might be decent. Get's a little better if you can throw Rancor or power boosting equipment on it so your opponent has to take notice, but I'd be dubious that the tokens are worth putting other auras on it and getting 2 for 1'd. Can also get some mileage in token decks. Anchors - Supports - Tokens
Darkthicket Wolf Description - It's a bear that can threaten to be worth two bears. Best in aggro decks, where you can drop it on turn 2, and swing on turn 3 with 3 mana open into almost anything. If the opponent blocks, you can pump and secure board advantage. If they don't, which is more likely, you get to connect for a couple of damage and keep developing your board.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro
Deadly Recluse Description - Similar to Thornweald Archer, though this is more defensive. They are likely to trade in combat in similar situations, but the spider can survive spirit tokens and is a little more resistant to divisible burn or pinging effects if that is more important to you than being able to attack for 2. Anchors - Supports -
Drover of the Mighty Description - If you ignore the dinosaur stuff, it's a decent fixer / ramp dude. Llanowar Elves and friends are better at pure ramp, but fixing any colour is sometimes worth paying the extra for. Who knows, sometimes you might get it alongside a Charging Monstrosaur or something. Anchors - Supports - Ramp
Flinthoof Boar Description - This can come down as 3/3 on turn 2 which is excellent, with the possibility of being a hasty 3/3 for 3 later. Solid all around for Gruul decks. Anchors - Aggro / midrange Supports -
Gatstaf Shepherd Description - It might not be consistent, but it does help green aggro. Anchors - Supports -
Gemhide Sliver Description - 2-drops that generate mana are generally poor, but making any colour makes this ok even when it is alone. However, it may make your drafters believe there is a sliver theme to draft. Manaweft Sliver only affects your own, but is unlikely to matter unless you actually push Slivers as a tribe. Anchors - Supports - Sliver Tribal
Heir of the Wilds Description - A bear with deathtouch is reasonable. It compares with Thornweald Archer or Ambush Viper, but this is the slightly more resilient and aggressive version, allowing it survive chump blocks by 1/1's, ans sometimes getting in for 3 damage. Anchors - Supports -
Hermit Druid Description - Can be an enabler for graveyard based decks. Decks that have recursive elements often require a bit of mana, so the land searching aspect is good for those decks while also dumping things in the yard. Picked early, you might prioritise more nonbasics to maximise the graveyard dump. It might not be the first choice, but in non-graveyard decks like ramp or control it can still find extra lands to be played. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters, Ramp
Kujar Seedsculptor Description - The base of a 2/3 for 2 is alreay decent stats (ignoring corner cases of Shock or whatever dealing with it while the trigger is on the stack). Leaving behind a 1/2 is not great, but putting that counter somewhere else can sometimes be a better bet, whether so you can attack with that point of power immediately, put it on something evasive, or something like Spikeshot Goblin. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Lambholt Pacifist Description - The promise of a 2 mana 4/4 is enticing. From a cube design standpoint, it is probably best employed as a green defender in control / ramp to stave off early aggro, with some late game upside. It's likely to be less inconsistent if you try and jam it into aggro or midrange. Being able to flip makes it a bit better there, but don't count on it being the default mode. Anchors - Supports -
Longtusk Cub Description - A fine 2-drop. It might be hard to get through later in the game, but if it goes unopposed early in the game, it can end up being difficult to deal with. In the early game, it can even prevent attacks from coming your way, as your opponent may not want to let it through. Best in aggro / tempo decks that can clear a path. Anchors - Supports - Energy
Manaweft Sliver Description - 2-drops that generate mana are generally poor, but making any colour makes this ok even when it is alone. However, it may make your drafters believe there is a sliver theme to draft. You could go Gemhide Sliver if you want a second of this effect; they are identical unless you actually support other Slivers. Anchors - Supports -
Merfolk Branchwalker Description - Both modes are fine, but you might not always get what you want depending on what the overall deck is doing and the game state. That said, the 'worst' mode for the situation still isn't that much worse than the optimal. It's marginal. Anchors - Supports -
Noose Constrictor Description - A 2/2 reach for 2 is perhaps a passable base line, but 'free' pump on top of that is good. It's a free discard outlet, and with a handful of cards can start threatening opponents on low life totals, while also giving you the option to trade up against other creatures if the cards in hand aren't great. Anchors - Supports -
Obsessive Skinner Description - The baseline is a bear. Sometimes you will want to give something else the counter, but then you are left with a lowly 1/1. It's really the delirium that makes the card shine, so you may want to put in a little effort for card swaps that help enable it. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Overgrown Battlement Description - Most 2 drop accelerators are not very good, but the 4 toughness gives this some flexibility to stall aggro, especially if you have instants or on-board abilities you can sink the mana into end of turn. While the 'defender deck' is a narrow archetype, it does support it, though it is comfortable just sitting alongside Wall of Blossoms as the only other defender in your cube without needing specific defender support. Anchors - Supports - Defender
Satyr Wayfinder Description - It puts a mostly irrelevant creature on the board, but it’s the ETB effect that matters most. Helps you dig for lands if you need to find your next drop (or have a bunch of utility lands), but perhaps more importantly is the ability to drop stuff in the graveyard. A selection of 4 cards is big enough to help put creatures in the yard for reanimation, dredgers, or just put more cards in to activate threshold. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Servant of the Conduit Description - A reasonable fixer and accelerator. While 1 mana accelerators are preferred, a 2/2 is much better than a 1/1 once you reach the late game, and this fixes while most 1-mana versions are single colour. Anchors - Supports -
Snapping Gnarlid Description - Fine as an aggressive option for green. Not much else to say here. Anchors - Supports -
Terrain Elemental Description - Solid stats for the cost if you are pushing green aggro. It might make it into other green decks, but you don't need to cube it if you don't care about green aggro. Anchors - Supports -
Thornweald Archer Description - It's not a blowout, but it is decent in a range of decks. It's likely to simply trade more often than not when used aggressively, but can break through any 0-power walls you might have in your environment (Wall of Blossoms, Nyx-Fleece Ram, Wall of Denial etc.) or trade up if all they have to block with is a midrange / fatty creature. On the defensive it can make attacking difficult for your opponent given that it can block most things, forcing them to make poor decisions or buying you time. Anchors - Supports -
Ulvenwald Captive Description - While some of the most powerful creature accelerators are in the 1 mana slot, this is a playable 2 mana version. A potential problem of ramp decks is having a bunch of accelerators and nothing to do with them, and this has a place in the early or late game. Anchors - Supports -
Undercity Troll Description - Solid bear with upside. Played turn 2, most of the time you will be able to attack and hold up the regeneration mana if they have a blocker, providing hard choices for your opponent. Against some decks it might not be worth giving up your third turn to survive combat, but then you would just trade and play your 3-drop. The regen isn't cheap, but is mostly bonus. Anchors - Supports -
Werebear Description - 2 drops that accelerate a single mana need to have good upside over the 1 mana versions to be worth consideration. The ability to be a 4/4 is lucrative enough, but you need to provide sufficient support to get enough cards in the graveyard. Providing that support is not too difficult, turning your accelerator into a legitimate threat. Outside of the graveyard / attrition decks, it is going to be worse than the 1 mana accelerators. Anchors - Graveyard Matters Supports -
Wild Mongrel Description - Supports a number of different graveyard strategies, particularly being able to drop a target for reanimation, can turn threshold on at instant speed, and can set up an early Roar of The Wurm or other flashback cards, all while threatening combat. Even without support it can be difficult to block, and attacking an opponent who has low health while you have a few cards in hand can make decisions difficult for your opponent. Anchors - Graveyard Matters, Reanimator Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Blight Mamba Description - Too hard to make infect a thing, so this won't be attacking. It could be a defensive creature that slowly dwindles opposing creatures down… slowly… It might just be ok if you throw some equipment or other power boosters on it; your opponent might be willing to throw his wider army at you a few turns in a row if you are only reducing his total forces by -1/-1, but be more reluctant if you can outright kill that Skysnare Spider in 2 attacks. You would have to have enough support and draft around this pretty aggressively to make that happen though. Anchors - Supports - Control
Boneyard Wurm Description - You aren't likely to play this on turn 2. Can be a solid finisher in attrition based decks, or dredge decks, where it can get large quickly. If you are going to be waiting to cast it, you want the payoff to be worth it. If you are consistently not playing it until you've got 6+ mana on the board, it had better be a 5/5 or greater, which might be a third of the creatures in your deck being in your graveyard. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Bramblesnap Description - It can be useful in a tokens deck or other decks that go wide, though it isn't likely to be of much use elsewhere. It's dependent on the board position, but with a few other creatures it can make it harder for your opponent to attack into you and expect a trade, and with a few more, the trample can help you break through stalemates. With only a couple of other creatures on your board though, it doesn't have a lot of value. Anchors - Supports - Tokens
Bramblewood Paragon Description - If you have enough Warriors in your cube, this could be worth the times it will just be a bear. With monstrous and unleashed creatures in your cube, the trample can also be relevant. But it needs that specific support to be worth considering. Anchors - Warrior sub-theme, +1/+1 counters Supports -
Brindle Shoat Description - If your opponent is the beatdown, this can be an ok early staller, hopefully trading the 1/1 but at least chumping and then getting a more reasonable threat. If you are the beatdown, this is terrible though, as the opponent will just let the 1 damage through. Has some extra legs in sacrifice decks as a 2 for 1. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Brushstrider Description - With power more than the casting cost, this could fit into a green aggro mold, though the vigilance is not exciting and it will die to almost anything. Best in decks that can keep blockers out of the way. Anchors - Supports - Aggro
Canopy Spider Description - It will depend on the prevalence and breakdown of flyers in your cube, but it can deal with spirit tokens, and some of the aggro options such as Mistral Charger, Vampire Interloper, and Welkin Tern, while also being able to hold off bears on the ground. It might not be exciting, but it might fill a particular spot for your defensive green decks in dealing with that subset of creatures. You may also consider Juvenile Gloomwidow if you don't care about the double green. Anchors - Supports -
Carapace Forger Description - Only playable in the artifact deck, which you would need to support pretty hard to make up for the times this would jut be a bear. Anchors - Artifact Matters Supports -
Dreampod Druid Description - You wouldn't play it outside of an aura-based Voltron deck (unless you are desparate to fill your curve), but this could be a solid anchor for that deck. Usual 2 for 1 caveat applies, but getting 2 token per turn cycle is decent upside. Following this up with something like Griffin Guide or Elephant Guide can quickly give you excellent board development if your opponent doesn't have an answer. A bear isn't too threatening, but if it's unenchanted your opponent won't dare cast the likes of Pacifism or Singing Bell Strike on it. Anchors - Voltron / Pants Supports -
Dryad Sophisticate Description - It's value will change depending on the prevalence of nonbasic lands in your cube or your draft format, but the inconsistency means it isn't amazing. Anchors - Supports -
Elvish Visionary Description - It can at worst chump while cycling. It's mostly filler though, and doesn't really support any specific types of decks. Anchors - Supports -
Elvish Warrior Description - It's strictly worse than Kalonian Tusker. It does have good stats for its cost, but costing double green makes it difficult to land on turn 2. While it has good stats, the lack of extra abilities means that it is more likely to be outclassed by the time you cast it. Anchors - Supports -
Exemplar of Strength Description - It will be inconsistent, but could have a place. On it's own it can still attack as a bear while randomly gaining life, and on curve can be a good beater if they can't present an early trade. Sometimes it will make sense to kill something else off and get a 4/4. Anchors - Supports -
Feral Prowler Description - It's probably ok as a defensive card for control decks in environments chock full of 2/1's and 2/2's and get a card back later. Even if you just play it and it chumps you still get the card back. It doesn't really add much, so inclusion should be based on whether you think green control / ramp decks need this early interaction to survive a little longer. Anchors - Supports -
Garruk's Companion Description - It has good stats, but it's not quite big enough for the trample to matter a great deal, and the 2 toughness means it is still going to get killed by a decent amount of things. Not being able to consistently cast this on turn 2 in multi-colour decks also makes it harder to consider, unless you actively push mono-colour decks.
Hamlet Captain Description - There are likely to be enough Humans in your cube that this might actually be ok to contribute primarily towards wide, depending on your thoughts on errata and the versions of cards that you have. Anchors - Human Tribal Supports -
Kalonian Tusker Description - Solid stats for cost, but it's the sort of creature you want to cast on turn 2, which will be more difficult given the double green in its cost. If you actively support mono-decks though, then this is solid in that deck. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
Kavu Predator Description - This will be cube dependant, but if you have a lot of incidental life gain effects, this might be worth including. It's not worth considering any cards that might give your opponent life to pair it with though, and it might be too strong a hate card if you are pushing a life gain matters theme. Anchors - Supports -
Laughing Hyena Description - Give it a mention because it could be decent in graveyard strategies. But of course will depend on your play group… and whether you are funny or not. Anchors - Supports -
Nightshade Peddler Description - In most decks, you are just going to want a better creature that has deathtouch. It probably only has use in decks where you can pump out tokens, so you can keep pairing them. Also has fringe use with reds pingers. Anchors - Supports - Tokens
Pendelhaven Elder Description - At first glance, it would fit in with a token theme, and would work well alongside a number of token generators that make 1/1's, with some minor upside with some other utility creatures. However, it can turn into a nombo if you include other permanent token boosting cards (Intangible Virtue, Phantom General). Anchors - Supports - Tokens
Plant Elemental Description - Supports low curve aggro, allowing this to be played potentially alongside another 2 drop on turn 4. You will need to be heavy on green aggro to consider it. Anchors - Supports -
Priest of Titania Description - Played alone, this is a bad Llanowar Elf. With another Elf on the field, it becomes good acceleration. Its inclusion is likely to be less as an indicator of Elf tribal being supported, but rather a ramp strategy supported by Elf mana producers. You need enough other Elves, but there are enough playables Elves without going out of your way to include them. Anchors - Supports - Ramp
Quirion Sentinel Description - Most of its value will come from being in an aggro deck, putting two power on the board and then playing something else. It's pretty close to being strictly worse than Burning-Tree Emissary in a similar role (minor flexibility in casting and creates any colour mana) but it can fit a similar role in helping to fill the board quickly. Anchors - Supports - Aggro
Scryb Ranger Description - Has utility, but most cubes don't have a lot of creatures that tap for effect that you would want to use this for. Can still set up blocks after you've attacked, get out from some opponents tap effects. It can also re-use mana accelerators, replay Forets for landfall triggers, and if you don't have a land drop for the turn, pseudo-acceleration. While those synergies exist, they aren't high impact most of the time. You probably want Quirion Ranger over this for the cheaper mana cost. Anchors - Supports -
Silhana Ledgewalker Description - Can fit the hexproof version of the Voltron / pants deck, but if you aren't actively supporting it, you don't want this. Anchors - Voltron / Pants Supports -
Stalking Drone Description - The threat of activation on turn 3 is solid. However, requiring colorless to activate is probably tough for most cubes. The likelihood of having a land base that can support this and be sufficiently aggressive is not high, but some cubes may have a land base to consider it. Anchors - Supports -
Temur Charger Description - It exists if you want to maximise greens 3 power 2-drops for aggro decks. The morph doesn't add a lot, but the option is there at least. Anchors - Supports -
Thallid Shell-Dweller Description - In general it doesn't compare favourably to something like Wall of Blossoms, but it can provide an early blocker with some upside. It supports token decks and sacrifice decks, but only in a minor way because it takes so long. Anchors - Supports - Tokens, Sacrifice
Viridian Emissary Description - I can see it being played either aggressively or defensively in a ramp deck, and even as an aggro-ish creature in midrange, trading while setting up your beef next turn. Anchors - Supports -
Voracious Wurm Description - You would need a pretty solid 'life gain matters' theme to get this to trigger enough to warrant inclusion. Which is not impossible, but it would just take a bit of work to push as a theme. Anchors - Life Gain Matters Supports -
Wall of Mulch
Description - It can cycle itself, which is nice. In a vacuum, Wall of Blossoms is significantly better by getting you the card ETB instead of saccing. However it can support a defender theme if you have enough defenders with the wall creature type. Anchors - Supports - Defenders
Wandering Wolf Description - You would only be excited about drafting it in a Voltron deck, though it remains vulnerable to removal. At least it can't be blocked by tokens. Anchors - Supports - Pants / Voltron
Whisperer of the Wilds Description - Whether this is useful will depend on how many creatures fit the criteria in your cube, particularly in green. However most decks will want more efficient / reliable mana acceleration. Anchors - Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Acridian - This might actually be ok in some situations, such as a turn 2 play against full on aggro decks that can eat most of what the opponent throws at you and survive most of the rest. But you will never be excited to play it in any other situation, and it sucks in aggro decks.
Anoik Guide - It's a bear, or it is minor mana fixer without any card advantage while leaving behind a bad body. No thanks.
Aquastrand Spider - It's not likely to be playable even if you are pushing a +1/+1 theme.
Archer's Parapet - As a mono-green card, there is no reason you would play this over Wall of Blossoms or some other better defenders. If you consider this a green+ card, you are still pushing it. It's not good enough if you consider it a Golgari card.
Bitterblade Warrior - Terrain Elemental always hits for 3 on offense and defense. The deathtouch might be the factor that gets it through sometimes, but not enough compared to the consistency of an always 3/2 that can attack every turn.
Deadly Recluse - Having 2 toughness doesn't give it significantly more survivability than Thornweald Archer, where the extra power matters more if the opposing board is clear.
Dwynen's Elite - You really need a guaranteed turn 1 Elf to make this worthwhile, and it isn't worth supporting the density required.
Death-Hood Cobra - The extra toughness here doesn't make up for these two abilities being native on Thornweald Archer.
Deeproot Warrior - It might be a bear that can attack into an opposing bear… but otherwise it's still just a bear (with scales)
Deepwood Drummer - After a couple of turns, at best you've invested 2 cards for a bad Giant Growth as an onboard trick. Being able to repeat it doesn't make it much better.
Forcemage Advocate - There are few situations where this will be worth it.
Freyalise Supplicant - You have to sacrifice creatures of 4 power or more to really have much effect, which is not going to happen most of the time.
Frontier Guide - If you want a card that slowly strips your lands out to improve card draws in a long game… well, this is one. Very slow. 6 mana before you can start thinning your deck, and 4 mana a turn is too much.
Gatecreeper Vine - Too narrow, and the 2 toughness isn't going to survive much.
Fa'adiyah Seer - A card that only lets you draw lands, and throws the rest in your graveyard… It does provide some card advantage (if you didn't activate this, you would have drawn the land next turn instead of the next card) but not enough.
Gatecreeper Vine - Too narrow, and the 2 toughness isn't going to survive much.
Gatherer of Graces - It wants to be in an aura-based Voltron deck, but even in a dedicated deck it doesn't really make the cut compared to other options.
Ground Pounder - It's a bear with upside…There is potential to be attacking with an 8/8 trampler on turn 4, but the inconsistency is important. Darkthicket Wolf tops out at +2/+2, but the activation is cheaper, and if the opponent blocks this with a larger creature, you are never guaranteed to kill it after making the mana investment.
Gloomwidow - The three points of toughness is perhaps 1 shy of where you want it to be for the wither to really matter over similarly costed creatures, especially at double green.
Hinterland Logger - It's still going to trade with most things even if it transforms.
Hope Tender - The first ability doesn't accelerate, it just fixes or maybe costs a mana to re-use a utility land. Exerting only accelerates by 1. Bouncelands seem like the time to consider it more highly, but even there, you probably want 2 bouncelands in play to really feel like you are getting away with something, which doesn't seem that likely.
Humble Budoka - Perhaps just marginally better than Grizzly Bears. Perhaps.
Initiate's Companion - The trigger doesn't do enough compared to the 2 toughness on Terrain Elemental.
Keeper of Beasts - Repeatable bears seems powerful enough to take notice even if it is limited. I just don't know what you would be doing with the rest of your mana while you actively don't play creatures. Play attrition until your opponent is out of cards, then dump your hand? Presumably it still isn't too hard to play around, especially if your opponent has decent mid-size creatures.
Kithkin Daggerdare - It looks like it could have use in midrange decks that want to keep pushing threats into the red zone, making it harder for your opponent to block. However the green in the cost is not irrelevant, as those types of decks are more likely to want to curve out their threats.
Krakilin - There are better regenerators across the mana curve, that the flexibility doesn't make up for.
Lifesmith - Even if you are pushing artifact themes, this doesn't do enough to warrant inclusion.
Llanowar Druid - It does have the potential upside of massive acceleration, but it is Magical Christmas Land that is never likely to happen in practice, and you want more reliable and permanent ramp.
Loam Larva - If it said 'into your hand' it would be a snap include, if it said 'any land' it would be worth considering. But not with these stats / abilities.
Matsu-Tribe Sniper - Not a bad tapper against flying decks or killing spirit tokens, but banking on that is too unreliable, and it's not good enough elsewhere.
Orcohi Ranger - The tap down effect only matters if you are dealing with a larger creature that it can't kill. Helps if you are outclassed, but it seems like you are setting yourself up for a losing proposition in the first place by playing it.
People of the Woods - Even if you want to push mono-green as a deck, this is not making the cut.
Scorned Villager - If you play this on turn 2 and your opponent doesn't cast anything, you have the option of attacking for 2 and accelerating to 5 mana on turn 3. That is good upside… if your opponent doesn't cast anything. Most cubes include enough turn 2 plays that this will be a bad Llanowar Elf frequtently enough to feel bad about it.
Scrounging Bandar - It supports +1/+1 counters, but the average case scenario doesn't seem very good.
Seeker of Skybreak - I can't find anything abusable for this guy. There are situations where the untap will be useful, but it doesn't provide siginficant enough value to warrant inclusion.
Seton's Scout - Even in graveyard decks, there is going to be too long before this becomes good.
Silverglade Pathfinder - There might be some graveyard decks that are happy to dump cards while building their land base, but one-shot effects like Satyr Wayfinder and going to be faster and playable in more decks.
Spellwild Ouphe - Turn 2 play, turn 3 Elephant Guide, Griffin Guide, Moldervine Cloak… Too Magical Christmas Land to rely on the potential upsides and open to removal.
Spore Flower - Played early, this could be end up being annoying to play against in decks that intend to go long. But it relies too heavily on being played early, and it's a dead top deck if you are already behind.
Vitapsore Thallid - The fact that it is 1/1 for 2 mana for at least 3 turns before it does anything else is poor, and even then the haste does not really make up for it.
Voyaging Satyr - The effect is more flexible than Arbor Elf, but the extra mana in the cost matters too much.
Wellwisher - As a 2 mana 1/1, you need to get some decent upside. While most cubes include a number of otherwise good Elves, this effect isn't likely to be worth inclusion.
Whirling Dervish - Too slow to get going, and easy enough to block for most decks.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Eternal Witness Description - Perhaps the epitome of an absolute staple that won't be removed from cubes for being overpowered. About the only bad thing you could say about it is that the stats for cost aren't amazing, but who cares when you are getting back the best card from your graveyard? It's a card that nearly any green deck will play, but also gets better in certain decks; graveyard or self-mill decks, bounce/blink decks (especially Ghostly Flicker), or paired with other recursion elements to make infinite loops. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Recursion, Graveyard Matters, Bounce / blink
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Borderland Ranger / Civic Wayfinder Description - Great for midrange and ramp decks to help hit your fourth land while putting a threat on the battlefield. It isn't huge, but enough power to trade with other stuff or at least be a chumper while you start casting your bigger stuff. Civic Wayfinder usually preferred for Elf and/or Warrior tribal synergies. Anchors - Supports - Ramp
Reclamation Sage Description - A flexible piece of removal. It removes either of the 2 main noncreature permanent types while having a body attached at a reasonable price, and you can always cast it even if you don't have any targets. Anchors - Supports -
Trophy Hunter Description - One of the best green flying-hosers. A 2/3 for 3 is not completely embarrassing if you don’t have targets, and it can always get bigger, while being a creature that can support +1/+1 themes. It can create either real or virtual card advantage often enough. Anchors - Supports -
Wolfir Avenger Description - One of greens better 3-drops. The reasonable base stats combined with flash can often be used as a combat trick to eat a smaller incoming creature, or just cast end of turn to swing in with regeneration mana available. Anchors - Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Abzan Beastmaster Description - It makes you pay a little more attention to toughness, and can be a decent inclusion in midrange or ramp decks to improve card flow. It's not great if you aren't getting card draw out of it, but you either pick it up somewhere early and draft around it, or if you've drafted the right kind of deck it might slot in nicely as a late pick. Anchors - Supports - Ramp
Awakener Druid Description - You could treat this as a 4/5 with haste for 4 mana, and in that context it is extremely good. It is balanced with downsides however; it's fragile and you can't use the land for mana while it's attacking. It gets a bit worse the more toughness based removal / divisible burn is in your cube. Anchors - Supports -
Carven Caryatid Description - A fine defensive option that effectively doesn't cost you a card. General consensus is that Wall of Blossoms is better as you can play it off a 1-Forest, 2-land hand to draw into extra lands, and smaller cubes may not want both. However the 2 power here can hold off attacks when your opponent might be able to comfortably swarm around a Wall of Blossoms. Anchors - Supports -
Crocanura Description - It isn't bad, and there are other creatures that can fit a similar role, namely Penumbra Spider and Seed Guardian, but it can quickly become bigger than those creatures. Fine as support for +1/+1 counters, or give your ramp decks a defensive creature that can start swinging for the fences after your fatties have hit the board. Anchors - Supports - Ramp, +1/+1 counters
Golgari Brownscale Description - It can be an engine card for the dredge / graveyard deck. Even if you are chumping with it every turn, you can pad your life total while getting critical mass of cards that enjoy being in your graveyard. Anchors - Graveyard Matters Supports - Life gain Matters
Hungry Spriggan Description - A fine option if you want to push green aggro a little harder, essentially giving you a 4/4 trampler for 3 without a meaningful drawback in the right deck. Not really being able to block doesn't matter if you are the beatdown. Cute if you play Pendelhaven. Vulnerable to divisible burn or -X/-X effects while it isn't attacking, but so are most creatures at this casting cost. Anchors - Supports -
Imperious Perfect Description - An efficient token creator, and a tribal card that is perfectly fine in a deck without any other Elves. It might be too slow to recover if you are more than a few steps behind, but in a stalled board this can turn the game around if your opponent can't deal with it quickly. Anchors - Supports -
Manaplasm Description - It bears comparison to Hungry Spriggan, as both want to be in aggressive decks. Manaplasm has higher variance, but the opportunity to 'go big' can be more interesting and open up different decisions trees. Curving out with a 4-drop and then 1 or 2 spells totalling 5 mana is going to be difficult to block, but by the same token top decking Hungry Spriggan is usually going to be much better than Manaplasm. Anchors - Supports -
Maulfist Revolutionary Description - Decent body already, and triggering twice is great. Not really tricky, just solid. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Phantom Tiger Description - A decent number of times it is going to act like a 3/2 that replaces itself with a 2/1 when it dies, with downside of not being able to run favourably into 1/x's. Other upside of supporting cards that care about +1/+1 counters, or being rewarded if you play cards that distribute +1/+1 counters. Fine either aggressively or defensively. The damage prevention happens regardless of whether you can remove a +1/+1 counter or not, so if you can boost it's toughness with something like equipment or aura it becomes nearly indestructible, so you might give it another look to push a pants theme. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters, Pants
Ranging Raptors Description - Decent include for control / ramp, even if it trades with a 2-drop while accelerating you. You can change your cube to include some more incidental support in divisable burn and pingers, or go deeper with the likes of Pyrohemia and sweepers, but it isn't necessary Anchors - Supports -
Shrill Howler Description - The baseline is probably JUST below where you want it to be, but is still fine in aggro decks. If you can flip it though, it becomes much harder to kill and the damage trigger can start steamrolling; 5 toughness can run into a reasonable number of opposing creatures, and your opponent may not be able to double block if they don't have multiple creatures with 3+ power. Anchors - Supports -
Thrashing Brontodon Description - It's the biggest stats at this cost with a reasonable upside. There are arguments for and against sacrificing it (you can play it on an empty board and still threaten the effect) vs ETB alternatives that stick around after destroying a target (Wickerbough Elder, Reclamation Sage). Anchors - Supports -
Thriving Rhino Description - It ends up being a 3/4 attacker for 3, and is a decent option if you want to support green aggro. Obviously gets better if you have other energy cards in your cube, but fine enough on its own. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counter, energy
Trusted Forcemage Description - A reasonable option to give green aggro a push, propping up your 2-drops and conditionally adding 4 power to the board for 3 mana. You might get the occasional blowout mid-combat. Anchors - Supports -
Yavimaya Elder Description -Provides a fair bit of value, mostly for midrange or ramp decks. He can trade and let you hit your land drops, or you can chump and then draw a card on top of getting your lands. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Atzocan Archer Description - Fine enough for green control decks. It doesn't hit for much, but the toughness means it can survive most things it would fight, and better the more X/1's in your cube. Anchors - Supports -
Aura Gnarlid Description - You need to push an enchantment matters theme, but it only requires one aura to be reasonable. You probably want to consider more bestow creatures and aura-based removal to give this the right level of support. Anchors - Enchantment Matters Supports -
Bloodbriar Description - It's all-in on the sacrifice theme and requires some set up, but it only takes one trigger to be above the curve. Eldrazi tokens make decent enablers. Anchors - Sacrifice Supports -
Elvish Spirit Guide Description - It can provide some fast mana if you really want it, but the card disadvantage is usually not going to be worth it. The hard cast is there if you have nothing better to do, but that is pretty bad. Anchors - Supports -
Fairgrounds Trumpeter Description - It's a reward card for the +1/+1 counter theme, but a bit deeper than some other options, as this only belongs in that deck. It can be fine in that deck though. Anchors - +1/+1 counters Supports -
Fierce Empath Description - It's inclusion is highly conditional on your 6+ drops and how you want those decks to perform. There are some solid creatures in the target range (Sentinel of the Eternal Watch, Baloth Null, Skysnare Spider, Great Oak Guardian) that it may warrant playing in decks that include them, acting as a speed bump on the way to you casting your fattie. Can also find some cost reduction creatures, like those with emerge (and it can be sacrifice fodder) or delve. Anchors - Supports - Ramp
Ghost-Lit Nourisher Description - On board +2/+2 is reasonable even if the activation is more than you want to pay. Channel is obviously expensive, but seems ok as a secondary mode if you are in a position to close out the game. Forbidden Lore may be another option for on board pump which is less vulnerable. Anchors - Supports -
Gloomwidow Description - At least it's a bit more interesting than Nessian Courser. This a pretty specific local metagame choice; it gives you something that green is happy to attack with, without giving it something defensive against ground troops. Anchors - Supports -
Hooded Brawler Description - It's a 3-drop that can attack for 5 as needed, so it can usually find a good time to attack even in the late game. Anchors - Supports -
Hunting Moa Description - Performs best in defensive decks, potentially pumping something on the way in, trading with something aggressive, and pumping something on the way out. Paying the echo cost is painful, but if it held off an attack it is probably worth it. Less useful in aggro; you get an extra point of power the turn you play it, but in aggro you are going to feel the echo cost a lot more, and 3 mana isn't worth it just for 2 +1/+1 counters. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Jungleborn Pioneer Description - It's 3 power across 2 bodies for 3 mana, which is ok. Main reason to cube it is to support tokens / go wide in green, with fringe applications for bounce. Anchors - Supports -
Leatherback Baloth Description - A 4/5 for 3 mana is excellent… but costing triple green is going to be far less consistent. You might include this if you want to reward your green drafters or push mono-green. In a 2 colour deck it's more likely to hit play around turn 5. Anchors - Supports -
Lowland Basilisk Description - It's not particularly exciting, but the stats can survive small aggro creatures so may survive some assaults, and the deathtouch effect can help it trade up against larger foes. Anchors - Supports -
Manglehorn Description - . It doesn't compare favorably to the flexibility of targets of Reclamation Sage, but larger cubes might consider it, particularly if you don't shy away from the more powerful artifacts or are otherwise pushing an artifact heavy theme. Anchors - Supports -
Mwonvuli Beast Tracker Description - It was interesting until I realised this is top of library, not into your hand. That doesn't make it awful, but it means you get a 2/1 for your 3 mana with an improvement in card quality, so long as you can cast the card you found when you draw it. Anchors - Supports -
Salt Road Quartermasters Description - Reasonable stats and comes with +1/+1 counters out of the gate, so can immediately benefit from those enablers. The transfer is expensive, but is still all upside. The base stats make it fringe playable elsewhere, but you will probably ignore it from cube inclusion if you don't have at least one +1/+1 enabler, but don't have to bend over backwards to include it if you do. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Scion Summoner Description - It's 3/3 worth of stats, the scion can threaten to block x/1's, it can help you accelerate from 3 into 5, it provides 2 bodies for sacrifice archetypes… it's flexible, but at the same time it doesn't particularly excel at anything. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice, Tokens
Shellephant Description - Neither version alone is worth the cost, and flexibility on board probably doesn't quite get it there either. The primary reason to cube it is to create triggers or other minor synergies. Combos with Crackdown Construct (Shelly needs to be in play though) and it can be a 3 power unblockable with Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive, and there are probably a few other two-card combos. Anchors - Supports -
Simian Grunts Description - It might not be as effective against some decks, but against aggressive decks you can flash this in and take out an attacker, then pay the echo cost and have a decent stat creature to play defence with. The echo doesn't play nice aggressively, but you can always flash it in end of turn and add 3 more damage than the opponent is expecting in the mid to late game. Anchors - Supports -
Skullwinder Description - The effect is interesting, but it is pretty hard to control. The ability isn't optional. It's going to be at its best in decks that are likely to play early sorceries or instants and retrieve it before the opponent has anything in the yard. Sakura-Tribe Elder followed by this is not a bad opener. That assumes you have this in your opener; later you have to consider whether the best card in your graveyard is better than the best card in their graveyard, which might make this uncastable regardless of how much a deathtoucher will help your board. Anchors - Supports -
Slaughterhorn Description - It's not exactly bad, but as a creature it is worse than a decent amount of other stuff you could play, and Giant Growth is more flexible than the bloodrush. It has the flexibility thing going on of course, but I'd be much happier bloodrushing than hard casting. You might go for it if you want your pump spells to be more aggressively oriented than defensive. Anchors - Supports -
Spike Rogue Description - It's pretty deep on the +1/+1 counter theme, but it can let you move them around if you've got the reward cards, or take them back from dying creatures. Anchors - +1/+1 counters Supports -
Sporecap Spider Description - Only if you really care about the specific combination of reach and high toughness at this cost. Crocanura might be a consideration as an alternate, but this can survive just about every flyer in the format while still holding off 1 toughness attackers without any help. Anchors - Supports -
Thornscape Battlemage Description - It's flexible, but you need to have at least one kicker to make this worth playing, with red being the most attractive. You could play mono-colour cards that give you similar effects, but you might prefer the flexibility this offers. Anchors - Supports -
Tilling Treefolk Description - Mostly for specific cubes, though it does play ok in self-mill themes, or with loot-type effects to generate actual card advantage. Particular synergies with lands that sacrifice for effect; might be higher profile if you break rarity for saclands. Anchors - Supports -
Timberwatch Elf Description - It may look too tribal, but it still does something on its own (though not very well), and with one other Elf on the field the pump seems like it will be relevant enough. Anchors - Supports - Elf Tribal
Tracker Description - In general it's too slow and costs too much. It is relatively unique for green, so if you throw something like Elephant Guide on it you may be able to (slowly) take over a game. However that is putting all your eggs into one basket and won't work against fast decks. Anchors - Supports -
Tuskguard Captain Description - Taking a turn off to make it a 3/4 trampler is a bit dicey, but it can add another way for your cube to avoid board stalls. If you can afford a few turns off, a 5/6 trampler or larger is going to do some work, but you will be sad if it meets removal when you are ready to swing. At least the mana investment is not high. You may want to consider Bramblewood Paragon for similar +1/+1 synergies.
Anchors - +1/+1 counters
Supports -
Ulvenwald Bear Description - A 4/4 for 3 is good value, but you need enough enablers to make sure it happens consistently enough, because you really don't want a 2/2 for 3. Sakura-Tribe Elder and Nest Invader are probably the most prominent cards to enable this on curve, but attacking and trading will also do the trick. It's inclusion is probably dependant on on how early combat plays out in your cube. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice, +1/+1 counters
Valeron Wardens Description - Becoming a 3/5 is decent, but it will rarely get there without help because the base stats are bad. Most cubes don't include enough renown creatures to consider the card draw except for triggering itself. You can prop it up if you pair it with blue tempo / unblockability cards to get it through, or in colour with trample pump spells like Predator's Strike. Anchors - Supports -
Wild Mammoth Description - Only if you want to push green aggro, and it needs some specific support. In colour you probably want cards like Blisterpod and Nest Invader etc. to help ensure you lead the creature race. But when this is bad, it is very bad. Anchors - Supports - Aggro
Wood Elves Description - It does accelerate, but the body it leaves behind is underwhelming, and it can't help fix your mana. It gets a little better in cubes that break rarity for dual lands. How beneficial it is will be inconsistent; while it can accelerate and the land comes into play untapped, you may not be able to use it that turn, or if you have no more lands left in hand to play and haven't hit a land drop that turn, Borderland Ranger provides essentially the same effect for a bigger body while being able to fix. Anchors - Supports - Ramp
Yavimaya Dryad
Description - You accelerate with a reasonable body, though it does require a commitment to green. Played early you won't want to give the land to your opponent and accelerate them, but there is a niche case for making this a late evasive threat.
Anchors -
Supports - Ramp
Yavimaya Enchantress Description - It's a build around that requires a bit of support; preferably some enchantment creatures and a few of the better auras, but also pairs nicely with whites enchantment-based removal. Anchors - Enchantment Matters Supports -
Yeva's Forcemage Description - The baseline isn't great, but the pump can be relevant pre-combat to help your early creatures trade up and apply pressure. Anchors - Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Alpine Grizzly - Power greater than casting cost is worth noting, but the low toughness plus no other upsides means it is going to die when it runs into lots of stuff.
Anurid Swarmswapper - Stats and abilities seem fair, but unless you really care about blocking flyers on your 3-drop, there are better creatures here (Graf Mole) and solid reach creatures in the 4-drop spot.
Avenging Druid - The effect does some good stuff, including being a graveyard enabler. Shame it will never connect because the stats are so bad for the mana cost.
Axebane Guardian - It supports a defender sub-theme, but you will need to be depowering your environment to make that work when you compare this to better accelerators.
Battering Krasis - You really want two triggers before this becomes something you care about, which is too much to ask.
Battlewand Oak - A 3-drop that can attack on turn 4 as a 3/5 is enticing (or more with some ramp cards), but it simply isn't going to happen consistently enough.
Court Archers - Seems little reason to include over Cocanura.
Cradle Guard - It isn't going to perform consistently enough; unless you depower your removal or bounce, instant speed versions of these effects are going to be painful.
Ember Weaver - A 3/3 first striker with reach is great value, but it doesn't compete as a Gruul card, which is the only way you shoud look at this card.
Farhaven Elf - It can accelerate, but Borderland Ranger is still going to be better because the 2nd power and toughness matter more for most ramp decks to at least put up a decent roadblock.
Gluttonous Slime - The times when you will be happy to play it are slim (flashing in a Nessian Courser in response to removal) compared to the times when devouring your creatures just isn' worth it for a single +1/+1 counter on a vanilla body.
Gnarled Mass - Kalonian Tusker or Centaur Courser both strictly better.
Gorilla Pack - Strictly worse than Centaur Courser/Nessian Courser.
Gorilla Warrior - Strictly worse than Centaur Courser/Nessian Courser.
Grave Bramble - Carven Caryatid is a much better alternative.
Grazing Gladeheart - The effect and cost / stats don't really line up; you don't block with it so you can keep the effect, offsetting the advantage you would get anyway.
Greenweaver Druid - Outclassed by Joraga Treespeaker / enchant land versions.
Gristleback - The bloodthirst points to being aggressive, the life gain points to being defensive. It's a bit conflicted.
Lifespring Druid - It's just 'meh'. It isn't costed well enough to be aggressive to care about the extra power over Llanowar Elves or Manaweft Sliver for either acceleration or fixing.
Nyxborn WOlf - It's just… meh. Hard cast is bad, and if I want to enchant something I'd prefer something more efficient and just better like Elephant Guide.
Penumbra Bobcat - When would you want it? It replaces itself in aggressive decks, but the power to toughness ratio isn't really good enough there, and defensive decks aiming for 2 for 1's would be better served with Carven Caryatid. Aside from sacrifice effects, Phantom Tiger does this better.
Primal Forcemage - The only way to take advantage of this is to have a lot of haste / dash creatures, or other very specific synergies, but not enough to support in cube.
Ravaging Riftwurm - It's big, but without trample it is just going to get chumped the one time you get to attack with it, and if you are paying 7 mana you want better value.
Ravenous Daggertooth - The 3 toughness will trade with more stuff, but I don't see much reason to cube it over Filigree Familiar for control decks.
Rootwalla - You would rather have Darkthicket Wolf which can attack earlier; the ability is more likely to be 'threat of activation' more often than needing to be activated.
Scion of the Wild - It's easy to get wrapped up in best case scenario mentality. It CAN be huge, but sometimes it will just be a 2/2. It can also promote gameplay where you don't attack or trade so you can keep trying to make it bigger.
Setessan Oathsworm - It takes 1 spell to become a hard to cast Centaur Courser. How frequently are you going to cast 2 spells at this? By that time, you could have Blastoderm or whatever else on the board.
Spike Feeder - It doesn't do enough. It can be a chump blocker and gain you some life, but it often won't do much more than that. That combined with the double green puts it out of contention.
Thelonite Druid - There is some upside, but actually getting it to work is pretty far-fetched. You need to use one of your green sources to activate this, and even if you activate 4 Forests, it is a once off that cost you two cards to get there (putting this on the board plus the sacrifice). Doesn't seem worth it.
Tishana's Wayfinder - At 3 mana, you really want to know which mode it is going to be operating in.
Titania's Chosen - Too slow. Takes 3 more green spells to outclass Nessian Courser, which is going to take too long in a 2 colour deck, and you can't rely on your opponent to contribute.
Topan Ascetic - It might occasionally do thinks on defense if it has team back up, but average case is that it is too costly to make it a threat.
Turntimber Basilisk - I can't imagine wanting this over cheaper deathtouchers. Random thought, you can Evolving Wilds (or saclands if you are breakig rarity) and kill 2 blockers, but that is at the utmost ceiling of BCS.
Twigwalker - It's an onboard threat that the opponent can see coming and plan for on a poorly costed body. I'd rather have Symbiosis (or have this cost 2).
Villagers of Estwald - On curve, it comes down at a time when most players are casting a spell each turn for the next few turns. Later in the game, you will just wish you had drawn something better.
Void Attendant - Having opponents cards in exile isn't going to happen often enough in cube to warrant inclusion.
Wall of Brambles - While it's more colour intensive, you would never play it over Carven Caryatid.
Wall of Ice - It's a big dumb Wall. The question is, what do you need it for? Carven Caryatid is the gold standard for 3-drop defenders; this can safely block Skysnare Spider and the like, but the 2 power is going to matter much more frequently.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Blastoderm Description - Possibly the best green aggressive 4-drop. On curve it can be difficult to mount a defense against it, especially if you've got a few hits in already. It does go away eventually, but 15 damage is not something your opponent can usually take; they may have to make decision to double block and 2 for 1 themselves, or chump until it goes away. Occasionally it can be stonewalled by an 0/6 or a couple of 3/3's or something, but it is solid in most board states. Anchors - Supports -
Briarhorn Description - 3/3 flash alone is probably passable if unexciting, but the ETB effect really pushes it over the top. If you’re the aggressor, you can punish the opponent if they double block, or even just get in an extra 3 points of damage if that is all you need. On defense, it is at worst a 6/6 surprise blocker, but you can always spread the stats somewhere else and also block with this. AND it has a Giant Growth back up mode. Anchors - Supports - Flash / Go
Phantom Centaur Description - The protection from black might turn some people off as a random hoser, but the rest of the card does something fairly unique. 5 starting power makes it likely to threaten trades with something, and if you are on defense it can 'trade' multiple times. Plays well with cards that provide +1/+1 counters, and dodges black and most red removal. The damage prevention works even if there are no +1/+1 counters to remove, so if you can boost its toughness (e.g. Trusty Machete, Elephant Guide, Gaea's Anthem) it becomes nearly indestructible. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Druid's Familiar Description - When it works, it is the equivalent of 6/6 worth of stats for 4 mana. It has some vulnerabilities if your opponent interacts with it or its partner mid-combat, but it can threaten 2 hasty power the turn it comes down (or effectively more if you couldn't have attacked otherwise), or threaten to grow to a 4/4 at a moments notice if it is unpaired, which can make your opponent nervous. Fine for pushing aggro or midrange, with some cute synergies with 'power matter' cards like Spikeshot Goblin or doublestrikers. Anchors - Supports - Doublestrikers
Iwamori of the Open Fist Description - While there are handful of playable legendary creature cards at peasant (particularly with the release of Dominaria) this is about the biggest bang for buck green gets at 4 mana. It will be annoying on the occasions where the opponent does get to drop something, but that is going to pretty infrequent (they need to have drafted a legend and have it in their hand at the time you cast this). Anchors - Supports -
Penumbra Spider Description - Solid spider; sometimes they might have the board or removal to trade with the first body, but have trouble getting through the second. Solid in recursive decks. Anchors - Supports -
Temur Sabertooth Description - It's a nice package. Without specific synergy, just having a 4 power creature that can threaten indestructibility at instant speed is good; you can even bounce another attacker or blocker if that interaction is unfavourable. It gets better if you've got synergy with enter the battlefield effects, and having an indestructible creature helps buy you the time to repeat the cycle. Anchors - Supports -
Wickerbough Elder Description - A fine option for artifact / enchantment removal. Even if you don't have a target, a 3/3 for 4 is underwhelming but not horrible. Anchors - Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Briarpack Alpha
Description - This is a strictly worse Briarhorn, but still a decent power level overall filling a similar role.
Anchors -
Supports - Flash / Go
Crocodile of the Crossing Description - 4/3 haste for 4 is a decent baseline, and sometimes it will make sense to throw the counter elsewhere. It's fine in midrange, but probably worth a bit more if you want to push green aggro. Anchors - Supports -
Cudgel Troll Description - Reasonable stats for cost, with a cheap regenerate cost. Sometimes you may want to play it as a 5-drop (to keep regeneration mana open) but it can play well in most board states. Anchors - Supports -
Cytoplast Root-Kin Description - A solid +1/+1 counter lord; the 4/4 for 4 baseline is reasonable even if you don't have any immediate synergies, but being able to boost your team the turn it comes into play is nice. The ability to move counters at instant speed is nice, whether in response to removal or in combat where your other creatures will still trade, or if you just need a single beefy Root-Kin to smash in and break up defenses. Anchors - +1/+1 counters Supports -
Heroes' Bane Description - You get a slightly below par baseline, but it can become a difficult to deal with threat. It doesn't have trample, but if it survives after a single activation, it's going to be almost impossible to kill in combat. Anchors - Supports -
Karstoderm Description - A 5/5 for 4 is solid, and even if you get a single counter it is still decent. If you support any sort of artifact theme or a higher count than normal, it isn't worth it. Anchors - Supports -
Kozilek's Predator Description - It's not really for aggressive decks, but it is 3 bodies for sacrifice decks, and might make it into ramp decks as a way to trade off with something or hold back some aggro creatures while using the spawn tokens to accelerate into something the following turn. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice, Ramp
Masked Admirers Description - This is a grindy card that packs some value, but the game has to go long to realise all the value. The baseline of creature plus draw a card is fine, but against some decks the body might be outclassed, but if it trades and you can get it back multiple times that is gravy. Costing double green to get it back is probably harder than you might think though, particularly when casting other green creatures. Also fine for graveyard based decks, or with appropriate sequencing with discard outlets. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Oasis Ritualist Description - This can fill the role of being an accelerant while also being a defensive creature when needed in a ramp deck. The 4 toughness can help stem aggro early, ramp you by 2 if you aren't under pressure, and just be an attacker late in the game when you don't need the ramp any more. Ondu Giant is an alternative; it ramps you less, but the ramp effect is permanent. Anchors - Ramp Supports -
Ondu Giant Description - It can fit the midrange ramp category, helping ramp decks block in the mid game while still ramping, and potentially holding back a few aggro creatures that can't attack into it. Anchors - Supports - Ramp
Pack Guardian Description - The base stats plus flash is ok, though that alone only matters if you are looking specifically for flash creatures. The extra ability does give it a bit of extra play, potentially letting you put 6/5 worth of stats on the board, which can be fine as a surprise aggro curve topper cast at the end of the opponents turn, or just to mount a surprise defense. Marginal support for delirium and threshold. Anchors - Supports -
Peema Outrider Description - While looking somewhat 'filler' on the surface, a 4/4 trampler for 4 serves the role of beef well enough, with the fabricate providing some flexible synergy options. Anchors - Supports - tokens, +1/+1 counters, artifact matters
Quarry Hauler
Description - It supports +1/+1 counters which are fairly common in cubes, while also providing some benefits to things like levellers or resetting your persist creatures. The remaining body is still reasonable even if you don't benefit from the synergy. It doesn't do much to stand out from other +1/+1 or counter synergies though.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Seed Guardian Description - 3/4 reach for 4 is a reasonable baseline, but getting a replacement creature when it dies pushes it a little higher. It counts itself, so you will always get at least a 1/1, but this is the sort of card that gets better the longer the game goes, or in decks with self-mill / card filtering graveyard elements. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Sosuke, Son of Seshiro Description - It's easy to overlook simply because it is a tribal card, but it is essentially a 3/4 deathtoucher for 4 mana; not amazing, but reasonable. The upside if you have any other snakes (not many) or warriors (more likely) in your cube could make this worthy of consideration. Anchors - Supports - Warrior tribal
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Algae Gharial Description - 4 mana for a 1/1 is pretty bad, but you can support a deck that plays attrition wars where this could work. It's bad top deck, but in the right deck (and therefore cube) it could turn into a massive beater that can't be dealt with by spot removal. Lumberknot is probably better because you can cast spells on it, but you might also play this for redundancy or for better splashability. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters, sacrifice
Armorcraft Judge Description - This is a reasonable +1/+1 counter payoff. You aren't playing this in a deck without +1/+1 counters, but with zero payoff you still have a creature. The ceiling is decent, and drawing more than a couple of cards will feel great. Anchors - +1/+1 counters Supports -
Crowned Ceratok Description - If you want this specific +1/+1 synergy, you probably want to consider Bramblewood Paragon (for additional Warrior synergy) orTuskguard Captain (built-in synergy) first. This might be a consideration based on the curve of your other +1/+1 support cards. Anchors - Supports -
Emperor Crocodile Description - Solid stats, so you need to make sure you can mitigate the downside. The easiest way is with go wide decks or midrange decks that can protect their decks. It might be too risky to run in some decks, or be sideboarded out in certain matchups. Anchors - Supports -
Festerhide Boar Description - A 5/5 trampler for 4 mana isn't bad. It doesn't really stand out from the crowd, but if you support sacrifice themes (to more easily enable morbid) and play +1/+1 counter 'lords', this goes up in value. Karstoderm is likely a more reliable beater, but this does have trample. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters, sacrifice
Gamekeeper Description - It's not on the best body, but it's a guaranteed 2 for 1, and it is likely to put a few cards in your graveyard for decks that like that. Setting up a big play is difficult, but there are a few playable or fringe cards; Sensei's Divining Top, Brainstorm, Crystal Ball etc. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters, sacrifice
Ivy Lane Denizen Description - It needs to provide 2 counters to be on the curve, so it has a bit of setup cost, but being able to distribute the counters where you like has upside. Only triggering off green creatures is a negative, but if you've got some token creators or recursion it can go up in value. It's only for slower cubes where you are likely to get 3+ counters of it though. Anchors - Supports - Tokens
LLanowar Empath Description - There isn't a compelling reason to go out of your way to play it, but the effect itself is fine. Anchors - Supports -
Lumberknot Description - 4 mana for a 1/1 is pretty bad, but you can support a deck that plays attrition wars where this could work. It's bad top deck, but in the right deck (and therefore cube) it could turn into a massive beater that can't be dealt with by spot removal. This is the better version because you can target it, but you could play Algae Gharial as well if you want redundancy. Anchors - Supports - Pants
Paragon of Eternal Wilds Description - As a 2/2 for 4, it isn't really good enough in a generic deck with green cards. The only reason to cube it is if you have multiple token creators in green. E.g. Imperious Perfect, Sprout Swarm. The trample is fairly throwaway, but could matter sometimes. Anchors - Supports -
Roaring Primadox Description - You get a decent body for the price. The 'drawback' needs to be a feature of your cube, with enough ETB effects to abuse. The forced timing is a negative compared to other options, but the repeatability with no additional mana investment is nice. Could backfire depending on the board state, but at the very least you'll get a 4/4 blocker, even if you have to recast it until you draw something else. Anchors - Supports -
Saber Ants Description - The body is unimpressive, but it could be difficult to attack into. Maybe if you want to push controlling green decks; the most likely outcomes are either preventing attacks while your opponent waits to draw a non-damage answer, or they trade with it and leave you a handful of 1/1's. Anchors - Supports - Tokens
Saddleback Lagac Description - It can add 5/3 of stats to the table. If it was just that there are better options, but 2 of that power can be 'hasty', and it supports +1/+1 themes.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Simic Ragworm Description - Gets a mention as a combo piece if you are pushing that sort of thing, but you really have to push cube design around it. Anchors - Supports -
Somberwald Alpha Description - It really needs to be in an aggressive deck so the opponent is under pressure to block, but if you are attacking it can impact potential blocks your opponent might have been intending to make, potentially turning what would have been losses into trades or trades into wins. The trample is mostly bonus. Anchors - Supports -
Sporesower Thallid Description - It's a 4/4 for four which is a good start. However the upside is very slow, and most cubes are better served with a better beefy creature in this role. Maybe if you want to support controlling green decks; it can block well while (very) slowly building an army. Anchors - Supports -
Tenacious Hunter Description - 4/4 for 4 is a decent starting point, but you would have to make -1/-1 counters a theme if you really want to get the advantage. If you can turn it on, deathtouch and vigilance are a decent combo, particularly if they don't have something already on board that can trade 1 for 1 with it. You should probably expect it be just a vanilla 4/4 more frequently though. Anchors - Supports -
Vital Splicer Description - You get 4/4 worth of stats which is ok but not exciting. On its own, there are better green 4-drops. Some of the other golem cards are better, and considering those is the main reason you would include this. Anchors - Supports - Golem Tribal
Yavimaya Ants Description - There are going to be board states where it is actively bad, but it can threaten a lot of power. If you support green aggro, it threatens 5 damage the turn it comes into play, and if they didn't leave back a blocker, it's threatening 10. Usually they can't afford not to block, because it is just going to swing in next turn, so it can end being a kill spell + Lava Spike, which is probably just fine for aggro decks. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Abzan Kin-Guard - An always on 3/3 lifelinker might be on the borderline of playable, but not a conditional one.
Apes of Rath - It's great if its first attack is the only one you need…
Archers of Qarsi - It will trade with almost everything, but for 4 mana you want it to survive 2 drops or at least do something else if it isn't tussling in combat.
Argothian Elder - Other ramp spells are better. If you care about actual land untaps for powerful non-basics or bounce lands, Voyaging Satyr is a better choice.
Centuar Chieftain - it can be an attacking 4/4 on turn 4 that also boosts your team, however threshold is going to be difficult to enable on curve while developing a board for the centaur to have the right impact.
Centuar Omenreader - It only really works if you attack, it survives (and its Hill Giant stats are not impressive), and then you can cast creature spells post combat. Vehicles and similar effects that let you tap your own creatures aren't enough to save this one.
Centuar Rootcaster - The combat trigger upside does not outweight the terrible stats, which means it won't get through anyway.
Circle of Elders - Just 'meh' for cube. It might be playable in some ramp decks, but you should just be cubing better ramp cards.
Conifer Strider - It still dies to anything in combat, and there aren't enough ways in cube to really boost that toughness and take advantage of the hexproof.
Imperiosaur - On curve it's decent, but you can't accelerate it out and the density of nonbasics in your deck might impact when you can cast it. Maybe if you just need a creature with stats, but there are better 4-drops or more reliable 5-drops with the same stats.
Murasa Ranger - I can see some best case scenarios, but you can get some 5/5's with minor drawbacks at this cost, that don't demand 4 mana the following turn. Sure, it can get to 9/9 or something silly, but how often is that going to happen?
Serpentine Basilisk - Just 'meh'. There doesn't seem a reason to cube it over other deathtouchers, unless you really care about including morph in your cube.
Simian Brawler - Probably fine in a standard limited environment, but not for cube.
Singing Tree - For 4 mana, you can get any number of green creatures that just block better, and can potentially hold off multiple attackers by virtue of actually being able to kill them, which this can never do.
Skyshroud Cutter - You need to get in 3 hits with the 2/2 before you get past the break even point, by which point your 2/2 is probably outclassed.
Spike Breeder - It's got a few lines of play, however none of them are particularly efficient.
Spike Soldier - The short term boost reduces your long term board prescence.
Spiked Baloth - It dies to too many cheaper creatures; you can get 4 power 4 drops with a better butt or more upside.
Sporeback Troll - It has some flexibility and the regeneration can add resilience to a heavy +1/+1 deck, but the base of 2/2 for four mana just isn't good enough.
Springing Tiger - 5/5 for 4 is fine, but it's too conditional.
Squallmonger - I can see this working as support for green aggro, both providing a way to clear flying blockers (or ones that would race), while giving you some reach that goes to the opponents face. It's very narrow though in that role that it likely isn't worth cubing.
Stampeding Serow - It's bigger than Roaring Primadox and has trample, but the flexibility of any creature there as well as an easier casting cost makes that the better card.
Stampeding Wildebeests - It's bigger than Roaring Primadox and has trample, but the flexibility of any creature there as well as an easier casting cost makes that the better card.
Staunch-Hearted Warrior - You need two triggers to consider this, and it just isn't going to get there.
Stone-Seeder Hierophant - So it sometimes accelerates you 2… not efficient enough. There is some weird stuff you could do with bouncelands, but it is super niche.
Timbermaw Larva - I don't recall seeing anyone push green devotion. This card works fine in that deck and will often be large enough, but it doesn't seem like enough reward to pull you into that deck, at least not for the average cube.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Ridgescale Tusker Description - Potentially greens best 5-drop; the floor is a 5/5 for 5 which is already fine, and sometimes you will get a bunch of +1/+1 counters which can instantly change combat math. Anchors - Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Acidic Slime Description - It will usually destroy something relevant; even if there is no artifact or enchantment, you can still nab a nonbasic or mess with one of their colours. The deathtouch then allows it to trade with something else. Anchors - Supports -
Arborback Stomper Description - Solid stabiliser; the body blocks well on the turn it comes down, while the life gain mitigates the potential for opponents going wide to just attack past it. After that, it is still a good-sized threat on its own. Anchors - Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Bellowing Tanglewurm Description - It probably makes half your team unblockable. Most of the time. Weird card, but a 4/4 for 5 that will be hard to block for most decks is fine (even if your opponent is playing green, they probably aren't mono-green so have restricted blocking options). Anchors - Supports -
Conclave Naturalists Description - A fine artifact / enchantment removal creature. Nothing flashy, but it serves a purpose. Wickerbough Elder is probably considered the superior version (you can kill something after it hits the board), but this is a fine alternate or additional copy of the effect. Anchors - Supports -
Crested Herdcaller Description - It's 6/6 worth of stats for 5 mana, which isn't super powerful, but fine on its own before you consider synergies with bounce or go wide strategies. Anchors - Supports - Tokens, Bounce
Entourage of Trest Description - Solid monarch card, and better than most if you are behind by virtue of being able to block two grounded creatures to protect the crown for a turn if needed, plus the stats are reasonable enough to protect it. Anchors - Supports -
Garruk's Packleader Description - It isn't difficult to draft around the trigger condition. It's a vanilla 4/4 once it is on the board, but those are ok stats if you get a couple of card draws out of it. Better if you want green to support grindy attrition games; there are better cards if you want a 5-mana aggro curve topper. Anchors - Supports -
Nessian Asp Description - Stats plus reach can make this a a reasonable stabiliser the turn it comes down. Monstrous being instant speed can make blocking decisions difficult; not block and potentially take 8? Chump? Throw 9 power worth of blockers in front of it? 7 mana isn't nothing of course, but as long as you play around removal it can be effective. Anchors - Supports -
Nessian Game Warden Description - If you whiff you still get a vanilla 4/5; we can do better but that is a reasonable baseline. It will depend on deck construction, but on curve with 3 Forests it's somewhere in the 80% range, which is not a bad starting point, and selection gets better later in the game. Anchors - Supports -
Snapping Sailback Description - The ideal line of play is flashing it in to block something and end up with a 5/5. 5 mana is a lot to hold open, so your opponents might not play it into it though. Better if you have other ways to damage it, and you can go nuts with the likes of Pestilence and Pyrohemia. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters, Pingers
Somberwald Stag Description - 3 toughness on a 5cmc green creature isn't ideal, but you can take out a smaller creature often enough, and sometimes trading it as a 5cmc removal spell will be the right move. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Arrogant Wurm Description - Hard cast, you can get Arborback Stomper which is clearly better. This isn't terrible, but you need to have a lot of self-discard themes in your cube to consider it. Anchors - Supports -
Bitterbow Sharpshooters Description - Reasonable combo of stats and abilities, allowing it to attack while still putting up air defense. Fine, though there are a number of alternatives for mid-large sized reach creatures and you don't need them all and can choose the ones that suit your curve (Penumbra Spider, Seed Guardian, and Skysnare Spider are solid alternatives). Anchors - Supports -
Dowsing Shaman Description - It's a pretty slow engine, but it can be a piece for the enchantment decks if you want it. You probably want to be playing sacrifice auras like Seal of Doom, and sufficient bestow creatures to warrant it. Anchors - Enchantment Matters Supports -
Durkwood Tracker Description - It's clunky, but green doesn't get many control-oriented cards. It can always block and then activate. More likely to prevent attacks rather than respond to them. The instant and unconditional fight ability of Somberwald Stag is likely to just be better the vast majority of the time. Anchors - Supports -
Embodiment of Insight Description - It's a reasonable baseline, and once you hit a certain threshold of lands, turning those land draws into creatures is fine. However you aren't always going to do that every turn, and if you cast this on curve you are probably out of lands to play. You'd rather curve out with the likes of Cultivate, but with this on the table, those types of spells can throw up an extra 6 damage out of nowhere. Anchors - Supports -
Lifecraft Cavalry Description - A 6/6 trampler for 5 mana is decent. It comes down to how often you can trigger revolt, which won't always be consistent. The fail case is underwhelming but serviceable. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Llanowar Behemoth Description - It's a reasonable play on a board with a handful of other creatures, or alongside a token / go wide strategy to then go tall. Threatening a 6/6 or higher on the following turn is decent, and if you need to be defensive it can be hard to attack into. When you are on the back foot a lot of other 5-drops are going to be better though. Anchors - Supports - Tokens / Go Wide
Rhox Maulers Description - It is ok, it just doesn’t really stand out among other options. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Spike Colony Description - The baseline isn't embarrassing, but the activated ability is a little clunky. Only worth considering over similar size green creatures if you are heavy on +1/+1 counter 'lords'. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Spitting Spider Description - Consideration for inclusion is very dependent on specific cube make-up. It can block the likes of Serra Angel and Murder of Crows, and it is good against swarms of small flyers. Consider Penumbra Spider and Bitterbow Sharpshooters first. Extremely marginal considerations but perhaps worth noting is that it does help threshold / delve and delirium. Anchors - Supports -
Stampeding Elk Herd Description - Bringing 5 power itself, it isn't going to be hard to turn on, and it's already a 5/5 for 5 in any case which is an ok baseline; it's just that it is mainly vanilla. Anchors - Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Adaptive Snapjaw - The low toughness gives it some room to evolve, and potentially pack a really large punch on the front end, but at that stage of the game you probably don't have the time and it will trade down more often than you'd like.
Aerie Ouphes - At 5 mana, you'd rather have a bigger creature with reach that can deal with flyers.
Broodwarden - I want to like it, and the floor is still a 4/4, but there aren't enough playable Eldrazi Spawn creators to make it worth cubing.
Centaur Battlemaster - You'd need to be pretty dedicated to the heroic theme for this to do enough. 1 trigger isn't enough if you need to play suboptimally to get it, and 2 triggers is going to be unlikely.
Changeling Titan - There might be some play to it, particularly ramping into it off of mana elves you can then champion… but not really consistent enough and for the risk you probably want something with keywords or other upside once it hits play.
Charging Rhino - Kessig Prowler is better outside a few specific board states.
Colossapede - Hard to recommend when you could cube Ridgescale Tusker.
Crashing Boars - Not going to do enough on a reliable basis.
Cult of the Waxing Moon - It's too narrow; you could have transform cards in your cube, but it doesn't warrant cubing this over other green creatures with similar stats but better upsides.
Deadly Insect - There just doesn't really seem to be a place for it. Your opponent can't cast removal on it, but it dies if it runs into anything, and there isn't enough support to make sure it can just get in unimpeded.
Folk of the Pines - You need 8 mana to make this better than a 5/5 which you can also get for 5 mana.
Forked-Branch Garami - There aren't enough Spirits to make this worth it, particularly in green (and for most cubes, spirits are tokens as opposed to actual creature cards).
Gobbling Ooze - You can get 5/5's for this much mana; there aren't going to be enough board states where that is better than them (or smaller creatures with better upside).
Gorilla Titan - 8/8 trample is huge, but will rarely be on. You probably just want Arrogant Wurm for the times when you might discard it, Arborback Stomper for a better baseline, or Woodborn Behemoth if you want your 5-drop to turn into a big creature.
Greater Basilisk - It's going to trade with a bunch of stuff, but at 5 mana you can get a creature with more power and other upsides that will still kill most of the stuff this will and be a greater threat overall.
Grizzled Outcasts - On curve, both players are probably still playing cards for the next few turns. Transformed it is decent size but still vanilla, so it isn't impressive.
Harbinger of Spring - It does have protection from a lot of creatures, but it isn't efficient enough to be worth cubing.
Jaddi Lifestrider - I don't see many games where this does anything worthwhile. It comes down at sorcery speed, so you probably just negate the life gain by taking a bunch of damage if you use the triggered ability.
Jungle Wurm - Strictly worse than Hollowhenge Beast.
Overgrown Armasaur - The base stats are underwhelming, and while you can get saprolings, one of the best ways to generate them (Pestilence or Pyrohemia) kills them. The ability in the majority of board states isn't going to do enough.
Panther Warriors - The three toughness is hard to accept without other upsides.
Penumbra Kavu - It's not an awful value creature; it's just a poor cousin to Penumbra Spider, where the reach can matter.
Pheres-Band Centaurs - It's probably the biggest butt at this cost… but it just doesn't really fill a need in a cube.
Pine Walker - Underwhelming compared to other options.
Plaguemaw Beast - You really want to be getting a good benefit if you are sacrificing a creature, and it's pretty clunky. There might be the odd deck or certain card combos that give you enough, but not enough to warrant cubing this.
Plated Rootwalla - You can rely on threat of activation, though it is a bit of an investment, and if you aren't pumping it, the stats are a bit low.
Plated Spider - Bitterbow Sharpshooters is an upgrade.
Seedguide Ash - Given you should be at 5 mana when you cast this, finding another 3 Forests doesn't seem like it is going to significantly develop your game plan.
Sentinel Spider - It's perfectly fine on its own, but no reason to cube this over the easier to cast Bitterbow Sharpshooters, and you don't need both.
Serpentine Kavu - There are better green cards and this is not a good Gruul card.
Snake of the Golden Grove - It's probably going to be 4 life gain most of the time, and that just doesn't seem good enough.
Somberwald Spider - It doesn't seem worth playing when you could get the cheaper Penumbra Spider, the consistency of Bitterbow Sharpshooters, or the bigger Skysnare Spider.
Spike-Tailed Ceratops - Not good enough compared to other options such as Entourage of Trest.
Tel-Jilad Lifebreather - The activated ability might have been interesting enough if there was a decent baseline for 5 mana, but there isn't.
Territorial Baloth - Just meh. It will be fine when you can play that 6th land and swing with a 6/6, but it doesn't really feel like you are getting away with anything.
Venerable Kumo - Unless you are playing tribal spirits, just get a better creature with reach like Bitterbow Sharpshooters.
Village Survivors - There might not be anything strictly better, but if you care about creatures having vigilance, the other upsides of Bitterbow Sharpshooters or Tajuru Pathwarden, or Emodiment of Insight seem better.
Winding Wurm - Having to pay echo sucks, especially for something vanilla.
Woodborn Behemoth - It's an option for ramp decks that gives it a play once you hit 5 mana, but the majority of ramp decks include mana elves or mana rocks, making it unlikely you will get your 8/8 in a hurry.
Woodripper - Not good enough for a temporary creature.
Wormwood Treefolk - Costs too much for the effects, and not guaranteed to work on every opponent.
Yavimaya Ancients - Maybe if the toughness drop was -1… but it isn't.
Yew Spirit - This looks like it might be fun if you get to 8 mana, or alongside combat tricks / pants theme. But it doesn't look particularly good unless you have those specific things going your way.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Pelakka Wurm Description - Perhaps the best green ramp target, the life gain helps stabilise if the opponent would otherwise just swarm past your Wurm next turn, the death trigger gives you some insurance even if they have a removal spell, and if it sticks a 7/7 trampler is a good threat. Even if you don't support ramp, the only reason not to cube it is if you don't like the triple green. Anchors - Supports - Ramp
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Great Oak Guardian Description - It plays out as a 6 mana combat trick which would normally be a big no, but it's one hell of a combat trick. On the attack, it can just push through the extra damage for the win, or destroy their board after blocks (while leaving them untapped to block survivors). On defense you can surprise with the untap, use this as a blocker if played before blocks, and often enough buff your team to destroy the incoming attackers. It's never dead, as it can always be at least a 6/7 blocker the turn you play it if you are desperate. Anchors - Supports -
Plated Crusher Description - It's a solid ramp target, with hexproof providing insurance against removal and trample to break through the defenses. Even if you are on the defensive, it's a great blocker that they can't get out of the way with removal / tappers etc. Anchors - Supports - Ramp
Sifter Wurm Description - A good ramp target. It's a little less powerful than the comparable Pelakka Wurm, but it will still usually gain you some life to stabilise while also setting up your draws for the next turn or two. Anchors - Supports - Ramp
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Deadwood Treefolk Description - It is a decent recursion creature, with the 6 toughness making it a decent blocker, and replacing itself when it dies. Worth noting that it triggers on leaving the battlefield, so works with self-bounce as well. It supports grindier decks, and can be paired nicely with Eternal Witness and similar creatures. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Recursion, Bounce / Flicker
Hooting Mandrills Description - With a couple of mana discount this is fine. It's also in the colour of Commune With the Gods and similar effects, so it isn't unreasonable to cast this on turn 3 sometimes. You probably wouldn't cube it without at least a few ways to filter cards into your graveyard, but that is commonplace for most cubes. Anchors - Supports -
Krosan Tusker Description - It cycles significantly more than being cast and is a fine green fixer, essentially a draw 2 with one of those draws fixing your colours as needed or finding lands for ramp decks. The hard cast is underwhelming compared to many other options, but is very secondary. Reanimation or graveyard recursion decks might find some extra uses for it. Anchors - Supports - Reanimator, Ramp
Nemesis of Mortals Description - It only takes a couple of mana discount to be decent from the outset, and even if you are casting it as soon as you can afford it, it isn't usually long before you can threaten to make it monstrous. Fine with normal creature attrition, but gets better in decks that fill their graveyards and supports +1/+1 counters. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Skysnare Spider Description - It's good in a lot of board states; effectively blocks most things your opponent would throw at you if you are on back foot, and lets you attack when you need to keep a blocker to prevent crack backs. On offense, a 6/6 is a decent size threat they can't ignore for long. It's downside compared to other green ramp targets is that it doesn't come with built in value or protection; if it dies immediately to a 2 mana removal spell you are going to be pretty sad. Anchors - Supports -
Scaled Behemoth Description - Good stats, and hexproof means your beef isn't going to die to cheap removal, tap down effects etc. It's among the better creatures in this range; the reason it might not be in cubes is due to limited room for high cost creatures (particularly in smaller cubes) or taking a pretty nontraditional approach to green. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Ancient Silverback Description - Tt really only gets trumped by 7 toughness blockers, other indestructible / regen creatures, or repeat token creators. That said, it doesn't really stand out. Anchors - Supports -
Brood Monitor Description - The 4 bodies can make it appealing, though you probably want enough ways in your cube to take advantage of that. Generic green decks will prefer beefier creatures at this cost, but this does provide synergy for team pump, sacrifice or flicker archetypes. Anchors - Supports - Bounce, Sacrifice
Gravetiller Wurm Description - An 8/8 trampler for 6 mana is very good, you just need a cube with enough support for it to be consistent. Creatures trade in combat often enough, but it gets better with Eldrazi tokens that can be sacrificed (while accelerating into it) or other sacrifice outlets. As a result it isn't in the 'top tier' of big green beaters, but may be an option for specific cubes. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice, +1/+1 counters
Howlgeist Description - For 6 mana, you can get creatures that are bigger from the outset. However, it can be hard to get a blocker in the way, and even if they have one the first time around, they might not have a second 5+ power creature that can block it after it comes back. Dependant on the board state though. Anchors - Supports -
Maul Splicer Description - It gives you 7/7 worth of stats over 3 bodies, but in a vacuum there are many other green 7-drops that are better. The reason to cube it is if you want it as part of a larger Golem package. Anchors - Golem Tribal Supports -
Nacatl War-Pride Description - It takes a turn, but it essentially makes the rest of your team plus one 3/3 unblockable for a turn, and kills anything that dies to a 3/3. Not always consistent and you usually only get to do it once, but if it clears a fair bit of their board while getting in some damage with your other creatures that is great. Also has some fringe synergies if they matter in your cube by putting multiple bodies on the board (Goldnight Commander) or giving you multiple bodies to sacrifice after blocks / combat. If your opponent can just attack you while you drop your 6 mana 3/3 you aren't in a good spot though. Anchors - Supports -
Symbiotic Beast Description - The front end is a fair bit worse than what you can get for 6 mana. 4 tokens is a reasonable death trigger though. Given that, the reason to cube it is to support tokens / sacrifice decks, as it isn't likely to make the cut outside those decks. Anchors - Supports - Tokens, Sacrifice
Thundering Spineback Description - It's a lot of investment before it pays off, but if you can activate a couple of times you are looking good. Centaur Glade comes down earlier and has the upside of being able to activate twice once you hit 8 mana, which probably makes that the better card to fill the role. Anchors - Supports - Ramp
Thundering Tanadon Description - It's a fine colorless 4-drop for aggro decks that can afford the life payment, though this plays second fiddle to better options in that slot like Galvanic Juggernaut. Anchors - Supports -
Shefet Monitor Description - It compares to Krosan Tusker. This can truly accelerate when it is cycled as it puts the land on the battlefield, but the cheaper mana on Krosan Tuskers cycling is probably more significant at finding you your fourth land. Anchors - Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Baloth Woodcrasher - If you can attack with an 8/8 trampler a couple of times, that is going to be worth 6 mana. But once you've hit 6 mana, the likelihood of hitting lands consistently for the next few turns is going to pretty low, and paying 6 mana when you only get a 4/4 is pretty bad.
Brambleweft Behemoth - There will be times when the trample will matter, but it doesn't enable anything specific and any number of alternatives will perform better on average.
Brontotherium - There are much better creatures than this.
Elvish Aberration - Once you've hit 6 mana, the acceleration isn't as important, it's otherwise a bad creature, and the cycling is nice but not enough to give it consideration.
Root-Kin Ally - I can see some cool lines of play with some early token makers, but it wouldn't be consistent enough to consider cubing it (maybe if it had trample)
Siege Wurm - A 5/5 trampler on turn 4 is going to be pretty solid, but that is close to best case scenario, and you DO have to tap down 3 creatures that turn to cast it. Not going to be good enough consistently enough.
Symbiotic Wurm - If you are looking for a beefy ramp target with insurance, the cheaper options are probably better (Pelakka Wurm / Scaled Behemoth). If you want something to suit token / sacrifice decks, I'd sooner cube the smaller Symbiotic Beast.
Tunneler Wurm - It doesn't do anything well. Undersized for mana cost. It costs you a full card to regenerate. And it's 8 mana so it isn't a 'free' discard enabler.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Rancor Description - Excellent value as a power booster, trampler, and gets around the usual aura drawback (unless creature is removed while it is on the stack of course). Every speed of deck is happy to play this. Fringe applications if you can benefit from sacrificing or recasting it. Anchors - Supports -
Utopia Sprawl Description - Solid acceleration and fixing in a single card for 1 mana, with minor drawback that it has to enchant a Forest and not just any land, and you need to generate 2 mana. Good synergy with Arbor Elf. Anchors - Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Blossoming Defense Description - Great combat trick; cheap, enough pump to matter in most situations, works offensively or defensively, and even counters spells or targeted abilities. Anchors - Supports -
Mutagenic Growth Description - Having the opportunity to pay 0 mana makes this a card to respect. Allows winning a combat out of nowhere, or sealing the deal on a game when an opponent would otherwise be able to alpha strike back. The surprise factor is usually worth giving up that extra point of damage compared to Giant Growth. Anchors - Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Berserk Description - Solid in most aggro/midrange decks that are the beatdown to break through and deal that final blow. Can also do work in green ramp, particularly with non-trample guys getting chumped by tokens. It's very situational, but the extra damage you take might be worth using this as removal sometimes. Anchors - Supports -
Commune With Nature Description - Played early it can set up your curve, and as a top deck you can go digging for the best creature for the current board state. Occasionally you will whiff, and worth noting there are similar cards that dump the remaining cards in your graveyard if you are pursuing graveyard matters strategies. Anchors - Supports -
Gather Courage Description - ok as a pump for free. Upside that a creature with summoning sickness can block, and then benefit from this before combat damage is dealt. Mutagenic Growth not strictly better, but probably better in most situations as a free pump spell. Anchors - Supports -
Genju of the Cedars Description - Solid card, giving you the opportunity to attack with a 4/4 as early as turn 3, while also being very resilient. Playable in a wide variety of decks, though perhaps most at home in green aggro/midrange decks. Anchors - Supports -
Giant Growth Description - The old standby. ok, but not spectacular. Ideally you want to maintain card parity while impacting the board (changing a trade into a kill), or put the opponents life total within reach. Anchors - Supports -
Groundswell Description - In decks that like to be the beatdown, this is likely to be better than Giant Growth more often than not, and you'll usually know when the +2/+2 will be sufficient for the situation anyway. Still playable in a deck that intends to go long, but a little less good on the defense. Anchors - Supports -
Hunger of the Howlpack Description - Without morbid, it isn't very good. But giving something +3/+3 permanently is good upside. Still situational due to the morbid trigger, sometimes preventing the opportunity to boost mid-combat, but can be cast after a trade or block. Sometimes your opponent will answer it before you get any benefit, but if they can't you have a creature that should hit pretty hard.
Anchors -
Supports -
Hurricane Description - The biggest effect that matters here is the damage to each player, giving green some reach. Flyers is greens weakness, but not hitting ground creatures makes it less desirable. Anchors - Supports -
Prey Upon Description - It's always situational. You need a creature that should preferably win the fight. You might win the fight, but the damage dealt to your creature might now make it unwise to attack into whatever is left remaining. It’s sorcery speed, which means no mid-combat tricks. On the plus side, if you have creatures of a decent size (which green has) for a single mana you can take out large creatures on the opposing side of the board. Anchors - Supports -
Rabid Bite Description - It is ok for green removal. It isn't a fight effect, but it can be countered by instant speed removal or neutered by power reducing effects. You may want to consider Clear Shot or Epic Confrontation. Anchors - Supports -
Vessel of Nascency Description - You will almost always hit a target, and it can feed your graveyard. Depending on the deck, you can always keep it on board until you are ready to look for a specific answer. Top decked paying 3 feels a bit much, but Anchors - Supports -
Vines of the Recluse Description - It's a combat trick that you might consider given that it costs only 1 mana. Has the surprise untap factor, and the toughness boost plus reach means you are likely to survive whatever you kill. It can even be used aggressively to turn a trade into a win while setting up a blocker with the untap. Anchors - Supports -
Vines of Vastwood Description - Solid effect with 2 modes. Hold it as a counterspell to removal or other targeted ability for a single mana. Or as a good combat trick for 2 mana. Hopefully both! Does require the right situation to maximise value, but those situations come along frequently enough. Anchors - Supports -
Wild Growth Description -Utopia Sprawl is going to be better most of the time because it also fixes mana, but worth noting it isn't strictly better than Wild Growth. If you only have one Forest, you can play Wild Growth onto another land and get the benefit straight away. Anchors -
Supports - Ramp
Worldly Tutor Description - Provides card disadvantage, but can find you the answer you need. You may want to consider this higher if you have some creature-based combos built into your cube. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Abundant Growth Description - It doesn't accelerate, but draws a card. Not a terrible card if you want fixing as opposed to acceleration, though I suspect most cubes prefer to get both out of a single card. Anchors - Supports -
Aerial Volley - 1 Description - It's conditional removal, but can be decent in certain environments / matchups, though it will be a dead card against certain decks. Most cubers won't want a 'sideboard card', but getting a 2 for 1 or being able deal with multiple spirit / bird tokens will be good against those decks. Anchors - Supports -
Aim High Description - It's an ok combat trick slanted to the defensive side. It has a few different angles; surprise blocker on something that is tapped, able to block that incoming flyer, or sometimes just the pump is all you need. It can also be used offensively, potentially letting you trade up or win a block that was favorable for the opponent, and the creature can now pull blocking duty as well. Anchors - Supports -
Ancient Stirrings
Description - Finds lands and the occasional artifact / Eldrazi. Caravan Vigil is going to be the better card in vast majority of cubes because it gets you exactly which (basic) land you need. You probably want to upgrade to Mulch, but this does help find early lands at the cheapest cost. Has more value in a cube that has strong artifacts or artifact creatures.
Aspect of Hydra Description - You need to build around it to some degree (by drafting more green), but can be good bang for buck. More effective in green ramp decks that tend to use more creatures that have double green in their cost. Anchors - Supports - Green Ramp
Caravan Vigil Description - Grabs you whatever land you need for only a single mana. You probably want to upgrade to Mulch, but this does help find early lands at the cheapest cost. Morbid is going to hard to trigger in early turns, especially as this is a sorcery, which limits the effectiveness. Later in the game the morbid is easier to trigger, but even if you don't you can probably just play the land from your hand anyway. May get a bit more value if you support Eldrazi spawn-making creatures. Anchors - Supports -
Corrosive Gale Description - It's targets are limited so it is pretty situational, but can be used in a pinch if you need to off some fliers. In certain circumstances, against Skies decks for example, can be a blowout, or undo a Lingering Souls. Anchors - Supports -
Crop Sigil Description - It can support a self-mill / graveyard deck, but it is a bit slow about it. The opportunity to get back two cards is nice, but the land is not going to be gas that frequently. All that said, Codex Shredder may serve this purpose better; you can mill yourself immediately, play it in any colour, and while retrieval is more expensive you don't need delirium. Still, Crop Sigil is better at signalling the archetype. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Elephant Grass Description - A poor man's Propaganda… or maybe a fairer one. It's not a lockdown because it will eventually go away, but might be worth it in the midgame to either hold off or minimise your opponents attack for a few turns, or hold off their board development while they attack. Extra hosing on black might turn some cube designers away. Anchors - Supports -
Keen Sense Description - Works well on pingers or evasive creatures. Suffers from aura 2 for 1 problem; has strong upside but harder to trigger with base green, as green has less evasion than most other colours. Anchors - Supports -
Natural State Description - This may be a metagame call; if the majority of your enchantments / artifacts are 3 or less it could be an upgrade over Naturalize, or for decks that know it is the cheaper ones that are their downfall. Anchors - Supports -
Nature's Claim Description - Cheap, instant, and uncondtional removal and hits both artifacts and enchantments. All adds up to good stuff, but unless you really want this effect to be at the 1 mana spot, Naturalize is probably going to be worth paying the extra 1 for to not give your opponent the 4 life. Anchors - Supports -
Noxious Revival Description - Trades selective card quality for card disadvantage, and possibly for no mana. Worldly Tutor etc have the advantage of searching your entire library, where this requires a card to already be in your graveyard which is more limiting. Can be more useful in a graveyard matters theme that puts more cards in your graveyard, though by paying a little more mana you can maintain card parity (Regrowth) or obtain advantage (Eternal Witness). Anchors - Supports -
Ornamental Courage Description - It's a cheap enough combat trick. Other tricks are better in general, but this is an option if you care about the 'surprise blocker' effect. Anchors - Supports -
Primal Bellow Description - Probably only better than most growth effects if you are playing mono-green or green based ramp; as it narrows down the number of decks it can be played in, majority of cubes will want something more flexible or that they can splash for. If you support mono-green in other ways then you might consider it. Anchors - Mono-green Supports -
Ranger's Guile Description - The stat bonus is secondary to having hexproof, which can be used at instant speed to counter removal or other undesirable effects. While not strictly better, Vines of Vastwood is likely to be the more desirable card most of the time. This is a reasonable second if you want this effect. Anchors - Supports -
Rofellos's Gift Description - Very narrow application, but could be useful in the decks that wants it. Enchantment Matters or Aura-based Voltron might want this if those decks skew towards green. Absolutely need the right support to consider it though. Anchors - Supports - Enchantment Matters, Voltron
Sandstorm Description - Green doesn't get a lot of ways to damage creatures. It's more effective against tokens or 'go wide' strategies, so its use will depend on your cube construction. You probably want to avoid having it being a complete blowout against other decks you might support. Anchors - Supports -
Serene Sunset Description - If you have an empty board, it's an expensive Fog. If you have some creatures, it has the potential to be strong, either aggressively or defensively. Turning two trades into two kills, or triple blocking Pelakka Wurm without losing a dude is good times. So situational based on board state, but potential for upside. Anchors - Supports -
Spider Umbra Description - The pump and reach is not significant, but with protection of the totem armor can provide enough to be up for consideration.
Anchors -
Supports -
Stinging Shot
Description - The opportunity cost is low due to cycling if you aren't facing flyers, and is good at shoring up one of greens weaknesses. It's not really necessary though.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sylvan Tutor Description - Strictly worse than Worldly Tutor, but could be a redundant piece if you are pushing creature-based combos, or want decks to be able to find their answers. Anchors - Supports -
Thrill of the Hunt Description - It could be +2/+4 for GW which is borderline. Probably better if you can eke out advantage from a single cast, and then threaten the second, or cast on two different creatures in the same combat, but only 1 power makes it more situational to get that advantage, and is unlikely to make it as a Selesnya card unless you really want to push combat tricks in those colors. Anchors - Supports -
Vitalize Description - This is pretty situational, but could cause a blowout in the right circumstances. With a few mana dorks, can be a weird way of accelerating. It's floor (which is probably most situations) is probably going to be a surprise block, with some potential upsides. Anchors - Supports -
Warrior's Lesson Description - Draw 2 cards for G at instant speed is awesome. But it is pretty conditional and won't be reliable. Most likely to get you your cards if you are playing tokens and going around your opponent, or heavy evasive decks. Anchors - Supports -
Windstorm Description - Narrow targets, but instant speed and can shore up a weakness in green. Situational, but can be effective.
Anchors -
Supports -
Winter Blast Description - It can serve as a finisher by tapping down potential blockers and letting you swing in. Works in any green deck, but probably best in a ramp deck to ensure fatties don't just get chumped by tokens, or aggro/tempo decks before your opponent can recover. You wouldn't play it only for its ability to kill small flyers, but it can be used that way in a pinch.
Anchors -
Supports -
Wreath of Geists Description - Comes with the standard weakness of all auras, but can turn into a big threat if left unanswered. It can be ok in a midrange deck that is happy to trade guys in early turns, but the main reason to consider including this in your cube is if you are pushing a graveyard matters theme that dumps creatures from your library into your graveyard. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Animate Land - It can set up a surprise blocker, or a hasty attacker, but is situational and doesn't have enough impact on most games.
Attune with Aether - Doesn't do enough, unless you are really pushing energy hard.
Briar Shield - The +1/+1 on its own isn't good enough. And the trouble with the +3/+3 option is that you have already committed it to the creature, so there is no surprise value.
Burst of Strength - Of itself, it can be not only a surprise blocker, but leave behind something stronger. To make it worth it, it really needs to be able get value out of the untap, which is going to be very situational, and the upside is not that high.
Camouflage - Too much text to read, confusing and no skill.
Corrosive Gale - While it is ok against decks with lots of flyers, not going to be worth it in general.
Corrosive Gale - While it's ok against decks with lots of flyers, not going to be worth it in general. If you support a Skies deck, you might include this as a sweeper, but you likely don't want something that is a blowout against another deck you are supporting.
Crop Rotation - Not enough good nonbasics to make this worthwhile, given that it doesn't accelerate you.
Dwell On The Past - This effect is likely to only matter if you have a graveyard matters theme that likes dumping cards from your library into your graveyard. In which case, you want a version that has flashback.
Earthlore - Only works on defense, which limits its usefulness.
Enter the Unknown - This is not worth a card. About the best cast is casting it on a 1-drop so you can accelerate into 4 mana on turn 3, but the average case is significantly worse.
Explosive Growth - Become Immense going to be better most of the time.
False Mourning - Card disadvantage not worth it. One more mana for Regrowth.
Fog - It's the classic Fog effect, but not very good as is; other options like Constant Mists or Momentary Peace are worth paying a higher mana cost.
Gaea's Might / Might of Alara - Not likely to be better than Giant Growth majority of the time, with more chance for downside. You would have to be actively pushing domain to depower your cube for this effect.
Gift of the Woods - Not sure why you would play this over another blocker. Surviving some combats is not going to change much and the life gain won't matter.
Metamorphosis - Too much setup and not worth the effort. Just ramp!
Might of Old Krosa - You don't want to play this main phase, you want to play it mid-combat.
Mirran Mettle - Not going to be better than Giant Growth except for an artifact heavy cube.
Mobilize - Sorcery speed kills it. There aren't many creatures with amazing tap effects that you would want to use on your turn. There might be a few cards that convoke or otherwise ask you to tap your creatures for effects, but by and large they aren't going to be numerous enough in a single cube to make this worth it.
Mutant's Prey - Instant is nice; having your creature choice options extremely limited is not.
Nature's Chosen - Not enough creatures that tap for great effect, and not an effective tool to use to untap an attacker and be able to block. Too easy to get 2 for 1'd. And white restriction.
Nature's Panoply - Flexibility doesn't make up for too high a cost. Compare Incremental Growth.
One With Nature - You could put this on an evasive creature, and start thinning out your deck. It's not a reliable card if ramping/fixing is your aim, and other combat trigger auras like Keen Sense are likely going to provide you better advantage.
Oxidize - For when you absolutely must kill that artifact. There are unlikely to be many artifacts that naturally regnerate in most cubes, making more flexible options (Naturalize or Reclamation Sage) more desirable.
Piper's Melody / Renewing Touch - Self-mill decks might like this effect to prevent running out of cards, but in those decks you generally want this type of effect to have flashback. In a vacuum, the improved likelihood of drawing creatures isn't going to make up for playing this card for a number of turns and isn't worth the effect.
Scent of Ivy - In practice, the pump is likely to be worse than other pump effects, with the downside of revealing your hand. Pumps of 4 or more are going to be rare if you are playing properly.
Seal of Strength - By being an enchantment, you miss out on the surprise factor that is often a critical timing factor for pump spells. In an enchantment matters theme, this is not good enough to waste time on recursion.
Simplify - If you were to draft this, it would mean not playing your own enchantments, or being extra careful about how you play them. And when your opponent has more than 1, they choose what they want to sacrifice. The more flexible options are much better than this at getting rid of enchantments.
Slime Molding - Not going to provide you an efficient enough creature at nearly all points of the curve. Maybe if you REALLY want green/x spells matters to be a thing.
Untamed Might - While scalable, it is worse than many other cards at fixed mana costs. The potential ceiling is rarely going to be above something like Become Immense.
Urban Burgeoning - Not being true acceleration (having an extra mana on your turn) is going to kill this for most decks/cube designers. Might be worth pointing out that it has some extra benefit for some nonbasics, mainly bouncelands.
Vigorous Charge - As a one-off effect, it doesn’t do enough to warrant costing a card.
Vineweft - Too weak. Expensive recursion and weak effect not good enough for an enchantment matters recursion subetheme.
Whip Silk - Of itself it is bad. It is one of the cheapest bounce effects to trigger stuff like heroic, prowess, or other cards that trigger off enchantments or non-creature spells being cast. But even if you are really pushing those themes it is still hardly worth playing.
Wing Puncture - Instant is good, but you want versatility in your fight effects.
Withstand Death - Meh. Can save a dude, but often going to be 1 for 1 at best (surviving a trade or countering a removal spell).
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Regrowth Description - Solid card in almost any green deck. It can get back the most relevant target in your graveyard for the current game state, whether it is the best creature that got hit by removal, getting back your own removal to deal with a new threat, or getting an engine going. Can combine with other retrieval cards to form loops, such as Eternal Witness. Also good in graveyard decks that can dredge stuff into the graveyard for later retrieval. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Sylvan Library Description - If you aren't paying life to get more cards, you are invested a card. Played early it can help you hit your land drops, and stem their flow once you hit the required number. However once you hit 2 'dud' cards it isn't really helping much than if you had just drawn them. If you have a few shuffling or scry effects, it does get better by letting you see new cards more frequently. 4 life is not insignificant, but not having a mana cost attached can let you draw cards without impacting your ability to play them. Note that you are still drawing 2 extra cards a turn, regardless of whether you put them back, so it has some specific synergies with Lorescale Coatl and Horizon Chimera. Anchors - Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Commune With The Gods Description - Digging 5 and being able to find 2 relevant card types makes it unlikely that you will whiff. Helps find your powerful cards, and assist graveyard decks by dumping any relevant card there. In particular, dumping a reanimation target while finding a reanimation enchantment (Animate Dead, Necromancy) is some pretty strong synergy for that deck. Also solid in enchantment based Voltron / enchantment matters decks, or just to increase the chance of finding your powerful enchantments like Curses, or removal like Banishing Light. Fits well in just about any deck, but goes the extra mile in decks built to take advantage. Anchors - Supports - Reanimator, Graveyard Matters
Constant Mists Description - A single Fog effect usually delays the inevitable without getting you ahead. In the case of Constant Mists, being able to buy it back a number of turns in a row can lock out the opponent while you set up your board or other plays. Once your opponent knows you have it, it makes things difficult for them; do they all out assault? Only attack with a single evasive creature to draw out the sacrifice or hope you will take the damage? Don't attack and let you draw into more lands? Has strong synergy with a handful of other cards. Land Tax keeps the fuel going, and paired with Guttersnipe can be a slow rolling death machine. Anchors - Supports -
Edge of Autumn Description - Helps in the early game to accelerate and fix, while providing flexibility in the late game to draw into something more useful, essentially for free. Anchors - Supports -
Epic Confrontation Description - Decent option for green removal. Allows your creatures to trade up by virtue of the toughness, and if you are clearing a path, you get an extra point of damage in. It can still be situational; even if your creature survives, your creature might have taken sufficient damage that attacking may no longer be profitable if the opponent has another blocker. Anchors - Supports -
Grapple With The Past Description - A fine graveyard filler and retrieval combination. You probably cast it when you already have a target in mind, but you can always upgrade if something better comes along. Fine support card for graveyard matters decks, and being instant provides some extra flexibility. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Mulch Description - Can help with decks that need to hit their land drops early, while also helping to fill the graveyard. Marginally better if you have effects which let you manipulate or look at the top of your library, but it is bit of work. Waiting unti your Sensei's Divining Top has hit 3 lands before you cast it may not fit your game plan. Anchors - Supports -
Naturalize Description - It's not sexy, but it gets the job done. While there are plenty of options attached to creatures, you can always keep this held back until your opponent is committed to an attack before removing equipment, power boosting auras etc to maximise other opportunities to mess with your opponent. Anchors - Supports -
Nature's Way Description - Decent green removal. Being straight up damage instead of fight reduces the risk (you can still get effectively 2 for 1'd if they remove your creature while this is on the stack), and without any damage on your creature you are more likely to take advantage of the vigilance and trample. There are plenty of similar options though. Anchors - Supports -
Predator's Strike Description - It fights among other pump options, but 2 mana isn't back breaking to get your early creatures to trade up / survive, and the trample can be relevant to break through the final points in the lategame. Anchors - Supports -
Rampant Growth Description - A fairly basic effect that ramp or control decks will welcome for mana fixing and accelerating from turn 2 into 4-drops. It's not flashy, but gets the job done. Sakura-Tribe Elder is better in nearly all situations, but you might include this if you want multiple 2cc spells that both fix and accelerate. Anchors - Supports -
Resize Description - The baseline effect is worse than Giant Growth or Predator's Strike, so it depends on whether you will get use out of Recover. It's not optional; if you can't pay the mana, it gets exiled. That is going to be tricky for some decks to manage. A midrange deck that want to keep laying threats on curve and pushing the advantage isn't going to want to hold that mana up 'just in case'. An alternative play is using 4 mana in response to removal or a trigger on the stack, but you still have to have another creature worth casting this on in the first place. May be more suited to grindy cubes that find their decks with mana to spare in the late game. Anchors - Supports -
Savage Surge Description - A reasonable combat trick, particularly in racing situations. It can either be used on the attack to win what would be a losing / trade situation and then have a blocker for your opponents turn. Or allow you to swing in, and then have a surprise blocker when your opponent swings back. Anchors - Supports -
Sprout Swarm Description - The effectiveness of Sprout Swarm is highly dependent on the average speed of your cube. Given time, it accelerates into a machine of mass tokens. In fast cubes, you will probably be on the back foot and won’t have time to get into a position to cast it twice in a turn, and will need to start blocking with your tokens to survive, killing your engine. If you do have the time and your opponent doesn't have an answer (counterspells, targeted discard, or evasive creatures you can't deal with), it can be an inevitable win condition. Anchors - Supports - Tokens
Symbiosis Description - It does have the downside of requiring two targets, but it has the ability to turn around a couple of combat interactions. Anchors - Supports -
Tangle Description - One of the better Fog effects that can help you survive an alpha strike and then let you strike back for 2 consecutive attack phases. It might even be a reasonable stalling tactic played early against aggro, protecting your life total and giving you time to cast your larger creatures. Anchors - Supports -
Titanic Growth Description - Pump spells often come down to personal preference (you might consider Predator's Strike or Giant Growth to fill the same spot), but this is a solid pump spell. Anchors - Supports -
Utopia Vow Description - 2 mana for green to remove a creature from combat is a good option. You fix and accelerate their mana; the closest comparison is Path To Exile, and while this is worse (permanently on abilities still apply, they can sacrifice the creature, sorcery speed) when it comes to green removal you won't find much better. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Assault Formation Description - It needs some support, but it's a unique effect. You need to have enough low power / high toughness creatures that this can take advantage of. You might need to stretch a little, but if you start with creatures that fit that criteria that are playable elsewhere that's a good start. Anchors - Supports -
Channel Description - It's possible to support the Channel / Fireball combo in peasant cube. The question is, how good is it outside of that combo? The double green in the casting cost makes it much harder to accelerate into green ramp targets. You will need 5 green mana on the board if you want to ramp into something like Pelakka Wurm. On the plus side, you can accelerate into Eldrazi or large artifact creatures as early as turn 2, so you might give it more consideration if you have more of those in your cube. It has potential for really high upside, but will be wildly inconsistent. Anchors - Supports -
Druid's Call Description - It comes with the inherent 2 for 1 problem if your opponent has removal. But if they can't remove the target, then it can become problematic for them to attack into. It isn't likely to generate a squillion squirrels, but more likely to provide virtual card advantage by holding off attacks until they draw removal. You wouldn't want to rely on it, but minor synergies with pingers. Anchors - Supports -
Durable Handicraft Description - It's a little slow to get going, and sometimes you are just going to have better things to do (use all your mana to play 2 threats instead of trigger this, the best creature for the board state uses all of your mana, keep mana for counters / tricks) but midrange decks may get some mileage out of. You are most likely to consider it if you have +1/+1 'lords' that can grant bonuses to your handicrafted creatures. Also pairs well with token armies, assuming you've got the spare mana to make them all bigger. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Elemental Uprising Description - It's best use is likely to be in the early game on turn 3, when you can safely run it into a single creature that will die to it (you don’t get to choose what they block with), acting like pseudo-removal. The stats also make it reasonable to act as a defensive combat trick to kill smaller incoming creatures. However the timing is sometimes going to be awkward to use effectively. Corner case of being a pump spell if you play it on an awakened land. Anchors - Supports -
Evolution Charm Description - Nothing is particularly noteworthy, but each effect will being relevant often enough to consider as a package. Anchors - Supports -
Exoskeletal Armor Description - This can have some pretty big upside, especially if you support graveyard matters decks. It's tempered by the standard 2 for 1 aura issue, and times when the bonus will be miniscule. Can be ok in hexproof / pants decks, and when paired with greens 'digging' cards like Commune With The Gods. Anchors - Gravedyard Matters Supports -
Explore Description - It can help accelerate and at worst is a 2 mana cantrip. Anchors - Supports -
Farseek Description - At peasant, it finds less than Rampant Growth / Sakura-Tribe Elder for the same cost. However, I've listed it here noting that some peasant cube owners may break rarity for dual lands that have basic land types. In those cubes, this might have a place. Anchors - Supports -
Fists of Ironwood Description - Trample might be relevant, depending on the number of fatties you have in your cube, with the tokens making up for the cost of the card. In a pinch, you can cast on a small creature just to use this as a green Dragon Fodder if you just need bodies. Anchors - Supports -
Gather the Pack Description - It competes with Commune With The Gods, which can find enchantments as well. The upside of Gather The Pack is the ability to keep 2 creatures if you have spell mastery. The likely decks that would want this variant are spell-based ramp (Cultivate, Kodama's Reach etc) that can then dig for their targets with the highest likelihood of hitting spell mastery. It may be a little inconsistent in other decks. Anchors - Supports - Ramp, Spells Matter
Highspire Infusion Description - Giant Growth and Predator's Strike are going to be better for most cubes. It's still fine, but the only reason to cube it is if you want to push energy support a little harder. Anchors - Supports - Energy
Into the North Description - The only time you would consider including this in your cube is if you had the 5 snow dual fixers, let your players play with snow basics, and probably Mouth of Ronom as well. Without the nonbasics (and whenever you don't draft them for your deck) it's just a Rampant Growth. Anchors - Supports -
Lead By Example Description - It's not a bad combat trick, and supports +1/+1 counter themes. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Moment's Peace Description - Fog variant that gives you two Fogs. It just buys time, but it buys more time than most. The threat of the second activation might actually buy you more time. Minor synergy with graveyard strategies, who might be happy to have this effect dumped in the graveyard while they set up their plays. Anchors - Supports -
Name Dropping Description - This… seems interesting. It could do absolutely nothing if the opponent is careful, but it could do a lot for a grindy threshold deck against some opponents. It's not optional, so it would be hilarious for your opponent to fill your hand to prevent threshold while Grizzly Fate is on the stack. Anchors - Supports -
Nature's Lore / Three Visits Description - It doesn't hit the battlefield tapped like other searchers, but it only finds Forests. There aren't any nonbasic Forests worth finding at Peasant, and this locks you into finding green mana, and land searchers that find other basic land types support more decks. However coming into play untapped can be important, and can be really good when sequenced on turn 3 alongside another 2-drop.
Nature's Spiral Description - It's strictly worse than Regrowth, but there are still enough targets that you may consider this as a second effect for larger cubes, or you are really pushing deep on recursion themes in green. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Nostalgic Dreams Description - This requires a bit of setup. You need cards in your graveyard you want to get back, and cards in your hand you are ready to get rid of; preferably ones that benefit from being in the graveyard. Compared to the likes of Regrowth, you end up at card disadvantage, but it can give you card quality. Best in dredge-type graveyard decks that can give you lots of targets to shape your hand to the current game state. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Provoke Description - It's a form of green removal. It's something you would play more for the gameplay it generates than raw power. It can help take out some utility creatures.
Seal of Primordium Description - Enchantment version of Naturalize. The only reason you would play this over the instant version, or attached to creatures, is for enchantment matters themes. Anchors - Supports - Enchantment Matters
Swell of Growth Description - It's fairly unique, but the question is, when will you want to play it? You want to play it when the pump matters, which is usually after the first few turns when you've cast a creature or two and they are about to get into combat. But you also want to play it when you can get the extra land drop, which makes the window for maximum opportunity pretty narrow. It might have a place in specific cubes that push landfall triggers and land bounce (Quirion Ranger). Anchors - Supports - Landfall
Sylvan Scrying Description - This will be highly dependent on the nonbasics in your cube. If you are finding basics, it is just worse than Rampant Growth or Sakura-Tribe Elder. If you have powerful utility lands (Maze of Ith, Library of Alexandria) it gets a little boost, and it can always find tri-lands or rainbow lands for multi-colour decks.
Travel Preparations Description - You aren't going to play it without the flashback, making this a conditional 4 power and 4 tougness for 4 mana. It requires two creatures to maximise value, and once you've put counters on creatures, they are still prone to removal. Being a sorcery is a knock against it, but if you support any +1/+1 counter themes this can be worth it. It also has minor synergy with persist creatures. It can also help aggro starts stay relevant long enough to close the game. Anchors - Supports -
Verdant Rebirth Description - The timing window is a lot worse than green retrieval spells like Regrowth and Grapple With the Past. For that, it offers a 2 for 1, even if you have to recast the creature. Better in more combat oriented cubes, where you can more easily activate the 2 for 1. Best suited for grindy midrange decks intending to outvalue the opponent over time. There might be occasions where it is stuck in your hand with no creatures on the board, but it is going to be better than that frequently enough. Good with cards with ETB effects, particularly recursion with Eternal Witness (like that card needs more help). Anchors - Supports -
Wildwood Rebirth Description - It's narrower than Regrowth, but it is instant speed, which might suit flash / go style decks. One of few retrieval effects that fits on Isochron Scepter if you want to create that synergy. Anchors - Supports - Flash / Go
Aspect of Mongoose - Despite coming back if the creature dies, the protection still costs you a card. There might be some creatures you want to protect , but this is not the card. Lightning Greaves gives you a similar effect with a lot more upside and fits in more decks.
Back to Nature - You either don't have a lot of enchantments, where Naturalise is likely to be more flexible. Or you are pushing an enchantment theme / deck, and this might turn out to be a blowout against that deck. It won't fit the design of most cubes.
Deglamer - If it's truly threatening (Skullclamp, Curse of Predation), you wouldn't want to put it back into the players library to draw again. It isn't worth the card to 'save' your own.
Dissenter's Deliverance - It cycles, but it also misses half the targets of Naturalise… I can't imagine a cube wanting it.
Dragon Fangs - The number of decks where this would make sense are far too narrow.
Druid's Deliverance - Only prevents damage to you, not all combat damage. Too narrow.
Earthbrawn - The flexibility of a single +1/+1 counter is not worth the extra mana cost over Giant Growth.
Earthen Arms - The basic mode is outclassed, and the awaken mode either gives you a vanilla 6/6 (that costs you a land) r a 4/4 plus distribute the other 2 counters elsewhere… not worth the 7 mana.
Echoing Courage - Worse than many other effects, except in token decks.
Elfhame Sanctuary - You would need a pretty good reason to play this. It can keep fueling a Constant Mists or Goblin Trenches, but isn't likely to be worth investing a card to the board for that purpose.
Elven Rite - A Diregraf Ghoul might be nice swinging as a 4/4 on turn 2, but in most cases this isn't going to be worth it. At sorcery speed, it can't be used as a combat trick.
Feed The Clan - 10 life is an ok amount if you can get it. I'm just not sure what deck would want it.
Ferocity - It's probably most likely to just let your creatures through so they don't grow, and if they can kill the creature you just got 2 for 1'd. It could have a place in decks with regeneration creatures, warding off attacks and then being able to swing in, but it's too narrow for most decks to contemplate. You'd rather have it be an aura with immediate impact or a combat trick.
Fertile Ground - You would rather be able to accelerate on turn 1 with Utopia Sprawl. This has minor upsides, but in most cases won't be worth the extra mana.
Fistful of Force - You want to know what you are getting with a combat trick. Lots of better green pump spells at 1 or 2 mana.
Flock of Rabid Sheep - You probably need X to be at least 6 to get an average of 3 bears… err.. Sheep. Not efficient enough. I'd rather the guarantee and repeatability of Grizzly Fate even without threshold.
Gaea's Blessing - It can help shuffle critical cards into your library without costing a card, but you still have to take time off to cast it, and the likelihood of drawing those cards in the next few turns is still going to be slim. The first effect would be most useful in decks like dredge, but the second effect is completely counter to what dredge decks want to be doing.
Gaea's Touch - The dream would be to drop this turn 2 and play your 3rd Forest, turn 3 drop 2 more Forests, sac this, and play something like Plated Crusher. But you need to be mono-green to be consistent, and it does not make for a good top deck. There are a few cards that bounce lands to your hand (like Quirion Ranger) but the synergy is not strong enough to consider pursuing.
Gift of Strength - It's pretty rare you wouldn't want to cube Predator's Strike or something more aggressive instead.
Gleeful Sabotage - The likelihood of having two targets is low, or that you will want to tap two of your creatures, and that you will want to do so at sorcery speed, is very slim.
Glissa's Scorn - The flexibility of Naturalise is better.
Heavy Fog - It only prevents damage to you, not your creatures. Pass.
Hidden Ancients - This is going to be a sideboard card at best, and only then if you support an enchantment based deck.
Howling Gale - If your cube includes a prevalence of spirit tokens and 2/1 flyers, this might give green some outs, while also being about to take out some 2 toughness flyers from time to time. But there are better effects.
Invigorating Boon - Too difficult to make cycling a thing, and the upside is not great regardless.
Jolrael's Favor - Flashing it into play might save a decent creature, but it is still a 4 mana combat trick. With the prevalence of white exile removal and black 'can’t regenerate' removal, investing an extra card in regeneration is not likely to be worth it.
Karametra's Favor - It replaces itself, but it works on the proviso that you have a creature already on the board that you are willing to give up whatever its inherent value is to become a mana creature. Just include more mana creatures.
Khalni Heart Expedition - If you can play it consistently on turn 2, it is solid. When you play it on turn 5+, it might have no impact for several turns. It gets better in ramp decks that include other land searching spells, but not enough to warrant the inclusion of this in your cube.
Krosan Reclamation - It costs you a card. Sure, you get to cast it twice, but it still costs you a card you never get back. The fixing of card draw or improvement in card quality is so minor, it nowhere near makes up for it, and there are no worthwhile combos or synergies that can make effective use of this.
Lammastide Weave - The only place I could see this fitting is for the fateseal deck, that looks at the opponents top of deck and uses this to mill an offending card. If you support a graveyard matters themes and have other cards in your cube that monitor the top of your deck, it could also fit there. It is very narrowly on theme however.
Land Aid '04 - This sounds fun, but double G kills it.
Land Grant - Hardcast it is worse than a lot of other options. Casting it for free is nice, but as we don't have nonbasic Forest options, it may as well just be another Forest. It could a free spell to trigger prowess, Guttersnipe etc, but that is too narrow to consider inclusion.
Larger Than Life - Sorcery speed makes this unplayable; you'd much rather have the instant speed of Predator's Strike than the extra points of pump.
Leeching Bite - It requires the right board state to be effective, and you would usually prefer a better pump effect. It can kill things, but not enough to warrant inclusion. Useless if you have no creatures.
Lignify - You can cast it on your own creature, using 2 cards to build a wall… or you could include Wall of Blossoms which sort of costs 0 cards. Or you could cast it on your opponents creatures… and then have a wall that you have to break through. No thanks.
Lull - It's a Fog variant. The cycling doesn't make it worth playing.
Mantle of Webs - Not providing actual flying makes this not worth it.
Mark of Sakiko - It requires a lot of set up for what is not likely to be a lot of payoff. Magical Christmas land sees a 2 power 1 drop followed by this without being opposed, allowing you to play another 2-drop, using removal to keep the board clear and keep casting dudes. Or getting a trampler connecting in the midgame to power out midrange or high end fatties. But the reality is more likely to be getting blocked and 2 for 1'd, or not being able to make effective use of the mana anyway. Just stick with more consistent ramp.
Might of the Nephilim - Except in very rare instances, it's going to be worse than Titanic Strength.
Monstrous Growth - Titanic Strength is the same effect but instant.
Nature's Kiss - I thought it said 'top of your library', which was still dubious. Graveyard? Nope.
Night Soil - Doesn't do enough. Without a lot of support, there won't be enough creatures in graveyards. And if you spend a lot of effort, you only have a handful of 1/1 tokens to show for it.
Nylea's Presence - Not enough impact. It doesn't cost you a card, but it only fixes mana and doesn't accelerate while costing you 2 mana.
Ordeal of Nylea - It requires you to draft the right deck, and then for things to go right. Ideally you need an early creature you want to attack with, wait up to 3 turns, and then wait another turn for your ramp as the lands comes into play tapped. You could accelerate it with creatures that enter the battlefield with +1/+1 counters, but you are clutching for the perfect confluence of events.
Phytoburst - A quarter of a life total is a lot. However sorcery speed means this is probably not going to connect when you want it to, and Titanic Growth is better for the instant speed.
Primal Rage - There are board states where this might have an impact, but there are better ways to give creatures trample.
Quest for Renewal - Pseudo-vigilance that may not become active until several turns after you play it. There might be some interesting combos (Sprout Swarm), but they don't overcome the fact that this is otherwise terrible, and are probably just win more anyway.
Quiet Disrepair - It's quirky, but for the most part you don't want to wait a turn for your removal to work. 2 life for 'free' each turn is not bad if you are racing or have some life gain matter cards, but you would rather have something a little more consistent.
Repopulate - It's not a cantrip, and even if you improve the density of nonlands, on average it is going to take may turns for that to turn into a full card.
Resounding Roar - 8 mana is too much, and there are better versions of the base effect.
Respite - It's a Fog with upside, but not enough to warrant playing.
Restore - It's too narrow to be of any consequence.
Resuscitate - Mortals' Resolve is strictly better.
Ruin in Their Wake - You aren't going to have the Wastes to make this worthwhile.
Savage Punch - Epic Confrontation is far more consistent for this effect.
Scouting Trek - You end up down a card, and there are few synergies that are easy to exploit in singelton peasant. It can give you a constant stream of Wurm Harvest's, but it isn't worth including for a single card.
Seek the Wilds - It's probably more likely to find a hit as it searches for the 2 highest density card types in most decks, but Commune With The Gods, Mulch or others are more desirable as they dump cards in the graveyard, providing support archetypes which nearly everybody plays.
Sheltering Wood - The upside on Vines of Vastwood is much better than the upside here that you wouldn't consider playing this.
Skyreaping - Even if you want this type of effect, this is too inconsistent.
Skyshroud Blessing - For when you really really really need to protect that Treetop Village.
Solidarity of Heroes - This is so all in on the +1/+1 theme, and is only going to be playable in a deck that has a fair number of creatures with +1/+1 counters. There are likely to be board states where casting this will be an absolute blowout, but is still situational and it costs a bucket ton of mana if you have a few targets.
Song of Serenity - Too narrow and will do nothing a lot of the time, except help you lose the game by not playing cards that mattered.
Spring Cleaning - Most of the time there will only be 1 target anyway, in which case you want a more flexible card.
Strength from the Fallen - In the early to midgame it might just do nothing. You need the perfect confluence of graveyard dumping cards and enough enchantments, which is a tall order to fulfill.
Strength in Numbers - You want this to be more consistent to consider playing it.
Summer Bloom - The upside seems high. Play on turn 2, drop 3 lands (maybe a bounceland), play a land on turn 3 and play a 6-drop. But this fails anywhere other than turn 2, fails if you don't have an opening hand full of land, and other 1 and 2 mana acceleration options are more consistent. You are probably only happy to see this in an opening hand with 5 other lands and a relevant 5-6 drop. Which could get hit by removal anyway.
Superior Numbers - Green direct damage! But it is probably only ever going to be consistent enough in a dedicated token deck.
Sylvan Might - The baseline is not good, and the flashback is expensive.
Sylvan Scrying - There aren't enough good nonbasics to put this in your pool. You'd rather play something Rampant Growth to actually accelerate you.
Tangleasp - So about the only time you would want to play this is during your combat phase when you have a bunch of tramplers and your opponent is intending to block.
Time of Need - There isn't the critical mass of playable legendary creatures at uncommon to consider this.
Toil to Renown - It could gain you 10+ life in the right deck, but is going to be too inconsistent to be relied upon.
Tower Defense - If you have no creatures a real Fog effect will be better, but It might just be one of the best pseudo-Fog effects if you have creature parity on the board. It will help your creatures survive almost any encounter with opposing forces, hopefully turn trades into wins, and if you are on defense you can deal with flyers. In practice, it is going to be too inconsistent, and in other situations doesn't help you win the game.
Tracker's Instincts - You would have to consider this a Simic card, otherwise you would just play Commune With the Gods or Gather the Pack. It isn't terrible incremental advantage, but it's not good enough to break into a Simic section.
Tribute to the Wild - Unless you are playing multiplayer, Naturalize is better.
Unravel the Aether - Very little upside over Naturalize. You might prevent some decks from using graveyard retrieval, but you give them the chance of drawing it again.
Verdant Touch - The effect is too expensive for what you get. You don't get anything extra to add to the board. Centaur Glade has a higher initial investment, but doesn't cost you your lands. Even Zendikar's Roil would be better in most cases.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Cultivate / Kodama's Reach Description - One of the best accelerators and fixers. It guarantees that you go from 3 to 5, and helps you find splash colors or just meet high colour commitments. You may find both in cubes, even in smaller ones. The arcane on Kodama's Reach is flavor text in all cubes I've seen. Anchors - Supports -
Curse of Predation Description - Minimal investment with a big payoff. Played on curve, if your opponent was hoping to trade with creatures already on your board the counters may no longer allow that option, and it quickly snowballs from there. Maybe they don't block and play another blocker in the hopes to double block before it gets too out of hand, but then you are forcing card advantage. Top decked it can really swing a board stall, potentially adding several points of damage to the board while setting up your next swing. It's also one of the harder to remove permanents, and some cube owners remove it for being above the power level they are looking for. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Search for Tomorrow Description - If you compare it to something like Llanowar Elves, it costs the same, it can find any basic so produce almost any color you need, land is more resilient than creatures, with the downside of waiting an extra turn before you can actually use the land. Other times, the option of suspend or hardcast can help give you more sequencing options. Even if you hardcast as long as you are using the land that turn it effectively only costs 2, putting it in line with similar options that put lands into play tapped (e.g. Rampant Growth). Anchors - Supports - Ramp
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
None.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Beast Within Description - It's instant speed removal for any permanent which is some good flexibility. It is an interesting trade-off though; the 3/3 might not always be a big downgrade from the initial target. You can always turn any permanent you control into a 3/3. It might not be much of an upgrade for one of your smaller guys, but you can always trade in excess lands for a flash 3/3. Anchors - Supports -
Boar Umbra Description - Helps get around the inherent 2 for 1 of auras (unless they kill the target in response to casting of course). If cast early in the game the creature will likely become very hard to block profitably, and even if they double block to remove the large threat, you still get to keep the base creature. Anchors - Supports -
Clear Shot Description - It's a 3 mana trick, but by being instant it can lead to some blowouts in combat. Anchors - Supports -
Elephant Guide Description - You can build a decent threat that may steamroll the opponent if they don't deal with it quickly, and provides resilience against removal. You don't need it in your cube, but if you have any form of enchantment matters theme it is going to be high on your list. Anchors - Supports - Pants, Tokens
Gnaw to the Bone Description - It can be a lifesaver (no pun intended) for creature attrition or graveyard based decks. After a few trades, cast once for 6 life, and a couple of trades later, maybe gain another 10 or more. Self-mill decks might only be able to cast it once for the flashback, but you often have more creatures in your graveyard in those decks in any case. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Harrow Description - It has some minor synergy with delirium cards, delve cards or reaching threshold, if you want your land fixing to help those mechanics. The instant is a nice upside if you want to hold up counterspells or instant speed removal, the lands come into play untapped and it can instantly fix two colours. If you have landfall creatures in your cube, you should rate this a little higher. Anchors - Supports -
Invigorate Description - 3 life can be worth it to win almost any combat while still being able to develop your board; the surprise will often win a combat or 'counter' toughness based removal that lets you deliver that 3 pretty quickly. Like most 'free' spells, some players don't like having to consider playing around them or consider them to be unfair. Anchors - Supports -
Moldervine Cloak Description - The pump itself is solid enough to warrant the threat of getting 2 for -1'd, as it can enable you to present a threat of 5/5 or larger in the early game. If you've got a few creatures on the board, you can just dredge it back to keep hammering in with a creature larger than they can deal with, while the dredge can also enable graveyard decks. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters, Pants, Enchantment Matters
Overgrowth Description - It can accelerate you quickly; if you get use out of it the turn you cast it, it effectively only costs 1 mana that turn. It requires specific cards, but alongside Arbor Elf or other untappers it can get ridiculous. Bonus that it isn't as vulnerable as creature acceleration. The downside is that it only produces green which might push it out against other options that fix. Anchors - Supports -
Pulse of Murasa Description - It's unassuming, but is probably going to fine as an instant speed mostly Raise Dead. That effect is usually not considered amazing and tacking on 2 extra mana would make it seem unplayable, but 6 life is a decent chunk. You take off a turn to cast this to get back your best creature or re-use a sacrificial lamb, but the 6 life probably compensates you for attacks that will get through while you do it. If you've already got the board locked, it starts putting you out of alpha strike range. Anchors - Supports -
Riding the Dilu Horse Description - It must be noted that this effect doesn't last until end of turn, so acts much like an aura. You can still get effectively 2-for-1'd by bounce or kill spells, but the upside is high; you get a pumped creature that is virtually unblockable. A 2-drop followed by this is a decent clock if they can't answer it. Solid support card for green aggro to provide it some reach. Anchors - Supports - Aggro
Squirrel Nest Description - It ties up a land each turn to activate it, but it does pump out tokens every turn. It might not save you from a losing position, but it can help in board stall / top deck wars, while also providing a steady steam of bodies to support sacrifice themes. Anchors - Supports - Tokens, Sacrifice
Wildsize Description - It is one of the more expensive pump spells to consider, but gives enough of a boost to help win combat while not costing a card, so can turn into a sort of 2-for-1, and is usually going to be fine to secure an aggro start or on defence to start clawing your way back. You might also consider Snakeform as a 'win combat, draw a card' effect, with a more flexible casting cost and a slight leaning towards defensive decks (Wildsize can always punch through for extra damage). Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Arachnus Web Description - While it’s a pretty limited piece of removal for green, it does completely shut down the target without requiring you to control a creature like Rabid Bite or fight cards. In a pinch, such as in an aggro deck, you can cast it on a larger creature and get past a blocker to close out a game. Anchors - Supports -
Benefaction of Rhonas Description - You would probably cube Commune With the Gods first; this can find 2 targets, but the extra man is a real cost, and if you are trying to support any type of reanimator to find Animate Dead etc you want the cheaper effect. Still fine enough if you are pushing an enchantment theme a little harder, and worth noting that it can find aura-based removal. Anchors - Supports -
Briar Patch Description - This is an option if you want to push green control, particularly useful against aggro / go wide decks. Anchors - Control Supports -
Broken Fall / Molting Skin Description - This is an odd card that could have some fringe uses. It's an onboard 'threat' so your opponent can always see it coming. In most games, it is an expensive regeneration option, but it can target any creature and has repeat uses. The decks that want that effect are likely to be defensive ones, where the threat of winning combat may prevent you from needing to recast it in the first place. What may raise the profile enough to consider it is some form of enchantment matters theme that can benefit from recasting it. Anchors - Supports - Enchantment Matters
Elemental Bond Description - You can draft around it so that you hit the trigger more frequently (more top end creatures), as long as you have some ways to deal with early aggro assaults. If you have enough creatures in your deck to trigger it, you can play an attrition war and eventually come out in front on card advantage. Only if you have grindy games; otherwise you may as well have standard card draw. Garruk's Packleader is also an option attached to a creature. Abzan Beastmaster triggers off toughness, but can give you a similar kind of build around for the same cost while also being a creature Anchors - Supports -
Fecundity Description - This is a card I want to like, but is difficult to break the symmetry in cube, especially as you are invested a card and 3 mana. Most cubes already include tokens, so you can push cards that generate multiple creatures a little harder so this can be drafted around. Eldrazi Spawn or Scion tokens are prime candidates, and can help you cast the cards that you are drawing. Removal that exiles is also desirable for the deck that includes this. Might be fun in low power archetype driven cubes. Anchors - Supports -
Feral Invocation Description - It's a 3 mana combat trick, which is usually not desirable, but it does have the upside of being permanent if it sticks. The main reason to consider it is as a swap for an instant speed combat trick to provide some incidental support for enchantment matters themes. Anchors - Supports - Enchantment Matters, Pants
Ferocious Charge Description - If you are going for a 3 mana combat trick, Wildsize is probably better, and most cheaper options are also better. The +4/+4 isn't often going to win much more than a +2/+2 boost, but maybe that plus the smoothing of the scry matters enough in your environment. Anchors - Supports -
Forbidden Lore Description - Repeatedly pumping two power for effectively a 1 mana activation is reasonable, but effectively 4 mana to drop it and get going is a little much. While the toughness boost is modest it will also help survivability on occasion. It's best feature compared to other permanent pumps like equipment is being able to activate after blocks, and that threat of activation can make things difficult for your opponent. Anchors - Supports -
Growth Spasm Description - While the ramp is a one-off, it can let you accelerate from 3 into 6 on your next turn, and there are few cards that let you do that outside of rituals. Rituals can usually accelerate earlier, but they only do one thing; this at least has more flexibility by putting a body on the board which can interact in other ways. Anchors - Supports - Tokens, Sacrifice, Ramp
Hunter's Insight Description - It's conditional but in an interesting piece of green card draw. It gets a little better the more evasive guys you have and the lower your power of removal (particularly instant speed). You might sit on it without a way to get a creature through, but it isn't unreasonable for an opponent to just let a midrange creature with 3-4 power through if they don't have profitable blocks. Anchors - Supports -
Ice Storm Description - The best land destruction spell in green which is fine for supporting aggro, however it doesn't support it as well as other colours. Anchors - Supports -
Inspiring Call Description - It's all-in on the +1/+1 counter theme, but the reward is high if you've seeded enough other creatures with +1/+1 counters in your cube. Anchors - +1/+1 counters Supports -
Kruphix's Insight Description - You probably want to be very heavy on the enchantment matters theme to consider it. That said, it still digs deeper than similar cards that can find enchantments, so even in something like reanimator you can find your Animate Dead's etc Anchors - Enchantment Matters Supports - Reanimator
Lead the Stampede Description - If this is the only noncreature card in your 23, average is somewhere around 2.8 cards. 16 creatures in your deck puts the average case at about 2, which is closer to the norm. It's high variance, but the cards you 'draw' are business spells so the average case is better than a Divination (unless you are creature light). You might consider it marginally higher if you have some ways to stack your deck, like Sylvan Library, Sensei's Divining Top and Brainstorm. Anchors - Supports -
Presence of Gond Description - It's a build your own Imperious Perfect, but costs you two cards. It doesn't have an activation cost and you can activate it immediately if you already had something on the board, but the only way I can see someone including this in their cube is to do something cute with other marginal cards; something like Horsehoe Crab or Midnight Guard. Anchors - Supports -
Recollect Description - It is a strictly worse version of Regrowth, and overall weaker than Eternal Witness. You may still want some extra redundancy, depending on how much you want to push your graveyard based decks. Worth noting that Down // Dirty is strictly better, but categorisation issues may rub some people the wrong way. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters, Creature Recursion
Refresh Description - It's not a thrilling card and costing 3 is more than you want to pay for a trick you need to hold up. Still, it does help you maintain board presence when you would otherwise trade, and counters some types of removal while drawing you a card.
Anchors -
Supports -
Reincarnation Description - It's an intriguing reanimation spell, but somewhat narrow. To get the best benefit, you need to have a good target in your graveyard plus something you can either sacrifice or that will die easily in combat. That makes it too situational for standard reanimator strategies, but it can just provide insurance for your best creature on the board... if you have the mana up. Minor recursion with the likes of Archaeomancer and Eternal Witness if you are on the defensive and just need time to draw more cards. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters, Reanimator
Reviving Melody Description - You probably want to support enchantment matters to some degree and have enough targets, but that is not a stretch for most cubes. Being a 2 for 1 in those situations is decent. If you aren't getting both, then it does feel like a poor Eternal Witness. Anchors - Supports - Enchantment Matters, Creature Recursion
Synchronized Strike Description - It's a decent enough trick, but Symbiosis is often going to do a similar job. The untap is noteworthy, and you can cast this on a single creature if needed, but finding 2 mana is a lot easier than 3. Anchors - Supports -
Thermokarst Description - It's an option if you want green to have land destruction in green past Ice Storm. Anchors - Supports -
Trial of Strength Description - 4/2 for 3 is the going rate for green, but not something we would cube on its own. You need at least a few Cartouches I your cube to warrant it (and the green one is not great). You at least get a creature that trades with a decent percentage of creatures if you don't get a second shot. Anchors - Supports -
Triumph of Ferocity Description - You can get Abzan Beatmaster for the same cost for a similar type of effect with a body attached. This is power instead of toughness though, so you could draft around it and include more beefy creatures in your deck. Anchors - Supports -
Winter's Grasp Description - It's an option if you want green to have land destruction in green past Ice Storm. You may want to consider Thermokarst and having your basics be snow for some marginal upside. Anchors - Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Blanchwood Armor - While it has upsides if you draft mono-green or in the late game in 2 colour decks, the likes of Boar Umbra or Elephant Guide are going to serve this role more consistently.
Blinding Fog - The times it will actually do something worthwhile are pretty slim.
Cached Defenses - Not being able to choose the target is a downer.
Call the Scions - It creates tokens that are easy to get death triggers out of, but it just isn't efficient enough at this cost.
Cartouche of Strength - It doesn't compare well to other punch / fight effects. The only reason to really play it is if you really want to go deep on Cartouche / Trial synergy.
Essence Filter - You aren't going to have multiple targets often enough (or you hate on an enchantment matters theme you are pushing) or you destroy your own when compared to targeted removal.
Fade into Antiquity - The times when the exile will matter are nowhere near how much the sorcery speed and extra mana matter compared to Naturalise.
Falling Timber - Not effective enough comapred to other combat tricks.
Fallow Earth - It can set the opponents land base back a turn, but the impact is minimal compared to something like Anchor to the Aether, or you can play Ice Storm.
Familiar Ground - Preventing double blocks might sometimes be relevant to ramp decks, but probably not compared to just playing another threat. Interestingly makes menace guys unblockable, or your whole team unblockable if you also pair it with Goblin War Drums etc... but takes two cards which is probably too cute.
Far Wanderings - You never want to play the basic version, and there doesn't seem to be a deck that would reasonably get to threshold that wouldn't just want better versions like Cultivate for the early game.
Favor of the Woods - There are some scenarios where this sounds good, but it doesn't really contribute to you winning.
Filigree Fracture - Hates on specific colours, and you would rather pay 2 mana against the other colours.
Flash Foliage - It doesn't do enough. You could get an extra point of damage in on a double block but it doesn't seem enough.
Lure - Instant or sorcery versions serve this role better if you really want the effect.
Maddening Wind - It's a bad Lust For War and you need to invest too much to get damage out of it..
Map the Wastes - The +1/+1 isn't enough compared to other ramp options.
Mighty Emergence - It's a bit too specific to work as a build around in cube.
Miming Slime - It needs to be better than a Nessian Courser, and it just isn't going to be consistent enough. Worse, it can be blown out by instant speed removal on your best creature before it resolves.
Nissa's Pilgrimage - The upsides over Cultivate (finding 3 lands with spell mastery) are far overshadowed by not being able to fix (you can only find Forests).
Oakenform - There are strictly better versions in Moldervine Cloak, Elephant Guide and Boar Umbra.
Overwhelming Instinct - You can get Military Intelligence in blue with lower threshold on conditions and lower casting cost. The jump from requiring 2 to 3 is considerable.
Petrified Plating - The baseline isn't good enough, and your opponent can plan for suspend, either by removing the creature ahead of time, or planning to use instant speed removal while this is on the stack.
Primal Boost - There are scenarios where this might be fine, but Wildsize is likely to be better on average at ensuring you still win combat whiel always getting you a card.
Primal Growth - The basic version is bad, and even if you push sacrifice the kicker cost on average is not worth it.
Roar of Challenge - The actual blocking effect is rarely warranted in cube. It can help break board stalls, but Winter Blast can serve almost the same role, but let all of your team through.
Roar of Jukai - Too narrow. Not affecting everything is bad.
Still Life - It's far too inefficient for it's 'positives' to matter, which may not even be relevant in some cubes (surviving mass removal and sorcery speed removal).
Stomp and Howl - You need both targets just to be able to cast it; it might have some value if your cube supports multiplayer, but not in duels.
Strength of Night - It's bad as a green card, and the zombie rider doesn't do much.
Sundering Vitae - The convoke isn't worth enough compared to straight up cheaper option of Naturalize.
Surging Might - Doesn't do anything in singleton peasant.
Time to Feed - It doesn't compare well to fight cards that improve the number of targets you can kill and/or are cheaper.
Touch of Vitae - Doesn't do enough. 3 mana is a lot to grant haste, making it unlikely you will cast something and be able to attack with it. The untap doesn't do enough, even as a 3 mana cantrip.
Tranquility - There are often not going to be more than one opposing target, so you might hit your own. You might make a case for it in environments full of enchantment creatures, but the density required is outside of the standard peasant cube. Strictly worse than Back to Nature should you really want the effect.
Tribal Unity - Too expensive for a limited number of targets.
Unnatural Aggression - Clear shot is so much better you would never consider this even if you cared about exile or colorless matters.
Untamed Wilds - There are times when it will be better than Rampant Growth or Cultivate, and the land coming into play untapped will be relevant… but the times when Rampant Growth or Cultivate are better will significantly outweigh it.
Venom - You can just pay 1 mana and get Wasteland Viper, or equipment versions.
Venomous Fangs - You can just pay 1 mana and get Wasteland Viper, or equipment versions.
Verdant Haven - There are better enchant land acceleration options. It might be an enabler for life gain matters themes, but you would be lowering your power to do so.
Verdigris - I did not realise this terrible card even existed.
Vivify - Too hard to use. You need 4 lands open for a surprise blocker or for a once off attacker. 3/3 is not terrible, but not quite big enough to warrant setting up.
Woodcutter's Grit - It's rare you would want to play this over the much cheaper Blossoming Defense.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Symbol Status Description - Given that cubes can include cards from every expansion, in some cubes this might actually produce 4+ tokens just based on nonland permanents in play. You can always include lots of different lands in your land box to really power this up. If you play a deck with every basic from a different expansion, it is almost guaranteed to create 4 tokens on turn 4 with an otherwise empty board, and can only get better from there. Anchors - Supports - Tokens
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Dawn's Reflection / Market Festival Description - It can fix multiple colours, and accelerates by 2. If you've got an untapped land the turn you play it, it sort of only costs 2. Has upside in that its value goes up slightly if you've got things that can untap it e.g. Arbor Elf can lead to casting this on the 3rd turn, possibly giving you 9 mana on turn 4. Explosive Vegetation has upside in that it can't be disrupted by removal, marginal upside of deck thinning, and you don't need to use mana in chunks of 3. However if you are supporting an enchantment matters theme in green, this is a solid alternative. Anchors - Ramp Supports - Enchantment Matters
Explosive Vegetation Description - It can fix multiple colours, and accelerates by 2. Most cubes will care more about cheaper ramp options, but this is still fine at this mana cost. Anchors - Ramp Supports -
Harmonize Description - You don't get lots of card draw in green (or it is conditional) so this often finds its way into green sections. Nothing flashy, just solid in anything but aggro. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Gaea's Embrace Description - In most cubes, the threat of being 2 for 1'd is too large. However, if it sticks, the combination of size boost, trample and regeneration can make the target hard to take down. Probably only for cubes pushing pants themes, and that have adjusted their removal accordingly (limited aura-based removal, exile effects and 'can't regenerate' removal). Anchors - Supports - Pants
Hunting Triad Description - Each side is slightly overcosted, but the flexibility can make this worth it. Elves are reasonably easy to support as a tribe if you want to go wide, and if go wide isn't working for you, you have the option of going tall. A permanent Giant Growth is fine, even if it does cost 4.
Anchors -
Supports -
Living Terrain Description - It has decent stats, but on curve you don't get to block with it, and after that, you are down a land if you attack with it. If cast on an untapped land you already had in play, it can be hasty, so there is upside there if your opponent wasn't prepared for a 5/6 attacker. It's still vanilla, so how the stats stack up against the rest of your cube is the determining factor. Marginally more interesting if you support an enchantment theme. Anchors - Supports - Enchantment Matters
Make a Wish Description - Compared to random card draw at least they are likely to be business spells instead of lands you don't need, but the randomness is still a negative. It's narrow and requires slower cubes, but as this is a 2 for 1 you can loop this with Eternal Witness and similar cards to really grind out card advantage over the long game. Anchors - Supports -
Monstrify Description - Sorcery speed pump is bad… when you can turn every land after that into a pump spell? Even though your opponent gets the knowledge before they have to block, they still have to make some interesting decisions. From now on, any card you draw could let you retrace it. Do they multi-block and kill your creature to minimise repeat threats? If you cube is fast this won't make the cut, but if games often play out with decently developed boards, this can help grind out some damage or incremental card advantage. Anchors - Supports -
Predator's Howl - 1 Description - It isn't going to be consistent, but 3 2/2's for 4 isn't a bad deal. Could suit aggressive decks when they start trading off in the mid-game, but you can give it more support with sacrifice themes, both to trigger it more easily, and getting 3 bodies might give you more fuel for your sacrifice engine. Curving Nest Invader into this is a nice dream. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice, Tokens
Skyshroud Claim Description - Only if you want to make mono-green a thing in your cube, OR you are breaking rarity to cube shocklands or ABU duals. Anchors - Supports -
Sudden Reclamation Description - It's a 4 mana 'do nothing' the turn you cast it, but it does have a couple of things going for it. It's one of few instant speed retrieval options in green, so that can matter if you are trying to support draw go style decks. It fills your graveyard at the same time as retrieving stuff, which could matter for threshold, delve etc. It does also get you back two cards; while one is just a land, it's still an extra resource if you need it to cast your high end spells, or possibly discarded for an effect if you didn't need it. Anchors - Supports - Draw Go
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Acorn Harvest - There isn't a combination of modes where this seems worth it.
Arboria - Weird card. The turn you cast it, you can still get attacked. And after that, you need to not cast anything during your turn… but you could be casting the likes of Sprout Swarm or flash creatures during your opponents turn, activating token makers, pinging your opponent with Cunning Sparkmage or Drana's Emissary... but then your opponent can also choose not to play spells. Just seems too narrow to take advantage of in cube.
Artisan's Sorrow - Scrying is nice but it isn't worth 2 mana more than Naturalise, or at this mana you'd prefer the effect attached to a body.
Barbed Foliage - One day I want to implement a 'forced attack' archetype in my cube, but it is way below the power level of a standard cube.
Beast Hunt - Harmonize is a little harder on the casting cost, but you always get the 3 cards.
Bee Sting - You’d have to be desperate for direct damage in green to consider it.
Explosive Vegetation - The jump from 3 mana to 4 for this type of effect is significant. Dawn's Reflection can be destroyed, but it is going to be better than this the majority of the time for an effect at this mana cost (or just a Worn Powerstone or Thran Dynamo if you just want acceleration).
Fruit of the First Tree - What are you casting this on? You could make an argument for being 'insurance', but how often is it going to be better than just casting Harmonize?
Fungal Sprouting - The ceiling seems fine, but there is too much variance to consider it.
Gaea's Balance - The type of 5 colour deck that would want this just doesn't exist in peasant cube.
Mwonvuli Acid-Moss - There are better land searchers. At 4 mana, land destruction is less likely to have an impact on the game; if you want that effect, you want any of greens 3 mana versions instead of this.
Mystic Melting - You would rather have the cheaper Naturalize, or at this mana cost, get your 'card' upfront in the form of a creature with this effect attached.
Peregrination - The scry 1 is not worth paying the extra mana over Cultivate.
Press the Advantage - The trample and marginal flexibility of 'up to' is not worth more 2 more mana over Symbiosis.
Primeval Light - Most opponents aren't going to have multiple enchantments, making cheaper instant speed removal or attached to a body better. If you are trying to support an enchantment matters theme, this is a silver bullet that just undermines it.
Pulse of Llanowar - You could play Dawn's Reflection for fixing and acceleration.
Rolling Spoil - There are better land destruction spells, and the shrink is minimal.
Roots - It might not be terrible, but even green has better removal options.
Seek the Horizon - It gets cards into your hand, but it doesn't actually accelerate, and there doesn't seem to be a deck that would really want this effect.
Triumph of the Hordes - Too narrow. If you can't deal 10, your opponent can just ignore it, or block just enough to prevent reaching 10 poison counters.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Overrun Description - It requires heavy green commitment, but the effect can be almost unfair on any reasonably developed board. It doesn't take too many creatures for it to be lethal, or force your opponent to chump to prevent as much trample damage as possible, lose their board and then die the following turn. Some players exclude it for being a card that just turns around a game completely ("Attacking? I'll let them get through, so that drops me to 3. My turn? You're on 13 right? Untap my 3 random 2/2's, cast Overrun, attack for 15") Anchors - Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
None.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Beast Attack Description - Getting two 4/4's out of it is decent, particularly given both times it can be at instant speed. The heavy green puts it down a bit. If you want to support draw / go decks, this can be support for that while interacting with graveyard matters themes. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Bestial Menace Description - A reasonable menagerie of creatures. They are all vanilla, but if you are going wide it can be enough to help get around whatever blockers they have. Anchors - Supports -
Centaur Glade Description - It will depend on the speed of the cube; for some, it can be too slow to stabilise, given that it takes 9 mana of investment before you get your first 3/3. That said, 3/3's are decent enough in size that it usually doesn't take too many to stabilise, as long as you have other ways in your deck (and cube) to deal with evasive threats. Anchors - Supports -
Grizzly Fate Description - It can do some good work as long as your cube supports graveyard filling (card filtering, self-mill, dredge etc), and has some flexibility depending on the game state. You probably aren’t getting 4 bears on curve too often, but the potential for getting 8 bears out of a single card is pretty awesome. Anchors - Supports -
Incremental Growth Description - It's conditional (requires you to have 3 creature), but it could represent hasty 6 damage if you've gone wide, and you get to spread them in the most advantageous way for the board state. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Restock Description - It doesn't affect the board, but you get back 2 business spells. 5 mana isn't trivial, but it supports grindy attrition decks, and is also useful to support self-mill themes. Anchors - Supports -
Spider Spawning Description - You probably want to be supporting a self-mill graveyard theme, but this can turn out a decent number of spiders. The second toughness makes them much better at multi-blocking than 1/1's. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Blessings of Nature Description - The dream is playing a 1-drop and draw this on turn 2. Odds are you won't have it in your opening hand, but it might not be an optimal play on the turn you draw it. Inconsistent, but probably fun when it works. You wouldn't cube it without miracle, but if you have to pay 5 mana, at least you can attack with that extra power straight away, board state permitting. Anchors - Supports -
Enlarge Description - It's conditional and it's 5 mana, but it can do a lot of damage in the right situation. It can act as a green 'finisher' if you are creature heavy. They can chump block and take a bunch of damage; if they have enough, they can gang block it so they can kill it and prevent potentially lethal trample damage; suck it up and block with their lone Sentinel of the Eternal Watch or whatever; have 0 blocks and just take 10 or so. You need to play around removal, and if your cube is rampant with cheap instant speed removal this may not have a place. Anchors - Supports -
Honden of Life's Web Description - It's a pretty slow token creator in its own right at this mana cost, and it will be rare that a deck wants this on its own merits. The only reason to cube it is as part of a Shrine package. Anchors - Honden.dec Supports -
Monstrous Onslaught Description - High upside, but terrible floor. The final part gets around removal that can counter fight / punch cards and dividing the damage can do some work, but probably only once you get above 3 power. It will be great when it deals 6+ damage, clears 2 or 3 creatures and then lets your fatty profitably attach into what's left, but it won't be consistent. Ambuscade and the like are usually 1-for-1's but are significantly cheaper. Anchors - Supports -
Nissa's Judgment Description - It develops your board while eliminating a threat (most of the time). A little on the expensive side though which makes it harder to include among other removal options. Mostly up for consideration to support a +1/+1 theme. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Overcome Description - Gets a mention as an alternative to Overrun if you find that card too good or swingy for your environment. That said, this ultimately does the same thing (wins games out of nowhere), it just works in less situations (and maybe sometimes you can cast this when you need a 3rd green source for Overrun). Anchors - Supports -
Reach of Branches Description - A 2/5 for 5 isn't great, even with flash on the first casting. It can generate some value over the longer game however, particularly if you have some specific synergies. It can provide incidental value from self-mill, creates an ok target for populate effects if you cube them, grind some value in the longer game, and plays well with cards that return lands to your hand. Marginal synergy with 'discard for effect' cards. e.g. Discard to Noose Constrictor, then play your Forest for the turn. Anchors - Supports -
Stand Together Description - It requires two targets and is 5 mana, but at instant speed and permanent pump you might consider it as a way to win combat and have bigger creatures to boot. Certainly on the low end of combat tricks however. Anchors - Supports -
Zendikar's Roil Description - There is upside here, but at 5 mana you have run out of lands or close to. Only if you have specific synergies in your cube where you get to replay lands every turn (bouncelands, cards that return lands for benefit). Anchors - Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally
Baloth Cage Trap - Unless you are running a heavy artifact cube, other 4/4's are better, and if you want flash, you'd rather play the cheaper Pack Guardian.
Bounty of the Hunt - I initially thought this could be a middling free spell, until I realised the counters disappeared at the end of turn.
Cyclical Evolution - Sorcery? You can't even surprise your opponent on the first casting. Not what you want to be doing with your 5 mana. Replace it with +1/+1 counters and maybe we can talk.
Predatory Focus - It might let you swing home occasionally, but not consistently enough. It's not 'unblockable', so if you don't have lethal, they can block and kill your guys.
Tranquil Path - It is mostly going to hit one target, and cheaper options or instant speed are better. And you don't want to have to hit your own enchantments or choose not to play them.
Vastwood Zendikon - At that point in the game, getting the land back probably doesn't matter. 6/4 sort of tapped for 5 mana doesn't seem worth, and 6/4 haste on 6… still not worth it.
Wolfkin Bond - I'd rather have the cheaper Elephant Guide. This does provide the token upfront, but waiting the extra turns to cast this is important.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
None.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Become Immense Description - Sneaking in 6 extra damage is a decent chunk. It's such a large amount you'd rather it did go to their face than just winning a combat. Not something you need, but does it's job well enough, particularly if you support go wide, graveyard synergies so that this is always cheap, or a higher density of trample creatures. Anchors - Supports -
Roar of the Wurm Description - For 7 mana you can get better up front, but the cheap flashback makes it playable. Either to follow up your 7 mana spell with a 6/6 plus potentially another spell, or discarding it early to get a cheap on turn 4. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Strength of the Pack Description - 6 mana is a decent amount, but in the right board state this can add up. If it's only on 1 or 2 creatures, it probably isn't worth it. Best in decks that are likely to build out a board and stall the game, so only consider it if this happens enough in your cube. This assumes you are consciously not cubing Overrun for being too swingy. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
None.
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Cobra Trap - 4 1/1's for a single mana is pretty lucrative. But it needs the word 'destroy' and that just isn't going to happen often enough, or even at all in some decks.
Desert Twister - I suppose it give green creature kill, but at 6 mana it is just too expensive.
Grim Flowering - It's questionable how often this is going to be better than Harmonize. There is an ok ceiling in self-mill decks, but the inconsistency isn't worth it.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Jackal Pup Description - This is one of few good 2/x's in red. The drawback usually ends up only being a few damage when it trades with something. It doesn't fit every deck, but as long as you support some form of red aggro this is among the strongest of the 1-drops available. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
Stonewright Description – Solid 1-drop that can help push damage through. Does extra work with evasive and first strike creatures. It can help aggro guys trade up, or finishers quickly smash through. Already good, but essential if you support a double-strikers / pump archetype. Anchors – Supports –Voltron / Double-strikers
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Bloodlust Inciter Description - It can do some great work in aggro or midrange decks. Best in the opening hand where you can just swing immediately with everything bigger that follows. If you get a good start, it can start making your opponent nervous, as you could drop anything to the board. Anchors - Supports -
Frenzied Goblin Description - Solid 1 drop, letting you turn off their most annoying blocker. Dies easy, but a couple of activations can buy you time. Anchors - Supports -
Monastery Swiftspear Description – Vies for best red 1-drop that doesn’t have base 2 power and solid all round. Stats with haste is reasonable for one mana, with the option of boosting. Playable in almost any deck, but shines in red aggro (with burn support), Gruul aggro (with combat trick support) or spells matters (for obvious reasons). Anchors – Supports – Spells Matters
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Foundry Street Denizen Description - ok in early turns in aggro decks. Gets better if you support red tokens; turn 1 Foundry Street Denizen, Turn 2 Dragon Fodder, Turn 3 Hordeling Outburst is good times against durdly opponents. Anchors - Supports -
Goblin Bushwhacker Description - Essentially a 2-drop with an alternative 1 mana mode if you need a turn 1 vanilla 1/1 to maximise your sequence of plays. Kicked, at worst it is a 2/1 hasty guy, but is usually going to be pumping a few dudes. Can also be held back in decks that like to guy wide and punch through or around defenses with tokens. Anchors - Supports -
Goblin Glory Chaser Description - Dropping this on turn 1 is great, with a decent opportunity to get in on turn 2, earn renowned, and have an evasive 2/2 for just 1 mana. But after the first few turns, it may just become a vanilla 1/1 that will get eaten by anything on the opposing side of the board. It also gets worse if you are on the draw. Red has ways to clear a path (can't block effects, burn), and this gets better the more you have in your cube, but this isn't likely to be consistent and is often going to be a bad top deck. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
Insolent Neonate Description - Decent 1-drop that can get in for some damage early while the opponent develops their board. Menace can also play nice with pump spells if it forces double blocks when 1 would be enough. Being able to filter is also fine with limited opportunity cost, letting you draw more gas, or enabling early madness or graveyard matters themes if they are part of your game plan. An opening hand with this is always going to have options no matter what the opponent does. Also a decent inclusion if you have any bloodthirst / raid creatures in your cube. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters, Madness
Kird Ape Description - Everyone counts this as a Gruul card. If in the opening hand, more often than not can be attacking turn 2 as a 2/3, which is amazing value. Playable anywhere, but helps support to red/green aggro. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
Lightning Berserker Description - Sometimes it will just be a 1/1 that meets a 1/1 token or utility creature, other times it might only trade slightly above its weight. Other times the threat of activation against an opponent with a low life total can help trade it up. The dash can sometimes just flatout win games when an opponent is tapped out, but that is going to happen a lot less than you'd like. You have to have the mana open, but it can also serve as a deterrent to trade up on defense as well. Anchors Supports
Reckless Waif Description – Attacking with this for 3 damage on turn 2 is a beautiful thing. It's an inconsistent beauty though. So it has very strong upside, but you never know when it will transform. In the aggro decks that most want it, turns 3+ might be best served with 2 low cost spells, undermining this card. Anchors – Aggro Supports –
Village Messenger Description - The closest comparisons are Reckless Waif (how often it will flip) and Goblin Glory Chaser (effectiveness of the before and after modes). It is going to be high variance, but it is solid in your opening hand and if it immediately flips is a good start. Not terrible in top deck mode either, as by then your opponent is probably out of plays. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Akroan Crusader Description - It's no Young Pyromancer, but it can serve a similar role. It's going to trigger a lot less, and is only worth considering if you include some self-bouncing auras or push a lot of combat tricks like Brute Force. Anchors - Supports -
Forge Devil Description - ok for clearing out utility creatures, and can also be held back to cast after combat if you need to deal an extra 1 to something. Burn does that better, and the body isn't anything, but at least it's something. Noteworthy that the ability is mandatory, so not really playable if the opponent has an empty board. Anchors - Supports -
Goblin Arsonist
Description - Serviceable but not exciting. Can trade and then deal 1, unlike the sacrifice guys like Mogg Fanatic. Anchors - Supports -
Goblin Cohort / Mogg Conscript Description - This needs enough support to make work, in the form of other efficient aggro beaters so that you can keep attacking. But if it is attacking every turn, then it is efficient. Anchors - Supports -
Goblin Fireslinger Description - The value in most pingers is being able to hit creatures and control the board, which this doesn't do. However it does have value if you support bloodthirst or other cards that care about your opponent being damaged. Outside of that it isn't stellar, but does give red decks some reach in the late game. Anchors - Supports -
Goblin Patrol Description - You end up paying rr for a vanilla 2/1 which is far from amazing. On the plus side, you can be swinging with it turn 2. You only want this if you are heavily pushing aggro in red; being able to divide its cost can help you sequence your plays to maximise the use of your mana every turn. Anchors - Supports -
Gorilla Shaman Description - The repeatable artifact destruction deserves a mention, but the ability does become very expensive. If your cheapest artifacts in your cube are Grafted Wargear and Loxodon Warhammer, this is not your guy. If you want players to feel good about playing him, you should only consider including him if you have sufficient targets at 0-2 mana. Anchors - Supports -
Intimidator Initiate Description - The ability is nice to get your creatures through. It's drawback is that in the early game, you probably want to curve out, and don't want to leave mana up for this ability. It also means playing your spells pre-combat, which is not ideal. Anchors - Supports -
Jackal Familiar Description - You need plenty of other aggro oriented 1 and 2 drops to offset the risk. But if you do, you get a 2 power creature for R. Preferably comes down turn 2 or 3 after one or more creatures are on the board; as a turn 1 play, he isn't likely to be attacking turn 2. Opponents with sufficient removal will make you very sad. Anchors - Supports -
Mogg Fanatic Description - Serviceable. Can threaten activation during combat to mess up other blocks, threaten small utility creatures, and can always chump and then ping something if needed. Anchors - Supports -
Orcish Lumberjack Description – It's a card with a history, but a bit harder to make work in peasant cube. You don't have sufficient redundancy to rely on it to 'combo out' a big fatty on turn 3. General ramp just seems a lot more reliable. Anchors – Supports –
Rigging Runner Description - A 2/2 first striker for a single mana is great, but not actually being able to cast it on turn 1 is a major downer. You could maybe curve out with a 2 drop on turn 2, attack on turn 3 and drop this alongside another 2-drop… but it isn't going to happen consistently. Anchors - Supports -
Satyr Hoplite Description – You only want to consider this if you had self-bouncing auras for some ‘combo’, or have a removal-lite cube with lots of auras. Anchors – Supports –
Scorched Rusalka Description – Lets you ping if your creatures are about to die anyway. Won't be a common occurrence, but additional bonus of countering cards like Lighting Helix by removing their target. The ability to use it repeat times in a turn is what elevates it to a potential finisher if the board state is right. If your opponents life total is less than or equal to the number of creatures you control, you win (mana permitting). Anchors – Supports –
Skittering Lizard Description - It isn't particularly efficient at any point of the curve, but it does have versatility going for it. Anchors - Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Akki Avalanchers - Could be used as an aggro 1 drop, but you aren't going to want to apply the pressure early. Ability can help it trade up, but it isn't terribly effective.
Bold Impaler - It might be a one drop that has application in the late game, but it is still too much investment and at best it still trades, not win combat. The upside on Lightning Berserker is much better than the extra point of toughness here.
Fanatical Firebrand - There are ocassions where this will get in for an additional hasty 1 damage, but the flexibility of Mogg Fanatic being able to sacrifice itself even after it has attacked (or becomes otherwise tapped) is better.
Furnace Scamp - I suppose you could trot this out turn 1 in a burn style deck. But it is going to be too inconsistent and die to most things it comes up against.
Glitterfang - Not enough good stuff to combo with to make it worth running. Onslaught is about the best.
Goblin Spy - Maybe there are some quirky combos, but mostly this just gives your opponent information.
Goblin Swine-Rider - It doesn't work in aggro because it gives your opponent an opportunity to kill your attacking force… I don't see when you would want this effect.
Martyr of Ashes - Can be used to clear the ground, but giving your opponent information about your hand allows them to plan their recovery, and is near useless in top deck mode. It might have moments of greatness, but is not going to be consistent.
Toxic Iguanar - If you are in Gruul, just include one of greens actual deathtouch cards instead.
Warbreak Trumpeter - After you've already paid 3 to put it into play, it costs 7 to put 3 tokens into play… Too slow.
War-Torch Goblin - Almost any burn is better in majority of situations.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Aether Chaser Description - While the triggered ability supports attacking, the first strike makes it fine for control decks as well. However best in aggro decks, and a great 2-drop for that deck. Anchors - Supports -
Borderland Marauder Description - Play it, then swing for three. As simple as possible, a key card for any red aggressive deck. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
Burning-Fist Minotaur Description - Solid baseline, and threat of activation makes it hard for your opponent to block or attack into if you've got open mana. It's also a discard outlet for graveyard based themes, and the activated ability can make it a 2 drop that has relevance in the late game by being able to discard lands or other dead cards. Anchors - Supports -
Frazzled Editor Description - It requires some house rules about interpretation, but can be really strong. Mainly you need to decide whether you count reminder or flavour text. Even if you don't count those, cube is full of higher complexity cards which lend themselves to more rules text. Basically, it is a red 2/2 with protection from a bunch of stuff, which is more than red usually gets. Note that it might preclude you targeting it with some of your own stuff, but that is a pretty minimal downside in comparison to what you get. Anchors - Supports -
Gore-House Chainwalker Description - You only want to include this in aggro decks that want to swing for the fences. 3 power for 2 mana that doesn't die to a 1/1 utility creature or token is excellent in those decks though. The 2/1 is a distant secondary mode if you really need it as a blocker. Anchors - Supports -
Keldon Marauders Description - Good for aggro decks that want to punch through quickly. The 3/3 stats are often enough force through damage, or force the opponent to lose a creature if they block. 2 mana to either deal 5 damage to a player, or kill a creature and deal 2 damage is a pretty good deal. Even if you are behind, it can still deal a couple of damage while chumping if you happen to be behind. Anchors - Supports - Aggro
Mogg War Marshal Description - Decent token generator. If you don't pay the echo, you still get Dragon Fodder's worth of tokens, but you also get the opportunity to block if you aren't intending to pay. Paying the echo is mostly upside if you happen to have the mana spare. Good for sacrifice decks, getting 3 activations for a couple of mana. Can fit into a range of decks. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice, Aggro, Tokens
Stormblood Berserker Description - Two mana 3/3 is great, and is easy enough to support with other aggressive 1-drops or other sequencing. Anchors - Supports -
Young Pyromancer Description - Base stats are not embarrassing, but the ability to spawn multiple tokens over a game make this a solid card even if you aren't heavy on 'spells matters' themes. You can get it out early and use removal to keep the path clear while building your army, or use the tokens for sacrifice effects. It works well with token spells like Hordeling Outburst to really go wide. Can combine with Sprout Swarm for a quickly accelerated
army. Anchors - Spells Matters Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Akoum Stonewaker Description - It can be a mana sink for aggro decks to mitigate flood, with some minor synergy with providing fodder for sacrifice effects. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice, Tokens
Ashmouth Hound Description - Obviously great in combat against X/1s, and can trade up with x/3's. Situationally good. Anchors - bSupports -
Blood Knight Description - Similar to White Knight and Black Knight, perhaps a little worse as an attacker since red usually wants to keep the board as clear as possible and a 3-power dude will outperform 2-power with first strike. Anchors - Supports -
Bloodrage Brawler Description - It's great stats for the cost. It comes with a drawback, but particularly if played on turn 2, your opponent might be dead before you were going to play that last card anyway. Also provides some incidental graveyard synergies; it's even a reasonable option for Rakdos reanimator to discard a target at the same time as developing your board. Anchors - Supports - Reanimator, Graveyard Matters
Ember Hauler Description - Hard to cast, but when you do get it out early it can attack while it can, and turn into removal later. Anchors - Supports -
Firefist Striker Description - Repeatable can't-block effects are great for aggro, and this is just easy enough to trigger to be a very solid card. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
Fireslinger Description - Repeatably taking down X/1s is quite strong for two mana, despite the damage drawback. Anchors - Supports -
Generator Servant Description - Red ramp is a very rare effect, but it's always at least on a 2/1 body and can lead to some very explosive plays. Anchors - Supports -
Goblin Shortcutter Description - Solid for red aggro decks, turning off your opponents blockers in the early to midgame and forcing some damage through, or prevent a trade / unfavorable block. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
Goblin Wardriver Description - ok stats for cost, and the battlecry can be relevant in aggro decks laying out multiple cheap threats or token decks. The double red makes it harder to cast on curve in multicolour decks. It's not flashy, but fits into decks that want to be attacking. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
Hellspark Elemental Description - It comes out the gates swinging in aggro decks... twice. In the early game it can be hard to block, either forcing your opponent to lose a creature or take what amounts to a Lava Spike that can be repeated. minor synergies with sacrifice decks, and it isn't a prime target but could also see
play in dredge-style graveyard decks. Anchors - Aggro Supports - Sacrifice, Graveyard Matters
Ire Shaman Description - A 2/1 with menace as a baseline is boring but serviceable in an aggro deck. As long as you don't mind morph, it does get a decent bit of upside. You might get value out of the morph trigger, but the flexibility if you have the mana spare makes this decent. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Kessig Forgemaster Description - Solid all rounder even unflipped. On the offensive, it can't be blocked by x/1's, and you can seed other cards that play nicely with it by granting it first strike or deathtouch, or just trade up with 3 toughness creatures. Works just as well on defense, making it harder for your opponent ot attack into you. Flipped just makes it even more effective. Anchors - Supports -
Lightning Mauler Description - You can always play it as a 2-drop haste by pairing it with a 1-drop, but it is best served waiting for a 3+ drop to come down and swing ahead of curve. As a result, it only really belongs in aggressive decks. Sometimes you might be able to sequence this plus another 2-drop on turn 4 for a surprise swing, but that will be uncommon. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
Mogis's Warhound Description - As a baseline you wouldn't accept the attack each turn drawback, but being able to bestow it makes it reasonable to boost one of your own creatures. Good for midrange decks that want to put an extra 2 power on the board immediately and swing. Anchors - Supports -
Plated Geopede Description - It may be inconsistent, but a 3/3 first striker on the attack for a couple of turns in the early game can make things difficult for your opponent. It needs to be an aggro or midrange deck that just wants to get out swinging. Some upside if you have ramp cards, or with Terramoprhic Expanse, or you break rarity for fetchlands. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
Reckless Reveler / Torch Fiend Description - It isn't embarrassing stats if you want artifact removal on legs. Anchors - Supports -
Sigiled Skink Description - The scry is a good smoother for aggressive decks. It doesn't do anything tricky; it's just solid for filtering away lands you don't need once you've hit requirements, and keep pressure up. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
Sparksmith Description - Compared to Fireslinger, it doesn't hit players, but hitting creatures is more important anyway. The damage to yourself is usually worth it to take out opposing creatures. An early Hordeling Outburst alongside this gives you the opportunity to dominate the opposing board; the life loss will hardly matter if they have no creatures and you still have other cards to drop. Sometimes your opponent might even help you out by playing some goblins. Anchors - Supports - Pinger Control
Speedway Fanatic Description - 2/1 haste is fine, if unexciting, for aggro decks. The Vehicle rider is just bonus when it comes up in cube. Anchors - Supports -
Thermo-Alchemist Description - It's a reasonable drop for the spells matters deck, holding off small creatures while getting in some damage to the opponent. Anchors - Spells Matters Supports -
Thriving Grubs Description - Essentially a 3/2 attacker, it bears obvious comparison with Borderland Marauder and Gore-House Chainwalker. Marauder blocks 1/1's better, but that's about it. This dies to single points of burn that Gore-House Chainwalker would survive if unleashed. But this is otherwise better; with support it can grow bigger than 3/2, and it can also block as a 3/2 later once attacks are no longer profitable. Anchors - Supports - Energy, +1/+1 counters
Wall of Razors Description - The 1 toughness makes it vulnerable, but 4 first striking power makes this hard to attack into for a lot of creatures. Good for supporting defensive control in red. Anchors - Supports -
War-Name Aspirant Description - They can't use tokens to trade with it, and they can't use the likes of Wall of Blossoms to stall it. Raid gives it the extra boost; in aggressive decks, getting down a 3/2 where the opponent's opportunity to easily trade up is removed, it can be solid. Anchors - Supports -
Zada's Commando Description - A 2/1 first striker is a fine early drop for either aggro or control, especially in the color of burn or pingers that can pair nicely with the first strike to trade up. The cohort ability is mostly flavor text, and any synergies in your cube are likely to be incidental and supplementary to the base stats. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Blazing Effigy Description - If you are playing defensively in red, it stalls 2/x's, and when it is outclassed is probably going to take something with it. Wall of Razors and a couple of other walls fit a similar the role, but this doesn't die to Gut Shot or divisible burn, and even if it gets bolted you still get to take something with it. Downside that you must target your own creatures if they have nothing on the board. Anchors - Supports - Control
Crimson Mage Description - Decent effect tacked on to a Piker body, one extra mana is usually a fair price for tacking on haste to a creature. Anchors - Supports -
Crimson Muckwader Description - A very solid card in a vacuum, but seldom seen due to strong competition among Rakdos cards. Anchors - Supports -
Deathbellow Raider Description - A good attacker even for non-black decks, having a third toughness makes him much more sturdy than the must-attack drawback on a 2/2 or 2/1, but can still be a dead card from time to time. Anchors - Supports -
Deranged Whelp Description - It's ok, but nothing special compared to other 2-drops. Its value goes up a little in environments that can take advantage of the menace, mainly combat trick heavy environments such as combat pump or deathtouch effects to help trade with both blockers. Anchors - Supports -
Dwarven Blastminer / Dwarven Miner Description -If you want a mediocre way to punish greedy manabases, consider one of these guys. Anchors - Supports -
Embersmith Description - Certainly dependent on having a dedicated artifact theme in your cube, but if that's present this is a strong threat (and, in that cube, still has the "always a bear" upside for when the theme doesn't come together fully). Anchors - Artifact Matters Supports -
Emberwilde Augur Description - If it attacks and isn't blocked once then gets sacrificed, it's the same amount of damage as Keldon Marauders, but it's not reliable enough as basically a vanilla creature. Anchors - Supports -
Everflame Eidolon Description - Pretty miserable when hard-cast, but will add on a decent amount of damage when used as an aura. Anchors - Supports -
Falkenrath Exterminator Description - Slow, but has a very strong best-case scenario and works well with other effects that can grant it a +1/+1 effect. Anchors - Supports -
Furyblade Vampire Description - There is upside is here, but it might be tricky to find its way into decks. It can be an aggro beater as a potential 4 power 2 drop, but it seems a bit wonky for a graveyard matters enabler. Anchors - Supports -
Goblin Skycutter Description - 2 power for 2 is not embarrassing, and free activation cost gives it some flexibility to take out opposing flyers if you need to clear them out. It will be actively subpar against any deck that doesn't have many flyers though. Anchors - Supports -
Horde Ambusher
Description - Without morph it is a bear with downside, but the 'free' morph cost gives you options and supports the 'can't block' subtheme.
Anchors -
Supports -
Humble Defector Description - Drawing 2 cards is pretty solid, but what if your opponent gets to do it too? Being in red, in the late game this could help you draw into reach and possibly close out the game before your opponent can respond. It can also work by sacrificing or bouncing in response to an activation. While there aren't many untap effects that are highly playable, untapping it in response to the first activation can net you 4 cards before you give it to your opponent. Anchors - Supports -
Kiln Fiend Description - You need to be pretty heavy on the spells matters themes to get this to work, but can be a good threat. Using removal to keep the path clear and swinging in for 4 damage is a solid plan, but the 2 toughness doesn't give it a lot of longevity, and it will be inconsistent. When your opponent is in the single digits and you have cards in hand, it can make them a little nervous. Anchors - Spells Matter Supports -
Kozilek's Sentinel Description - 2 mana for a 1/4 can be an unexciting but serviceable blocker, soaking up damage in defensive decks, with the 1 power being a deterrent to your opponent just swinging in with all their x/1's. While it supports colorless, you probably want to see that as a bonus if you are looking to fill your defensive creature quota in red. That said, if you can keep casting colorless spells swinging in early with a 2/4 is not a bad plan. Other red defensive creatures are probably more universal (Mogg War Marshal, Wall of Razors), but this survives sweepers better than most if that is what you are looking for. Anchors - Supports - Colorless matters
Kruin Striker Description - Has a reasoable chance of hitting for 3, and can be more if supporting tokens. The trample is mostly bonus, so getting power is the real draw, in which case most creatures that have a baseline 3 power when attacking are going to be better served in the same slot, or that have better upside. This also forces you to play 'badly', making you cast creatures before combat. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
Makindi Sliderunner Description - It isn't bad, but it may get lost in the sea of aggro red 2-drops. Cheap red creatures with trample are in short supply, so this fits better in cubes that have a few pump spells or ways to give it +1/+1 counters to take advantage of that. Anchors - Supports -
Mardu Scout Description - Reds only base 3 power creature at 2 mana that doesn't kill itself or have a drawback (aside from costing double red). However it just doesn't do enough compared to other options. The dash can be a surprise, but having to pay for it each turn is either going to stunt your development or will often start coming down too late to matter. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
Mogg Flunkies Description - While its drawback can be overcome, it isn't going to be a consistent 3 power attacking 2 drop like some other cards, but might be an option for larger cubes. Not having a 1 drop means it can't attack turn 3 (or block opposing 2-drops), and it can get neutered by removal on other creatures. If you can draft go wide decks in your cube, its value goes up a little as it helps mitigate the drawback to some degree. Anchors - Supports -
Nest Robber Description - It's aggro filler. Speedway Fanatic is strictly better as long as you have at least one Vehicle in your cube. You might cube it if you are trying to promote a red/X (probably green) 'Fires' deck full of hasty dudes / effects. Anchors - Supports -
Raptor Hatchling Description - It's an option for control decks to put up some roadblocks. You don't get your token for non-damage removal (as compared to similar Brindle Shoat), but if your 2-drop draws a removal spell you probably aren’t too upset. Work well with auras, equipment or pump spells to enable damaging it without killing it; you probably shouldn't go out of your way to enable it, but will make for good stories when it happens. Not being able to sacrifice it for effect is a downer. Anchors - Supports -
Rustrazor Butcher Description - On its own, it can survive combat with 2/x's, but this doesn't fit an aggro deck. Better as a defensive creature, but you would need ways to pump its power, and get more benefit from the first strike / wither combo, to feel comfortable playing it. If you can put a couple of +1/+1 counters on it, it can survive a lot of combat situations. Anchors - Supports -
Sanguinary Mage / Nimble-Blade Khenra Description - An ok support card for a spells matters deck, but still not the most exciting and less likely to see play in decks without spells. Anchors - Supports -
Skirk Marauder Description - It seems expensive, but a 2 for 1 particularly with direct damage may deserve some respect. Probably only if you support a morph contingent to your cube. Anchors - Supports -
Slavering Nulls Description - It isn't flashy, but as a Rakdos card, you are in the two colors that can help clear a path (burn, kill spells, can't block effects) and get it connecting early. It's fine in that deck, but it fights with other more 'interesting' Rakdos cards, given black has access to Hypnotic Specter and similar friends. Anchors - Supports -
Soulbright Flamekin Description - Whether this is effective or not will probably depend on how red pairs up with other colors. It might be ok with green on the assumption you are playing ramp targets, with some higher end red aggro / midrange creatures. Anchors - Supports -
Sparkmage Apprentice Description - It might be useful if your cube is crammed with x/1 aggro creatures, or 1/1 utility creatures, where it can both kill one on the way in and then trade with something. Elsewhere it is likely to be lackluster, and require awkward timing to get use of the damage, and then leave behind a mostly useless body. Anchors - Supports -
Stingscourger Description - It's ok as a control card. 2 mana sorcery Unsummon is not great, but even if you aren't paying the echo you still get a chumper that can trade. Needing to pay the echo cost is hard though, given you have to give up the chance to cast something relevant you may be able to draw. Anchors - Supports - Control
Viashino Slaughtermaster Description - The activated ability makes it look like this is a 3 colour card, but as a baseline it is a red Fencing Ace. On that basis, you might consider it if you have a Voltron / pants theme, or sufficient combat pump spells. Outside of that support it isn't going to be good. Anchors - Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Adder-Staff Boggart - Sometimes being a 3/2 for 2 mana is probably just ok, but there are better more consistent options.
Akki Blizzard-Herder - If you could get some value out of it before it dies, it might be ok in dedicated aggro that can deal with losing a land to keep your opponent off their higher drops. But if you are aggro, your opponent won't block it, and you don't want to be holding back this guy in the hopes your opponent will attack into it.
Akki Underling - This is not going to happen 99% of the time.
Akoum Battlesinger - Even if Allies becomes something, you wouldn't include this.
Altac Bloodseeker - If you can't kill something before combat though, it's just a 2/1 and that is going to be the standard case. Clearing your opponents board with Cone of Flame] or Incremental Blight and hitting for 8 is going to be awesome, but those highs are going to be complemented by a lot of mediocre or just ok plays.
Firebrand Archer - Clearly a reward card for spells matters, but there is a lot of better support. If it hit creatures you’d consider it, but not just players.
Gibbering Fiend - The baseline is meh. If the delirium effect was always on it might be worth considering, but the inconsistency of turning it on pushes it out of contention.
Goblin Tinkerer - There won't be sufficient artifacts for the repeat ability to outweigh the mana investment or time investment (needing to wait a turn).
Goblin Trailblazer - Unplayable, and move Deranged Whelp as well, on the basis that Ire Shaman is available.
Goblin Tunneler - There are some creatures this would work well with; sabotuers such as Jhessian Thief, Stealer of Secrets etc. However, the setup cost is high. If you don't have saboteurs, it has cost you 2 cards to get 2 damage through. It isn't going to benefit consistently enough to warrant a spot in the cube.
Hammer Mage - Too narrow for artifact removal. It's slow, and it costs you a card investment to put this on the board, and then another to actually remove what is probably only 1 artifact. And it will destroy your own artifacts if you have any.
Immobilizer Eldrazi - There might be certain matchups where this would excel, but it is going to be too inconsistent both in regards to when the ability actually applies to the game state, and getting the colorless mana.
Keeper of the Flame - It might make for interesting games where you use your life total as a resource to maximise the damage, but that doesn't make it actually good.
Orcish Settlers - The only place I could see this getting played is in a ramp deck to wipe out the opponent's mana base once you hit 7 or 9 mana, but that seems way too unreliable, and presumably you'd rather spend that mana to put a stabiliser / finisher on the board.
Storm Entity - Even at the end of a good storm chain, you can still be undone by a piece of removal.
Storm Fleet Swashbuckler - It takes a while to get to Ascend, and in those case this behaves similar to a 4/2 for 2 mana, but one that you can't cast in the early game. Not enough payoff for the set up.
Subterranean Scout - It has some value, but is likely to be inconsistent enough that it won't have huge impact on the game. Played turn 2 your 1-drop might have been getting through anyway, or you may not have a 1-drop, and it might be the only 2-drop in your hand.
Valley Dasher - A 2/2 hasty guy is only going to be wanted by cheap aggressive decks, but the forced attack is going to make it a dead card too often.
Viashino Sandscout - It has minimal combo potential with ETB effect, but it is too many hoops to jump through and terrible in other cases. It can dodge sorcery speed removal, but most cubes don't include much of that and you are likely to have other targets anyway.
Village Ironsmith - Being a sometimes 3/1 first striker makes this a lot worse than other 2-drops that always have 3 power on the attack.
Wall of Diffusion - It can block stuff, but at this cost you would trade the extra point of toughness for the pump of Aetherflame Wall, or the shadow ability to go for Wall of Tanglecord and be able to block 'derms.
Wall of Earth - You can get Wall of Tanglecord for colorless.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Fire Imp Description - Excellent value regardless of deck type which is nearly always a 2 for 1; aggro gets to remove a blocker while developing the board, and control can remove an aggressive threat and then trade with something else. It can always be cast after combat in an aggro deck to remove a larger blocker. Fine blink / bounce target. Anchors - Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Acolyte of the Inferno Description - The 1 toughness makes it a little vulnerable, but dealing 2 damage once blocked is massive. It turns things that would trade with it into chumpers, and turns losing combat into trading up. Anchors - Supports -
Ahn-Crop Crasher Description - 3/2 haste for 3 is already a decent deal for aggro decks. Being able to turn off a blocker when you want is excellent (particularly if they don't have many creatures), and if you get multiple uses out of it, that is great. Anchors - Supports -
Brazen Wolves Description - So long as you are turning it sideways, this is a 4/3 for 3 mana without a drawback which is great value. Unlike the similar Borderland Marauder, this is not entirely embarrassing as a blocker if that is what you need. Anchors - Supports -
Splatter Thug Description - Great for aggro decks; 3 power first strike can sometimes be difficult to profitably block. The first strike makes it not an embarrassing blocker if you need that mode. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Blood Ogre Description - A reasonable option for 3 power first strike on a 3-drop. It isn't guaranteed, but the bloodthirst can help push your players to play aggressively or take risks, which might be the gameplay you want to promote. Anchors - Supports -
Boggart Brute Description - A decent attacker, making it hard to either trade or just chump block. It (along with most menace creatures) become a bit better if you support it with a few pump spells, which may help blow out a couple of blockers when they block. Anchors - Supports -
Brazen Scourge Description - The stats plus haste can make this ok for aggressive decks. Not much more to it than that, though the double red may impact on whether it makes it into cubes. Anchors - Supports -
Cunning Sparkmage Description - Perhaps the best red pinger. You can always drop this post combat to help trade up, and can provide reach if you get into a board stall. Anchors - Supports - Pinger Control
Fervent Cathar Description - A fine aggro support creature, it adds 2 immediate power to the board while also taking out the best blocker on the other side of the table. The haste / can't block combo can either steal games or disrupt your opponents gameplan as they attempt to protect their dwindling life total. Anchors - Supports -
Ghirapur Gearcrafter Description - It puts two creatures on the board, one of which is evasive. It isn't thrilling, but can give a slight nudge to tokens, team pump effects, or sacrifice effects. You might also consider it if you have any sort of artifact matters synergies. Anchors - Supports -
Ghitu Slinger Description - The lack of echo on Fire Imp fills this role better. However if you are finding the likes of Fire Imp a bit easy to get 2-for-1's, you might consider this to lower the power of removal. It can still block so you might not need to pay the echo, or your opponent might not choose to attack into it if they assume you aren't going to pay the echo. Anchors - Supports -
Guttersnipe Description - Solid anchor card for the spells matters deck. Perhaps the only 'downside' is that it can sometimes behave like an enchantment, in that you may not want to run into combat depending on the matchup. If you have enough spell support, particularly removal, it can provide a sense of inevitability if the opponent is not in a position to pressure you. It's biggest downside is that it doesn't really help you claw back into a game you are losing. Anchors - Spells Matter Supports -
Hissing Iguanar Description - A decent effect in its own right, as creatures are simply going to die in combat during the course of a game. It plays a little different in different decks; played before combat, it can really add pressure in aggro decks. In attrition decks you eventually bleed them out, and sacrifice / recursion decks get can grind them out. It's a 3 drop with 3 power to boot, and sometimes trading on curve is the best play. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Imperial Recruiter Description - It is a 1/1 for 3 mana, but it does provide some utility for most decks, while giving you another angle to pay attention to during drafting. Can be used to find utility (Reclamation Sage), archetype specific cards (Young Pyromancer) or just good cards (Mother of Runes, Vampire Nighthawk). Anchors - Supports -
Khenra Scrapper Description - It can hit as hard as Brazen Wolves, albeit every second turn. However the menace can help it hit early, and then smash for 4 when the time calls for it. Doesn't do anything a lot of other red aggro 3-drops can't, but still ok in this slot. Anchors - Supports -
Pyreheart Wolf Description - The effect may not appear effective, but giving menace to everything can make blocking difficult. To eliminate the effect, your opponent needs to block the wolf, but you are almost guaranteed to get the effect twice. If you've already applied some pressure, it can be hard for the opponent to come back from. Consider Goblin War Drums for a version that has immediate impact on the board. Anchors - Supports -
Qal Sisma Behemoth Description - You only want this to push red aggro, but it is of a different ilk than most aggro creatures. It's very beefy and can be difficult to block on curve. You can't develop your board as well while you are attacking, but if your opponent can't deal with it they don't have long. It's downsides are that it can't usually block before its first attack, and it can meet instant speed removal after you've paid your 2. Anchors - Supports -
Rage Forger Description - Shaman's are an unassuming tribe, so you are more likely to include this if you are pushing a +1/+1 counters theme, helping your team punch through. An alpha swing that carries an extra 3 or 4 damage is formidable. You probably have a smattering of Shamans as incidental support, and you can run a gatherer search to look for potential card swaps if you want to go a bit deeper. It has obvious build-around potential, but without a reasonable amount of +1/+1 support you shouldn't play it. Anchors - +1/+1 counters Supports -
Reckless Bushwacker Description - Curving out and laying this down on turn 4 after casting another 2-drop is sweet. It can really catch your opponent out, providing a bunch of extra damage they weren't expecting. On the flipside, it can be a poor top deck, but at least the haste makes it not too embarrassing in that mode and you can always hold out for a turn or two to set up a big swing. Anchors - Supports - Aggro, Go Wide
Spikeshot Goblin Description - If you are paying mana every turn just to deal 1, that is not ideal, but the excitement comes from being able to build a bigger goblin. Power pumping equipment excels here, but also plays nicely with pump spells and auras. Anchors - Supports -
Thopter Engineer Description - It does provide 2/4 worth of stats for 3 mana. It can help get something to block early aggro while chipping away in the air, or provide you two bodies to support a go wide / team pump game plan. Anchors - Supports -
Vithian Stinger Description - Fairly comparable to Cunning Sparkmage. This is better with sacrifice outlets and slightly better in graveyard decks. If these don't matter, you probably want Cunning Sparkmage as your first option which allows you to hold it in hand as an after combat trick. Anchors - Supports - Pinger Control
Wall of Heat Description - It's an ok set of stats that will block a bunch of large creatures up to the likes of Blastoderm, while the 2 power is usually enough to stymie ground-based aggro assaults. It only does one thing but it does it well enough; it's biggest downside is just being boring. Anchors - Supports -
Weaver of Lightning Description - A 1/4 with reach for 3 mana is an odd fit for red but an ok defensive creature. The trigger can also help impact the board, whether it is 'upgrading' your burn to hit larger targets, clearing small targets, or being used mid or post combat to trade up. Anchors - Spells Matters Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Aether Membrane Description - It's an option for red defensive decks, but it could be oppressively good against aggro decks. Anchors - Supports -
Arc Mage Description - If you get it online, it probably won't take over games, but it can make combat tricky for your opponent if you've got the mana open and cards in hand. It is still slow to set up and use, and the cost of a card makes it fair. Anchors - Supports -
Archetype of Aggression Description - It probably plays fine as a filler and sometimes the random trample will get you the final damage through, but there aren't really any decks that will go out of their way to draft this. Anchors - Supports -
Arms Dealer Description - While it's tribal, it can sacrifice itself if necessary and most cubes include enough goblin cards that it might be worth a look in. If your red section is comprised of Dragon Fodder, Hordeling Outburst and Beetleback Chief you can get some mileage out of it. Anchors - Supports -
Breakneck Rider Description - The casting cost is mildly prohibitive, and unflipped you aren't too excited. The flipside looks decent, but it is going to be unreliable. The power bonus can help out go go wide decks, and the trample can help your go tall decks. But it does come with the downside that by the time you cast it most players are going to be casting a spell each turn, and the bonus is not triggered; if he gets removed in the middle of combat, you just lost all your bonuses, which can make for some feel-bad combat situations. Anchors - Supports -
Chandra's Spitfire Description - It requires some building around, but if you do the upside is there. You probably want a few pingers in your cube to supplement burn spells, and there are some specific cards that work nicely with it; Pyrohemia and raid Bombardment are a couple of cute synergies. Anchors - Supports -
Conduit of Storms Description - The front side is probably just a little under where you want it to be. The ability is aggressively tuned, and a 2/3 for 3 is ok but the not the most aggressive. However, if played on curve and you hit your fourth land drop, it can flip itself the first time it attacks. It isn't going to be terrible to hang back if there are no profitable attacks, and transform a few turns down the line if you've got nothing better to do. Anchors - Supports -
Crossway Vampire Description - There are a number of similar 'can't block' options, and the double red makes this a little worse than most of the others. Anchors - Supports -
Ember Beast Description - It might be fine in creature heavy or go wide decks. Sometimes you won't have much board presence which can make this a bit worse, including some board states where your opponent can prioritise removing your other creatures so this guy is lonely. If it sticks and can attack on curve following a 1 and 2 drop though, the stats are solid and will apply a decent amount of pressure on your opponent. Anchors - Supports -
Fault Riders Description - The baseline isn't great, but the threat of 4 power first strike damage can make both attacking and blocking decisions hard for your opponent. Helps with delirium and threshold if those are things in your cube. Anchors - Supports -
Firemantle Mage Description - Menace is a fine effect to grant your team, but you need to time this; if you need to get creatures on the board, you will be sad to have to cast this at a suboptimal time. Goblin War Drums and Pyreheart Wolf are close cousins; Drums has immediate effect like the mage but can be cast anytime and is permanent if you need multiple attacks. The wolf has a turn delay but usually gets at least a couple of triggers. While each have board states they will be the perfect card for, on balance Firemantle is probably just below the others unless you have a decent contingent of allies in your cube. Anchors - Supports -
Flaring Flame-Kin Description - It is very narrow and will require a very specific cube to work; one with an aura-based 'pants' theme with enough support in red. In comparison, Arrogant Wurm is probably easier to enable for a similar upside. Anchors - Supports -
Ghost-Lit Raider Description - The activation is expensive, but getting repeat 2 damage out of a single card investment can have a reasonable impact on the board… if you get to untap with it enough times. If your aggro decks are fast, they may steamroll before this can get online, and it might be stranded against ramp decks. Anchors - Supports -
Goblin Artillery / Orcish Artillery / Orcish Cannoneers Description - 2 damage, no mana cost to activate, hits both players and creatures. So far so good. That 3 damage is going to add up though, and by the time you cast this and are able to activate it a couple of times, you might have already taken a number of hits from an aggro deck. Anchors - Supports - Pinger Control
Goblin Ruinblaster Description - Most decks will include some nonbasic lands that this can target; the question is whether you are happy to a 3 mana hasty 2/1 in other situations. Probably not. Anchors - Supports -
Hellraiser Goblin Description - The best case is that you get some kind of aggro 'Fires' deck going where you just get to hastily swing in every turn, which is going to be solid and put pressure on a lot of decks. It is a double edged sword; the moment they put down a creature that can eat one of yours, you might be in a bad spot if you haven't applied enough pressure or have answers to deal with them. Anchors - Supports -
Inner-Flame Acolyte Description - It can come down as a 4/2 that becomes a bit lacklustre afterwards, but you can also pump something else already on the board to force some hasty damage through. The evoke isn't going to be a primary mode, but with it in hand you can shape your plays around it and cast a beefy dude and swing in when your opponent hasn't left back enough blockers. Those uses are pretty situational though, and the double red hurts. Anchors - Supports -
Inner-Flame Igniter Description - It's a mana sink, but the floor is low if you spend 3 mana and all you do is make this a 3/2. Better if you tend to find your red decks go wide. +3/+0 and first striking your team is awesome… but 9 mana. Anchors - Supports -
Kessig Malcontents Description - It has the desirable power for it's casting cost to be considered aggressive, even though it dies to anything. Sometimes you'll get to Lightning Bolt the opponents face as part of the bargain. Passable but not exciting. Anchors - Supports -
Lobber Crew Description - It supports a narrow control deck, alongside the likes of Vent Sentinel. The untap clause is mostly flavor text in cube. Anchors - Supports -
Manic Vandal Description - About the only thing that can be said about it is that it is an option for artifact removal. Anchors - Supports -
Minotaur Skullcleaver Description - It comes down as a hasty 4/2 which might be fine if you've cast threats on curve, but it gets a bit lacklustre after that. You could always upgrade to Inner-Flame Acolyte if you don't mind the double red. Anchors - Supports -
Mudbutton Torchrunner Description - It will be conditional on the board state, but it can make for a nice deterrent against attacks, or buy time against aggro decks. Anchors - Supports -
Pain Kami Description - It can be a lowered power removal option, but it isn't very efficient. Anchors - Supports -
Pitchstone Wall Description - It's not a bad baseline for a defensive red creature if that is what you want from your red decks; survives most midsize attackers while killing smaller ones. The triggered ability is fairly secondary, but could have some occasional uses. Anchors - Supports -
Priest of Urabrask Description - It's not ideal, but it might be useful as an aggro enabler, to dump this and then follow with another red drop. Anchors - Supports -
Reckless Racer Description - First strike can make it ok on defence, with mostly passable stats but not too exciting. The first strike can still help it get through sometimes (especially if your cube leans a little heavier on combat tricks) and let you filter your cards. Anchors - Supports -
Rockslide Elemental Description - On it's own, it takes a couple of deaths to become a threat, but the first strike at least gives it a little something. It will have some variance and won't work in every deck, but if your opponent is forced to make a trade with something else, a 3/3 first striker is a reasonable threat. It's a bad top deck if you are behind, but can be ok in board stalls and grindy games. Gets a bit better in cubes that push +1/+1 counters or sacrifice decks. Anchors - Supports -
Satyr Nyx-Smith
Description - The inspired ability is fine, and the haste might let you get it in without being blocked sometimes so you can get the trigger. However it is going to be pretty inconsistent.
Anchors -
Supports -
Scalding Salamander Description - It will have some games where it is great, and others where it behaves like a vanilla 2/1 for 3 mana. It slots into aggro decks fine; if you are on the offensive it can help your team trade up. However there are lots of more flexible spells like Electrickery or just other divisible burn that are more effective in more situations. Nice incidental synergy if you have ways in your cube to give it deathtouch. Anchors - Supports -
Simian Spirit Guide Description - It can serve as an early accelerator if you really want it. It's less useful in cube, but red is usually an aggro colour so you may be able to drop down early beaters, but the card disadvantage often isn't worth it. The hard cast is secondary, but you aren't likely to be happy when you have to actually cast it. Anchors - Supports -
Skirk Commando Description - The trigger is solid, but the stats make it less likely it will get through. It gets a little better if you already support saboteurs with ways to get through. E.g. Reds can't block effects, blues tap down effects, evasion granting etc. Anchors - Supports - Saboteurs
Spur Grappler Description - It isn't a premier aggro creature, but it can be a 4 power 3 drop consistently enough. Usually it means you have to play spells pre-combat which will sometimes be awkward, and you may not be able to represent combat tricks or on board effects. Anchors - Supports -
Sulfur Elemental Description - It's an uncounterable 3/2 flash creature for 3 which is solid. The effect on white creatures is odd though. If you are white, you need to be careful what you draft alongside it. Against white opponents, sometimes you will blow out all of their spirit tokens and x/1 creatures, and other times you might give them the means to trade up with your team or allow them to swing for lethal. Anchors - Supports -
Suq'Ata Lancer Description - It's serviceable in aggro but forgettable. The ETB effect on Fervent Cathar is probably preferable to most decks, but this does have slightly more survivability. Anchors - Supports -
Tunneling Geopede Description - The baseline is not good enough compared to other 3/2's at this cost. Probably the only reason to include it is if you play several bloodthirst creatures where this can be an additional enabler. Anchors - Supports -
Uthden Troll Description - The regeneration cost is cheap, so it might help if you want red control decks. It might make it in the odd aggro deck (especially those with equipment) but you should only include it if you want slower red decks. Anchors - Supports - Control
Valakut Predator Description - Attacking on turn 3 with a 4/4 is decent, but this is not going to be consistent. You might get the occasional 6/6 out of saclands or ramp effects, but without trample sometimes that can be wasted, Depending on your cube and enablers, you might considerArrogant Wurm as your potential turn 3 4/4, but it will always a 4/4. Anchors - Supports -
Viashino Bladescout Description - The double red isn't attractive and will keep it out of most cubes, but this can be an ok combat trick while developing your board. Perhaps more for cubes with lower power removal and more combat-trick oriented. Anchors - Supports -
Vile Aggregate Description - You need to be pushing colorless / artifact creatures pretty hard and no other deck will want it, but it can be a threat in that deck. You won't be throwing this is in any cube. Anchors - Colorless Matters Supports -
Vulshok Sorcerer Description - The 1 power here isn't worth the harder casting cost as a first choice, but it's a second Cunning Sparkmage if you want it. Anchors - Supports - Pinger Control
Wall of Dust Description - The thing about low power blockers is that opponents can attack around them if they have more guys. This helps mitigate that and will slow down most aggro decks. Even if you are overwhelmed and you chump a fattie, it still can't attack next turn. Still, not particularly thrilling. Anchors - Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Academy Raider - It's a poor mans Looter-il-Kor, and if they can block it you are very sad.
Aethertouch Renegade - It isn't really going to do anything unless you are running an energy cube.
Akki Coalflinger - There are better first strikers, and you probably don't want this guy to take a turn off from attacking just to give the rest first strike.
Akki Drillmaster - Not having haste itself is a bummer. It's too much investment for what it provides.
Barbarian Guides - Well, it's a red bounce card if you really want it. It provides some evasion (on the caveat you play with snows), but not bouncing until end of turn is really rough, meaning you don't get to recast it.
Blistering Barrier - For double red, you can get Ruinous Minotaur which has downside when attacking, but can actually attack if you want it to.
Blisterstick Shaman - The 2 damage on Fire Imp is significantly better than being able to hit players with this.
Bloodfire Expert - It might hit hard, but even with a prowess trigger it is still going to die to a bunch of stuff that would block it.
Bloodfire Mentor - Not good enough as an Izzet card and you wouldn’t play it otherwise.
Bloodmad Vampire - It's high power off the bat, but the chance of it getting through in combat are low. Even if you can sneak it past once, it still only has 2 toughness so it is likely to trade with anything. The madness doesn't really add much to the package.
Bloodrock Cyclops - Splatter Thug strictly better (can make 3/3 that can't block, but not forced to attack and has first strike)
Bloodscale Prowler - It might hit hard, but even with a bloodthirst trigger it is still going to die to a bunch of stuff that would block it.
Brimstone Mage - 3 damage is a lot, but a level up cost of 4 is a truckload. Creature removal would have to be almost nonexistent to consider it, otherwise you risk losing massive investments in mana for nothing.
Dragon Egg - I don't know what deck this would fit in. You block if your opponent is aggressive and you get your token, but then you must be on the defensive and your token will just trade anyway. Being a 2 for 1 in sacrifice decks doesn't redeem it.
Dragonsoul Knight - The activated ability is impressive, but just isn't going to happen.
Dragonspeaker Shaman - There aren't enough playable Dragons in peasant to consider this.
Feral Ridgewolf - It can threaten to attack for 5 on the following turn… but the 'threat of activation' doesn't work here to prevent blocking when the baseline is so bad.
Fervent Paincaster - There are many other better options for direct damage to creatures.
Fiery Hellhound - Creatures that only pump power tend to get into fair trades. Trading up or smashing players for a bunch doesn't happen that often, and Stonewright and Lightning Berserker have this space covered if you want the effect.
Fire Ants - Scalding Salamander better in most circumstances as doesn't hurt your team.
Fire Drake - Bad, Granite Gargoyle strictly better.
Fire Juggler - You'd rather have something with higher base power or other upside for this mana cost in the first place.
Flailing Ogre - You tap out to play it, they can just kill it.
Flamespeaker Adept - I like the effect, but it just isn't going to trigger often enough in cube.
Flowstone Wall - Wall of Heat is going to be superior a large portion of the time. Only for sculpting a specific environment where your defensive decks can block all day, but need to invest resources to actually kill attackers.
Frilled Deathspitter - For the most part, it is going to trade off and dome your opponent for 2. That isn't quite good enough, and it will rarely do more than that.
Frontline Rebel - If you are going to attack each turn, just cube Brazen Wolves.
Goblin Chariot - It doesn’t do enough. Minotaur Skullcleaver is strictly better, or effects like Fervent Cathar attached to the haste provide more value.
Goblin Matron - Not effective enough in peasant cube.
Goblin Medics - So it's a red pinger that you have little control over? You could say it can attack and get the trigger for 2 damage a turn, but it just dies to anything anyway.
Goblin Rimerunner - It isn't a good baseline as an attacker or blocker, even if you pay for the haste. You either get better value for the 'can’t block' effect from enter the battlefield effects, but if you want repeat effects, Frenzied Goblin, Goblin Heelcutter or even Intimidator Initiate are better.
Goblin Warchief - There isn't enough reason to support goblins with this card. Most goblins are cheap anyway, so the cost reduction doesn’t matter much. The haste might work well with something like Hordeling Outburst, but it isn't going to provide enough value consistently enough.
Gore Swine - The only way this provides any value is if the way is completely clear, which won't happen consistently enough.
Granite Gargoyle - It's unique as a Wind Drake in red that has some upside, but it doesn't really contribute to anything worthwhile to any particular deck. Red skies isn't likely to be a thing any time soon.
Grinning Ignus - Can up Storm count for effectively 1 red. Other attempts at ramping are just too awkward (play, skip a turn, ramp, then you need to play it again next turn). Even if you push storm, there are better support cards that you don't need to reach this far.
Hanweir Lancer - First strike is a fine ability, particularly if you can grant it to something beefy, but this being a 2/2 is not particularly exciting, and you may get blown out by removal.
Hanweir Watchkeep - It's a pretty poor control card. Yes, the defensive stats are probably passable, and the transformed stats are fine, but being forced to attack might just lose you the game if your opponent just needs your blocker out of the way. They can even plan ahead and just not play spells when they want it to flip.
Hardened Berserker - The effect might be useful sometimes, but not consistently enough.
Heckling Fiends - The cost to activate is too much, reducing your ability to actually cast something you would want them to attack into or otherwise punish them.
Hellfire Mongrel - You play it on curve, and your opponent plays around it. It could be ok if your cube ends up getting in top deck mode, but this card probably needs to be black to be considered, so it can be in the color that can best support it with discard.
Hurloon Shaman - The land sacrifice effect works best for aggro, but a 2 power 3-drop is less useful there, and more likely to get through while more powerful creatures get blocked.
Jund Battlemage - It's bad as a red card, it's not much better as a Rakdos card, and as a Gruul card it is outclassed by Imperious Perfect.
Kavu Agressor - Both modes are bad. If you already can't block, Borderland Marauder Gore House Chainwalker are better, and the 7 mana mode is 'upside' but still just poor value.
Kavu Glider - Doesn't do enough in any colour combination.
Kavu Recluse - You could come up with some uses for it but they are both obscure and would only work in very low power environments.
Kavu Scout - About the only time you would be mildly happy is to play this on turn 3, hit your 4th different land, (and they all have to be basics) and swing for 4. Which you could just get elswhere much easier (Brazen Wolves).
Kazuul's Toll Collector - There are scenarios where this might be good, but not enough to consider cubing it.
Keldon Arsonist - It's a 3 mana 1/1, so you had better be making use of those abilities. And you won't be, because it costs too much.
Keldon Vandals - There are better ways to deal with artifacts. It does have higher power than the casting cost, but the echo makes it too dificult to sequence, particularly if you are just holding it waiting for a target.
Kessig Wolf - It's probably ok, where the threat of activation will help it get through, but it is somewhat overshadowed by the likes of Blood Ogre and Splatter Thug. While their 3 power is conditional, the first strike doesn't require activation and they are more resilient.
Kragma Butcher - Too conditional. A 2/3 for 3 isn't embarassing, but there is not enough upside here to cube it. Maybe if it had first strike or something.
Krenko's Enforcer - It probably isn't terrible as a sometimes unblockable creature, but double red is a no.
Kyren Sniper - There is almost no reason to play this over any number of creatures that can also ping creatures. About the only upside this has over those is that it can ping and attack… if your opponent has a completely empty board.
Laccolith Grunt - The ability might be occasionally annoying, but a 2/2 isn't worth it for being not blocked sometimes.
Lavacore Elemental - It's beefy, but it's too conditional. You have to cast it before combat, denying you the ability to threaten tricks. You have to then attack and get something through if you don't want it to die before you get to attack with it. After those conditions, it has 3 toughness, so it isn't that hard to kill with blocking. Not worth the hoops. Qal Sisma Behemoth is a similar option which is better.
Lavafume Invoker - Waiting for 8 mana is not worth playing a Grey Ogre.
Painiac - Maths says this is on average a 3.5/3 for 3 mana which sounds fine, but the inconsistency sucks, and it has 0 power when it isn't your turn.
Pardic Swordsmith - Wow. This card is bad. It DOES have the upside of being able to untap and potentially deal 9 damage if you lay down your 4th mountain, but that is so unlikely to happen in the first place or break through you would never consider it.
Raging Gorilla - It doesn't really have a role. It either gets in for 2, or trades with anything on the attack or block.
Rakish Heir - Not enough support to make this good enough.
Razor Swine - If it had wither it might deserve at least a little consideration, but not with infect. On defense if normal first strike wasn't going to kill the attacker, there is a decent chance this will still die to the attacker. With wither, it at least could have threatened the opponent's actual life total.
Reckless Brute - It could fit into an aggressive deck shell, but so could a bunch of better creatures. It doesn't add anything other creatures can't.
Regathan Firecat - The only way this provides any value is if the way is completely clear, which won't happen consistently enough.
Riot Ringleader - The only reason you would care is if you have enough humans for an aggressive deck, but there is enough incidental humans in most cubes that this probably plays better than you'd expect and gives you another angle to draft. It isn't as good as the guaranteed mass pump of the white versions (Pianna, Nomad Captain, Soltari Champion), but you might include it as incidental tribal support.
Robber Fly - You can help your opponent filter their cards. The BCS (milling your opponent) is the epitome of Magical Christmas Land.
Rock Jockey - A vanilla 3/3 is not worth these restrictions.
Ruinous Minotaur - It might be fine in the right deck (low to the ground red-based aggro that doesn’t care about losing a land or two if it is winning), but it does still dies to a lot of things, and there are less risky options for the 'big red aggro creature with a drawback' category.
Rummaging Goblin - There are better rummage effects. This one is too slow.
Salivating Gremlins - Too narrow. Brazen Wolves misses out on trample but is a much more consistent aggressive creature even if you support artifacts.
Screamreach Brawler - The hard cast is not something you want, so it comes down to how important the dash is, and it isn't amazing in that role either.
Searing Spear Askari - You would probably include on the odd occasion in a red aggro deck if you drafted it, but it falls just on the wrong side of 'filler'.
Seeth Pathblazer - A 4/2 first striker is something worth caring about, but it just won't happen often enough. There is Magical Christmas Land of Young Pyromancer, this, then spells, but that is wishful thinking.
Shinen of Fury's Fire - It's hard to get excited for either mode. There are better haste creatures, there are better ways to grant haste, and the flexibility here doesn't make up for it.
Sparkspitter - You trade cards for a 1-off creature. You get death triggers, sacrifice fodder and can get cards into the yard... but it just isn't going to add up or being consistent often enough.
Spearpoint Oread - Only as a deep option for red to contribute to an enchantment matters theme.
Stormcaller of Keranos - This doesn't look bad, but I guess is a victim of 'better stuff to do in the gold slot'. If it was mono it might get a look in.
Sulfur Elemental - The scenarios where it does something useful are too narrow.
Swaggering Corsair - It's conditional to make it an ok creature, and otherwise just bad.
Thunderscape Battlemage - It has the flexibility thing going for it, but none of the modes are exciting enough.
Thunder-Thrash Elder - If you don't devour this is terrible, but devouring is too many eggs in one basket without any resilience, haste, or any other abilities.
Torch Slinger - It's not efficient enough unless you are really depowering your removal.
Tundra Kavu - You will rarely require this effect.
Two-Headed Cerberus - The extra toughness doesn’t add much over Viashino Slaughtermaster.
Ulrich's Kindred - A 3/2 trampler for 3 is actually not a bad deal. It's just not as enticing as a number of other cards. Boggart Brute gets the nod at the exact mana cost, and if you go double red you get more exciting options.
Valakut Invoker - Repeatable 3 damage is solid, but most cubes are too fast, and the ones that regularly get to 8 mana are probably loaded with creatures with 4+ toughness.
Viashino Grappler - It's a poor red card and a not much better Gruul card.
Wall of Lava - You would rather have something with better stats from the outset instead of the harder casting cost and investment required.
Wall of Stone - It has the biggest butt, but that is all it has. It can survive Pelakka Wurm and Plated Crusher, but against most decks you will wish it was one of the interesting and interactive walls.
Wandering Goblins - At this price you really want a 3/3 without any further investment, so no.
Zodiac Dog - Random hoser and bad everywhere else.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Flametongue Kavu Description - Possibly reds best creature, it is very rare that 4 damage is not going to kill a relevant target, and while the toughness is low, 4 power makes it likely to trade with a lot of creatures. Hard not to find a 2 for 1 out of this, and makes for a ridiculous bounce / blink target. Anchors - Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting
a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Goblin Heelcutter Description - Having to pay for it every turn doesn't seem great at first glance, but firstly it gets haste, and secondly, you might just need to shut down your opponents best stabilising creature for a couple of turns to get the win through. Once your opponent has seen it once, it may change the way they plan their defense (e.g. keep back an extra blocker when they could have made an attack), which you could exploit by just casting other spells to develop your board instead of dashing this out again immediately. Marginal synergies if you support cards that trigger off repeatedly casting creatures or entering the battlefield (extort, Impact Tremors) Anchors - Supports -
Keldon Champion Description - This has the opportunity to win games out of nowhere or really shift games. An extra 6 damage the opponent didn't plan for might force them to abandon lines of play they had invested resources into in an attempt to scramble up a defense next turn, or it might just drop them to a low enough life total that you just win the following turn. Anchors - Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-
around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Avalanche Riders Description - Fine aggro curve topper to keep some pressure up while keeping them off a bigger play long enough to kill them, or potentially keeping them off a colour or punishing land light hands. Anchors - Supports -
Beetleback Chief Description - Fine for putting bodies on the board. Either to go wide on the attack, or just gum up the board on defense. Anchors - Supports - Tokens
Bloodfray Giant Description - Solid aggro beater. 5/4 trampler for 4 hits fairly hard and can be hard to deal with, especially if you've already curved out. If you are behind, a 4/3 blocker isn't terrible. Anchors - Supports -
Dragon Whelp Description - The base isn't exciting, but it's a red flyer if you want one, and if the opponent doesn't have blockers it can turn into a decent clock if you are at a point where you don't need to develop your board. You can always hold mana up on defense if you are behind and need to threaten to kill a large attacker. Anchors - Supports -
Embodiment of Fury Description - The baseline stats with trample is fine enough. Being able to turn lands into hasty creatures, especially later in the game when you don't mind if they just trade, can be a decent gameplan for midrange decks, or even as an aggro topper. There are probably marginal considerations, but it does have synergies with awaken cards (effectively gives the lands +3/+3) and cards like Cultivate played in the late game can give you multiple threats in a single turn. Anchors - Supports -
Gorehorn Minotaurs Description - It might be consistent enough in generic red aggro or midrange decks that want to turn sideways to be a 5/5 for 4. You can always tweak a few effects to improve its effectiveness. Anchors - Supports -
Lava Hounds Description - It's a decent aggro curve topper; 4 hasty power is nice, and the toughness also means it isn't going down without a fight. The 4 damage to yourself isn't nothing; if your cube has a high density of bounce / flicker spells, you might want to give this one a miss to avoid feel bads. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
Roc of Kher Ridges Description - A 3/3 flyer for 4 is fine. It may be 'less important' than something like Voyager Drake because red doesn't have the critical mass of flyers to make it a game plan. You might consider Dragon Whelp as an alternative with more upside if unblocked, but this is easier to splash. Anchors - Supports -
Scrapper Champion Description - For aggro decks, this is mostly a 3/3 double striker, which is solid already. Even if you are forced to block, the 4 damage will still take down a reasonable number of ground based attackers. If you have other energy outlets or just suit it up with aura's / equipment, it can become hard to deal with if your opponent doesn't have removal. The double strike can even make double blocking hard. Anchors - Pants Supports -
Smoldering Werewolf Description - The frontside might not always find targets, but it can clear small threats or you can use the damage post-combat if required. The frontside alone is slightly underwhelming, but transformed can be a bit of a powerhouse, potentially clearing out something that would threaten to double block it. Anchors - Supports -
Stalking Yeti Description - It isn't Flametongue Kavu, but even without snow mana it can still kill small creatures. Sometimes it will be correct to use it as a 'bad' burn spell and trade. If you support snow basics (or manage to draft that Coldsteel Heart), you can get a slow rolling machine to kill small creatures. Anchors - Supports -
Vaultbreaker Description - It can hit hard and filter cards. It's not flashy, but it gets the job done. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Bloodshot Trainee Description - I don't know what the exact number is, but you need several pretty specific cards that offer repeat or permanent pump in your cube to make this worthwhile. Bonesplitter, Trusty Machete and Madcap Skills are regularly played, Elephant Guide and Griffin Guide are decent options, but you might have to dig deep if you want this to be at least somewhat reliable. Repeat 4 damage is obviously great though. Anchors - Supports -
Bonded Horncrest Description - It's fine enough for aggro decks looking to curve into it. The downside sucks when it is active though. The upside of overpowering most opposing creatures once it hits the board can be worth it in the right deck. Anchors - Supports -
Brood Keeper Description - It's very underwhelming without the trigger, so you clearly need to be supporting the enchantment (and specifically auras) matters archetype. Self-bouncing auras are cute if a little slow. Anchors - Enchantment Matters Supports -
Changeling Berserker Description - 5/3 haste for 4 is decent, but the champion clause is a real cost. Ideally it will be something that has an ETB effect so you have some 'insurance' if it gets removed, but an aggro deck could also trade in an outclassed early drop. You might compare the stats and board implications to a vehicle like Renegade Freighter, but the haste here might make it worth considering as an aggro curve topper. Anchors - Supports -
Corrupt Eunuchs Description - It isn't bad in and of itself, but it's strictly worse than Flametongue Kavu, and the cheaper cost on Fire Imp is usually worth more than the extra point of toughness. It's still a fine card if you find Flametongue Kavu too powerful or want depth of this effect. Anchors - Supports -
Enthralling Victor Description - It isn't going to be consistent. Sometimes they have nothing to steal, or maybe a defender that does nothing. It might depend on the exact composition of your cube; it does get a little better if you support sacrifice effects. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Fallen Ferromancer Description - It's likely to be too slow and mana intensive for most cubes, but distributing -1/-1 counters on creatures every turn (and at instant speed) can start dealing with stalled board states and mess with combat. Also pairs nicely with undying creatures. Anchors - Supports -
Goblin Freerunner Description - 3/2 menace for 2 mana is great, but not being able to cast it on turn 2 sucks, and paying 4 mana sucks. Ideally you want the right support cards; low to the ground aggro, or cards that provide you with mana; Manamorhpose, Burning-Tree Shaman, Priest of Urabrask etc. to make it consistent enough to cube. Anchors - Supports -
Goblin Settler Description - At face value, it's 4 mana land destruction spell with a mostly irrelevant body, and 4 mana is not what you usually want to be paying for land destruction. However, it might have some value in blink / bounce decks to clear out opposing utility lands or cut an opponent off a colour if you want to support that type of interaction. Anchors - Land Destruction Supports -
Kird Chieftain Description - A 4/4 for 4 is a decent starting point (in the right deck of course), but it isn't quite as effective as other Gruul options. Still, while the activated ability is expensive, it does threaten to mess with combat (whether making this a 6/6, or forcing trading up something else) or the trample mess with the opponents life total if they intended to chump block. Potential inclusion if you are looking for grindier inevitable Gruul decks as opposed to ones that are more aggressive. Anchors - Supports -
Lesser Gargadon Description - If you want a curve topper for balls to the wall aggro that no other deck wants. The lack of trample is notable, and could create some feel bads if your opponent can afford to chump for a few turns or has a repeat token maker. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
Mad Prophet Description - 4 mana is not what you want to be paying for this effect, but it can be a filtering option for red if you want one. Anchors - Supports -
Mardu Heart-Piercer Description - It's worse than Fire Imp and Flametongue Kavu, but you might cube it to make your 2-for-1's a little more skill testing, or to orient the effect more for aggro decks. Anchors - Supports -
Maulfist Doorbuster Description - The low toughness isn't great, but the triggered ability increases the likelihood that it will get through. Even if it trades on the first swing, it might mean getting some of your other early threats through that otherwise might have been eaten. Anchors - Supports -
Needletooth Raptor Description - In a control deck, it can serve as a roadblock that can trade with anything up to a Pelakka Wurm, and even if they swing in with a 3/3, you might still be able to kill something else they would rather keep around. However it relies on your opponent attacking into it, and isn't going to help you stabilise against evasive creatures. That said, it is a mini-combo with pingers or Pyrohemia, and the presence of these in your cube is the main reason to consider it. Anchors - Supports -
Oxidda Scrapmelter Description - There are lots of similar options, but this one does give you an ok body. Unexciting, but serviceable. Anchors - Supports -
Paragon of Fierce Defiance Description - Probably only worth it if you have a high enough token contingent in red (Hordeling Outburst, Mog War Marshal, Beetleback Chief). You aren't as worried about the haste, particularly as it costs mana, but it will still come up sometimes. Anchors - Red Devotion Supports -
Pyre Hound - 1 Description - You have to cast a spell before it reaches Vestige of Emrakul status, and two before you are somewhat happy. The growth plus trample might still make it worth it for slower cubes. Anchors - Spells Matters Supports - +1/+1 counters
Rubblebelt Maaka
Description - You really don't to play this as a Hill Giant, and if you want a pump spell you would rather have Brute Force which can be used defensively or in response to toughness based removal outside of combat. It does have some flexibility, and the pump only working aggressively may be what cube designers are looking for. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
Rukh Egg Description - It isn't going to fit into most decks, but you might cube it for sacrifice effects or to support red controlling decks. If your opponents game plan doesn't include early pressure then it isn't great. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Skirk Volcanist Description - It needs you to have enough mountains on the board, which can certainly prevent you from morphing it early, but it can be an instant speed Flames of the Firebrand that requires no mana up. Somewhat clunky, but the upside is there. Anchors - Supports -
Spontaneous Artist Description - Not particularly high impact on its own, but giving a 5-drop or ramp target haste might make this worth considering. Anchors - Supports -
Terra Ravager Description - It's rarely going to be worse than 3/4 (if your opponent is mana screwed), but it's going to be often enough a 5/4 or better even when close to on curve. It's not something you want in a deck that is intending to block of course, but it can be aggro support. Anchors - Supports -
Tormentor Exarch Description - Even if you discount the amazing Flametongue Kavu, there are a number of similar and probably better options (Stalking Yeti, Fire Imp). It might still be ok if you are going deep on this kind of effect. Anchors - Supports -
Vent Sentinel Description - It's a reasonable blocker, but it is probably a signal that you are supporting a defender subtheme in your cube. The fact that it only hits players is a downside, but could support a controlling red deck. Anchors - Defender Supports -
Voldaren Duelist Description - The combo of haste and shutting down a blocker can throw more damage on the table than the opponent was expecting. Probably best to support a 'can't block' theme in red along the curve, as the cheaper versions are usually considered better. Ahn-Crop Crasher is a better option in most cases though. Anchors - Supports -
Warfire Javelineer Description - There are plenty of other 'spells matters' options, and red also has a number of other 'ETB, deal some damage' creature options as well. Nevertheless, the ceiling, while inconsistent, can be higher than those options. Anchors - Spells Matters Supports -
Worldheart Phoenix Description - Most cubes don't need to include 5 colour reward cards. If you want one though, this is probably one of the better ones. A 4/4 flyer is solid, but it can still be outclassed. Being able to cast it every turn gives you some range to trade or even chump while you find answers if you need to. Anchors - 5-colour / Domain Supports -
Zada, Hedron Grinder Description - By default most cubes have a narrow range of relevant spells; you can expand them to design around this, but they are still likely to be narrow. The most likely candidates are pump spells. Inconsistent, but it will be awesome when you pull it off. Anchors - Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is
little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Afflicted Deserter - It's not a good baseline, and when it transforms it doesn't set the world on fire (unless you count the flames in the background).
Akki Underminer - You could go super deep to support this (Rogues Passage etc), but with the time and resources it would take to get up and running, your opponent could probably afford to lose a lew lands or other nonvaluable things for a few turns before it even impacts them.
Anaba Bodyguard - Would rather Lightning Hounds for the extra power if you are going to have first strike.
Ancient Kavu - Going to be a Hill Giant 99% of the time.
Anger - The payoff doesn't seem high enough. Aggro decks don't want to play a 4 mana 2/2, and if they do it probably becomes easier to let through than other attackers if they are really worried about turning on the haste. There aren't enough red aggro discard outlets to reliable turn it on that way. he haste doesn't really matter to control decks.
Barbed Shocker - Baseline is not good enough, and the triggered ability is probably a downside more often than an upside.
Battering Craghorn - Unless you really care about morph, Halberdier or Lightning Hounds are better.
Battle-Rattle Shaman - It just doesn’t seem consistent enough; there are times you can buff an evasive creature or pump an otherwise useless token so they either block or trade, but sometimes it will just sit there and unless it is pumping itself it isn't good in combat itself.
Belligerent Whiptail - A 4/2 first striker makes for a solid attacker, but once you've hit 4 mana land drops start to dry up.
Blade-Tribe Berserkers - It's probably too conditional even for a cube pushing an artifact archetype; probably only for dedicated artifact cubes.
Cinder Giant - Not worth playing or drafting around the downside.
Cinder Seer - There are times when it just won't work, and even when you can get a few damage out of it, you have to reveal your cards which your opponent can then start playing around. Ghost-Lit Raider seems like a better and more consistent option.
Coal Stoker - It doesn't really do mcuh outside of Storm. An aggro or midrange deck COULD play this and then drop something else, but it doesn't seem high enough impact.
Dwarven Driller - The opponent can choose whichever option suits the board state. Games would have to go super long for this to do anything worthwhile.
Hatchet Bully - You could pair it with undying creatures, but Ghost-Lit Raider is going to be better in the majority of situations.
Havengul Vampire - Getting through isn't likely to happen with its base stats. Rockslide Elemental starts lower but is cheaper, and the first strike in particular is likely to be more relevant on a growing body.
Heirs of Stromkirk - It takes a couple of hits before it is above the curve, and the evasion is going to be inconsistent.
Kavu Runner - Spontaneous Artist / Brazen Scourge strictly better.
Keldon Berserker - It's not enough upside; it promotes awkward play, and even if you 'pump' it, the three toughness is still going to mean it dies often enough.
Krark-Clan Engineers - You will rarely have two artifacts you want to sacrifice.
Laccolith Warrior - There might be times when your opponent is forced to block and you can use the trigger to take out some utility creature, but your opponent has too much agency in when this matters.
Magmaroth - It is really only worth it if you are attacking with at least a 4/4 every turn, and you are going to run out of noncreature spells pretty quickly even in a spells matters deck.
Needlepeak Spider - You rarely want a spider with these stats. It can trade with some Angels, but that is not enough of a selling point when it will die to a lot of opposing 2 or 3 drops if you send it into the red zone.
Pillaging Horde - There are better 'big beef with downsides' at this cost, particularly as the discard is random and occasionally you won't be able to cast it.
Retromancer - The 'upside' isn't going to happen often enough to warrant playing a Hill Giant. It's also symmetrical, so it's painful to equip, enchant, pump with combat spells etc.
Sawtooth Ogre - Just 'meh'. It's better on defense but Brazen Wolves is better on the attack. Needing to wait until end of combat to deal the damage is bad.
Scorchwalker - You rarely want a 5/1, so the main reason to play this is as a pump spell. There might be corner cases where the extra power can finish the opponent off, but most decks will be better served by more efficient tricks like Brute Force or Weapon Surge.
Skirk Outrider - It's fine when it is on, but not so much above the curve that it is worth putting up with a 2/2 which will be much more common.
Skirsdag Cultist - 2 damage is more than 1 (duh) but the downsides compared to something like Goblin Bombardment are notable; mainly that this can only be used once per turn.
Skyraker Giant - Looks like it would play fine, but doesn't really fill a hole that cubes are looking to fill.
Tormented Pariah - Both versions are vanilla, and by the time the front side comes down, most players are going to be playing spells for the next few turns.
Treasonous Ogre - Maybe there is some Magical Christmas land where semi-infinite mana does something, but in the vast majority of situations it is just bad.
Viashino Fangtail - It has an identity crisis. You either want to support more efficient or effective pingers, or have a beefier upfront creature. Fine for regular limited, but you want more focus in cube.
Warbringer - The static ability upside isn't going to be supported unless you are going very far out of your way, and there are better haste / dash options.
Warmonger - Too hard to control, there doesn't seem to be a deck that could make use of it.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Charging Monstrosaur Description - A good set of abilities and stats. If your aggro decks curve out into this, your opponent is probably hurting pretty bad. One of the better red 5-drops. Anchors - Supports -
Garbage Elemental (the one with cascade) Description - A 3/3 for 5 that draws you a card, AND casts it is pretty reasonable. Tack on some bonus damage and you are pretty happy. Anchors - Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Garbage Elemental (the one with battlecry that can create Goblin tokens) Description - So it creates between 0 and 5 tokens, and you probably want at least 2. Youll get 1 or less about 45% of the time,and 3 or more 33% of the time. If you get 5/4 worth of stats that is probably reasonable, given the battlecry. The floor of 0 tokens certainly makes you unhappy, but if you are playing it in a 'go wide' strategy hopefully the battlecry still makes it useful in that scenario. Inconsistent, but can be strong when it works. Anchors - Supports -
Glarewielder Description - There are better options if you are only ever going to evoke it, but the flexibility of waiting until you get to 5 mana and also throwing 3 hasty damage on the table can swing games. Anchors - Supports -
Keldon Halberdier Description - There aren't too many high power playable first strikers at peasant. Solid a on turn 1 suspend, and even if you hard cast it, there probably aren't large amounts of creatures in most cubes that can block it effectively. Anchors - Supports -
Seismic Elemental Description - It can be a decent top end creature to get your earlier plays through, whether to close the game or get them on a low enough life total that you can swing around them the next turn. Glarewielder is a similar alternative; that usually applies more immediate pressure, while this gives a better creature if you need a blocker. However if they've built out a sizeable ground force, this will help break through them. Anchors - Supports -
Sprinting Warbrute Description - A decent enough curve topper for aggro decks, mostly treated as a 4-drop to maintain immediate pressure. Anchors - Supports -
Vildin-Pack Outcast Description - 4/4 trampler for 5 is a passable base but not really worth cubing, however the other upsides give it some play. The activated ability already plays well with trample, and if you transform it, it becomes much harder to deal with. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Ancient Hydra Description - Sometimes you might untap, and divide 5 damage to clear out some small creatures, or swing in with your team with 4 counters to divvy up as needed mid-combat. It is pretty board dependant and clunky though. Anchors - Supports -
Charging Tuskodon Description - There is some upside to be had here, but you probably only want to consider it in a cube with enough combat tricks or ways to consistently give creatures evasion. Anchors - Supports -
Crown-Hunter Hireling Description - Red doesn't get many ways to draw repeat cards, making this an option for red control decks. The stats make it a decent blocker in its own right, helping you protect the crown. Anchors - Supports -
Emrakul's Hatcher Description - It's going to be pretty low impact in most decks. However it does put 4 creatures on the battlefield, which can play into either sacrifice themes, or go wide pump. It can be used to ramp in a stretch. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice, Go wide
Gathan Raiders Description - At its best, it's a 5/5 for 3 mana. It just isn't going to be at its best very often, unless you really develop your cube around a hellbent / discard theme. Anchors - Supports -
Gatstaf Arsonists Description - The frontside is bearable but unexciting. The prospect of turning it into a 6/5 menace creature is reasonable. It isn't likely to flip on curve very often as both players are still likely to have a few spells to cast, but good when it does. Anchors - Supports -
Hoarding Dragon Description - At worst it's a red Air Elemental which some decks might want, with some quirky upside if you've drafted an artifact or two, giving you an insurance plan if it dies. It can represent value, but there isn't anything particular that stands out. Might be worth considering if you have an artifact matters theme to get triggers / benefits when it dies (and if it doesn't, you are probably hitting them for 4). Anchors - Supports -
Incorrigible Youths Description - 4/3 haste for 3 is awesome... but you really need to be all-in on support for madness to consider it for your cube. Anchors - Madness Supports -
Ingot Chewer Description - It’s low on the list of artifact destruction options in red, but you can evoke it when the situation calls for it, and can cast it when there are no targets if you are desperate. Anchors - Supports -
Reckless Wurm - 1 Description - You want to have a very high density of discard for this to be worth it. Otherwise Vildin-Pack Outcast is just going to be better. Anchors - Madness / Discard Outlets Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally
depowering an effect.
Ærathi Berserker - Poor base stats, and rampage isn't interesting enough to make a difference.
Akroan Conscriptor - That is some enticing upside, but it isn't going to be consistent enough when the stats are this bad (magical christmas land of casting Harm's Way on this after opponent declares attacks, steal something, block 2 other creatures, then kill something else with Harm's Way redirection sounds great if you ever pull it off).
Fire Elemental - Stoneshock Giant/Tenement Crasher strictly better.
Fire Servant - Interesting card, but it isn't likely to activate frequently enough and contribute as effectively to a game plan as a better red creature; you can only draft so much burn.
Fire Snake - For 5 mana, you can get Ravaging Horde.
Greater Forgeling - The activated ability doesn't really threaten enough. At 5 mana you don't want a 3/4, and the best you can hope for if they block with something bigger is to spend mana to trade with it.
Grotag Thrasher - Not a combination of stats and ability that you want to pay 5 for when you can get Ahn-Crop Crasher.
Hulking Cyclops - I suppose it is big, but I'd rather play just about any 4/5 or 5/4 with upside than this.
Hungering Yeti - Just 'meh'. Nothing compelling to make you want to cube it.
Lightning Shrieker - It's a Lava Axe that can be blocked or killed by removal.
Manticore Eternal - It doesn't look horrible, with at least decent stats and guaranteed to get some damage through. But forced attacking means you might run it into unfavourable double blocks, and your opponent might be willing to pay the 3 life to take it out.
Manticore of the Gauntlet - If it hit creatures, sure, but only hitting players makes this pretty bad.
Nearheath Stalker - It dies to a sneeze, then dies to a slightly bigger sneeze. It's got decent power, but that power is going to just eat smaller creatures too often for the investment.
Night Revelers - It might trigger more than you'd think, but it isn't enough.
Pardic Lancer - If those abilities were always on, it might be up for consideration. But costing a card at random, nope.
Party Crasher - I'd have to assume that without vigilance, this doesn't actually do anything.
Pharagax Giant - You will always get the worst mode for the situation.
Pitchburn Devils - If you want to get the dies trigger, I'd rather cube Mudbutton Torchrunner.
Prickleboar - a 5 power first striker isn't bad, but Keldon Halberdier is going to do most of the job on attack, but be a much better blocker and able to be cast for 1 mana when the times call for it.
Slash Panther - A 4 mana 4/2 haste without lifeloss would still not be worth it.
Snapping Thragg - A 3/3 for 5 probably isn't getting through much. Yes, it has morph, but you are paying 9 mana to MAYBE sneak it through, or they just block your morph… and then what?
Storm Fleet Arsonist - It's underwhelming. By the time you cast it, they can probably sacrifice a land or some other low value permanent.
Storm Fleet Pyromancer - Flametongue Kavu might be considered too good by some, but this isn't very good. The raid plays into aggro, and aggro doesn't want a 5-drop that can't clear blockers before attacks.
Warchief Giant - 5 power haste for 5 isn't bad, but you really want that fourth point of toughness.
Wayward Giant - It is just 'middling'. It might make some decks if you were to draft it, but it doesn't really pull you in a direction and there isn't really a reason to cube it over other options.
Whiptail Moloch - Too conditional. It either kills itself, or it kills something else… then dies to most 3-drops due to lack of toughness.
Wild Celebrants - There are better artifact removal options.
Wildfire Cerberus - I can see board states where it is good, but the poor toughness undermines the upside too much.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
None.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Markov Warlord Description - If your opponent was expecting to block, this can swing combat by 3 creatures (hasty attacker plus remove 2 blockers). Hard to imagine wanting a 6 mana creature in your aggro decks, but for the red/x midrange decks it can help break through. Anchors - Supports -
Volcanic Dragon Description - Reasonable top end creature for red. It doesn’t support anything specific, just a reasonable collection of stats and abilities. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Oni of Wild Places Description - It's not a good card in a more 'generic' strategy, and you would only ever cube it as a synergy piece; returning the likes of Fire Imp or Flametongue Kavu can be powerful. At least compared to other versions, this has haste so you can always attack with it even if you have nothing else to bounce. Anchors - Self-bounce Supports -
Pardic Dragon Description - Suspending this is rarely a good idea. If you suspend it on turn 2, your opponent is likely to play spells for the next several turns, keeping it in limbo. That said, if you hard cast it, it does have the opportunity to hit hard. Volcanic Dragon is likely to perform better most of the time in this role, but this can trade in some occasions where that can't, or you might want both. Anchors - Supports -
Ripscale Predator Description - It's not a standout, but the stats plus menace is borderline for the average cube; it is probably decent and worth consideration in cubes with depowered removal and more focus on combat tricks. i.e. Where there is a higher chance of blowing out a double block with a Giant Growth etc. Anchors - Supports -
Skarrgan Firebird Description - Struggling to find a good reason to actually say 'this is the type of environment you would consider cubing it in' but it does seem like it could find a home. A 6/6 flyer is solid if you hit it. Anchors - Supports -
Spitebellows Description - Reasonable for control decks that can take out most threats early with evoke if needed, and then put an annoying blocker in the way later in the game. In combat, it is usually going to take down whatever it tussles with and take something else along with it. Anchors - Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Ashen Monstrosity - It hits hard, but attacking each turn, no trample, and only 4 toughness means this is going to die to something cheaper far too often.
Bloodstoke Howler - Narrow on tribal and too inefficient in any case.
Bogardan Rager - It doesn't contribute enough to a game plan. You could flash it in mid-combat, but it doesn't increase survivaibility and the stats are woeful for this cost.
Hearthcage Giant - It puts a fair bit of power on the board, and it might be fun to reanimate, but it isn't worth 8 mana.
Impelled Giant - So you need to tap 1 or 2 other creatures just to make it worth the mana cost? It doesn't boost toughness so it still dies to anything.
Karplusan Giant - Even with snow lands it is still pretty bad.
Kuldotha Flamefiend - It makes me wish there was enough support for 'big artifact red', because the triggered ability is pretty solid… but there isn't enough artifact support to make a 6 mana payoff worth it.
Pardic Dragon - It's too much risk. If you suspend it on 2, your opponent is likely to be casting a spell a turn for the next several turns, and sometimes even two spells.
Rage Thrower - It's too inefficient and too fragile for what it costs.
Rapacious One - It might create some interesting lines of play, but the upsides aren't going to be consistent enough compared to the 'downside' of underwhelming stats for its cost.
Sun-Crowned Hunters - I like that with 4 activations of Pyrohemia you can deal 16 damage to your opponent with this on the board… but it doesn't quite get there. You want your 6-drop to be doing more.
Tectonic Fiend - If it didn't have echo it might be worth it.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Lightning Bolt Description – The gold standard for 1 mana burn. The most damage you will get for 1 mana that hits players or creatures at instant speed without any drawbacks. Usually worth splashing for if you have any kind of mana fixing. Anchors – Supports –
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Chain Lightning Description – As a sorcery, it isn't going to be better than Lightning Bolt a lot of the time, but can be another analogue, as 3 damage for 1 mana is always going to be good. Fringe use of being able to target your Spitemare, and then copy to deal another 3 to the opponents face if you just need to get 6 damage through. Anchors – Supports –
Faithless Looting
Description – Solid red looting card. It provides card disadvantage on the first casting, but will usually make up for it with card quality. Can help enable some graveyard strategies, and being able to cast a second time is gravy. Spells Matters decks also like this card triggering on each casting, as well as increasing likelihood of finding. Low curve aggro decks are also happy to throw away extra lands to keep the gas going. Anchors – Supports – Reanimator, graveyard matters, Spells Matters, Aggro
Firebolt Description – Fair burn spell. You might consider this over Burst Lightning, depending on whether and how much you want to balance sorcery and instant speed burn. This also plays well into graveyard themes if you can dump it there to flash it back. Anchors – Supports –
Flame Slash Description – Sorcery speed , but maximum damage for a single mana. It won’t deal with hasty creatures immediately, but the ability to take out a lot of larger threats before they get to attack while still having mana to develop your board is excellent. Anchors – Supports –
Skred Description - If you allow snow lands for basics, then this is excellent burn. If not, then it doesn't go in your cube. Anchors - Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Brute Force Description – Playable combat trick. It’s not flashy, but in aggro trades can help trade up or win otherwise bad combats, or help key creatures survive for a single mana. Anchors – Supports –
Burst Lightning Description – Most of the time this will just be a Shock, which is fine, with upside in the late game. 5 mana looks like a lot, but outside of and green and Eldrazi there aren't going to be many creatures that can survive a kicked Burst Lightning. Anchors – Supports –
Coordinated Assault Description – The combo of surprise power boost and first strike is going to win you some combats that might have been going the other way. Being able to do it with two creatures is gravy. It requires the right board state, but it won't be too often that this won't be able to do something. Anchors – Supports –
Dynacharge Description – The more likely mode for this spell is to boost an aggro team swinging for the final kill. Great anthem for token decks, or aggro decks full of cheap threats. Occasionally there will be board states where it won't matter, but there is also the single mana mode if you need to take out a larger threat during combat. While you'd rather use it in an aggro fashion, it can still help you boost your defending team if needed. No toughness means it doesn't help your team stay alive, but increases your chances of removing other threats. Anchors – Supports –
Fireball Description – It hits both creatures and players, and can divide its damage between creatures and players if required, and it is scalable direct damage. This card offers great options to either help clear the board so you can swing in, or just going straight for the opponents face. Its effectiveness will scale depending on the speed of your cube, but in slower cubes most decks will be willing to splash this. Anchors – Supports –
Flame Jab Description – 1 damage does not appear significant, but repeatable burn is very powerful. Once you've hit your required land drops, this can help maintain control of creatures on the board, and with cards in hand your opponent will need to play around it. Anchors – Supports –
Forked Bolt Description – Sometimes you'll deal the final 2 needed to kill a large creature after combat. Sometimes you will take out a Guttersnipe before it gets online. Sometimes you will take out that Mardu Woe-Reaper and Dragon Hunter on turn 2. Sometimes you will deal that final 2 to the dome. Basically, this is a flexible spell that will always have some use; preferably as a 2 for 1, but it's never going to be a dead card. If you support fast aggro with lots of x/1’s, the value goes up. Anchors – Supports –
Genju of the Spires Description – 6 power that is repeatable is something to be respected. Can simply be a 1-drop to activate once you've played out other threats in an aggro deck, and can be a surprise 6/1 hasty 4-drop. Even if it dies every turn, in a longer game, repeatedly swinging with 6 power is going to whittle away most defenses opponents can put up. Anchors – Supports –
Gut Shot Description – 'Free' is always good. Can be good to support any storm cards in your cube. Control decks may be happy to take the 2 life to remove an aggressive creature while using mana to set up defenses. Also good in an aggro mirror to maintain board control. Anchors – Supports – Storm
Hammerhand Description – This can be a roleplayer in an aggro deck; it can push through damage by preventing blocks, pumping power, and giving something haste. It does require the right board state and sequence of plays to maximise its effectiveness. Anchors – Supports – Aggro
Lava Dart Description - What it lacks in raw power (compared to other burn spells that provide the same total damage) it makes up for in flexibility. Flame Jab may be better in a number of situations because it is more repeatable, but if necessary this can be cast twice in succession with only a single mana, which may be better if you support Storm cards. Outside of that archetype, it can still take out a couple of aggressive or utility creatures, or deal an extra point needed mid or post combat. Anchors - Supports - Storm
Magmatic Insight Description - While any deck can play it, it is more suited to aggro decks, as they are most likely to have the land spare early in the game. Costing only a single mana can help sequence plays more effectively in those decks. It is reasonably effective, but it only does one thing. Because it only lets you discard land, it doesn't help other graveyard strategies like Faithless Looting, a card that is slightly less good in the pure aggro decks, but more versatile for other archetypes. Anchors - Supports -
Onslaught Description – It is situational, but if played early you can turn off their most effective blocker in subsequent turns. Even if you are racing, you can prevent their summoning sick creatures from blocking. Worth noting this is not optional; if your opponent’s board is clear, you want to attack first, then target your tapped creature. This might be awkward for some creatures which are worth playing pre-combat, but if the opponent’s board is clear, you are probably winning anyway and can afford the awkwardness. Works well with flash creatures to tap down creatures on opponents turn. Good friends with Whitemane Lion. Anchors – Supports –
Otherworldly Outburst Description - It's a quirky spell; it's obviously conditional, but it's 1 red mana for a 3/2 creature which sounds awesome. Casting it in response to something about to die is the base condition, which is going to happen often enough, and the power boost might even help you trade up at the same time. Great for aggro to punish the control player for blocking and trading. Anchors - Supports -
Reckless Charge Description – Of the 1-mana spells that grant haste, this one has other upside to make it worth casting even if a creature didn't come into play this turn. Casting something and swinging in with an extra 3 power is nice; hopefully the haste means you have the best chance of actually connecting. So it is still situational. Flashback is nice, though the cost makes it harder to use on something you've just cast. But if all you need is to push through that final 3, the threat may keep your opponent from swinging in. Anchors – Supports –
Rock Slide Description – An X-spell that has big blowout potential, balanced by a restriction on what you can target. Being able to divide the damage provides a lot of potential to either take out some attackers/blockers before combat damage, or spread it out enough to wipe out the opposition after your creatures apply combat damage. Anchors – Supports –
Titan's Strength Description - ok combat pump with some card filtering. It isn't exciting and will mostly be a 1 for 1, turning a trade into a win, or a chump block into a trade, with the occasional opportunity for winning when you get double-blocked, or just deal the finishing 3. Gets the job done and can work in a range of decks. Anchors - Supports -
Weapon Surge Description - Instant speed, first strike, and power boosting potentially for your entire team. You won't need to work too hard to make this reasonable, with some occasions where you might take down a number of opposing creatures. The fact that it is flexible and can be used on the attack or block makes it useful in a range of decks. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Barrage of Expendables Description – It's a poor imitation of Goblin Bombardment, but is still playable if you want redundancy of that effect. You just can't win out of nowhere with this. Anchors – Supports –
Collateral Damage Description – Generally, burn is universally good; Collateral Damage is a more aggro-oriented piece of burn. Control decks are often not going to have creatures they are willing to throw away, whereas aggro decks are more likely to have 1-2 drops that have outgrown their usefulness, or are about to die in combat. You may want to include to give aggro burn that other decks are less likely to want. Anchors – Supports – Aggro
Crimson Wisps Description - In an aggro deck, it can help push through a few damage a turn earlier than expected, or once a control deck has taken control of the game, can drop their finisher and start swinging. There will be times you wish you had drawn something else, but as long as there is a creature on the board you can cycle it for 1 mana. Anchors - Supports -
Crowd's Favor Description - Being potentially free makes this worth a mention. Dropping a red creature, attacking with something else and then taking advantage of the convoke to win combat is nice. Similarly blocking with a red creature, and then tapping it to pump itself and give itself first strike is a great tempo play. Anchors - Supports -
Death Spark Description – It may take some diligence, but casting it in response to one of your creatures about to die isn't too difficult to keep pinging away. Can help fuel a spells matters deck. Anchors – Supports – Spells Matter
Disintegrate Description – Direct damage X spells that hit both creatures and players are good value. Mid-game it can remove almost any creature from the board, and provides reach that can help a stalled deck win out of nowhere. It shuts down regeneration creatures and potential graveyard shenanigans. It’s effectiveness will scale depending on the speed of your cube, and is not likely to be effective in fast cubes. Fireball is likely to be better in most situations, unless there are significant regenerating creatures or graveyard shenanigans in the cube. Anchors – Supports –
Dragon Mantle Description – If you want this effect, at least it nets you a card if it resolves. Stonewright is probably going to be better in majority of situations. Anchors – Supports –
Electrickery Description – Overload is going to be the primary mode for this spell. Certain decks are particularly vulnerable; black and white aggro often have a number of x/1's, and token based decks are likely to suffer. Against other decks or higher toughness, it still provides extra damage mid or post combat to turn things around. It won't suit all situations and you might side it out against particular decks, but against most it isn't usually difficult to obtain a 1 for 1, with opportunities for upside. Anchors – Supports –
Furor of the Bitten Description - The power and toughness boost is solid for a single mana, and the attack clause probably means nothing when you wanted to attack anyway. As with all auras, it opens you up to 2 for 1's; in a regular environment it probably isn't strong enough to overcome this downside. Best in environments that are removal-lite, or push prowess/heroic mechanics. Anchors - Supports -
Kaervek’s Torch Description – An X-burn spell that targets creatures and players is rarely bad. The secondary effect on this is probably not going to matter in majority of games, so other options are probably better. Anchors – Supports –
Lava Burst Description – Direct damage X spells that hit both creatures and players are good value. Mid-game it can remove almost any creature from the board, and provides reach that can help a stalled deck win out of nowhere. It’s effectiveness will scale depending on the speed of your cube, and is not likely to be effective in fast cubes. Fireball is likely to be better in most situations, unless there are significant damage redirection/prevention effects in your cube (Harm’s Way, Test of Faith, Lashknife Barrier). In which case, this mostly becomes an anti-white card. Anchors – Supports –
Magma Spray Description – 2 damage that only hits creatures is not especially effective compared against other options. However, it’s value does go up in environments full of persist/undying creatures or graveyard retrieval. If you have few of these, there are better burn spells. (Maybe there is something almost always better for this effect I’m not considering?) Anchors – Supports –
Mark of Fury Description – It can effectively give all of your creatures haste when in top deck mode, though something like Lightning Greaves is generally going to be better. It does open you up to 2 for 1's from removal or your creature dying in combat, so Racecourse Fury is more resilient if you want the effect in red. You might consider playing this if you have some constellation effects in your cube, or noncreature triggers like prowess or heroic. Anchors – Supports –
Mugging Description – Neither effect is best in class, but it is flexible. Worth it? It is more aggro oriented, where it can be used to either clear a blocker completely, or turn a larger one off to get extra damage through. Anchors – Supports – Aggro
Pillar of Flame Description - 2 damage for 1 mana is reasonable in most environments, though there are better options. However, it’s value does go up in environments full of persist/undying creatures or graveyard retrieval. If you have few of these, there are better burn spells. Anchors - Supports -
Racecourse Fury Description – Looks ok at first glance as it can give anything you cast haste, but it costs the use of a land. So its best use comes when you are in top deck mode, or you are happy to play creatures 1 below your curve… which negates the best impact of granting haste in the first place. Lightning Greaves is better in most situations, but this may be an option if you want the effect to be in red. Anchors – Supports -
Raze Description – Probably only if you are pushing land destruction really hard; turn 3 3-mana LD spell, followed by a turn 4 3-mana LD spell + this equals bad times for your opponent. But could also make the cut in a low curve aggro deck on turn 3+ alongside another drop to keep your opponent off their higher cost spells or deny them a colour. Anchors – Supports – Land Destruction
Renegade Tactics Description - Fine to get something out of the way for a turn. Doesn't seem high impact, but aggro can use it mid-curve to keep getting damage in on a critical turn, prevent double blocks etc without costing a card. Worst case scenario you can cast it as a single mana cantrip as long as there is a creature on the board. Anchors - Supports -
Rites of Initiation Description – This has a high cost for its effect, but also comes with a potentially high ceiling. 1-drop into turn 2 Dragon's Fodder into Turn 3 Hordeling Outburst gives you 6 creatures, and end of that turn you may have already dealt 3+ damage; turn 4 give those 6 creatures +3/+0 for 24+ damage. This is an all or nothing card, so it depends how you want red to play and whether you want to reward your players for having the balls to cast this. Anchors – Supports –
Seal of Fire Description - Downsides; while activation is instant speed, casting it is sorcery speed. If you play it without intention of using it straight away, opponent has option to play around/into it. Upsides; Can play on a turn when you have the mana spare and don't have to hold up mana. Can be supportive of an enchantment matters/retrieval theme, and on balance is probably the only reason you would ply this over other burn. Anchors - Supports -
Shard Volley Description - As straight burn is universally good, all speed of decks vie for them. If you want your burn to support your aggro decks, Shard Volley is a good option as control decks are less likely to have the lands to sacrifice. Anchors - Supports -
Shattering Spree Description - Shattering Spree trades instant speed (Smelt) for replication. The instant speed is going to better a lot of the time (to remove equipment mid-combat for example, especially if it was cast and equipped same turn), and probably outweighs the times that Shattering Spree will destroy multiple artifacts. It's value goes up the more artifacts in your cube. Anchors - Supports -
Skin Invasion Description - It's an interesting card at least. The ceiling of a board affecting 2 for 1 (kill one of their creatures by luring it in while getting a 3/4) sounds pretty awesome. It can also be fine in aggro decks on your own creatures when their low life total forces them to trade so you can keep pressure up. It is still conditional of course; if your force them to attack, you need to have a defensive board that can deal with the threat, and if your opponent wasn't going to block anyway playing it on your guy is not going to do anything. Can get some extra mileage in sacrifice decks. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Wave of Indifference Description - Can be used as a finisher, or let some combat trigger creatures through for a turn. Is still pretty conditional. Anchors - Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Assault Strobe - As a sorcery, it is too easy to trump. Opponent can see it coming, and they can block accordingly.
Balduvian Rage - It can be used as a finisher, a way to trade up, or just push some extra damage through and draw into something else. All of those are still very conditional though.
Blaze - There are strictly better spells than Blaze (Lava Burst, Kaervek's Torch, Fireball, Disintegrate) and inclusion of Blaze will be a power-based decision.
Blazing Salvo - Bad because opponent gets to choose.
Crack the Earth - It's a tough sell, because you end up down two cards to their one. You might include it if you want to push low curve red aggro really hard, but it is also easily trumped by a few token generating spells.
Crash Through - It 'cycles' for a single mana, but that is only worth it if you expect to get value out of the actual effect, and this doesn't do enough to warrant a cube slot.Crown of Flames - Dragon Mantle is the better aura for this type of effect (or Stonewright for a creature version).
Dual Shot - It might be good enough in some situations, but is much more situational than something like Twin Bolt, and it will usually be worth paying the extra mana for the better flexibility.
Dust Corona - Most decks are going to have creatures on the ground, so it's easy to get blocked and get 2 for 1'd.
Dwarven Catapult - Too conditional on what your opponent controls.
False Orders - A weird way of giving one of your creatures unblockability and forcing a block they may not have wanted, but too conditional and reliant on your opponent making choices you think they are going to make.
Flaming Gambit - Being able to double cast an X spell is nice, and there will be times when your opponent has a clear board, but not consistently enough to warrant playing this. When they have multiple creatures on the board, value decreases dramatically.
Heat Ray - One of a handful of instant speed direct damage x-spells. But it can't hit players, and lots of other burn is more efficient. You can always use Fissure if you want to be able to kill anything which has a flat.
Illuminate - Kicker costs are too much to make this be worth it.
Immolation - You probably want this to be a kill spell most of the time. In which case there are better options. Putting on majority of creatures you would draft just makes them easier to kill.
Laccolith Rig - Not seeing situations where this is going to be particularly helpful.
Landslide - It's a card you would generally only want to play as a finisher, and cube is not the best environment for this card. Plenty of other burn spells are much more versatile and can fill different roles.
Last-Ditch Effort - Too 'all in', when you have access to Goblin Bombardment and Barrage of Expendables.
Lava Spike - 3 damage for a single mana is solid, but only being able to target players at sorcery speed is a big downside. The arcane doesn't do anything in cube.
Meltdown - Not going to be better than spot removal in most cubes. There are some token generators that make artifact creatures, but if you are supporting those cards you probably don't want a single mana blowout answer in your cube either.
Reckless Rage - It's the only instant deal 4 for 1 mana, but the downsides aren't worth it. You must have another creature to even cast it, and you would need to cube an inordinate amount of enrage or similar mechanics to make it worth it.
Shock - Shock is not bad in and of itself. But a number of other spells is strictly better. Given how universally good burn is, you might choose to include Shock if you are tempering the effectiveness of burn for the purpose of balance.
Smelt - You may want more flexibility from your removal (i..e a body attached). Smash to Smithereens is likely worth the extra mana over this if you really a card dedicated to just artifact removal.
Sonic Seizure - Random discard is hard to swallow and make the card work.
Spark Jolt - Scry is good, but more damage is better.
Spite of Mogis - Big potential downside with the upside tempered too much by not being able to hit players.
Strafe - In terms of power, 3 damage for 1 mana with a minor restriction (most opponents will at least have something to target) at sorcery speed is ok. But Sunlance is good for white; Strafe is not good for red.
Street Spasm - It has instant speed going for it, and the ability to blast all of your opponents ground creatures in overload mode. But if you are going to limit it to non-flyers and not be able to target your opponent, as well as expensive overload mode, you may as well look at other options.
Wild Slash - Maybe if you want a piece of burn that works best in a deck with big creatures. But the damage prevention clause will only turn off a few effects that people include in cube.
Winds of Change - This provides you card disadvantage for the effect. Has the potential to draw you a lot of cards at once for something like Lorescale Coatl, but there are not enough similar worthy effect to warrant inclusion in your cube.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Abrade Description - Solid addition to a cubes removal suite, giving it flexibility to deal with problematic artifacts without sacrificing a deck slot specifically for that; 3 damage for 2 mana at instant speed is a good deal, even if it doesn't hit players. Anchors - Supports - Arc Trail Description - Great divisible burn, with the flexibility to take out two smaller creatures, or a creature plus sneak in some damage against your opponent. Excellent control tool against early aggro, so you may include / exclude depending on how those matchups are looking in your cube. Anchors - Supports - Control
Goblin Bombardment Description - Good sacrifice outlet for a number of decks. It can provide reach, being an almost instant win once your opponents life total is less than or equal to the number of creatures you have in play. Synergises nicely in the 'sacrifice deck' with Falkenrath Noble, Hissing Iganuar, and Blood Artist. Not requiring mana to activate makes it very easy to get extra damage in just during the normal course of gameplay. Anchors - Sacrifice Supports -
Incinerate Description - Just good solid burn. It's a 2 mana Lightning Bolt in most cases, but depending on the make-up of your cube, it might kill the odd Cudgel Troll, Undercity Troll and friends. Anchors - Supports -
Pyroclasm Description - A good sweeper given how cheap it is. It clears out a decent number of opposing creatures against aggro and is good against token decks. In midrange once you get past the 2 toughness barrier, it can clear out opposing creatures to let you swing, or you can cast it after combat to help trade up. You wouldn't play it in low to the ground aggro, but it's powerful enough to play it in decks where it will kill some of your creatures, given you have the power of when to cast it. Anchors - Sweeper Control Supports -
Searing Blaze Description - Generally only playable on your turn (to meet landfall requirement), this is still a good card to clear out opposing blockers to swing in, while pushing damage through to the opponent. It's 6 damage for 2 mana which is excellent. There might be the occasional timing issues (no lands to play) but is going to be excellent most of the time. Even if you can't kill an opposing creature it can just be used as reach, and even with landfall you can still use it midcombat to enhance things like first strikers. You can always hang on to an Evolving Wilds to crack it on your opponents turn too... or bluff that you have this. Anchors - Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Breath of Darigaaz Description - 4 mana for 4 damage is going to clear out most opposing creatures on the ground. While red doesn't really contribute to the flyers archetype, this can also be a decent splash card for that type of deck. Anchors - Sweeper Control Supports -
Cathartic Reunion Description - Tormenting Voice may be better simply because that only requires one other card in hand, where this requires two. The upside is that you get to dump more cards if you care about filling your graveyard, and it does dig deeper, so this can be support for reanimator or other graveyard shenanigans. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters, Madness, Reanimator
Dragon Fodder / Krenko's Command
Description - It's not exciting, but it puts bodies on the board. To get the most benefit, you want it in aggro decks that have some form of pump. Nice on defense if you are facing aggressive x/1's to gain card advantage. Anchors - Supports - Tokens
Flame Rift Description - It only deals damage to players, and that includes you. However, it is 4 damage for 2 mana, something you won't find anywhere else. You would include it in your cube if you want to give aggro decks some burn that will wheel, giving them some extra reach to close out the game. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
Lightning Strike / Searing Spear Description - It's strictly worse than Lightning Bolt and Incinerate. However, it is still 3 damage at instant speed for 2 mana that can hit either players or creatures, which is still a good deal, possibly for larger cubes. Anchors - Supports -
Madcap Skills Description - By giving the creature menace, it helps reduce the possibility of getting 2 for 1'd in combat, as the power boost will often help you take out 2 blockers if the opponent can block. If they don't block, an extra 3 'haste' power on the board does good work in aggressive decks. Anchors - Supports -
Magma Jet Description - Without scry it is inefficient burn, but the scry is excellent, particularly in red which is without many smoothing options. Anchors - Supports -
Rolling Thunder Description - One of the better red X spells, though it is still slow. It takes a bit of mana to be better than Arc Lightning, but is flexible in allowing you to kill multiple creatures of varying sizes. Anchors - Supports - Ramp
Searing Blood Description - It can clear out creatures while dealing damage to the opponent. While it has more flexibility in timing compared to Searing Blaze, the third point of damage to creatures that card can do is important, and needing to kill the creature to get the extra 3 damage to the player also makes this less flexible in targets. It's a decent card of itself if you have space for 2 cards that cost double red. Anchors - Supports -
Sure Strike Description - Standard 'vulnerable to removal in response' clause applies, but otherwise it nearly guarantees you will trade up, or potentially a blowout in a multi-block situation. Anchors - Supports -
Temur Battle Rage Description - Obviously best in a midrange deck that can pull off the ferocious consistently, but giving double strike to a 2 or 3 power might turn trades into wins, or a loss into a win once the normal bout of damage is dealt. The combo of double strike and trample is solid to run over chump blockers while keeping your creature alive; any 4+ power creature being chumped by the likes of a spirit token is still going to hit the opponent for a good chunk of damage. Anchors - Supports -
Tormenting Voice Description - Helps support graveyard / reanimator strategies in red, and can be a way to give aggro decks some gas by discarding land they no longer need. It doesn't excel, but is fine in those decks. Anchors - Supports -
Whipflare Description - It's a decent enough proxy of Pyroclasm, though your mileage may vary depending on your artifact creature count and sizes, with both upsides and downsides. If your cube is full of artifact creatures it might do little, but if there are enough that you can draft the 'artifact deck' then you might be sitting pretty against other decks. Anchors - Supports -
Wrangle Description - The cheapest of this type of effect, giving you the greatest opportunity to remove a threat for a turn while playing another creature at the same time, which is relevant given this is not a turn 2 play. Lots of similar options, but this is the cheapest. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Break Through The Line Description - It's effectiveness is going to depend on the specific makeup of creatures in your cube, but it could support saboteurs or aggro. Once your opponent starts stabilising while in the single digits, it can let your outclassed early drops get through. In control decks, it can let card drawing sabotuers through to maintain card advantage while slowly pinging away their life total. Shoutout to Throat Slitter for beig able to eliminate their board at the same time. Don't forget the haste which can also be important. Those upsides or situations aside, it is still going to be situational. Anchors - Supports - Aggro, Sabotuers
Brute Strength Description - Comparable to other pump; it isn't strictly worse than anything and is good if you have a big target to get the trample damage through, but some of the other options are probably going to be more universal (Brute Force without the trample for lower cost and higher survivability, or Sure Strike for the first strike). Anchors - Supports -
Burning Oil
Description - The timing is more restrictive than most burn, but the 2 for 1 can make up for that. You are loathe to cast this on a blocker, but in a defensive Boros deck it might be worthwhile to stem an early threat with another use late game. However it isn't likely to be considered among other Boros options and may also be considered 'boring' as a gold card. Anchors - Supports -
Circle of Flame
Description - It can invalidate some token strategies, but what deck wants this? It's a sideboard card as opposed to part of a particular strategy. Anchors - Supports -
Fall of the Hammer Description - On pure power, it is worse than more consistent burn. However it might be a more interesting burn choice if you want removal that your midrange / ramp decks are likely to want more than your aggressive decks. Anchors - Supports -
Fiery Conclusion Description - 5 damage kills a lot of creatures. Can help aggro decks trade up, sacrificing a creature in a 'go wide' strategy to help keep the guys get through. However there might not always be an opportune time to cast it, and occasionally will be a dead card when you have no creatures on the board. Anchors - Supports -
Fling Description - The question is, how often will this be better than Searing Spear, and how often will you be willing to sac a creature for it? That consideration will limit it to ramp or midrange decks with enough big creatures to get advantage from it, probably to close out the game. Also has synergy with temporary steal effects, so it might be more appealing if you have a few of those. Anchors - Supports -
Grapeshot Description - The only reason you would include this in your cube is as an anchor card for a storm deck, and will need to support it with other cards that support storm. Anchors - Storm Supports -
Harnessed Lightning
Description - It's an ok burn spell in and of itself, but in a vacuum far behind better alternatives available in peasant cube. However, if you have enough other energy cards, then it might be worth considering.
Anchors -
Supports - Energy
Impact Tremors Description - Ongoing damage triggers are nice, but the issue is that it doesn't develop your board. Red aggressive decks need to lay down threats and get them in for damage before the opponent stabilises; taking a turn off to cast this reduces the ability to do that. It does have use in midrange decks, token decks, or grindy graveyard creature recursion decks, but it won't fit everywhere. Anchors - Supports -
Incendiary Flow Description - The most likely reason for inclusion is depowering your burn to sorcery speed; there are several 'better' options for dealing 3 damage, including some at 1 mana, or instant speed at this mana cost. There will be some marginal upside here though, as you can exile some troublesome creatures which exist in a lot of cubes, mainly the persist creatures like Kitchen Finks, or you might disrupt some graveyard recursion. Anchors - Supports -
Lash Out Description - Other burn can target both players and creatures, but often burn is best saved for creatures, so the possibility of hitting your opponent may be worth considering. Anchors - Supports -
Makeshift Munitions Description - It can be a redundant version of Goblin Bombardment if you want one. Obviously the activation cost makes it worse in most cases, but if you have an artifact theme (or just enough artifacts in your cube) that is a point of difference. Anchors - Supports - Artifact Matters, Sacrifice
Mob Justice Description - It only hits players. Most burn will be better, unless you want some burn that is going to wheel to players drafting 'go wide' decks. Anchors - Supports -
Nightbird's Clutches Description - It's not flashy (but it's flashbacky...) but it can get past some annoying blockers when you need it to. It's bad as a 6 mana sorcery if you need to push through in a single turn (Order // Chaos is your guy) but spreading over 2 turns and having minor synergy with graveyard themes might cause you to choose this for your cube. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard themes
Ordeal of Purphoros Description - Throwing on a 1-drop that can outrace the defense, and then take out something at the end seems reasonable, but is going to be inconsistent. Also good on evasive creatures. However, it is going to be inconsistent and still fails the 2 for 1 test. Anchors - Supports -
Pyrostatic Pillar Description - Many cubes are built with tight mana curves in mind and a reasonable number of spells that cost 3 or less. It means it will trigger often enough, but so will your spells. Aggressive decks are the ones that are most likely to want it, but are also more likely to play the trigger cards. It's abstractly powerful, but hard to break in a cube context. Anchors - Supports -
Scouring Sands Description - This is probably a metagame call if you want to punish over reliance on aggressive x/1's or token creatures. Boiling Earth and Electrickery are similar options you may wish to consider. You'd pick this over those mainly if you just want to add more deck smoothing cards to your environment. Anchors - Supports -
See Red Description - A cube doesn't need too many of these effects, but it can give an aggro deck a way to punch through in the midgame, as well as providing support for a pants theme. You may need toned down removal to really consider it. Anchors - Supports -
Shrapnel Blast Description - If you push an artifact deck, this could be included as a reach card for that deck, but no other deck will want it. Anchors - Supports -
Skullcrack Description - This is highly environment dependent, but can stem life gain effects if they are prevalent in your cube, and can be a metagame card against prevention effects like Phantom Centaur. You need to be running enough cards it is going to hate on to be worth it. Anchors - Supports -
Smash to Smithereens Description - Dedicated artifact destruction cards are a hard sell, but it has reasonable upside so might be worth considering. Anchors - Supports -
Sparkmage's Gambit Description - This could kill a couple of small defenders pre-combat, get past defenders this turn, or being played after combat to help you trade up (or if your opponent doesn't block, fearing the trick, you can just make the creatures not block next turn). Situational, but flexible. Anchors - Supports -
Sudden Shock Description - It is inefficient compared to most burn. You would only consider it if you want specific options to deal with troublesome cards, like Mother of Runes. Most would consider this unecessary, but the option is there. Anchors - Supports -
Twin Bolt Description - This is decent flexible burn. The 2 mana shock option is poor but it is still burn, but can take out two creatures, particularly helping trade up in combat or in conjunction with first strikers. Fire // Ice is strictly better, depending on your stance (some count it as mono-red with occasional upside in blue decks). Anchors - Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Barrage of Expendables - With Goblin Bombardment around and Markeshift Munitions as an alternative, there isn't a reason to cube this.
Battle Hymn - There is some high upside in Magical Christmas land (1-drop, Draggon Fodder, Hordeling Outburst, drop your hand turn 4) but is far too inconsistent to rely on.
Battle Strain - On the surface it can force an opponent to make some difficult blocking choices and could be some 'reach' for red, but it is also symmetrical, and probably only helps you if you were winning anyway.
Betrothed of Fire - There might be some fringe places this is playable, but they are so narrow it isn't worth considering.
Blades of Velis Vel - It may help creatures trade up, but it doesn't up their survival rate, so is going to be limited compared to other options.
Blood Frenzy - It's bad on your own creatures, and it has limited times when you would be happy to play it on opposing creatures.
Blood Lust - Errata on this card reads funny. Ultimately not a good card though. Pump that makes your creatures vulnerable, or make your opponents creatures vulnerable while likely making them kill your dudes in combat.
Book Burning - Terrible. Your opponent will always take the 6 cards without any benefit to your game plan, and potentially improving your opponents if they are playing graveyard matters cards. Even if you are trying to support mill, your opponent would just take the 6 damage instead.
Bravado - It looks like a bone for a go wide strategy, but it is going to be too inconsistent for inclusion in cube.
Break Open - No place in cube unless you are make a morph cube.
Brood Birthing - You'd have to be going hard on including lots of Eldrazi spawn generators in your cube to warrant this, and it only fits in that one deck, so isn't worth including in cube.
Call of the Full Moon - While it might not be the easiest thing in the world to cast 2 spells in one turn, it is often enough to dismiss this (as well as the inherent 2 for 1 from standard removal).
Chain of Plasma - It's probably more interesting than powerful. Giving your opponent the opportunity to take out your creatures / you is not that appealing. While there is a minor combo with Spitemare if you have cards in hand and opponent is on low enough life total, that alone doesn't save this.
Custody Battle - Likely outcome is they sac a land and then kill you with the creature you wanted.
Dangerous Wager - It can fit into low to the ground aggro decks to draw a couple of cards once you've dropped your initial hand, but you can get other cards that deck wants that also have other applications.
Desperate Ritual - Netting only one mana is not going to cut it in most decks. If you want red rituals for Storm, you probably don't want anything past Seething Storm.
Draconic Roar - Too few dragons in cube to consider this.
Dragon Breath - The upside is not worth the setup this requires.
Dragon Tempest - Dragon triggers are pretty rare at peasant, and just giving flying creatures haste isn't going to be consistent enough to be worth a card.
Fanning the Flames - It costs 8 mana to deal 3 damage per turn. At sorcery speed. The likelihood of wanting to buy it back says just play Fireball or other X burn spells.
Fiery Mantle - Stonewright fills the same role better, and you won't want to go this deep on this effect.
Fire Ambush - This is 'bad' in the sense there are several strictly better options (cheaper, instant, other upsides), but is still an ok option if you are depowering your burn spells and want something solid at sorcery speed.
Fists of the Anvil - Not boosting toughness makes this a hard sell, as you might trade up but your creature is unlikely to survive, 2 for 1'ing yourself.
Fit of Rage - This looked ok until I realised it is a sorcery.
Flame Burst - Doesn't do anything in singleton peasant.
Flowstone Embrace - If you want to remove your opponents creatures, almost any burn is better. If you want to boost your creatures, this is not the card you want.
Flowstone Strike - There doesn't seem to be any deck that would want this.
Flowstone Surge - A 2 mana permanent power booster might be worth paying attention to. However it is anti-synergy with a lot of tokens, and the red decks that would benefit from this are usually the decks that want 1 or 2 drops with 1 toughness. So, no deal.
Font of Ire - 6 mana for 5 damage… Not efficient enough and too slow.
Fractured Loyalty - There does not seem to be any application where it would make sense to play this.
Fury Charm - None of the effects are going to be useful often enough to consider it a playable card overall.
Ghitu Firebreathing - Stonewright does this better and you don't need to go this deep.
Giant Spectacle - Only for removal light, highly combat oriented cubes.
Glacial Ray - Rarely going to splice this, making it worse than a lot of other burn.
Goblin Kite - Limited targets plus drawback = no thanks.
Goblin Lore - It enables some cards such as those with threshold or Lorescale Coatl, but the random discard makes it too unreliable.
Goblin War Paint - Remove the haste for a moment, and a permanent +2/+2 isn't too bad for 2 mana, but not worth possible 2 for 1's. The haste itself doesn't add too much; while far from impossible, sequencing a card and keeping the 2 extra mana available will be difficult.
Gorilla War Cry - It's a slowtrip so it replaces itself, but for an extra mana you can get Goblin War Drums for the permanent effect.
Guerilla Tactics - It's going to trigger to infrequently to consider over other options.
Harvest Pyre - Too unreliable. Probably only if you want to include a burn spell that a graveyard matters deck wants.
Invigorated Rampage - It doesn't pump toughness, and while trample is nice it isn't enough.
Just Desserts - It's fine, but you'd only cube it to be cute.
Kamahl's Desire - It's pretty solid if you could guarantee threshold. Without threshold, it isn't worth considering, and you don't want the unreliability.
Keldon Mantle - Effects are not good enough in any combination of coloured decks.
Lightning Reflexes - You'd rather have a combat trick that is an instant, this is not worth casting as a sorcery speed aura.
Lightning Rift - While it looks possible to support Lightning Rift, you need constructed levels of cycling support in your deck, and therefore massive amounts in your cube, to the extent that it is not worth pursuing.
Puncture Bolt - Shock is cheaper and can hit players. This has 'upside' if it doesn't kill the creature by leaving it a tiny bit smaller. That is hardly upside.
Punishing Fire - The effect itself is not terrible, but is automatically more punishing to certain colours depending on how many life gain effect you support in your cube.
Pursuit of Flight - Baseline not good enough, and it doesn't cut it as an Izzet card.
Pyretic Ritual - Netting only one mana is not going to cut it in most decks. If you want red rituals for Storm, you probably don't want anything past Seething Storm.
Tribal Flames - It requires 4 lands to be better than Searing Spear, none of which can be nonbasic. Only for cubes with heavy domain theme.
Uncanny Speed - It sits in no mans land. It has instant speed over Reckless Charge, which provides for better combat trick, but then you just want Brute Force. You still need to cast this sorcery speed if you want the haste benefit, in which case you would much rather Reckless Charge.
Vessel of Volatility - Not worth the card disadvantage, even if you have enchantment matters themes or to support delirium.
Volcanic Geyser - It has instant going for it, but it's not enough.
Volcanic Spray - You could cast it as a 3 mana Pyroclasm that doesn't hit flyers with some additional flexibility options, but not hitting all creatures is too big a drawback.
Volcanic Strength - Most players won't like that this punishes red players.
Zektar Shrine Expedition - There doesn't seem to be a deck that wants it. Even if played turn 2 in aggro, you give up early board position with the potential to not get this on the board on turn 5, by which time your opponent may have stablilised. Control doesn't want a one-off creature, especially when Rite of the Raging Storm exists.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Arc Lightning / Flames of the Firebrand Description - One of the best divisible burn spells. It's sorcery, but at instant speed this would be nuts. Particularly where aggro is pushed, peasant tends to have a number of creatures in the 1 and 2 toughness range, making it common to get 2 for 1's without much effort, and sometimes you will even get that 3-for-1. Comes with excellent flexibility, as sometimes you just need to remove that annoying 1/3, and you can always distribute a point or two to the opponent if you just need to get rid of one small creature, or just send it all to their dome if it will seal the game. You probably don't want both of these; even a single copy can be brutal against aggro decks. Anchors - Supports -
Lust For War Description - It can mess with your opponents plan while being a form of reach. In the best scenarios, you get to cast it on a utility creature, and ping them for 3 each turn when they use it or maybe they get in a for a damage or something. It doesn't get a creature out of the way immediately, but it can remove a blocker from your future attack phases. On the lower end, when you are in a position where you need to block, it can still be cast on a creature you can then block and kill while getting in 3 damage, making it sort of pseudo-removal. Anchors - Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Staggershock Description - One of the better burn spells at the 3 mana spot. 2 damage is enough to kill a decent number of things in most cubes. Often a 2 for 1, but it can always jut hit your opponent in the face on the rebound. Casting it at the end of your opponents turn can be nasty, potentially clearing out two blockers before you get to swing, or dropping their life total by 4 before alpha striking. Rebound provides secondary support to spells matters effects, and spell velocity / storm effects. Anchors - Supports - Storm, Spells Matter
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Acidic Soil Description - This can be an 'oops I win' card for red aggro decks. While symmetrical, it will rarely matter if you are still on 20 and you've got your opponent into the single digits. Anchors - Supports -
Act of Treason / Threaten Description - A decent way for aggro to push through, usually removing their best blocker and adding it to your team. Even if you don't win that turn, you might put them in a position that is difficult to recover from. It doesn't do anything for control decks (usually it just acts like burn to the face without developing your game plan), but you will probably consider it higher for inclusion if you push sacrifice archetypes in your cube. Anchors - Aggro Supports - Sacrifice
Besmirch Description - The double red can make it a bit harder to swallow than similar options. However, the bonus here is nice as it can allow aggressive decks to keep applying pressure. If they choose not to kill their own creature that combat (and you are still happy if they do), forcing it to attack you the next turn means it can't block again on your next turn, which might be enough to close the door when an Act of Treason may not. Anchors - Supports -
Brimstone Volley Description - 5 damage for 3 mana is solid if you can get the morbid trigger. There are some non-ideal situations where you might have to trade and then fire off the 5 damage afterwards to kill something bigger, but aggro decks might also benefit from swinging in, trading, and then dealing the final 5 to the dome. Anchors - Supports -
Fiery Cannonade Description - It's mostly an instant speed Pyroclasm, though there are a few highly playable Pirates. The instant speed allows for swinging a board state on your opponents end step, and occasionally mid-combat. It can just be a control tool, but if you want sweeper control to be a thing then it should be in your cube. Anchors - Sweeper Control Supports -
Goblin War Drums Description - This can really mess with combat, especially if you are the aggressor. It makes some suicidal attacks more palatable, and can prevent your opponent from turning the corner or just flatout win by getting enough guys past. Anchors - Supports -
Hordeling Outburst Description - 3 bodies for 3 mana, which is fine if you just need extra bodies to get around your opponents defenses. Most cubes include the type of 'go wide' support that make this card worthwhile; team pump or things like Intangible Virtue. Anchors - Supports -
Meteor Blast Description - There's some pretty big upside to be had here. It takes commitment to red, but 6 mana can clear out many opposing boards, and being about to hit players as well makes this solid. Anchors - Supports -
Molten Rain Description - One of reds better land destruction spells; if your opponent has one, odds are you were going to target a nonbasic anyway. Harder to cast than Stone Rain, so depends if you want splashability/consistency over power; here the extra couple of damage can help aggro get those last few points in. Anchors - Supports - Land Destruction / Aggro
Rift Bolt Description - The hard cast mode is poor compared to other options, but suspending for a single mana is solid. Can help if you are pushing some sort of Storm deck or want to enable 'spell velocity' cards like Illusory Angel. Anchors - Supports - Storm
Savage Alliance Description - 4 mana is a reasonable amount, but deal 3 damage to one creature and 1 to the rest is a reasonable mode. Being an instant it can cause some blowouts mid or post combat. The trample is mostly negligible, but if you are also dealing 1 damage to each blocking creature you will get a few more points of damage through. Anchors - Supports -
Super-Duper Death Ray Description - 4 damage for 3 is a reasonable rate, and the upside of dealing some damage to the opponent is nice. Fairly interchangeable with other burn options. Anchors - Supports -
Volcanic Fallout Description - Most decks that would cast this would also prefer to protect their life total, and playing the easier to cast Pyroclasm can do that. However the instant speed makes this play out differently so it can be used after blocks if it makes sense, or even in response to attacks to kill creatures cast pre-combat, or in response to team pump spells. The uncounterability probably won't come up often but it's a nice extra.
Anchors -
Supports -
Volt Charge Description - It isn't top tier burn, but most cubes are likely to get some mileage and add some synergy to their burn. +1/+1 counters is obvious (Rakdos Cackler, Gore-House Chainwalker, Volt Charge your blocker) but most cubes will have enough other counters to consider it. Anchors - +1/+1 counters Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Barbed Lightning Description - It isn't the most efficient, but it can be a decent option in the late game to clear either a blocker for aggro or an attacker in control decks while whittling the opponents life total. Anchors - Supports -
Browbeat
Description - Both modes look fine on the surface, but because your opponent gets to choose you aren't likely to get the optimum mode for the particular situation. It never impacts the board like most other burn can, and if you aren't applying pressure or are behind the 5 damage is probably acceptable to your opponent so you don't draw into answers. It probably only plays a role in aggro decks that can apply pressure early, where both modes are going to be ok in the mid game.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro
Carbonize Description - It's a low power burn option, but it does get around regenerators if you want removal for them, or if you care about the exile clause. Yamabushi's Flame is the same if you don't want the regenerate clause. Anchors - Supports -
Destructive Urge Description - The best case scenario (which you can design towards) is pretty awesome; something like Insolent Neonate or Deranged Whelp not being opposed on turn 3, locking your opponent out of the game. Awesome as in game winning, but probably miserable to be on the receiving end. BCS aside, it is often probably going to do nothing if you don't have early evasive guys. Anchors - Supports -
Devour in Flames Description - 5 damage is a decent amount, but considering it for inclusion probably depends on how important dealing that 5th point of damage is in your cube (i.e. how many 5 toughness creatures it can target compared to make it worth more than Flame Slash). Any sort of landfall effects might also influence your decision. Also has some fringe synergy with 'discard for effect' stuff. All that said, it is still a low power burn option. Anchors - Supports -
Disharmony Description - Most effects of this nature are sorcery speed aggro tools; here you have a control oriented version, but can make for a conditional 2 for 1 sometimes, a 1 for 1 while preventing damage the rest, or rarely a 'prevent damage from a creature this turn' effect. Blind With Anger is more flexible, but this is an option specifically if you want to signal red control / defensive decks. Anchors - Control Supports -
Fiery Temper Description - The baseline is obviously outclassed by Lightning Bolt and friends, but they are very strong in the first place. You might consider this if you are stepping down your removal slightly, while offering some decks the chance to get extra value from discard effects. Using Looter-il-Kor to burn something while netting a card for a single mana will feel pretty awesome. Requires enough discard outlets to consider it though. Anchors - Supports - Madness
Furnace Celebration Description - It's narrow on sacrifice archetypes and requires the right environment. It can be solid there, but probably needs a little more legwork than some other rewards cards, especially given the cost for each trigger. You probably want a decent contingent of cards that produce Eldrazi tokens to have sacrifice outlets on tap as well as mana sources. It's probably going to require a slower environment to do some work, which might include a higher density of lower toughness utility creatures to get the right amount of value. Anchors - Sacrifice Supports -
Geistblast Description - You would count this as an Izzet card, as it's bad as a red card. In blue/red you can get some reasonable value out of it as long as you have a few other decent instants or sorceries in your deck. Otherwise it is bad removal. Anchors - Spells Matter Supports -
Ghirapur Aether Grid Description - Unplayable in most cubes. If you go out of your way to support an artifact matters theme with some fringe playable artifact token generators and maybe artifact lands, then it can be a reward card for that deck. Slow to get started, but if you get a critical mass of artifacts on the board it can take over games. Anchors - Supports -
Hanabi Blast Description - It gets a mention mostly for being unique. Limited decks like burn, so having a chance to get it back is nice. You can maximise it by keeping back lands or stuff that likes being inthe graveyard anyway, and is a little more valuable if you have madness cards in your cube. Anchors - Supports -
Honden of Infinite Rage Description - It's passable on its own in a more controlling red build. Generally it doesn't compare as well as a standard pinger; an enchantment is more resilient than creatures, but they have more flexible timing. It isn't worth cubing without having at least a couple of other shrines, but the right deck might be willing to play it without any of the others. Anchors - 'The Shrine deck' Supports -
Lightning Storm Description - An odd card, with unpredictability that may be something cube owners desire. If it intrigues you, you probably want to support it with some things that return lands to your hand (Quirion Ranger) or land searchers (Land Tax) to give it some edges in drafting. Anchors - Supports -
Lightning Talons Description - An option for low power / combat heavy cubes. If it sticks, the creature may be difficult to deal with in standard combat and becomes a decent clock otherwise. Actively bad in cubes with the most powerful removal however. Anchors - Supports -
Magma Rift Description - It kills lots of stuff, but from a power level not significantly more than Flame Slash for the extra costs involved here. Devour In Flames is better in most decks if you want a low power burn option that requires a bit of thought, but this does help enable threshold and delirium if those are things you care about. Anchors - Supports -
Mark of Mutiny Description - It's a temporary creature theft option with an upside that can also be a downside. The swing of removing their best blocker and getting a hasty attacker can turn things around, particularly with the +1/+1 counter… but if the creature survives they now have a better blocker for future turns. Can increase the complexity of decisions compared to Act of Treason if that is something you want to promote. Sacrifice themes are also helpful here. Support for +1/+1 counter themes could either be useful or backfire depending on the board. In a pinch, you can cast on your own guy to keep the +1/+1 counter, get extra activations from tap abilities, or have a blocker after you've attacked. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Orcish Cannonade Description - Red gets much better damage efficiency, but has few playable burn spells that cantrip. This one is questionable, and sometimes you might be in a position where you can't cast it, but dealing damage while drawing a card is worth noting, particularly for spells matters decks that want to keep playing more spells. Anchors - Supports - Spells Matters
Pillage Description - If you want land destruction in your cube, this can be an option which has some flexibility. Perhaps best suited to cubes that have the more powerful artifacts so red aggro doesn't feel so bad about maindecking artifact removal. Anchors - Supports -
Puncture Blast Description - It might be worse in general than premium burn, but it has some interesting corner cases. It can kill indestructible or regenerating creatures. Where other burn might help you trade your small creatures up, this might help them survive combat altogether by also reducing power. If you have no board presence the worst case scenario is you can slow down their clock against large creatures where straight up burn is ineffective. Anchors - Supports -
Raid Bombardment Description - It's niche, but some environments can get a bit of damage out of it. The challenge is that the decks that will get the most damage will have more 2 power creatures out that want to be attacking, which would imply aggro, but those decks usually employ a number of 3+ power spots. However, Borderland Marauder, Brazen Wolves, Soltari Champion and other things that pump power as attack triggers work nicely with it. Go wide decks, particularly with token creators like Hordeling Outburst, can get decent results. Anchors - Supports - Aggro, Tokens
Scrap Description - At least you can cycle it if you don't need it. Probably only if you play the best artifacts and maindeckable artifact removal is required. Anchors - Supports -
Seething Song Description - The average deck probably isn't going to care enough about the one-time acceleration compared to the card advantage, but some might depending on the environment. The main reason to include it is as a storm enabler. Anchors - Storm Supports -
Shattered Perception Description - It's card disadvantage which will discount it from consideration in most environments, but for cubes with a heavy graveyard focus it might be worth something. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Spellshock Description - Timing can be tricky, but this can help seal a game if you are ahead. If you are behind though, it isn't going to help you. Punishes decks with cantrips or card draw spells. It's hard to break the symmetry, but you could pair it with Undo and Withdraw, and it gets slightly better if you have spells that have activated abilities from your hand / graveyard.
Anchors -
Supports -
Steam Blast Description - Pyroclasm is cheaper for clearing out creatures, and Volcanic Fallout does this at instant speed for a slightly harder casting cost. Might be worth noting that if you are playing this kind of spell, you probably want to preserve your life total, but this could be an option for larger cubes that want to go deep on the sweeper archetype.
Anchors - Sweeper Control
Supports -
Stone Rain Description - The original red land destruction spell. Easier to cast than some of its contempories, but they come with other upsides. They are probably more desirable, so this is only if you are going deep on land destruction spells or you just want the easier casting cost. Anchors - Supports - Aggro
Thunderclap Description - The hard cast is poor, and you probably can't use the alternate cost for the first few turns. Nevertheless, a free creature bolt in the midgame, especially to clear a blocker for aggro, might make this worth a look in. Some players don't like free spells, but at least it adds another layer of decision making. Anchors - Supports -
Undying Rage
Description - If you think about it being cast on your creatures you might consider something like Vulshok Morningstar for the repeatability but avoiding the downside. However it does have the flexibility in aggro decks to be cast on your opponents creatures if pumping your own creatures is not going to be enough to break through and you just need to get an annoying blocker out of the way.
Anchors -
Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Abandon Reason - The madness does not make up for the baseline being much worse than Coordinated Assault or Weapon Surge.
Act on Impulse - It's an interesting effect, but there is little way to get consistent value out of it. You probably need at least 5 lands and not hit your land drop before you would consider casting it, with the hopes that you net another land and hit a 3 drop, but that seems lacklustre. You might not have optimum targets for what you exile, or have to sequence awkwardly. Not worth the hassle.
Barrel Down Sokenzan - There will be some very specific environments where this might do something; landfall triggers and cares about hand size. But even in that environment, I'm sure that deck would just play better burn if it was given the option.
Bathe in Dragonfire - Only if you are looking for a low power burn option. Flame Slash is the strictly better version.
Bloodfire Infusion - There might be some scenarios where it will do something, but really you need a decent size creature to make it better than other sweepers and requires investment to get on the board. It ends up costing you two cards.
Boiling Blood - It's conditional, but can act as 'removal' in the right situations by forcing a utility creature (the Guttersnipes of the wolrd) into a bigger blocker to clear it out, or even just to let something stroll past so you can alpha strike back. Useless if your opponent wants to attack anyway, and burn does the same. Only if you are looking for this type of effect.
Bolt of Keranos - It's a low power burn option if you want it and don't want burn to be splashable.
Burning Vengeance - It's too narrow unless you are drastically modifying your cube.
Captive Flame - The question is, where can this do work? Aggro decks will be happy to trade their creatures up in the mid-game, but you spend 3 mana to cast this, temporarily halting your gameplan. Midrange and ramp probably don't need thhe pump as much unless your creatures have trample. It gets better with first strikers / double strikers (red has a few), or with evasive creatures, of which red has few reliable options. Ultimately, it isn't going to be better than equipment often enough, even though this can be activated at instant speed.
Claws of Valakut - There could be some high upside, but the double red, inherent 2 for 1, and the high end not manifesting until later in the game make this not worth considering.
Commando Raid - Only if you want your removal to be more tricksy than actual removal.
Crash - You will rarely need an artifact dead that much to sacrifice a land for it, and you would rather have a more flexible option.
Crevasse - Or play removal that can deal with the mountainwalker.
Crusher Zendikon - There doesn't seem a reason to play it. On curve if the land gets removed you missed a land drop. A 4/2 trampler for 3 is not bad, but then every turn you attack with it, you Stone Rain yourself.
Downhill Charge - Most cube decks are at least 2 colours, so presumably you will need to get to 6 lands for this to be +3/+0 on average, which is bad when Brute Force exists. The free cost option certainly doesn't make up for that.
Dragon Grip - Flaming Sword is going to be a more consistent version if you want this type of trick.
Dragonrage - There are much better team pump spells.
Erratic Explosion - You aren't going to get a good average result for your 3 mana.
Fatal Attraction - It's a 3 mana sorcery speed shock, or a 3 mana Flame Slash that takes a turn to come into effect. This is not the enchantment based removal you are looking for.
Flames of the Blood Hand - 3 mana for 4 damage is fine, but only being able to hit players makes it less enticing. The other clauses are nice, but aren't going to come up often enough (unless your cube is built around life gain) to warrant including it.
Goblinslide - It says 'spells matter' on the box, but it isn't as efficient as other options. It costs you 4 mana before it impacts the board, 5 mana to equal Dragon Fodder and 6 mana to equal Hordeling Outburst. On top of that you need the spells to trigger it and have the mana spare to get your token.
Granite Grip - It doesn't boost toughness so it is easy to just get 2 for 1'd.
Hijack - Unless you are super heavy on artifacts, Threaten is easier to cast, or consider one of the other analogues.
Hostile Realm - Repeatability of the effect is nice; for an aggro deck it is almost like removal for their best creature at any point in time. The downside is, aggro doesn't want to take a turn off to play this. Red has plenty of creatures with a once off version of this ability that is just going to be better most of the time.
Hungry Flames - Doesn't have the raw power of Lightning Bolt and other 1 and 2 mana friends, but clearing a creature while hitting the opponents life total is still ok. Probably only worh considering if you are depowering your removal.
Hypervolt Grasp - 2 cards to make something you can get in 1.
Massive Raid - Highly variable and the ceiling looks nice, but in reality it will often play out as a 'win more' card. It might be ok in some board stalls, but you probably have board prescence and were winning anyway, and if you are losing you probably don't have much board prescence and this won't do much for you.
Misguided Rage - Too narrow. You will never hit what you want.
Mogg Alarm - Just play Hordeling Outburst. By the time you are willing to sacrifice mountains (if you ever are) you could have just hard cast it. The impact is too low to sacrifice lands in the early game for board development.
Moltne Birth - You can make an argument that 50% of the time it will generate 4 or more tokens, but you don’t get those tokens for 3 mana; you have to pay 6, 9 etc. Edge case for being a spell you can recast for spells matter themes, but it doesn't make up for it.
Rack and Ruin - It requires two valid targets, which will make you sad when your opponents only artifact is the Grafted Wargear they are beating down with.
Retreat to Valakut - It is going to be too inconsistent most of the time. You are probably going to be better off with a spell with these types of effects.
Rolling Temblor - You probably don't want this over Pyroclasm.
Rupture - There is a decent ceiling, but it's too conditional.
Rush of Blood - It doesn't get a toughness boost so it can't survive, and it doesn't get trample so you can't force through if blocked. It's less of a combat trick and more like a burn spell with too many conditions.
Tail Slash - Only if you are depowering your removal. A lot.
Thatcher Revolt - Hordeling Outburst is worth paying the harder mana cost. Outside of some corner cases (mainly team pump) you would rather have burn than 1-shot haste guys, or guys that stick around.
Traitorous Blood - When you steal an opponenets creature, unless it is the killing blow they often aren't going to try and block it because they want to keep it for the next turn. So paying a harder mana cost over Act of Treason / Threaten isn't worth gaining trample.
Turf Wound - Not going to perform consistently enough.
Uncaged Fury - It doesn't do enough as a 3 mana combat trick; in many combats it is probably not going to be much different than just getting first strike. There will be occasions where you can cast it on a trample creature or just buff an unblocked midrange / ramp creature, but most decks are just going to want cheaper combat tricks that are more effective in a wider set of circumstances.
Uphill Battle - It only makes sense in a deck that is attacking, and you have to take a turn off to cast this instead of adding more pressure.
War Cadence - While there is late game upside, Goblin War Drums is going to have an immediate effect and give better results the vast majority of the time.
Yamabushi's Flame - Not worth a look in compared to other options at this mana cost.
Zap - Sure it cantrips, but it isn't worth 3 mana.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Frenzied Fugue
Description - Some of the other 4 mana versions provide more benefits upfront, but if you can get 2 uses out of this you are going to be very happy. You get the instant swing from an extra attacker and one less blocker, and if they don't kill their own creature on defense you just get to repeat it every turn, setting you up to race effectively. You aren't really giving up much compared to the 3 mana versions, as you aren't curving into this effect on turn 3 that often. Anchors - Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Blind with Anger Description - You can get cheaper effects for aggro, but the instant speed gives this range in control decks as well. You might not always be able to steal a creature and set up a perfect trade, but it will rarely be worse than a 1 for 1. Anchors - Supports -
Blood Mist Description - It's likely best in a creature heavy midrange deck, where most of your creatures are in the 3+ power range. It can do some work there though; the double strike can make it hard to win in combat, and if it gets through it starts hitting hard. Anchors - Supports -
Forked Lightning Description - How good it is will be match dependant; it will feel good if you are regularly taking out multiple creatures, but not so hot if you are using it kill single creatures. Even then it is still fine. A mana and a damage more than Arc Lightning, but downside of not hitting players. Anchors - Supports -
Furious Reprisal Description - A decent but forgettable burn spell. You might consider Forked Lightning, which is more flexible with dealing with creatures, but this can hit players. Anchors - Supports -
Hammer Helper Description - It's a reasonable Act of Treason variant. The average case is 3.5 extra power, which seems like a decent enough amount, though the variance will be annoying at times. Anchors - Supports -
Malevolent Whispers Description - A solid version of this effect. Removing a blocker, gaining an attacker AND getting an extra 2 power from the attack is good for aggro decks. It's fine without madness so don't feel like you need to go out of your way to enable it, but in games where you can take advantage of that you will feel like you got away with something. Anchors - Supports - Madness
Pyrohemia Description - While less powerful in fast cubes, there is still some raw power here. Cast on curve it doesn't do anything the turn you cast it, but it can put you in a strong position to control the board after that, especially if you've drafted higher toughness creatures to complement it. Combos well with Lashknife Barrier and Spitemare. It's biggest drawback is that, powerful as it can be, if you are losing you might not be able to afford the damage from activating it. Anchors - Supports - Sweeper Control
Stoke the Flames Description - Potentially casting a burn spell for free is good, especially when you cast it at the end of your opponents turn so you can represent a defensive board. Anchors - Supports -
Sulfurous Blast Description - Supports sweeper control. Not much else to say here, but one of few peasant cards that can deal 3 damage to everything, with some flexibility of killing your opponents stuff at the end of their turn or mid combat if the right opportunity presents itself. Anchors - Sweeper Control Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Æther Flash Description - You need to build around it and make sure the support is in your cube to make it decent, but in the right deck it can do some work. In a deck with high toughness creatures it can prevent your opponent casting some of their cheap aggro creatures, and you can top up the ETB effect with other instant speed burn spells to pick off bigger stuff. Anchors - Supports -
Aftershock Description - Red doesn’t get much in the way of straight up creature kill. Paying 4 mana AND 3 life for these targets feels a bit rough, but you might consider it if you really want a catch all (catch most?) answer for red. Anchors - Supports -
Burn Trail Description - It has upside of being able to kill 2 smaller creatures, one decent size creature, or just dealing the final 6 to the face with one spell. Offset by the downside of being sorcery speed, and needing two red creatures you are willing to tap down for a turn to get those upsides. While 1 and 2 mana burn options are definitely better, you might include this for more interesting burn options and in-game decisions. Anchors - Supports -
Chandra's Outrage Description - On power level, if you need something that deals 4 to creatures Flame Slash is your best option. You need to consider whether the 2 damage to the face and instant speed makes enough difference for the decks you want to support. Anchors - Supports -
Dance with Devils Description - Straight up burn is more powerful, but this is at least an interesting combat trick aimed more at defensive decks. Being able to throw up a couple of chump blockers and then use the death trigger to take out the attacker or something else the opponent tactically held back is fine. Anchors - Supports -
Empty the Warrens Description - It can be a Storm win condition if you want to support that deck. Has the benefit of not being as 'all-in' as some other storm cards. If you can generate 6-10 tokens you aren't going to win in a single turn, but it might be enough to overwhelm the opponent over a few turns. Anchors - Storm Supports - Tokens
Flameshot Description - This could work in an aggro deck in the midgame to clear a path when you don't need that mountain on the battlefield. On the low end though. Anchors - Supports -
Grab The Reins Description - Any one mode is pretty average, or even bad. Blind With Anger is better than the first mode (it doesn't untap the creature, which is pretty bad), Fling is better than the second mode. Entwined it might take out their two biggest creatures, or kill a creature and deal damage to their face, which is perhaps the most appealing mode but costs 7. The versatility is what is appealing, as even the 'bad' modes will still come up every now and then. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Incendiary Sabotage Description - Requiring the sacrifice of an artifact before this does anything is a significantly high set up cost. If you are pushing sweeper control and want to include this, you really need to dig deep into incidental artifacts like cards with investigate or that bring artifact token friends. Anchors - Sweeper Control, Artifact Matters Supports -
Kyren Negotiations Description - You wouldn't consider it a 'good' card, but if want to support red control decks that can gum up the ground, this can be a win condition; just make sure you have redundancies or have other ways for those decks to win. Anchors - Supports -
Lose Calm Description - An ok Threaten effect, but probably a bit below similar effects. You don't usually play these on curve so the extra mana isn't a huge factor. The menace gets a little better because you are stealing a creature, giving them one less to block in the first place. But if they are just blocking the other creatures you are attacking with, that upside may not be worth much either. Anchors - Supports -
Rageform Description - You get a 2/2 doublestriker; the manifest has the opportunity to be amazing upside on something as basic as Sentinel Spider, but the consistency of an attacking 3/3 in Scrapper Champion is probably better. It can give you density of enchantments without reducing your creature count if you care about that. Anchors - Supports - Enchantment Matters, Pants
Rivals' Duel Description - What you are hoping for is getting 2 of your opponent's creatures to kill each other, but you can get one of your creatures to kill their only creature in the right situation. Pretty variable and more interesting than powerful, though it will feel great when you do get that 2 for 1. Anchors - Supports -
Ruthless Invasion Description - Unless you are heavy on artifact creatures, this is going to be a colorless Falter most of the time if you want provide this effect to every colour. Anchors - Supports -
Shiv's Embrace Description - Evasion and stat boost are nice, but comes with the usual 2 for 1 caveat of auras. Probably only for environments with depowered removal. Turning Borderland Marauder or similar into a 5/4 pumpable flier is going to do some damage though if unchecked. Cheaper auras like Madcap Skills are usually better as you are less likely to get a tempo blowout from removal. Anchors - Supports -
Spiteful Motives Description - First strike and flash is a solid combo, but 4 mana is a lot. Flaming Sword is probably just better if you want this type of effect. Anchors - Supports -
Surreal Memoir Description - Randomness makes this a bit iffy, but in a deck with enough instant speed removal it can gain a bit of value. Worth noting that if you have a single instant and don't have enough mana to cast what you retrieve the same turn, you can cast the instant in response to the rebound trigger so you can get that instant back again. Anchors - Spells Matters Supports -
Trove of Temptation Description - It isn't particularly good, but does create a steady stream of artifacts if that is something you care about, and probably the only reason to consider cubing it. You can sometimes generate some value out of the forced attack if you have the right blockers, but probably not something you should strive for. Anchors - Supports - Artifact Matters
Violent Eruption Description - Triple red is really rough. Only consider it if you are heavy on discard outlets where the madness can be taken advantage of consistently enough. Anchors - Supports - Madness
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Acceptable Losses - At 4 mana, random discard, only hits creatures, sorcery speed, this is not an acceptable loss.
Grab the Reins - The huge failing of this card is that it doesn't untap the creature, with really inhibits what you can steal and use. And if you are relying on the second mode (not entwined) to close out games, it could just be any burn spell.
Lay Waste - Not the land destruction spell you want.
Lightning Blast - There isn't anything 'strictly' better, but for 2 red mana symbols you get Stoke the Flames.
Lightning Javelin - Only if depowering your removal. The Scry 1 is not worth the 2-3 extra mana for the 3 damage compared to better options.
Lightning Volley - It might have a strong case on a really wide board, but it isn’t going to be consistent enough.
Magma Burst - You have to pay too much upfront, even if you can afford the kicker.
Magmatic Core - Way too much investment. Even if you cast it on curve, you'd have to wait 4 more turns and pay 8 total mana just to distribute 4 damage.
Mark for Death - It doesn't even guarantee to kill the creature. I can't imagine you wouldn’t always just want Order // Chaos instead, or a creature kill spell.
Orcish Oriflamme - War Horn is strictly better (permanent type aside).
Overblaze - Too narrow. You can give your creatures double strike with better spells, and there are very few non-combat effects where this is worth it.
Puncturing Blow - You could make an argument for it being a deal 5 for 4 and there aren't many spells in that range, but Aftershock is more versatile despite its drawback and there is nothing that compels you to play this.
Pyromancer's Assault - There are better 'spell velocity' cards. You would have to go to significant effort to actually make this playable in your cube, and would warp your cube too much.
Quenchable Fire - Only deals damage to players and while 6 is decent, there is better burn.
Seismic Spike - It might fit in some aggro decks to keep the opponent of their land while dropping a 2-drop, but it's the sort of thing you need consitency of the effect.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Shower of Coals Description - If you are going to play 5 mana burn, this is your spell. 6 dividable damage is often going to clear out a couple of creatures plus deal some to the dome. If you hit threshold (this card is good in spells matters decks) then it becomes amazing. Anchors - Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Cone of Flame Description - Shower of Coals is the better option, but this is still reasonable removal. Anchors - Supports -
Rite of the Raging Storm Description - It doesn't do anything the turn you play it and it doesn't stabilise you, but it adds some inevitability. It either gives you an aggro curve topper to seal the game, or as a win condition for a control deck. A 5 power trampler is hard to defend against indefinitely. It gets a little worse against repeat tappers or pingers, but at the very least it locks them up every turn. Might be occasional downside where your opponent has a sacrifice outlet for their tokens. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Act of Aggression Description - It can be a 3 mana Blind With Anger for any colour, but 4 life isn't insignificant. Can be a way to give reach to each colour, particularly if you are trying to push green or blue aggro, though instant speed lets it be played in control decks. Anchors - Supports -
Fissure Description - At 5 mana it isn't powerful removal, but it gets a mention as one of few red spells that outright destroys creatures of any size. You might also consider Aftershock to fill this slot. Anchors - Supports -
Goblin Rally Description - You wouldn't cube it over Hordeling Outburst, but if you are going deep on armies in a can, you might consider this. 4 bodies is great for sacrifice and go wide decks, and Goldnight Commander in particular will be pretty happy to see these goblins chasing after him. Anchors - Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Dissension in the Ranks - The appeal of a 2 for 1 is enticting, but SO many conditions have to go right for this to work. 1. You have to be in a position to attack. 2. They have to block with at least 2 creatures. 3. Those creatures both have to have toughness equal to or less than the power of the other. 4. Even if that does happen, your creatures are blocked so they aren't dealing damage this turn.
Extra Arms - There will be board states where it can do some work, but not consistently enough. Given the creature has to attack, it is probbaly going to get taken out in combat even if you manage to ping off something.
Fierce Invocation - Is the upside of being able to manifest it later (with 2 +1/+1 counters on it to boot) worth playing an otherwise vanilla 4/4 for 5? Doubtful.
Lava Storm - Trying to think when I would want to cast this… After attacks, clear out some 2 toughness aggro creatures… after double blocks, clearing out one of the blockers… after attacks or blocks when I've got first strikers… A few scenarios, but I don't see more than one of those coming up in most individual games.
Mana Geyser - Too conditional, and you are paying 5 mana to start with anyway.
Melee - This seems kind of interesting, but for what it achieves, you can just play removal.
Shivan Meteor - It's going to kill anything that doesn't have regenerate or indestructible, but I'm having a hard time figuring out when you want to play it.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Fireblast Description - There are certainly more efficient versions if for the hard cast mode, but the point is it rarely gets hard cast. Aggro decks love it on critical turns to cast a threat the same turn as removing a blocker, and it isn't unreasonable to get an opponent down to single digits and fire this off alongside another direct damage spell. You can always hard cast it if you have the mana. Some cube owners may not include it as free direct damage is a very powerful effect. It's far from the reason you'd consider it, but it does add lands to your graveyard for threshold / delirium. Anchors - Supports -
Slice and Dice Description - If you want to support sweeper control as an archetype, this is the red card of choice. Will clear a decent number of creatures, and sometimes you can cycle to get a 2+ for 1 in the right board state. Anchors - Sweeper Control Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Pyrokinesis Description - Fireblast is the free burn spell of choice, but being able to divide 4 damage without paying mana can be a massive tempo play early in the game or swing combat in the midgame. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Flame Javelin Description - Probably only worth cubing if you really want to give non-red ramp decks a 6 mana burn spell, and 2RR instant deal 4 isn't totally unreasonable either. Anchors - Supports -
Flame Wave Description - It's a powerful effect, but the intensive mana costs make the decks it will fit in narrow. It's most likely home is a Gruul ramp / control deck that can consistently ensure there are enough red sources to cast it. If you have the right support for that deck, this might be an include. Anchors - Sweeper control Supports -
Spreading Flames Description - It's expensive and sometimes you might die with this in your hand. It can have a powerful effect on the board when cast however. Cubing it will depend on the make-up of your cube; if you have the tools for red decks to go long, this might be worth it. If your aggro decks would consistently kill you before you can cast this, it's a trap to cube it. Anchors - Supports -
Thunderous Wrath Description - The miracle cost is awesome, though it is offset by the fact that the timing can be awkward, and if you draw it in your opening hand it is pretty bad. Anchors - Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Mother of Runes Description - One of whites most annoying creatures to be on the opposite side of the table. In a defensive deck you can block almost anything (preferably killing it with a large enough blocker) which can stall the board, and in an aggressive deck it can help push through some final damage or let creatures that were blocked survive. It may draw removal immediately, but if it does you only paid 1 mana for it. If it doesn't get hit immediately, it becomes harder to remove. It's far from infallible, but often requires your opponent to make a sub-optimal play to get you to tap it so they can safely target it. Anchors - Supports -
Mardu Woe-Reaper Description - This is perhaps the best aggressive 1-drop in white. 2 power for 1 mana, with upside of potential life gain. You may not want it in slower decks, but highly desirable for any white aggro deck. Being bale to negate some random graveyard strategies is a nice bonus. It's not likely to make you revalue other warriors in your pool, but if you trigger it more than once is another bonus. Anchors - Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Dragon Hunter Description - 2/1's for 1 mana with upside are hard to beat. Great for aggro, but can be played anywhere. The protection from Dragons is likely to rarely matter, and should make for a good story when it does happen. Anchors - Supports - Aggro
Elite Vanguard / Savannah Lion / Expedition Envoy Description - 2/1 for 1 mana with no downside is good for aggro support, but can always be played in any deck. Elite Vanguard's creature types may sometimes matter. Mardu Woe-Reaper and Dragon Hunter are strictly better, but the base stats are good enough that you may want to go deep and include one or both of these. Anchors - Supports - Aggro
Gideon's Lawkeeper / Goldmeadow Harrier
Description - Role players in many decks, allowing aggro decks to down down big threats in the mid-game to allow you to break through, or tap down offensive threats in a controlling deck while setting up your big players. Not uncommon for both to be played in a cube. Goldmeadow Harrier is usually the choice if using only 1 due to synergy with Cloudgoat Ranger. Anchors - Supports -
Skymarcher Aspirant Description - Solid aggro 1-drop. You don't expect the flying to turn on often, but it gives your aggro decks an evasive threat later if you failed to punch through early. Anchors - Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Boros Elite Description - ok card for aggro decks, and can get some mileage in token deck. If you aren't pushing white aggro, you shouldn't play this. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
Cenn's Tactician Description - As a baseline, can block and pump himself in response, or pump at end of turn, which can be good for a control deck biding its time. With a bit of soldier support (which isn't difficult in most cubes), can help mess with combat math, shifting it to more aggro support. The additional block probably isn't going to matter much, but is a nice bonus. Anchors - Supports -
Doomed Traveler Description - A reasonable 1-drop. In an aggro deck, at least you get an evasive replacement once it is outclassed. In a control deck even if it is just chumping at least you get to do it twice. Good upside against aggressive decks full of x/1's, and potential for two activations for a single mana in a sacrifice deck. Anchors - Supports -
Loam Lion Description - Generally considered a green/white card, this is solid if you are pushing aggro in both those colours, and efficient enough that you would play it in decks of nearly any speed. Anchors - Supports -
Perimeter Captain Description - Strong early anti-aggro card. On its own it can block mid-sized creatures with relevant life gain upside, which can offset other unblocked attackers. Also out of Bolt range. Anchors - Supports - Defender
Steppe Lynx Description - Can be ok for aggro decks, played turn 1 and then swinging in with a 2/3 for the following number of turns. However it can be unreliable. Note : Some peasant cube owners support multiple copies of Terramorphic Expanse or rare saclands, which make this card better. Playable without them, but lacks consistency. Anchors - Supports -
Thraben Inspector Description - The stats aren't impressive, but being able to draw a card helps. Assuming your cube has a few of the white team anthems that most peasant cubes include, white doesn't mind having extra bodies lying around. It may also be support as an early white drop for an artifact themed cube, and it's also fine as a sideboard card against aggro decks full of x/1's; trading while you get a clue will not make your opponent happy. Anchors - Supports -
Topplegeist Description - 1/1 flyers for 1 mana aren't usually considered a good deal. This can at least tap down the biggest offenders on the opposite side of the board if not played early, and even if you don't specifically support delirium, having it turn on mid-game from time to time is going to feel pretty awesome for a single mana. Anchors - Supports -
Town Gossipmonger Description - The ideal play of this on turn 1, play a 2 drop and transform during their turn (threatening to block and then transform), then attack with both on turn 3 is a decent opening. When not played early though, it can become a bit more unreliable and harder to transform. The pump on the flipside is a nice bonus. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Akrasan Squire Description - Played turn 1, it can attack for 2 on turn 2 which is nice. But most decks drafted from cube don't facilitate a single attacker being effective, so it can awkward to get benefit from it after that. Anchors - Supports -
Alaborn Zealot Description - It's situational, but it will usually either provide mana tempo by taking something out more costly, or hold off attacks while your opponent searches for an answer. Anchors - Supports -
Anointer of Champions / Infantry Veteran Description - It can help with combat math after blockers are declared in an aggro deck, to help your creatures either survive, trade up, or maximise damage to the opponent. Conditional on board state, and bad if you are losing. Anchors - Supports - Aggro
Aven Skirmisher / Lantern Kami / Suntail Hawk / Kitesail Scout Description - Not exciting, but serviceable. If you want one of these, Aven Skirmisher's tribe of Warrior is the most likely to matter. If you include hybrid cards in the comparison, Judge's Familiar is a strict upgrade. Anchors - Supports -
Benevolent Bodyguard Description - Fragile as a creature, but can act as a way to counter removal against some of your bigger threats, or clear a way for final damage. Anchors - Supports -
Deftblade Elite Description - It looks innocuous, but it can sit back and soak up damage. The provoke doesn’t do much most of the time, but when you are ready to swing in it can tie up an annoying defender from blocking something else. Mostly fits in defensive decks. If you can give it a power boost with equipment, it can turn into an odd form of spot removal, but is upside you should probably not be relying on. Anchors - Supports -
Dragon's Eye Sentry Description - It serves a specific role, but its stats for cost with first strike are worth noting. It can take out aggressive x/1's and survive 2 power creatures. The faster your aggro section is, particularly those with 1 power, the better tool this will be to allow control decks to reach their end game. Anchors - Supports - Control
Favored Hoplite Description - You need to support specific types of decks to get the best value. Either an aura-based Voltron theme, or heavy pump theme is needed to get the best value. Outside of those archetypes, you want at least a few white spells you would be willing to throw at this guy to consider inclusion. Anchors - Supports - Voltron / Pants (aura-based)
Glint Hawk Description - This requires a very specific environment to work, ideally one with lots of artifacts, that are also cheap, that you would also benefit from playing twice. Generally, most cubes won't fit this criteria. Anchors - Supports -
Icatian Javelineers Description - The ability to threaten use while others attack can mess with combat math. The one off reduces its threat level, and then becomes a vanilla 1/1. But it can also threaten players and provides reach; minor, but it is there. Anchors - Supports -
Kor Duelist Description - If you are supporting a Voltron / pants archetype, this might just make the cut, on the assumption you have a high number of power-boosting equipment. Outside of that deck/environment, not worth it. Anchors - Supports -
Loyal Pegasus Description - It's a terrible 1st turn play but with the support of enough other small creatures to mitigate the drawback, is an efficient beater. Gets worse in a heavy removal environment. Anchors - Supports -
Nomads en-Kor Description - Only good enough if you support defensive decks with a lot of of high toughness creatures. Minor synergy with Spitemare. Anchors - Supports -
Soltari Foot Soldier Description - It's not a great clock, but there are likely to be few other creatures in the cube that can block it. It can always carry equipment or auras, so can be good in a Voltron deck. Anchors - Supports - Voltron
Soul Warden / Soul's Attendant Description - Functionally identical apart from the 'may' ability which you will always trigger. This can be quite variable depending on both your and your opponents deck, and you really need it to be giving you upwards of half a dozen life to be worth the cost of the card. Played early in or against a token deck, it can buy you time and make it difficult for your opponent to swing in. As a top deck in a game where players have exhausted their hands, it is going to be bad. Anchors - Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Caravan Escort - 5/5 first strike is good, but is too costly. Playing first turn and levelling on turn 2 means you paid 3 mana for a 2/2, and the tempo loss isn't worth that extra point of damage.
Death Speakers - Minor evasion, but needs something else.
Dedicated Martyr - Cathedral Sanctifier does this when it comes into play, and will be better in almost all situations, but that's not good enough anyway. Upgrade to Lone Missionary.
Gelid Shackles - Letting it attack is bad, and needing a mana every turn to prevent it from attacking (even if you allow all snow basics) is not great when compared to paying a couple of mana more for better effects.
Ghost-Lit Redeemer - Channeling is not good value. Repeat life gain is not useful until you have control of the board. A tapper like Goldmeadow Harrier is likely to prevent a lot more damage for the same costs than this would ever gain.
Glint Hawk - Too many hoops to jump through; maybe in an artifact heavy cube.
God-Pharaoh's Faithful - Nyx-Fleece Ram is worth the extra mana, and Perimeter Captain probably gains you just as much life (whether by blocking or your opponent just keeping stuff at home).
Goldenglow Moth - Prevent damage from 1 attacker and gain 4 life… actually doesn't seem terrible at face value. If it was an instant, it might be ok, but as a creature, no.
Mtenda Herder - At best, your opponent will just let it through for 1 damage which is not a good clock, and still easily blocked by creatures with a few points of toughness.
Mystic Penitent - Not enough upside to offset the times when threshold won't be reached.
Pride Guardian - The extra point of toughness on Perimeter Captain is likely to matter more often than the extra point of life gain, and Perimeter Captain shares the life gain love with friends.
Songstitcher - The fact that it only deals with creatures attacking you makes it useless when you want to be on the attack. Probably better to invest in flying defensive creatures if that is what you are looking for.
Spurnmage Advocate - It's a powerful repeatable effect, but giving your opponent card advantage is bad. There will be times when you will be happy to use it (destroy an Eldrazi to return Sakura-Tribe Elder and a Terramorphic Expanse) but will be outweighed many more times by poor trades that you won't want to initiate. You would be better off replacing this with just about any other white removal.
Stern Constable - While it can be considered a discard enabler, this is not an effect you want to be costing you cards.
Stoneforge Acolyte - You aren't going to be making Ally equipment a deck (at least not with this).
Wall of Hope - Perimeter Captain going to be better in most situations.
War Falcon - When compared to Loyal Pegasus, it can still block, but makes it less likely to be able to attack, which is what you want to be doing if you are paying discounted price.
Yoked Ox - Strictly worse than Lagonna-Band Trailblazer
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Accorder Paladin Description - 3 power at 2 mana which can also boost the rest of your team makes this a fine aggro player, but it dies to anything. If you can keep it unopposed for a couple of turns, it's base power plus stat boost can add up, and sometimes even a single swing can do a fair bit of damage. Anchors - Supports - Aggro, Tokens
Cloistered Youth Description - What is essentially a 3/3 for 2 mana is great for aggro. The pain makes it tuned for aggro decks and not elsewhere, but the value is worth it for those decks. Annoying when it can't break through, but the transformation is optional, so you can always commit it the board and wait if you haven't already committed to the transformation. Anchors - Supports -
Consul's Lieutenant Description - A card that is full of upsides. The first strike often forces blocks where you win, or they let it through and get renowned. The renowned just makes the first strike better, plus the team pump in go wide decks can make it hard for your opponent to recover. The first strike still makes it reasonable on defense even if not renowned. Anchors - Supports -
Mistral Charger / Stormfront Pegasus Description - Not much to say; it's a solid evasive aggro beater for white that is almost always going to make your deck. Anchors - Supports -
Seeker of the Way Description - It might be a bear more often than not, but the opportunity for it to be a 3/3 lifelinker at instant speed can make your opponent nervous during combat. Anchors - Supports -
Soltari Trooper Description - Solid evasive creature. Not being pumped on defense is meaningless because attacking is what this is built for, and it will trade with nearly all shadow creatures on defense anyway. Good for aggro, and ok for control as a clock. Anchors - Supports -
Wall of Omens Description - This is a solid control card, allowing you to stall early aggro assaults without being down a card. Anchors - Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Adanto Vanguard Description - A good aggressive card, the mana-free indestructible ability can make blocking quite difficult for your opponent. It's not really profitable on defense. It wears auras and equipment really well, so consider this over similar options if you are pushing a pants archetype. Anchors - Supports - Pants
Azorius Arrester Description - Decent for aggro / tempo decks to get damage through and stall incoming attacks. Anchors - Supports -
Daring Skyjek Description - It will feel lackluster when it isn't flying, but it's still 3 power for 2 mana. Anchors - Supports -
Dauntless River Marshal Description - Solid stats for 2 mana in an Azorius deck in an aggro capacity, and in the late game can tap down their biggest blockers. Anchors - Supports -
Felidar Cub / Kami of Ancient Law / Keening Apparition / Ronom Unicorn Description - It's enchantment removal on legs. They are fine, and you can always play them as bears even if there are no targets. War Priest of Thune gives you the opportunity for a 2-for-1 but is less flexible in casting to maximise that value. It's probably a personal choice as to which type of play you prefer (if you don't include both effects, of course). Anchors - Supports -
Gearshift Ace Description - It might not be thrilling, but there aren't a lot of 2 mana 2 power creatures with built in first strike. Fine for aggro, and good at stalling 3/2 aggro creatures like. Crewing vehicles is upside to an ok baseline. Anchors - Supports -
Gust Walker Description - Decent enough for aggro decks. It can bash in as a bear, and then start going over the top when the time calls for it. A 3/3 flyer compares favourably enough with a decent number of flyers in the format, considering you only paid 2 mana for it. Anchors - Supports -
Kazandu Blademaster Description - It may get ignored because it looks like it needs ally support, but 2/2 first strike and vigilance is still good without other ally support. The main thing holding it back is the double white. If you have any other incidental allies or +1/+1 counter themes, it's worth considering. Anchors - Supports - Allies, +1/+1 counters
Knight of Meadowgrain Description - Good all round. In aggro the first strike prevents early trades while the life link helps you win races. In control, the first strike helps on defense while recovering your life total (or more likely just prevents attacks). Anchors - Supports -
Kor Skyfisher Description - Great for bouncing and re-using ETB effects, or resetting Serrated Arrows / Tumble Magnet / Banishing Light etc. In later turns it can always just bounce a land. Can bounce itself if you have any effects that trigger on casting spells / creatures coming into play (Extort, Goldmeadow Commander). Anchors - Supports - Crystal Shard / bounce
Leonin Relic-Warder Description - It's ok removal on a stick, but you are probably better off not needing double white for this effect. The benefit over some other removal options is that this targets both enchantments and artifacts. Anchors - Supports -
Lone Missionary Description - Good as a control card to help survive the early game and hopefully trade with something else to get you through to the late game. Less desirable in aggro but can be a filler 2-drop there. Anchors - Supports - Control
Lone Rider Description - It needs the right support in your cube, but a 4/4 trample first strike lifelinker is a solid payoff and the right support cards are playable in their own right. The built in lifelink gives it some play with pump effects, and it might elevate the value of other playable cards with one-shot life gain effects; Lone Missionary, Faith's Fetters etc. Anchors - Supports -
Loyal Cathar Description - ok for aggro / sacrifice, but the WW cost might keep it out of contention for smaller cubes. Anchors - Supports - Aggro, Sacrifice
Nearheath Pilgrim Description - It's probably just filler in an aggro deck with some life gain upside, but has some upside in other situations. Paired with something evasive it can help you race, and even if you are on the defensive, you can potentially block aggressive attackers with paired creatures while trading and getting a life buffer until you can cast your more expensive spells. Anchors - Supports -
Niblis of the Urn Description - The evasion can help it attack when the opponent has multiple ground troops, and help your own ground troops get through. At worst it can tap down a lone flyer on the opposing side to get in for a point of damage. However the fact that it is small makes it easy to pass on. Anchors - Supports - Tempo / Control
Nyx-Fleece Ram Description - Good control card to block with, and if they can't break through you get incremental life gain. Being an enchantment is a minus as it can be removed by more things, but it can be a big synergy plus if you provide it the right support cards. Anchors - Supports - Enchantment Matters
Oketra's Avenger Description - 3/1's for 2 need some upside, and this is about on par with the alternatives. The exert can help you force some damage through or force unfavorable blocks, but loses some value as soon as a 4 toughness creature hits the battlefield. Gets a little better if you give it some pants to wear. The threat of activation on Adanto Vanguard and being able to activate it on defense gives that a bit of an edge, but this isn't far behind and does block better if you can't afford the life loss. Anchors - Supports -
Soltari Monk Description - While protection is something that most cubers don't consider, this can be an unblockable threat that black mages can't take out with kill spells, which is solid for aggro decks. Anchors - Supports -
Soltari Priest Description - While protection is something that most cubers don't consider, this can be an unblockable threat that red mages can't take out with burn spells, which is solid for aggro decks. Anchors - Supports -
Syndic of Tithes Description - Decent bear, enabling drain that can be useful in an aggressive deck that has spare mana, or in a control deck. Anchors - Supports -
Topan Freeblade Description - If it was just 2/2 vigilance, it would probably be a little under par. If it gets in for the first attack, it becomes reasonable. However even on the play, most decks will be able to play something that can trade with it. It's all around decent; however it doesn't provide any specific support to any particular deck. Anchors - Supports -
Trueheart Duelist Description - The baseline doesn't stand out, but it kind of has 'when this dies, draw a Pearled Unicorn'. It's not a great body, but you still get some value particularly as a stalling tactic, and has some incidental synergy with self-mill, sacrifice or self-discard.
Wall of Essence Description - Good control card to block with, it can completely blank some aggro assaults, with the life gain offsetting damage from other creatures that get through. Anchors - Supports - Control
Wall of Glare Description - It can blank some aggro assaults, sometimes able to block 2 creatures and survive, and sometimes act as a pseudo-Fog against an alpha strike. Anchors - Supports -
Wandering Champion Description - It isn't tricky, it's just a solid card for aggro decks, with some nice card filtering tacked on as a bonus. Anchors - Aggro Supports - Graveyard Matters
War Priets of Thune Description - When compared to the likes of Kami of Ancient Law, this can be a 2 for 1, but you have to wait until you have a target. While they are different, most will prefer the flexibility of being able to attack with your 2/2 and activating afterwards instead of needing to hold onto it. Anchors - Supports -
Whitemane Lion Description - It's flexible in the way you can make use of the 'drawback'. It can save your creatures from removal. It can put down a surprise blocker if all of your creatures are tapped. It can help re-use ETB effects like Shriekmaw. It can bounce itself if you really want to keep triggering other ETB / cast spell effects, like Extort. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Ainok Bond-Kin Description - It might be a little slow, but with an activation or 2 becomes respectable. A decent enough 'lord' if you push +1/+1 counters in your cube. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Ajani's Pridemate Description - It's ok on the basis you have incidental life gain, lifelink or extort in your card pool. A single activation puts this above standard rate for cost. You can seed cards to really make it a build around, but if you only have a couple of life gain effects in your cube then it isn't worth it. Anchors - Supports - Life Gain Matters
Angelic Wall / Orator of Ojutai Description - It's an ok card to block with, providing blanket defense in the air and on the ground. Orator of Ojutai is technically the strictly better option, but you might select Angelic Wall so as not to confuse your players if there aren't (m)any Dragons in your cube. Fine but boring. Anchors - Supports -
Arashin Cleric / Temple Acolyte
Description - It can be an early blocker in a control deck to fend off some smaller aggro creatures while providing a life buffer, but it is pretty unexciting. Anchors - Supports -
Auriok Bladewarden Description - This could be a reward card if you have an environment full of power pumping auras and equipment. If you've only got a few of those effects then this isn't worth cubing. Anchors - Supports -
Aviary Mechanic Description - It's a 'may' ability so you can play it on an empty board, and it lets you return any permanent, but outside of some corner cases, the flash on Whitemane Lion is going to perform better in the intended role. Resetting Oblivion Ring or other aura-based removal is still a noteworthy upside. Anchors - Blink / Bounce Supports -
Ballyrush Banneret Description - Unlikely to have Kithkin support, but could be good with enough soldier support which show up in enough numbers in most cubes. Anchors - Supports -
Beloved Chaplain Description - It's might have some play in a Voltron deck with equipment or aura support, but it still dies to most removal. It can serve in a control deck to block anything on the ground without trample, but it doesn't do much else. An ok card to seed for control to survive the early game. Anchors - Supports - Voltron, Control
Benalish Cavalry Description - It's an ok aggro card that can't be blocked by 2 tokens, and wins combat with 2/3's. It's not bad, but is also replaceable. Anchors - Supports -
Cheap Ass Description - 3 1/2 pretty much means 4, and 1/4 is good stats for 2 mana. The 1/2 mana saving makes it a smidge easier to cast 2 spells in one turn. Anchors - Supports -
Cleric of the Forward Order Description - Ignoring the signal that you might be playing multiples, this seems ok for control decks to trade with something while buffing your life total. Comparable to Lone Missionary with upside (+1 toughness) and downside (-2 life gain). The life gain can be countered if the creature is removed from play before the ability resolves, so caring about the additional toughness is probably the critical consideration. Anchors - Supports -
Fencing Ace Description - It's usually only going to be effective in a Voltron deck that can pump it's power with equipment or auras, but in that deck it can decent. It will depend on how prevalent or powerful removal is in your cube. Anchors - Voltron Supports -
Field Surgeon Description - On the plus side it gets around summoning sickness, and there is no mana cost involved. With sufficient untapped creatures on the board, it makes it difficult for opponents to attack into you. On the attack it is harder to use though as you will usually have to tap some of them. Anchors - Supports -
Inner-Chamber Guard Description - Essentially a 2/4 defender for 2 mana that can be killed by a Shock. It doesn't look like much, but it can be an ok staller for control. It's considerably less interesting than a lot of other walls, but a 2/4 blocker for 2 mana might fit your particular meta. Anchors - Control Supports -
Jeskai Barricade Description - It's a 'may' ability, so it is all upside for saving good creatures from removal or re-using ETB effects. However after it hits play it only plays defense, and Whitemane Lion is more universally playable despite having mandatory bounce. You probably need to be deep on the self-bounce, or want that type of deck to play more defensively, to include it in your cube. Anchors - Supports -
Knight of Glory Description - It is going to be inconsistent; it can attack by itself as a 3/2 on turn 3, or pump a 1-drop on turn 2, but most cube decks aren't going to be tuned to win by attacking with a single creature. Anchors - Supports -
Leonin Snarecaster Description - Worse than Azorius Arrester, but could be an option if you want to go deep on tempo creatures. Anchors - Supports -
Leonin Squire Description - You would have to be reaching for an artifact matters theme, and have enough things like spellbombs or relevent 1cc artifact creatures to consider this. Anchors - Supports -
Longbow Archer Description - ok stats, but interchangeable with a lot of other '2/2 + abilities for WW' creatures. You would only consider this over the other options if you were trying to fill a specific hole to help white deal with flyers (which it usually deals with by having its own flyers). It might be a metagame call against the likes of Lingering Souls and Talrand's Invocation. Anchors - Supports -
Martyr of Dusk Description - It supports token decks and a couple of bodies for sacrifice themes, but isn't high on the list. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice, Tokens
Myrsmith Description - Good as an anchor card for an artifact matters theme, but only good for that deck. Anchors - Artifact matters Supports -
Phalanx Leader Description - The repeat ability to put +1/+1 counters on each of your creatures is strong. However you need the support of the right spells to be able to trigger this frequently enough. Mark of Fury and self-bouncing auras come to mind to get more value from it, though it does complement an aura-based Voltron theme as well. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters, Voltron (aura-based)
Phantom Nomad Description - Might be ok for both aggro and control. Aggro doesn't lose it's creature to the first defence and can swing again. Same with control, allows it to chump block. Anchors - Supports -
Restoration Specialist Description - It's a 2 mana 2 power creature when you need it to be one, but the only reason to cube it is to support an enchantment matters or artifact theme. Getting two targets is probably going to be rare, but will be great when you do. Anchors - Supports - Enchantment Matters, Artifact Matters
Revered Dead Description - It only fits a specific role, which is to soak up some damage with its cheap regen cost. Only if you are looking to fill a particular niche. Anchors - Supports -
Samite Pilgrim Description - By the time this comes online, in most decks you are going to be able to prevent 2 damage which is not a bad baseline. It depends on whether you want this type of effect in your cube. Anchors - Supports -
Samurai of the Pale Curtain Description - On offense the flanking of Benalish Cavalry is better without costing WW, but this can provide better defence. Its inclusion is probably reliant on whether the graveyard hate effect is something you want in your cube. It can deal with Persist, Undying, prevent other 'death' triggers such as Rancor, Blood Artist etc. which some play groups might hate and others might love having that dynamic to draft / play around. Anchors - Supports -
Serene Steward Description - Cross synergy with life gain matters themes and +1/+1 counters. Not requiring a cost makes Ajani Pridemate more desirable for most, but this does let you distribute the counters. If life gain is incidental in your cube, or you don't have at least a handful of repeatable life gain sources, it doesn't belong in your cube. Anchors - Life Gain Matters Supports - +1/+1 Counters
Sigiled Paladin
Description - Exalted is fine, but is going to relevant less frequently than abilities on otherwise similar creatures, like Knight of Meadowgrain or Kazandu Blademaster. It's not bad, but is probably only worth considering in larger cubes. Anchors - Supports -
Steadfast Cathar Description - It's an attacking 2/3 for 2 in white, which is fine for aggro decks. How much the third toughness will matter is cube dependent. Anchors - Supports -
Steward of Solidarity Description - It's a 2 mana token creator that requires no further mana investment which makes it appealing. Only creating one every other turn can be a little slow, particularly if not cast on curve, but over a longer game it can add up. Anchors - Supports - Tokens
Suture Priest Description - The life loss is more important than the life gain, but it can make for a good package. However it needs several triggers to add up. It can make for a decent turn 2 play, but it may be low impact later in the game. If you can play the attrition game, trading creatures 1 for 1 while draining, and continuing to play threats so they have to answer with playing more creatures, it can be ok, but is pretty situational. The repeat life gain can make it a good support card for any life gain matters cards. Anchors - Supports - Life gain Matters
Trusty Companion Description - It's an option for cheap white aggro decks intending to drop their hand early to mitigate the drawback. You might consider some 3/1's with upside instead, but the 2nd point of toughness here might be a consideration if you have a high density of 1/1 tokens or 1/3's that more readily trump those. The vigilance doesn't add much at these stats. Anchors - Supports -
Vanguard of Brimaz Description - Being able to pump out tokens makes this worth a look, but it requires the inclusion of enough spells you would want to cast on it, which probably requires the inclusion of other suboptimal cards. Anchors - Heroic Supports - Soldier Tribal
Wall of Resistance Description - It might be sideboard material against some decks, but it can make attacking difficult for your opponent. Similar walls at this cost are likely to offer better value to most decks, but it does have flying going for it. Anchors - Supports - Control
Warrior en-Kor Description - Can be ok for midrange decks to spread the damage around and survive opposing blocks, or redirect it all to a token. Has some synergy with Spitemare. The WW really hurts, as it isn't as universally good as other WW options. Anchors - Supports -
Wings of the Guard Description - It's a 2/2 flying attacker for 2, which is worth something. It might survive being blocked by a 1/1 Spirit token or some such, but not having 2 power when you are behind probably puts it behind something like Stormfront Pegasus. You might cube it for maximum redundancy of cheap flyers. Anchors - Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Abuna Acolytle - Field Surgeon provides better healing support, even if you are playing artifact creatures.
Advance Scout - Assume better ways to give team first strike.
Ajani's Sunstriker - Knight of Meadowgrain strictly better.
Akroan Skyguard - Rarely going to be good.
Alabaster Mage - Most of the time, this is going to be too much investment. Nice to have the effect on the table if you have mana spare, but not worth going out of your way to include.
Alaborn Grenadier - Strictly better options in Loyal Cathar and Kazandu Blademaster.
Alalborn Musketeer - Not likely to be relevant.
Amrou Kithkin - Bad.
Amrou Scout - Only if major Rebel support.
Angelic Curator - Bad unless heavy artfiact theme.
Angelic Page - The effect is not efficient enough.
Anointer Priest - Not high enough impact.
Araba Motrider - Not good enough.
Arctic Foxes - Bad.
Ardent Soldier - Neither mode is good and the flexibility does not make up for it.
Armored Pegasus - Worse than Concordia Pegasus.
Armored Warhorse - Strictly worse than Veteran Armorsmith.
Audacious Infiltrator - It's a 2 mana 3/1 with upside, but mostly irrelevant for cube.
Augur il-Vec - Not efficient enough.
Auriok Edgewright - Not going to be consistent enough.
Auriok Suncasher - Bad unless heavy artifact theme.
Avacynian Priest - You likely want to upgrade to Benalish Trapper/Blinding Mage at this cost, or go for Goldmeadow Harrier/Gideon Lawkeeper.
Aven Farseer - Only in heavy morph theme.
Aven Squire - It can be a 2 mana attacking 2/2 flyer, but you aren't going to win on that alone. It isn't going to fit in the game plan of most decks.
Aysen Bureaucrats - Ability is too restrictive.
Beacon Hawk - It can provide pseudo-vigilance to something, but it isn't enough.
Benalish Trapper - Probably just want to go for Goldmeadow Harrier/Gideon Lawkeeper.
Benevolent Unicorn - Narrow.
Binding Mummy - There aren't enough white zombies that are playable outside the zombie deck to make this worth considering; otherwise you will have high density of cards that only work in one deck.
Bishop's Soldier - Doesn't do enough.
Blade of the Sixth Pride - Strictly worse than Accorder Paladin, Daring Skyjek and Wandering Champion, and you won't need this many 3/1's for 2.
Dromoka Warrior - As above.
Oreskos Swiftclaw - As above.
Blinding Mage - Probably just want to go for Goldmeadow Harrier/Gideon Lawkeeper.
Boros Mastiff - Not enough upside compared to other options.
Capashen Knight - Not good enough. You'd rather have Youthful Knight over the rare times you will spend 4 mana on the activated ability.
Capashen Unicorn - Stats not good enough and too expensive for the ability.
Cardpecker - Nope.
Catapult Squad - While you might have enough soldiers in your cube to get some support for this, it almost demands to be played in a control deck, making this too narrow.
Cathedral Membrane - It looks like good upside, but as a once off it isn't good enough.
Cavalry Pegasus - You would have humans running around in your cube, but this too conditional and a poor creature on its own.
Cenn's Heir - Only if Kithkin support.
Clergy en-Vec - Same as Femeref Healer / Samite Healer. These are not worth it. Field Surgeon only affects creatures, but is among the best 'healers'.
Femeref Healer - As above.
Samite Healer - As above.
Cliff Threader - Too narrow.
Cloudreach Cavalry - 3/3 flyer for 2 mana is amazing, but you won't have enough birds.
Countless Gears Renegade - It looks like it can provide value, but you can almost never get that value on curve and the inconsistency is decent downside.
Courier Hawk - Not good enough.
Crimson Acolyte - Too narrow.
Crossbow Infantry - Not good enough.
Darklit Gargoyle - It isn't good as a white card, and it doesn't do enough as an Orzhov card.
Daru Spiritualist - Bad.
Defiant Falcon - Only if Rebel support.
Disciple of Grace - Narrow.
Disciple of Law - Narrow.
Duskrider Falcon - Narrow.
Eddytrail Hawk - Not high enough impact.
Enlightened Ascetic - Many better options for removal on a body.
Monk Realist - As above.
Errant Doomsayers - Not going to have enough targets.
Exorcist - Too narrow.
Expendable Troops - Not good enough.
Famished Paladin - It's fairly low on the totem pole of life gain matters cards. Behaves a bit like a 3/3 defender for 2, which most decks don't want. The best case is a 3/3 with vigilance which is fine but doesn’t seem worth jumping through hoops. Might be worth noting you can go Magical Christmas Land and go infinite with a few combo variations.
Fledgling Griffin - You would much rather have Mistral Charger.
Fleet-Footed Monk - Bad.
Fortified Rampart - Wall of Tanglecord exists. Only if you REALLY want only white to have it.
Freewind Falcon - Narrow.
Fresh Volunteers - Bad.
Geist of the Lonely Vigil - Too much set up for the payoff.
Ghost Warden - Doesn't do enough. Activation is more flexible than Anointer of Champions / Infantry Veteran, but the extra mana is not something you want to spend.
Glory Seeker - Bad.
God-Favored General - This is going to get swallowed before you get to activate it.
Griffin Rider - Good upside, but rarely achieved.
Guardian of Pilgrims - It doesn't do enough.
Hand of Honor - You would rather have Benalish Cavalry for easier casting, or any number of better WW creatures.
Herald of Dromoka - You would rather have Topan Freeblade filling a similar role. Giving other Warriors vigilance is not a big enough draw for an otherwise downgrade.
Hipparion - Worse than Concordia Pegasus/Jeskai Student.
Huatli's Snubhorn - Strictly better options. (Topan Freeblade).
Icatian Lieutenant - Not efficient enough stats or effect.
Ikiral Outrider - Not efficient enough.
Inquisitor Exarch - Does not do enough compared to many other options at WW.
Jeskai Student - Swinging into stuff on turn 3 as a 2/4 is solid, but it isn't powerful enough to slot into most decks you would support in your cube.
Jotun Grunt - Don't think there is any way you can profitably take advantage of this ability in cube.
Judge of Currents - Too tribal.
Keeper of the Light - Takes 3 activations to be better than Rest for the Weary, which works when this doesn't and is already not up for consideration.
Kinsbaile Skirmisher - It doesn't apply enough pressure compared to other cards.
Kithkin Greatheart- Unlikely to get support.
Kithkin Shielddare - Too narrow for most decks/ cubes.
Kithkin Zealot - Too narrow.
Kitsune Loreweaver - Too weak.
Kjeldoran Guard - Bad.
Kjeldoran Outrider - Bad.
Knight Errant - Bad.
Knight of Cliffhaven - Not efficient enough.
Knight of Hokey Pokey - It's ok, but not better than other WW options.
Knight of the Holy Nimbus - The regen is mostly a bonus, but is annoying for opponents. It's ok, but there are too many better options at ww to consider.
Knight of the Skyward Eye - This might be ok in midrange W/G but it isn’t good enough compared to other options.
Konda's Hatamoto - Bad.
Kor Aeronaut - Bad.
Kor Bladewhirl - It requires too deep on Allies to work. It might be fine acting like a 'sorcery' that gives your team first strike for an alpha strike, but there are better cards for that, and played on curve this will just be a bear.
Kor Castigator - There are enough 3/1's with upside (that will actually matter more than 1% of the time) that this falls out of contention.
Kor Firewalker - Narrow as a hate card, and not good enough as a Boros card.
Kor Line-Slinger - Too narrow.
Kor Outfitter - There isn't going to be enough support for this.
Leonin Den-Guard - Not going to be consistent enough in a cube setting.
Leonin Skyhunter - Decent, but not exciting, and not good enough to warrant double white.
Lightwlker - Going to be too much work to make it good.
Longbow Archer - ok stats, but interchangeable with a lot of other '2/2 + abilities for WW' creatures.
Lost Leonin - Can't make infect a thing.
Marsh Threader - Bad.
Master Decoy - Probably just want to go for Goldmeadow Harrier/Gideon Lawkeeper. The extra point of toughness is not going to matter often enough.
Mesa Chicken - Bad.
Mesa Falcon - Poor aggro, and must be better flyer for defence.
Mesa Pegasuys - Bad.
Metallurgeon - If you want to push an artifact theme, this is likely to be too deep to consider.
Mistmeadow Skulk - It doesn't have protection from enough stuff to make up for the fact that it is a 1/1 for 2 mana.
Moorland Inquisitor - Bad.
Mummy Paramount - There isn't quite enough support for zombies in white to consider this.
Mycologist - Too slow.
Mystic Familiar - Not going to be good consistently enough.
Mystic Visionary - Strictly worse than Mistral Charger or Stormfront Pegasus.
Ninth Bridge Patrol - You need 2 counters to be above the curve, and it just doesn't seem consistent enough.
Obsidian Acolyte - Too narrow.
Ondu Cleric - Not going to be effective enough.
Ondu War Cleric - It's mostly going to be a bear. Even if you have enough incidental Ally support, this is not that good.
Order of Leitbur - Not worth the mana investment.
Order of the White Shield - As above.
Order of the Golden Cricket - Just get Mistral Charger.
Oreskos Explorer - The worst case is that this is an Eager Cadet, and the best case is that (in 1 on 1) you get 1 mana discount on a Borderland Ranger with a restriction on what you can find. It might be fine on the play, but the discrepancy doesn't seem worth it.
Oreskos Sun Guide - Won't fit most game plans, and doesn't seem any better than having lifelink.
Osai Vultures - Bad.
Patrol Hound - Not worth the card disadvantage.
Patrol Signaler - Errr… it's good against opposing Goldmeadow Harriers?
Pikemen - Bad.
Prison Barricade - Better cards at both costs; flexibility is not worth it.
Pteron Ghost - Too narrow.
Quickening Licid - 4 mana for a Lance. Nope.
Quilled Sliver - Tribal.
Ramosian Lieutenant - Rebels tribal.
Raptor Companion - Strictly better options.
Repentant Blacksmith - Too narrow.
Revered Unicorn - Not good enough for aggro with upkeep cost and life gain not relevant for what you need to pay.
Ruin Ghost - It has some niche uses, but they are either heading towards Magical Christmas land (exile your Maze of Ith to prevent 2 attacks) or not worth a card (target a tapped land to help get extra mana of a particular colour).
Safehold Sentry - It's no Darkthicket Wolf.
Samurai of the Pale Curtain - Would rather have Benalish Cavalry. The exile may turn off strategies you are trying to promote.
Sentinel Sliver - Tribal.
Setessan Battlie Priest - Life gain upside not as good as other upside you can get for these stats.
Shield Bearer - Bad.
Shimmering Barrier - It doesn't really fit in any deck you would want to draft.
Shinewend - You would prefer your enchantment removal to not have a cost attached to it.
Shu Farmer - Terrible.
Sigardian Priest - Gideon's Lawkeeper and Goldmeadow Harrier are better versions.
Sighted-Caste Sorcerer - It just doesn't do enough.
Sightless Brawler - It's great stats for cost, but the attack with others will turn it off sometimes. It would feel bad to bestow a creature and then have the bestowed creature stranded due to removal on other creatures.
Silent-Chant Zubera - Doesn't do enough.
Silkenfist Fighter - Doesn't do enough.
Silver Knight - Unless you really want to push protection in your cube, other first strike Knights for WW are better.
Silverchase Fox - Adding cost to Ronom Unicorn is not worth it just for exiling.
Silvercoat Lion - Bad.
Sinew Sliver - Tribal.
Skyshroud Falcon - Doesn't do enough.
Soltari Emissary - being able to block non-shadow creatures does not make up for having to pay for your shadow every turn when compared to Soltari Trooper.
Soul Shepherd - There are better ways to repeat life gain.
Soulcatcher - It looks like it could fit in a Skies deck, but that deck wants its flyers to get through, not die. It is not going to be consistently big enough to warrant inclusion.
Spectral Rider - At this cost you can just get shadow guys.
Spirit Weaver - Not a big enough effect.
Split-Tail Miko - Samite Pilgrim doesn't hit players, but doesn't cost to activate.
Squadron Hawk - It doesn't do anything in singleton cube.
Welkin Hawk - As above.
Squall Drifter - It isn't as efficient as Goldmeadow Harrier / Gideon's Lawkeeper, and the flying does not make up for that.
Squire - Bad.
Stalwart Shield-Bearers - Even the defender deck doesn't want a 0/3 for 2 mana.
Standard Bearer - If you want this effect, you want it on Coalition Honor Guard.
Starlight Invoker - You want more from your defensive creatures than this.
Steadfast Guard - Worse than Loyal Cathar and Kazandu Blademaster.
Stoic Champion - Needs cycling support, and is terrible without it.
Stone Haven Medic - Doesn't do enough.
Stonewise Fortifier - Too inefficient.
Sun Sentinel - Strictly better options.
Sungrace Pegasus - Not an effective enough combination of abilities and stats.
Sunscape Familiar - Mana rocks are going to be more efficient and reliable most of the time.
Sunspear Shikari - Narrow. You would really have to push a lot of equipment.
Sword Dancer - Not efficient or effective enough.
Tallowisp - Too narrow.
Talon Sliver - Tribal.
Teacher's Pet - Only for very specific cubes.
Thraben Heretic - If you want this effect, you probably want something that can target any card so you can turn off stuff like flashback or threaten other graveyard targets, not just creature cards.
Thraben Valiant - Topan Freeblade strictly better.
Tonic Peddler - Doesn’t do enough.
Trained Pronghorn - I don't know why you would waste a card to save a 1/1 that you paid 2 mana for.
Traveling Philosopher - Bad.
Unruly Mob - It takes 2 of your creatures dying to become more than a bear, which is too much setup. It might have upside in token / sacrifice decks, but it isn't worth it being a bad card in other decks.
Veteran Armorer - It doesn't do enough. You will cry if other creatures were relying on the boost to survive combat and this gets removed.
Vizier of Remedies - It's great with Devoted Druid which can give you infinite green mana, and persist creatures go infinite. But that isn't enough when you aren't going to be playing many other cards that put -1/-1 counters on your creatures that are playable in other decks.
Youthful Knight - Gearshift Ace strictly better.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Aerial Responder Description - Excellent combination of stats and abilities. It's evasive, add lifelink to make to good at racing, and add vigilance so you can pull double duty on the lifelink if the opponent dares to attack. Anchors - Supports -
Porcelain Legionnaire Description - Most consider this a colorless 2-drop. Even without phyrexian mana considerations, it is still a 3 power first striker for 3 mana which would be strong enough on its own. However dropping this on turn 2 is going to be hard for your opponent to deal with, and sets up a lot of pressure, and is excellent whether you are on the beatdown or being defensive. Anchors - Supports -
Soltari Champion Description - Possibly the best team pump effect in white. On it's own it is close to unblockable 2 power, but being able to pump your team every turn can add up quickly, particularly in token decks. Being unblockable means your opponent can't throw blockers at it to prevent it from repeating, they have to find another out, and on top of that it is pretty easy to splash. Anchors - Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Flickerwisp Description - A fine card to re-use an ETB effect. Failing a way to get that value, it can be used to untap an attacker after combat, remove a blocker before combat, or 'reset' one of your or your opponents cards that has counters. It can target any permanent, so it has some other fringe uses. Anchors - Supports - Blink
Kor Sanctifiers Description - The baseline isn't too embarrassing, and you get some artifact and enchantment removal all in one. One of the more flexible artifact / enchantment removal options in white. Anchors - Supports -
Pianna, Nomad Captain Description - If you play online rarities, this plays second fiddle to Soltari Champion. However it isn't a bad second version, and some cubes will include both. It helps add pressure to aggressive starts, or for providing a good chunk of extra damage in go wide strategies. Anchors - Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Abzan Falconer Description - Base stats aren't exciting, but there is some reasonable upside to be had. With a mild +1/+1 theme in your cube, you might put this down and then just swing your team over the top, but it is also fine in a board stall where you can afford to outlast it for a few turns; a 4/5 or larger flyer is probably going to be challenging for most decks. Anchors - +1/+1 counters Supports -
Archetype of Courage Description - The upsides look high. Aggro might lay this down before swinging, turning what would be trades into wins. On defense, it can make you very hard to attack into. You need to be aware of the downside though, which is the potential for blowouts if this gets removed after blocks that you were relying on. Anchors - Supports - Enchantments Matter
Attended Knight Description - It's ok if not thrilling. It puts 3 power and toughness on the board for 3 mana, and the first strike is not irrelevant. It's hardly an optimum blink / bounce target, but it has synergies there as well as providing 2 bodies for sacrifice effects, or go wide effects like Soltari Champion. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice, Blink / Bounce
Aven Riftwatcher Description - It's decent stats for a flyer. Unchecked, it generates an 8 point life swing, or it might just be a tool in the early game to stall aggro. If you support any life gain matters cards, this is probably worth investing in for the double triggers. You might consider Aerial Responder, but this does provide guaranteed life gain in the face of removal which may be important for your defensive decks, and is easier to cast if you are monitoring your double mana spells. Anchors - Supports -
Banisher Priest Description - Decent removal on a stick for white. High upside in that you remove a threat while laying down one of your own which can be a solid tempo hit. Offset by downside of not really being a 2 for 1, and removal on it in the middle of combat might make things ugly for you depending on what they get back. Still very solid. Fairgrounds Warden is likely better on the basis of an easier casting cost, but you might prefer Banisher Priest if you want a slightly more aggressive version. Anchors - Supports -
Blessed Spirits Description - It's not a bad baseline, and casting even a single enchantment makes it solid. Anchors - Supports -
Cloudchaser Kestrel Description - Good for destroying enchantments while still being a decent evasive threat on its own. Main negative is it is not optional, so it will suck if only you have an enchantment on the board. Anchors - Supports -
Dauntless Cathar Description - You get 2 bodies, with the first being respectable stats and the second being evasive. Nothing to write home about, but a value card that mildly supports sacrifice or self mill. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Descendant of Kiyomaro - 1 Description - There is some upside here for the right deck. 3/5 that gains life when it blocks can make it hard for your opponent to attack profitably. Still, it isn't quite thrilling enough to draft around, and is probably only worthwhile when paired with blue for some card drawing, or perhaps as a sideboard card against aggro. Anchors - Supports -
Fairgrounds Warden Description - High upside in that you remove a threat while laying down a defensive creature which can be a solid tempo hit. Offset by downside of not really being a 2 for 1, and removal on it in the middle of combat might make things ugly for you depending on what they get back. Still very solid. You might consider Fiend Hunter if you really want to promote the 'stack tricks' possible there. Consider Banisher Priest if you would prefer a more aggressive version. Anchors - Supports -
Fiend Hunter Description - It's mostly worse than Fairgrounds Warden due to the casting cost, but you might want this for larger cubes, or if you really want to promote the 'stack tricks' that aren't possible with Fairgrounds Warden (sacrifice this while it's ETB is on the stack so they lose the creature permanently). High upside in that you remove a threat while laying down a defensive creature which can be a solid tempo hit. Offset by downside of not really being a 2 for 1, and removal on it in the middle of combat might make things ugly for you depending on what they get back. Still very solid. Consider Banisher Priest if you would prefer a more aggressive version. Anchors - Supports -
Glint-Sleeve Artisan Description - It's a 3/3 for 3 which is ok, and it has enough synergy to be up for consideration; works well with +1/+1 lords, artifact matters themes, or 2 bodies for sacrifice themes. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters, artifact matters, sacrifice
Inspiring Cleric Description - The life gain plus 3 power can make it reasonable as an early trade-off for control decks against aggro. It doesn't stand out, but it fills a role. Anchors - Supports - Life Gain Matters
Ironclad Slayer Description - It has a narrower range of targets than the likes of Auramancer, but the extra point of power is notable, and a fine support card for a Voltron archetype. Also plays nicely with aura-based removal if you play with those, such as Dead Weight. Anchors - Voltron / Pants Supports -
Kor Hookmaster Description - A fine aggro / tempo card to keep pressure up after following some early drops. Can also see play in a control deck to slow down the opponents assault to buy time. Anchors - Supports -
Mardu Hordechief Description - It's fine to push aggro, especially if you have some go wide support. There are similar cards that bring a friend that aren't conditional (Attended Knight, Sandsteppe Outcast) but you might want this to give aggro a tool, rather than just value creatures that midrange or control might play. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
Sandsteppe Outcast Description - It's ok value. Default mode is probably the spirit token, but in a deck with +1/+1 lords the counter can also come in useful, or if you really need a 3 power creature to be able to trade, and you always get the flexibility based on the current game state. Anchors - Supports -
Soltari Visionary Description - 3 mana for 2/2 unblockable is reasonable, and you get the option to remove enchantments from the other side of the board. Anchors - Supports -
Spirit en-Dal Description - This is a reasonable way to make your creatures mostly unblockable with the forecast, which can make it useful for saboteurs or ramp, or just to chip away in a board stall. Having to forecast before your draw step is annoying, but you'll usually know when it is right to do so. Also has bonus upside of being able to give your opponents creatures shadow, which might help you swing in with your whole team instead of attacking with a single evasive creature. Anchors - Supports - Saboteurs
Stonecloaker Description - This is a reasonable flash gating trick, whether it is to save a creature from removal or throw down a surprise blocker. Exiling from graveyards is incidental, but this card is a way to include that effect if you want it without taking up a dedicated slot. Anchors - Supports - Blink / Bounce
Sunscourge Champion Description - A 2/3 gain 2 life for 3 isn't exactly good, but trading the worst card in your hand into a 4/4 gain 4 life for 4 mana is ok. It's not super exciting, but it's functional. Anchors - Supports - Gaveyard Matters
Territorial Hammerskull Description - Good for keeping pressure and getting damage through, especially if you have other tap down effects to keep their creature count low. Kor Hookmaster might be considered better because the effect is immediate, can't be undone by removal, and can prevent a swing back. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Auramancer Description - You need to go a little out of your way to support an enchantment theme of some sort (preferably the types that will make their way to the graveyard) to consider it, but it is pretty obvious which decks it supports. Anchors - Enchantments Matter Supports -
Aven Sunstriker Description - With equipment or other ways to pump this it can be a solid attacker or blocker. Unpumped, it is still going to die to anything with more than 1 toughness. There is a 5 mana difference between the baseline and megamorphing it, so you probably don't want to rely on that being the default mode. You can go Skyhunter Skirmisher if you don't care for morph. Anchors - Pants Supports -
Avian Changeling Description - It will depend entirely on your density of tribal lords, but you might find this gets almost accidentally better than a Wind Drake often enough. Anchors - Supports -
Azorius Herald Description - You would never play this as just a white card. Life boost plus an unblockable creature is nice, which could you race, though not exciting compared to other Azorius options. Anchors - Supports -
Ballynock Cohort Description - The closest comparison is Attended Knight which also gives you a 2/2 first striker with upside. That card always give you the third power and insurance by being across 2 bodies. Still, a 3 power first striker is going to be better on the attack. Base white aggro decks that are laying down threats quickly may benefit from having this guy on their team, but is probably less consistent than other options. Anchors - Supports -
Basilica Guards Description - It's ok there for stalling while occasionally draining, but it only really fits one game plan. Anchors - Supports - Life Gain Matters / Drain
Benalish Knight Description - Flash and first strike can make for a nice combination. It's fine, but is only really for more defensive decks. Anchors - Supports -
Burrenton Bombardier Description - It's reasonable flexibility. If you've already got something evasive in essence you give this card 'haste', though you do open yourself up to getting a 2 for 1 removal. It can act as a combat trick to win a combat, but you still get an upgraded creature. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Dauntless Cathar Description - You get 2 bodies, with the first being respectable stats and the second being evasive. Nothing to write home about, but a value card that mildly supports sacrifice or self mill. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Descendant of Kiyomaro Description - There is some upside here for the right deck. 3/5 that gains life when it blocks can make it hard for your opponent to attack profitably. Still, it isn't quite thrilling enough to draft around, and is probably only worthwhile when paired with blue for some card drawing, or perhaps as a sideboard card against aggro. Anchors - Supports -
Desperate Sentry Description - It's a bit of an oddball, with a baseline somewhat similar to a creature with undying. That's probably fine enough as even if you just lose the Sentry, the token should trade with something, so it may be a creature for control decks to buy time. The delirium mode is good, but should be considered gravy once you are happy enough with the baseline to include it. Anchors - Supports -
Devoted Crop-Mate Description - There is some value, and perhaps the turn you cast it you had already sent in 2-drop to trade. It will be inconsistent though; sometimes you won't have a target, and sometimes there won't be a good attack. Anchors - Supports -
Everdawn Champion Description - It can block most decent ground pounders, but it isn't going to be able to attack much, and it does still die to burn. It might be annoying to attack into, but probably only worth cubing if you support a pants theme; they might have a random 2/3 they can just block with, but if you make it a 5/5 wtih Elephant Guide or whatever, they are much less likely to have something that can stonewall it. Anchors - Supports - Pants
Gavony Ironwright Description - It isn't great, but it is defensive enough in the early game, and makes it very difficult to break through the final attack. Anchors - Supports -
Ghostblade Eidolon Description - Neither mode is particularly efficient, but it can provide some support for a pants archetype, either by being a creature that inherently gets better if you can boost it, or by being the boost itself. Minor synergies with other enchantment themes, and is 2 card types if you care about delirium. Anchors - Pants / Doublestrikers Supports - Enchantment Matters
Glittering Lion Description - It’s ok as an anti-aggro card. If your opponent is attacking in, they are forced to take a turn off just so they can trade. The base stats make it a bit less exciting as an aggro card. Magical Christmas Land is forcing them to pay 3, then playing a cheap pump spell to force a big tempo hit. Anchors - Supports -
Graceblade Artisan Description - It only fits one deck, but if your cube is loaded up Griffin Guides, Elephant Guides and the like you might consider it. Anchors - Enchantments Matter Supports -
Hallowed Healer Description - On board damage prevention isn't something most cubers care too much about and it takes a turn to come online, but preventing 2 damage without any mana cost is going to mess with combat frequently enough. You can go Sanctum Custodian if the extra point of toughness really matters to you, but preventing 4 damage is going to make combat choices really hard for your opponent. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Heliod's Pilgrim Description - It fits an aura theme, and is most useful if you have a couple of colours in your cube that have aura-based removal, which can give it a little more play than just as a 'pants' enabler. Anchors - Supports - Pants
Icatian Crier Description - Good for token and army building themes, while also being a discard / graveyard enabler. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Kabuto Moth Description - Apart from the first turn, it can block by itself as a 2/4 in the air. It's not a thrilling card, but it is functional if you are looking for something to mess with combat math. Anchors - Supports -
Kitsune Blademaster Description - A 3/3 first striker can be somewhat troublesome to deal with in combat, but it isn't particularly thrilling. Anchors - Supports -
Knight of the Pilgrim's Road
Description - It's only marginally below the curve, and becoming a 4/3 for 3 mana is reasonable. However your opponent has a turn between you casting it and attacking with it, so if they are worried about it turning into a 4/3, they can plan to block and trade, which they can do with a lot of 2-drops. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Mesa Enchantress Description - A clear archetype signal, but you do need to give it ample support in your cube. At a baseline, it is a 3 mana investment that isn't really going to contribute to combat. You want an environment that swaps basic effects for enchantment versions such as removal (Journey to Nowhere over Path to Exile), ramp (Utopia Sprawl over Llanowar Elf) and creatures (Nyx-Fleece Ram over Wall of Omens). It's worth considering enchantments that can be recast, such as Mark of Eviction, Genju's, or Agorophobia. Anchors - Enchantment Matters Supports -
Monk Idealist Description - Only in cube with heavy enchantment theme. Being able to get back Dead Weight or Seal of Doom is going to feel pretty good though. Corner case, but strictly worse than Auramancer which is a 'may' ability in case you don't want to turn off delirium or threshold. Anchors - Enchantment Matters Supports -
Niblis of the Mist Description - It's ok as a card that can get some of your earlier drops through for aggro / tempo decks. Kor Hookmaster is probably better most of the time for the extra turn of lockdown, but this does provide an evasive threat. Anchors - Supports -
Nightguard Patrol Description - Logically first strike and vigilance make for a nice pairing, and this is probably fairly costed for what you get. However it just doesn't really feel good enough. It's probably good enough in environments that are combat trick heavy, removal light. Anchors - Supports -
Nomad Decoy Description - Gideon's Lawkeeper and Goldmeadow Harrier are certainly better options. However, being able to tap down two creatures is worth noting. It's probably only worth considering if you are going deep on self-mill or graveyard themes in white. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Outrider en-Kor Description - The best case scenario is getting in for 2 damage, which is not amazing on a 3-drop. It is hard to block, letting you redirect damage to something else with reasonable toughness. Can also make a reasonable blocker for the same reason. Cute with Spitemare. Anchors - Supports -
Pegasus Charger / Voiceless Spirit Description - Whether this is good is very environment dependent. 2 evasive power for 3 mana isn't really where you want to be, but in a cube full of 2 toughness creatures or small flyers, this could do some work in either holding off aggro guys like Borderland Marauder or evasive guys like Welkin Tern, or attacking into spirit tokens. The higher proportion of 3+ toughness stuff in your cube, the more you will wish it was a Stormfront Pegasus that could have just hit a turn earlier. Anchors - Supports -
Pious Evangel Description - It can be a player in a drain deck or control deck looking to go long, though it is slow to get going. It isn't going to do much for you if you are behind though. Anchors - Supports -
Priest of Norn Description - If it had wither, this would probably be fine in defensive decks. It probably still doesn't play terribly with infect (its mere prescence will probably prevent a lot of attacks) but from a cube design standpoint it will just make people think that infect is a thing in the cube. Anchors - Supports -
Saltfield Recluse Description - Conditional on board state and takes a turn to come online, but either on offense or defense 2 power shift after blocks may have enough impact. Anchors - Supports -
Sanctum Custodian Description - Being able to threaten to prevent 2 damage, particularly as there is no mana cost, is going to mess with combat math after blocks whether you are on offense or defense. Also makes your opponents burn worse, or can just protect your own life total from attacks, particularly evasive creatures chipping away at you. Damage prevention can draw out games so not all cube managers will want to include it. Anchors - Supports -
Skyhunter Skirmisher Description - You need to give it enough support, primarily with power boosting equipment or auras, but in the right deck it can do some work. Without that support it will behave mostly like a 2/2 flyer. Aven Sunstriker is strictly better if you are ok with morphs. Anchors - Supports -
Soltari Crusader Description - Pumpable and nearly unblockable isn't a bad combination, but most decks that want this will also want the more efficient casting cost of Soltari Trooper. Anchors - Supports -
Spectral Shepherd Description - The baseline is acceptable enough, but you really need a strong contingent of white and blue spirits to really generate value. Anchors - Supports - Spirit Tribal
Tethmos High Priest Description - The upside is reasonable but also narrow, so you have to warp your cube somewhat. The 2cc limit means you probably want it in an aggressive pants decks with auras / bestow / pump spells to get some triggers. Anchors - Supports -
Treasure Hunter Description - Only if you have an artifact theme in your cube. Anchors - Artifacts Matter Supports -
Troubled Healer Description - It's a healer that has 'haste', and the ability to use it multiple times in a turn gives it upside over other healers; sometimes it can act just like a Zuran Orb for keeping you alive. Perhaps the most decision intensive healer which might be the sort of gameplay you are looking for. Anchors - Supports -
Veteran Swordsmith Description - The baseline isn't terrible even if you don't have any support. You will still want enough soldiers in your cube, as there are plenty of other 3 drops that will be better unless you have at least another soldier. Anchors - Soldier Tribal Supports -
Vigilant Sentry Description - Only if you 've got some serious white dedication to a graveyard theme. With threshold on, threatening +3/+3 at instant speed is significant. You really want to make sure your players can get there though. Anchors - Supports -
Vizier of Deferment Description - It gives you a few options, but the timing restriction makes it a bit clunky compared to similar alternatives. It can never clear a path, but it can stop an attacker for a turn, or save your creature mid-combat and reset ETB effects. Anchors - Supports -
Wall of Resurgence Description - 3 mana for a 0/6 defender is not generally a good deal. However, you get a good blocker AND an attacker, but you may have to time when you cast it to reduce risk. The land becomes vulnerable to removal, so you may want to hold off on casting this on turn 3, or opting out of the 'may' ability if you really need a blocker and want to play it safe. Plays nicely with creature lands. Anchors - Supports -
Zealot il-Vec Description - It might behave a bit like a pinger, with some downsides and upsides. It only triggers on attack, and pingers are much better when you can do it at instant speed. At least it triggers after blocks are declared, so you can put that extra 1 where it needs to go if it helps you in combat. Some marginal upsides are that equipment, auras or just pump spells can help you hit your opponent for more, and if you have ways to give it deathtouch you can start (slowly) clearing your opponents board. Anchors - Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Aven Mindcensor - A 2/1 flying flash is just not quite good enough without something else, and the 'search' clause won't come up that often in peasant cubes, If your cube breaks rarity for shocklands, this might gets a bit better.
Aven Trailblazer - The toughness won't be high enough on a consistent enough basis compared to other options.
Benalish Lancer - A 4/4 with first strike is pretty decent, but not something you want to pay 6 mana for.
Benalish Veteran - I originally though this was one of few white creatures that can attack as a 3/3, but then you could just be playing Cathodian. Maybe if you super fine tuning how power and toughness matches up in your cube.
Benevolent Ancestor - Nyx-Fleece Ram is going to be better most of the time. This can block and help a second blocker survive instead of die, but tha Ram is a mana cheaper and will always gain you life if the opponent doesn't attack.
Chieftan en-Dal - Once this triggers the first strike can't be undone by instant speed removal, but it's not enough to warrant considering this over Archetype of Courage which has more upsides.
Court Street Denizen - The effect means you want to attack. This effect is always turned on for Master of Diversion. There might be occasional times where you get multiple triggers from a token spell or you want to tap blockers but not attack with this guy, but not frequently enough to consider this over Master of Diversion.
Crusader of Odric - The upside seems high, but in reality it is likely to be better than Cathodian infrequently. Even when it gets bigger, you have to be too careful with attacking or blocking with the rest of your team, or he just shrinks.
Dromoka Captain - So when he attacks, he will be a 2/2 first striker, so you would have a worse attack than if you had cast Attended Knight. The upside of repeat attacks might look ok, but the reality of that when he hits the board past turn 3 are greatly diminished.
Eagle of the Watch - It doesn't really fill a role other creatures don’t already do better.
Freewind Equenaut - It has Arrest resilience? If you are putting positive auras on it, it's probably to make your creature bigger or more effective in combat, so this ability doesn't matter.
Haazda Snare Squad - It just seems conflicted. Stats are defensive, and you could use it when you are ready to turn the corner, but it just isn't exciting enough.
Jamuraan Lion - If you need to rely on the ability, I assume it's just better to have cheaper creatures that do it.
Jotun Owl Keeper - There is some upside here, but you would need to be guaranteed to get that value. Unless you are eschewing many staple cube effects, there will be too many flicker, exile or bounce effects that will make this a feel bad too often.
Kemba's Skyguard - The only reason I can think of to play it is to support life gain matters, in which case you don't need to look past Aven Riftwatcher.
Loxodon Wayfarer - I can't think of anything 'strictly' better, but it doesn’t do enough. It can be a defensive creature that can attack later, but there are better options.
Master of Arms - If the card was changed to match its original intent (under super old rules, tapped blockers didn't deal damage) and you could pay mana to prevent them from dealing damage, this would probably be decent. But it doesn't.
Midnight Guard - In most decks it behaves like a creature that sometimes has vigilance which is not enough. It does have synergy or combo potential with certain cards, but rarely enough to consider it for cube. Presence of Gond is the biggest draw.
Militant Inquisitor - The end result isn't good enough to warrant inclusion or drafting around.
Militant Monk - Double white, and still only has 1 toughness so it will rarely be able to save itself.
Mine Bearer - Only if you want to depower your removal in white (a lot).
Misthoof Kirin - Vigilance is good if you get to attack and then have the potential to be a blocker. Low toughness here doesn't do that.
Palace Guard - It doesn't seem like a terrible blocker, but not much here to consider over other defensive options.
Paragon of the Amesha - Upside is high, but will come together too rarely. From a cube design perspective, your W/x decks don't want it, but it would be weird to count it as 'colorless'.
Reliquary Monk - There is a big lack of control when this goes off.
Revered Elder - Strictly worse than Sanctum Custodian.
Rhet-Crop Spearmaster - I like 4 power first strike, but you can get 3/1's with upside for 2 mana, and in most cases you can probably only attack with this once every 2 turns, as the base will trade with anything.
Riftmarked Knight - It's somewhat unique, but neither mode is particularly exciting for most decks.
Shrieking Grotesque - It's going to be fine in a black/white deck, but you can get mono-black versions in Hynpotic Specter or Liliana's Specter. It isn't worth spending a gold slot on this.
Shu Cavalry - Soltari Trooper is going to be better in this role. Being able to block and having an extra point of toughness isn't worth paying an extra mana for.
Stalwart Aven - Just 'meh'. It's underwhelming in standard mode, and above curve for it's renown stats, but the consistency of getting renown isn't going to be there.
Undead Slayer - Probably powerful if they are lots in the cube, but then feels like too much directed hate.
Unwavering Initiate - Seems like ok value, but nothing really compelling about it to make you cube it.
Venerable Monk - Cleric of the Forward Order will gain you no life if it dies while its trigger is on the stack, but those times aren't worth paying an extra mana. Or you could go Lone Missionary for a bigger bonus.
Village Bell-Ringer - Good combat trick, but not a body that aggro wants. Not sure if useful enough for control.
Zhalfirin Knight - It's probably not terrible, but it's also completely forgettable compared to other options.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Calciderm Description - Possibly the best white aggressive 4-drop. On curve it can be difficult to mount a defense against it, especially if you've got a few hits in already. It does go away eventually, but 15 damage is not something your opponent can usually take; they may have to make decision to double block and 2 for 1 themselves, or chump until it goes away. Occasionally it can be stonewalled by an 0/6 or a couple of 3/3's or something, but it is solid in most board states. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
Palace Jailer Description - It costs one more than Fiend Hunter, but you get to play the monarch game. The good news is that in addition to making you the monarch, the ability on Palace Jailer also removes a creature from the opposing board, making it more likely you will keep the monarchy and keep drawing cards. Even if Palace Jailer has to trade or even chump and they get their creature back, it might be enough to keep the monarchy for an extra turn, often allowing you to draw 2 cards before you are at threat of actually losing it. Anchors - Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Kongming, "Sleeping Dragon" Description - It's an anthem on the stick, which can give it board impact the turn it comes down, while being an attacker in its own right if the board is clear. Being a creature makes it more vulnerable midcombat. You might also consider Soltari Champion and Pianna, Nomad Captain. They are more aggro-oriented; this provides the bonus on defense as well. Anchors - Supports -
Relief Captain Description - The curve out dream puts 6/5 worth of stats on the board for 4 mana, 3 of which you can potentially attack with that turn, which is insane. It won't always be that good, and a single counter isn't amazing, but 2 is still solid. Great card all around; helps aggro push through, beefs up defense for control decks, and has good synergy with +1/+1 counters and is often a solid blink / bounce target. Most cubes don't care about Allies, but it has that going for it if you have any ally triggers. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Celestial Crusader Description - You can get some surprise value here, either throwing it down as an uncounterable blocker if you need, or just to pump some of your team mid-combat. Some potential downside if your opponent is also playing white, but then you can just side it out. The boost is solid if you support tokens in white. Anchors - Supports - Tokens
Coalition Honor Guard Description - This can really shut down some of your opponents cards. If your opponent has removal, they are forced to use it on this, it doesn't die to a decent chunk of burn spells, and even if your opponent plays something like Pacifism, they still have to target it with anything else. The stats also let it play defense reasonably well. It's not going to stop your opponent smashing you with big creatures or going wide, but it can put the brakes on your opponents intended lines of play. Anchors - Supports -
Glimmerpoint Stag Description - The creature stats are a reasonable base, but you can usually get some good value out of the slow flicker. Remove a blocker, get rid of a pesky Ghostly Prison for a turn so you can swing, reset creatures with counters, kill tokens, rebuy an ETB effect, give one of your creatures pseudo-vigilance by flickering it after combat etc. Anchors - Supports -
Goldnight Commander Description - It can be support for go wide / token strategies, and might get some marginal consideration if you have flicker effects or creatures with flash. Not really for aggro, which want something more like Inspiring Captain to maintain pressure. Anchors - Supports -
Guardian of the Guildpact Description - Close to unblockable. Soltari Trooper etc give you the same damage much cheaper and gets blocked by even less things, but this does have the advantage of being resilient to the majority of removal. Shame you can't boost it with most auras, but you can equip it. Anchors - Supports -
Imperial Aerosaur Description - The base stats border on just acceptable, but it can represent a bit of damage the turn it comes down. Anchors - Supports -
Inspiring Captain Description - It can make for an ok aggro curve topper, or serve in a go wide / tokens strategy. If you can't win immediately, it might upgrade enough losses into trades, or what would have been trades into wins, that you are left with a board state where you can win the next turn (and you've got a 3/3 to boot). That's a good scenario; it's not a great top deck if you are behind, but at least you get a Hill Giant. Anchors - Supports -
Master Splicer Description - It's potentially 5/5 worth of stats for 4 mana which is already decent. The Splicer might be a target, but attacking with a 4/4 if you protect the Splicer is still fine. Ok on it's own (and a fine blink / bounce target), but obviously gets a little better if you have other splicers / golems (and you probably aren't cubing it without that support) Anchors - Golem Tribal Supports - Bounce / Blink, Tokens
Meadowboon Description - While a lot of cards provide +1/+1 counters, this can be decent with marginal synergy support. If you just rely on it dying, it puts it behind better alternatives like Relief Captain, but the evoke can still be fine in go wide strategies or skies / evasive decks. Because it is a 'leaves the battlefield' trigger, you may get some mileage out of flicker and bounce effects as well. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters, sacrifice, blink bounce
Nearheath Chaplain Description - The upfront creature isn't anything to write home about, though getting a trade while gaining some life is fine to then set up your flyers. 4 mana to get started is a bit high, but the value can give aggro a run for its money. Anchors - Supports - Tokens, Graveyard Matters
Palace Sentinels Description - a 2/4 for 4 with 'draw a card' would be a solid card, and this can end up being a lot more. The 4 toughness makes it a reasonable blocker to help maintain the monarchy. There will be occasions where it's worse (your opponent has a board state where they can take the crown and likely keep it), but there are still a range of scenarios where this will still be good. Anchors - Supports -
Paragon of New Dawns Description - For the most part, this is only going to be worth considering if you support tokens / go wide well enough in white, though not usually difficult to do with several cards that create multiple spirit tokens or soldiers. The vigilance is mostly token text, and is a bonus the times that it makes sense to activate it. Anchors - Supports - Tokens / Go wide
Seraph of Dawn Description - The 4 toughness can make it hard to block, especially on curve, and the lifelink can help you race, especially if your opponent can't mount an air defense. Also plays well on defense, threatening to take out 3/2's and the like, and can even block 3/3's profitably due to lifelink. Anchors - Supports -
Timely Hordemate Description - Obviously you need to have a creature to target, and the raid makes this suited to aggressive decks. It may be inconsistent, particularly if your opponent doesn't trade when you expect them to and this is your only 4-drop in hand, but there is some value there. Anchors - Supports -
Visionary Augmenter Description - It's a 4/3 for 4, which you probably wouldn’t cube on its own, but isn't a bad rate. Having the option of making 3 bodies does make it worth considering, giving you options to go wide, or more options for blocking, particularly setting up favorable double blocks without costing you a full card. Anchors - Supports - Tokens
Voice of All Description - The protection can make it a good defender while also potentially dodging removal. It can serve double duty, getting past opposing flyers / reach creatures if you've chosen the right colour. More annoying to face than exceptional. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Auriok Salvagers Description - You need to be running a dedicated suite of trinkets to go with it, obviously, and it only fits in that one deck. Depending on what you are recycling though, it can support a control oriented artifact deck. Anchors - Artifact Matters Supports -
Avacynian Missionaries Description - It's pretty narrow and the baseline is underwhelming, but if you want to support an 'equipment matters' sub theme, flipping it is pretty solid. Anchors - Equipment Matters Supports -
Azorius Justiciar Description - You really only want it in aggro, but it does help you push through damage while putting down a bear you can also swing with next turn, meaning you might have enough to just go wide to finish them off if you time it right. You get a creature, but it's almost as bad as Fog if you are playing defensively. Cute lockout potential with Crystal Shard etc if your opponent is creature light. Anchors - Supports -
Consul's Shieldguard Description - It's probably not much better than a 3/4 in most board states, but giving something else invulnerability will be useful sometimes. Probably only worth serious consideration if you are considering an overall energy theme. Anchors - Supports -
Courageous Outrider Description - There may be enough Humans in your cube for this to hit a decent number of times, and if you don't you still got a 3/4 for 4, which is not thrilling but reasonable. Anchors - Supports - Human Tribal
Daru Warchief Description - It's essentially a 2/3 for 4 on its own which isn't good. Highly dependent on the number of soldiers (or soldier token makers) you have in your cube, with the stat boost being far more significant than the cost reduction in cube. Anchors - Supports - Soldier Tribal
Eiganjo Free-Riders Description - There are lots of other options to support self-bounce, but you do get a decent creature here and the bounce is free. Considering this over the other options is highly dependant on the quality of your white ETB creatures, but replaying Cloudgoat Ranger or Relief Captain sounds great, and sometimes resetting a Fairgrounds Warden or Calciderm will be a solid play. Even in aggro decks, you might be happy to bounce a 1 or 2 drop for a reasonably efficient flyer. Anchors - Bounce Supports -
Enlistment Officer Description - The baseline isn't great, so you need to have enough incidental Soldiers to consider it. At least it's in a color with a decent enough number of incidental Warriors or easy swaps. With 10 other Soldiers in your deck you average about a card. Anchors - Soldier Tribal Supports -
Heavy Ballista Description - It is slow, but if you can untap with it can have a decent impact on combat, especially as it requires no mana to nactivate. Threat of activation is nice, but nevertheless, it is still conditional on how your opponent acts, and it's possible they just build out a board state that can swing around it. Anchors - Supports -
Heliod's Emissary Description - The hard cast mode isn't thrilling but serviceable to keep your opponents best creature from blocking. Bestow isn't likely to happen frequently, but might be an occasional game winning top deck. Other decks would play it occasionally, but probably only really worth cubing if you support some enchantment synergies. Anchors - Supports - Enchantment Matters
Knight of Obligation Description - The 4 toughness plus extort can help support grindy defensive drain / control decks, but not many other decks are going to run it, so depends how much support you need for that type of deck. Anchors - Extort / Drain Supports -
Lotus-Eye Mystics Description - The base isn't too far below the curve when you should be getting as 2 for 1. You need to be pushing an enchantment archetype of course. Anchors - Enchantment Matter Supports -
Mistmoon Griffin Description - You have to work a little if you want to control it, but if you can trade and get back something at least as good, you aren’t in a bad position. Using it as support for reanimator is probably dreaming though. Anchors - Supports -
Nagao, Bound by Honor Description - It's at least a 4/4 attacker for 4 which wins combat with up to 4/5's, so it's a decent (if vanilla) baseline. Fine enough, but Samurai aren't a huge tribe, and putting it in a cube might give drafters a hope that there is. Anchors - Supports - Samurai Tribal
Ondu Greathorn Description - A 4/5 first striker for 4 is solid; difficult to block profitably, even with double blocks. However, getting that consistently is going to be difficult to achieve. Only worth considering if you are going out of your way to support landfall themes. Anchors - Supports -
Phantom General Description - It's clearly a build around card for token decks. Given that it is a bit more narrow, more general team pumpers like Soltari Champion are overall more powerful, but this is a clear signal card and gives this specific archetype a boost. If most of your token making is in white, Paragon of the New Dawns is going to be better. Anchors - Tokens Supports -
Rhox Pikemaster Description - First strike can be an annoying ability to play against. On its own, it probably isn't good enough. I'm not sure what the
number is, but only worth considering if you have enough of Soldiers in your cube. Even 2 or 3 first striking soldiers can be a tough defense to break through. Anchors - Supports -
Sanctum Gargoyle Description - You need to have an artifact theme to really warrant inclusion, but in the right deck you get a 2 for 1 with a flyer attached. Inconsistent though. Anchors - Artifact Matters Supports -
Stonehorn Dignitary Description - It gets a mention as a potential combo piece with repeat blink / bounce effects to lock your opponent out of the most common win condition until you can find your own win condition. It's less good in other decks, but can still stall aggro for a turn and give you time to develop your board while putting down a defensive creature. Probably only worth actually cubing if you want the cute synergy though. Anchors - Supports - Blink / Bounce
Tah-Crop Elite Description - Inspiring Captain might be the card you want to maintain the pressure immediately, but this can get repeat attacks if they can't block it though, which might be worth something in the right deck. Anchors - Supports -
Valor Description - If you are playing defense, having an effect that provides first strike that can't be removed can make your team difficult to attack into. Not something most decks will actively look for though. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Wall of Swords Description - Stonewalls nearly every flyer in the format, and with 3 power you usually can't just swarm around it, and with 5 toughness it isn't the easiest to break through. You need to be specifically looking for a defensive card in the 4 mana slot though. Anchors - Supports -
War Oracle Description - It seems like a reasonable rate for what you get, and if you can get it to a 4/4 life linker that is solid, though it is a little 'generic'. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Abbey Griffin - Doesn't really bring enough to the table.
Absolver Thrull - There are better enchantment removal options.
Abzan Battle Priest - Doesn't compare well enough to other +1/+1 lords available in white.
Aether Inspector - A 3/4 with vigilance for 4 would probably be fine; a 2/3 with vigilance and a 1/1 are not the same.
Akroan Mastiff - If you want this ability, you usually want it on something cheaper. If you intend to be in combat, you want something better. The flexibility doesn't make up for it.
Aysen Crusader - Just play Crusader of Odric for this type of effect.
Ballista Squad - You can see upside, but the problem is that if you want to threaten with it, you really need to keep mana up, which means not developing your board, which means your opponent can just wait you out unless you have another profitable mana sink. Heavy Ballista is a better option for this type of effect.
Griffin Protector - If it was a guaranteed 3/4 flyer this would be solid at this cost. Occasionally you might even get better stats, but the times when this will just be 2 power brings it down, at which point you'd rather have something more reliable.
Hollowhenge Spirit - There are scenarios where this can have impact, such as removing a second creature from a double block, but it isn't going to be more than a bad Fog often enough to consider cubing it.
Kjeldoran Elite Guard - The boost is decent, but it's slow to get started, and you can lose your investment. It's onboard, so your opponent can play around it or hold removal etc to maximise the chance you will lose both.
Liege of the Axe - Doesn't really do anything that other creatures can't do.
Lightkeeper of Emeria - If you were presented with any of the versions at a fixed cost you would instantly dismiss it. I don't see the flexibility making up for that.
Looming Altisaur - It's a dumb blocker, but at 4 mana you really want something better.
Lost Auramancers - Even if you are pushing enchantment themes, having to wait 4 turns for your enchantment, and potentially playing suboptimally because you don't want to lose it, makes this not worth cubing.
Loxodon Anchorite - There are better options for this type of effect.
Loxodon Convert - Stats are not good enough for what you get.
Mausoleum Guard - It's a 2/2 for 4 mana, so at that stage you are going to get that dies trigger more often than not and not necessarily profit from it… so why not just play better cards like Midnight Haunting?
Midvast Protector - It doesn't have flash, so the protection can mainly help you walk past opponents creatures sometimes. Not good enough when you are getting a 2/3 for 4.
Pallid Mycoderm - While the slow inevitable build up has some appeal, there isn't enough general synergy, and there are better options for putting bodies on the field.
Razorfoot Griffin - First strike on a flyer can make for decent defense, especially against other flyers, but 4 mana for a 2/2 is still not good enough.
Resilient Wanderer - There are better discard outlets and the baseline is otherwise bad.
Reveille Squad - It's an interesting effect, but I'm not seeing decks (and therefore cubes) where this be consistent enough.
Rhox Meditant - You would rather have more consistent options.
Saltskitter - Sometimes it is a 3/4 with vigilance if you cast creatures post combat, but your opponent can also turn it off if they play cretures pre-combat, or even prevent attacks with flash creatures. The fringe applications( Ninth Bridge Patrol, Impact Tremors) don't make this worth cubing.
Shu General - The vigilance doesn't add a lot to a 2/2, so you would rather cube a better evasive creatures, such as almost any white creature with shadow.
Sidar Jabari - The flanking doesn't add enough over the cheaper Master of Diversion, or Heliod's Emissary.
Skyhunter Patrol - It doesn't compare favorably to Aerial Responder.
Steadfast Armasaur - A 3/4 is probably going to better on average, as are Heavy Ballista or Ballista Squad. It does have a few spots where it is better than those, but not consistently.
Student of Ojutai - It might find a home in a spells matters / life gain matters hybrid deck, but I don't see that being a thing. It isn't really good enough for a standard spells matters deck.
Tormented Angel - If you are playing a 1/5, it is going to be played defensively, so you may as well have Wall of Swords.
Trap Runner - Weird card, sort of like a pseudo 'can block an additional creature each combat' ability, but can be repeat effective against larger threats that would kill it if it actually blocked. Still, not a good card.
Veteran of the Depths - So it attacks as a 3/3 and has some other fringe synergies (crewing vehicles, convoke etc), but in most board states it isn't going to really perform.
Vizier of the True - On its own, there are better options, and there aren't likely to be enough other exert creatures in your cube to warrant making a swap.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Cloudgoat Ranger Description - White's premier white 5-drop. It puts 6 power on the table, which is good if you are either going wide or have sacrifice outlets, it can act as a 5 power flyer when needed, and is solid with bounce or flicker effects. Great value on its own, while being an archetype all-star. Anchors - Supports - Bounce / Flicker, sacrifice, tokens
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Custodi Squire Description - In a duel, it's a 3/3 flyer that gets you back a card for 5 mana. Great value in most decks, with additional synergy with graveyard fillers, or when paired with other graveyard recursion like Eternal Witness to grind out games. Anchors - Supports -
Elite Scaleguard Description - A decent top end, where unless you are forced to put the counters on itself it will usually result in an extra 2 hasty power while shutting down a blocker, with additional upsides if you cube a number of +1/+1 counter cards. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Radiant, Archangel Description - It's not hard to draft a deck with enough flyers to have a good chance of this being at least a 4/4, and it also counts your opponents flyers. The worst case scenario is still a middling flyer, so the floor isn't terribly low. Anchors - Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Belfry Spirit Description - Haunt is a hard keyword to 'get' initially, but this is essentially 5 flying 1/1's, with a little bit of work required to get those last 2. The threat of getting those last 2 can cause your opponent to play suboptimally. Decent in sacrifice decks, where you have more control over when both the spirit and its target might die. Anchors - Supports -
Herald of the Host / Serra Angel Description - Solid stats for a flyer, and the vigilance can let you stabilise against smaller threats while still being able to put up an evasive assault. Most cubes don't have too many creatures that can block it and survive. Identical in 2-player games, but you'd cube Herald of the Host if you sometimes play multiplayer. Anchors - Supports -
Oketra's Attendant Description - The base stats are underwhelming compared to other options, but the inherent 2 for 1 and the ability to cycle make up for it. Synergy with self-mill strategies. Anchors - Supports -
Ornitharch Description - You'll probably get a 5/5 that can be dealt with by 1 for 1 removal and remove the potential for bounce / flicker abuse, but either of the options represent value. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Avenging Angel Description - It doesn't generate card advantage, but it does provide card quality; you are guaranteed to draw a mid-sized flyer. It does have inevitability against spot removal or a handful of flyers, and is a 'may' ability so you can always bin it if it doesn't help the current game plan. The extra stats on Serra Angel are likely to be relevant in more games, but this does have different angles of play. Anchors - Supports -
Dawnfeather Eagle Description - Inspiring Captain is a close analogue; the team pump is probably something you want on curve more consistently for curve out aggro, but sometimes the flying and vigilance will matter more. Anchors - Supports -
Guan Yu, Sainted Warrior Description - It's a mostly unblockable creature that blocks well enough… but it just seems underwhelming when compared to other 5-drops. Anchors - Supports -
Patron of the Valiant Description - The base stats are fine enough that you might consider this over Serra Angel if you support a +1/+1 theme heavily enough. You'd still play it in a number of white decks without much synergy, but that is the reason to cube it. Anchors - +1/+1 counters Supports -
Phantom Flock Description - It's a bit underwhelming on it's own. It can kill other flying 3/3's and survive, but in a vacuum other flying 5-drops are better. However, if you have ways of giving it more +1/+1 counters it can be very strong. It can also wear toughness boosting equipment or auras very well, which can make it into a nearly indestructible flyer. Only cube it if you've got the synergies. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Razor Hippogriff Description - You are going to need an artifact them in your cube to consider cubing it. Anchors - Supports -
Sensor Splicer Description - At 5 mana and granting a not so great keyword, this is low on the list splicer you want to cube, but you might include it as part of a bigger Golem package. Anchors - Supports -
Shepherd of the Lost Description - It's a decent combination of stats and abilities, but not a standout. In most cases, the bigger Serra Angel is going to be worth as much as first strike in any case. Anchors - Supports -
Skyspear Cavalry Description - At 5 mana, it probably only goes in decks with enough power boosting aura's / equipment, or the flying 'lords'. By extension, only worth cubing if you strongly support pants, or play all the relevant flying lords. Anchors - Supports - Pants
Stormfront Riders Description - You need a grindfest of a cube for it to do much, but it can spit out tokens while getting back other ETB creatures for re-use. Grindy decks should struggle to outvalue aggro, but this might be too slow for most. Anchors - Bounce / Flicker Supports -
Totem-Guide Hartebeest Description - You may want an aura-based pants theme to give it serious consideration, but white is the colour with the most aura-based removal. Digging out a Pacifism is a decent option. Anchors - Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Bazaar Krovod - I suppose you get two attacking creatures that have high toughness… but it just doesn’t seem like it will contribute much to a game plan compared to creatures with better upfront stats.
Dazzling Ramparts - It can block just about anything grounded, and it can tap flyers or the huge stuff… but it isn't something you want to pay 5 mana for.
Hikari, Twilight Guardian - It isn't a bad baseline, but the effect is so narrow that you may as well be cubing Serra Angel (outside of a few niche applications, the flicker just replicates vigilance anyway).
Karona's Zealot - It will be annoying when it gets flipped up on the opposing side of the table, but I don't see it playing out consistently enough given the investment required.
Kithkin Spellduster - It's a sort of 2 for 1, but it isn't good compared to other enchantment removal options, and it's bad as a creature.
Shattered Angel - It might trigger a few times, but by the time this hits play your opponent can probably start holding lands, and you end up with an underwhelming creature.
Steeple Roc - Shepherd of the Lost strictly better.
Steppe Glider - Underwhelming base stats, and the activated ability doesn't add enough.
Strongarm Monk - It fits a spells matters theme, but creatures are the more prevalent card type for most decks, and you could cube Goldnight Commander for this effect (which also triggers multiple times off of spells that create tokens, while this doesn't).
Wellgabber Apothecary - What an odd restriction… I guess so it only works on offense instead of defense, but too narrow for cube in any case.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Sentinel of the Eternal Watch Description - One of white's best control-oriented creatures. It locks down an opponents creature every turn, you can change the target each turn, and the vigilance, stats and lockdown ability usually give you a decent opportunity to attack. Excellent top end and a reason to draft a control deck. Anchors - Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
None
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Quarry Colossus Description - It bears comparison with Phyrexian Ingester. This may end up bigger on some occasions, and it is effectively as 2-for-1. The downside comparison is that it doesn't remove a creature critical to the opponents game plan permanently. It's also in a colour that has permanent removal a lot cheaper (unlike blue) so you don't need to reach as far. Anchors - Supports -
Subjugator Angel Description - It can act as a finisher. It can let you swing in for the win the turn you cast it, but unlike other cards that do only that, it can just be a creature to block with if you are behind, or contribute to an evasive follow up attack. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Bellowing Aegisaur Description - You are probably only considering cubing it if you have combo pieces to go with it (Pestilence, Pyrohemia, pingers) and want to live the dream. The 5 toughness might make it hard to attack into on the ground, but at 6 mana you might have been pressured enough that it makes no difference. Anchors - Supports -
Seraph of the Suns Description - The stats aren't huge for what you pay, but it can block everything (sans some trample damage), and survives a lot of removal. Still vulnreable to aura-based removal and tap down effects, so you might consider it lower if your cube is heavy on those. Anchors - Supports -
Urbis Protector Description - On it's own merits, it isn't great compared to many other flying creatures. The only reason to consider cubing it is if you are heavy on the repeat bounce / flicker. Getting a 4/4 flyer each turn is good, but at 6 mana (plus whatever other investment you need to make) it isn't the most efficient. Anchors - Supports - Bounce / Flicker
Wispweaver Angel Description - A reasonable option as a sizeable creature that supports your bounce / flicker archetype. You are probably sacrificing a small amount of raw power if you cube this over other 'Angels' but not a significant amount; a regular deck should still find some value to get out of the flicker effect. Anchors - Bounce / Flicker Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Ancestor's Chosen - 4 power first strike isn't something you get often in peasant cube, but it isn't worth 7 mana.
Angel of Renewal - The life gain is negligible comapred to better upsides on similar cheaper flyers like Serra Angel.
Angel of the God-Pharaoh - I can't imagine the cycling makes up for the otherwise better 5 mana options.
Archangel - It's bigger than Serra Angel, but I imagine in most games the 2 mana difference will be more difference than the extra stats.
Auratouched Mage - It's an interesting card, but there are so few auras that could enchant it that you would otherwise cube while resulting in a creature that is worth 6 mana. Armadillo Cloak, Griffin Guide and Elephant Guide seem the best of the the positive playable auras which don't seem worth it; auras that would make this a house are otherwise unplayable.
Council Guardian - In a duel, it essentially gets protection from the colour of your choice. It doesn't seem terrible, but it doesn't compete with other 5+ white drops.
Zhang Fei, Fierce Warrior - It's a 4 power unblockable which is decent, but at 6 mana, you are often going to be better served with a Serra Angel or equivalent. It's cheaper, can block other flyers while still being able to attack, and even if it isn't unblockable it's stats hold up in combat.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Path to Exile Description - One of, if not the best 1 mana removal in white. Can target any creature at instant speed, and exiles them to prevent recursion potential all for a single mana. It can accelerate your opponent, but usually you will have gained a bunch of tempo already. Anchors - Supports -
Swords to Plowshares Description - Vies for best 1 mana white removal spell with Path To Exile. Gets around any graveyard shenanigans, persist/undying, and has no conditions. The life gain might hurt aggro decks against big butt targets, but it's hard to go wrong for 1 mana. Anchors - Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Harm's Way Description - Nice way to swing things around for 1 mana. Turn a trade into killing two of their guys instead. Turn their mid-combat direct damage spell against another creature, creating a 2 for 1. It can even provide reach if that is what is you need. Very rare you can't do something with it, will almost always be at least a 1 for 1, with decent opportunities for 2 for 1's. Anchors - Supports -
Land Tax
Description - Excellent value in all white decks bar focused aggro decks. Barring specific synergies, the baseline lets you keep pace with your opponents land drops, and helps pull lands out of your deck, giving you more chance of drawing gas. Depending on how many lands you have in play and cost of your cards, it may be best to sit on 1 land less than your opponent and strip all the lands out of your deck, even if you have to discard them. Also great for turning them into other resources; using looters, supporting Forbid, Goblin Trenches, Constant Mists and various other cards. Picked early, its power will certainly shape your draft choices. Anchors - Supports -
Sunlance Description - Despite the restriction there are still a lot of targets; Strafe is bad in red, but it is good enough in white to be played in most decks. Anchors - Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Ajani's Presence Description - As a base it helps save a creature from most forms of destruction, and may occasionally help get a kill with the pump. Targeting two creatures could help turn a combat around, but will be conditional on board state. Anchors - Supports -
Cloudshift Description - Simple and elegant, can be used as a way to 'counter' a spell or effect targeting the creature, shift out after blocking so that it survives, or simply re-trigger an ETB effect… preferably more than 1 of those at a time. Anchors - Supports -
Condemn Description - Less flexible than Swords to Plowshares for essentially the same effect. You would consider this over Swords to Plowshares if you care about the flavour of white (i.e. retribution against those who attack it) or want to max out exile effects at 1 mana. It can help if you want to ensure more options for a dedicated control deck. Anchors - Supports -
Emerge Unscathed Description - It can counter a spell targeting your creature, remove an annoying aura, or help it get through in combat. The rebound can then be used to push through some more damage. This is slightly more aggro oriented than similar effect Shelter for that reason. Anchors - Supports -
Enlightened Tutor Description - Provides card disadvantage, but may be worth it depending on the artifacts and enchantments in your cube. If you include powerhouses like Grafted Wargear, Loxodon Warhammer, Curse of Predation and Curse of Graves, this can be worth it. But can also just find answers (e.g. Oblivion Ring) or the other half of synergistic pieces. Anchors - Supports - Enchantment Matters, Artifact Matters
Faith's Shield Description - Has upside over similar cards, as this can protect permanents, not just creatures. There aren't too many non-counterspell cards that can protect your Curse of Predation or Grafted Wargear. Strong upside when you are on deaths door, either making blocking a lot easier, or preventing some (or maybe all) of your opponents creatures from blocking. However, most things you protect will still be creatures, so you may want to consider the upsides of Shelter and Gods Willing first. Anchors - Supports -
Genju of the Fields Description - Genu of the Fields is a great defensive player if you just need to survive the early game to set up your big plays. A 2/5 either eats early aggro creatures, or can stand in the way of midrange creatures, all while gaining life. Anchors - Supports - Control
GO TO JAIL Description - It can't last forever, and you will be upset if it only lasts a turn, but it might be something you cube to support aggro decks that just need to remove a threat cheaply for a few turns. Anchors - Supports -
Glaring Aegis Description - Most suited to aggro / tempo decks in the mid-game to both tap down their best blocker, while making one of your team more effective. Requires the type of deck that needs to push the advantage; if you aren't getting advantage out of the tap-down, then you shouldn't have it in your deck. Anchors - Supports - Aggro
Gods Willing Description - This is a serviceable protection spell to either counter a removal spell, protect something in combat, or be able to walk past blockers, plus some card filtering. That said, paying an extra 1 for Shelter is usually going to be worth the card draw over the scry. Anchors - Supports -
Hyena Umbra Description - Can be used as insurance on your best creature with the totem effect, and the boost and first strike will make it harder to kill in combat anyway. Anchors - Supports -
Mana Tithe Description - Provides disruption primarily in early turns. Can be unexpected as white is not usually the counterspell colour, and leaving 1 mana open is usually not too difficult. Can be a great tempo play in early turns, but loses value in the late game when the opponent has enough lands. This makes it better in aggro / tempo decks, but can still provide early support for control decks. Anchors - Supports -
Oust Description - Good tempo card, as the creature will almost always cost more than Oust. It doesn't get rid of it permanently, but it is still card parity and maybe a couple of turns without that threat is all you need. In a pinch, you can cast it on one of your creatures if you need a critical ETB effect, get around a pacifism effect, or in rare instances if the life gain is going to be relevant. Anchors - Supports -
Pollen Remedy Description - Damage prevention often isn't amazing, but this is quite flexible due to the ability to divide the damage. It might sometimes do a Healing Salve impression, but where you've got a few creatures about to trade, you might only need to prevent a single point of damage, which can give this potential for a pseudo-3-for-1. In the late game, being able to prevent 6 damage for a single mana can help break complicated board states. Usable in most types of decks. Anchors - Supports -
Swift Justice Description - Can allow you to trade up in a fight, and give you a bit of a life buffer if you are either racing, or in defense mode to give you a little more time. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Bandage
Description - At worst it can always cycle at instant speed for 1 mana if you don't care about the actual effect, while also being able to trigger prowess or spells matters themes. It's situational as it's not much damage prevention, but there will be times when a single point is all you need to turn a trade into a win or prevent lethal damage to a creature from burn.
Anchors -
Supports -
Brave the Elements Description - Can work in buffing your team, especially in a colour that is often associated with tokens. Anchors - Supports -
Built to Last Description - It's reasonable pump for a single mana even if you don't have artifacts. You might consider Strength of Arms as an alternative. Anchors - Supports -
Cartouche of Solidarity Description - It can suit aggro decks, with the pump and first strike helping early drops continue to get through. It does suffer from the 2-for-1 aura problem though and is narrow in what it does. Anchors - Supports -
Ethereal Armor Description - It's generally only going to get played in an enchantment deck, but could still make the cut in a deck with enough solid enchantments. The built in synergy of boost plus first strike gives it the opportunity to still have some board impact even if it is the only enchantment you have. Anchors - Enchantment Matters, Pants Supports -
Flickering Ward Description - Flickering Ward can help itself get around the 2 for 1 by giving the creature protection from the most likely colour of removal your opponent is playing, and with mana up can return itself. A creature with protection against half your opponents creatures is only reasonable, but has some fringe upside as well, by being able to remove pacifism effects from your team, and hilariously remove positive auras from your opponents team. Plays well with Pestilence/Pyrohemia. Anchors - Supports -
Lithomancer's Focus Description - It is one of few white 1-mana creature pump spell that pumps 2 power, but there are plenty of similar combat tricks, and those that grant first strike are going to be just as good or better most of the time. Anchors - Supports -
Marrow Shards
Description - Only affects attacking creatures, but can hurt some aggro decks, or help set up combat trades/wins. However it is conditional on board state. If your cube is designed with lots of aggro x/1 creatures or token decks it can have its moments, but you may also not want to include a card that hoses specific decks. Anchors - Supports -
Moment of Triumph Description - Well, +2/+2 for one mana is the going rate in white. Probably the only reason to consider this over other versions is to provide more incidental life gain to a life gain matters theme. Anchors - Supports - Life Gain Matters
Niveous Wisps Description - Given that it's a cantrip, this is an ok way to turn off a blocker or prevent an attack for a turn. Anchors - Supports -
Oppressive Rays Description - The best of the 1 mana Pacifism effects, but strong creatures can always circumvent it with enough mana on the board. As such, you may consider this if you want more removal for your aggro decks that control decks don't want. Anchors - Supports -
Steelshaper's Gift Description - If you have a few pieces of strong equipment in your cube, this can be worth inclusion. You'd need to consider how many pieces of equipment a drafter is likely to see, so it can be pretty conditional. Anchors - Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Alms - 1 mana for the repeat effect is ok, but only being able to rely on it a limited number of times isn't. Requires too much set up.
Anoint - Bad.
Archery Training - It has some strong upside… if your opponent can't deal with it or the creature, AND you have enough time for it to accumulate sufficient counters to matter. Which is too unlikely to happen.
Argivian Find - Often won't be anything to target.
Armor of Faith - Boost is not good enough.
Artifact Ward - Not going to be effective.
Awe Strike - Better similar effects.
Bandage - Bad.
Benedict of Moons - Only if you play with 4+ player multiplayer with your cube.
Black Scarab - Too unreliable.
Black Ward - Too unreliable.
Blaze of Glory - On your own creature, not sure why you wouldn't just want a Fog effect. On your opponents creature, not Blazing Hope - It works in far too narrow a window.
sure why you wouldn't just want removal.
Blessed Breath - Emerge Unscathed is strictly unless you are REALLY pushing arcane to be a thing.
Blessing of the Nephilim - Too few hybrids/gold in most cubes to matter.
Blue Scarab - Too unreliable.
Blue Ward - Too unreliable.
Brainwash - It's bad because your opponent can still block.
Burden of Guilt - You should feel guilty for having to pay mana for this each turn.
Burst of Energy - Too narrow.
Capashen Standard - Doesn't do enough.
Change of Heart - Too expensive to buy back.
Chaplain's Blessing - No sir.
Coalition Flag - You get 2 for 1'd in a way you kind of prefer.
Consecrate Land - Too narrow.
Coordinated Barrage - There might be some happy accidents, but not worth inclusion in a standard cube, and there is less conditional 1 mana removal.
Cowed by Wisdom - It might prevent some early attackers, but can end up doing nothing, and you'd rather just have actual removal.
Daily Regimen - Takes too long to do anything.
Death Ward - Just play Ajani's Presence.
Defensive Formation - Requires too many things to matter; play this which has no immediate impact on the board; you need to have multiple creatures on the board; your deck needs to be defensive in nature; you need to be able to at least double block each attacker to make the damage distribution have any chance of working in your favour.
Defiant Strike - Needs something else; might help you trade up on odd occasion, but won't help you win without something like first strike.
Demystify / Quiet Purity - Simple enchantment removal, but you probably want Erase instead to prevent recursion, or pay 1 extra mana for the flexibility of Disenchant.
Detainment Spell - There are a number of creatures this could work on… but generally you just want removal that does more, like prevent attacking or defending.
Djeru's Resolve - There are better protection spells.
Dispatch - More than likely, even if you push an artifact matters theme, other 1 mana removal options (Path to Exile, Swords to Plowshares) are going to be more reliable.
Divine Light - Allows you to swing in with impunity, but your opponent can still block of course, which limits it somewhat. Fringe benefit of protecting your creatures with Pestilience/Pyrohemia, or board sweepers. But I'm not seeing a deck you would want to draft with this in it.
Empty City Ruse / False Peace - I can see turns where you attack, and your opponent doesn't block because they see a chance to strike back the following turn. And then you cast this. But too many things have to go right for that to work.
Enshrouding Mist - Better options.
Ephara's Radiance - Requires two cards to make bad life gain.
Equinox - Too narrow.
Erase/card] - In most cases, Disenchant is more flexible, or you can get enchantment removal attached to a body.
Ethereal Haze / Holy Day - They are Fogs. Very situational and may keep you alive for an extra turn but don't affect the board.
Excise - Limited to attacking creatures, and smart opponents will leave their mana open before combat, further limiting its usefulness.
Fasting - Bad.
Festival - Maybe it is worth a mention as a soft lock on an Isochron Scepter, but is the same as Empty City Ruse.
Festival of Trokin / Peach Oath Garden - In the decks where this would gain you a lot of life, you should be playing something else to be able to swing in and win with your army.
Fragmentize - If it was instant there might be some competition, but instant speed and the full spread of targets make Disenchant better.
Funeral Pyre - You don't want to give your opponent this stuff.
Fylgja - I have a soft spot for this card. But it is not good.
Gaze of Justice - This is only likely to be effective in white token decks, which makes it very limited in its application, and that deck wants the better removal anyway.
Gelid Shackles - Letting it attack is bad, and needing a mana every turn to prevent it from attacking (even if you allow all snow basics) is not great when compared to paying a mana or 2 more for better effects.
Get a Life - You know whether this card applies to you.
Gideon's Defeat - Too narrow.
Gift of Granite - Bad.
Gimme Five - I guess there are scenarios where you could gain tons of life, but not in most scenarios.
Glimpse the Sun - There are better options.
Glyph of Life - Way too narrow.
Great Defender - Doesn't boost power. Any of the spells that grant protection is going to be better vast majority of the time.
Green Scarab - Too narrow.
Green Ward - Too narrow.
Guard Duty - Bad as they can still block.
Guardian Angel - Expensive damage prevention.
Guildscorn Ward - Nowhere near enough targets.
Guilty Conscience - Bad removal that the control can control.
Hail of Arrows - The window of opportunity and situations where this can be good is too narrow.
Harrow - Too narrow for cube.
Head to Head - Funny, but a bajillion better cards that have no conditions.
Heal - Get Bandage if you want this effect for the immediate card draw.
Healing Salve - Not good enough.
Heaven's Gate - Serves no purpose.
High Ground - Doesn't do enough.
Holy Armor - Doesn't do enough.
Holy Strength - Doesn't do enough to overcome inherent aura weakness.
Hope Charm - The first strike trick is probably the only one worth noting. Which means just get Ajani's Presence instead.
Hundred-Talon Strike - Ajani's Presence is going to have same effect most of the time with more upside.
Indestructible - Ajani's Presence is better.
Inheritance - Too conditional and slow.
Iron Will - Doesn't do enough.
Ivory Charm - None of the modes are good enough.
Kirtar's Desire - Not good removal.
Kithkin Armor - Not good enough.
Lance - Nope.
Lifelink - Not good enough.
Luminesce - Too narrow.
Mask of Law & Grace - Too narrow.
Mending Hands - Doesn't do enough.
Moment of Silence - It is a better version of Empty City Recluse, but the situations where it will be worth playing are still too narrow.
Mortal Obstinacy - Not particularly effective at anything.
Mortal's Ardor - Doesn't do enough.
Off Balance - Just play Niveous Wisps instead.
Opal Caryatid - Not reliable enough.
Orim's Touch - Don't touch it.
Pay No Heed - They aren't the same, but the upside of Harm's Way is likely to matter more often than maximum damage prevention.
Piety Charm - Effects don't do enough.
Primastic Wardrobe - Cube owners choice on this one.
Prophecy - Bad.
Pull from Eternity - Extremely narrow.
Purify the Grave - You really want this effect attached to a creature or have some other use.
Quest for the Holy Relic - Too slow and a horrible top deck.
Rain of Blades - Marrow Shards is strictly better and you don't want two of that effect.
Rally The Troops - Too conditional. If you want this effect, the cantrip on To Arms! is probably worth the extra 1 and more flexible.
Reaping the Rewards - Zuran Orb will be better a lot of the time. If you want life gain in white, there are better options.
Rebuff The Wicked - Faith's Shield is going to serve the same purpose with more upside.
Reciprocate - Need to wait for a bad thing to happen instead of just removing it.
Reconnaissance - This could work if you want to attack in force, and then save creatures from unfavourable blocks. But playing this is 1 less creature you are playing. Too conditional on board state to matter in most games.
Red Scarab - Too conditional.
Red Ward - Too conditional.
Reinforcements - Card disadvantage is not going to be worth the card quality and too difficult to set up any combos etc.
Remove Enchantments - Very narrow. And complicated.
Reward The Faithful - Not good enough.
Righteous Blow - Conditional Shock, which might be just ok for white, except there is lots of better removal. So you probably only want to include it if you are going deep, or want to regulate the power of your removal.
Righteousness - It can turn a losing block into a win, but relies on you wanting to block. There are other cards that can achieve a similar result without being so restrictive. In magical christmas land I'd love to block with my Spikehsot Goblin, cast this, and go 8 to the dome. But moments like those are rarely going to present themselves.
Ritual of Restoration - Argivian Find strictly better.
Sacred Rites - Card disadvantage for not much of anything.
Samite Blessing - The effect is not bad. But you are using two cards to get the effect you want, which is bad.
Save Life - On its own this card is bad. If you think you can trigger the Gotcha a few times, it might be worth it. Could be a card to put in the cube temporarily for a laugh.
Scapegoat - Requires too many things to go right; you want a creature that is already on its way to the graveyard or gives you a benefit, plus 1 or more creatures you want to save or ETB effects to re-use.
Scent of Jasmine - Not good enough.
Searing Light - Limited number of targets.
Seize the Initiative - Ajani's Presence is going to have the same effect vast majority of the time and has other upside.
Serra's Hymn - Terrible.
Sex Appeal - Nah.
Shadow Lance - Not good enough.
Sheltering Light - It's pretty close to Gods Willing, but it doesn't protect from exile or -x/-x effects, or allow you to walk straight past blockers. The corner case upsides don't really make up for it.
Shield of Duty and Reason - Too narrow.
Shielded Passage - Ajani's Presence is all upside over this.
Shieldmate's Blessing - Bad.
Shields of Velis Vel - Doesn't do enough.
Side Quest - Nope.
Slash of Talons - Harm's Way exists.
Smite - Very narrow removal.
Spirit Link - Not worth a card and setting you up for a 2 for 1.
Spiritual Visit - Bad.
Stand Firm - Doesn't do enough.
Stave Off - Emerge Unscathed, Faith's Shield and God's Willing all have upside compared to this.
Strip Bare - Too narrow.
Success! - Only for very specific cubes.
Sunspring Expedition - 1 mana and a card for 8 life is not terrible, but it isn't an instant, and will be terrible unless played in opening turns.
Testament of Faith - Too much investment.
Time to Reflect - Too narrow.
Unified Strike - Too tribal.
Valor Made Real - The cost of this card is unlikely to be repaid by its effect.
Vampire's Zeal - Nope.
Veteran's Reflexes - Too situational.
Vigilance - Doesn't do enough.
Visions - Bad.
Wake the Reflections - Many cubes have token archetypes, but this is going too deep.
Warning - Too narrow.
White Scarab - Too conditional.
White Ward - Too conditional.
Wojek Siren - Depending on the board state, might only affect a portion of your team, and might even be a dead card if your opponent shares a colour with you.
Wordmail - Very environment dependant. It probably most wants to be played in an aggro deck to push the advantage, so check your average word count on your white aggro creatures. A glance at the 720 average peasant cube only shows a handful of white creatures that have 3 words in their name. +2/+2 is probably only ok if your cube is light on removal, but you want to be able to do better. Blade of the Sixth Pride can become a turn 3 powerhouse, but that synergy isn't worth playing it over strictly better cards like Accorder Paladin.
Worthy Cause - 3 mana for a life gain engine… It sounds ok, but you would only want to save mana for this if you had nothing else to do. Not something you would want to rely on when you draft.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Journey to Nowhere Description - Good removal that hits all creatures (sans shroud / hexproof). You might get the occasional blowout when your opponent destroys it mid-combat and gets their creature back, but for 2 mana this is solid. Trick 1: If you sacrifice it while the ETB trigger is on the stack, it will resolve last, after the LTB trigger, and it will be removed permanently. Trick 2: If you are on the receiving end and you have a single creature, if you can sacrifice the creature while Journey to Nowhere is on the stack, your opponent will be forced to choose one of their own creatures (targeting is mandatory and doesn't happen until it hits play). Anchors - Supports -
Shelter
Description - Good protection effect, allowing you to counter removal against your creatures, sometimes make one of your creatures unblockable, or turning a combat trade into a win. As a cantrip, even at its worst (using it to survive losing combat) it is still ok as a staller. Mostly however it is going to be a cheap 2 for 1. Anchors - Supports -
Temporal Isolation Description - Excellent removal spell. It has flash as upside over Pacifism, with marginal downside of the creature still being able to activate attack triggers (e.g. renowned Consul's Lieutenant) even if it won't deal damage, or blocking your shadow creatures if you have any. Those are fairly minimal though. The damage prevention clause also provides some corner case benefits vs Pacifism effects against creatures with activated or triggered abilities that deal damage; flash it in while Flametongue Kavu's / Fire Imp trigger is on the stack, or shut down the likes of Guttersnipe and Hissing Iguanar. Anchors - Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Angelic Renewal Description - It's a 'may' ability, so you have control of when to use it. While it is an onboard trick, it can be tricky for your opponent to work around. Nice with an evoked Shriekmaw or Mulldrifter, and provides excellent value when paired with persist / undying creatures, but also fine to just get back a reasonable threat. Also reasonable if you can combine with creatures that retrieve enchantments from the 'yard to keep recursing them. Anchors - Supports - Enchantment Matters
Disenchant Description - Flexible and fair removal; most white cards target only one of the card types, more typically enchantments. You might prefer something on a stick, like Kor Sanctifier's, but this is cheap and doesn't require double white. Anchors - Supports -
Echoes of the Kin Tree Description - It's 5 mana before it does anything and may be a bit slow for most cubes, but it could be decent for control decks to turn a small group of creatures into threats. Supports a +1/+1 theme, and synergies with persist creatures. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Forsake the Worldly Description - It's forgettable, but if you want your disenchant with flexibility, this can work. Worth noting that it exiles, though rarely relevant for these particular targets. Anchors - Supports -
Gift of Estates Description - It can be a way for a white based control deck to strip a few lands out of the deck and hit land drops, especially if on the draw. Can also serve as support for effects that sacrifice lands, like Goblin Trenches or Constant Mists. Anchors - Supports -
Intangible Virtue Description - It's a solid signal for token decks in your cube. You need enough tokens in your cube to support it, but that usually isn't much of a stretch for most cubes. There are more universal boosters in Soltari Champion and Pianna, Nomad Captain that can serve the token deck while also being useful elsewhere, but Intangible Virtue helps more on defense and is usually harder to remove. Anchors - Tokens Supports -
Momentary Blink Description - You could consider this a white+ card or an Azorius card. Cloudshift is strictly better as a white card (cheaper plus guaranteed to come back under your control), but the ability to get two uses if you are playing blue can make this worth considering. Usual blink benefits apply; good for re-using ETB effects, blocking in losing propositions and then blinking, or casting in response to removal. Anchors - Blink Supports -
Pacifism / Spectral Grasp Description - It's solid removal. It has downside over Journey to Nowhere as static / triggered abilities remain on and activated abilities can still be played, so it might limit the decent targets. The only upside over Journey is that if Pacifism is removed, any ETB effects won't trigger. Anchors - Supports -
Raise the Alarm Description - Serviceable for putting bodies on the ground. Being instant can help create surprise blockers, or cast at end of opponents turn to swing in with 2 more power than they were expecting. It's ok elsewhere, but you probably only want to consider it if you have pump effects either for tokens or team pumps. Anchors - Supports - Tokens
Remedy Description - It will be conditional on the board state, but this has the potential to break some stalemates, possibly turning multiple combat trades into wins, either on the attack or on defence. It's probably not going to help you if are really behind or outclassed, but can serve as a Fog in a pinch. Anchors - Supports -
Test of Faith Description - A reasonable combat trick, helping to not only survive combat, but come back even stronger. Decent for aggro decks to turn the corner when they are about to be outclassed. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 Counters
Zealous Strike Description - The first strike and power boost helps win combats. The first strike makes the toughness boost less likely to matter in combat, but can help survive burn in a pinch, and on rare occasions the power boost might be what you need to finish the opponent. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Aerial Maneuver Description - It might be just flexible enough as a combat trick, while the flying might be used on the offense to go over the top as a finisher. However it is going to be conditional on the board state and you probably don't want too much instant speed removal in your format. Anchors - Supports -
Apostle's Blessing Description - It's there if you want this effect to be colorless, but isn't as good as the other white options. Anchors - Supports -
Artful Maneuver Description - They see the rebound coming, but could be a way to turn the corner if cast on defense to survive, and then swing in, or cast on offense mid-combat while setting up a strong assault for the following turn. Anchors - Supports -
Battlewise Valor Description - It's fairly interchangeable, but can let you win a combat while setting up your next draw. Anchors - Supports -
Blessed Alliance Description - It's got a few options that can benefit a control deck; killing attackers in the early game, surprise untapping blockers in the midgame, and tacking on life gain if you have extra mana, but it does require finesse and timing to get the right level of value. Anchors - Supports - Control
Brave the Sands Description - The decks where this will matter are limited. You need multiple creatures of decent size for both the vigilance and the multi-block to matter. It might help ramp decks stabilise, where tapping your attackers might open you up to alpha strikes. Consider Reconnaissance. Anchors - Supports -
Carom Description - It has a narrower window of opportunity than Harm's Way (smaller damage and creature only), but could be as good as a 3 for 1 in some situations, particularly if you are heavy on 1 toughness creatures. Anchors - Supports -
Cho-Manno's Blessing Description - It can be a combat trick to keep your creature alive, and also used to counter removal. Even if you aren't being 'tricky' you can just put it on something to sneak past. Holding up the double white is a knock against it though. Anchors -
Supports -
Conviction Description - Glaring Aegis is almost always better, but the return effect might matter for enchantment matters / heroic themes if you are really pushing them. Anchors - Supports - Enchantment Matters, Heroic
Felidar Umbra Description - It requires enough other support, primarily in the form of strong evasive creatures so the lifelink can help you race while the totem armor protects your clock. The ability to shift it can also be decent if you wish to change what it is protecting before the totem armor kicks in. Anchors - Supports -
Gallantry Description - It's a bone you can throw defensive control decks to survive early assaults, killing incoming attackers without costing a card, but only suits those type of decks. Anchors - Supports -
Gather the Townsfolk Description - At worst it is a white Dragon Fodder, which is already worse than Raise the Alarm. If you are already down to 5 or less life, your 5 tokens might just be chumpers anyway, and you might not be able to alpha strike back. 5 tokens is still a decent number. Anchors - Supports -
Gideon's Reproach Description - It's lower power than a lot of other available removal, but may be a metagame choice to give control decks removal against early creatures while not being removal that marginalises all of the big threats in your cube. Anchors - Supports -
Goassamer Chains Description - 2 mana per turn to prevent damage from the largest creature on the opponents isn't terrible, and may help enchantment matters themes if you keep recasting it. In practice it is going to be inconsistent, and if you are stuck casting WW each turn it might prevent you from casting your other white spells in multi-colour decks. Prison Term is probably better for keeping the biggest creature locked up, though not strictly so. Anchors - Supports -
Graceful Reprieve Description - It's like a worse version of Undying Evil. It still might be ok for getting back some ETB creatures that are on the way to the bin, but it is conditional and requres you to have the mana available at the right time. Anchors - Supports -
Grasp of the Heiromancer Description - It's not likely to make it in cubes with all the cheapest removal, but being able to shut down their best blocker has some merit. Anchors - Supports -
Guided Strike Description - This can be a reasonable combat trick, allowing you to survive combat without effectively losing a card. Zealous Strike is a comparable alternative. Anchors - Supports -
Hypochondria Description - It doesn't look like much, but being able to discard excess cards like lands to help keep your threats on the board may be worth it. Anchors - Supports -
Immolating Glare Description - White has higher profile 1 mana removal spells, but this is one of few that doesn't provide your opponent some benefit (life gain, land acceleration) while still hitting a lot of targets. Anchors - Supports -
Judge Unworthy Description - Other removal is better. The only reason you might consider this is if you want to increase the amount of card filtering effects you have. Anchors - Supports -
Lyev Decree Description - Blinding Beam is a similar card that fills this role and would generally be considered better and more flexible, but this is fine if you are really looking for this effect or want it at 2 mana (and if you aren't entwining Blinding Beam, this can sometimes be better). Anchors - Supports -
Mighty Leap Description - It's a combat trick more geared towards defensive decks. You can always fly something overhead if you are attacking, but it's less useful against flying blockers, since the pump is then telgraphed before blocking. It likely requires combat-oriented cubes with a higher proportion of sorcery speed removal to be worth considering. Anchors - Supports -
Opal Gargoyle Description - Most cube decks are built around creatures, so played early this might be a 2/2 flyer 2 that can't block the first turn (if your opponent plays a creature after combat). It's a bad top deck if you are behind though, and having to wait a couple of turns when you could have just dropped Mistral Charger. You might consider this if you want to push enchantment themes pretty hard. Anchors - Supports - Enchantment Matters
Otherworldly Journey / Long Road Home Description - It's a serviceable blink effect, with minor upside with the +1/+1 counter. The timing is a mixed bag; marginal upside that the creature can survive sweepers over instant blink options, but you can't immediately re-use ETB effects if that is what you are after. It is one of only two blink effects (next to Turn to Mist) that can target opponents creatures, turning them off if they are attacking or removing a blocker for a turn, but with the +1/+1 counter it can lead to feel bad upside. Overall it's probably towards the bottom of the playable blink effects, but if you push a +1/+1 theme it can be worthwhile. Anchors - Blink Supports - +1/+1 counters
Seal of Cleansing Description - It's sorcery speed to cast, but you can lay it down early and then curve out while retaining it as a threat. Your opponent can play around it (play their second best target as bait) but it can still be an effective deterrent. Some may prefer the instant speed surprise of Disenchant, but this can also support some enchantment matters themes. Anchors - Supports - Enchantment Matters
Servo Exhibition Description - Raise the Alarm is better in a vacuum due to instant speed. Only if you really need the extra support for artifacts in white. Anchors - Supports - Artifact Matters
Soul Tithe Description - Being able to enchant all nonland permanents is a plus, but this is still worse than Banishing Light / Oblivion Ring, because the opponent gets the choice. If a card is going to win the game for them, they are going to pay for it. However you might include it if these sorts of decisions are the gameplay you want to promote. Anchors - Supports -
Spirit Loop Description - Applications are going to be limited, but lifelink on an evasive creature can help race, and the returning factor mitigates the usual 2-for-1-yourself of auras. The fact that it returns and can be recast provides some additional support for enchantment matters themes.
Anchors -
Supports - Enchantment Matters
Tandem Tactics Description - This does give you some options whether you are on attack or defense, though is still dependent on the board state. Attacking and your opponent doesn't block and you are racing? Cast after they attack to surprise block and win. Attacking and they do block? Trade up, while leaving untapped creatures to block anything they have left. Survive a sweeper. The life gain is a nice incidental bonus. Anchors - Supports -
To Arms! Description - It is conditional, but with this in hand you should be able to maneuver yourself into a position where you can set up a favorable block. There are some corner case benefits with convoke or if you make land creatures, but aren't likey to happen in your cube. The floor is that it cycles for 2 mana, as it doesn't require a target. Anchors - Supports -
Valorous Stance Description - It's a flexible card, that can either protect against removal or turn what would be a combat trade into a win (and rarely a loss into a win, such as against a first striker), or take out a key defender. Neither mode is exciting on its own, but it can be flexible enough. Perhaps best in an aggro midrange deck where it can maintain board presence instead of trade or remove a wall that is getting in the way. How useful it is will depend on how many creatures you have with naturally high toughness, or how often pump / +1/+1 counter effects push them up to 4. Anchors - Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Absolute Grace - Narrow.
Absolute Law - Narrow.
Abzan Advantage - You would prefer enchantment removal on legs or Disenchant to this.
Acolyte's Reward - The possibility that it does nothing when compared to Harm's Way is not worth the possibility of higher upside.
Act of Heroism - There are better options.
Ajani's Mantra - There are much better options for repeat life gain.
Alabaster Potion - Bad.
Alarum - Too narrow as a combat trick.
Allay - You would rather have a more flexible card like Disenchant or have the removal on legs.
Angelic Gift - Just meh.
Angelsong - 2 mana Fog variant. Not good enough.
Aura Blast - There are more flexible options.
Aura Extraction - There are more flexible options.
Baffling End - The tradeoff compared to similar removal is they get a vanilla 3/3 instead of whathever you exiled, but the targeting restriction makes this a lot worse than other removal.
Bathe In Light - Too inconsistent depending on what colors your opponent is playing.
Blessed Wine - Not efficient enough.
Blessing - Not efficient enough.
Bonds of Faith - Too inconsistent.
Break of Day - Doesn't do enough.
Brilliant Halo - Doesn't do enough.
Cagemail - There are no scenarios where you are happy casting this.
Call to Glory - Roar of the Kha or To Arms! are going to be better.
Call to Serve - Doesn't do enough.
Candle's Glow - Doesn't do enough.
Celestial Flare - Other removal is better the vast majority of the time.
Celestial Purge - Too narrow.
Center Soul - The card draw on Shelter is better, and you won't need this as a second option.
Chain of Silence - Lack of control makes this bad.
Cho-Manno's Blessing - Doesn’t provide enough value.
Chosen by Heliod - Doesn’t provide enough value.
Circle of Protection: Art - Not for standard cubes.
Circle of Protection: Artifacts - Not going to matter often enough.
Circle of Protection: Black (and friends) - Too narrow an effect.
Cleansing Ray - Too narrow.
Clear - There are more flexible options.
Compulsory Rest - There are better options.
Crown of Awe - Too narrow.
Cursebreak - There are more flexible options.
Curtain of Light - Doesn't do enough.
Darksteel Mutation - It either costs two cards to make a middling blocker for yourself, or acts as bad 'removal' that still gives your opponent a blocker.
Dawn Charm - The flexibility of this Fog isn’t quite enough.
Dazzling Reflection - Too situational.
Defang - Poor removal compared to other options.
Defiant Stand - Narrow combat trick.
Disempower - If it's powerful, your opponent just gets to use it again next turn, and being able to save your own powerful effects on the odd occasion doesn't make up for it.
Divine Favor - Glaring Aegis is better for similar bonus.
Divine Offering - The life gain doesn't make up for being less flexible than Disenchant.
Djeru's Renunciation - Blinding Beam, Expose Evil and Repel the Darness all seem like better options.
Dragon Scales - Doesn't do enough and the return effect won't trigger often enough to matter.
Due Respect - Too narrow as a one off effect, even if it is a cantrip.
Echoing Calm - Doesn't do anything in singleton peasant.
Eland Umbra - No boost in power makes this undesirable.
Entangling Trap - You won't be playing enough clash cards to care.
Ephemeral Shields - It can be free, but just isn't exciting enough an effect for most decks to warrant inclusion in your cube.
Equal Treatment - It's interesting. I just don't think it has a home where it does anything useful.
Errand of Duty - Nope.
Eye For an Eye - There are other options that actually prevent the damage.
Favorable Destiny - Too narrow.
Feat of Resistance - Other protection options are better.
Feeling of Dread - Considered as a white+ card, Blinding Beam is probably going to be better most of the time. In an Azorius tempo deck it is going to be decent, but isn't likely to make the cut when compared to more exciting options.
Fend Off - Doesn't do enough.
First Copme, First Served - Possibility of backfire? Nope.
Flowering Field - Locking down a land for this effect is not worth it.
Font of Vigor - 5 mana for 7 life is not a good trade.
Forced Worship - Prison Term is leauges better.
Forfend - Not enough scenarios where this will matter enough.
Gilded Light - Too narrow.
Glare of Heresy - Too narrow.
Glorious Charge - Doesn't do enough.
Greater Realm of Preservation - Too narrow.
Hallowed Ground - There isn't a deck that cares enough about this effect. Landfall triggers are not strong enough to make this kind of investment.
Heroic Defiance - Solid boost, but not being on all the time sucks and of itself isn't worth warping your draft around.
Hero's Resolve - Decent boosts, but not enough to consider.
Hold at Bay - It can blunt the effects of an aggro assault, but it doesn't get you any closer to winning the game, and not being able to spread it among creatures makes it bad there too.
Honorable Passage - Too narrow.
Hope and Glory - Not a big pump and you must have two creatures.
Humble - There is way better removal.
Illumination - Too narrow. Disenchant is probably going to be better in nearly all cases by being able to remove the threat mid combat or at other opportune moments.
Impeccable Timing - Gideon's Reproach strictly better (and many other removal options better than that).
In Oketra's Name - Doesn't do enough.
Indomitable Will - Doesn't do enough.
Mageta's Boon - As above.
Inquisitor's Snare - Too narrow.
Inviolability - It doesn't do enough.
Invulnerability - Not cost effective as a repeat effect.
Kjeldoran Pride - Doesn't do enough.
Kjeldoran War Cry - Not for singleton cube.
Lashknife - Even if it was flat out free, the effect isn't worth a card.
Last Breath - Too narrow.
Lead Astray - Strictly worse than Feeling of Dread.
Leave No Trace - Too unreliable.
Liberate - Cloudshift or Momentary Blink are going to be better most of the time.
Life Burst - Not for singleton cube.
Lightning Blow - Guided Strike strictly better.
Luminthread Field - This effect is not worth the cost of a card, get Veteran Armorer instead.
Lunarch Mantle - There are far better auras than this.
Manacles of Decay - Or for this mana. Just get removal.
Mantle of Leadership - The potential for upside is appealing, and it might be serviceable in token or blink decks. But it's rarely going to exceed the power of more consistent auras that are also useful elsewhere.
Mine Excavation - I don't think any cube will be deep enough into either artifact or enchantment themes that letting two of its creatures take a turn off just to make this a 2 for 1 makes sense.
Moment of Heroism - Doesn't do enough.
Murder Investigation - You could use it as an insurance policy on decent size creatures, but in those cases something that actually protects it is probably preferable (Shelter, blink effects). It may have some marginal benefits in sacrifice decks, but for the most part those decks don't sacrifice big guys in the first place.
Muzzle - Get better removal.
Nimbus Wings - If your cube has the standard suite of efficient removal spells, this is not worth the 2 for 1.
Ondu Rising - Too many things need to go right for this to be effective.
Ordeal of Heliod - Too slow without enough upside.
Orim's Cure - Doesn't do enough.
Parapet - Veteran Armorer exists.
Peace and Quiet - Two for one sounds good until you are staring down Curse of Predation as the lone enchantment on the board with this in your hand.
Peace of Mind - Hypochondria is better; the ability to prevent damage to creatures is much better than chucking cards for life gain. There are better ways for repeat life gain if that is what you are looking for.
Peace Talks - You could cast it after combat, but it just doesn't do enough.
Pegasus Stampede - It looks like an engine for a control deck, but you would need a pretty specific collection of cards to make it work. Even with Land Tax, this is just going to be too slow and ineffective most of the time.
Pledge of Loyalty - Too narrow.
Plow Through Retio - It looks like it has high upside, but if you are just getting a Giant Growth, this is not worth it.
Pollen Lullaby - You don't want the inconsistency.
Pressure Point - Niveous Wisps strictly better.
Pride of Conquerors - There are better alternatives.
Prismatic Ward - Doesn't do enough to justify the cost of a card; it can still be targeted by removal or negative auras.
Puncturing Light - Poor removal.
Purge - Too narrow.
Rally - Too narrow.
Ray of Revelation - It's ok if you consider it a white+ card, but it just doesn't add anything relevant to your cube.
Razor Barrier - Faith's Shield is going to serve the same purpose with more upside. Protection from artifacts is rarely going to matter.
Redeem - Remedy is going to be better in vast majority of situations.
Redeem the Lost - Other protection options are better.
Relic Ward - Doesn't do enough.
Renewing Dawm - Too narrow.
Renounce - No deck will want this, so neither does your cube.
Repel the Abominable - Too narrow.
Reprisal - Only if you are intentionally depowering your removal.
Rest for the Weary - 8 life is a decent amount, but there are still no decks that will want it.
Reverse Polarity - So narrow.
Revoked Existence - Not at sorcery speed.
Rhystic Shield - Even if they don't pay, this is not an effect you want.
Righetous Aura - It's only good against larger creatures / damage spells, and only works if you don't already have ways of dealing with them, which is what you would prefer.
Roar of the Kha - None of the three modes are good / efficient enough.
Rune of Protection: XXX - These are all too narrow.
Sacred Boon - Test of Faith is strictly better.
Sacred Nectar - Nope.
Samite Ministration - Doesn't do enough.
Sanctimony - Too narrow.
Saving Grace - Underwhelming.
Serene Offering - Life gain isn’t worth more flexible options.
Serra's Blessing - Reconnassance exists.
Shadowbane - Too narrow.
Shield Wall - Doesn't do enough.
Show of Valor - White has more interesting combat trick options.
Silkwrap - Strictly worse than Journey to Nowhere.
Skillful Lunge - Zealous Strike is strictly better.
Soothing Balm - Nope.
Soul Parry - Remedy is likely to save 2 creatures in the same situations while also being useful in other board states.
Soul Summons - It creates a bear that can sometimes flip up into something else at any time. If you get a non-creature, all you get is a bear. The downsides if it is a creature include not getting ETB / cast triggers when flipped up, paying an extra 1W for the final product, and it being a reasonably vulnerable 2/2 until you get the right mana if the creature is a strong contributor to your game plan. The upside, and the reason you would include it given those downsides, is simply the surprise factor and the interesting scenarios it creates on the board, especially during combat. It's a card you include for the gameplay it creates, not power.
Soulcatchers' Aerie - Too narrow.
Soul's Grace - Conditional life gain? No thanks.
Spare from Evil - It's difficult to evaluate how effective this will be, as each cube will contain a different number of Humans. In any case, it is probably best to leave it to avoid errata nightmares.
Spirit Mantle - It's an enchantment that makes your creature unblockable, but you just want better spells.
Starlight - Too narrow.
Stasis Cocoon - Too narrow.
Steadfastness - Not an effect you want.
Strength of Isolation - Doesn't do enough.
Sun Clasp - Doesn't do enough.
Sun's Bounty - It's just life gain, and you aren't going to want to keep mana up to keep recovering it.
Suppression Field - The effect itself can be quite powerful, but at singleton cube you aren't fighting a known metagame. If it was in a cube and you drafted it, you turn off some of the other cards you would want to draft.
Surge of Righteousness - Too narrow.
Surge of Thoughtweft - Doesn't do enough.
Suspension Field - Worse than Journey to Nowhere.
Swift Maneuver - The likes of Shelter and Guided Strike are better cantrip combat spells.
Swift Reckoning - Narrow removal. Only if you are depowering your removal.
Temper - Test of Faith is the far better version by a billion miles.
Terashi's Verdict - Too narrow.
Time of Heroes - Nope.
Triclopean Sight - Doesn't do enough.
Unlikely Alliances - Hi opponent, I'm going to spend a bunch of mana telegraphing everything that I'm doing.
Urgent Exorcism - Too narrow.
Ward of Lights - Doesn't do enough.
Ward of Piety - The effect might be ok if it didn't cost so much.
Warmth - Too narrow.
Warrior's Stand - Only being able to use this on defense makes this too limited for use in cube.
Weight of Conscience - It's a lot of work for a removal spell. If you don't exile it, it can still attack.
Whitesun's Passage - Not worth the card.
Wipe Clean - Cycling provides it some flexibility, but you would rather have other options.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Banishing Light Description - One of white premier removal spells because it hits multiple permanent types and hits almost every creature. There is some marginal downside compared to spells that permanently remove something, in that this can be removed midcombat which could cause blowouts, but it isn't much of a downside. Some consider Oblivion Ring better due to stack tricks, others prefer this for its simplicity (you can always play both). Anchors - Supports -
Lingering Souls Description - Usually considered an Orzhov card, this offers fantastic value as well as being synergistic with a number of archetypes. It supports go wide if you have ways to pump your team, creates 4 bodies for sacrifice effects, the flashback supports self-mill / filtering / spells matter triggers, and on top of that the tokens are evasive. That said, it doesn't usually make it as a mono-white card, as Midnight Haunting is better in that role. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice, Graveyard Matters, Spells Matters
Oblivion Ring Description - One of white premier removal spells because it hits multiple permanent types and hits almost every creature. There is some marginal downside compared to spells that permanently remove something, in that this can be removed midcombat which could cause blowouts, but it isn't much of a downside. There are stack tricks; if you can remove it from the battlefield while the ETB trigger is still on the stack, the exiled permanent will never return. Some don't like the complexity of the stack trick (the feel bads for newer players on the receiving end) and you can play Banishing Light in that case (you can always play both). Anchors - Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Ghostly Prison Description - While it will be matchup specific, this card is great for decks that want to slow down the opponents assault. It makes aggro decks have fits, preventing them from curving out and attacking each turn, allowing defensive decks time to set up their big plays. Removed from some lists to ensure aggro can have its day in the sun. Anchors - Control Supports -
Lashknife Barrier Description - It's a one time investment that doesn't even cost you a card that makes all your creatures more resilient and messes with combat math for your opponent. In particular, it makes blocking with multiple creatures particularly difficult for your opponent, and makes burn a lot worse. Anchors - Supports -
Promise of Bunrei Description - 4 tokens for 3 mana is very strong, offset by making you jump through a hoop. It's not a hard hoop to jump through though, as creatures die often enough. Good in most decks, but gets better in token / go wide decks, sacrifice decks can both trigger it and get 4 more pieces of fodder. Enchantment recursion is a narrow or non-existent theme in most cubes, but this is very strong if you can get it back multiple times. Anchors - Supports - Tokens, Sacrifice
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Acrobatic Maneuver Description - Fine effect for saving a creature from removal, or re-triggering enter the battlefield effects, It's more expensive than Cloudhsift, which is easier to hold up a mana for, but you get the card back here which is great if you are also getting a cards worth of value out of ETB effects. Can be a grindy draw engine with Eternal Witness or other retrieval options. Anchors - Bounce / Blink Supports -
Arrest Description - A decent option for removal. The downside compared to actually removing it from the board are triggered or static abilities, which can make Oblivion Ring preferred. Anchors - Supports -
Blinding Beam Description - You can cast it on the opponents end step to open them up to an alpha strike, and entwined can help seal the game if you've applied early pressure or win races. It's comparable to (and competes with) other tempo finishers, but it's fine in that role. Anchors - Supports -
Bound by Moonsilver Description - The baseline is worse than Arrest or Pacifism, but this might get the nod if you have a higher density than usual of transform cards, but probably more likely as white support for a sacrifice / graveyard theme, or to be a delirium enabler. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Excommunicate Description - It's an ok tempo play if you've got an aggro start to remove a blocker and set the opponent back. It's not flashy, but it gets the job done. Anchors - Supports -
Griffin Guide Description - A decent aura that can give you a solid threat with a backup plan if the creature gets dealt with. Anchors - Supports - Pants
Lightform Description - You may need to watch how many double cost cards you have, but the baseline of a 2/2 flying lifelinker for 3 mana is solid enough. If you have something bigger than a 2/2 to manifest later in the game, that is just gravy. Has a low opportunity cost for inclusion if you support an enchantment matters theme, as any white deck can play it. On raw power it is a little outclassed by Aerial Responder, but it is still perfectly playable. Anchors - Supports - Enchantment Matters
Midnight Haunting Description - Decent token maker. The instant speed either gives you surprise blockers, or throws up a couple of evasive creatures end of turn you can then swing in with. Anchors - Supports -
Orim's Thunder Description - Enchantment or artifact removal with some strong upside if you are in Boros. You probably want to call it a Boros card, though you might sometimes play it on other white decks if you didn't get any other removal, or try for a small splash. Anchors - Supports -
Prismatic Strands Description - It is a 3 mana combat trick upfront which can be tricky to hold up, but it gives you the potential to turn combat around. While your opponent can see the second one coming, it makes it tricky for them to play around given its 0 mana cost. Anchors - Supports -
Prison Term Description - An interesting Arrest variant you might consider depending on how many other cards you have with heavy white commitments. The caster always gets to upgrade to the best target which is powerful, but it might be stifling to have your best creature always answered. On the other hand, it can be an answer to shroud / hexproof creatures such as Plated Crusher if you feel you need one. Anchors - Supports -
Rally the Peasants Description - With other better white versions, you will probably consider this as a Boros card. In Boros it can be a blowout; double activation after you let a couple of creatures through can end the game. Anchors - Supports -
Shoulder to Shoulder Description - It's something you probably want it if you support (hah) a +1/+1 counter theme but it can be played elsewhere, either in aggressive decks to try and punch through with early threats, or in Skies / evasive decks to increase your clock. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Stasis Snare Description - It's a fine Banishing Light alternative, depending on what you want out of your removal. It's less splashable and only hits creatures, but you gain the power of instant speed. Anchors - Supports -
Story Circle Description - It will depend on your particular cube, but assuming most decks are 2 colours this can be a reasonable inclusion for your control decks without being a showstopper for the opponent. It can turn off some of their cards, forcing them to play around it, but it is also tempered by the fact that you must spend white mana, and if you are 2 colours you might not be able to answer everything. Anchors - Supports -
Timely Reinforcements Description - This is a card that can really help you come back from a losing game, getting you out of reach range while setting up a defense. Some cubers don't play it for the mini-games it can create; with this in your opener, you can choose to play nothing until your opponent plays a creature and hits you with it, and then play this and unload the rest of your hand. Anchors - Control Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Angelic Purge Description - A low power but still playable piece of removal due to the large range of targets. It can also help fuel delirium / threshold. Anchors - Supports -
Battle Mastery Description - It comes with the standard weakness of auras in that you open yourself up to 2-for-1's. You would need to be pushing certain abilities or mechanics a bit harder than normal to make this worth it; mid size tramplers and saboteurs are the most likely to benefit. Anchors - Supports - Saboteurs
Cage of Hands Description - It is going to be generally behind other removal options for this cost. However it does have the advantage of being able to be moved to a bigger target, and is something to consider if you have an enchantment theme. Anchors - Supports - Enchantments Matter
Choking Fumes Description - It's narrow, but it can be a tool for control decks to slow down aggro decks. Gets a little better the more x/1's in your cube. Anchors - Supports -
Cold Snap Description - You need a very specific cube, where all basics are mandatory snow basics. In that cube, this is like a white Sulfuric Vortex. You can play it, your opponent gets pinged (potentially for several damage if the game has gone long), then you can sacrifice it if you can't afford the damage. It might even be broken in that cube, providing a decent amount of reach for white. Anchors - Supports -
Dauntless Onslaught Description - It competes with a lot of other combat tricks. It does give you the opportunity to turn around 2 combat losses or trades, or even get in that extra 4 damage you need to seal the game. Depending on how often your cube tends to go wide, other cards like Make a Stand or Borrowed Grace may be preferred. Anchors - Supports -
Devouring Light Description - The option of free removal is worth considering, but it is conditional. Magical Christmas Land is triple block their fatty while you are tapped out, they cast a pump spell, respond with this. A low power removal option slanted towards control. You could develop a defensive board and still be able to cast this to remove an evasive threat. Other removal is better but convoke gives this a different angle. Anchors - Supports -
Embolden Description - It isn't exciting on the surface, but this can do some work in removal-lite combat heavy cubes. The first casting will sometimes just be a '1 for 1' where you save something that would have died in combat, but you can get more value than that. The flashback is an onboard trick, but if you already got value from the first casting, it might just make your opponent play suboptimally while you play your other cards. Anchors - Supports -
Empyrial Armor Description - It is going to be inconsistent, but if you put this on a 2-drop (preferably something evasive) on curve and have 4 cards in hand, they are going to have to deal with it pretty quickly. Anchors - Supports - Pants / Voltron
Even the Odds Description - This does nothing when you are ahead, but being good when you are behind is usually more desirable. It may create gameplay you don't want; white players playing nothing and then surprising the opponent and killing incoming attackers, or having pseudo-haste by casting at the end of their turn. Timely Reinforcements is sorcery speed, but is probably better because you can also recover life from the first few hits as well as put creatures on the board. Anchors - Supports -
Hobble Description - If you want removal to wheel to your control decks, this is a reasonable option. In that deck, it's fine for stalling early assaults while letting you dig and build towards the end game. Aggro is less excited because they can still block. Anchors - Supports -
Kor Chant Description - Harm's Way is probably useable in more situations due to its mana efficiency, but you can still get some 2 for-1s out of this against burn spells and it can take out bigger threats that Harm's Way can't. Anchors - Supports -
Lapse of Certainty Description - It's white, and it counters everything. It's obviously not as good as Memory Lapse, and if the spell is truly powerful they still get to play it, but if you just need a tempo play or the spell needed timing it can be fine. At worst, you know to play around it moving forward. Anchors - Supports -
Make a Stand Description - You need to get the timing right, but it can work in a few scenarios. It can really swing a combat in your favor, particularly if you are either making or on the receiving end of an alpha strike; kill some opposing guys and have all your team survive for the next swing. On the low end, it can be used to 'counter' most removal. It's likely to perform better in an aggro role to keep up pressure while preserving your board rather than holding it up in response to something your opponent is doing. Anchors - Supports -
Master's Call Description - The only reason to include this over Midnight Haunting is if you have a heavy artifact theme which either triggers off these coming into play or you have sufficient sacrifice outlets. Anchors - Supports - Artifact Matters
Pentarch Ward Description - It replaces itself, and if your opponent is heavy on one colour you protect yourself from their removal and waltz past their creatures presenting a clock, depending on what you put it on… but sometimes it might do very little. Anchors - Supports -
Recumbent Bliss Description - A lower power removal option; probably the only reason to give it serious consideration is if you support a life gain matters theme to get repeat triggers, otherwise Faith's Fetters is worth the extra mana. Anchors - Supports - Life Gain Matters
Righteous Charge Description - Sorcery speed is not ideal for team pump, but this is a decent amount of pump that your opponent might have difficulty defending against even if it is before blocks are declared. Great Teacher's Decree also worth considering for this role. Anchors - Supports -
Spirit Cairn Description - You need to go deep on the right synergies, but it is possible to support. Ideally you want all the best looters in your cube, as well as blue and reds card filtering tools to fit it into a control shell, and probably blacks best discard as well. Probably only for grindy cubes where you can get maximum value; otherwise something like Spectral Procession is better value without the set up costs. Anchors - Supports -
Trial of Solidarity Description - Probably only worth cubing as part of a Cartouche / Trials subtheme. Whole team 2 extra damage, even if it is sorcery, can still be potent. Anchors - Supports -
Unquestioned Authority Description - Making one of your creatures unblockable is a reasonable starting point, but it can also make something into an good blocker if that is what you need. Your creature still dies to removal (although it is protected from Shriekmaw and every other ETB creature kill), but cantripping overcomes the inherent 2 for 1 aura problem. It is still a 3 mana spell that doesn't add any power to the board. Anchors - Supports -
Wing Shards Description - It's lower power removal. Without a storm count, a 3 mana spell to take out an attacker of their choice isn't amazing. It gets better if you can take out multiple creatures, but once people know it is in your cube they will play around it. It might either be a feel bad for not knowing they need to play around it, but it could also be a design choice to help teach people to play their spells after combat. Might be something you put in for a short time and then take out. Anchors - Control Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Afterlife - It's an option if you are depowering your removal, but still want instant speed white removal that kills everything, without resorting to the super cheap staples (Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile)
Angelic Blessing - Sorcery speed means you can't use it as trick, and you would prefer the permanence of Griffin Guide.
Animal Boneyard - You are taking a turn off to set up some potential life gain. It isn't good enough to make most decks, and the life gain matters decks that probably care have better tools.
Asha's Favor - It's a decent suite of keywords and there are situations where you would be happy to play it on a Pelakka Wurm or something, but it won't be good consistently enough.
Aura Fracture - There won't be enough targets to warrant this.
Aura of Silence - There won't be enough targets to warrant this.
Aven Warcraft - There are better versions for this type of effect.
Avenging Arrow - It will mostly be used to kill attackers, so you may as well just have better options like Immolating Glare that don't require you to take a hit.
Cleanfall - Too narrow as there will rarely be multiple enchantments on the opposing side and you will be sad if you have your own enchantments.
Cleansing Meditation - Too narrow as there will rarely be multiple enchantments on the opposing side and you will be sad if you have your own enchantments without threshold.
Contemplation - More efficient ways of gaining life.
Crib Swap - Only if want some tribal synergies over the most powerful removal.
Curse of the Forsaken - It doesn't affect the board. It might work in life gain matters deck because each trigger is separate if you are swinging in with a bunch of Ajani's Pridemate's, but there are more universal life gain options.
Damping Field - Only in cubes that are 50%+ artifacts.
Ethereal Guidance - There isn't much advantage to playing this over Great Teacher's Decree. It's very rare the fourth mana will matter; you rarely want to play this on curve, and you aren't likely to be playing something alongside either the 3 mana or 4 mana version, and the rebound upside is worth it. Either that, or play an instant speed team pump spell instead.
Farrel's Mantle - Too narrow. The situations where it might actually be good (on a shadow dude or something) are far outweighed by the times it does nothing and costs you a card.
Fate Forgotten - Most players will want the cheaper Disenchant, and if you include recursion options in your cube for these less played card types you probably want your players to be able to use them instead of include hate cards.
Frantic Purification - The times you will play this for the madness cost pale in comparison to the times Disenchant or any number of more flexible alternatives will be better.
Fulgent Distraction - Other tap down effects are going to be more effecitve in the vast majority of situations.
Ghostly Possession - You either spend two cards to make a decent blocker that won't kill attackers, or give them a great blocker that is hard for you to kill.
Guardian Zendikon - There are better defensive options. Genju of the Fields fills the 'enchant land into creature' role better, and other straight up defenders, or Wall of Resurgence are going to be better in most circumstances.
Guardian's Magemark - Too low impact on its own to consider as part of an aura theme.
Guardian's Pledge - The pump is good, but most cube decks will be two colours so not worth the conditional targets.
Healing Hands - It replaces itself, but it's too low impact.
Heart of Light - Either poor removal or poor way to set up a blocker.
Inspirit - It might be ok if it is in your hand, but there are just better combat tricks.
Ironwright's Cleansing - The exile is rarely important enough to warrant paying an extra mana and playing sorcery speed removal.
Just Fate - Immolating Glare strictly better, only if you are depowering your removal.
Kill Shot - Immolating Glare strictly better, only if you are depowering your removal.
Knighthood - It's worth the double white to get a massive upgrade to Archetype of Courage.
Kytheon's Tactics - I'd rather have Great Teacher's Decree; it's more splashable, has rebound upside, and you will almost never cast Kytheon's Tactics on curve.
Narrow Escape - You end up down a card, but maybe you saved a card from removal or you get to re-use a key enter the battlefield ability. Maybe if it flickered it would be fine, but as is it is too narrow for cubes.
Opal Acrolith - There isn't a straight 2/4 for 3 in white, but even if there was as a vanilla it might not be interesting enough for most cubes. Enchantment themes don’t make this any better.
Opal Champion - A 3/3 with first strike for 3 is a decent deal. But relying on your opponent to activate is not good. On curve you might be fine (but you probably don't get a blocker that turn), but if they just use mana sinks instead you won't be happy, and if you are losing, top decking this is terrible as they can just keep attacking without attacking with anything.
Orim's Prayer - It's hard to recommend when you can be playing Lashknife Barrier. This card works when you have no creatures to keep you alive a bit longer, but it's a 'lose less' card as opposed to something that can help you win the game. Lashknife Barrier actually helps with your board presence.
Piety - Yay for blocking creatures that don't get any better at trading up!
Pillar of Light - You could make a metagame call if you have lots of low power high toughness defenders, but you are still working at a low power level.
Pitfall Trap - Immolating Glare is more consistent.
Prismatic Circle - You might slow your opponent down, but even if they don't attack you, the cumulative upkeep is going to prevent you from developing your board while they keep developing theirs.
Ray of Dissolution - The cheaper casting cost and wider targets on Disenchant is much preferred.
Rebuke - Immolating Glare strictly better, only if you are depowering your removal.
Remember the Fallen - Getting back Porcelain Legionnaire and some other creature is good value, but you need to have the density of an artifact matters theme to cube it, and the most likely way to enable that is with thopter / servo generators which won't benefit this card.
Renewed Faith - Cycling it is usually going to be better than playing it, but even then it is not exciting.
Repel the Darkness - Blinding Beam is going to be better the majority of the time.
Repentance - Only if you are intentionally depowering your removal.
Restrain - It's rare that you wouldn’t want to just deal with the creature with better removal over taking a random card off the top.
Reviving Dose - If you really want this effect, get the 2 mana cycling version on Renewed Faith.
Rootborn Defenses - Make a Stand is better in the majority of situations that you wouldn't consider this, particularly as the majority of tokens at peasant aren't huge.
Rousing of Souls - Maybe in multiplayer games, but in a duel even if you get 2 tokens, it is still a horrible deal.
Rule of Law - Will have impact in a slim number of games.
Safe Passage - This can just be Fog if you have no creatures, but Make a Stand is going to win you more games.
Sandblast - Only if you are monitoring power, maybe to let your fatties shine. Otherwise Immolating Glare is a better alternative.
Sandskin - Only if you want to depower your removal.
Security Blockade - If the Knight had first strike instead of Vigilance or it prevented damage to creatures I might be interested, but as is this isn't good enough.
Survival Cache - Too inconsistent. At best it is a delayed Divination with life gain stapled on. That spell would probably be fine, but when it doesn't draw you both cards it is pretty subpar, and it is too hard to make it happen consistently.
Survive the Night - It's not strictly worse than Make a Stand, but that card will be better in more situations. You might lean on this as an alternative if you care about artifacts.
Topple - Only if you are sculpting a very specific removal suite.
Unconventional Tactics - It can't be disenchanted, but I can't imagine ever wanting to include this in any deck (and therefore cube) over Griffin Guide.
Waylay - There might be times when it will be better than something like Immolating Glare (being able to block and kill more than 1 creature, sacrifice for benefit) but it is still pretty limited in application. It might be worth calling out that this card has errata that the Knights are exiled on cleanup step, preventing you from casting this during your opponents end step and swinging for 6.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Battle Screech Description - Solid evasive token maker. The ideal play pattern is with one other white creature on the board, so you can get your 4 tokens in the one turn. You might not be able to flash it back on occasion, but it usually isn't too hard to plan ahead. 4 flying 1/1's for 4 is great. Anchors - Supports - Tokens
Faith's Fetters Description - It's 4 mana, but it is flexible. It can shut down almost anything (including nonbasics like Maze of Ith if you cube them), and the life gain also buys you some time. Anchors - Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Cast Out Description - It isn't likely to be cycled, and at 4 mana it starts getting unwieldy, however dealing with any nonland permanent at instant speed is still relevant. Anchors - Supports -
Great Teacher's Decree Description - Decent team pump if you are looking to go wide. Sorcery speed means they see it coming, but the sheer amount of numbers over the 2 turns is usually enough if timed correctly. They might be able to survive the first strike, but they should be left in a board state where you will win on the rebound. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Allied Reinforcements Description - It's fine for putting bodies on the board. Nothing exceptional, but fine for go wide strategies. You aren't likely to have any Ally synergies, that is just bonus. Anchors - Supports - Tokens / Go Wide
Angelic Favor Description - It can upgrade a blocker to a 4/4 for no mana cost, so it could be an ok anti-aggro card. It doesn't really add much to your cube though, and only works on defence. Anchors - Supports -
Breath of Life / False Defeat Description - You can include it to support reanimator, and it can serve to get your best creatures back in midrange decks. It probably makes less sense than Zombify given the different mechanical focuses between black and white, but it is still ok. Anchors - Reanimator Supports -
Captain's Call Description - Augmented Visionary is going to be better in most circumstances, but you could go deep if you want more tokens, or you specifically care that the tokens are white (e.g. you cube Paragon of New Dawns), or you care about soldier synergies. Anchors - Supports - Tokens, Soldier Tribal
Cenn's Enlistment
Description - 4 mana for a couple of 1/1's is pretty bad, but the power is in building out a board for control decks. Nice if you can find ways to retrieve lands back from your graveyard.
Anchors -
Supports -
Diversionary Tactics Description - You really have to build around it, and be in a deck full of tokens / go wide to make it worth trading off your 2 worst creatures for their best one. Once it is on board, you can use it during your opponents turn before combat or end of turn to lock down a few creatures. Anchors - Supports - Tokens
Faith Unbroken Description - The upside is appealling; remove a creature, then swing with a pumped creature they can't profitably block. Still prone to blowouts, and you can't even cast it if you don't have a creature, so at 4 mana it is probably only worth cubing if you have depowered your removal. Anchors - Supports -
Honden of Cleansing Fire Description - In some ways the worst of the Shrines as it doesn't affect the board, but if you are gaining 4 life a turn and have otherwise stabilised the board, it can put you out of harms way. Signals a shrines deck, but it is also repeat life gain for a one off investment if you support life gain matters decks. Anchors - Shrines Supports - Life Gain Matters
Ramosian Rally Description - Hard cast you can get cheaper, so lets look at the alternative cost. If you are on the offensive, you don't want to hold back something that could be attacking, but you can play a creature pre-combat and tap that, letting you develop your board while also hitting harder this turn. Could also be used defensively for free after blocks. Pretty situational. Anchors - Supports -
Sage's Reverie Description - A few things to note; on it's own it will always replace itself (removal while on the stack notwithstanding), and it counts Pacifism, Singing Bell Strike etc you've placed on opponents creatures. Draw a card, provide +1/+1 bonus isn't great. Draw 2 cards, provide +2/+2 bonus, you're starting to look decent. To make that consistent though, you definitely need to be supporting an aura subtheme. Anchors - Enchantment Matters / Pants Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Angelic Accord - It's an interesting effect, and if you could it repeatedly, getting multiple 4/4 tokens is great. But at singleton peasant it just isn't going to be consistent enough.
Curse of Exhaustion - Casting 2 spells in a turn won't happen too often, and even if that was your opponents plan next turn, you just undid that advantage by spending 4 mana and a card on this.
Dawn to Dusk - The flexibility is not worth paying 4 mana, even if you support enchantment matters decks.
Eyes in the Skies - Getting 2 birds is pretty underwhelming, and getting 1 bird and something substantial isn't going to happen consistently enough.
Field of Souls - It takes 4 real creature deaths to be better than Triplicate Spirits, and Battle Screech is probably also going to outclass it most of the time. Your cube needs to be super grindy on sacrifice
First Response - It does have a ceiling of 2 tokens a turn, but setting it up to create even 1 consistently is too much set up.
Frantic Salvage - Too narrow unless you are playing a dedicated artifact cube.
Give No Ground - Eh… Your creature is likely to survive and it might prevent some damage getting through to you with the additional blocks, but the scenarios where you get better than a 2 for 1 aren't going to happen often enough for such a situational and expensive trick.
Glacial Plating - Assume you allow snow basics. Not doing anything the turn it comes down is still such a downer, especially at 4 mana.
Harmless Assault - Too situational. You can set up favorable blocks, but this costs 4 and relies on your opponent doing what you want them to.
Holy Mantle - The cheaper Spirit Mantle is better.
Improvised Armor - The extra toughness isn't worth the other upsides you get from Griffin Guide.
Strength of Unity - Not a big enough payoff for the hoops you jump through.
Summon the School - It looks like a cool engine card, but the likelihood of having a couple of merfolk already in play to start 'going off' is just too slim. Maybe one day there will be enough playable merfolk and this becomes a thing…
Sunbond - You can make life gain matters a thing, but this is too expensive.
Windborne Charge - There is potential to fly over the top and get in some damage, but it's too clunky at this mana cost at sorcery speed.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
None.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Charge Across the Araba Description - Of white's team pump options, this probably has the biggest risk vs. reward gap. Solid upsides are that the pump has a high ceiling and is also at instant speed; if you give 4 creatures +4/+4 that is going to be pretty nuts. If it doesn't win you the game, or set up the board for winning on your next swing, picking up your lands might really limit your board development. It will also suck if you are stuck on 4 lands or only a couple of plains in play. Instant speed removal on a key creature after picking up your lands is also probably going to hurt. Stir the Pride is probably 'safer' but this looks a lot more fun. Anchors - Supports -
Sphere of Safety Description - On it's own it is worse than Ghostly Prison, so the main reason to consider it is as part of a broader enchantment theme. In the right deck though (with supporting cards in the cube) it can provide a challenge to some game plans. Anchors - Prison Control, Enchantments Matter Supports -
Swell of Courage Description - It's in a slot with lots of similar options, but the flexibility here if you haven't had the opportunity to go wide is decent, and can make a decent top deck in more situations than a lot of similar cards. Anchors - Supports - Tokens / Go Wide, +1/+1 counters
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Miraculous Recovery Description - Instant speed and 5 mana makes this more like a (expensive) combat trick than a reanimator option, but could lead to some 2-for-1's. Anchors - Supports - Reanimator, +1/+1 counters
Roil's Retribution Description - It's going to be conditional on your opponent behaving the way you want, and sometimes it might be a 5 mana 1-for-1 kill spell which isn't great. The occasions where it turns into a blowout can make it worth considering, so it may depend on the prevalence of aggro decks that usually attack with low toughness creatures. Anchors - Supports -
Stir the Pride Description - It sits in a slot with lots of similar options. This is the one with the best base stat boost, with the lifelink side probably only coming into play when you've got 7 mana. Anchors - Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Arrow Volley Trap - The discount isn't likely to come up as often as the times you would want to target blocking creatures; cube Roil's Retribution if you want this effect.
Noble Purpose - I don't know what deck would want it. I could see board states where it would be good, but not a deck that would be able to take advantage of it consistently enough.
Noble Stand - I don't see why you would want this effect, but if you did, Noble Purpose seems much better.
Protection of the Hekma - It only prevents damage to you, not creatures you control, which makes its usefulness a bit worse.
Take Up Arms - There are more efficient token makers.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Spectral Procession Description - If you pay 4 mana for it, you are getting a very good deal and that isn't hard to achieve. It's unlikely any non-white deck would be willing to pay 6 mana for it, so it is usually considered a white card. Good in most scenarios, but if you play any cards that boost flyers, tokens or other team pump, you should definitely be cubing it. Anchors - Supports - Tokens, Skies, Sacrifice
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
None
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Feudkiller's Verdict Description - 10 life is a decent chunk, but you really need to get the Giant to be worth it. It might be occasionally bad against aggressive decks wehre you can't retaliate early, but it can be a decent stabiliser in a control deck. Anchors - Supports -
Triplicate Spirits Description - It's a decent token creator in it's own right, as it can come down early if you curve out. Not as consistently good as Spectral Procession, but a good additional token creator in white. Anchors - Supports - Tokens, Skies
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
None
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Cards are classified according to their colour identity in gatherer. This means that Jilt is a blue card. Hybrids are multi-colour, even if in practice they might be primarily played in one colour (Azorius Guildmage is often considered a white card for example). This is the easiest way to score these cards as this project progresses; this may be re-evaluated once this project is ‘finished’ and just requires maintenance. Where applicable, it will be noted the common approach to how the card is classified, but don't feel like you have to follow suit; do what works for you!
Most cubes only have limited space for true gold cards, and therefore most are evaluated with a ‘gold tax’; if they are only marginally better than a mono-coloured / hybrid analogue that will fit into more decks, they probably aren’t going to make the cut. Where appropriate, the closest analogue will be included in the description.
As most cubes do not include them, 3+ colour cards are not evaluated here.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Rakdos Cackler Description - The vanilla is bad, so you would only include if red and/or black aggro is something you push. But in those decks it is amazing, and having both power and toughness at 2 for a single mana with no meaningful long-term drawback is excellent. In a pinch, you DO have the option to play it as a vanilla if you just need a blocker. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Dryad Militant Description - Even if you don't support green aggro, the flexible mana cost is appealing over other vanilla white 2/1's, but is probably the best green aggro 1-drop. However, the graveyard hate might be something you want to avoid if you are trying to push archetypes that care about it. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Judge's Familiar Description - Doesn't really need anything in the way of support, and at worst is 1/1 evasive creature for 1 which is passable. Opponent can play around it as it is an on-board trick, but can slow down their sequence of plays. Anchors - Supports -
Tattermunge Maniac Description - The drawback forces this to only fit in red or green aggro decks that want to rush out of the gates, but is a reasonable addition to those decks. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Blistercoil Weird Description - Can work in a spells matters theme. The untap is not going to matter a lot in those decks, but can be used to present a surprise blocker. The Paradise Mantle 'combo' can exist in cube, allowing you to untap the Weird to generate mana to cast more spells, preferably cheap card draw so you can keep playing spells. Hard to pull off effectively in cube though. Anchors - Supports - Spells Matter
Slippery Bogle Description - Pillar of the 'hexproof' deck, but needs the right environment to work. Needs friends with hexproof, and sufficient equipment and auras to be a force to reckoned with. Anchors - Supports - Voltron / Hexproof
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Boros Recruit - Making a bad card available to 2 colours does not make it good.
Duergar Assailant - Too narrow.
Elvish Hexhunter - Needing to tap this makes it too slow.
Manaforge Cinder - This type of fixing not worth worrying about.
Nip Gwyllion - Just meh.
Odious Trow - Not efficient enough.
Oona's Gatewarden - It will just trade with something. If you don't kill it, sure you made it smaller... but you didn't kill it.
Scuzzback Scrapper - Most of the time is likely to just trade with something anyway.
Seedcradle Witch - It's not effective until mid-game, but combat with the mana open can make combat difficult for the opponent. The untap is mostly a bonus, but can turn your tapped attackers into blockers if required. The cost required however makes this too difficult to use. Makes me wish Viridian Joiner was playable.
Slitherhead - Bad as a vanilla creature, and the scavenge is not significant enough.
Stream Hopper - Not good enough.
Wild Cantor - The sacrifice is not often going to be worth it for a 1-off effect, even if for a single turn of acceleration the following turn. Can support Storm cards, but that is a narrow application.
Zealous Guardian - Not good enough.
Barkshell Blessing - 1 Description - Not the best base stats for a pump, but being able to effectively cast it twice makes it worth a look. On defense, can block with two creatures, then tap them to give them each the bonus. Situational, and value goes up in cubes with less removal and more focus on combat. Anchors - Supports -
Unplayables
Beckon Apparition - Not good enough.
Bioshift - Even if you support a +1/+1 theme, this is too narrow.
Cloud of the Dominus - Too narrow.
Dawnglow Infusion - Not enough life gain for the cost.
Dream Salvage - Too narrow; needs too much support to make this viable.
Edge of the Divinity - Too narrow.
Fossil Find - Random is bad, and the reorder will almost never matter.
Guttural Response - Too narrow.
Memory Sluice - An aggro mill deck is not viable in singleton peasant cube.
Riot Spikes - Not good enough.
Safewright Quest - In cube, you want your green land searchers to be more flexible and find other types of lands.
Scar - Not good enough.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Baleful Strix Description - A strong combination of abilities at a cheap price, acting as pseudo-removal against attackers without costing you a card. It's unique identity also makes it resilient to black removal commonly played in peasant cube; it is multicolored so it doesn't die to Ultimate Price, it is an artifact creature so it doesn't die to Go For the Throat, it is black so it doesn't die to Doom Blade. Anchors - Supports - Control
Burning-Tree Emissary Description - Of itself it is excellent value while promoting different styles of play. Aggro decks love it, being able to potentially drop 2 creatures on turn 2, or play and equip Bonesplitter on your 1-drop without taking off a turn from laying down creatures. It suits control a little less, but they can put down something to block with while also playing setup cards. It can support storm while being good elsewhere. If you only have 2 Forests or 2 Mountains, it can even fix your mana if that is what you need. Occasional hiccups when you drop this on turn 2 without having another play. Anchors - Supports - Aggro, Storm
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Putrid Leech Description - This is a solid aggro card with applications elsewhere as well. There might be occasions where you get hit by removal after you've activated and lost some life, but it can apply pressure quickly. If it is being attacked into, your opponent has to be willing to lose their best creature for the cost of 2 life. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
Qasali Pridemage Description - It's flexible and well costed, being a bear when you need it, while able to destroy multiple card types. The exalted is upside that can be relevant, either giving your 1-drop a leg up, or swinging in for 3 itself on turn 3. The exalted can also provide marginal support for a pants archetype, and is in the most common colours for that archetype. Anchors - Supports -
Rix Maadi Guildmage Description - Solid anchor card for Rakdos aggro. The first ability can make blocking difficult for your opponent. If they don't block because the first ability would be unfavorable, you have the opportunity to deal them more damage. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
Voltaic Brawler Description - Solid aggro creature for these colours. A 3/2 for 2 is already decent, but potentially being a 4/3 trampler for the first two attacks is even better. And it gets even better if you have some other energy cards to support it. Anchors - Supports - Aggro, Energy
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Azorius Guildmage Description - Often considered a white card in peasant cube circles, as the blue ability is rarely activated in practice. In that case, it can be an ok white card to tap down your opponents creatures, preferably during their upkeep to prevent attacks while enabling you to swing in, but it may be too slow for some environments. Anchors - Supports - Control
Deft Duelist Description - A 2 power first striker can hold off a number of attackers. You can get Youthful Knight in mono-white, but the shroud is likely to give some aggro decks conniptions while they stare at their spot removal. While you can't equip it, it can still be a serviceable attacker.
Anchors -
Supports -
Gruul Guildmage Description - The threat of activation of the pump is solid. The red ability provides bonus reach, but often leans more towards being a green card. Anchors - Supports -
Honored Crop-Captain Description - Solid beater for Boros aggro decks. Base stats are already fine for what you are paying, and pumping the rest of the team is also very good. Anchors - Supports -
Inkfathom Infiltrator Description - There isn't much to say apart from that it is ok as a clock for blue or black decks, serving a similar role to shadow creatures. Being hybrid means it doesn't have to take up a true multicolor slot (depending on how you count them). Can’t block is a drawback, but if you include a creature that can't be blocked, you want to be attacking anyway. Anchors - Supports - Aggro
Jhessian Infiltrator Description - It provides a clock, and is great with equipment. Not much else to say here; the only negative you could put forward is that it might not be that interesting or reduces interactivity. Anchors - Supports -
Korozda Guildmage Description - It provides cross synergy for sacrifice decks by being a sacrifice outlet, and token decks by creating tokens, all in the same effect. In ramp decks, it can provide evasion against some decks, while also providing a way to switch to a go wide strategy. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice, Tokens
River Hoopoe Description - The base creature isn't amazing, but could block some cheap aggro creatures in the early game. The investment required to activate makes it more likely to see play in Simic ramp decks, but the life gain can be pretty relevant in a stalled game or where your opponent is pressuring you with an evasive creature. Anchors - Supports - Ramp
Selesnya Guildmage Description - It's another bear with upside that can be played aggressively (curve out and pump on turn 4) or play the long game. Anchors - Supports - Tokens
Shambleshark Description - It's likely to attack for 3 on turn 3, which is solid. Plays into flash / go if you want to push that theme. Anchors - Supports - Flash / Go
Sky Terror Description - Two evasive abilities make this pretty hard to block. Supports aggro decks, but probably not horrible in control decks either, to chip in while controlling the ground or opposing flyers. Anchors - Supports -
Spike Jester Description - 3 haste power for 2 mana is strong and something you won't get at mono colored. It's pretty unexciting for a gold slot though. Anchors - Supports -
Stormchaser Mage Description - It can block some early creatures both on the ground and in the air, with the threat of prowess triggers making blocking decisions harder given it's toughness. Anchors - Spells Matters Supports -
Stun Sniper Description - It's a decent way of dealing with multiple creature types. Clear out tokens or aggro creatures, and tap down the larger ones you can't deal with. A fine role player. Anchors - Supports -
Sunhome Guildmage Description - Supports an aggressive go wide approach, with a backup plan as a mana sink to pump out tokens if you either stall, or want the game to go long.
Anchors -
Supports -
Tattermunge Witch Description - The threat of activation can mess with combat, and the trample can help with an alpha strike, especially if paired with midrange / ramp creatures. Curving out with the likes out Blastoderm / Flametongue Kavu could be nasty. Anchors - Supports -
Tidehollow Sculler Description - It's a Mesmeric Fiend variant, but with extra power and toughness that make it worth considering it as a gold card, as it will have actual impact on the board. You can use the same stack tricks. Anchors - Supports -
Truefire Paladin Description - Solid combination of abilities to make combat difficult for your opponent. Block? Use mana to trade up and /or first strike to gain board advantage. Don't block? Either push through extra damage, or leave mana open to reduce likelihood of incoming attacks. Anchors - Supports -
Winding Constrictor Description - A 2/3 for 2 is already a decent deal. Clearly supports +1/+1 counters where it is great, with some other incidental support (levelers, vanishing / fading). Probably the biggest downside is that there is a lot less counter support in black than there is in green. It's also not optional, so it's a nombo with a few cards, mainly cards with persist. Anchors - +1/+1 counters Supports -
Zameck Guildmage Description - While it's best if you already support a +1/+1 theme, it is still functional just for making your creatures larger. Might be worth noting the first ability stacks if you need a mana sink. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Akroan Hoplite Description - Attacking alone it is at least a bear, but has potential to deal a bit of damage if you can curve out. It might create some story-worthy moments, but the average case is more likely to be at or just above aggro creatures you could get a mono-colour. Anchors - Aggro Supports - Tokens
Cartel Aristocrat Description - Can be an option for the sacrifice / death trigger decks as a free sacrifice outlet, though is less exciting than other options. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Cavern Harpy Description - It supports self-bounce narrowly in blue/black, but those colours offers some good creatures to bounce (Shriekmaw, Nekrataal, Mulldrifter). The engine is slow, but once it is committed to the board, being able to block and then bounce can also be a good way to stem combat damage while resetting the engine. Narrow on the theme, but can be good in it. Anchors - Supports - Bounce
Chief of the Edge Description - There are enough generally playable warriors that you may consider this as a support card. You want to make sure you have sufficient Warriors particularly in black and white, as this will act as a signal card that it is supported. Anchors - Warrior Tribal Supports -
Deputy of Acquittals Description - The only reason you would play it is if you were going really deep on the self-bounce theme and wanted an(other) anchor card for Azorius. While this has upside over Whitemane Lion (you can play this onto an empty board), that is a very close mono colored alternative. Anchors - Bounce Supports -
Dimir Guildmage Description - The activation costs are fair... almost too fair. The sorcery speed of activations limits it, but in long games it has the opportunity to draw out some value. Anchors - Supports -
Flamewright Description - It isn't going to be good in most decks. Cube it if you want something for Boros control or something that spits out artifacts to support an artifact matters archetype or creatures to support sacrifice cards. It's hardly a win condition in and of itself. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice, artifact matters
Forerunner of Slaughter Description - 3/2 base stats are fine, and being able to give it haste if cast after turn 2 is nice. It doesn't really fill a hole you can't get in either of the colours though. It's unlikely you will have many other targets to give haste. Anchors - Supports - Colorless Matters
Frostburn Weird Description - It can be ok for blue and / or red control decks that want to stall early, while providing a potential threat later. It survives attacking 3/x's, and while it isn't primarily aggressive in nature it can attack into opposing 2/2's, 1/3's and 0/4's profitably. Anchors - Supports -
Goblin Electromancer Description - It's a clear signal card for a spells matters theme. Whether to include it for that theme depends on how you want that deck to play out. If it just plays its spells a turn earlier, a mana rock is more reliable than a vulnerable creature, and more decks will want mana rocks. If it is buying back spells or playing multiple spells a turn then this gets better. It does also help enable storm decks if that is something you are pushing. You might include this over more universally playable mana rocks if you want to push the spells matters deck rather than make it fight for mana rocks. Anchors - Spells Matters Supports - Storm
Goblin Legionnaire
Description - It's a flexible card. You get Ember Hauler in mono-red, and while the burn option is likely to be used more frequently, the damage prevention can sometimes save a critical creature, or let your biggest creature swing in with insurance. Anchors - Supports -
Horned Kavu Description - If you are playing this as a multi-color card, you really want it to be signalling it as some sort of theme in the colors. It doesn't have flash, so the main draw is great stats for cost and getting to re-use an ETB creature. There are some great ones in the colors (Eternal Witness, Flametongue Kavu) but it is narrow. It's leaning towards Magical Christmas Land, but Burning-Tree Emissary into this on turn 2 is a great aggro start. You can always bounce a mana Elf or another cheap aggro creature after combat. Anchors - Supports - Self-bounce
Icefeather Aven Description - Without morph, a 2/2 flyer for 2 is reasonable. 6 mana for morph + turn face up is a bit more than you want to pay for the effect compared to similar bounce effects on creatures, but you do get to activate it essentially at instant speed. It might be worth considering if you support morph, but it doesn't do much that mono color cards can't already do. Anchors - Supports -
Inkfathom Witch Description - The base stats plus fear is bad for its cost compared to a lot of other evasive creatures. The additional ability however might provide some support to those other evasive creatures if they are in your cube, and can add another layer of decision making to blocking choices for your opponent. Perhaps its biggest drawback is that it is in two colors that have the least amount of good tokens to support a 'go wide' strategy. Anchors - Supports -
Izzet Guildmage Description - It has potential as a value engine, but it requires a bit of mana to get going and is a bit durdly. It's probably not going to make it in faster cubes, and of course you need sufficient instants and sorceries at 2cc or less to consider it. You may also consider Nivix Guildmage. Anchors - Supports -
Kiora's Follower Description - It's a bear, but it is a 2 mana accelerator which usually don't cut the mustard. It might be worth considering if you support green / blue ramp with Utopia Sprawl and similar spells. However there aren't often a lot of creatures you need to untap. In the ramp deck, it can give those creatures pseudo-vigilance which it might need to stabilise. Anchors - Supports - Ramp
Legion Lieutenant Description - There might be just enough playable Vampires that you could throw the tribe a bone. Competing with other gold cards makes that a lot less likely though. Anchors - Vampire tribal Supports -
Mistmeadow Witch Description - It's an anchor card for a flicker archetype. The two things working against it is the cost, and the onboard threat. If your opponent has cheap instant removal, they can save it until after you have activated, which can lead to a decent tempo loss. Because of the cost it isn't amazing in some matchups or in fast cubes, but if you can get the engine running it can be good with other solid ETB effects. Anchors - Blink Supports -
Nimbus Swimmer Description - Skyrider Elf is not strictly better, in the sense that this can be become bigger than a 2/2 without splashing other colours, but it will serve better in that role most of the time. However Nimbus Swimmer can be a good card to ramp into, and is probably an indicator for the archetype. Anchors - Ramp Supports -
Nivix Guildmage Description - The first ability provides filtering that control decks want, though it is a bit on the expensive side. Being able to copy any instant or sorcery is nice (compared to Izzet Guildmage) but 4 mana is a lot. It's a nice value effect, but its cost is going to be too slow for most cubes. Anchors - Spells Matter Supports -
Rakdos Guildmage Description - It's slow, but flexible. In a long game the black ability can turn excess lands or other cards into removal or combat tricks against larger creatures, while also fueling any graveyard shenanigans you might support. The red ability is hard to use aggressively, but the tokens can be used as sacrifice fodder, or as blockers. Its usefulness is going to depend on the speed of your cube. Anchors - Supports -
Safehold Elite Description - It's fine as an anti-aggro staller, and fits well as fodder for sacrifice decks. You can get similar effects elsewhere, so it may depend on how you count hybrid in your cube. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Scab-Clan Mauler Description - It primarily belongs to RG aggro, but it is good in that deck. Needs enough aggro support at the 1 mana slot to get damage through. The menace on Stormblood Berserker is probably better than this if you want a mono-colored analogue. Anchors - Supports -
Shipwreck Singer Description - You are forcing your opponent to do what they probably wanted to be doing already. You can support this by pairing it with first strikers or other punishing cards, and it is a punisher card itself, which might prevent attacks all by itself from opponents who have chosen to go wide. Anchors - Supports -
Simic Guildmage Description - You need to be supporting a +1/+1 theme, preferably in green and blue, for this to be worth considering. Blue ability can be fun with white Pacifism type effects, or moving pump auras in the middle of combat. Also worth noting that it can 'counter' Control Magic effects. Anchors - +1/+1 counters Supports -
Skarrg Guildmage Description - Turning excess lands into 4/4's is good enough upside you don't see elsewhere to make this worth considering. Could be good in ramp or with effects like Land Tax so you've got a stream of lands to keep smashing towards your opponent. Anchors - Supports -
Skyrider Elf
Description - At worst, it is 2/2 flyer for GU which is efficient, with the opportunity for further growth. Most cube owners will want more than just efficiency, but it does have +1/+1 counters if you are pushing that theme. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 Counters
Somnomancer Description - It's a strict upgrade on Leonin Snarecaster, though worse than Azorius Arrester (apart from being hybrid). Only if you want to go deep on tempo creatures or you want both colors to have access. Anchors - Supports -
Steward of Valeron Description - It's not a bad combo of abilities; attack, then ramp. Only if you really want to push ramp in GW. Anchors - Supports - Ramp
Thundersong Trumpeter Description - It's fine in both roles, just not exciting. Anchors - Supports -
Tidehollow Strix Description - It's ok, but almost no reason to play this over Baleful Strix and little reason to play both. Anchors - Supports -
Underworld Coinsmith Description - On its own, it is a bear with a costly, but not inconsequential, form of reach. However, it demands that you support enchantment matters, as this will signal this to your drafters. Anchors - Enchantments Matter Supports -
Vizkopa Guildmage Description - Supports a life gain matters theme. If you aren't supporting that theme, don't put it in your cube. Anchors - Life gain Matters Supports -
Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage Description - It's super slow. Compared side by side, you can get similar results with Centaur Glade. While there is potential for this to copy something bigger, those tokens are few and far between at peasant (Rhino from Trostani's Summoner comes to mind). Might still be an option if you want to push tokens, or clearly signal it as a GW thing. Anchors - Supports -
Watchwolf Description - It's good stats for cost, but it is vanilla. Only if you really want to push GW aggro. Anchors - Supports -
Weapons Trainer Description - Fine base stats, so it might make the cut even if you don't draft any equipment. It's nice that it doesn't have to be equipped, so you can just drop the equipment and get the benefit straight away. Because the base stats are already decent, you don't need to go out of your way to add a whole bunch of extra equipment to your cube. Being an Ally is likely to just be incidental. Anchors - Supports - Equipment Matters
Wood Sage Description - Bad in most decks, but it does do a couple of things some decks might like. While it does nothing the turn it comes down, it fills the graveyard 4 cards a turn which some decks will appreciate. And while the ability won't hit very often, you can always dig for whatever creature suits the current board state as long as you remember what is in your deck. Combines well with top of library cards, such as Sylvan Library, Sensei's Divining Top to make sure you hit while also clearing away stuff you know you don't need. Anchors - Supports -
Zhur-Taa Druid Description - An accelerator while pinging away. You probably only want to consider it if you are taking a bloodthirst approach to your red / green section. Anchors - Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Acidic Sliver - Tribal.
Azorius First-Wing - It's efficient, but you need more than that to consider it.
Bant Sureblade - You aren't going to have the depth of multicolour for this to matter.
Battlegate Mimic - You won't have the triggers.
Battlewise Hoplite - It doesn't do enough.
Boros Guildmage - There are better options.
Boros Swiftblade - The extra point of toughness is pretty marginal over Fencing Ace and Viashino Slaughtermaster that you wouldn’t allow this to take up a multicolor spot.
Cartel Aristocrat - Not enough value to consider over other options.
Cautery Sliver - Tribal.
Ceredon Yearling - Mildly efficient, just not interesting enough.
Chief of the Scale - You can get the effect for all of your creatures on Veteran Armorer.
Coiling Oracle - If it whiffs, it's an Elvish Visionary. If it hits, it lets you accelerate. But it leaves behind a bad body. Just play Sakura-Tribe Elder or Rampant Growth in mono green instead of taking up a multi-color spot.
Crysalline Sliver - Tribal.
Darkheart Sliver - Tribal.
Dimir Infiltrator - It's 2 mana for 1 unblockable power. It's a better blocker if you need one, but if you are in block mode while you are playing unblockable creatures, you've lost anyway, and most burn that would take out the smaller analogues will also take this out. The transmute doesn't add enough to consider this.
Dire Fleet Captain - Too tribal.
Disciple of Deceit - The ability is a powerful one, but it has to untap which is unwieldy. It is either likely to be blocked by something else that can survive and then swing back at you, or blocked by a couple of bears that will kill it.
Duskmantle Guildmage - On it's own it takes 7 mana to cause your opponent to lose 2 life, so you need the triggers to work in other ways. 3 mana is a lot to keep up while waiting for your opponent to throw a spell on the stack, or for their creatrures to die in combat. The likes of Blood Artist do that in mono color and with much less investment required.
Emberstrike Duo - Even if you consistently trigger it once each turn, it still isn't that good. And on average it is probably going to be less than once per turn.
Esper Stormblade - This won't matter in vast majority of cubes.
Ethercaste Knight - On its own it can be a 2/4 attacker on turn 3 which is decent, but not exciting enough to use up a multi-colour slot on.
Gaea's Skyfolk - Skyrider Elf or Icefeather Aven are strictly better.
Galina's Knight - Doesn't do enough.
Ghostflame Sliver - Tribal.
Gobhobbler Rats - Not good enough.
Goblin Deathraiders - 3 trample power isn't nothing, but it isn't significant enough when this will die to the first thing that it runs into. That would be the case if this was mono, let alone multi-colored.
Goblin Legionnaire - You get Ember Hauler in mono red, which is far more likely to be activated than the damage prevention.
Goblin Outlander - Not good enough.
Golgari Guildmage - Both abilities are too slow to matter.
Grixis Grimblade - Not going to trigger often enough.
Grizzled Leotau - Vanilla is not what you want to be doing with your multi-colour slots.
Groudling Pouncer - The activation is too conditional.
Hibernation Sliver - Too tribal.
Jund Hackblade - Rarely going to be relevant.
Llanowar Dead - It doesn't do enough.
Llanowar Knight - It doesn't do enough.
Lurking Informant - Dakra Mystic serves a similar role better.
Marchesa's Smuggler - You can get mono blue versions. Even Amphin Pathamge is probably better, as with a 3 mana activation the haste isn't going to be operational very often.
Marsh Goblins - Bad.
Medicine Runner - It isn’t going to matter often enough.
Merfolk Mistbinder - There aren't enough plyable merfolk to make this worth it.
Mourning Thrull - It doesn't do enough.
Nacatl Outlander - It doesn't do enough.
Naya Hushblade - Won't be relevant often enough to matter.
New Prahv Guildmage - Granting your creatures flying isn't bad, but is intensive and in colours where you probably have the highest prevalence of flyers. The detain ability is too expensive to be of much use, even if it targets all permanents.
Nightsky Mimic - It isn't going to trigger often enough to matter.
Orzhov Guildmage - Unless your games go very long and you have a bunch mana, pay 1 more mana and get Drana's Emissary.
Puresight Merrow - To be able to untap this, you need to attack, and it's just a bear. While the filtering is nice, there are better cards to filter with.
Putrid Warrior - It doesn't do enough compared to other options.
Rakdos Shred-Freak - Better options.
Razorfin Hunter - There are decks that would play it, but Gelectrode is far more interesting.
Relentless Raptor - It suits Boros aggro decks and would fit in there just fine, but there are a lot of other options that can fill that role while being more flexible.
Rip-Clan Crasher - Doesn't do enough as a gold card.
Riverfall Mimic - Won't trigger anywhere near often enough.
Scarwood Goblins - Bad.
Selesnya Evangel - It's going to be too slow for most cubes and ties up 2 creatures, and only costing a single mana might look worthwhile to create an army of tokens, but it is too conditional.
Shadowstorm Vizier - Not going to trigger often enough.
Shivan Zombie - Too narrow.
Shorecrasher Mimic - Not going to be triggered enough.
Somnomancer - Apart from being hybrid, Azorius Arrester is better.
Sootstoke Kindler - Doesn't do enough.
Spined Sliver - Tribal.
Spiteflame Witch - It doesn't do enough.
Thoughtcutter Agent - It doesn't do enough.
Tithe Drinker - It's fine, but you can get the effect in mono colour.
Valeron Outlander - Too narrow.
Vedalken Ghoul - 2 mana and gold for a mostly unblocked 1/1 creature? Nope.
Vedalken Outlander - Too narrow.
Victual Sliver - Tribal.
Vodalian Zombie - Too narrow.
Wayward Servant - While there are few white zombie reward cards, there isn't enough density to really put this up for consideration.
Wojek Halberdiers - It's fine, you just aren't going to consider it over other options.
Woodlot Crawler - Too narrow.
Woodlurker Mimic - It won't trigger often enough.
Yavimaya Barbarian - Too narrow.
Zombie Outlander - Too narrow.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Lightning Helix Description - On pure power, this is an excellent card. Removal, reach and a buffer all at the same time. The reason you might not see it in lists is not because it isn't powerful, but is considered by some as a boring card. You can get burn (the main reason you care about this card) in red without needing to spend a gold slot. Anchors - Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Agony Warp Description - It has flexibility. It can act just like a 2 colour Last Gasp to take out an opposing creature. Or you can cast before combat to kill a blocker, and turn down another blocker that would otherwise trade, either forcing a 2 for 1 or pushing damage through. Or cast mid-combat after blocks. Anchors - Supports -
Azorius Charm Description - Cheap enough and flexible enough modes to consider. In go wide decks the lifelink can give you a decent buff if you alpha swing, while also being reasonable removal. At worst, you can always cycle it. Anchors - Supports - Life Gain Matters
Boros Charm Description - Each mode brings enough to the table that combined with the flexibility this is a decent package. The first mode supplies reach, and unless the other modes are relevant you may hold onto it and cast this mode as a finisher. The second and third apply in similar situations, either letting your creatures survive an alpha strike made against you, or helping you make one yourself. The second mode has fringe benefit of preventing artifact and enchantment destruction as well. Anchors - Supports -
Curse of Chains Description - Reasonable removal across two colours. Each colour has options which are arguably better (activated abilities can still be played, though the tapping can make timing awkward for your opponent), but this isn't far behind and the hybrid lets it fit more decks. Anchors - Supports -
Gerrard's Verdict Description - It's one of few 2 mana discard spells that creates advantage, with the upside that if your opponent has excess lands it makes the decision to discard them harder. Anchors - Supports -
Izzet Charm Description - Flexible, with each of the modes being useful in a variety of situations. At its worst, it can always be a poor burn spell, while offering support to graveyard matters themes with the final mode. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Lim-Dul's Vault Description - It's card disadvantage, but is still a great way to tutor at peasant, particularly as an instant. It can help you find the answer or threat that you need, and set up the next 5 draws, lettng you play out your plays. Anchors - Supports -
Manamorphose Description - A one-shot mana fixer without costing you a card. This can be good if you want to support multi-colour decks, and it can also be a Storm ritual if that is what you are looking for, drop an Illusory Angel or support surge spells. Anchors - Supports - Storm, Spells Matter
Pit Fight Description - Reasonable hybrid card, although if you are playing red you are more likely to pick almost any burn spell over this. It's best upside is that it is instant which is not common on fight spells. Anchors - Supports -
Savage Twister Description - Can be a board clearer for midrange or ramp decks to clear out opposing aggro creatures, or for a green splash in a red sweeper deck. Anchors - Supports - Sweeper, Ramp
Selesnya Charm Description - It's a flexible card, where each mode is fine on its own. The token is perhaps a smidge under where you would like it to be, but the flexibility of also being a pump spell or a removal spell means it will always have a role to play. Anchors - Supports -
Sigil Blessing Description - It's unassuming, but fine for go wide decks while at least being a Giant Growth if you only have one thing on the table. Anchors - Supports -
Simic Charm Description - Nearly every mode is relevant that you wouldn't be unhappy playing this in most green blue decks. Win combat, counter removal, or bounce a creature if you need to buy time. Anchors - Supports -
Terminate Description - It kills stuff dead. It contains a lot of raw power. The main reason you won't see it in lists is because many cube owners want their gold slots to be more interesting than this, and while better than most mono-black versions, it isn't by much. Anchors - Supports -
Zealous Persecution Description - It will be conditional on the board state, but it can really turn around combat, whether you are the beatdown or not. Sometimes you might be able to cast before combat to remove 1 toughness blockers altogether before swinging. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Call of the Conclave Description - It just gives you a vanilla creature which you can get with Watchwolf. It's a good rate, with downside if it is bounced, and upside if you play it with specific token boosters. But it's boring. Anchors - Supports - Tokens
Cauldron Haze Description - Assumption without having played it personally: It can be an interesting trick to save your team during combat, retrigger ETB effects, or get extra mileage out of sacrifice effects. It does require some timing and the right board state to make sure it isnt 'regen a creature and put a -1/-1 counter on it', but isn't too difficult to get value. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Drown in Filth Description - If you are pushing graveyard matters decks in BG this can be an anchor card. If you aren't pushing a graveyard deck, it doesn't have a place in your cube. Marginally better the more lands that sacrifice for effect you include in your cube. Anchors - Graveyard Matters Supports -
Fate Transfer Description - You need to be pretty deep on +1/+1 counters throughout your cube, but if you do, this can be a powerful card to steal counters from your opponent. It moves other counters, but you aren't likely to have many others. Anchors - +1/+1 Counters Supports -
Golgari Charm Description - You wouldn't play this if it was just a single mode, but the flexibility of having all three will give it something to do in most games. Anchors - Supports -
Grisly Salvage Description - You would probably only include it in your cube if you push graveyard themes in BG, but is still playable if you are just filtering for a card you need. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Hidden Stockpile Description - It's a sacrifice outlet and a reward all in one. However it is going to be inconsistent, and it only works on your turn so you can't chump block. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Mask of Riddles Description - It has a unique effect, providing both evasion and a saboteur effect. While the combination is unique, something like Curiosity gives you the biggest draw of this sort of card without needing to dip into gold cards. Anchors - Supports -
Scarscale Ritual Description - It has a pretty meh baseline. You would want to seed ways to take advantage of it to consider it and reward synergies or careful play, such as Undying creatures, or casting before sacrificing a creature that can survive the counter placement. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Secret Plans Description - You need a fairly big critical mass of morph creatures, preferably in blue and green, to consider this. It's only good in that deck, but you might consider making it an anchor card. Anchors - Morph Supports -
Seeds of Strength Description - It might see play in other decks, but probably the only reason you would play this over other pump options is if you have a contingent of creatures with Heroic in your cube. Anchors - Supports - Heroic
Sterling Grove Description - It might have a place if you are really pushing an enchantment theme, especially if supported by enchantment creatures to take better advantage of the shroud. The tutoring can help particularly in conjunction with the likes of Banishing Light and other enchantment based answer cards. Anchors - Enchantment Matters Supports -
Sundering Growth Description - It's mostly a Disenchant / Naturalize, but the flexibility of the hybrid can be misleading, as requiring double of one colour if you aren't Selesnya will limit your plays. While most cubes have a reasonable number of tokens, the populate is going to be a miss sometimes, but your mileage may vary. Anchors - Supports -
Thopter Foundry Description - It's really a case of having enough other artifacts in your cube to sacrifice, and you would need to support the 'artifact deck' to make it worthwhile. Combos with Sword of the Meek, but that is not great on its own. Can also be friends with Epochrasite and Perilous Myr. It's not going to be worth it unless you have enough of these other cards to draft around it. Anchors - Supports - Artifacts
Turn to Mist Description - ok support for the blink archetype, while still being a maginally playable card elsewhere (flicker out attackers). Anchors - Blink Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Angelic Shield - Doesn't do enough.
Batwing Brute - Neither mode alone is worth inclusion. Together is ok, but it isn't enough to get this over the line and into your cube as a gold card.
Captain's Maneuver - It's a lot of mana when you have access to Harm's Way and similar in mono color.
Castigate - The exile isn't significant enough that you would pay two and force a gold card with other options in mono-black.
Chemister's Trick - Not good enough.
Colossal Might - It's not better enough than mono options to consider spending a gold slot on it. Predator's Strike is the closest analogy.
Conjurer's Ban - Too narrow for cube.
Countersquall - The lifeloss isn't good enough upside compared to the restriction.
Crystallization - White has better options.
Dark Heart of the Woods - Too narrow, Zuran Orb is more flexible.
Demonspine Whip - It could have some upside in some decks, but you have to spend 4 mana before you are starting to benefit. The mana investment it demands might be ok in slow decks that can take advantage of it, but being multi-colored restricts it too much.
Desperate Stand - The base effect is not better than what you can get at mono-colour, and a gold strive cost is hard to meet.
Destructive Revelry - The 2 damage over Naturalise does not warrant wasting a gold slot on this.
Diabolic Vision - It lets you dig, but it doesn't clear cards you don't want. Options like Impulse mean this is not worth a slot.
Dimir Charm - The first two modes are too narrow, and the third is not worth the card disadvantage.
Double Cleave - It doesn’t stand out among other options.
Dramatic Rescue - It doesn't do enough over mono-coloured bounce options.
Energy Arc - It's rarely better than a Holy Day, which you aren't playing either.
Executioner's Swing - Too restrictive.
Favor of the Overbeing - It's fine on a GU creature. Which will be almost never. Which means it is bad.
Fists of the Demigod - Too narrow.
Gerrard's Command - This is an ok card, but it's not enough extra over mono-green pump options. Savage Surge is the closest analogy if you want an untap surprise blocker.
Ground Assault - Takes too long to be better than other options, especially as a gold sorcery.
Gruul Charm - One mode is super narrow and the others don't do enough.
Heroes' Reunion - You can get better options in mono that you also don't want.
Hindering Light -
Too narrow for a gold card.
Hull Breach - It has flexibility going for it, but it isn't going to be better than Naturalise often enough, which is also instant speed.
Hydroform - While you could use this as a surprise blocker, a 3/3 is going to die to enough things that it isn't worth losing a land over. On the attack, it's a pretty conditional Lava Spike.
Inside Out - Unless you really want the hybrid, this costs twice Twisted Image.
Kaervek's Purge - You aren't going to want to play this over Terminate.
Kin-Tree Invocation - It needs to be at least a 3/3, preferably more, to be worth the downside that you can't cast it on curve, or at any time you don't have a board presence. It might be nice as a turn 3 play following a Wall of Blossoms, but it doesn't seem worth pursuing.
Leap of Flame - The combination of the effect isn't terrible but not worth it on its own, and gold replicate costs are awkward.
Magefire Wings - Doesn’t do enough as a gold card.
Malicious Advice - Not worth the life loss.
Martial Glory - Doesn't do enough.
Necrogenesis - Repeat 2 mana for a 1/1 is not a bad deal, but the requirement for cards to be in the graveyard marginalises it too much.
Orzhov Charm - The Vendetta mode is going to be the most played option, which you can get for a single black mana. The other effects are going to be rarely played.
Overrule - The extra mana over Condescend is significant, and the life gain doesn't add enough.
Paranoid Delusions - You won't be making a mill deck with this card.
Prismatic Boon - Not efficient enough.
Psychic Drain - The niche that it fits in is probably one you don't need filled. It can fill your graveyard while giving you a life buffer, but otherwise doesn't affect the board and there are better cards for both elements in graveyard decks.
Rakdos Charm - None of the modes are effective enough.
Reborn Hope - Too narrow.
Reknit - Better protection effects available.
Ride DOwn - Just get better removal in the first place. Especially as a gold card.
Sangrite Backlash - If you can't kill their creature, it is bad, and if your creature would survive, it becomes really easy to kill.
Sealed Fate - Doesn't do enough.
Search Warrant - Doesn't do enough.
Shattering Blow - It's hybrid, but the effect itself is still narrow.
Shield of the Righteous - If you want that effect, just get Wall of Frost. This doesn't provide enough value elsewhere.
Simoon - Electrickery exists.
Sleeper's Robe - Mask of Riddles is a permanent.
Spatial Binding - There isn't a deck that cares about this.
Squee's Embrace - Doesn't do enough.
Surge of Strength - The additional discard makes this difficult to consider.
Swerve - Too narrow.
Teleportal - While it could be powerful, being a gold card it is forcing your decks to play in a particular way, and it needs too many things to go right.
Trace of Abundance - Doesn't do enough to consider over mono-green options.
Treasure Find - It's worse than Regrowth, and not something you want to spend a gold slot on.
Vitalizing Cascade - Bad.
Warped Physique - Too inconsistent to be good.
Wings of Aesthir - Not good enough as a gold card.
Wings of Hope - Not good enough as a gold card.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Kitchen Finks Description - One of peasants best 'value' creatures before even considering potential synergies. Being a 3/2 for 3 that comes back for free as a 2/1 is already excellent in any deck before you toss on 4 points of life gain. Aggro gets to keep attacking even if it trades the first time. Control gets a life gain boost as well as potentially getting a 2 for 1 off trading against incoming aggro guys. Most cubes inherently have synergistic ways of getting even more value, such as putting +1/+1 counters on it so it keeps coming back, or flickering it to reset it while gaining more life. PLUS it has a flexible casting cost, and goes in just about every green or white deck. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters, bounce / flicker
Reflector Mage Description - An excellent card in virtually any deck that can play it. Aggro gets to put a reasonable stat body on the board while reducing the opponents board; great for aggro to push the advantage. It puts a blocker on the board while setting back your opponents team; great for control decks on defense. Usually they will have something else to play, but if they are in top deck mode and draw a land the next turn, it can be extra punishing. Anchors - Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Psychatog Description - It can threaten to end games out of nowhere. An attrition / control deck can get a 'tog later in the game that is hard to deal with. Even an aggro deck with a good start can threaten a tog with power 5 or greater early in the game; sometimes a weak card or two in your hand is worth running it into blockers you want to remove. Free discard as well as being able to use the graveyard as a resource makes it a fine card for Dimir graveyard focused decks. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Shadowmage Infiltrator Description - It isn't great against the decks that can block it, but unless your opponent is playing monoblack you are still going to be able to sneak him past sometimes. Evasive damage and card draw every turn is very strong. Anchors - Supports -
Shardless Agent Description - Just a straight up value card that provides plenty of it. A 2/2 for 3 is not great on it's own, but when it comes with 'draw a cheap business spell and play it for free' it becomes very good. It doesn't work as well with reactive spells, but it is always a 'may' ability. Anchors - Supports -
Trygon Predator Description - A decent option for giving decks ways to repeat deal with artifacts and enchantments. The creature is decent on its own, so it's a low opportunity cost to include artifact / enchantment destruction without a subuptimal card if there aren't any targets. Anchors - Supports -
Wall of Denial Description - It's fine at completely blanking most attackers, and can buy Azorius decks time. Go wide decks can attack around it because it has 0 power, but it is eschewed in some cubes for being a bit blunt, and decks that want to rely on a lower number but larger threats might get stonewalled. If you include it, you might consider edict effects or deathtouch creatures / combat tricks as additional ways to deal with it. Anchors - Control Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Ashenmoor Gouger Description - It's not subtle, but it's effective enough in an aggro deck that wants to smash with big dumb guys. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
Bloodwater Entity - 2 Description - Good baseline for what you are paying, and while it doesn't generate card advantage, the card quality is still decent, as well as guaranteeing a prowess trigger. Anchors - Spells Matter Supports -
Boggart Ram-Gang Description - Solid in the majority of RG decks, the haste makes it smash quickly, and the wither can break through defensive creatures. In a pinch it can sit back and threaten to shrink an incoming fatty to the point where your other creatures can deal with it. Anchors - Supports -
Bounding Krasis Description - It's a fine value creature. Being able to flash it a 3/3 for 3 is solid for any Simic deck. You can surprise block, and potentially untap something else for additional surprise. Or you can cast at the end of your opponents turn to give you an unexpected attacker the following turn while tapping down something they just cast. If you want to look for a downside, aside from flash / go it doesn't really support a specific archetype if that is what you are looking for in your gold cards. Anchors - Supports -
Catacomb Sifter Description - A decent value creature, giving you 3/4 worth of stats for 3. It points to a sacrifice archetype, though at times you might get multiple triggers in the same turn, and multiple scry 1 triggers don't always stack well if you've already found a card you want to keep on top. It's still fine value even in decks that don't have sacrifice elements. Anchors - Supports -
Drana's Emissary Description - A fine value creature, providing some extra reach for Orzhov aggro decks, or providing some inevitability to a control deck. You can go a little deeper and support it more specifically with life gain matters. Anchors - Supports - Life gain matters
Dreg Mangler Description - 3/3 haste for 3 is reasonable on its own. On that basis, the scavenge can be considered a bonus when you have the 5 mana and the right board state, while also being marginal support for self-mill / graveyard themes. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Elusive Krasis Description - This mutant fish comes down as an ok blocker, and presumably shouldn't be hard to get up to 3 power to swing in with. It might not be an ideal top deck late in the game, but it can break through board stalls. Anchors - Supports -
Enigma Drake Description - You don’t need to really heavy on the spells to make this decent. The 4 toughness puts it out the range of some of the more common burn spells, and lets it block reasonably well even if it's power isn't huge. It doesn't take a huge amount of effort to make it decent. Anchors - Supports -
Fanatic of Xenagos Description - Either mode is reasonable. It doesn't support anything particular, it's just decent value for RG aggro or midrange. Anchors - Supports -
Gelectrode Description - It's a fine spells matters signal card. Even if 2 points in a turn is only occasional, it still increases the number of creatures you can clear from the opposite side of the board, particularly when combined with combat tricks. Anchors - Spells Matters Supports -
Hellhole Flailer Description - It's often going to come down as a 4/3 for 3 which is solid. 3 toughness means it isn't going to too difficult to deal with, but it does come with built in reach. Don't count on it doing more than 4 damage, but occasionally a pump spell or equipment can give it an extra boost. Anchors - Supports -
Lorescale Coatl Description - It's hard to say it is an archetype, but this is among a few UG cards that reward you for drawing more cards. It's solid, and can attack as a 3/3 for 3 on curve, but has the potential to get large, particularly if supported by looters, cantrips or other card draw. Obvious support card if you care about +1/+1 counters. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Lyev Skyknight Description - A 3 power flyer for 3 without a drawback (except for low toughness) is fine out of the gate, and the detain helps you race, getting in a creature when you may have had poor attacks, while preventing a crack back before you start swinging in with your flyer. Anchors - Supports -
Nyx Weaver Description - It's a clear archetype signal for graveyard matters themes, particularly for pushing the grindy versions. It fills the yard, and can get back a key card for the deck that gets milled away. Anchors - Graveyard Matters Supports -
Obelisk Spider Description - If you are looking for a defensive Golgari creature, this is a decent option and acts better than a 2/4 in that role. The -1/-1 counter stacks with combat damage, so it can take out x/2's, and there are situations where the -1/-1 counters really disincentivize your opponent attacking. E.g. Two 3/3's which would normally just attack into a 2/4. Bad at attacking, but you would cube it if your Golgari decks spend time setting up graveyard interactions or are otherwise grindy. Anchors - Supports -
Plaxcaster Frogling Description - It's a 3/3 for 3 with a few upsides; inherently benefits from +1/+1 'lords', can give at least itself shroud, and can share around its counters if there is a benefit to doing so. If your +1/+1 decks are grindy, the shroud can help protect your creatures as you go tall. Anchors - +1/+1 counters Supports -
Plumeveil Description - You are going to kill a decent number of incoming creatures for your 3 mana, while providing a nice blocker to deter future attacks. Gives Azorius control decks a nice tool. Anchors - Control Supports -
Rhox War Monk Description - It's a fine collection of stats and abilities for 3 mana. About the best on offer for this 3 colour combination, but it isn't likely to make you reach for that third colour unless you have good fixing. Anchors - Supports -
Shambling Remains Description - It's pretty much a straight up aggro card for Rakdos. It might be a fringe inclusion in self-mill decks, but if you include this in your cube it is because you want to beat face. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
Shapers of Nature Description - The activated abilities aren't cheap, but you start with an acceptable stat line for the cost. Works well on its own, while being a card that benefits from a +1/+1 counter theme. Anchors - +1/+1 counters Supports -
Skyknight Legionnaire Description - It's fine for Boros aggro, if a little unexciting. Anchors - Supports -
Spellheart Chimera Description - A fine signal card for the spells matters deck, with a decent combo of scaling power, evasion, and the ability to steamroll over spirit tokens or whatever chumpers the opponent might put in the way. The 3 toughness might make it slightly vulnerable, but if protected and your opponent has limited ways to deal with it, it has the potential to win games single-handedly. Anchors - Spells Matters Supports -
Sprouting Thrinax Description - Best in class for these 3 colours. A hard to cast 3/3 for 3 wouldn't be good enough, but there is plenty of value in the death trigger. Anchors - Supports -
Storm Fleet Sprinter Description - It hits for 2 every turn including when it comes into play which is fine, especially if you can give it some pants to wear. If you want to consider it a downside, while the haste is unique, you can get mono-blue unblockables instead of using up a gold slot. Anchors - Supports -
Void Grafter Description - Fine value card. 2/4 for 3 mana with flash is going to jump in front of Borderland Marauders and the like often enough for you to feel good about it. 3 mana is a lot to hold up, but you can use the ETB trigger to counter removal or other undesirable effects. Anchors - Supports - Flash / Go
Wee Dragonauts Description - I'm not sure where this sits in the scale of Izzet spells matters cards. Preferred over Mercurial Geists? Anchors - Spells Matters Supports -
Whirler Virtuoso Description - Solid enough baseline. You probably want to have either an energy theme or an artifact theme in these colours, but you'd still play it in the majority of generic blue/red decks. Anchors - Supports - Energy
Wilt-Leaf Cavaliers Description - Decent combo of stats and ability, able to attack well on curve while holding off attackers. It's fine as a Selesnya aggro / midrange filler if that is what you are looking for. Anchors - Supports -
Woolly Thoctar Description - It's a vanilla, but it makes up for it by being massive if you can cast it on curve, and even at a turn or 2 behind it still matches up with other creatures well enough. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Bane Alley Broker Description - It's a Merfolk Looter that costs 1 more, can block better, can 'draw' cards if you need to recover them later, with downside of not supporting graveyard themes like most Looters. It's seems fine for grindy games, but it isn't a standout. Anchors - Supports -
Blood-Cursed Knight Description - A 4/3 lifelinker for 3 mana is amazing, with a failcase that is underwhelming. You need enough support for an enchantment theme in both black and white to consider it. Anchors - Enchantment Matters Supports -
Chronicler of Heroes Description - 3/3 for 3, draw a card is nice value. You need to be heavily supporting it with other +1/+1 creatures however, and it does compete with similar reward cards. Anchors - +1/+1 counters Supports -
Diregraf Captain Description -It's a bit lacklustre on it's own; you can get better deathtouchers in mono-black. However it obviously supports zombie tribal, though you may have to reach a little to get enough blue zombies. Anchors - Zombie Tribal Supports -
Duergar Hedge-Mage Description - It's nice flexibility, but it isn't particularly amazing. Anchors - Supports -
Flayer Drone Description - An unconditional 3 power first striker isn't something you usually get for 3 mana, however options in red like Splatter Thug or Blood Ogre are likely to be preferred mono-options despite their conditions. Anchors - Supports - Colorless Matters
Fleetfoot Panther Description - It's nice stats for the cost, and being able to flash it in so you can surprise block might even be worth bouncing something without an ETB ability. It can also save something from removal, but ultimately this is pretty conditional given that it forces you into Selesnya. Anchors - Supports - Bounce
Hearthfire Hobgoblin Description - It's a narrow archetype card, but if you provide enough support for a pants / double strike archetype (auras and pump spells) it is fine. Anchors - Pants / Doublestrike Supports -
Herald of Kozilek Description - It's 3 mana for a 2/4 which is reasonable. However you really need to pushing a colorless / artifact matters theme to consider it. Anchors - Colorless Matters / Artifact Matters Supports -
Immerwolf Description - There probably aren't enough wolves or werewolves in most cubes to warrant this, but it isn't beyond reason to go extra deep and play all the best red and green ones. It's theorycubing, but you are probably sacrificing some other archetypes / power to make that happen. Anchors - Wolf Tribal Supports -
Iroa's Champion Description - It's a narrow archetype card, but if you provide enough support for a pants / double strike archetype (auras and pump spells) it is fine. Anchors - Pants / Doublestrike Supports -
Izzet Staticaster Description - The best comparison is Gelectrode. This can block without dying, it can take out small opposing token swarms, and you can flash it in midcombat to block and / or surprise ping something. Downside is that it can only hit players, and comapred to Gelectrode can never ping something twice in a turn. The reach on Gelectrode is probably enough to outweigh the upsides here (as well as being a clearer signal for an archetype), but it is close. Anchors - Supports -
Joraga Auxiliary Description - It's about as grindy as it gets. It can do some work in a board stall situation, but it does require two other targets. You would need a slower cube to give it the breathing room it needs to shine. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Kathari Bomber Description - Not sure what to make of this. Not imagining many play situations where I'm excited to play it, but it can create 4 goblin tokens if it gets through. Anchors - Supports -
Necrotic Sliver Description - There are few peasant legal cards that can destroy any permanent, so this is likely to make it into most Orzhov decks without any tribal support. However, be aware it is a questionable design choice, as drafters might think a sliver tribal deck is supported. Anchors - Supports -
Nivix Cyclops Description - It's an ok support card for spells matters. It probably blocks a little better than other options (thus keeping you alive to cast more spells), but it can't punch through as easily, so is a little less desirable than the rest of the field. Anchors - Spells Matters Supports -
Noggle Bandit Description - How good it is will depend on how many creatures with defender are in your cube. Most aren't going to have a huge amount, making this close to a Phantom Warrior with a flexible casting cost, but you will be sad when it faces a Wall of Blossoms et al. Anchors - Supports -
Noggle Hedge-Mage Description - The blue effect lets you develop your board while getting attackers through. The red effect only hitting players isn't so great and probably won't be making most mono-red decks, so you might consider it for your cube as a blue+ card if you want more tempo effects. Anchors - Supports - Tempo
Qasali Ambusher
Description - A 3 mana 2/3 reach is already on the 'meh' side before you factor in that it is a gold card. What makes the difference is being able to play it for free. You are going to get attacked at some point in the game, allowing you to play this for free if you have the right land base. Playing out a 2 or 3 drop and then dropping this for free sounds like good board development. A bit reliant on what your opponent is doing, but if your opponent is on the back foot then you are probably winning anyway.
Anchors -
Supports -
Quillspike Description - This is quirky and needs the right environment to really make the most of it, but it already plays nicely with some commonly played cards. Devoted Druid turns this into an arbitrarily large creature, while also being friends with Kitchen Finks and Murderous Redcap. You'll probably want to go a bit deeper than that to consider it though. Anchors - Supports -
Rendclaw Trow Description - It's slanted to control, but the combination of wither and persist can help deal with a variety of board states. Aggro getting you down? Deal with that 3/2 and 2/1 on consecutive turns. Sentinel Spider coming in? Wither it down over a couple of turns while trying to find extra blockers. It isn't as hot on the attack though. Anchors - Supports -
Renegade Rallier Description - It can provide some value, but it is a bit clunky. Devoted Crop-Mate is a similar mono-colored option that can be played without anything in your graveyard. Anchors - Supports -
Restless Apparition Description - Threat of activation can help you get through, but in that case it is a 2 power creature for 3 mana. The pump plus persist give it just enough to warrant consideration; threatening to pump it twice in the late game can make for difficult choices on defense. Anchors - Supports -
Rogue Refiner Description - Forget the energy, this is just a fine value creature. Doesn't really support anything specific, apart from being a bounce / blink target. Anchors - Supports -
Shambling Shell Description - It's a self-mill card that gets itself into the graveyard easily. Using your draw step to get a +1/+1 counter on something just to fill your yard is probably a trap, but 3 power means it should be able to trade with attackers. Less generically powerful than something like Dreg Mangler, but you might prefer this if you are specifically looking for graveyard fillers. Anchors - Graveyard Matters Supports - +1/+1 counters
Silkbind Faerie Description - It can serve in a control deck, with the option of attacking if the coast is clear, and then tapping down their best attacker while being able to block small fries. 2 mana investment is a bit more than you want to pay. The easiest comparison is Goldmeadow Harrier which is cheaper and can lock something down at any time, it doesn't need to be tapped first. The Faerie can get in chip damage and tap down stuff that would block it. Faeries can wear pants and attack while still locking down the opponent and being able to block with its pants on. Goldmeadow Harrier is the 'better' card, but you might consider this for some of the niche interactions. Bonus niche interaction - Viridian Bow. Anchors - Supports -
Souls of the Faultless Description - It's narrow and has a tricky casting cost, but it does provide a signal for an Orzhov bleed / control deck. It does make it hard for an opponent to attack into you profitably with ground troops, and even when you get to the point where you have to chump, you get at least an 8 point life swing. Anchors - Supports - Control, extort / drain
Trestle Troll Description - The regeneration is expensive, but it blanks most x/1's, slows down aggro ground and sky assaults, and when they've got creatures that could break through, you can lean on the regeneration. Still, it fills a niche that most cubes don't need filling. Anchors - Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an
Azorius Aethermage - You are paying 3 mana for a 1/1, so it had better be drawing you cards. It's a clear signal card, but you need to go too deep. The dash mechanic fits nicely without being too parasitic, but this is a 2 colour card and dash isn't in either of those colours.
Beetleform Mage - You want more upfront for your investment.
Blood Cultist - There are better mono-red pingers with haste or other abilities; this isn't likely to get in combat any time quickly.
Bloodied Ghost - The 'upside' is that you if you can remove the -1/-1 counter it becomes a decent size for its cost, but it's too many hoops for not a big enough payoff.
Citadel Castellan - If it comes down on curve and get through, a 4/5 vigilance isn't bad, but it just doesn't really compete with other gold options.
Crag Puca - There might be some decks that would play it, but there doesn't seem a reason to cube it.
Deathcult Rogue - You can get better blue versions, and you can get other evasion creatures in black. The flexible casting cost doesn't really make up for it.
Drakewing Krasis - The extra point of power doesn't seem enough to recommend it over Trygon Predator or more generally over some other Simic options.
Drogskol Captain - There aren't that many playable spirits that aren't flying, so there aren't a lot of incentives to consider this over Thunderclap Wyvern. The hexproof is nice, but they can still target this.
Duergar Mine-Captain - It doesn't compare favourably to stuff that is always on.
Ebony Treefolk - It isn't a bad card, but it competes with Dreg Mangler at the same mana cost to fill a similar role, and there are few decks where you would want this over the Mangler.
Edgewalker - There are a bunch of Clerics you might already play, but you aren't likely to have the density in a single deck to make this payoff worth it.
Empyreal Voyager - Trygon Predator plays in a similar space and the triggered ability there is going to matter a lot more, and this isn't really enough to push an energy theme.
Esper Sojourners - This is something I would be much happier to play as a blue card than a gold card, and I'm not happy about this as a blue card.
Gilder Bairn - This is a cool ability, but it isn't good in combat and getting it tapped is too unreliable.
Goblin Flectomancer - The casting cost is too awkward and the payoff not big enough.
Goblin Test Pilot - Random? Can hit you, or creatures you control including itself? Nope.
Godtracker of Jund - This is not going to trigger often enough; Abzan Beastmaster, Elemental Bond and Garruk's Packleader all seem like better similar options.
Gwyllion Hedge-Mage - It's a slightly worse Tooth Collector for black, and a slightly worse Attended Knight for white. It only becomes really good in Orzhov when you can get both triggers, and it doesn't consistent enough.
Hag Hedge-Mage - The black side is probably ok, but the green side is a bit meh to put this out of contention.
Illusory Demon - Evasive 4 power for 3 mana sounds good, but the drawback is too much. Even as your fourth spell in an aggro deck where you are ahead, you need to still interact with how your opponent responds.
Jagged Poppet - The ceiling is Magical Christmas Land compared to many other 'safer' drawback creatures at this cost. If you have cards in your hand, this card just flatout sucks.
Jhessian Balmgiver - It costs you 3 mana and a card compared to the low opportunity cost of Rogue's Passage.
Jungle Creeper - It isn't efficient enough. A deck that could take advantage of this would be better served by cubing any number of other graveyard oriented Golgari cards.
Jungle Troll - It's close enough to strictly worse than the Mire Boa and River Boa that you would never consider this, especially at the price of a gold slot.
Kederekt Creeper - It's a nice combo of abilities, but not worth paying 3 different colours for.
Khenra Charioteer - It looks fair, but just not strong enough compared to other Gruul options.
Kingpin's Pet - While it is still going to play fine in most Orzhov decks, it is hard to recommend if you are already playing Drana's Emissary.
Knotvine Mystic - It's pretty specific fixing, you would just play an artifact version that accelerates you by two.
Mindmelter - 3 mana 2/2 that can’t be blocked is fine, but you can get that in mono-blue. Only if you have enough colorless mana sources to make this an ok control card.
Mortus Strider - It's too small and slow to abuse in the majority of cubes, especially for a gold slot. Reassembling Skeleton tends to do almost everything this does and more.
Mournwillow - It's probably serviceable but it doesn't compare well enough against other options, particularly its direct competitor, Dreg Mangler.
Mundungu - It may slow your opponent down sometimes, but is often going to be too low impact to matter.
Noggle Ransacker - Getting a symmetrical effect while only getting a 2/1 for 3 mana isn't good.
Nulltread Gargantuan - Unlike bouncing, you are effectively down a card as well as the mana you paid for the original creature. It IS massive if you can cast it early, but you are still prone to be blown out by the better removal in the format. Only in environments with low power removal; accelerating this out with the likes of an Elf is still enticing.
Rakdos Ickspitter - It mostly behaves like a pinger; you always get the 1 damage in to something, but sometimes you will kill something AND hit your opponent. But not frequently enough to consider it any higher than a mono-red version.
Ranger en-Vec - It doesn't look like this will play out much better on average than Mire Boa / River Boa. Sometimes the first strike or second point of toughness means you won't have to pay the regeneration cost, but the gap isn't big enough.
Relentless Hunter - Doesn't compare well enough against other Gruul options.
Resolute Survivors - You won't have enough other exert creatures to consider this over other Boros options.
Riptide Crab - Doesn't provide enough value for a gold slot.
Samite Archer - While the effect is strictly better than a pinger (because it also heals), it's not significantly better to warrant a gold slot over a mono blue version.
Sanity Gnawers - You might not get the random discard, but there are many better mono black versions.
Sarcatog - Not going to have enough synergies to warrant playing it.
Siren of the Silent Song - I don't see any reason to use a gold slot for something you can get in mono black. It might have some play in multiplayer cubes given that it scales.
Sky Spirit - You can get Thunder Spirit in mono white, and even then you would probably prefer Pegasus Charger for the easier casting cost, or Lightform or Aerial Responder.
Stromkirk Captain - Even with the release of Shadows over Innistrad block, there aren't quite enough playable Vampires in red to consider this.
Talon Trooper - It's a decent rate for what you are getting, but not interesting enough for a gold slot, especially when you can get Aerial Responder in mono-white.
Tettermunge Duo - The green version is bad, and the red side isn’t going to be consistent enough compared to other red aggro / midrange creatures.
Tempest Drake - The vigilance doesn't add a lot; if you have evasion you want to be attacking, but you will rarely want to block with it.
Thisteldown Duo - The blue version isn't good enough, and you can get a 3/3 for white straight out of the gate. The flexibility here doesn't make up for it.
Unraveling Mummy - There just aren't enough playable white zombies to warrant cubing it (yet).
Urborg Drake - I don't see a reason to play this over Cloud Elemental; this can block a ground creature once before it has to start swinging, but that hardly seems worth caring about.
Vassal Soul - The flexibility here doesn't make up for being a subpar card.
Winged Coatl - You can make an argument that this kills everything, but it will usually behave like 1-for-1 removal. Void Grafter or Bounding Krasis won't kill everything, but have much bigger upside if they stick around or can just be played as actual threats.
Wistful Selkie - The effect is better than Phyrexian Rager, but the casting cost is too prohibitive.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Behemoth Sledge Description - Generally considered the best Selesnya card. Power boost plus trample helps trade up, and if you were about to lose the lifelink can really help turn the game in your favour. It is comparable to Loxodon Warhammer, though the toughness boost here can actually be more important than the 3rd point of power, reducing the times you have to re-equip due to trading. Might be excluded from some cubes for power reasons. Anchors - Supports -
Electrolyze Description - Excellent burn spell; if you are playing Izzet, there is almost no reason you wouldn't include it in your deck. At worst it is a cantripping burn to your opponents dome, but it is usually going to take out at least 1 creature, and being an instant gives you plenty of scope to get more advantage. It's in the most prominent 'spells matters' colours, making the cantrip even more relevant. Anchors - Supports - Spells Matter
Fire Covenant Description - One of the best Rakdos spells, to the point of feeling unfair and similar to 1-sided Wrath of God in some games. In an aggressive deck where you are the beatdown, the lifeloss is probably inconsequential and clears blockers for you to win the game. On the opposite side, if you are playing Rakdos control against aggro, sometimes 6 or so life is going to be worth it to clear multiple creatures and stabilise. Anchors - Supports - Sweeper Control
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Blightning Description - It's not tricky, just fine value that most Rakdos decks would be happy to play. It gives aggro some reach while keeping them off their bigger plays, and control gets to gain card advantage while hitting the dome. Anchors - Supports -
Mortify Description - It's a fine piece of removal, particularly allowing you to have enchantment removal without dedicating a slot just to that. Power level is fine, but mostly not played to make room for more interesting gold cards. Anchors - Supports -
Putrefy Description - Decent removal, providing artifact removal without being dead if the opponent isn't playing artifacts. Power level is fine, but may not see play to make way for more interesting gold cards. Anchors - Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Abzan Charm Description - It's a solid range of options that can suit different game states. It kills a decent range of targets, can help draw you into more threats if you are at parity or dig for answers, or help win combat while leaving you with a bigger creature. Anchors - Supports -
Armadillo Cloak / Unflinching Courage Description - A solid aura, it can really take a game away if it sticks. You give the creature added survivability with the stats, the ability to punch through with trample, and the life gain can help you recover if you are behind. Both are very close, but Armadillo Cloak upside of stacking with creatures that already have lifelink, while Unflinching Courage can sometimes help you survive lethal combat damage (lifelink happens during combat, but if you are 0 before this triggers, it's too late). While you don't have to pay an equip cost here, Behemoth Sledge is the better option from a pure power perspective. Anchors - Supports - Voltron
Consume Strength Description - A decent combat trick, with the ability to affect two different blocks. Occasional bonus mode pre-combat to clear a blocker and swing in with your now bigger thing. Anchors - Supports -
Fires of Yavimaya Description - Giving all your creatures haste can force your opponent to play much more defensively, especially if they are on a low life total. Great if you can curve out into sizable 4 and 5 drops. The once-off pump can always threaten to save a key creature, and gives this something to do if you are behind and losing. Anchors - Supports - Midrange / Aggro
Firespout Description - Some players consider this a red spell to sweep the ground, with the green being upside. It will vary from cube to cube, but 3 damage can be the sweet spot, especially against aggro decks sporting the likes of Thrill-Kill Assassin, Splatter Thug and Brazen Wolves. Anchors - Supports -
Naya Charm Description - Flexible options, and it doesn't seem unreasonable that you would find a use for it in most board states. Anchors - Supports -
Pillory of the Sleepless Description - It's a fine removal spell while providing some slow reach, but fairly interchangeable with other removal. You might lean towards it if you really want to push the 'bleed' archetype. Anchors - Supports -
Recoil Description - It's a fine tempo play that doesn't leave you at card disadvantage. In the late game it can function as removal if the opponent has an empty hand. Anchors - Supports -
Roil Spout Description - The base mode is a fine tempo play without effectively costing you a card, with some solid upside in the late game. Once you hit 7 lands, bouncing a creature while adding a hasty 4/4 to the board can be a big board state change. Anchors - Supports -
Soul Manipulation Description - You can make a comparison to Exclude which is a fine card. This does have downside of not always being able to play it on turn 3 for full benefit as you may not always have a decent target in the yard, but at worst it is still a 1-for-1. It gets a bit better in the late game when you have more choice of targets in your graveyard, making it more likely you will 'draw' a relevant card when compared to Exclude. Anchors - Supports -
Snakeform Description - Pseudo-removal in colours that don't get a lot of strong removal. Let's you kill just about everything as long as you have a blocker, or cast it on an opposing blocker to win a combat. At it's worst, it reduces damage a creature would deal you to 1 for the turn while cantripping. Gives you a couple of niche applications as well that standard kill spells don't; gets around indestructible, trumps death triggers ala Pelakka Wurm, or can even just turn off triggered / static abilities for a turn (e.g. turning off Blood Artist when a bunch of creatures are about to trade in combat). Anchors - Supports -
Sultai Charm Description - A decent combination of abilities; destroys most relevant permanents, with a tertiary filtering mode. Anchors - Supports -
Temporal Spring Description - Sometimes it will be a harder to cast and weaker Anchor to the Aether, but there is enough upside of being able to target permanents. Especially if you are on the play, it can hit land drops and set your opponent back, or deal with another troublesome permanent type for a turn. Probably brutal in cubes that have bounce lands. Anchors - Supports - Tempo
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Crosis's Charm Description - The bounce and kill effects give this enough flexibility that it should always do something, but they are also effects you can get in mono colour. Anchors - Supports -
Ephara's Enlightenment Description - It's certainly not a 'good' card, but in a specific environment it could do work. Primarily a cube that cares about both +1/+1 counters and enchantments being cast. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters, Enchantment Matters
Fieldmist Borderpost (Plus the rest of the cycle)
Description - An argument can be made that these are like split guildgate / mana rocks. Most cubes would probably prefer a Darksteel Ingot at 3 mana, and the alternate cost doesn't effectively accelerate you until you've played out all your land drops. You'd rather play Signets or other rocks on colour, or just rainbow rocks.
Gift of Orzhova Description - The effect itself is fine; on the right target it will make racing very difficult for your opponent. But it comes with the usual 2-for-1 aura clause, and isn't particularly exciting. Anchors - Supports -
Golgari Germination Description - It's slow but can add up over time. Mostly wanted by sacrifice decks which can enable the trigger while getting extra fodder, but it can also just play into attrition wars. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Grixis Charm Description - An ok range of modes. Kill a reasonable range of creatures, bounce the ones that it can't (or some other troublesome permanent), or pump in an aggro deck. It's hard to imagine picking this though if there is a better black kill spell in the same pack. Anchors - Supports -
Mardu Charm Description - It's got some ok modes, but nothing that really stands out given that it is a gold card. Anchors - Supports -
Quicksilver Dagger Description - If it hit creatures it would be fine. Drawing cards is good, but there is a bit of risk here, probably too much for most cubes. Still, certain synergies can make it a bit better; there aren't many creatures with untap clauses that are playable, but there are a few saboteurs where you can double up on card draw or other damage trigger effects without needing to enter combat. Anchors - Supports - Saboteurs (non-combat based damage triggers)
Spontaneous Combustion Description - The only instant speed sweeper I can think of that does 3 damage to everything (unless you count Fire Covenant), but the setup is a little high; you've got to be in a position where your two cards (this plus the sacrifice) give you more than your 2 cards worth. Anchors - Supports -
Unlicensed Disintegration Description - Terminate is a stronger card in general, and Murder does the main job in a single colour. However, you might still be willing to make the swap to push an artifact theme in these colours a little harder. Anchors - Artifact Matters Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Ardent Plea - The exalted points to a pretty specific role, and too narrow as a gold card.
Arrows of Justice - It has a flexible casting cost, but it doesn't feel great compared to Gideon's Reproach or many other things in red.
Auger Spree - You will rarely have a 5+ toughness creature you are comfortable to cast this on, and you could just play Terminate to kill stuff, or -X/-X spells if you care about killing indestructible stuff.
Aura Shards - It's too slow; you really need to get two triggers to make it valuable, and it's a terrible top deck.
Backlash - I suppose it could be used in a Rakdos control deck to slow the opponent down, but it is hardly worth a card.
Bant Charm - You may as well play white exile removal.
Branching Bolt - While there are few cards that burn two 3 toughness creatures for 3 mana, it doesn't do enough to warrant a gold slot. It will too often just have one relevant target.
Bred for the Hunt - It sends a clear signal that +1/+1 counters is a theme in Simic, but from a power perspective, you could pay 1 mana more and have Coastal Piracy and not commit a gold slot.
Congregation at Dawn - There is probably some specific set of cards you could set up, but it isn't worth the card disadvantage the vast majority of the time.
Delirium - As is, it could be a weird control card to slow them down while dealing them damage, but it doesn't do enough.
Demonic Dread - It probably isn't terrible in a Rakdos deck with a bunch of aggressive 1 and 2-drops, but it is simply outclassed by better spells at this mana cost.
Double Negative - There aren't going to be enough situations to warrant playing this.
Dromar's Charm - The options aren't good enough to consider this.
Esper Charm - It doesn't do anything interesting enough to warrant 3 colours.
Essence Vortex - Not being actual removal makes this pretty poor.
Fire At Will - It probably plays ok in a Boros deck, but with that casting cost it will only really get played there, and it isn't intersting enough over other burn options.
Fires of Yavimaya - It's hard to imagine using a gold slot on it. You are taking up a turn of development, so you really need to follow it with on-curve big dumb threats that the opponent will have trouble blocking. That can happen, but it's going to happen too infrequently over just playing an aggressive 3-drop. You can replicate the Fires of Yavimaya decks of old by playing cards that can provide instant pressure like haste craetures and Druid's Familiar rather than the actual spell.
Flurry of Wings - It only works in specific scenario, and it requires too much to go right that you have no control over.
Giantbaiting - The baseline isn't good enough; getting one hit in with a 4/4 isn't good enough. And what are you conspiring with to make the second token? Why aren't those creatures just attacking?
Harsh Sustenance - This is horrible if you are behind, and sometimes can be made less than lethal if they have removal on one of your creatures in response
Intimidation Bolt - I can see scenarios where this does something, but most times you will just want a better burn spell that isn't multicolour.
Jeskai Charms - The modes are ok, but it isn't enough to warrant moving into three colours.
Jund Charm - The first mode will rarely be used, and the other two modes have better alternatives, and the flexibility doesn't really make up for it.
Mage Slayer - It can provide reach when the opponent could chump block, but it mainly helps when you are already ahead, whereas power pumping equipment can help when you are behind.
Mercy Killings - Outside of some very niche applications, there are many better options.
Mind Funeral - If you want mill cards, you want repeatable effects.
Moonhold - The window to maximise value is too small.
Pain Magnification - Too conditional and doesn't really advance a game plan.
Perplex - Any number of blue counters are better than the hard cast mode; this does nothing if the opponent has an empty hand, and it will never counter a game-winning spell. Transmute doesn't make up for it being a bad counterspell.
Pilfered Plans - It will perform better than Divination in a deck that cares about the graveyard, but it isn't better than enough mono coloured options to warrant a gold slot.
Plumes of Peace - There is better removal, and this is not the type of spell you want forecast before you draw your card for the turn.
Psychic Strike - It's only better than a blue counterspell if the mill matters, and that will be rare.
Reap What Is Sown - This needs 3 creatures to get the full benefit and costs 3 mana; something like Lead by Example is probably going to be good almost as often.
Restore the Peace - Too hard to make use of, and relies too much on what your opponent is doing.
Rith's Charm - Putting 3 Saprolings on the battlefield is the likely mode, which isn't worth playing a 3 colour card for.
Schismotivate - It's going to perform ok, but it doesn't compare to better Izzet tricks.
Sigil of the Nayan Gods - It's best feature is being able to cycle for a single mana. It might make your green and white decks 'better' but it doesn't really add anything to your cube.
Soul Link - The flying and pump on Gift of Orzhova is much better.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Bloodbraid Elf Description - Excellent value, potentially one of the strongest Gruul cards. Even should you hit something meaningless, a 3/2 haste is not too far below the curve, and hitting any type of spell that affects your opponents board can really start swinging the game. Anchors - Supports -
Murderous Redcap Description - Excellent value creature. When used fairly, it will nearly always have a target on the way in, and you can influence when you will get the extra point of damage. Also has the opportunity for silliness by putting +1/+1 counters on it to cancel out the -1/-1 counter, or flicker / bounce it before it dies a second time. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Ghor-Clan Rampager Description - 4/4 trample for 4 is already decent. 2 mana to not only pump but also trample can help trade something else up while still applying pressure. Anchors - Supports -
Thunderclap Wyvern Description - If it just had flash and flying it wouldn't stand out, but still make some decks. But it doesn't take too many other flyers to make the pump really good, and the pump synergises well with the flash either on offense or defense. Anchors - Skies Supports - Flash / Go
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Carnage Gladiator Description - The first ability is symmetrical, so it is clearly an aggro card. Curving out puts the screws on your opponent as soon as you cast it, and while the regeneration is expensive, the 4 power will often force a trade while still chipping away with the triggered life loss. Anchors - Supports -
Corpsejack Menace Description - As a baseline, a 4/4 for 4 is at least acceptable if you don't get benefits from the trigger; you might even include it in a deck without any potential to take advantage of the synergy. That said, you aren't cubing it without giving it some support. It's a power enough effect that can provide a lot of value in the right deck. Might be tempered somewhat by virtue of being a Golgari card without a huge amount of independently good black +1/+1 cards. Anchors - +1/+1 counters Supports -
Horizon Chimera Description - It's a reasonable combo of effects, though the 2 toughness means it trades a little more often than you'd like. The life gain is mostly negligible, but it can add up if you have repeatable card filtering. Anchors - Supports -
Marauding Looter Description - Reasonable filtering, however a 4/3 for 4 is a little more fragile than you'd like. It promotes attacking, but is somewhat 'generic'. Anchors - Supports -
Moroii Description - It's a decent enough curve topper for aggro. The 1 mana saving over mono-colour options might be a few turns while you wait for land drops, and there are few other flying 4 drops or cheaper that can deal with it. If you are smashing with a 4/4, the life loss shouldn't matter. If your Dimir decks all skew towards grindy control decks, then don't cube it. Anchors - Supports -
Raging Regisaur Description - It's a fine enough card, though it does compete with similar Gruul midrange beaters. You might weigh this a little higher if you ways to give it deathtouch, or other effects that trigger off dealing damage like Curiosity, or a number of other enrage Dinos. Anchors - Supports -
Restoration Gearsmith Description - Reasonable package with ok stats, given that it is a 2 for 1 that includes the most relevant card type, but can also get you back broken equipment if you play with them. Anchors - Supports -
Rosheen Meanderer Description - It's probably going to be a vanilla 4 mana 4/4 most of the time, which might still be a decent enough rate that you will be willing to include it in decks that can't take advantage of the mana ability. It's pretty obvious what you are looking to support this with, though you have to reach a bit; there aren't too many X spells or creatures with X abilities that are highly playable. You would probably want a handful of them before considering cubing this. Anchors - Supports -
Spitemare Description - Slots into any deck and creates interesting board states. The ability to kill big creatures if they attack you often means your opponent just doesn't attack at all. Also difficult to block, as you get to choose where the damage goes. Anchors - Supports -
Spire Patrol Description - Decent in Azorius aggro to either turn off a blocker for a couple of turns while laying an evasive threat, or slowing down ground based aggro / midrange in Skies decks while you race. Anchors - Supports - Skies
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Ascended Lawmage Description - It's fine if your opponent is relying on removal to deal with evasive creatures, but it isn't particularly thrilling. Anchors - Supports -
Aven Wind Guide Description - It's a support card for a token deck, although some of the tokens you might play with in these colours already have flying, mitigating the benefit somewhat. Check your token composition before cubing this one. Anchors - Supports -
Belligerent Hatchling Description - It isn't great when you are behind, but if you can get it to 3/3 first strike the following turn it becomes ok, and once you get above 3 power first strike seems pretty good. Inconsistent, but a bit better in a spells matter deck where you can threaten to modify its stats at instant speed. Anchors - Supports -
Blazing Hellhound Description - It's an option if you want an anchor cards for Rakdos sacrifice. It's ok in that role, but not particularly fast. Anchors - Sacrifice Supports -
Blazing Specter Description - It's a decent card, but in the gold slot it fights Blightning as a similar card that can force discard and get in for immediate damage (particularly as a top deck). Haste is certainly valuable (you can strip a card before they can leave something on defense or cast removal), but you can get similar creatures in mono black rather than using a gold slot. Anchors - Supports -
Blind Hunter Description - The front side is borderline acceptable, and getting another 2 points of life drain a little later is nice. Probably only worth cubing if you are looking to anchor extort / drain / life gain matters themes in Orzhov. Anchors - Drain Supports -
Blizzard Specter Description - If the air is clear, this can be a beating if played on curve. Worth noting it is in the colours of removal, tap down effects or bounce to clear a path too. It loses a lot of value in the late game though, when your opponent has nothing to discard, can choose to bounce lands they don't need, or even choose something beneficial to bounce. Anchors - Supports -
Cliffhaven Vampire Description - There are stronger Orzhov cards, but it's an anchor card for the life gain matters archetype. While you aren't going to cube it without having specific support for that archetype, it can still be filler as a high toughness flyer. Anchors - Drain Supports - Life Gain Matters
Flame-Kin Zealot Description - It's akin to Inspiring Captain, but you get to add 3/3 haste to the board. That isn't going to be worth the difficult casting cost for most, and there are better Boros cards, but it might suit some cubes as an aggro curve topper. Anchors - Supports -
Fluxcharger Description - Timed correctly, it can hit hard. However something like Enigma Drake is likely to be better most of the time. If you can follow this up with instant and sorceries consistently for the next few turns it might be better, but it isn't going to be as consistent. Anchors - Spells Matter Supports -
Mercurial Geists Description - It's clearly a spells matters cards, but there are enough other options specifically in the Izzet gold slot that this one is only worth it if you are going pretty deep and / or have a very large cube. Anchors - Supports -
Rot Farm Skeleton Description - In an aggro deck, you get a recursive 4 mana creature. In a graveyard synergy deck, you get a repeat way to fill the graveyard while putting a cretaure on the battlefield, but the can't block clause is a notable drawback for that type of deck. It has synergies, but isn't likely to be a standout. Anchors - Supports -
Sawtooth Loon Description - It has a few play options. On the bounce side, you can return an outclassed early drop, which you can then put on the bottom of your library if your draws are better. You can just get back another ETB creature and consider the card filtering a bonus. Or you can bounce the Loon if you just need to keep digging to find a specific answer. When it comes to cubing it, it does fight among a lot of other Azorius bounce / flicker support cards, and at 4 mana it can get edged out. Anchors - Supports -
Sigil Captain Description - How powerful this is will depend on exactly how many 1/1's you have in your cube, and for the most part they are going to be tokens. Upgrading your Battle Screech or Lingering Souls tokens to 3/3's sounds pretty solid. It is pretty narrow. Worth noting that Sigil Captain is a nonbo with anthem effects, and if you are considering Sigil Captain, you would probably look to Intangible Virtue or Phantom General first, but this does help +1/+1 'lords' if you care more about that sort of thing. Anchors - Supports - Tokens, +1/+1 counters
Skymark Roc Description - Fine stats, and the bounce might not always find a target but can provide a little tempo hit, and kills most tokens. Nevertheless, it doesn't really do anything to stand out from other Azorius flyers. Anchors - Supports -
Voracious Cobra Description - If your opponent doesn't have removal for it, it is very difficult to attack into. However, at this cost, there are Gruul creatures that are hard to attack into because they are big, and can attack much better. Only if you really want a defensive oriented Gruul card. Anchors - Supports -
Zendikar Incarnate Description - It's at least a 4/4 for 4 unless you use mana Elves (in which case a 3/4 on turn 3 is still fine), but it is just a vanilla creature. Terra Ravager is worse (variance in land holdings aside), but this ties up a gold slot and you might cube the Ravager to promote aggro. Top decking a 7/4 late in the game is still fine. Anchors - Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Ahn-Crop Champion - You can give your other creaures vigilance, but it doesn't really do enough; there won't be enough other exert creatures in your cube to warrant it.
Bronzebeak Moa - With a single trigger it becomes a 5/5, which is fine but a consistent 4/4 is better. It isn't going to be often this attacks meaningfully as an 8/8 that often, and when it does it will usually be chumped anyway. And when your hand is empty, this is terrible, and it can rarely be used defensively.
Hellhole Rats - Too inconsistent to be worth considering.
Hellkite Hatchling - There doesn't seem to be a good average case. Sacrifing 1 creature to get a 3/3 flying trample doesn't seem good enough, and sacrificing 2 or more seems impractical.
Highspire Mantis - Sits in the 'probably ok if you put it in a deck but completely forgettable' camp of gold cards.
Hussar Patrol - Another 'fine but not good enough as a gold card' card.
Jungle Barrier - There is little reason to play this over or in addition to Carven Caryatid.
Kathari Remnant - Not efficient enough. The decks that would want a 0 power flying regenerator are also playing more reactive spells, which cascade does not combo well with.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
None.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Gruul War Chant Description - It doesn't look like much on the surface, but with just a few creatures on the board, you can often start getting through because your opponent just can't block everything. The forced double block plus power boost can also force them to double block and have to lose both, which can be compounded with combat tricks or instant speed removal after blocks. Anchors - Supports -
Warleader's Helix Description - It's fine, but it's boring. The life gain helps, but you can get deal 4's in mono-red. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Aethertow Description - This could maybe do some work in a control deck. The consistency of something like Undo is better, but putting the creatures into the library instead of the hand could turn this into a 2 for 1 if you can conspire. Anchors - Supports -
Call to the Feast Description - It is poor if you directly compare it to Lingering Souls, but it can provide support for token / sacrifice, or offer life gain triggers if you cube life gain matters cards. Anchors - Supports - Tokens, Life Gain Matters
Deathreap Ritual Description - The ceiling is solid; it can draw you 2 additional cards each turn cycle. The average case will be a lot less, but it is a card that can change the way your opponent plays, as they try and avoid trades. Gets better in cubes with sacrifice outlets. You don't need to support sacrifice archetypes for this to be playable, but most players will probably assume you are supporting it. Anchors - Sacrifice Supports -
Vanish into Memory Description - It's an odd card that could have a few uses. There aren't huge numbers of creatures that have significant power higher than toughness, and even at 1 power higher you are still breaking even. So it is mostly going to be a card filtering card as opposed to a hand filling card. It can Fog a creature while you are at it, but it might be bad against some creatures. Similarly, it can be good with some of your own flicker targets (Shriekmaw et al) but bad with others (Wall of Omens). The 4 mana is perhaps its biggest downside. It does work well against opposing tokens. Anchors - Supports - Blink / Bounce
War Flare Description - It's ok but not particularly exciting. Curving out into this is going to be great, and the untap gives you options to use it defensively. You can get similar options in white, but this is the cheapest for this specific stat boost at instant speed. Anchors - Supports -
Call of the Nightwing - You need at least 3 tokens for this to be worth it. It's in two colours that can cube sufficient evasive threats (and you can encode to the first horror you create if you must), but probably only shines in a cube with depowered removal.
Cankerous Thirst - Just play Consume Strength, which is cheaper, more consistent, and the difference in pump / shrink won't matter all that often.
Captured Sunlight - Adding 4 life onto a random spell is not worth paying 1 (or more) additional mana.
Drain the Well - Not the land destruction you are looking for.
Essence Backlash - It isn't terrible, but there just isn't really a reason to cube it.
Etherwrought Page - None of the options affect the board. The second option at least helps with card quality, but is not enough even if this was a colorless artifact, let alone spreading across three colours.
Krasis Incubation - It's 4 mana for removal when you could just play Singing Bell-Strike or analogues… the cute flavor to build up your own creature is just too slow.
Wreak Havoc - Sorcery speed, gold, limited meaingful targets, can’t be countered doesn't mean much, and it costs 4.
Wrecking Ball - You can just play Terminate. The land destruction doesn't add enough.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Cloudblazer Description - It's great value. The biggest 'downside', if you want to consider it one, is that it's pretty close to a multi-colour version of Mulldrifter. Anchors - Supports -
Maw of the Obzedat Description - Instant speed team pump without requiring mana is powerful. You need to be going wide for it to be really doing much, but it doesn't take much to be able to threaten for lethal damage, or throw away your worst creature to turn combat around. Anchors - Tokens / Go Wide Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Decimator Beetle Description - It doesn't need to remove a -1/-1 counter to be able to place one, so it can be a decent midrange card, attacking as a 4/5 while making something smaller on their side of the board. Fine, but most cubes aren't going to have a lot of synergies it can take advantage of. Anchors - Supports -
Fleetfeather Cockatrice Description - It's passable at 5 mana, but you really want to get it monstrous to make it really worthwhile. That makes it well suited for ramp decks (and probably signals that is what you want ug to be doing), but it can still help when you are behind by being able to take out most incoming attackers at instant speed when needed. Anchors - Supports - Ramp
Haunter of Nightveil Description - If you want to support Dimir control, this is a reasonable option to hold off opposing creatures assaults, while potentially increasing the profitable attacks you have, especially against go wide decks. Anchors - Supports -
Juniper Order Ranger Description - The base isn't great for the cost, but it only takes a few more creatures to become decent itself, while beefing up those creatures at the same time. Fine for midrange, and gets better if you have +1/+1 lord support. It does have some infinite combos with persist creatures, especially if you have a free sacrifice outlet. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Pharika's Mender Description - Solid value. It’s stats aren’t the biggest bang for buck, but it will still trade with a decent amount of creatures, while getting you back a relevant card. Good anchor card for graveyard recursion decks for Golgari. If you don't want to cube both this and Baloth Null, this might be your choice if you care about enchantments, particularly allowing you to recurse enchantment based reanimator spells. Anchors - Supports - Creature Recursion, Enchantment Matters
Raging Swordtooth Description - 5/5 trampler for 5 is decent, though it competes in a similar space to Ghor-Clan Rampager. The ETB effect is going to be inconsistent; sometimes it might clear some tokens or small aggro creatures, or you might be able to cast it after combat to put on the final point of damage. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Deadeye Plunderers Description - The floor is pretty low, so you really need an artifact matters archetype to make it work. The activated ability is also expensive, but at least gives you a way to create more artifacts. If you've already got a few artifacts in play by the time you drop this it can be ok, but even then it is still vanilla. Consider other Dimir artifact matters cards first. Anchors - Artifact Matters Supports -
Fusion Elemental Description - You need to be all in on 5-colour. You probably don't need this, but if your cube has enough color mana rocks, ramp spells and colour fixing that you can get this out around turn 5 with reasonable consistency, an 8/8 vanilla is still a good size threat. Anchors - Supports -
Knights of the Black Rose Description - ok stats if you think about it as drawing a card off it. A 4/4 is decent enough stats that it might hold off or trade against crack backs. The triggered ability probably won't come up often, but prevents scenarios where your opponent would be happy to hand the crown back and forth. Being a gold card makes it less desirable than some of the mono-colored options. Anchors - Supports -
Kulrath Knight Description - You can use other cards that put counters on your opponents creatures, like -1/-1 counters, but it also shuts down any of your opponents creatures with counters, including their own +1/+1 counters, fading or levelling counters etc. It might be effective in some scenarios, but it might generate 'feel bads' for players drafting a synergistic +1/+1 counter deck for example. Anchors - Supports -
Maverick Thopterist Description - It's no Whirler Rogue, but even without discount it isn't a bad deal. That said, the main reason to cube it would be in support of an artifact theme, given plenty of other Izzet playables. Anchors - Supports - Artifact Matters
Possessed Skaab Description - It hits a range of targets, but even then a 3/2 for 5 mana is underwelming. You might cube it if you want more 'value' cards for your Dimir section. Anchors - Supports -
Resolute Blademaster Description - It's worth noting as the ceiling can be decent if you've got enough mid-sized creatures on the board, but as a one-shot effect something like Rally the Peasants is going to be more consistent. If you've got some other incidental Allies you might consider it. Anchors - Supports -
Sky Hussar Description - It's a mana free draw engine in the right situation, though tapping creatures on your own upkeep is a bit of a downside. It can come with a free draw the turn you play it if you have the creatures available, as they will untap on the ETB ability. If you have the sort of control decks that are likely to be able to draw multiple cards from this (that don't need them to protect you while you are spinning your wheels) then consider cubing it; otherwise there are lots of other Azorius options which would be better includes. Anchors - Supports -
Zhur-Taa Swine Description - It doesn't weigh up against other Gruul options, but if you want to go all in on aggro, throwing an extra 5 damage on an unblocked creature might win you the game, and if blocked your creature will nearly always be able to win the combat. Anchors - Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Agent of Masks - Drana's Emissary is a much better version.
Scuzzback Marauders - It can run over a few tokens, but the fact that it still dies pretty easily both times means it probably isn’t going to find a home in most decks.
Segmented Wurm - You can get 5/5's without downside in mono-green, so I don't know why you want this.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never
rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting
a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Prophetic Bolt Description - Excellent value. Kills creatures, can hit players, doesn't cost a card, and you get card selection for the replacement. There are few Izzet decks (if any) that wouldn't want this. Anchors - Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-
around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Aether Mutation Description - Bouncing an opponent's midrange creature, or better yet a ramp target, and getting 4+ tokens can be a decent tempo hit; get something through this turn, then go wide it next turn after they recast it. Also decent when you are behind, and in the right board state can target your own creature. Anchors - Supports - Tokens
Bituminous Blast Description - The tempo gained can be impressive. Cast in response to an attack, you might take out something while also putting a profitable blocker on the table. Anchors - Supports -
Torrent of Souls Description - You would consider this a Rakdos card rather than hybrid; you are never casting the red side alone, and there are better reanimation options. Getting both though can be fine if you've got a few others creatures to throw into combat, potentially acting as an aggro finisher. Fine, but doesn't stand out. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific
interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Leafdrake Roost Description - Creating an army of flyers is appealing, though it is essentially 8 mana before your get your first drake. Probably only if you are looking for a win condition for UG control decks. Anchors - Supports - Tokens
Slave of Bolas Description - It's ok as a way to kill their creature while getting a hit in, but when you view it as 5-mana creature kill it doesn't sound as good. If you have multiple ways in your cube to sacrifice it for value it gets a bit better. It does have a weird colour identity; probably calling it black is fine. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Worm Harvest Description - It's an interesting win condition for cubes that support self-mill and similar graveyard themes, allowing it to go wide over several turns. It doesn't take too many of those types of cards to make this decent, and if you can start casting this with 4 lands already in your graveyard it's a good start. Often counted as a Golgari card rather than hybrid given the mana commitment, and that those two colours have the best support cards. (You technically don't NEED to support self-mill and other graveyard themes for this to be a win condition, but I'd like to see the control deck that survives long enough). Anchors - Graveyard Matters / Self-mill Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is
little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Ethereal Ambush - Worst case scenario is you get a couple of 2/2's for 5 mana, which is not great for a gold card, even at instant speed. Given how much it will cost you to manifest into something, not worth it.
Extract from Darkness - It's probably fine to put in a deck, but not worth a gold slot for when you can just play mono coloured reanimator spells.
Palliation Accord - It only prevents damage to you, and it is probably doing nothing when you are behind. There a probably a few obscure combos that essentially prevent you from losing the game, but not enough to consider cubing it.
Primal Visitation - Doesn't do enough for what you are paying. In what world are you paying 5 mana for this and playing a creature that you are giving haste?
Thoughtflare - It sees more cards than Jace's Ingenuity, but the pure card advantage there seems more relevant.
Traitor's Roar - It looks like it could serve as an aggro topper, getting rid of a blocker while doming the opponent, but it isn't going to be consistent enough. At 5 mana you could cube better burn spells or other effects that achieve the goal more consistently.
Urban Evolution - It looks most suited to UG ramp, but there are several mono-blue draw spells that probably just as much or better in 90% of situations.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Baloth Null Description - Great value creature. Getting back 2 creatures while being a relevant body makes this a great way to grind out a game. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Recursion
Trostani's Summoner Description - A fine Selesnya ramp target or high cost card for tokens decks for putting 10 power on the board. It's also a fine reanimation target, given that it is resilient to spot removal, and a great blink target given how much value it brings with it. Anchors - Supports - Reanimator, Ramp, Tokens
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Dinrova Horror Description - It can act as removal if the opponent has an empty hand, but even if they get to keep the creature, it is still a 1-for-1 that affects the board the turn you play it. Anchors - Supports -
Enlisted Wurm Description - 5/5 vanilla for 6 alone isn't a great deal, but drawing and casting another relevant card is good. Doesn't really support anything specific, just ok midrange value. Anchors - Supports -
Nucklavee Description - A potential 3 for 1 makes this pretty solid. It depends a lot on your spells matters deck, and presumably there are less relevant red sorceries than blue instants, but even just a 2 for 1 is still fine. Anchors - Spells Matters Supports - Graveyard Matters
Swift Warkite Description - There is some decent value. The base creature is just ok-ish. If it was just a big Gravedigger variant it would probably be worth considering; the fact that you get a free hasty attack on top of that, and the potential for 2 shots at ETB effects, raises it a bit higher. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Ruthless Deathfang Description - It's a narrow build around, but if you get it to work it can lock down a game. Make sure to support with enough creatures that sacrifice themselves or sacrifice outlets. It's worth noting that a couple of cards it pairs well with push you to 3 colours (Goblin Bombardment and Hidden Stockpile), but there are a bunch of other sacrifice outlets you might consider. Anchors - Supports -
Savage Ventmaw Description - It probably ramps you to 12 the turn after you cast it. I'm sure there are gross games where you reanimate this on turn 3 and then drop your hand, but given that scenario will probably require 3 colours is a rarity. Probably requires a bit of thought to be particularly good; a higher count than usual of X spells or mana sinks in Gruul colours could make it worth it. It's still a 4/4 flyer in the instance that the mana isn't really doing any work for you. Anchors - Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Enduring Scalelord - It might look like a signal for +1/+1 counters being in Selesnya, but given mono-colour options like Patron of the Valiant, it isn't worth a gold slot.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
None. 2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
None.
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Cauldron Dance - 1 Description - Quirky card. More interesting than powerful, but it can give you 2 extra ETB effects from something that has hit the graveyard. In some cases you can get down 2 hasty attackers, but you can use it on defence if needed. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Coursers' Accord - At worst, you get 2 3/3's, and not really worth a 6 mana gold card. Breaking that floor is going to happen too infrequently to consider it (having Roar of the Wurm in your cube is probably your best bet if you really want to pursue it).
Death Mutation - 8 mana is a crapload, such that it puts this out of contention.
Dragon Appeasement - It's unique and interesting, but you MUST have a way to sacrifice creatures. There just isn't going to be a deck that is going to be able to use it consistently enough.
Elder Mastery - It's some nice upside for a pants archetype, but not at 6 mana and 3 colours.
Gleam of Battle - Curse of Predation might be too good for some, but paying 6 mana across 2 colours is not good enough.
Morbid Bloom - You aren't going to get 6 mana's worth of tokens often enough, and it does nothing else to affect the game 99% of the time.
Morgue Burst - It can kill a creature while getting you back a decent target, but at 6 mana there are just better Rakdos options that this doesn't get consideration.
Pollenbright Wings - It is some decent upside on a mid to large creature, but 6 mana is a huge investment if it can be undone with removal, or the opponent might have a relevant flyer.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
None.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
None.
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Memnite Description - You might include this if you want your aggro decks to be able to unload their hands as quickly as possible, though it will be bad in those decks as a top deck, and unplayable in most other types of decks. Maybe if you support some artifact matters/affinity theme. Anchors - Supports - Artifact Matters, Aggro
0 - Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Ornithopter - It can defend against 1/1 tokens. But so can other stuff. It can wear equipment. But so can other stuff. It might matter for some artifact matters themes, but the 0 cost seems to not matter enough outside of that.
Phyrexian Walker - It can block early aggro creatures, but its not like the decks that want to be defensive don’t have better creatures they would be willing to pay a few mana for.
Shield Sphere - It might prevent a few attacks, but the tempo gain from costing 0 is quickly lost. Majority of decks would rather pay for a more permanent blocker.
Shifting Wall - Scalability is nice, but with defender is not good.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
None.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Everflowing Chalice Description - While flexible, there are better options across the curve. Cast for 2, you'd rather have better 2cc mana rocks. And ramp decks just want better ramp spells. Still, its flexibility is worth noting, and it does give you back half your investment immediately. But whatever deck it goes in probably wishes for a better version more appropriate to what the deck is trying to achieve. Anchors - Supports - Ramp
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Lotus Petal Description - Gives you a one-off boost, which might help some decks, but at peasant the card disadvantage is usually not worth it. You might include it if for maximum support of Storm decks. Anchors - Supports - Storm
Zuran Orb Description - The 'free' life gain can help when you are on the ropes, potentially giving you time to cast your game winning spells and turn the game around. In some cases, it's just delaying the inevitable. Does have some good synergy with some specific cards which may elevate its worth in your cube; Land Tax, Vizkopa Mage, Ajani's Pridemate, Worm Harvest. Anchors - Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Mishra's Bauble - Outside of your opening hand, you end up behind.
Paradise Mantle - The fixing/semi-acceleration is not going to matter in most decks when it requires its creatures to tap. It's close to uselessness isn't likely to be overcome by card specific combos or synergies.
Spellbook - This effect is not going to matter in vast majority of games/decks.
Tormod's Crypt - Perhaps the best card if all you want to do is nullify graveyard strategies. But it might just wreck decks you've spent effort supporting. Better to find this effect attached to something else (a body or cantrip) if you want it.
Urza's Bauble - Outside of your opening hand, you end up behind.
Urza's Contact Lenses - The advantage you get (keeping the card you draw on your turn hidden until your opponents turn if you activate this) is too marginal to care about
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
None.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Chronomaton Description - Can be useful for control decks that lock down the board. Over time, it can turn into a threatening blocker, pumping itself either after blocking or end of opponents turn, and then attacking once it is formidable enough. Anchors - Supports -
Signal Pest Description - Useful for supporting token or other go wide strategies. The evasion means it can be a decent target for equipment. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Bonded Construct Description - Can fit into aggro decks of any colour. Slightly more fragile as it is vulnerable to artifact removal. Worth noting that it is missing the 'can't block alone' clause on similar creatures so it isn't completely useless alone. Best as a support card when you have sufficient 1-drops in your aggro decks that it can be drafted alongside. Anchors - Supports -
Cogmentor Description - If you ignore the contraption clause, it gives you a colorless 1/1 flyer for 1 if you really want it. And you probably only do if you are reaching for support for an artifact archetype, or of course your cube supports contraptions. Anchors - Supports -
Consulate Skygate Description - It's not exciting, but it might be a metagame choice to give you a colorless defensive option as an early play against aggro decks, including Skies. Steel Wall and Wall of Tangelcord might be some alternatives. Anchors - Supports -
Thraben Gargoyle Description - You can make an argument that it can serve as a turn 1 blocker for control that can become a threat later. Bonded Construct may be an alternative that doesn't specifically have defender and can attack earlier and may find its way into aggro decks as well; however the late game upside here is stronger and the second point of toughness may be relevant for holding off grounded 1/1 tokens. Anchors - Supports - Control
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Arcbound Worker - It's not likely to make the cut even in an artifact matters theme.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Skullclamp Description - The best piece of equipment at peasant, this will quickly take over games with massive card advantage. Even a single turn, where the opponent doesn't have instant speed artifact removal, can generate a big advantage. Some cube owners do not include this card for being overpowered. While aggro and token decks have the most to gain, every deck will want this, and if picked early, will shape that players draft as they look for small creatures to sacrifice to it or ways to dig for it. It can pump an attacker to force damage through, then placed on a weak blocker; it is always threatening to generate more card advantage. Anchors - Supports -
Sol Ring Description - The best artifact available, it's acceleration is stupidly good. Often considered one of the best cards in fully powered cubes, let alone peasant. In the opening hand, it is insane in making all your future turns 2 turns ahead of the curve. That type of advantage usually wins games. Late game at it’s worst it nets you a mana the turn you play it, and is no worse than a land. Unless your deck is hungry for coloured mana, you can probably straight up replace a land for this, meaning it has no negative impact on your deck at any time. Due to the significant advantage it provides, many cube owners do not include it for power reasons. Anchors - Supports -
Bonesplitter Description - Excellent piece of equipment for aggro decks. A 1-drop followed on turn 2 by a Bonesplitter and equip is an amazing start. If the creature dies, its cheap to throw it on other creatures. Best in aggro, but can show up in defensive decks if they have a high enough creature count. Great with first strikers or double strikers. The only decks that won't benefit are control decks with few finishers. Anchors - Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
None.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Aether Vial Description - This can be good for aggro and midrange decks, but requires skill in sequencing of plays. Once set up, being able to flash creatures in is powerful. Also has some synergy with Crystal Shard decks, allowing those decks to replay key creatures for free. Anchors - Supports - Aggro, Bounce
Leonin Scimitar Description - It's not flashy, but it is cheap enough to consider. Anchors - Supports -
Sai of the Shinobi Description - Potentially never having to pay an equip cost makes this appealing. Can allow you to attack with an equipped creature, and then drop a creature on curve and have a bigger blocker. Anchors - Supports -
Sensei's Diving Top Description - Playable, but the pieces are missing to make this truly powerful. It's value goes up the more shuffle effects in your cube, or the more effects you have that remove cards from the top of your library (dredge, scry). Anchors - Supports -
Sylvok Lifestaff Description - The power pump is usually secondary to the life gain which can help in racing situations or buy time in sacrifice decks. Anchors - Supports -
Trusty Machete Description - Reasonable boost for reasonable cost. Feel like this needs more description but don't have much to say. Anchors - Supports - Aggro
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Adventuring Gear Description - Can be ok in general land ramp decks, or if your cube has a lot of saclands (Terramorphic Expanse / Evolving Wilds or breaks Peasant for rare saclands). It can be inconsistent, and is not great when it top deck mode. Anchors - Supports -
Aether Spellbomb Description - Could be an alternate for a bounce effect if you support an artifact matters theme. If you don't have that synergy, just get a better bounce spell. Anchors - Supports -
Black Vise Description - There will be times you play this and it can just win the game for you against slow opponents. But if your opponent is on the play and has a fast deck, it might do almost nothing even if it is in your opening hand. The more cards your cube has that slows the game down by bouncing your opponents permanents, or maybe if you support land destruction, or is just slow in general, it gets a little better. But without this support, opponents will often get down to 4 cards quickly enough to negate its effects. Anchors - Supports -
Chromatic Sphere Description -Chromatic Star is strictly better, but this still serves almost the exact same role, and may be worth inclusion if you want redundancy of the effect. Most decks will want more permanent color fixing though. Can help support storm cards if you include them. Anchors - Supports -
Chromatic Star Description - Reasonable way for any deck to get some 1-off mana fixing, and at worst has a net cost of 1 to cycle into another card. Most decks will want more permanent colour fixing though. Can help support storm cards if you include them. Marginal benefit of still netting card drawn if sacrificed to something else. Anchors - Supports -
Codex Shredder Description - Can support a control based mill deck if you want to push that, with minor upside. You can also target yourself if you support graveyard-based archetypes. A fringe use is to filter your draws if you have ways of looking at the top of your deck. Another fringe benefit is removing cards from the top of your opponents library if they scry or use tutors that go to top of library. Anchors - Mill / Graveyard Supports -
Elixir of Immortality Description - Fills a specific niche if your cube supports graveyard / self-mill decs that will want to start over, or in control decks that can lock down the game and want to go long. The life gain can buy you some time. Shuffling business spells back in slightly improves your card quality. It gets better in decks that have a lot of card draw or filtering (Ponder and friends, Crystal Ball), allowing you to dig back to your more powerful spells quickly. Anchors - Supports -
Expedition Map Description - It's value depends entirely on the nonbasic lands you have in your cube. If you just need fixing, you probably want Traveler's Amulet / Wanderer's Twig / Wayfarer's Bauble. If you are finding Maze of Ith or other utility lands, this may have a place. Anchors - Supports -
Flayer Husk Description - It's not exciting, but is a vanilla 1/1 that leaves something behind when it dies. Can help give your aggro deck a bit of colourless support, but you will often be happier with a better creature or equipment. Anchors - Supports -
Ghoulcaller's Bell Description - Can be used in a graveyard matters theme, but there will usually be better cards for that. Can be used alongside other mill cards. If you have ways of looking at the top of your opponents library, can prevent them from drawing gas, but is a narrow archetype. Anchors - Supports - Mill
Infiltration Lens Description - It doesn't make anything unblockable, but it probably means your opponent won't block, pushing damage through. And if they are forced to block, you get to draw more gas. Allowing the opponent the choice is usually bad, but the the cast and equip cost are cheap enough. You need something decent size or with a combat damage trigger to put it on for the most impact. Anchors - Supports -
Ivory Tower Description - This card is a trap in cube. You can drop it turn 1, and just hit land drops in an attempt to gain 3 life a turn. But most opposing decks will deal more than that after the first couple of turns, and as you play answers you just wasted this card. If it isn't in your opening hand, you are more likely to play threats and answers, and then draw into this and it will be a dead card. It is friends with Land Tax, but synergy with one card is not going to be worth it. Anchors - Supports -
Lantern of Insight Description - In a vacuum this is bad, but gets a mention on the basis that it can be used with targeted mill cards such as Thoughtpicker Witch, Codex Shredder, Ghoulcaller Bell etc to support a deck that can prevent the opponent from drawing anything useful. But if you don't support that deck, it does nothing.
Anchors -
Supports -
Neglected Heirloom Description - Forgetting the transformation, the baseline is not exciting. It's cheap enough to cast and activate, but aggro decks are probably better served with something like Shuko so they can curve out. The toughness will matter sometimes, but is never what draws you to these cards. If you have some transform cards though, it might be worth another look. Inconsistent, but will be a good story when it happens. Anchors - Supports -
O-Naginata Description - The effect for the casting cost and equip cost is solid. Inclusion in your cube will depend on what type of decks will consistently be able to make use of this. It can give green ramp a way to break through tokens, and red and black aggro get some low cost creatures with 3 power. Anchors - Supports -
Pyrite Spellbomb Description - When compared to other red direct damage, this is poor, but when direct damage is poor it can still be ok. The only reason you would include it over other options is if you had an artifact matters theme or recursion like Auriok Salvagers. Anchors - Supports -
Sky Skiff Description - A 2/3 flyer is ok, but it can be played turn 1 and start swinging on turn 2 with the right draw. Disruptable if your opponent can keep you off creatures (like any vehicle), but it can deal with most flyers up to around the 4 mana mark. Anchors - Supports -
Springleaf Drum Description - Being able to tap a creature while it has summoning sickness makes this an accelerator as well as a fixer primarily useful for aggro decks that didn't want blockers anyway. While most 'inspired' creatures are not considered playable on their own, it provides synergy to those cards. Anchors - Supports -
Squee's Toy Description - For a single mana you get a repeatable no-cost effect that can threaten to mess with combat math. The more combat-heavy your cube, the better it becomes. Anchors - Supports -
The Rack Description - Getting below 3 cards is a common occurrence as players either play threats, or answers to threats. Holding onto cards usually means not keeping up on the board. However once The Rack hits the table, it’s not hard to hold onto a few lands. Black has a number of discard cards, including some repeat effects like Hypnotic Spectre, which The Rack can be paired with. Outside of that type of deck, The Rack might get in a few points of damage, but becomes easier to play around.
Anchors -
Supports - Discard subthemes
Traveler's Amulet / Wanderer's Twig Description - Played turn 1, it can help you find your second color on turn 2 if required. Fights with Wayfarer's Bauble for mana fixing, which also accelerate. Expedition Map costs 1 more to activate but finds nonbasics if you have utility lands.
Anchors -
Supports -
Triangle of War
Description - 3 mana isn't the most efficient cost for this effect and your opponent can see it coming; you won't be springing any surprises mid-combat. However it is 'removal' that is available to every colour. Anchors - Supports -
Viridian Longbow - 1 Description - The equip cost is a little high, but with enough creatures on the board, can ping for 2 damage for 3 mana, or 3 damage with 6 mana on the board. It can be slow, but if you have enough time (either your cube is slower or you support decks that can slow the game down) it can start taking control of the board. Has synergies with deathtouchers or saboteur effects that don't care if it was combat damage. Anchors - Supports -
Voyager Staff Description - ok blink effect if you want it in artifact form. Casting cost means it can be tutored if you have Trinket Mage or want an Auriok Salvagers package. Anchors - Supports - Blink
Wayfarer's Bauble Description - Played on turn 1 allows you to accelerate and fix into 4 mana on turn 3. Most ramp decks are more likely to want greens better ramp spells, and control decks are more likely to prefer mana rocks. Anchors - Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Arcum's Sleigh - Bad.
Ashnod's Transmogrant - Doesn't do enough.
Avacyn's Collar - Not good enough.
Avarice Totem - Not going to be good enough and no way to abuse.
Barbed Sextant - Chromatic Star strictly better.
Bladed Bracers - Not good enough.
Blazing Torch - Rarely going to matter.
Blinding Powder - Too costly and your opponents can see it coming.
Braidwood Sextant - Strictly better options in Expedition Map, Traveler's Amulet / Wanderer's Twig, and Wayfarer's Bauble.
Chimeric Coils - Too much investment for a 1 off.
Civic Saber - Bad.
Conjurer's Bauble - Applications are too limited.
Copper Carapace - If you are going to have to pay 4 before something happens, may as well have Vulshok Morningstar and have a cheaper equip cost.
Crystal Rod - Bad.
Darksteel Axe - Not worth paying for the indestructibility.
Darkwater Egg - Too narrow.
Dead-Iron Sledge - It might have some value in a defensive deck that can pump out tokens, but even then it seems pretty narrow.
Didgeridoo - Too narrow on tribal, and it's not even good for that tribe.
Explorer's Scope - Too slow.
Explosive Apparatus - Aelopile is a better version.
Feldon's Cane - Paying extra mana for Elixir of Immortality is going to be worth it; it also shuffles itself for re-use.
Flamecast Wheel - Not even if you have Auriok Salvagers.
Glasses of Urza - Not worth the card investment.
Golden Urn - Too slow. Terrible top deck.
Golem-Skin Gauntlets - Rarely going to have multiple equipment.
Gorgon's Head - Not good enough.
Gremlin Mine - Too narrow.
Hankyu - Terrible.
Hedron Blade - Won't be enough colourless creatures to matter.
Honed Khopesh - Neglected Heirloom strictly better (at least as long as you have a double-faced card in your cube).
Horizon Spellbomb - Traveler's Amulet / Wanderer's Twig are going to be better for most decks.
Hot Soup - Whispersilk Cloak is the better version.
Inventor's Goggles - There aren't going to be enough synergies in cube to warrant this.
Iron Star - Bad.
Ivory Cup - Bad.
Jeweled Bird - Ante.
Juju Bubble - Bad Juju.
Lens of Clarity - Doesn't do enough.
Leonin Bola - Because you can only equip sorcery speed, can't lock down opposing board on their turn. Makes this too limited to use.
Library of Leng - Doesn't do enough.
Lifespark Spellbomb - Doesn't do enough.
Locket of Yesterdays - Not useufl in singleton cube.
Magma Mine - Bad.
Mana Cylix - Prophetic Prism is worth the extra mana.
Mana Screw - Not worth the card investment.
Mossfire Egg - Too narrow.
Necrogen Spellbomb - Not good enough.
Neurok Hoversail - Cobbled Wings better equip cost.
Nihil Spellbomb - Doesn't do enough.
Origin Spellbomb - 3 mana cycle and get a 1/1 token is not good enough.
Panic Spellbomb - The red decks that would want this have the effect attached to creatures already.
Pathways Arrows - Not efficient enough.
Peregrine Mask - Not versatile enough.
Phyrexian Furnace - Doesn't do enough.
Prism Ring - If you have a life matters subtheme, incidental life gain is still better than this.
Profane Memento - Narrow applications as it has no effect on the board. Best place would be in a removal heavy control deck with mill cards But even there its performance is likely to be lacklustre.
Prying Blade - The best case scenario doesn't seem very good, let alone the average case.
Relic of Progenitus - It's not an effect that many cubes are likely to want, but if you do, this may be ok. Players choice for the first ability is bad if you need to get rid of something specific, but you can always activate the second ability and not be down a card.
Rod of Spanking - Only for funsies.
Runed Stalactite - If you include the odd lord or two, this does have some benefits over Leonin Scimitar, but rarely relevant enough to pay the higher equip cost.
Scrabbling Claws - Similar to Relic of Progenitus. Not good enough.
Scroll of Avacyn - You will rarely have an angel, and without it this is bad.
Scroll of Griselbrand - You will rarely have a demon, and without it this is bad.
Sentinel Totem - Not something you really need.
Shard of Broken Glass - The decks that want to self-mill are usually not trying to win immediately (unless by reanimating something massive), which can also mean they aren't attacking, or at least aren't going to throw creatures into combat willy nilly.
Shriekhorn - An aggressive mill strategy isn't viable at singleton.
Shuko - Sai of the Shinobi is going to be better a lot of the time due to the toughness boost.
Shuriken - Bad.
Silver-Inlaid Dagger - Power boost not going to be consistently better than Bonesplitter often enough to warrant the extra equip cost.
Skyblinder Staff - Doesn't do enough.
Skycloud Egg - Too narrow.
Slagwurm Armor - Just toughness boost is not enough.
Soul Net - Having to pay mana makes this too inefficient.
Sunbeam Spellbomb - Doesn't do enough.
Sungrass Egg - Too narrow.
Surge Node - Too narrow.
Synod Sanctum - To be effective, it almost requires 2 mana to be available at all times to be able to sacrifice in response to artirfact removal. If that is possible, you can always tuck away 1 permanent a turn that would otherwise be destroyed, or be able to re-use some RTB effects. But it is too inefficient compared to blink/bounce strategies.
Tablet of Epityr - Rarely going to matter and too expensive to keep paying for.
Tanglebloom - Not good enough.
Tel-Jilad Stylus - This is only effective if you have consistent ways of getting back the thing you put on the bottom, or you can effectively get yourself down to 1 card. Neither of those things is going to happen in peasant cube.
Terrarion - Being able to fix multiple colours at once is nice, but not being able to use it the turn you draw it is a drawback you don't want.
Thran Foundry - Just get Elixir or Immortality.
Thran Turbine - The Sol Ring that couldn't. Not enough targets that can make use of it. Centaur Glade might be the best, but not enough depth to make it worth it.
Throne of Bone - Not good enough.
Urza's Chalice - Not going to matter a lot of the time, and you don't want to pay the cost.
Vial of Poison - Opponent can see it coming.
Voltaic Key - Not going to have good enough targets.
Witches' Eye - Ties up two cards and you still have to pay mana to scry 1. Scry is good, but not worth tying up 2 cards.
Wolfunter's Quiver - Sorry, the equip cost is what?
Wooden Sphere - Not good enough.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Epochrasite Description - Can be solid in decks that intend to go long. Putting it down as a speed bump on turn 2, with the promise of decently beefy 4/4 in a few turns is a decent move, and can help stall ground assaults and win attrition battles. It has some synergy with +1/+1 themes, can be used as a sacrifical lamb, and is also something you don't mind committing to the board if you are playing in a sweeper deck. Also good with blink and reanimate effects like Unearth. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters, sacrifice
Perilous Myr Description - Solid card for control decks, as it can often be hard for opponents to attack into. It can take out attacking x/3's by itself, or trade with x/1's and take out other low toughness creatures on the way out. It can make your opponent nervous once they get low on life. Anchors - Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
None.
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Agent of Acquisitions Description - It probably won't make your final 40, but this can be an interesting card for traditional draft formats if the rest of the pack contains strong cards, or a number of cards that support the deck you've been shooting for. Anchors - Supports -
Millikin Description - It suffers from the problems as any other 2 mana creature accelerator which has a mana rock analog. You can't use it the turn it comes into play, and as a creature it is vulnerable. However, there isn't a pure mana rock version that puts cards into your graveyard. It's still narrow, but you could add this is an accelerator for any deck, that gets a little better in decks that care about their graveyard, or with any top of deck matters cards you might be playing (Sensei's Divining Top, Sylvan Library). Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Myr Sire Description - It's not the most efficient version for this effect, but it is colorless if you really want all color decks to have access to it. It can provide some support for sacrifice decks or to buy time in control decks of any color. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Necropede Description - It isn't going to be more than a speed bump in most cases, though the infect plus death trigger can give some flexibility for minimising threats. It isn't particularly exciting though. Anchors - Supports -
Wall of Tanglecord Description - 6 toughness for 2 mana is decent if you just want a ground staller that is available to all colors. It can be a way to seed a defensive card for all decks without having to throw walls in every color. While it's better in green decks, its playability doesn't skyrocket there so most would not consider this a green card. Anchors - Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Alpha Myr - Poor stats.
Bronze Sable - As above.
Acrbound Slith - Not effective enough.
Acrbound Stinger - Not effective enough.
Aegis Automaton - Doesn't do enough.
Battering Ram - Just bad.
Chainbreaker - This requires interactions between some pretty specific cards to be close to good, but the activation cost is still too expensive.
Copper Myr - Plus the rest of the cycle. They cost 2, can't tap the turn they come into play, and are vulnerable when compared to other mana accelerators.
Coretapper - You need too high a density of cards that want charge counters to consider adding this to the environment. There are playable cards with charge counters, but this is too narrow on supporting those cards.
Curious Killbot - Vanilla.
Delighted Killbot - Vanilla.
Despondent Killbot - Vanilla.
Eager Construct - It's a bear, but your opponent gets the first benefit of scrying.
Emblazoned Golem - Not efficient enough.
Enraged Killbot - Vanilla.
Field Creeper - Vanilla.
Frag Skulkin - Too much work involved.
Gleaming Barrier - If it came with the treasure, it would be a solid blocker while accelerating, but waiting for it to die is not what you want to be doing.
Gust-Skimmer - Doesn't do enough.
Haunted Guardian - Not good enough.
Hedron Crawler - Worse than a mana rock.
Hedron Scrabbler - A sometimes bear is not good enough.
Hovermyr - Not good enough.
Ichorclaw Myr - It won't fit any decks game plan.
Immolating Souleater - You can imagine the best case scenario where you've come out of the gates and you have a lot more life than your opponent, such that paying life to end the game is possible. But it just isn't going to happen often enough to make up for the fact that this is otherwise a 1/1 for 2 mana that might trade up on the odd occasion.
Jhoira's Toolbox - Too narrow on the suspend mechanic to matter for cube.
Manakin - Any mana rock is better than this.
Myr Retriever - Too narrow.
Narnam Cobra - You don't want it if you aren't green, and if you are green you just want a better deathtouch creature.
Omega Myr - Hovermyr strictly better, and that isn't good enough anyway.
Pila-Pala - Doesn't do enough.
Plague Myr - There isn't a deck that would want this.
Runed Servitor - It doesn't really fit anywhere you can take better advantage of the symmetry.
Sliversmith - It doesn't do enough.
Soultether Golem - The inherent stat upside isn't enough to overcome the sequencing problems.
Spincrusher - It can't do anything until it blocks at least once. There might be some board states where it does something, but your opponent can easily play around it or only attack with stuff that will kill it, and you won't be able to hold out long.
Steel Squirrel - Only for very specific cubes.
Toymaker - Too narrow.
Verdant Automaton - Too much investment.
Walking Atlas - Too inefficient and slow to matter.
Wall of Forgotten Pharaohs - Bad.
Wall of Junk - The name says it all.
Watchers of the Dead - It doesn't completely hose graveyard decks, but leaving them with 2 cards probably doesn't hose them enough either.
Welder Automaton - Too much investment.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Isochron Scepter Description - While it always requires enough instants with cmc 2 or less in your cube to be good, it can be ridiculous if you are playing most of the staples. You can get 2 for 1'd with artifact removal, but if it sticks around you are generating card advantage every turn that is usually also having an effect on the board. Being able to repeat Path To Exile, Lightning Bolt, Remove Soul, Doom Blade, and various other cards every turn often leads to inevitability. Some players exclude it for this reason. Anchors - Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Azorius Signet (and friends) Description - As a cycle, they are among the best artifact mana fixers / accelerators. They fix two colors, and can fix both in the same activation. Unless you cast it on turn 2, you can use it the turn it comes into play. They can be included as the full cycle if you want to promote 3+ colour decks, though as it takes up 10 slots in your cube arguments can be made for only including certain ones to support / promote slower decks in the particular color pair. This can include only including blue ones to support the common slow blue decks, excluding the green ones because green already has access to better acceleration / fixing, or not including them in color pairs that are primarily aggro in your cube. Anchors - Supports - Ramp, Control
Coldsteel Heart Description - While it comes into play tapped, being able to fix whatever color you want makes this a good choice for acceleration / fixing. The snow will rarely matter if don't support other snow stuff in your cube, but can be a throw-in if you include something like Stalking Yeti. Anchors - Supports - Ramp, Control
Mask of Memory Description - This has some strong upside, but requires it to be supported by evasive creatures or a board state that will let you get through. It not only nets you a card, but the filtering really lets you shape your hand while also providing marginal support for graveyard themes. Anchors - Supports - Graveyard Matters
Mind Stone Description - This is a solid accelerator for control decks, letting them cycle it away once they have enough lands, or even in situations where they need to try to draw answer ASAP. Costing 2 and being able to tap straight away means it is only a total investment of 1 mana on the turn you cast it. Anchors - Supports - Control, Ramp
Shrine of Burning Rage Description - It's 5 mana total, but it doesn't take long for this to build up a decent amount of counters in a red deck. Played early in an aggro deck it can provide reach once you start getting outclassed on the board, providing some inevitability. In a slower deck, you can just wait until it has the right number of counters to take out the opponent in one fell swoop. The activation cost means you may have to play around artifact removal, but this is solid in any red decks, and can still be playable in non-red decks. Anchors - Supports -
Shrine of Loyal Legions Description - It doesn't take too many tokens to make a 'go wide' strategy work, so you can get this off the ground pretty quickly in white decks. In control decks, firing off 10+ tokens will win the game in short order if you've suppressed most opposing threats. Anchors - Supports - Tokens
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Contagion Clasp Description - It will be too slow in some cubes, but if your cube has sufficient number of support cards and is a bit slower then it can be worth it. It pairs well with Serrated Arrows (add charge counters while adding to existing -1/-1 counters), +1/+1 themes, and levelers, Blastoderm / Calciderm, among others. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Fellwar Stone Description - This is an ok accelerator. It's never guaranteed to fix your mana, though it is decent at supporting 3+ color decks, as the opponent is usually guaranteed to have one of your colors. Anchors - Supports -
Lightning Greaves Description - Good to support midrange decks that want to curve out and swing hastily with decent size creatures. Also protects your best creatures from removal. Anchors - Supports -
Mortarpod Description - At it's worst, it's a 2 mana ping for 1 that can chump block for a turn. With some mana it can be used as a pseudo-finisher, or use multiple creatures, preferably tokens, to take out a slightly bigger threat that must be taken care of. Pairs well with cards that care about creatures dying, like Blood Artist and Hissing Iganuar. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Prismatic Lens Description - A reasonable accelerator and fixer, but is fairly interchangeable with other options. Anchors - Supports - Ramp
Specter's Shroud Description - It's best in a deck with evasive threats, but can perform ok in an aggressive deck with ways to keep the way clear. Most decks will probably prefer the card draw / filtering of Mask of Memory, but this does provide a power boost so can at least do something on defence. Anchors - Supports -
Sphere of the Suns Description - It accelerates and fixes, but only for a limited number of turns, but that might be all you need. Good if you want your decks to have perfect mana over long-term acceleration. Anchors - Supports -
Talisman of Dominance (and friends) Description - They are good as fixers and rampers, though you usually wouldn't consider them ahead of Signets and only bigger cubes are likely to have space for both cycles. Only having allied colour pairs is a knock against them if you want the fixing to support all colour pairings equally. Anchors - Supports - Ramp
Viridian Claw Description - It is probably the only equipment that gives first strike that is worth considering. Useful in a range of situations; the extra point of power plus first strike can help aggro creatures win combats they would have lost to keep up pressure, and it makes it unlikely that midrange of larger creatures can be effectively group blocked. Defensive applications are obvious. Anchors - Supports -
Vulshok Morningstar Description - ok stats for costs, but not exciting. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Aeolipile Description - It's a 3 mana onboard Shock, but you might include it to give some direct damage to your non-red decks. Anchors - Supports -
Blight Sickle Description - The decks where this will matter are limited. Decent on a cheap regenerator as a staller, and good on first strike creatures to help force through damage or unfavourable blocks, but setting those up and having them happen consistently enough in games is a big ask. Anchors - Supports -
Bubbling Cauldron Description - It's an interesting intersection as an oulet for sacrifice decks and repeatable life gain for life gain matters themes. If you aren't supporting both, you probably don't want it. Festering Newt is not the greatest of cards, but draining for 4 is decent if you do include the 'combo'. Anchors - Supports - sacrifice, life gain matters
Cranial Plating Description - You need to be pushing an artifact theme, but it may have a place there. You won't be able to live up to its constructed pedigree, but with a few thopter tokens floating around your cube and other playable artifact creatures this could be decent. The black activation is pure bonus; no one would consider this a black card. Anchors - Supports -
Energy Chamber Description - You would have to be deep on artifact matters themes, but it could be an anchor card for that type of deck. Anchors - Supports -
Genesis Chamber Description - It's pretty marginal, and you would have to seed the right cards in your cube to overcome its symmetry. Gating creatures and bounce / blink decks are the most likely ways to take advantage of it. Anchors - Supports -
Gorgon's Flail Description - It's not strictly worse than Gorgon's Head, but if you are deathtouching, you would probably prefer the cheaper cost. Anchors - Supports -
Guardian Idol Description - It doesn't fix, but accelerates, while also being able to become a threat if required. You might include this as a support card for sweeper deck. Anchors - Supports -
Manriki-Gusari Description - The cheap equip cost can make this worth considering. If your environment has the strong-to-busted equipment (Skullclamp, Loxodon Warhammer) its value goes up, and is probably the clincher as to whether you include it or not. Anchors - Supports -
Millstone Description - It can fit into a control shell if you want mill decks in any color. However this option is a bit slow compared to some of the blue options. Anchors - Mill Control Supports -
Pentad Prism Description - It has some decent best case scenarios, but it is going to be inconsistent. It can store up mana for later turns to hit your big drops, and can ramp into 5 mana by itself on turn 3. It can support casting Illusory Angel on turn 3, or assisting follow up a card filtering spell with a reanimation spell in the same turn. While effects that sacrifice artifacts are not commonly played in peasant cube, if you have some this might be your mana rock of choice. Anchors - Supports - Ramp
Pit Trap Description - It's not particularly efficient, but gives you colorless removal if that is what you are looking for. Anchors - Supports -
Prophetic Prism Description - A reasonable fixer that ultimately doesn't cost you a card, but doesn't accelerate like other options, which renders this a bit lower in the pecking order. Anchors - Supports -
Prowler's Helm Description - Most cubes won't have too many Walls, so this is near unblockability. Whispersilk Cloak grants that if you want it, but this is cheaper, and might be preferable if you want the opportunity for interaction on the battlefield. Anchors - Supports - Saboteurs
Skyshaper Description - It is an option if you want a colourless 'finisher'. Anchors - Supports -
Spawning Pit Description - It's usefulness is a victim of rules changes (it was printed in the era when combat damage went on the stack, so you could sac with combat damage still resolving), but it might still have a marginal place, primarily as a cost free sacrifice outlet for good sacrificial lambs. In combat, you would have to be losing anyway to consider sacrificing. With the likes of Blood Artist on the board, Spawning Pit nearly halves the amount of creatures you need on the board to end the game. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Sunset Pyramid Description - If you want some colorless card draw for control decks there aren't many viable options, but this is one of the better ones. Only requiring 2 mana to activate means you may be able to play out cards you draw, or allow control decks to hold up counter mana while playing this out. Once depleted you still get some card selection if you've got mana lying around. Anchors - Supports -
Sun Droplet Description - Played early it can be a strong card for aggro to get through, effectively providing you 2 life per turn, especially if you can stabilise before you hit 0. The good scenarios are offset by being a bad top deck later in the game. If you are already at 5, Sun Droplet probably isn't going to help you get back in the game. Can be useful as free repeat life gain for life gain matters cards, though your opponent has to be willing to play your game. Minor synergy with Pestilence / Pyrohemia or other mass damage cards. Anchors - Supports - Life Gain Matters
Trigon of Rage Description - It's expensive before you get your first activation, and it is an onboard trick. However it is semi-repeatable and is a decent boost. Anchors - Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Amulet of Kroog - Too inefficient.
Alchemist's Vial - Doesn't do enough.
Angel's Feather - Too narrow.
Arcum's Weatehrvane - Does nothing in cube.
Ark of Blight - Too inefficient.
Armillary Sphere - Too much mana for something that doesn't put them on the battlefield.
Armory of Iroas - It's too slow and does nothing if you are on the defensive.
Ashnod's Battlegear - Too inefficient.
Banshee's Blade - Too difficult to make use of.
Baton of Morale - Nope.
Bladed Pinions - Prowler's Helm is better evasion.
Carnage Altar - It's 5 mana before you end up at parity, only if you don't count the creature you sacrificed. The mana + creature investment is too much. You don't want to keep 3 mana open just in case your opponent fires off a removal spell.
Cellar Door - It's too slow and inconsistent.
Charcoal Diamond - plus the rest of the cycle. They accelerate, but only fix one color if you don't already have it, and enering the battlefield tapped means you can't use it the turn it hits unlike better accelerators / fixers.
Cloak and Dagger - It doesn't do enough.
Cobbled Wings - Prowler's Helm is much better evasion.
Cogworker's Puzzleknot - Not efficient.
Copper Tablet - Too slow and inefficient for a symmetrical effect.
Cranial Archive - It doesn't cost you a card, but it does cost you 4 mana. In nearly all cases you will have been better off using that 4 mana for something else rather than marginally improving the quality of your draws.
Credit Voucher - You are 4 mana and a card down for no guarantees of getting a better hand.
Crook of Condemnation - Too narrow.
Crown of Empires - Won't be do anything at peasant.
Culling Dais - Too much investment and setup required.
Cultist's Staff - Vulshok Morningstar is strictly better.
Cyclopean Snare - 5 mana to get a repeat tap effect?
Dagger of the Worthy - Not efficient enough.
Darksteel Brute - You would have to care about the indestructible a fair bit to consider it over Guardian Idol which has acceleration and cheaper activation upside.
Darksteel Pendant - You would rather pay the extra mana and have Crystal Ball.
Decoction Module - It's too expensive to get an engine going.
Demon's Horn - Too narrow.
Deserter's Quarters - Removal that doesn't work until you have 6 mana.
Dragon's Claw - Too narrow.
Ebony Owl Netsuke - You would have to way too deep on bounce / tempo cards to consider this.
Echo Circlet - No deck wants this effect, so neither does you cube.
Elaborate Firecannon - So… you invest a card to turn cards in your hand into 4 mana Shocks that you can only cast once per turn? I'm scratching my head trying to figure this one out, but I can't figure out any synergies that would make you cube it.
Elsewhere Flask - It doesn't do enough.
Elven Lyre - You can activate this mid-combat, but for an extra mana you get Vulshok Morningstar equipped.
Embalmer's Tools - Doesn't really do anything in cube.
Endoskeleton - Doesn't do enough.
Essence Bottle - Too slow.
Excavator - No guarantee it will actually work against your opponent.
Executioner's Hood - Prowler's Helm or Whispersilk Cloak are going to be better.
Fireforger's Puzzleknot - Doesn't do enough.
Fleetfeather Sandals - You want Lightning Greaves for haste, paying 2 for haste is a lot. If you want flying, look elsewhere.
Fractured Powerstone - This is obviously for specific cubes only.
Fyndhorn Bow - Just get equipment instead.
Iron Lance - As above.
Galvanic Key - Too limited.
Glassblower's Puzzleknot - You pay 5 mana and you get some energy and card filtering, but you still end up down a card.
Glint Hawk Idol - The stats aren't so much better than the 2 mana initial investment would normally get you, and isn't worth the hoops you have to jump through.
Golem's Heart - Too narrow.
Graveyard Shovel - Not efficient at anything.
Grinding Station - Not worth the sacrifice.
Hammer of Ruin - Too narrow.
Healer's Headdress - Doesn't do enough.
Heart-Piercer Bow - It's ping that is conditional.
Helm of Awakening - It's symmetrical, in which case your players would prefer to play a mana rock because there aren't enough ways to support this in cube.
Hematite Talisman - Too narrow.
Hero's Blade - The equip cost is 4.
Horned Helm - Doesn't do enough.
Ichor Wellspring - 2 cards for 2 mana is good. To get value, you need enough reliable ways to be able to sacrifice artifacts for benefit. There simply aren't enough that are worth it to consider this.
Inquisitor's Flail - Nope.
Ivory Crane Netsuke - There aren't any decks that will reliably get to 7 cards that you would consider this.
Jabari's Banner - You have to activate this before blocking is declared, rendering it marginal in most situations and not worth the card.
Jewled Torque - Too much investment for not enough return.
Kaleiodstone - A very narrow fixer.
Kitesail - Prowler's Helm is much better evasion.
Kraken's Eye - Too narrow.
Krark's Other Thumb - Only for very specific cubes.
Kry SJield - Just bad.
Lapis Lazuli Talisman - Too narrow.
Liquimetal Coating - Doesn't do anything you care about.
Lobe Lobber - If it dealt damage to creatures this would be great, but not if it hits just players.
Magewright's Stone - There aren't enough targets that make this worth it.
Malachite Talisman - Too narrow.
Mask of Avacyn - Equip cost is too high.
Metalspinner's Puzzleknot - Not efficient.
Mindcrank - It's mostly a do nothing card.
Mogg Cannon - Bad.
Mycosynth Wellspring - There aren’t enough decent ways to sacrifice artifacts to make this worth it, in which case Traveler's Amulet is better for the ability to play it turn 1 or sequence your plays better.
Mystic Compass - Not efficient enough.
Nacre Talisman - Too narrow.
Neurok Stealthsuit - Just get Lightning Greaves.
No Dachi - Viridian's Claw is lower power but much more efficient if you want to give your creatures first strike.
Ogre's Cleaver - It costs 5 to equip.
Onyx Talisman - Too narrow.
Pentad Prism - It can let you accelerate to 5 mana on turn 3 as a one shot effect, but the window of opportunity is small, and the fixing is not quite enough.
Perpetual Timepiece - You are invested a card which you never get back.
Phyrexian Splicer - Too narrow.
Pillar of Origins - Too narrow for cube.
Power Conduit - Too difficult to make use of.
Reito Lantern - Doesn't do enough.
Raszortip Whip - Too slow.
Relic Barrier - Too narrow unless in a dedicated cube.
Revelsong Horn - If the tap symbol wasn't there, this might be good. But it is, so it isn't.
Ring of Evos Isle (and friends) - Too slow even in mono-coloured decks.
Riot Gear - Strictly worse than Vulshok Morningstar.
Rogue's Gloves - Mask of Memory has a cheaper equip cost and a better effect.
Sacred Armory - Too slow.
Scarab of the Unseen - Too narrow.
Sharpened Pitchfork - Not good enough.
Shield of the Ages - It only prevents damage to you, not creatures.
Shrine of Piercing Vision - It doesn't do enough for the time you have to wait.
Sigil of Valor - It has some ideal board scenarios, but isn't going to be consistent enough.
Silverskin Armor - Doesn't do enough.
Siren Song Lyre - It uses 2 cards to get an inefficient effect.
Slab Hammer - Any landfall triggers you might have don't make up for this.
Soldevi Digger - There aren't any decks that will take advantage of this, so it doesn't belong in your cube.
Sparring Collar - Not good enough.
Spy Kit - It probably enables a quirky combo or two, but in general it is just going to be bad.[/
Star Compass - While sometimes you will want more of what you already have, the fixing on Fellwar Stone is probably going to be better in most decks.
Steamclaw - Bad.
Stormrider Rig - Doesn't do enough.
Surestrike Trident - Too slow.
Swiftfoot Boots - There isn't really a reason to play this over Lightning Greaves. Hexproof is objectively more powerful than shroud, but a 0 equip cost is significantly better to allow you to swing in with hasty creatures on curve.
Sword of the Meek - It combos with Thopter Foundry. Outside of that, the stats are worse than Vulshok Morningstar, and the graveyard trigger is unlikely to matter. There aren't enough other ways to benefit from sacrificed artifacts.
Tablet of the Guilds - Doesn't gain enough life quickly enough.
Tawnos's Weaponry - Get equipment.
Telim'Tor's Darts - Razortip Whip is better if you really want this type of effect.
Thornbite Staff - Inefficiency stacked on top of inefficiency.
Thought Vessel - Mana rocks thats cost 2 mana are pretty good, but the maximum hand size clause will mean nothing in 99% of games, and you could be playing Mind Stone or other better artifacts instead.
Throne of Geth - There is not enough depth in artifact themes to support this.
Throwing Knife - It's versatile, but you would rather have better options.
Torch Gauntlet - Strictly worse than Vulshok Morningstar.
Tormenter's Trident - You don't want to give your creatures a drawback.
Touchstone - Too narrow.
Tower of Coireall - Too narrow.
Trailblazer's Boots - Too narrow.
Trigon of Mending - Not efficient enough to consider.
Trip Noose - You could cast this on turn 2 and use it as early as turn 3, but for 1 more initial investment for your first tapdown, you can have Icy Manipulator.
Tyran'ts Machine - Bad version of Trip Noose.
Urza's Hot Tub - Too hard to construct with cube in mind.
Vanguard's Shield - Doesn't do enough to warrant a spot.
Veteran's Armaments - Too narrow.
Veteran's Sidearm - Bad version of Leonin Scimitar.
Vial of Dragonfire - Worse than Aeolipile.
Vorrac Battlehorns - There will be situations where this will be useful, but not enough to warrant inclusion in your cube.
Vulshok Guantlets - Too expensive.
Warmonger's Chariot - Bad.
Warping Wail - It's enticing, but it isn't enough to what amounts to splashing another colour.
Whalebone Glider - Equipment is better.
Wooden Stake - Too narrow.
Woodweaver's Puzzleknot - It's a good chunk of energy, but it still doesn't do enough for a regular cube setting unless you are highly dedicated to energy.
Wurm's Tooth - Too narrow.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
None.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Cathodion Description - It can feel a bit 'filler', but from a cube design perspective you give every colour a 3/3 for 3, which slots into most decks; ok stats for aggro and midrange, and provides reasonable defensive speed for control decks that want the game to go long. The mana ability isn't always going to be useful, but its value goes up a little in decks with sacrifice outlets, particularly if they have targets to ramp into. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Filigree Familiar Description - Solid enough combination of abilities. It isn't going in any aggro decks, but the life gain can buy you time, and even if you have to chump at least you get the card back; if you can trade with something, that is gravy. Aggro decks playing against it usually just have to bite the bullet and plow through it. Anchors - Supports -
Palladium Myr Description - It's decent acceleration, potentially taking you from 3 to 6. You may consider Worn Powerstone because the Myr is vulernable to creature removal which is more prevalent than artifact removal, but Myr can help support delirium a little better should you care about it, and can always enter combat if you need it to once you no longer need the acceleration. Anchors - Supports -
Phyrexian War Beast Description - Sacrificing a land may seem rough, but aggro decks are less worried about this drawback compared to others in the 'big artifact creature with a drawback' category. Most colours will have better aggro creatures at this mana cost, but being colorless can help provide an additional relevant body across every colour, and the 4th toughness can be relevant against burn or when running into other 2 and 3 drops. Control decks might even be willing to side it in against aggressive decks to put a solid cheap blocker in the way. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Chief of the Foundry Description - It's a build around or synergy card that definitely needs support, with the most obvious avenues being cards that create thopter tokens so your army is evasive, but servos also fill the role. You will want other solid artifact creatures like Perilous Myr, Porcelain Legionnaire and Spined Thopter, and possibly the more 'generic' stuff like Cathodion. A 2/3 isn't terrible when it isn't pumping something else, but you need the support to consider it. Anchors - Artifact (creatures) matter Supports -
Lurebound Scarecrow Description - It might be worth it if you want to promote mono decks or leaning on a single colour, especially aggro decks that can put permanents on the board quickly. You are prone to getting blown out though. Anchors - Supports -
One-Eyed Scarecrow Description - It probably slots in to certain decks that have trouble with fliers. But if your Skies decks are dominating, it might be an indicator to change something else rather than include this. Anchors - Supports -
Pilgrim's Eye Description - It's not particularly thrilling, but it gives you a (small) evasive threat while hitting your land drops or finding a splash land. Ramp decks that just need to hit their lands might be fine just chumping while they set up their bigger plays. Anchors - Supports -
Scuttlemutt Description - It does have upside over Darksteel Ingot by being a creature that can enter combat when relevant, but that is also its downside as it is easier to remove and doesn't have 'haste'. Sphere of Suns is probably the preferred version unless you really want a creature version. The secondary ability will rarely be relevant, but the niche interactions will be nifty when they turn up (protecting a creature from a Nekrataal, being able to block a Nezumi Cutthroat etc). Anchors - Supports -
Spin Engine Description - Maybe this isn't too bad as a red card? It isn't going to break through massive board stalls, but after some early pressure and trades maybe you just need to spend a couple of mana to waltz through? Anchors - Supports -
Togglodyte Description - A 3 mana 4/4 is solid and can create some fun game states and mind games. You play it and pass the turn, you might force your opponent to play out of sequence so they can turn it off before they attack. If it's turned off by the time it is your turn, you can play your spells pre-combat. There will be times when you can't attack or when your opponent turns it off mid-combat, but a 4/4 for 3 doesn't come without some downside, and it's going to hit pretty hard. You probably need to draft around it and pick up more instant speed tricks to keep it turned on. Anchors - Supports -
Yotian Soldier Description - It will serve mostly as a blocker. The high toughness does give it scope to attack, but the 1 power means it can still be stonewalled by enough creatures that it isn't really worth it. It's reaching, but those stats plus vigilance might make it just enough if you have lots of equipment or auras that boost power, or have ways to distribute +1/+1 counters, or your cube is loaded with aggressive 2/1's and 3/1's. Anchors - Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Alloy Myr - Scuttlemutt is strictly better, and you don't need both.
Armored Transport - It might be 2 power indestructible on the attack and maybe it gets a couple of hits in, but it is just going to be too easy to stonewall to warrant paying 3 mana for it.
Assembly-Worker - Not good enough on its own, and not enough synergies to care about.
Bottle Gnomes - A victim of rules changes since its release (could block x/1's, put damage on the stack to trade and still use the sacrifice ability). It could stll serve a stalling purpose to stand in an attacker's way while padding your life total if you just need to get to a big spell, but there are better options, like Filigree Familiar.
Burnished Hart - It's hard to imagine when you want to play it. You can 'curve out', but the 1 or 2 mana artifact fixers just seem so much more efficient, and it it isn't a great creature.
Custodian of the Trove - A 2/5 is a decent blocker, but the drawback of entering the battlefield tapped is pretty real for this type of card, making it a bad top deck when the decks that would play this really want an immediate blocker.
Darksteel Myr - It blocks stuff without trample, but that is all it does (aside from corner cases like equipping it). For your 3 mana, you'd rather have something that can actually kill something or contribute to your game plan.
Elf Replica - No point in playing over actual green cards.
Ersatz Gnomes - You have to reach too far for any synergies.
Ferropede - There might be occasions when the triggered ability does something, but nowhere near often or impactful enough to compensate for the terrible base stats.
Hewed Stone Retainers - Illusory Angel is worth jumping through hoops because it has evasion and can tussle with most things in the sky even if it doesn't come down until a bit later; this vanilla doesn't have the same luxury.
Steel Golem - There are so few decks that would be willing to play it even if it was safe, but you would also need to remove from your environment every card that could deal with it without removing it from the board (tappers, Pacifism effects etc).
Wild-Field Scarecrow - It requires too specific a game state to really get enough out of it. It can come down on turn 3 to protect your life total for a few turns, and then ramp you if you need it, but going into your hand instead of the battlefield isn't great.
Wingrattle Scarecrow - It's bad if you are not either of the colours, it's only just passable if you are one of the colours, and not exactly great if you are both colours.
Workshop Assistant - It's a recursion tool, but being a 1/2, only triggering on dying, plus narrow targets makes it a pretty weak one.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Crystal Shard Description - Such an anchor card that people draft the 'Crystal Shard' deck to abuse it, but the basic effect is good enough. Just being able to return creatures after you block or save them from removal can be effective enough. Your opponent has to be very careful about how much mana they leave open; if they are tapped out, you can pay u3 to lay this down and bounce their dude. Or you can activate it at the end of their turn, and then again on your turn, forcing them to leave 2 mana open. Commonly though, it is built around to get multiple uses out of your own enter the battlefield effects, whether it is drawing cards off Mulldrifter or killing stuff with Skinrender, or building a Kithkin army with Cloudgoat Ranger. Most consider this a blue card; it can be played in other decks, but the 3 mana cost can be prohibitve to advancing your board state. Anchors - Bounce Supports -
Grafted Wargear Description - One of the top 3 best pieces of equipment, this card is ridiculous. As long as you have at least one creature, it has instant effect on the board once you cast it, and the free equip cost just makes it busted. The boost is strong, meaning any creature you put it in is likely to at least trade if not just win combat; Every creature you play just gets to be massive. Unless your opponent can deal with it immediately, it's likely to win a lot of games where it resolves. Anchors - Supports -
Loxodon Warhammer Description - One of the top 3 peasant equipment, to the point of being removed from some cubes for power concerns. Once you equip it, most creatures can then at least trade with most opposition while delivering life gain upside and potentially trample damage. If your creature does trade, just suit up something else. If your opponent doesn't block, the life swing makes it difficult for them to race. Unless your opponent has artifact removal or can keep every craeture you play off the table, it will regularly win games that were otherwise unwinnable. Anchors - Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Basalt Monolith Description - It can be part of a ramp strategy, almost like a delayed ritual. Casting Pelakka Wurm on turn 4, or earlier if you had other ramp, is enticing. However it doesn't really do anything outside of that deck. Anchors - Supports - Ramp
Crystal Ball Description - It isn't the fastest, but if you can stabilise and get more than a couple of activations out of it, the card quality is likely to pay off. Anchors - Supports - Spells Matters
Oketra's Monument Description - It takes a few tokens to get your value, but they can add up if you are going wide or playing a control deck. If you can play this and follow it on turn 4 with a white 5-drop or a couple of 3-drops, you will recover well enough. Has some specific interactions with Kor Skyfisher and Whitemane Lion, giving you tokens for a single white mana. Might still be good enough in non-white decks, particularly sacrifice decks that can take advantage of the extra bodies. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Pristine Talisman Description - A fine accelerator that also help to keep you alive, particularly for control decks. If you stabilise the board, the continued life gain can start putting you out of reach of your opponent. A fine support card if you want to support life gain matters. Anchors - Supports - Life Gain Matters
Renegade Freighter Description - A solid vehicle for aggro decks. If cast on curve, it's usually a 5/4 attacker on turn 4, which is excellent, often acting like equipment without an equip cost; sometimes your 5/4 can break through when a couple of 3/2's or similar might not have profitable attacks. However, it is tempered somewhat if you are playing all the best instant speed removal; you might find yourself on the receiving end of removal after crewing your vehicle which can be a bit of a tempo less. Anchors - Supports -
Tumble Magnet Description - A decent way for aggro to close out a game. In that scenario it almost acts like removal on their largest creature as long as you close out the game in three turns, and it can impact the board immediately. You can also wait until their next end of turn, activate, and then on your turn to clear 2 blockers. Less essential in a control deck, but locking down a 3 power creature early in the game while laying out your bigger plays can still be worth it. Anchors - Supports -
Worn Powerstone Description - It isn't essential, but if you want to support artifact ramp, this is one of the better options (unless you count Sol Ring), potentially taking you from 3 up to 6. Anchors - Ramp Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Atarka Monument Description - It's fine in decks that want to ramp or otherwise go long, but far from an essential piece. It gives you a flyer in colors that don't normally get them. Anchors - Supports -
Azorius Keyrune Description - Most cubes are better off with a signet (especially to help splashes), but if you are really itching for a threat for control decks that is resilient to sorcery speed removal and sweepers you might be willing to include it. Anchors - Supports -
Barbed Battlegear Description - Could this actually be ok? Turns anything with toughness greater than 1 into something that can smash down your opponents door? It's obviously bad compared to Grafted Wargear, but that card is stupid. Anchors - Supports -
Blasting Station Description - It can combo with some other playable cards; you can ping for 2 damage with an undying or persist creature, and if you've got ways to remove their counters (Juniper Order Ranger for example) it can be an instant kill. Probably too narrow for most cubes as the cost if you are using it fairly (sacrificing a creature) is high, but cubes which can create a bunch of tokens might have some additional use for it. Anchors - Supports -
Chimeric Idol Description - It can fill a specific metagame role. Viewed purely as a creature Cathodion is better because this has a drawback, but this can be a 3/3 for 3 that can avoid sorcery speed removal or sweepers if your control decks need it. Anchors - Supports -
Crystal Chimes Description - It's narrow and requires some careful card swaps to consider it. You need enchantments that regularly make their way to the graveyard such as Seal of Doom, and a decent contingent of bestow creatures. With the right support this could be a solid player in that deck to refill your hand with gas. Anchors - Enchantment Matters Supports -
Darksteel Ingot Description - If you are in the market for a colour fixing mana rock, this is ok. Sphere of the Suns might be an alternative; however this might be preferred if your cube trends towards longer games and you want to support 3+ colour decks. Anchors - Supports -
Dimir Keyrune Description - Most decks will prefer the cheaper signet, but this can provide Dimir control decks with some inevitably if they can control the board. Anchors - Supports -
Edifice of Authority Description - The first mode doesn't lock down blockers for aggro or midrange decks to get their creatures through, but it can still be fine in a control deck. You might also consider Icy Manipulator for more flexibility in timing / targets, or Pacification Array. Anchors - Supports -
Fabrication Module Description - If you assume you don't have other energy cards, it's an expensive way to put +1/+1 counters on your creatures. You probably want one or more colours that have a decent energy identity in your cube to consider it (or it's a worse Dragon Blood), and for the composition of your cube to be grindy. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters, Energy
Fireshrieker Description - It takes a bit of investment to get going. Probably best in decks with moderate size creatures to help turn trades into wins, and unblocked creatures to smash decent face. Fringe benefits if you support saboteurs, and nice with tramplers. Anchors - Supports -
Leonin Bladetrap Description - It isn't particularly efficient but it is a unique effect, giving you an instant speed colorless way to ambush your opponent. Anchors - Supports -
Magnifying Glass Description - In a vacuum it's a 3cc colorless mana rock and you need to spend 6 to draw a card, which doesn't sound great. However it might have a place if you find your control decks are too good with access to the best 2cc mana rocks, and the clue tokens might give you some support for artifact matters themes. Anchors - Supports - Artifact Matters.
Moonglove Extract Description - Can be ok if you want 'artifact burn'. You can cast Aeolipile when you have 2 mana, but you always need to keep that 1 mana up at the right time, which you don't here. Anchors - Supports -
My First Tome Description - Gets a mention as a card that will probably draw you a few cards for a while, but may need to rotate out once your players start paying attention. Might be a 'feel bad' depending on the range of knowledge or individual care factor about flavour. Anchors - Supports -
Pearl Shard Description - Repeatedly threatening to prevent 2 damage at instant speed is worth respecting, but it can generate grindy gameplay that your group may not appreciate. Anchors - Supports -
Rakdos Keyrune Description - There are better options when looked at as a pure mana rock / fixer, but threatening 3 power first strike is a reasonable alternate mode. It plays well with the black and red sweepers. Anchors - Supports - Rakdos Sweeper control
Rhonas's Monument Description - The power boost hints at being aggressive, but this forces you to take a turn off which can be awkward. A midrange deck with reasonably statted creatured is where this is likely to be best. Self bouncing creatures like Kor Skyfisher and Whitemane Lion can also do some work with this. Anchors - Supports -
Seer's Lantern Description - Viewed purely as a mana rock it isn't the best in class. However the scry does give it some extra flexibility once you have spare mana, which might make it suitable for control / ramp decks. Anchors - Supports -
Skeleton Shard Description - It has a narrow range of targets, but if you support enough artifact creatures it might be worth it. It's particularly good with some playables like Filigree Familiar and Perilous Myr, but could just be a grindy value engine with some other generic artifact creatures. Nice if you've got some sacrifice outlets for extra benefits. Anchors - Artifact Matters Supports - Sacrifice
Sunstone Description - Repeat colorless Fog for control decks if your basics box includes snows might not make for fun gameplay, but it could be powerful. Anchors - Supports -
Thunder Totem Description - It seems ok in terms of power level, but unless your environment really needs white ramp or threats that avoid sorcery speed removal / sweepers it doesn't seem necessary. Anchors - Supports -
Thunderstaff Description - It only prevents damage to you, not creatures, so you have to be willing to let them through for this to have effect. But you might be more willing to do that if you can crack back on the attack, or if your opponent has a bunch of 1 or 2 power creatures. Anchors - Supports -
Vulshok Battlegear Description - This looks horrid compared to Grafted Wargear and Loxodon Warhammer, but those cards are insane to start with. You could consider this a 'fair' version of those cards, but it doesn't add pressure quickly like the Wargear, or really swing a game back your way like the Warhammer. If you CAN stabilise and equip it though, the boost is solid. Only if you want your equipment to be a bit less swingy. Anchors - Supports -
Whirlermaker Description - It's pretty slow, but in the right matchup (it's probably a death trap against aggro) you might be able to generate an army of thopters over the long game and swing in. Probably the 'best' of the repeatable artifact token makers. It isn't great, but if you want one of those, this is probably it. Anchors - Supports -
Whispersilk Cloak Description - It can be swingy, and is probably the best in midrange or ramp decks to finish off the opponent once you've got your deck off the ground. Also helps saboteurs if that is something you support, or in a pinch it can go on an annoying blocker to avoid removal. It's not particularly efficient however. Anchors - Supports - Saboteurs
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Abzan Banner - Plus the rest of the banners. Sure it creates an additional colour, but Cluetsones are more playable because they fit more decks. A 2 color deck would prefer Darksteel Ingot or other mana rocks.
Bone Flute - Thunderstaff isn't strictly better (you could argue this can save your creatures from lethal combat damage) but it is still much better than this.
Boros Keyrune - While a number of these are reasonable and their activation costs are cheap enough, they are essentially gold cards and none are good enough to make the cut over Signets.
Braidwood Cup - Yuck. Much better ways to gain life.
Chariot of Victory - It's a nice collection of abilities, particularly if your deck skews towards high power creatures, and the haste makes it fine for top decks. But when are you taking a turn off to cast it?
Chimeric Egg - Even if your opponent plays a spell every turn, this does nothing for 3 turns, you get to swing… and then you wait again? Nope.
Chitinous Cloak - There are other better equipment for these costs.
Chronotog Totem - If you are using it as a mana rock it is a very bad deal. You get a 1/2, and I don't know when you would ever want to lose a turn just for a one-shot 4/5.
Conversion Chamber - Too much set up, even if you support an artifact matters theme (which probably includes thopter tokens which do nothing for this).
Cryptolith Fragment - It's somewhat conflicted. Decks that want acceleration are more likely to need to protect their life total, and it is terrible when you are behind; you might not even be able to afford to accelerate, and requiring both players to be at 10 or less is too conditional.
Diviner's Wand - Ideally has to be equipped at the beginning of your turn to get benefit. Even with 6 mana, you can't top deck this and get anything.
Dragon Blood - Too mana intensive; it takes 6 mana before it has any impact on the board.
Dragon Mask - It looks like a potential Crystal Shard redundancy piece, but it is missing a few key pieces. The main thing going against it is when it returns the creature. You can't wait til your opponents end step, or the trigger won't happen until your end step, meaning you can't recast it that turn. It also can't threaten to bounce your opponents creatures. If you attack on your turn you can activate the pump mid-combat, but you still can't recast your creature on your own turn.
Medicine Bag - You've spent two cards before you get to regenerate your creature, and it's an on board trick. There are far better discard enablers.
Mindstorm Crown - There might be some narrow decks that could use it, but too narrow for cube.
Necrogen Censer - You can make an argument that it is 4 points of colorless reach that is virutally unpreventable, but if you in a losing board state this is not a card you want to see.
Nemesis Mask - The situations where it is truly useful are too narrow.
Obsidian Battle-Axe - Probably not enough Warrior synergies to warrant inclusion, and 3 mana equip cost undermines the haste, in which case you would be better off with Vulshok Morningstar or Vulshok Battlegear.
Ojutai Monument - You can get better mana rocks and these colors have access to flyers.
Orazca Relic - Not the 3 mana accelerator you want.
Pennon Blade - Sometimes you pay 7 mana for +1/+1. It's hard to imagine this consistently being better than Vulshok Battlegear.
Phyrexian Totem - It's bad if it just stays a mana rock. A 5/5 trampler as early as turn 4 is impressive, but how often are you going to be willing to attack?
Piston Sledge - I suppose it's like a colorless aura if you can't pay the equip cost, but it isn't good enough on that basis, and finding artifacts to sacrifice just won't be happening often enough.
Puppet Strings - If you are aggressive, you probably want Tumble Magnet. If you are controlling, you probably want Icy Manipulator for the cheaper activation.
Razor Boomerang - This seems way worse than Viridian Longbow. Corner case that you can get triggers from casting artifacts but it is still not efficient enough.
Shrine of Boundless Growth - I can see best case scenarios of drawing into a Fireball or something, but it just seems too narrow to consider cubing it.
Shrine of Limitless Power - It's too much time and investment if you aren't black, and if you are black you have better options.
Sickleslicer - The upside isn’t worth a Grey Ogre.
Skull of Orm - I like the repeatability and it's colorless, but it's way too much investment compared to colored cards like Monk Idealist that also have bodies attached.
Thirsting Axe - Too conditional. It hits hard, but it doesn't increase the survivability of the creature, and if your opponent isn't under a lot of pressure they might just take the hit to put you down a card.
Thran Forge - This does work on defense, but War Horn requires no further investment for the same benefit, as well as working on any random artifact creatures you have.
Umbral Mantle - There are a handful of combos, Viridian Joiner being the most obvious, but outside of that you wouldn't play it. The equip cost says 0, but it's more like 3 mana… every time you attack. You can make arguments for fringe uses if the creature has tap abilities, but there isn't enough to warrant inclusion.
Unstable Obelisk - It can provide colorless removal for your control / ramp decks, but even those would probably prefer to play a better mana rock. Most colors are just going to have better answers.
Vessel of Endless Rest - The ETB effect does not do enough compared to better mana rocks.
War Horn - It's pretty clear what sort of deck it wants to be in, but it is too inconsistent. Equipment is probably going to provide around the same or better benefit to aggro decks while being better at getting you out of a losing game. Decks that want to develop their board such as token decks are better served with Thunderstaff.
Warden of the Wall - So you get an underwhelming mana rock, but also a potential blocker that can't block the turn you cast it… I can't imagine this being better than lots of other options in the majority of situations.
Warlord's Axe - There are strictly better options than this.
Weatherseed Totem - A 5 mana activation is substantial. If it dies you get it back, but it costs you 8 mana before it can become a creature again. Cards like Centaur Glade can fill the inevitability role better than this.
Wirefly Hive - 6 mana for a 50% chance of getting a token… nah.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
None.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Galvanic Juggernaut Description - Probably the best 'aggro artifact creature with downside' at 4 mana. It hits hard, and if you are aggressive, creatures are likely to die. Sometimes they are forced to chump it, and it gains pseudo-vigilance. It might compete with Untethered Express if you don't want 2 4cc aggro artifacts. Anchors - Supports -
Snare Thopter Description - It doesn't do anything particularly special, it's just a solid set of stats and abilities for the cost that nearly any deck would play, but certainly a solid colorless option for aggro decks. Anchors - Supports -
Su-Chi Description - A colorless 4/4 for 4 is playable in just about any deck. It's hard to get value out of the dies trigger, but it's nice when it comes up. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Etched Oracle Description - There is potential here, but a lot of things have to go right in the draft to actually play it. Only if you've got the right support for 4-5 colour decks, and probably a slower cube. Gets marginally better the more ways you have of getting more +1/+1 counters on it. Anchors - Domain / 5 colour Supports - +1/+1 Counters
Pierce Strider Description - The Hill Giant body is not much to write home about, but the life loss can help as colorless reach for any coloured aggro deck to maintain pressure. Anchors - Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Ancestral Statue - You aren't going to care about self-bounce enough to consider playing / cubing this over Su-Chi.
Iron League Steed - The colours that would care most about having a haste 3/3 have better options, and there seems little reason to leave behind the token.
Juggernaut - The forced attack hurts here, because at 4 mana and 3 toughness, the opponent can usually find a cheaper drop to throw in its way and trade with it, and gets a turn to change their play to prepare for it.
Junktroller - There might be some narrow decks where this could do something, but not consistently enough.
Rackling - In a generic deck it is too easy to get out from under by sandbagging lands, and you need to include too much narrow support to make this decent.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Serrated Arrows Description - Only impacting the board with a single -1/-1 counter the turn it comes down might not save you from a curve out aggro beatdown, but instant speed activation makes attacking and blocking decisions more difficult for your opponent, and being able to spread them around can wreak havoc on decks with smaller creatures. Cute double synergy if you play any proliferate cards. Anchors - Supports -
Untethered Express Description - One of the better vehicles, usually a 5/5 trampling attacker on turn 5, and if your opponent can't deal with it then, the growing counters make it harder to take out after that. Anchors - Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Hedron Archive Description - It's a reasonable accelerant for ramp or control decks; in the midgame the mana helps you fire off your spells, and in the late game when you have enough mana, you can trade it in for cards. Less powerful on the frontend than something like Worn Powerstone, but increased versatility in the late game. Anchors - Supports -
Icy Manipulator Description - It's a decent tapper, with a cheap activation cost. Find 4 mana might be challenging against some decks, but holding off their best attacker or clearing a blocker is usually worth it, and if you want to attack you can always tap down something on their end step and another target on your turn. Sometimes it might be right to lock down their land to mana screw or colour screw them. Can also provide incidental hate for some strong utility lands like Maze of Ith. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Bomat Bazaar Barge Description - 5/5 for 4 is a lot, especially one that comes with a card, but crew 3 might also be hard to pull off. At least it might draw you into creatures to crew it if you are short. Anchors - Supports -
Ovalchase Dragster Description - It dies if it runs into anything, but it hits hard. If you can lay it down and get through because of the haste and then threaten another 6 the following turn it can be good, but it is going to be inconsistent.
Anchors -
Supports -
Skull Catapult Description - It's a sacrifice outlet, and the effect you get is a fairly decent one. You probably have to spend a turn setting this up so it is a little slow, but a cheap activation cost means you can keep developing your board while threatening 2 damage at instant speed (which you can do after chump blocking). Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Thran Dynamo Description - It ramps a lot, but it competes with a number of other ramp options. This is the only artifact that can accelerate you from 4 to 7 without having a fifth land drop. Basalt Monolith can get your ramp spells out earlier (especially if you don't hit your fourth land), and Hedron Archive doesn't ramp as much but comes with better late game upside. Anchors - Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Geth's Grimoire - It needs too much support to be good. Even if you warp your cube to include a lot of cylcing cards or discard rewards that your opponents will draft, your opponent can just choose not to use those outlets.
Gnarled Effigy - Too slow for such a minimal effect on the board. Play Serrated Arrows.
Goblin Boom Keg - If you want colorless removal, play the cheaper versions. They may only deal 2 damage instead of 3, but they are far better than this.
Jade Statue - Why did this get upgraded to rare in 9th Edition?
Jayemdae Tome - Too inefficient; something like Crystal Ball will get you the card quality while being able to afford spells.
Khalni Gem - I want to evaluate this on the basis that you might have landfall and related themes as a feature of your cube, but what deck actually wants it?
Knowledge Vault - You can build a pile, but you aren't drawing the cards until you crack it, you don't know what you are getting, and if you are holding cards you don't get to keep them. Pass.
Mourner's Shield - Too much investment, and you might not even be able to activate it if there isn't anything relevant in a graveyard yet.
Murderer's Axe - It's a free discard outlet, but you can get better outlets, and if the creature dies and you have no cards, it's just dead.
Opaline Bracers - If you could pay 4 for +4/+4 with equip cost of 2, you probably aren't too unhappy. But it just isn't going to be consistent enough to cube.
Reflecting Mirror - It costs 4 to put down, costing twice as much as the spell means you can't always threaten it, it is on board so your opponent can just wait until you tap out, and how many spells per game is your opponent targeting you with?
Weakstone - It's symmetrical, so it affects your creature too.
Well of Life - It's easy enough to gain 2 life every turn, but there doesn't seem a compelling reason to actually play it in any deck. Life gain matters has better options.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
None.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
None
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Dross Golem Description - 3/2 with fear for 1bb isn't terrible, you can cast it for 3b if you happen to be short on black, and later in the game it might be cost 2 or less. It's an evasive 'black' creature, fine but it doesn't stand out from similar options. If you care about artifacts in your cube, that might put it ahead of those other options. Anchors - Supports - Artifact Matters
Kozilek's Channeler Description - It's a 4/4 for 5 without a colour commitment, which is still not very impressive. It might help you stabilise while accelerating into your 7-drops. Most ramp decks are probably going to perform better on average with a cheaper mana rock like Worn Powerstone, but you might cube this instead (or in addition to) if you feel your ramp decks need a ramp spell that also helps stabilise. Anchors - Ramp Supports -
Self-Assembler Description - This rating is on the assumption you allow a 'draft 1, get 4' type of scenario. Guaranteed 4 vanilla 4/4's in a row isn't necessarily amazing, but it does develop your board nicely. Anchors - Supports -
Skyreach Manta Description - You need enough colour fixers in your cube to get this to be a 4/4 flyer; anything smaller than that on a consistent basis and you probably shouldn't be playing it. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Thopter Squadron Description - It doesn't seem particularly great in a vacuum, but you could cube it to support some archetypes. It can provide triggers for artifacts entering the battlefield, and also has a few specific interactions with +1/+1 counter cards, E.g. Winding Constrictor. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters, Artifact Matters
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Wicker Warcrawler - It isn't far enough above the curve upon casting to make up for the drawback.
Aradara Express - It's pretty massive, but the crew cost of 4 is significant. It will suck if you pay 5 mana for this vehicle and only have a 3/2 to crew it with.
Trigon of Thought - Not efficient enough, even if you are playing blue.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Breaker of Armies Description - It's expensive, but your opponent also can't just chump it all day long if they don't have removal. It usually presents a couple of scenarios; they have enough power to kill it, but you get to choose the order in which their creatures die usually offering a good set of trades; or they don't have enough to power to kill it, which can signal the end of the game, because they won't be able to mount a defense after that. Notwithstanding, you can also get through with everything else on your board. Solid ramp target, and if you can reanimate it it demands an answer. Anchors - Ramp Supports - Reanimator
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Artisan of Kozilek Description - 9 mana is a lot, but the payoff is also high. Assuming you hard cast it, even if it gets countered or dies to removal at least it brings something else back with it. And if it does stick, it becomes a must answer threat. If you support reanimator you might also consider it; if they don't have immediate removal, the game is probably effectively over after the first swing. Anchors - Ramp Supports - Reanimator
Bane of Bala Ged Description - Compared to Ulamog's Crusher, only having 5 toughness means it is going to die more frequently when it goes into the red zone. The opponent gets to choose the permanents, so a reasonable scenario is it trading it off for 1 or 2 creatures and a couple of lands that are unlikely to matter. 7 is less than 8, but if you are supporting ramp you should probably just cube the other Eldrazi. Anchors - Ramp Supports - Reanimator
Deathless Behemoth Description - 6/6 with vigilance at colorless is decent. That said, the main reason to cube it is if you just want some beef for any color. Eldrazi scion synergies are probably pretty thin in most cubes, but nice if it happens. Anchors - Supports -
Drownyard Behemoth Description - It's going to kill most things it blocks if you flash it in, and you can also do so without fear of reprisal. It's just vanilla after that, but you can 'ramp' it out early with emerge and cast it on your opponents end step. Anchors - Supports -
Ulamog's Crusher Description - You might occasionally die on the crackback, but the majority of the time you want to be attacking with an 8/8. Unless you cheated it into play, your opponent can probably sacrifice lands for a few turns, but if they don't have an answer it can lock the opponent out of the game after a few turns even if they have creatures to chump with. Anchors - Ramp Supports - Reanimator
Wretched Gryff Description - You don't really want to be hard casting it, but even if you are trading in a 2 mana creature that has outlived its usefulness, you get an ok creature and replace the sacrificed creature. It doesn't really stand out though. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Darksteel Sentinel Description - It can be an ok stabiliser, hopefully taking something out on defense with the flash. Cube it as support for control decks. Anchors - Supports -
Lashweed Lurker Description - You might not always realise its full potential, but setting the opponent back on board can be worth if you can accelerate it out by sacrificing a non-relevant creature. Anchors - Supports -
Pilgrim of the Fires Description - It's expensive, but 6 first strike power is notable. It blocks well, is difficult for the opponent to trade with, and the trample means the opponent can't just chump with tokens. It doesn't compete with green ramp targets and you'd probably cube Eldrazi as colorless ramp targets, but slower combat heavy cubes have enough to like here. Anchors - Supports -
Razor Golem Description - If you paid 4 mana for it, you probably wouldn't be thrilled but it might be acceptable. The main reason to play it would be in support of either artifact synergies in white, or to complement draw / go control decks. Anchors - Supports -
Vexing Scuttler Description - It's probably good enough in a spells matters deck, but you'll need enough sacrificial lambs in your deck. Anchors - Supports - Spells Matters
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Abundant Maw - The upside isn't high enough to warrant considering this.
Darksteel Gargoyle - Indestructibe is nice, but it falls a little short on the stats to cost ratio to really consider it. Darksteel Sentinel is cheaper and arguably comes with better upsides.
Death-Mask Duplicant - It's just going to be too inconsistent to warrant inclusion.
Oxidda Golem - You need 3 consecutive Mountains on curve for this to be marginally ok. It's worse in 2 colour decks and can be a slightly better in mono-red aggro decks, but overall it just isn’t going to get there often enough.
Pathrazer of Ulamog - If you are looking for a creature purely for reanimation, this is perhaps the best of those that don't protect themselves. However, the other colorless big creatures would win the majority of those games too, so you may as well take a slight power hit on the pure stats and be able to cast 7-9 drops when an 11-drop would just sit in your hand.
Ruin Processor - Doesn't do enough compared to other Eldrazi.
Sandstone Oracle - A 4/4 flyer for 7 mana isn't very good. The upside of drawing a bunch of cards is nice, but a deck that plays a 7 mana creature isn't likely to have less cards than the opponent.
Spire Golem - You can make an argument for it going in a draw / go deck where you might end up casting it for free / cheap with counterspell magic up, but it is pretty narrow in that role.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
None.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
None.
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Dreamstone Hedron Description - Hedron Archive is going to be the better version in most decks. By the time you cast this, you probably don't need the ramp so much, making it a 9 mana draw 3 in some cases. You might cube it for maximum redundancy of ramp options. Anchors - Ramp Supports -
Loreseeker's Stone Description - 6 mana is a lot to get started, but the potential to draw 3 repeatedly is at least worth noting. The decks that could play it would be pretty narrow; possibly ramp decks refill after emptying the hand of ramp cards or attrition-based control decks. Anchors - Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Scour from Existence - Instant, targets everything, playable in any colour… but not worth 7 mana.
Skittering Invasion - It puts a bunch of tokens on the battlefield, but at 7 mana there isn't really a use case for it. Sacrifice and token decks want cheaper options.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Aether Hub Description - While it is one off (unless surrounded by other energy cards), it is a great fixer for aggro decks, given that most such lands enter the battlefield tapped, but likely to be played in any deck. Anchors - Supports -
Tri-Lands (Arcane Sanctum) Description - You will find these in nearly every peasant cube. By fixing 3 colours, it opens up the number of decks that can play them, as they are just fine if you are only playing 2 of the colours. If most decks are 2 colours, each 2 colour fixing land only matches to 1 pair; each tri-lands matches to 3 pairs, making it easier for players to find fixing during the draft. They allow for easier splashing if you pick something powerful up later in the draft. Some cube managers may exclude specifically to reduce the splashing and '4+ colour good stuffs' decks.
City of Brass Description - One of few fixers, especially of all colours, that doesn't enter the battlefield tapped. While the damage can add up, you will be able to cast your spells. Aggro decks are the ones that benefit the most; if in the opening hand it helps curve out while the damage is probably negligible. Some cube owners have been known to include multiples, given there are few aggro-oriented fixing lands. Control decks or attrition decks that want to grind out a long game are less inclined to want a land that doesn't have an option that doesn't deal damage. You can go super old school and include Icy Manipulator or some such and kill your opponent slowly by tapping their City of Brass.
Gemstone Mine Description - One of the best (among very limited options) for 5 colour lands that don't enter the battlefield tapped. As such, excellent support for aggro to make sure they hit their early drops, with those decks being less likely to care by the time the last counter is removed. Has some incremental synergies with threshold/delve, bouncelands, or other self-bounce stuff like Kor Skyfisher.
Vivid Lands (Vivid Grove) Description - Excellent fixers that few cubes go without. They are fine as your base colour and using the charge counters for a splash or high colour commitment cards in another colour. They are equally as fine if the permanent mana is your splash colour, as even if you quickly use your charge counters for your primary colour(s), but the time you've used them you have often reached the point of the game where you've drawn into those lands. Also a plus that this a 5 land cycle that doesn't favour certain colour combinations (e.g. ally colours or enemy colours only).
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Evolving Wilds / Terrmaorphic Expanse Description - They can find any basic land in your deck at the cost of being tapped. It's just good fixing, and can help support splashes or multi-colour decks. Marginal benefits of filling the graveyard for decks that care, and may trigger landfall twice in a turn.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Bouncelands (Azorius Chancery) Description - They fix 2 colours. While it enters the battlefield tapped, when you hit your final land drop you are one mana ahead of where you would have been, creating a sort of card advantage. Better for control decks where that advantage matters. They are mostly better than ETB duals, with marginal downsides if you want to split the mana, and land destruction or bounce spells that hit permanents are more punishing. They also have some synergy with landfall. If you are on the draw and don't have another play prior to dropping this, you might need to discard, but you may consider that a feature (reanimator, kick-off dredge, discard flashback cards).
Mirrodin's Core Description - A good card to support a splash or if you have a few cards in different colours that have strong colour commitments. In 2 colour decks it is going to be worse than most ETB duals / tri-lands if you need to alternate every turn putting storage counters on it and then taking them off.
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Refuges (Akoum Refuge) Description - The refuges are fine ETB lands that fix 2 colours. The life gain is a nice bonus, and are little better if you have a life gain matters theme in your cube. If you are already solid in your 2 colours, you might pick this over a tri-land, but until you are near the end of the draft you will probably take a tri-land, and they will fit more decks be default. These might be an option for an additional fixing cycle or in larger cubes.
Artifact Lands (Ancient Den) Description - You need to be pushing a strong artifact theme to make these worth the effort. Depending on what colours your artifact theme decks are, you might not include the whole cycle, though this then causes issues with colour classification. Some cube owners might let their players choose a limited number as alternate basics.
Ancient Ziggurat Description - It fixes all colours and doesn't enter the battlefield tapped. Creatures are the pre-dominant card type in peasant decks, and in aggro decks this can help ensure you hit your creatures on curve. However, the drawback is still relevant. If you have any other game changing spells or activated abilities, this essentially eats one of your land drops. Holding onto a Mind Control with Ancient Ziggurat as one of your five lands is going to be annoying. As a result, it doesn't belong in every deck.
Panorama (Bant Panorama)
Description - There is only one likely reason to play them; you are supporting a colourless / devoid deck and you want access to colourless sources. If you aren't supporting that deck, don't play them. The plus side is they do come into play untapped, but when you activate it costs you 2 without an immediate payoff because the target comes into play tapped.
Crumbling Vestige Description - It is fixing that doesn't cost you a land drop per se, at the cost of only getting the fixing once. This can make timing awkward, as you need to make use of the first mana during a main phase. The best case scenario is as early fixing for aggro decks so they don't miss a beat, or if you support cards that care about colourless mana (which is probably very few, if any).
Myriad Landscape Description - It can help you find your splash colour, but it is pretty slow at doing it. In a 1 or 2 colour deck, it is just a slow accelerant.
Rupture Spire / Transguild Promenade Description - They fix all colours pain free, but they are too slow for most decks; it essentially costs you 2 mana the turn you play it.
Warped Landscape - (0?) Description - If you push colorless matters in your cube, it might be worth looking at. However, it is really only best in other decks to help you find a splash colour you don't need until late game. Unlike Terramoprhic Expanse, this costs you a total of 3 lands to find that basic land compared to 1. It comes with upside that you can use it for mana immediately as it doesn't enter the battlefield tapped itself. Unlike Terramorphic Expanse, you can keep using it for mana while manipulating the top of your deck, and then crack it when you don't like what is on top. That is pretty narrow upside though, and not something most decks are going to draft. Anchors - Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Ancient Springs - 5 card cycle, able to sac for the two allied colours of the primary colour it taps for. These are unlikely to make their way into cubes, but they offer both fixing (potentially 2 colours) and a one-shot mana boost. You might include them in some decks, but not enough that they warrant a space in your cube.
Arctic Flats - Plus 2 cycles. These are strictly worse than tri-lands and refuges. There is no need to play them.
Azorius Guildage - Plsu cycle. There are no cards that care about gates that you would want to play, making these virutally the same as the above cycle.
Bad River - It is almost strictly worse than Terramorphic Expanse, though this does let you play it, untap, and then keep yourself open as to what land you need. There aren't nonbasics with basic land types that play into this cycle. Including the cycle just seems a lot worse than throwing in 5 Terramorphic Expanse and improving the overall fixing in your cube.
Boreal Shelf - Snow Duals cycle. On the assumption you let players have snow basics, tri-lands or refuges are probably still better.
Calciform Pools - They are very slow, essentially costing you 2 mana a turn to store a counter. It's also kind of weird that the activated ability costs mana, but doesn't require a tap. You can of course tap it for colourless mana, then use that mana to remove your storage counters, but the payoff takes time.
Caldera Lake - Plus cycles. You can get ETB duals with upside, not downside.
Cinder Marsh - Only getting your coloured mana once every 2 turns is bad.
Command Tower - Means nothing in standard Peasant cubes.
Crosis' Catacombs - When you compare them to bouncelands, you aren't down any mana the turn you play it (if you tap the returning land first), but you are down a land until you run out of land drops. Tri-lands hit the battlefield tapped, but you only get the initial mana hit.
Holdout Settlement - It fixes all cololurs, but the cost and timing is too awkward. Even if you tap down a creature that has summoning sickness to cast a sorcery speed spell, you can't threaten to block with the creature. In most cases you probably want more for having to tap down a creature, as it doesn't accelerate you, just fixes.
Painted Bluffs - It looks fine as it fixes colours for only 1 mana, but it is like Stone Raining yourself when you need that colored mana.
Krosan Verge - It's unique as there isn't a cycle, but it does effectively cost you 4 mana to find your lands which is too much, and because it searches for specific lands it is only useful in that color combination. Myriad Landscape searches for 2 of the same basic, but can be used in any deck if you really want this effect.
Opal Palace - Doesn't do anything in standard peasant cube environments.
Rhystic Cave - Giving your opponent the chance ot shut down your fixing is bad.
Riftstone Portal - It is too narrow and isn't going to be active often enough.
Unstable Frontier - Worse than Shimmering Grotto / Unknown Shores in most cases as the activation can be responded to and not enough cards that care about basic land types.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Ancient Tomb Description - It accelerates you without any initial investment that affects your board development(ETB or bounce something else), and therefore allows you to build your board faster than your opponent. Great in most decks, though in some match-ups the damage will add up. Anchors - Supports -
Library of Alexandria Description - It doesn't have much of an opportunity cost. If you draw it late, you just count it as one of your land drops and keep on playing. If this is in your opening hand though, and particularly if you are on the draw, the value that it provides is insane and something has to go really wrong for you not to win with the massive card advantage it generates. If affordability wasn't a factor (or you play with proxies) you still might not see it in cubes due to the ridiculous power in the opening hand.
Anchors -
Supports -
Maze of Ith Description - Insane 'spell' that consistently removes the biggest threat from combat, all at the low cost of a land drop. Even if you play it early, the effect will keep you alive long enough to keep hitting actual mana-producing land drops to play the rest of your stuff. Being a land makes it hard for most decks to remove, and forces them to rely on go wide attacks, or be completely locked out of the game. Anchors - Supports -
Mishra's Factory Description - An excellent creature land due to the fact that the activation cost is so low and it doesn't ETB tapped. It can even block as a 3/3 on defense by targeting itself. Only the more colour intensive decks would consider not playing it. Incidental support for artifact matters themes. Anchors - Supports - Artifact Matters
Strip Mine Description - Probably the most powerful land destruction card in the game which can just generate mana if you need it to. Better in aggro decks that can either strip their land on turn 1 and survive on low lands, or get out 1 or 2 early creatures and then keep the opponent off their bigger spells. Most often it is excluded due to power level / lack of fun. Anchors - Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Faerie Conclave Description - Excellent creature land with a cheap activation cost while also being evasive. Fun with Standstill, and better in environments with removal slanted towards sorcery speed. Anchors - Supports -
Treetop Village Description - Among the best of the creature lands, providing decent stats for a low activation cost, allowing you to beat down in the mid game while casting cheaper creatures. Anchors - Supports -
Wasteland Description - Most cube decks include nonbasics, and this is likely to take out a fixing land and set your opponent back. Best in aggro decks that can keep laying beats while disrupting the opponent. While it is restrictive in its targets, most will exclude this because they don't consider it fun. Strictly worse than Strip Mine, but that card is insane in the first place. Anchors - Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Desert Description - It can't kill things before they deal damage to you / your creatures, but a repeatable source of damage that doesn't cost you any mana to put into play (including ETB tapped) can add up quickly. Against aggro assaults, you may be able to pick off those x/1's, hold off token assaults, or trade your creatures up. If your opponent has a couple of bears, they can't profitably attack into your 1/3 any more. Being a land also makes this hard for most decks to remove. Anchors - Supports -
Foundry of the Consuls Description - Has decent upside for a low cost, as it just replaces one of your lands and doesn't come into play tapped. Once you hit 6 lands, you can starting throwing some evasive creatures into the air. It's fine on it's own, so can be a good card as incidental support for an artefact matters subtheme. Anchors - Supports - Tokens, Artifact Matters
Ghitu Encampment Description - The ETB tapped is a small price to pay for a relatively cheap activation, and the first strike can help ward off attackers or get it through. It is a card you can seed in your cube as support for sweeper decks (or against them). Anchors - Supports -
Looming Spires Description - It's fine to play in the mid-game when you can sequence around the ETB effect, and time it when the first strike and pump makes things awkward for your opponent. It is conditional, but doesn't come with a huge cost. Anchors - Supports -
Mortuary Mire Description - It doesn't create actual card advantage, but it can increase card quality by giving you back your best creature. It does require timing though, and in the early game you may just find yourself with a swamp that enters the battlefield tapped due to having no targets. Anchors - Supports -
Mouth of Ronom Description - Rating is on the basis you allow your players snow basics. In that instance, this card can clear a lot of creatures outside of ramp targets once you get to 6 lands, and can be played as removal by any colour. Anchors - Supports -
Pendelhaven Description - It looks green, but you could easily count this as a colorless card that gets slightly better in green decks. Most peasant cubes have a number of 1/1's, particularly tokens, and it can give some extra play to some of your utility creatures, particularly on defense. e.g. Being able to block an early aggro creature safely with Mother of Runes while still granting protection to something else, or being able to profitably block with a Merfolk Looter. Just as fine to support your Mogg War Marshal, Hordeling Outburst, Beetleback Chief start. It's value will change depending on the exact number of interactions you have in your cube. Anchors - Supports -
Quicksand Description - Decent colorless removal as it doesn't ETB tapped and still provides mana. Makes attacking difficult for your opponent if you leave this open. Anchors - Supports -
Rogue's Passage Description - This can really turn around stalemates in the mid to late game, or help aggro secure a win just as your opponent stabilises. Sometimes the board position is such that you can safely send in a single unblockable attacker for a couple of turns to get your opponent into range for an alpha strike. It isn't the primary reason you would play it, but it is also good with saboteur effects. Anchors - Supports -
Skarrg, the Rage Pits Description - Its usefulness will vary depending on your red and green sections, but the threat of activation can sometimes make blocking tricky against early creatures where the single power or toughness will change the outcome, and if you've got some nontrample fatties it can really help you break through. Anchors - Supports -
Skyline Cascade Description - This is a fine stalling card. You might occasionally have to play it without a target, but shutting down an aggro creature for a turn can buy you time, or help in a damage race. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Cycling Lands (Barren Moor) Description - You might include them in your cube if you want to give your decks more ways to smooth their draws. Mostly it is just providing decks some incremental advantage, and when it comes to cube construction you are using slots on incremental advantage instead of more defining cards. They have some synergy with delve / threshold. Anchors - Supports -
Bazaar of Baghdad Description - This requires a bit of building around and support from your environment to get the right benefit from it. It only works in a handful of decks, and requires the right set up to become worth it. The cost is steep; it doesn't produce mana so it costs you your land drop, and used 'fairly' as a filter it throws card disadvantage on top of that. However, it does get cards into your graveyard quicker than almost anything else, and pairs well with dredge, delve, and cards that care about being the graveyard. Also a good card for reanimator, where the card disadvantage doesn't matter quite as much while you keep digging. At the time of writing, madness is a topic of discussion (pending Shdows over Innistrad release) and Bazaar might contribute, but having to discard 3 cards coupled with this costing a land drop makes it unlikely you will be able to cast multiple cards even at discounted rates. You would could it as a spell for deck construction, and the first activation is essentially a 4 for 2 because you invest the card itself. You really need to be getting solid benefits from the discard for this to be worth it. Anchors - Supports - Reanimator, Madness, Graveyard Matters
Blasted Landscape Description - It doesn't enter the battlefield tapped, and you can cycle it away if you need to. As a 1-of in a deck, you would probably play it unless you were playing more than 2 colours. However it really only offers incremental advantage to most decks, but doesn't really add anything to your cube. Anchors - Supports -
Blighted Cataract Description - It has little opportunity cost in most blue decks. However unless you have other mana sources you need to hit 7 land drops before you can activate this. A land you no longer need that replaces itself with 2 other cards is powerful, but it is going to be slow in getting there, and there will be times you will be staring at a double blue card in your hand wishing this was just a basic island. Anchors - Supports -
Blighted Gorge Description - It comes with a low opportunity cost, but you can trade it in later for some reach or to clear out an opposing creature. In terms of cube design, you may just want a better burn spell though. Anchors - Supports -
Blighted Steppe Description - Low opportunity cost and the effect is fairly costed. It isn't exciting, but being able to gain 4+ life in the mid to late game if you've got nothing else to do is fine.
Anchors -
Supports -
Buried Ruin Description - It is narrow and your cube needs to be built with it in mind, but can be a support card for an artifact matters theme. Anchors - Artifact Matters Supports -
Cabal Coffers Description - This only belongs in your cube if you are actively pushing a mono-black theme. In a 2+ colour deck this is just bad because it doesn't accelerate you until you already have 3 swamps on the board. Anchors - Mono-black Supports -
Cloudpost Description - The only way this would make its way into your cube is as a 'pick 1 get 4' deal. It could be an interesting choice for control / ramp decks, though peasant lacks good ways to find nonbasics. Anchors - Ramp Supports -
Dakmor Salvage Description - It really only supports the dredge deck, and if you dump stuff from your graveyard into your library you can always get this back to hit your black mana requirements. You probably want some form of sacrifice outlet for lands / permanents to really get some benefit out of it though. Anchors - Dredge Supports -
Darksteel Citadel Description - You likely only want to include this as an intersection between artifact matters decks and colorless matters decks. Being indestructible means very little. Anchors - Artifact Matters Supports -
Daru Encampment Description - There are likely to be enough Soldiers incidentally in your cube that you could throw the tribe a bone without needing to go all-in. It's fine as a combat trick in aggressive decks, either trading up / surviving and winning the board war, or your opponent doesn't block due to threat of activation and then use the mana to keep developing your board. Anchors - Soldier Tribal Supports -
Dread Statuary
Description - It can hit hard if it activates, though the 2 toughness makes it hard to run into anything. It's fine in a sweeper deck. Anchors - Supports -
Eldrazi Temple Description - If you want to push the colorless decks, presumably filled with Eldrazi, this is a nice signal card, but it only fits that one deck. Anchors - Colorless Matters Supports -
Fertile Thicket Description - It doesn't help define your cube, but it can be a roleplayer in 3 colour decks to help dig for whichever colour you need, or feel more comfortable keeping some land light hands. Anchors - Supports -
Forbidding Watchtower Description - It isn't particularly exciting, but if played early it can help control decks get to the late game by being able to block a lot of ground troops. Anchors - Supports -
Haunted Fengraf Description - The randomness makes it hard to abuse, but it comes with only a minor opportunity cost. It is similar to drawing an extra card but in most cases you will be 'drawing' a business spell (sans some sac lands). It doesn't really cost most decks much to add, but it also doesn't really add much to your cube. Anchors - Supports -
Ice Floe Description - You would count it as a spell as it doesn't generate mana. The creature still gets to hit you (or your blocker), but then you get to lock it down permanently for no mana cost. You also get to untap it and upgrade to a bigger target, though they always get a swing first. It loses some of its shine by being an on-board trick though and not being able to prevent the damage upfront. Gets marginally better if you have ways to untap it at instant speed. Maze of Ith is better by miles, but if that card annoys you this could be a colourless replacement. Anchors - Supports -
Ifnir Deadlands Description - It is fine enough on it's own, which is good given that few other Deserts are worth cubing (except actual Desert). This isn't fast, but trading it in later to kill or shrink a creature is ok. There isn't anything that really compels you to cube it though. Anchors - Supports -
Keldon Megaliths Description - Hellbent is harder to obtain / maintain than you might initially imagine. It slows down your mana base a little, but can give you reach in aggro decks that can empty their hand quickly. You probably only want to include it if your cube supports really low curve aggro in R/x so you can trigger it often enough. Anchors - Supports -
Llanowar Reborn Description - It's ok, but doesn't really add a lot to your cube. Gets a slight bump in cubes that support +1/+1 themes. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 Counters
Novijen, Heart of Progress Description - It supports a +1/+1 counter theme, but is still useful outside of that. The biggest knock is that it essentially costs 3 mana to activate, so often won't be contributing until the late game. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 Counters
Radiant Fountain Description - It is mostly incremental advantage for most decks, but control decks will like the life gain to survive until the late game. Synergy with life gain matters cards, plus some fringe synergy if you have bouncelands or other ways to return lands to your hand. Anchors - Supports - Life Gain Matters
Seriji Steppe Description - Because you have to play it main phase, it reduces some of the impact most protection effects have. However, it can still provide some turns where you can make profitable attacks, either by getting through, or against boards with multiple colours of creatures, turning off the ones that are most threatening. Anchors - Supports -
Shefet Dunes Description - It's a land when you need it to be, and a pump spell later. Sorcery speed and your opponent seeing it coming are downsides, but not giving up a spell slot is reasonable upside. Anchors - Supports -
Smoldering Spires Description - In the early to mid game, you can probably sequence this to maximise its value in aggro decks while still being able to develop your board. While it's a land that will provide mana after it untaps, you might be better served with an actual red card that has this type of effect, like Mugging or Panic, or upgrade to a more expensive version. Anchors - Supports -
Stalking Stones Description - As the transformation is permanent, this can be a land early and then a reasonably sized beater later. It's an ok card but doesn't add a lot to your cube, though it can provide a bit of support to traditional blue control decks. Anchors - Supports - Flash Go / Draw Go
Starlit Sanctum Description - It's narrow on tribal, but you may have enough incidental Clerics in your cube to throw them a bone. Very cube dependant. Anchors - Cleric Tribal Supports - Life Gain Matters
Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion Description - Repeatable double strike is going to do some good work in some board states. If you are losing, it is probably too slow to help you recover, but might help you claw your way back if you aren't too far behind. If you are winning, it is win more. But if you are in a stalemate it is probably fine to turn things around. Anchors - Supports -
Tomb of the Spirit Dragon Description - It's pretty narrow on the colorless theme that most cubes won't care about. If you have enough devoid creatures, artifact creatures, or effects that create Eldrazi spawn / scions, then it might have some value. The repeat life gain looks fine for a life gain matters deck, but that deck probably has minimal colorless spells. Anchors - Colorless Matters Supports -
Urza's Factory Description - If you can stabilise or have managed to control the early and mid-game, pumping out a 2/2 every turn can be worthwhile to grind out a win. However, it essentially costs 8 mana and isn't going to turn around a losing game. That said, the opportunity cost is low and if you've constucted your deck properly the other cards will help you get to a position where you can activate this, or use the tokens to trade while stockpiling cards in hand. Anchors - Supports -
Vitu-Ghazi, the CIty-Tree Description - It's slow, but like many lands, it has a low opportunity cost because it can always just provide mana. At it's worst, it costs 5 mana to prevent damage to you from a single attacker, and isn't likely to turn around a losing game. It can help break stalemates by slow rolling an army, but is unlikely to make it into most Selesnya sections. Anchors - Supports -
Wastes - 0 Description - This is a specific call out as you may wish to include some in your basic land pile if you are going deep on colorless, but you never want it as a pick in your cube. It's outside the scope of this scoring to talk about the pro's and con's of this approach. Anchors - Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Barbarian Ring - It might incrementally make some of your red decks better, but as a once off effect that deals damage to you until you use it, I'm not seeing a good use-case for it.
Blighted Fen - You don't get to choose the target, and costing 6 it is likely to hit a pretty weak target.
Centaur Garden - Doesn't do enough to warrant the damage.
Cephalid Coliseum - The deck that wants to filter is less likely to be able to afford the damage early.
Coral Atoll - Plus cycle. Bouncelands are strictly better.
Crystal Vein - It offers a one-off mana boost, but costing your land drop makes it a dicey proposition.
Desert of the Fervent - Plus cycle. Only for very specific cubes that care about Deserts, otherwise you could play the versions that cycle for a single mana or for 2 colorless.
Diamond Valley - It doesn't produce mana, so costs you your land drop. To gain any decent amount of life, you need to sacrifice your better creatures. Bubbling Cauldron is going to be better for most decks to get a guaranteed hit of life.
Drifting Meadow - And cycle. You would rather have the other cycling err cycle that costs on-colour mana. In the situations where you cycle these cards, it is because you already have the colour. In that same scenario, paying 1 mana instead of 2 to cycle is better.
Dryad Arbor - It looks like a 'free' creature you can play on turn 1, but you aren't getting a Forest AND a creature, it is a forest which is also a creature. There might be some scenarios where this is good, but the times when your opponent uses removal that is cheaper than Stone Rain on your land and cripple your development will far outweigh them.
Dunes of the Dead - There are so few cards to sacrifice lands to that this is not worth it.
Duskmantle, House of Shadow - I want to say this is niche, but there are better options if you really want to push mill in these colours, and essentially costing 3 mana a turn just for 1 card just isn't worth it.
Dwarven Ruins - Plus cycle. You don't really end up ahead, as you lost the mana you gained by entering the battlefield tapped. The upside is that you can cast a single spell a turn earlier, but then you affect your future development permanently. There aren't decks that will consistently benefit from these.
Enchroaching Wastes - There are likely to be enough nonbasics in your cube as targets in most matchups, but it probably won't contribute much to your overall game plan.
Grasping Dunes - You could just play Desert or Quicksnad. It's best against x/1 aggro targets, but you can't really afford to lose a land against the aggro decks.
Halimar Depths - It doesn't do enough for coming into play tapped.
Hickory Woodlot - Plus cycle. There isn't a use case for these. You give up mana the turn it comes into play, then accelerate by 1 for 2 turns, then lose your land. There might be some best case scenarios where the acceleration really matters, but will be overcome by the times it is just bad.
Nantuko Monastery - A 4/4 first striker is pretty solid, and while green plays around with the graveyard, as a colour pair there isn't enough support to make this matter often enough, especially when compared to other gold card options.
Nephalia Academy - It might provide some minimal incremental advantage as a sideboard card, but that does not make it worth cubing.
New Benalia - Scrying is nice, but not enough to compensate ETB tapped.
Nivix, Aerie of the Firemind - The likelihood of the revealed card being an instant or sorcery is low (even if you are in that strategy) and if it is you still need to pay to cast the spell after you've just tapped 5 lands to activate this.
Rix Maadi, Dungeion Palace - You could include it in an aggro deck that doesn't care about the discard, but you would just play Blightning instead as a gold card.
Seraph Sanctuary - Not going to be better than Radiant Fountain most of the time. How often are you going to have 3 Angels enter the battlefield in a game?
Soaring Seacliff - You'll get more value out of Artful Dodge or Distortion Strike.
Spawning Bed - Foundry of the Consuls fills this role better by being a mana cheaper to activate (which might be about 2 turns wait on average) and providing evasive tokens.
Spawning Pool - It isn't good enough. You essentially need 4 mana each turn to be able to keep chumping with it.
Sunscorched Desert - This is not big enough impact to warrant hurting your mana base, even if you care about Deserts.
Svogthos, the Restless Tomb - There is only 1 deck where you will be happy to play this, and other Golgari cards are better anchor cards for that type of deck.
Teetering Peaks - Supports aggro decks, but the timing can be awkward, and you can just play Dynacharge (or other cheap creature pump).
Temple of the False God - There doesn't seem to be a use-case for this. Ramp has better tools.
Terminal Moraine - It costs 3 mana (as you have to tap it) to find your land and put it onto the battlefield tapped, which is underwhelming. It is offset by just providing mana until you are ready to crack it, but it isn't enough to really make it in cubes.
Tolaria West - There is very little at 0 mana you want to search for. The only reason to consider it is if you push the more powerful nonbasics, in which case they probably don't need any support anyway.
Turntimber Grove - It's not strictly worse than Llanowar Reborn because this can add instant pressure, but the permanent counter is worth more.
Unholy Citadel - Even if you had targets you wouldn't play it.
Urborg - It provides incremental advantage to your black decks but isn't worth a cube slot unless you REALLY find black struggling against first strikers. But then you shoul djust be playing other cards.
Urza's Mine - Plus cycle. If you want to house rule this type of land, Cloudpost is a better option.
Wirewood Lodge - While Elves is one of the more prominent tribes, there aren't many Elves that you are desperate to untap. It has synergy with Imperious Perfect and even accelerates with Joraga Treespeaker, but those synergies are pretty slim to consider adding this to your cube.
Zoetic Cavern - It has the benefit of a land that can be a creature if you no longer need lands, but it is a pretty inefficient creature, and I don't know why you would ever want to turn it up later. On turn 5 you can play your 5th land, play your morph, use the other 2 mana to flip so you now have 6 lands? Nah.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Fire // Ice - 3 Description - Neither mode is exceptional, but the flexibility makes up for it in an Izzet deck. Fire can do mop up or clear out creatures, while Ice can keep something at bay in control decks, or where there aren't good targets for Fire. Anchors - Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Life // Death Description - Reanimate that costs 1 more mana is still very good for reanimator decks as well as many other decks. Life can act as a finisher, especially if you support land based ramp. Several hasty 1/1's the opponent wasn't expecting can clinch a game if you've provided any pressure. Pairs nicely with anthem effects (Gaea's Anthem, Soltari Champion etc) Anchors - Supports - Reanimator, Go Wide
Order // Chaos Description - Most players would consider this a red card, as Order is pretty bad. Chaos on the other hand can end games in aggro decks or midrange decks after a bit of pressure has been applied. Anchors - Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Appeal // Authority - 1 Description - Appeal might be a signal if you want to promote go wide / token strategies. It's narrower and has a lower ceiling than something like Predator's Strike, but can reward building around it. Authority is a nice upside, but you would probably consider this a green card first and foremost. Anchors - Supports - Tokens / Go Wide
Consign // Oblivion - 1 Description - It's possible to cast Consign on the opponents end step and then use Oblivion to force them to discard it if they only have 2 cards. 5 mana is a lot, but Consign is efficient enough that Oblivion is just upside. You might cube it over Vapor Snag if you want your blue bounce spells to deal with most card types. Anchors - Supports -
Far // Away - 1 Description - Both modes are a mana more than 'retail', but the flexibility of either mode might make it worth consideration. The fuse at least means you can bounce their worst creature to get a better sacrifice target, and at least gets two creatures off the board at instant speed. Cube it as a tool primarily for control decks, as most other decks won't want it. Anchors - Supports -
Rise // Fall Description - Rise is effectively a 1 for 1 that also sets the opponent back on the board and probably never bad, but seems most at home in Dimir aggro / tempo, and support for that deck is the reason you might consider it. Fall might be a 'fair' Hymn to Tourach that doesn't steal your lands on turn 2, and might be better cast on turn 4 alongside another 2 drop or something to maximise its value. Rise is probably the main reason to consider cubing this though. Anchors - Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is
little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Assault // Battery - Neither mode is efficient and the flexibility doesn't make up for it.
Claim // Fame - Claim is a smaller Unearth, but the difference between 2 and 3 is too significant, and the possibility of casting Fame afterwards isn't enough.
Dead // Gone - It's just outside the curve, but far enough that you don't want to consider cubing it.
Destined // Lead - Other black gain indestructible instants are better. The aftermath upside isn't really worth considering it.
Down // Dirty - It's just too inefficient in any mode for something that doesn't affect the board.
Give // Take - You could make an argument that Give provides synergy with +1/+1 counters, but it would be a pretty hard sell over Elephant Guide and you wouldn't need both. Take feels less relevant as giving up board presence to draw cards is usually not a good plan.
Hit // Run - Awkward colour consderations aside, Hit isn't very good. Run isn't going to consistent enough for a 5 mana card.
Reduce // Rubble - Reduce is a worse Mana Leak, and Rubble's timing is narrow.
Rough // Tumble - Rough is much narrower than Pyroclasm and alternatives. I guess it could make it into a Skies deck to clear out opposing small creatures for the race, but I don't think you need to reach that far to give that deck such narrow tools. Tumble just seems bad.
Spite // Malice - I suppose it can answer everything, but it isn't very efficient.
Spring // Mind - Spring is not efficient enough to consider Mind as 'free' upside', and taken as a whole package it isn't efficient enough.
Turn // Burn - Turn could just be Snakeform, Burn could be Lightning Bolt or variant. As a package, something like Prophetic Bolt is going to be better in most situations.
Wax // Wane - Just 'meh'. You could cube it and play Wax in some non-white green decks that need pump, but you'd never feel good about it.
Wear // Tear - It provides removal, but there are better options for that.
This section includes cards that have some form of effect during, or are influenced by, the actual draft itself instead of or in addition to actual in-game effects. Several of them don't stack up as cards you would ever include in an actual deck, which means the 'draft matters' effect has to be meaningful enough to warrant inclusion. These aren't classified like other cards as they work on a different axis; they are only broken down into those most worth considering, and the ones that likely don't belong in most cubes.
Cogwork Librarian Description - Depends entirely on your chosen draft format. In traditional booster draft, taking a first and second pick out of pack 2 or 3 can be pretty powerful if you take it late in pack 1. It can be a fun mechanic for the draft itself, as it is never going to actually make a deck. Anchors - Supports -
Lurking Automaton Description - It 'auto-corrects' for the power level of your cube, but it does end up just being a vanilla big drop. Probably only worth cubing if you have +1/+1 lords, and depends on your draft format. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Regicide Description - It will depend on your draft format, but this is probably fine in 8-mans, with occasional relegation to the sideboard (or coming out of the sideboard depending on your preference). Clearly wonky in 2-man formats. Anchors - Supports -
Garbage Fire Description - It will depend on your draft format of choice, but you will probably accept 4 damage as a baseline, and 5 or more starts looking pretty good. Anchors - Supports -
Pyretic Hunter Description - It will depend on your draft format of choice, but if this is going to be 5/5 or better with menace, you are looking good. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Animus of Predation Description - A 4/4 for 5 is not a great baseline, and you probably need two decent keywords to make it worthwhile. There is an opportunity cost to those keywords, as they take up extra picks, but there are some combination of keywords which are going to challenge opponents, and when there is nothing else for your deck you can just pick something with a keyword. It's probably more fun than a great card, but it probably creates some good stories. Anchors - Supports -
Leovold's Operative Description - It's value will depend on your draft format. You are never going to include it in a deck, but being able to take a strong first and second pick out of a future pack that is on-colour or on theme is pretty strong. Anchors - Supports -
For the most part Conspiracies are powerful effects because they provide a 'free' effect that doesn't cost a slot in your deck (and therefore you don't have to draw it). Even the few that require mana are still essentially free options, and some cube owners don't care for them on that basis. So usually they are great for most decks (especially those not aligned with a colour), so the question is whether you should actually cube them. Below are some general descriptions of these cards, and why you might or might not consider them for your cube.
Adriana's Valor - It's going to be fine if it ends up in your white deck, but the upside isn't so high (given your opponent will know before having to block) that it is worth cubing over a white card that is probably better for those decks.
Advantageous Proclamation - I don't know the math, but it clearly makes the consistency of your deck better and I can't imagine it not being picked in the first few picks of a draft if you cube it.
Assemble the Rank and Vile - Like most of the colour aligned conspiracies, fine in your black decks but not high enough upside (and you might not even have mana at the right time) to really warrant cubing it.
Brago's Favor - Free cheaper spell is great, and is also a conspiracy with more variance due to what is in your cube than most. Mana rocks coming down a turn earlier can be nasty, if you cube buyback spells (Sprout Swarm comes to mind) that can get out hand a lot faster, and if you have a good self-bounce target you can make your cycle more efficient.
Double Stroke - Essentially becomes a free spell, which is awesome. Double awesome if that spell has buyback, rebound or flashback.
Echoing Boon - A bit more narrow than other conspiracies, because it requires an instant or sorcery that you are willing to play on your own creatures. So you might find yourself without a reasonable target anyway, and doesn't seem worth taking up a cube slot for.
Hired Heist - It pairs nicely with evasive creatures, and if you even think you might be in blue I find it unlikely you'd draft too many actual blue cards over this.
Immediate Action - If you are worried about conspiracies simply adding to the power of any deck, at least this one is more likely to help aggro decks than control decks.
Incendiary Dissent - Of course it will go in any red deck, but requiring investment makes it perhaps a little more 'fair' than others. Also works nicely to support anything that cares about 'power matters' such as double strikers.
Iterative Analysis - As long as you have at least one instant or sorcery, you get to randomly draw an extra card sometimes. Extra awesome if that card has rebound, buyback or flashback.
Muzzio's Preparations - As a baseline, making a creature you've drafted just be bigger from the outside is already awesome. However it does open up shenanigans with any persist creature, particularly already strong creatures like Kitchen Finks and Murderous Redcap which start becoming silly. +1/+1 lords also become stronger.
Natural Unity - It's power is tempered by requiring a mana investment, but when the opportunity cost is low it doesn't matter so much, and you can build up the creature on a stalled board.
Power Play - You get to start, which is obviously good, but the lack of a change to gameplay means it probably isn't worth cubing.
Secret Summoning - A card that does nothing in the vast majority of cubes.
Secrets of Paradise - It might provide some decks with an interesting angle to increase the value of some of their utility creatures. Perhaps a conspiracy that is a little more aligned to helping control than aggro.
Sentinel Dispatch - A little more aligned with control decks by giving them an extra blocker; however it might also be a conspiracy to help support artifact matters themes by making sure you start with one on the battlefield.
Summoner's Bond - Assuming a singleton approach, there might be times when you have both in hand before you can cast one of them, but getting a free card, AND having it be a creature card is pretty strong. Not to mention that you can link together two creatures that might synergise well together. It's probably better than most of the conspiracies that trigger off a selected card, because you have two opportunities to draw a card that will trigger it (assuming singleton).
Unexpected Potential - Essentially lets you splash any card. On the one hand it can make for some interesting synergies that you might not draft otherwise and create some memorable moments. On the other hand, some may see it as a 'cop out' and that you don't need to consider your mana base and can just throw in whatever is the strongest off-colour card you drafted. If it turns up in a later pack, it can unlock an early strong pack that you had to abandon.
I was running out of space to update early posts in the other thread, so setting this up to make it cleaner moving forward. I'll transport info from that thread in here over the next few days. The 2-drops have now been finished, and will go back over the last couple of sets for 0-2 drops and evaluate them shortly before moving on the 3-drops.
I updated the first post to include a bit of info about multi-colour. Given the general consensus on 3+ colour cards (that they aren't worth playing unless you are really focused on a multicolour cube), I don't think it is worth evaluating them here. Maybe I could just add a link to the most recent discussion on those cards for those that really want to pursue it.
If there is demand I'll consider adding them in; I'm just not sure it will provide enough value at this point.
After further discussion in the other thread, I dropped Sundering Growth to 1.
So, onto the 1-drops from the last few sets.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good. 3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect. 2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds). 1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect. Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Vampiric Rites - 2 Description - Thrown in any deck, it may not excel but can provide an insurance policy against removal or losing combats, or turn outclassed creatures into draws. It becomes an excellent sacrifice outlet if you have creatures with death triggers, or if you have some token generators. You aren't likely to give up a creature just to trigger some life gain matters cards, but that is another minor synergy, and the incidental life gain can add up over the course of a game. It's a nice build-around if you draft it early. Anchors - Sacrifice Supports - Life gain Matters
Reaver Drone - 1 Description - It's a 2 power 1 drop, but there are enough other options that this is far down the chain. It will probably only make the cut in larger cubes, or if you specifically want to push a colorless deck in your cube. Anchors - Aggro Supports - Colorless Matters
Unnatural Endurance - 1 Description - If you prefer your removal to be combat-oriented, this might be an option to help your smaller creatures scale up and survive combat, which is fine either on offense or defense. It also provides 1 mana protection for your creatures against a lot of removal as a back up option. Coat With Venom is a comparable alternative; it guarantees trading up, while this is slanted to guaranteeing your creatures survival. Anchors - Supports -
Clutch of Currents - 1 Description - The base mode is strictly worse than Unsummon. While the baseline is the more likely mode, it has the awaken upside. It might be an include as a way to shoehorn +1/+1 counter support into your chosen bounce effect. Anchors - Supports -
Rush of Ice - 1 Description - At a single mana it might be good enough for pushing aggro strategies, with upside if you reach 5 mana. There are plenty of other cards with this effect, the reason you might play this one is if you really want to push a 1 mana version, or really reinforce +1/+1 counters in blue with the awaken option. The bounce of Clutch of Currents is probably a little more universal, with this being a bit better in some aggro strategies or against ETB creatures. Anchors - Supports - +1/+1 counters
Slip Through Space - 1 Description - Single mana to get your best ceature through while being at card parity. Susceptible to a 2 for 1 if they remove your target in response to casting. Almost interchangeable with Shadow Rift with the devoid being mostly flavor text, but if you want to support a colorles deck this might sway you. Anchors - Supports - Saboteurs, Colorless Matters
Blisterpod - 1 (Move Tukatongue Thallid from 1 to unplayable) Description - Not a particularly thrilling card, but if you are trading with 2/1's or 3/1's you end up on top. If you are facing off against an aggressive deck, trading / chumping and then using the once off acceleration can be a decent play to get out bigger threats. Minor support for token theme or sacrifice decks. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Scythe Leopard - 2 Description - It only fits green aggro decks, but this can be a card to help push that particular deck. It needs the support of similar aggro cards to be worthwhile. Anchors - Aggro Supports -
Natural State - 1 Description - This may be a metagame call; if the majority of your enchantments / artifacts are 3 or less it could be an upgrade over Naturalize, or for decks that know it is the cheaper ones that are their downfall. Anchors - Supports -
Vines of the Recluse - 2 Description - It's a combat trick that you might consider given that it costs only 1 mana. Has the surprise untap factor, and the toughness boost plus reach means you are likely to survive whatever you kill. It can even be used aggressively to turn a trade into a win while setting up a blocker with the untap. Anchors - Supports -
Lithomancer's Focus - 1 (unplayable?) Description - It is the only white 1-mana creature pump spell that pumps 2 power, but there are plenty of similar options, and those that grant first strike are going to be just as good or better most of the time. Anchors - Supports -
Sludge Crawler - It costs 4 mana to be a little better than some of other aggressive 1-drops.
I think Vines of the Recluse is a better trick than Lithomancer's Focus (untap and +2 toughness will win a lot of combats), but it's close and both are in the 0-1 range.
Savage Surge was a 2, so Vines should probably not be in the unplayable section. Trading a point of power for reach and half the mana cost seems reasonable. Epic Confrontation has the same stat bonus and it's suprisingly useful.
I originally had Clutch of Currents at 1 as well. I question (without genuinely knowing the answer) the effectiveness of bounce vs sleep effects. If a particular creature is really annoying you, particularly combat, sleep gets rid of it for twice as long, when with bounce they can play it the following turn (for a sorcery speed comparison). There are also a prevalence of positive ETB effects attached to creatures, so sometimes you might not want to bounce that Nekrataal that is holding off your guys.
Bounce is better to get you into the late game and force them to commit mana to keep developing their board. Sleep effects may be slightly better either in the late game when they have ample mana and no other cards to cast, or in aggro decks if you expect to win quickly. I don't know. Bounce might still be better, but I'm not sure the gap is that big.
In any case, Clutch of Currents to 1.
And Vines of the Recluse to 2.
Once we get the rest of the 2's out of the way, it might be interesting to do a 'This or That' discussion (the Elimination threads died pretty quickly) on ranking the combat tricks, and make updates here if we learn anything from it.
I thought my bounce vs sleep comments might have generated some discussion. I've come around to thinking bounce is probably more universally playable; there will be instances where sleep effects will be better, but probably not as much as bounce.
Recent black and blue 2cc cards.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good. 3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect. 2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds). 1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect. Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Carrier Thrall - 2 Description - The two-in-one body can help a variety of decks; as a control card you can trade early against aggressive decks, and then use the scion to accelerate into your bigger spells, it provides two bodies for sacrifice outlets, provides insurance against removal / sweepers, and you aren't embarrassed to play it in aggro if you need more 2-drops. Anchors - Supports - Tokens, Sacrifice
Transgress the Mind - 1 Description - The biggest problem is that it costs 2 and you can get similar effects for 1 mana, which will suck when it whiffs. It might still be a metagame choice if you want your black-based decks to be able to strip game ending cards but let your slower decks keep their low cost answers which might get stripped with the likes of Inquisition of Kozilek. Any devoid synergies are likely to be incidental. Anchors - Supports -
Zulaport Cutthroat - 2 Description - On the surface it is less powerful than Blood Artist; this only triggers on your creatures dying, not your opponents, and the point of power will rarely make up for it. However, it will still rack up some life drain over the course of a game, especially if your game plan is active sacrifice as opposed to attrition. For most, it will be the third card considered after Blood Artist and Falkenrath Noble if you want another one of this effect. Anchors - Supports - Sacrifice
Corpse Churn - 2 Description - Raise Dead is usually not considered a great card and this costs twice as much, but the self-mill effect and instant speed make this worth considering. Outside of more dedicated graveyard decks it still has some play, getting back your best creature, and potentially putting a better target into your yard. Graveyard decks will be where it shines, whether it is to help hit threshold, put potential reanimation targets in the yard, help your delve cards etc. Anchors - Graveyard Matters Supports -
Visions of Brutality - 1 Description - If you want removal that is slanted towards aggro that your control decks don't want, this might be an option. It doesn't help if you are losing, but if you are the beatdown this is mostly going to act like a Pacifism. Anchors - Supports -
Tide Drifter - 1 Description - If you are going to support a colorless matters deck, this may be one of the anchor cards that you want. Supports -
Umara Entangler - 1 Description - It might serve as an aggro beater for blue, especially in a spells matter deck. It's problem compared to most other prowess creatures is that raising the toughness from 1 to 2 doesn't increase its survivability by much. Anchors - Supports - Spells Matter
Culling Drone - It's a 2/2 black creature for 2 without a drawback, which is something you don't often see in black. But that alone is not enough, and there isn't enough support to make ingesting worthwhile in cube.
Kalastria Healer - Only for full on tribal.
Sky Scourer - You can get 2 power flying creatures in black that might have drawbacks, but they don't make you jump through hoops.
Slaughter Drone - Black is stating to get 2/2 creatures for 2 with upside, but requiring colorless for activation makes this a lot worse than Hand of Silumgar or Onyx Mage.
Horribly Awry - Remove Soul is strictly better.
Coralhelm Guide - The ability isn't efficient enough to cut it.
Mist Intruder - There isn't enough value in ingest or the 2nd point of toughness over true unblockables for 1 mana.
Tightening Coils - They can still block with it, or still trigger attack triggers.
Blinding Drone - The stats to cost are just mildly ok but not enough for cube, and requiring colorless mana for activation makes this a no.
Card listings begin in the second post.
It goes without saying that every cube is different. Each cube owner has their own views on a number of factors that influence their cube environment. As such, the following baseline or general guides are used for these evaluations.
General Power over Colour Pie / Flavour
Some people shape their cube based on their perspective of the colour pie, and include/exclude certain functions and flavour for each colour. Maybe you don’t want green to have flyers. Maybe you will never play Ray of Command because you think only red should have temporary creature stealing. Maybe you really want to push green counterspells. None of these considerations are taken into account for the purpose of these evaluations. Only the general power level of the card.
The exception to this rule (based on common agreement in the peasant community) are most protection or landwalk effects. While they are more powerful with the ability than if they didn’t have it, many consider them 'hosers'. Usually those cards only get a look-in if they do something no other card does (e.g. Phantom Centaur). If you want that type of effect by all means go for it!
Rarities
Some cards have only been released online as uncommons, but don’t have a printed version. Some older cards have some questionable rarities. Some people like to play those cards, and some don’t. These cards will be discussed here, but will be noted for those that want to avoid them.
The ‘Average Cube environment’ Evaluation
If your cube is 90% artifacts, Shattering Spree is a bomb. If your cube has zero artifacts, it’s a dead card.
For the purpose of these card evaluations, it’s assumed there is an ‘average’ mix of different cards types. All colours are equally (or close to) represented. Artifacts are in the cube but are not a focus, as are enchantments. There are creatures in every colour and spread over the mana curve, and so are other spell types.
As stated earlier, every cube is different and every card may be worse or better based on your specific environment. When possible, it will be noted in the card description which environments might change the valuation of a card. E.g. Reassembling Skeleton gets better the more sacrifice for benefit effects you have.
Card Listing & Scoring Methodology
Card Name - Score
Description - Can include what is strictly better than it, why it's good, if it hoses certain archetypes, if it gets better or worse in particular environments etc.
Anchors : Archetypes that this card signals are probably in the cube. Pulls you into that archetype.
Supports : Might not pull you into an archetype, but if you are already in this archetype, the value of this card goes up.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Notes about colour classifications / Multi-colour evaluations
Cards are classified according to their colour identity in gatherer. This means that Jilt is a blue card. Hybrids are multi-colour, even if in practice they might be primarily played in one colour (Azorius Guildmage is often considered a white card for example). This is the easiest way to score these cards as this project progresses; this may be re-evaluated once this project is ‘finished’ and just requires maintenance. Where applicable, it will be noted the common approach to how the card is classified, but don't feel like you have to follow suit; do what works for you!
Most cubes only have limited space for true gold cards, and therefore most are evaluated with a ‘gold tax’; if they are only marginally better than a mono-coloured / hybrid analogue that will fit into more decks, they probably aren’t going to make the cut. Where appropriate, the closest analogue will be included in the description.
As most cubes do not include them, 3+ colour cards are not evaluated here.
Converted Mana Cost Classification
Some cards might have variable or alternate costs, but all cards are grouped by Converted Mana Cost, based on Gatherer. This means Dismember is a 3 mana card, Spectral Procession costs 6, and Treasure Cruise costs 8. You can always classify them however you want for your own purposes.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Carnophage
Description – 2 power for B is where black aggro likes to be. The drawback limits this guy to decks that want to turn guys sideways; if you are losing life you definitely want to be dishing it out. Key piece for aggro decks.
Anchors: Aggro
Support:
Diregraf Ghoul
Description A 2/2 for B is awesome value. Coming into play tapped means you miss a turn of blocking, but most of the time you didn’t want to block anyway, you wanted to smash face. While he suits aggro perfectly, he might find homes in other decks due to the lack of a long-term drawback.
Anchors: Aggro
Support:
Gnarled Scarhide
Description : Gnarled Scarhide has some great flexibility. Of the top, he is a 2/1 for B, making him solid for aggro. You probably didn’t want to block anyway. But he’s more than that; once you hit 4, you can slap that 2 points of power on something else and swing with it immediately, and still get back the Scarhide if the creature dies. For some added flexibility, you can put it on an opponents troubling blocker to force through some final points of damage. This makes him a solid staple. It's hardly the reason you would play him, but also supports any 'enchantment matters' themes that might pop up.
Anchors:
Support: Aggro, Enchantment Matters
Vampire Lacerator
Description - Great aggro card. The decks that want to play this are usually trying to get that life total down as quickly as possible, making the drawback pretty negligible.
Anchor - Aggro.
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Carrion Feeder
Description – Makes your opponents removal worse
Builds into a sizable threat until he finally gets answered (or he gets answered early and is card neutral and often mana positive). Enables sacrifice/graveyard strategies for no additional mana, and keeps a permanent buff (compared to cards like Nantuko Husk). Makes attacking/blocking a little more complicated (and fun).
Anchors:
Support:
Disowned Ancestor
Description - Can be a roleplayer in setting up early defense. As a baseline not too exciting but can stall some aggro or midrange decks. You can always beef him up if you've got nothing else to do and can take a turn off blocking.
Anchors:
Support: Control, +1/+1 counters
Grasping Scoundrel
Description - It sits just below most of the other 2 power creatures for B options, though not by much. Other options might have better upsides that aggro decks may care about a little more (2nd point of toughness, bestow), but this can block and doesn't have life loss as a drawback in stall situations.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
Pharika's Chosen / Typhoid Rats
Description - It's not flashy, but it can trade with a lot of stuff for just a single mana. Ruthless Ripper is strictly better but depends if you care about morph.
Anchor -
Supports -
Plagued Rusalka
Description - Decent as a sac outlet for your creatures on the way to the bin. Can mess with combat by threatening to sac some guys after combat to take out their big threats. Gets better with tokens or recursion cards like Reassembling Skeleton, but can fit into a lot of different deck types.
Anchor -
Supports - Tokens
Ruthless Ripper
Description - Strictly better than Typhoid Rats, but depends if you want to support morph. This guy can be good for combat tricks to take down almost anything on the ground.
Anchor -
Supports -
Thoughtpicker Witch
Description - Little investment if your creatures are already on their way to the yard, to impact the opponents card quality. As with all sac outlets, gets better the more other cards in your cube that trigger off creatures dying.
Anchor -
Supports - Sacrifice decks
Tormented Hero
Description - Another decent black aggro 1-drop. Coming in tapped and missing the second point of toughness makes it a smidge worse than some other similar options. The heroic is probably not going to trigger often, but is a nice upside.
Anchor -
Supports - Aggro
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Deathgreeter
Description - If you have a sac deck, the life gain might buy you time to get your engine running, or help stall against aggro in a control decks, but the effect is not strong. Creatures die in games, and if you support life gain matters themes it is a free effect that is repeated reasonably frequently if you are really looking for that effect.
Anchors:
Support: Sacrifice
Festering Goblin
Description – Fume Spitter is going to be the better 1-drop for a similar effect most of the time, but it may be worth noting that Festering Goblin can actually trade with x/2’s. ok if you want some redundancy.
Anchors:
Support:
Festering Mummy
Description - It can take out x/2's on it's own if required, but even just making a larger creature a little smaller can still be beneficial even if it can't trade. A little better in a defensive deck than aggressive, and slightly better if you can sacrifice it. A -1/-1 counter theme is probably not a thing in most cubes, but if you do you might want to give it more consideration.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Festering Newt
Description – On power level this is the same as Festering Goblin given we don’t have Bogbrew Witch. To avoid confusion about your card pool you are probably better to play Festering Goblin, unless you are looking for maximum redundancy. Unless you also include Bubbling Cauldron, which raises this guys value.
Anchors:
Support:
Fume Spitter
Description – It doesn’t have much board presence, but at least it can threaten to mess with combat math, or take out utility creatures.
Anchors:
Support:
Guul Draz Vampire
Description : 3/2 and intimidate for B? Sign me up! Except… you need to get your opponent down to 10 first. And before you get your opponent down to 10, you don’t want this card. It’s an interesting tension, but if you want this in an aggro deck you already need a critical mass of similar aggro cards, which makes this a slim inclusion.
Anchors:
Support: Aggro
Indulgent Aristocrat
Description - The baseline isn't amazing, but even without tribal support you can grow this occasionally if you have spare mana while one of your team is on the way to the graveyard. It doesn't reach stellar heights with tribal support, but most cubes include enough vampires incidentally (Heir of Falkenrath, Olivia's Bloodsworn, Vampire Lacerator, Blood Artist, Drana's Emissary, Vampire Nighthawk, Falkenrath Noble). Needing 2 mana makes it a bit slow though.
Anchors -
Supports - Vampire Tribal, +1/+1 counters, sacrifice
Putrid imp
Description - Not amazing as a creature, but is a cheap early discard outlet if you really want to push that as an enabler for graveyard shenanigans.
Anchor -
Supports - Reanimator, Threshold, Dredge
Qarsi High Priest
Description - Can help in sacrifice decks, or replace creatures on the way to the graveyard.
Anchor -
Supports -
Reaver Drone
Description - It's a 2 power 1 drop, but there are enough other options that this is far down the chain. It will probably only make the cut in larger cubes, or if you specifically want to push a colorless deck in your cube.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports - Colorless Matters
Rimebound Dead
Description - This is only playable if you have access to snow mana. It probably means unplayable in most cubes,(if Coldsteel Heart is the only snow mana producer in your cube) but is a solid staller if you let players choose snow lands for their basics. In that case, it can hold back creatures on the ground in decks that want to stall.
Anchor -
Supports -
Sanitarium Skeleton
Description - 3 mana is a bit much, but it's the closest thing peasant gets to having a Squee, Goblin Nabob. Fast cubes need not apply, but more grindy cubes can get extra use out of discard outlets like looting or discard for effect. It's no Reassembling Skeleton, but it can be used in that way (chumping or sacrifice fodder) if you need the numbers.
Anchors -
Supports -
Shadow Alley Denizen
Description - Not exciting, but an early drop that can help get some damage past enemy lines.
Anchor -
Supports -
Shadow Guildmage
Description - Pingers are often useful, but this is not a very exciting one.
Anchor -
Supports -
Tenacious Dead
Description - This might see play as support for sacrifice recursion decks. You probably want Reassembling Skeleton before this guy, but he can make a second.
Anchor -
Supports - Sacrifice decks
Thrull Parasite
Description - Extort can help over time. The counter removal effect will depend on what is in your environment. The more prevalent Undying and Persist creatures are in your cube, the better this guy gets.
Anchor -
Supports - Extort
Tormented Soul
Description - On it's own, relentlessly pings for damage but it aint much. It gets better the more pieces of power boosting equipment and auras you have in your cube but generally isn't that exciting.
Anchor -
Supports -
Vampire Cutthroat
Description - It might not be terrible, but it isn't particularly exciting either. Might make the cut in cubes that have a life gain matters theme, as it should get through enough to create triggers.
Anchors -
Supports - Life Gain Matters
Viscera Seer
Description - Gives you something to do with those creatures on their way to the graveyard, but not a high impact.
Anchor -
Supports -
Will-o'-the-Wisp
Description - If you need your black control decks to survive to the late game, this is an option to absorb damage. Fills a role, albeit a narrow one.
Anchors -
Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Dauthi Horror
Description - Solid evasive creature for aggro decks, but can also be an evasive threat for control decks. It can even evade white shadow creatures you might have in your cube.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Blood Artist
Description - Creatures die all the time in Magic. Without any specific support, this can be good for that reason alone. With some support, it can grind out a lot of advantage over a game. Gets better with tokens, or with sacrifice outlets. A free sacrifice outlet (like Goblin Bombardment) plus Blood Artist provides reach equal to the amount of creatures you control, which can make your opponent very nervous, and allow you to win out of nowhere.
Anchors - Sacrifice decks
Supports -
Gifted Aetherborn
Description - Great on curve and still fine in the late game. Threatens to kill their biggest attacker, break down most defenses (even if it will trade) or pad your life total if they are reluctant to trade. The biggest factor for exclusion is the double black in the mana cost.
Anchors -
Supports -
Thrill-Kill Assassin
Description - Versatile card. 'Leashed' it can be used as a blocker to trade up. As an attacker well suited to an aggro deck, eating through any low power / high toughness defenders (Wall of Blossoms, Wall of Denial) the opponent would throw in its way, and still able to trade up once it becomes outclassed.
Anchors -
Supports -
Vile Bile
Description - If you are ok with Un-cards, this plays like a 2/3 for 2 mana with 'every two times this deal combat damage to a player, deal them an extra damage'. Which is a strict upgrade compared to similar cards like Erg Raiders or Shambling Ghoul... so long as you don't touch it of course.
Anchors -
Supports -
Wasp of the Bitter End
Description - It's the only black 2/1 flyer for 2 mana without a drawback, making it solid support for aggro decks. Power level aside, the Bolas line might be too inelegant for some, and Dauthi Horror is a better pure aggro creature (but can't block).
Anchors -
Supports -
Wight of Precinct Six
Description - Can be a good finisher in a control deck that intends to go long, fighting attrition battles, or in decks with incidental milling. Can be randomly good against dredge / graveyard decks, and even decent in aggro decks after a few trades.
Anchors -
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Battle Brawler
Description - A 3/2 first striker for 2 mana is good value. Can be slightly unreliable and could get turned off mid-combat with removal, but decent enough upside if you lean more towards one of the support colours.
Anchors -
Supports -
Black Knight
Description - There are few black creatures with native first strike if that matters. The double black in the casting cost can be troublesome, giving you something that is somewhat efficient, but doesn't really stand out.
Anchors -
Supports -
Blind Creeper
Description - Downside can be played around, but sometimes you will be trumped in combat by an instant, or an opponent will play a creature post-combat. Aggro-oriented, so you will usually know what you are attacking into, and can factor it into what you want to cast post-combat.
Anchors -
Supports -
Blood-Chin Rager
Description - On it's own, a 2/2 for 2 with evasion in black is decent. Most cubes have enough warriors in a few other colours that others will also benefit from this. Well suited for an aggro deck, but can see play as a cheap threat in a control deck.
Anchors -
Supports -
Carrier Thrall
Description - The two-in-one body can help a variety of decks; as a control card you can trade early against aggressive decks, and then use the scion to accelerate into your bigger spells, it provides two bodies for sacrifice outlets, provides insurance against removal / sweepers, and you aren't embarrassed to play it in aggro if you need more 2-drops.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens, Sacrifice
Cuombajj Witches
Description - Can be an ok creature for black control, with other creatures with higher than average toughness to give your opponent few chances to remove your creatures.
Anchors -
Supports - Control
Dauthi Slayer
Description - The extra toughness over Dauthi Horror will matter occasionally (divisible burn, pingers) but the double black in the casting cost hurts more than that upside. The attack each turn clause means nothing because you were going to do that anyway. Black Knight is more flexible at the same cost, a bit less useful on the attack (lacking evasion) but can put up a defense. You would play this if you want to give aggro some tools that other decks don't want.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
Fledgling Djinn
Description - 2 mana, 2 power creatures with built-in flying are not common for mono-black. The drawback is worth it for the cheap evasive power, primarily in aggro decks.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports - Skies
Fretwork Colony
Description - It is definitely aggro oriented, and cast on curve it can get big quickly. It comes with some risk though, and against a developed board you might not be able to afford the life loss. 1 life a turn isn't huge, but your opponent responding with a tapper or Pacifism will also wreck your plans, and it can't even chump if you are behind.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Hand of Cruelty
Description - Double black in the casting cost makes it hard to swallow, but being a 3/3 in combat for 2 mana can make attacking or blocking awkward for your opponent in early turns. By comparison to Black Knight, this will kill x/3's (Augur of Bolas) that Knight will leave behind, but this will die to 3/2's like Borderland Marauder. Which of these is better (if it comes down to these two) will depend on your specific environment.
Anchors -
Supports -
Heir of Falkenrath
Description - A solid addition for aggro decks with a nice balance of risk / reward. Best if you get some other benefit from the discarded card (madness or graveyard retrieval), but sometimes you can just dump something that doesn't advance your game plan. You can get 2 for 1'd in response to the activation (or even after), but if it sticks it is likely to get in for a bit of damage.
Anchors -
Supports -
Knight of Infamy
Description - Can turn itself into an attacking 3/2 for 2 mana if alone, but still easy enough to kill. The exalted is nice to have and might help a 1-drop get in if you play this on turn 2. It isn't bad, but it's hard to imagine a deck where it will truly excel. Pro-white will turn some off.
Anchors -
Supports -
Knight of Malice
Description - A 2/2 first striker for 2 is solid enough, and even if your opponent isn't playing white, you can also put white permanents in your own deck, making it more in your control. Some people don't like hexproof, but this version still allows a bit of interaction.
Anchors -
Supports -
Mardu Skullhunter
Description - Excellent value when it triggers, and useful in most stages of the game. You don't want to play this turn 2 without a 1-drop swinging with some consistency, so to get the most value you want to have sufficient aggro 1-drops in black and whichever other aggro colours you support, but still playable in a slower deck.
Anchors -
Supports -
Mesmeric Fiend
Description - Can come down on turn 2 and strip their best card, or their on-curve card, to disrupt them. The body is nothing, but you can always treat it like a 2 mana Thoughtseize, and just keep it out of combat; if they use removal to get the card back, that isn't a bad trade. Almost identical to Brain Maggot; your choice will depend on whether Brain Maggot being an enchantment matters more to you / your environment than the stack tricks that are possible with Mesmeric Fiend.
Anchors -
Supports -
Nezumi Cutthroat
Description - Solid evasive creature that can work well as part of an aggro assault team, or even in a control deck to chip away at the opponents life total. Obviously worse against black decks, where you might side it out.
Anchors -
Supports -
Nezumi Graverobber
Description - Solid utility creature. As a vanilla 2/1 for 2 mana it isn't entirely embarassing for aggro decks, with the ability giving an option in the late game if plan A doesn't work out. While slower, can be an inevitable engine for grindy midrange / control decks, especially when combined with ETB creatures and/or sacrifice effects. Sometimes it will come down so late that the ability just isn't worth pursuing. In some cases can randomly hose graveyard decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Olivia's Bloodsworn
Description - Solid evasive aggro creature, as long as you don't have too many similar creatures with the 'can't block' rider in your cube. The activation is mostly considered flavor text, but in the Rakdos aggro deck it can give itself haste as a bonus, or other incidental vampires in your cube.
Anchors -
Supports -
Onyx Mage
Description - Helps all of your creatures match up against the enemy if you can afford the payment. Combined with a repeatable token generator can lead to inevitability with chumpers / attackers that can trade with anything in the way. Good with first strikers or pingers. However it is pretty slow.
Anchors -
Supports -
Reassembling Skeleton
Description - A role player in different types of decks. In defensive decks that need to buy time you can chump their biggest attacker, and then return him to the battlefield EOT to untap and do it all over again. Good with loot / dredge cards, as you can just get it back out of the 'yard. Good with sacrifice outlets, as you can just keep returning it to the battlefield. The main downside is needing to leave mana up to activate at the right times, and can be too slow against fast decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Shambling Ghoul
Description - It doesn't require anything in the way of support, but isn't particularly exciting. If you are aggro, there are better aggro options. If you want a defensive creature, there are better options. But it does have the versatility of being able to slot into any deck.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sinuous Vermin
Description - It's mostly a 'filler' 2-drop, but if you can curve it into a 5/5 menace (or just threat of activation after attacking) you aren't going to be upset. Less good if you have to pay 7 mana in the late game, but the opportunity cost is low. If you are looking for more +1/+1 counters in black, you might consider it a bit higher.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Spiteful Returned
Description - This has a kind of reach, allowing you to force life loss even against a wall of blockers. Best when bestowed, allowing you to swing for the 2 life loss immediately (giving it pseudo-haste), and if the creature is killed in combat you still get the Spiteful Returned to swing again next turn. So it is often an automatic 4 life loss even if it can be dealt with in combat.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sultai Emissary
Description - In a vacuum, it can work as a staller for a control deck. Not exciting, but you get a 1/1 and 2/2 for 2 mana. Sometimes the manifested card will become something, but not something you should rely on. Gets a little better in sacrifice decks, and scales with the number of scry or similar effects to manifest something you can flip up.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Wretched Anurid
Description - This fits into the suicide aggro deck when you want to maximise power to cost. If you are not the beatdown this guy can hurt, especially if your opponent can put up a high toughness defender that doesn't kill it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Zulaport Cutthroat
Description - On the surface it is less powerful than Blood Artist; this only triggers on your creatures dying, not your opponents, and the point of power will rarely make up for it. However, it will still rack up some life drain over the course of a game, especially if your game plan is active sacrifice as opposed to attrition. For most, it will be the third card considered after Blood Artist and Falkenrath Noble if you want another one of this effect.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Augur of Skulls
Description - One of few cards in Peasant that can take 2 cards for 2 mana, albeit with a turn delay. A specific line of play can be to use Unearth or Undying Evil to quickly strip your opponents cards. A turn 2 Augur of Skulls followed by Undying Evil during upkeep on turn 3 gives you an early 4 for 2, leaving your opponent with little to do. It is situational however, and your opponent has a turn of opportunity to remove it (though forcing removal on it may not be so bad), and is poor if your opponent is in top deck mode.
Anchors -
Supports -
Basilica Screecher
Description - It's stats and flying for cost are not great, but can be a support card for extort / drain archetypes.
Anchors -
Supports - Extort / Drain
Bloodthrone Vampire
Description - The sac ability can mess with combat, potentially eating something that was going to die to take out a bigger attacker. In swarm/token decks, the opponent may have no choice but to block to avoid a killing blow. It is conditional on the board position and you don't want to eat your creatures unless it presents enough advantage, but can also support some graveyard recursion strategies such as Reassembling Skeleton. Generally considered worse than Nantuko Husk, as the baseline if you aren't sacrificing creatures is significant.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice Decks, Tokens
Brain Maggot
Description - Can come down on turn 2 and strip their best card, or their on-curve card, to disrupt them. The body is nothing, but you can always treat it like a 2 mana Thoughtseize, and just keep it out of combat; if they use removal to get the card back, that isn't a bad trade. Almost identical to Mesmeric Fiend; your choice will depend on whether this being an enchantment matters more to you / your environment than the stack tricks that are possible with Mesmeric Fiend. Brain Maggot is also more prone to removal as a result of being an enchantment.
Anchors -
Supports - Enchantment Matters
Child of Night
Description - Reasonable aggressive creature. Nothing spectacular, but decent. Allows you to race, and even if it trades you still end up ahead. Not ideal if you are on the defensive, but at least it can help keep you stay alive a little bit longer.
Anchors -
Supports -
Corrupt Court Official / Dirty Rat / Ravenous Rats
Description - It's a 2 for 1, but it leaves behind a not very exciting body. It gets better if surrounded by other discard options to create an aggro/disruption deck to capitalise on the 2 for 1. You should probably only cube Dirty Rat if you've got something to go with it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Dhund Operative
Description - 3/2 deathtouch for 2 is great, but you really need strong artifact support in your cube to make this worth it.
Anchors - Artifact Matters
Supports -
Disciple of Griselbrand
Description - The body is nothing, so you need the ability to do something. Sure, activating it when something is going to die anyway is nice, but the life gain isn't huge impact. If you just need a sacrifice outlet, many other sacrifice outlets are going to have a bigger impact on your game.
Anchors -
Supports -
Dusk Legion Zealot
Description - It is somewhat 'filler', but it might be something you want for your control decks to put down a roadblock.
Anchors -
Supports - Control
Duskhunter Bat
Description - The prospect of a 2/2 flyer for 2 is solid, but there are alternative evasive 2-drops that don't ask as much set up. Probably only worth considering if you want to ramp up your black +1/+1 counter support.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Embraal Bruiser
Description - Black doesn't get a lot of 3/1's for 2 at peasant. The 1 toughness means you either need to clear the way seeing as it dies to anything, so it probably only warrant inclusion if you are trying to support a black artifact theme.
Anchors - Artifact Matters
Supports -
Erg Raiders
Description - Erg Raiders has decent stats for cost, and the drawback relates to something you want to be doing anyway; attacking. Only fits in aggro decks. Worth noting that it's drawback can be exploited by opponents with tap down effects, Pacifism etc. Shambling Ghoul and Thrill-Kill Assassin are similar cards that are playable in a wider variety of decks, but you might include Erg Raiders if you want to give aggro a card that no-one else is going to want and is more likely to wheel. Its minor, but Erg Raiders is the only one of those cards that can block before it starts swinging (if you want the aggro version of Thrill-Kill Assassin).
Anchors -
Fallen Askari
Description - It might be an ok creature if you want something purely for aggro decks. Eats defending bears, and can't be double blocked by 1/1 tokens, but other black creatures can serve a similar role.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
Foul Imp
Description - Fledgling Djinn may end up costing you more life in the long run, but having to pay upfront is worse, as is the need to pay double black. However it is still 2 flying power for 2 mana in black, so it might make the cut in larger cubes or if you really want to push Skies in black.
Anchors -
Supports - Skies
Frightcrawler
Description - A 3/3 evasive creature for 2 mana sounds pretty nice, but is not going to be reliable; 2 mana for a 1/1 is pretty bad, even if it has fear. If you give black or other support colours lots of ways to fill the graveyard, it might be ok. If your cube doesn't support threshold often, You may want to consider Blind Creeper or Wretched Anurid if you want a 3 power 2 mana black creature.
Anchors -
Supports -
Gatekeeper of Malakir
Description - 2/2 for 3 mana and force the opponent to sacrifice a creature is solid. When all 3 of that mana has to be black, it makes it a little harder to swallow. It's inclusion will depend on whether you want to reward mono-colour drafters.
Anchors -
Supports -
Gnawing Zombie
Description - The body isn't exciting, but the 3 toughness can at least stall some of the smaller aggro creatures, or eat 2/1's. 2 mana for the sacrifice ability is a bit on the expensive side, reducing your ability to instantly end the game if you have more creatures than your opponents life total. It's still ok as support for life drain style decks, or with creatures that like being sacrificed / Blood Artist type effects. If your cube is on the faster side, this is probably not going to pass muster.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Golgari Thug
Description - There is no noteworthy body attached, so you need to get value from the other effects. The biggest value is dredge, if combined with other cards that like being in your graveyard. The retrieval doesn't net you advantage, but can be useful to get a critical creature ready for the next turn you may have dredged away. You have to push graveyard matters themes to make this worth it, but the high number on the dredge can help support those strategies.
Anchors - Dredge / Graveyard Matters
Supports -
Hand of Silumgar
Description - It isn't as good as other options if heading the pure aggro route, but it isn't embarrassing there (and it may force trading up if the opponent is on the back foot), and can help slower defensive decks take out larger incoming threats. Worth noting that Thrill-Kill Assassin is more flexible and will survive to kill again in situations where this will die.
Anchors -
Supports -
Keeper of the Dead - 1
Description - The core ability (destroying creatures) is a really powerful repeat ability. The trick then is to have lots of creatures in your graveyard. As such, this is probably only worth drafting, and therefore including in your cube, as support for graveyard matters themes. So you need a specific archetype present which this will narrowly fit into. Good for killing tokens, as they won't fill your opponents graveyard.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Kitesail Freebooter
Description - If you can take a card and chip in for evasive damage if the sky is clear, it's a pretty good deal. Less good in peasant than it might be in rare cubes or constructed formats, as the density of noncreature spells in decks will be lower.
Anchors -
Supports -
Marang River Skeleton
Description - As a base without considering Megamorph, it's unexciting. It's a 1/1 with cheap regeneration, which can be an ok chumper, but the power isn’t going to kill much on defense, and the regen, while cheap, still costs mana. The megamoprh doesn't add much. 2 power is a lot better than 1, but still costs a total of 7 mana before it gets there. It is strictly better than Drudge Skeleton and friends.
Anchors -
Supports -
Oathsworn Vampire
Description - Clearly a payoff for a life gain deck, and the only reason to cube it is if you give that archetype a bit of support. Still somewhat slow by virtue of entering the battlefield tapped.
Anchors - Life Gain Matters
Supports -
Painsmith
Description - Narrow, but could fit in a heavy artifact theme
Anchors -
Supports -
Pale Rider of Trostad
Description - There is some power here, but you need to support the right themes to overcome the inherent card disadvantage, whether it is madness or other graveyard themes. Worth noting the discard is not a cost; if this is your last card in hand, there is no downside. A 3 power skulker sits at an interesting threshold; the big stuff can't block it, and if it is getting through, the damage can add up quickly. There are likely to be only so many creatures in your cube that can actually trade with it, and less that can just flatout win, without resorting to double blocks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Pit Keeper
Description - If you aren't retrieving a creature, the baseline is bad. Can be unreliable in 'normal' decks, but gets better in dredge decks or other graveyard matters themes.
Anchors -
Supports -
Plague Witch
Description - It's a graveyard enabler that can kill off utility creatures, but is a little slow and sometimes there won't be any worthwhile targets. Might be worth noting errata makes this an Elf if you support that tribe.
Anchors -
Supports -
Rathi Trapper
Description - It is not as good as counterparts Goldmeadow Harrier & Gideon's Lawkeeper, but is the best tapper in black. The extra mana cost does make it noticeably worse (you aren't likely to use it for aggro support) but can still play a role in control decks. However it may depend on the rest of your black control support cards; if you use sweepers like Barter in Blood and Drown in Sorrow, Rathi Trapper doesn't synergise well with them.
Anchors -
Supports -
Returned Phalanx
Description - A cheap enough wall with reasonable stats to stall early aggro starts. The faster your aggro decks are, the better this will generally be, as it will not only survive but kill most grounded 2-drops. If you happen to be playing blue, you can use it offensively once the game is under control. In slower cubes or where aggro is less prevalent, it is likely to be less useful.
Anchors - Control
Supports -
Seekers' Squire
Description - Either mode is ok, but doesn't really add a lot to your cube. It does provide minor support for +1/+1 counters and graveyard matters themes.
Anchors -
Supports -
Skirk Ridge Exhumer
Description - It kind of has a few synergies going for it; graveyard enabler, token producer, decent sacrifice fodder. They are all pretty loose, and you probably need all three of those to matter in the one deck to make this worth considering.
Anchors -
Supports -
Skulking Ghost
Description -2 evasive power for 2 mana is ok, but there are a number of similar options. If they were going to target it, it was probably with intent to remove it anyway. It's going to be randomly bad against some cards (Mother of Runes, Goldmeadow Harrier, Tumble Magnet, Crystal Shard). If equipment is a big part of your aggro decks, this gets a little worse.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro
Thriving Rats
Description - It's a 2/3 attacker for 2. Shambling Ghoul is an obvious comparison; this can block immediately if you need it to, but assuming you have no profitable attacks and aren't going to lose the game this turn, Shambling Ghoul can untap and block as a 2/3, which is probably more relevant. You probably only want this instead if you are going heavy on energy, or you have lots of +1/+1 lords.
Anchors -
Supports - Energy, +1/+1 counters
Undertaker
Description - It takes a turn to come online so you won't be using this is an aggro deck, but on its own it can trade excess lands into creatures, or upgrade any lesser creatures into the best tool for the job. With a dredger, you can discard the dredger to get a creature, draw the dredger next turn and increase your targets, repeat. Great with ETB triggers, especially if you can sac them for benefit. Evoking a Mulldrifter with this on the board just feels unfair. Phyrexian Reclamation isn't a discard outlet, but is more reliable, and provides value if you can afford the life loss.
Anchors -
Supports -
Vampire Interloper
Description -2 evasive power for 2 mana is usually solid enough for aggro decks, and the drawback doesn't matter if you are aggro. However it is strictly worse than Olivia's Bloodsworn, which is also worse than Wasp of the Bitter End. It's still ok in its own right; the main reason to cube it would be if you don't like the extraneous text or off-colour activation, or want maximum depth in this role.
Anchors -
Supports -
Vault Skirge
Description - 1/1 flyers for 1 mana are not particularly exciting, but the lifelink is marginal upside, you can play it any deck, and it is an artifact if you are supporting any artifact themes. Nice if you can equip it early with power boosting equipment, making it difficult to race if the opponent can't mount an air defence.
Anchors -
Supports -
Wall of Souls
Description - Can be an anti-aggro card, but aggro decks will probably accept the damage and win a race unless you otherwise stabilise. Can support a draining theme.
Anchors -
Supports - Drain / Extort
Wanted Scoundrels
Description - 4/3 for 2 is obviously an excellent rate and is great if this doesn't die. However, 3 toughness won't be too hard to take down in combat, and your opponent might be able to cast removal and follow up with another spell, providing them tempo advantage. Even if you get in for 8 damage, if you let your opponent accelerate by 2 mana on turns 4-5, it probably lets them recover. You might give it more consideration if you have a cube light on removal and heavy on combat tricks, and it weirdly gets better if you cube more exile / lock down removal.
Anchors -
Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Hypnotic Specter
Description - Considered almost broken by some as an evasive damage source that comes down early enough to generate some decent card advantage. Unless you run accelerants, by the time this comes online it isn't likely to be stripping lands that would cripple the opponent the same way Hymn to Tourach can, but it often puts your opponent in a tough position regarding their sequencing.
Anchors -
Supports -
Vampire Nighthawk
Description - It sits in the weird space where it is exceptionally good, but is still only a bunch of stats and combat-related keywords (it doesn't have ridiculous activated or triggered abilities that enable specific strategies). It does excellent work at any point in the game, whether it is sitting back waiting to trade with their best creatures when you are behind (while padding your life total), or getting in early to secure a demanding lead, or turning around a tight race by going overhead and undoing your opponents damage with the lifelink. While it doesn't enable any silly plays, some players may remove it for simply being too far above the standard rate and a no-brainer first pick.
Anchors -
Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Bone Shredder
Description - As a minimum, you get a 3 mana sorcery speed Terror that can chump an attacker during your opponents next attack phase, which is a pretty decent floor. A 1/1 flyer isn't much, but in the late game you might be willing to pay the echo cost. The echo helps it bin itself if you have ways to recurse it, which gives it a unique edge.
Anchors -
Supports -
Dauthi Marauder
Description - 3 near-unblockable power for 3 mana. If you want to support black aggro, this is perhaps the best in the 3-drop slot. It might be excluded from lists on the basis that it doesn't promote interactivity.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Chilling Shade
Description - Scored on the basis of allowing your players snow basics, the threat of activation can make this powerful (most similar creatures are bad in multi-color decks). Playing turn 3, dropping your land turn 4 and swinging in with a potential 5/5 flyer can be solid. Caveat that it gets worse the more prevalent instant speed removal is in your cube. Not bad once you are in top deck mode either.
Anchors -
Supports -
Chittering Rats
Description - Good support for aggro / control decks. Sometimes it feels like time walking an opponent, particularly if they are relying on their draw step to draw into more lands. Unless your opponent is on an empty hand, it's a 2 for 1 with an ok body.
Anchors -
Supports -
Cursed Minotaur
Description - Fine for black aggro. Doesn't do anything flashy, but the menace will help it get through, and potentially open your opponent up to combat tricks if they double block.
Anchors -
Supports -
Dead Reveler
Description - Another solid contributor to the black aggro decks, it is often difficult to deal with on the ground if cast unleashed on curve. It beats pesky 1/3 control oriented creatures in the early game, and the fourth point of toughness puts it out of range of most cheap red burn or trading with other 3 drops. Even if you are behind, casting as a 2/3 can still survive or trade often enough.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Fleshbag Marauder / Merciless Executioner
Description - At its basest, it can act as 'removal' for your opponents worst creature, but is effective at removing some threats other black removal may have trouble with; black creatures, artifact creatures, hexproof, etc. Sometimes though you will really wish you had targeted removal if they have a sacrificial lamb available. Good in aggro decks to keep the way clear while potentially upgrading the power of an early drop, or upgrading tokens. Being a creature can open it up to some recursion. Fleshbag Marauder will usually get the nod, because the Zombie creature type matters more than Orc.
Anchors -
Supports -
Liliana's Elite
Description - If you just cast it on curve it might not be up to snuff, but even in games without specific graveyard shenanigans, basic attrition can start making it a solid beater. If you have any form of self-mill, it can start getting big quickly.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Liliana's Specter
Description - A decent card, instant card advantage with a reasonable evasive power attached. It doesn't scream out to fill any particular archetype, but is reasonable in almost any black deck.
Anchors -
Supports -
Mogis's Marauder
Description - At it's worst, it is a 2/2 haste for 3 with initial evasion. That alone is not great, but you will usually cast it with at least one other black permanent on the board, giving you the chance to march past a handful of blockers in the mid game, either to win outright or put your opponent on such a low life total that it restricts their options.
Anchors -
Supports -
Nantuko Husk / Phyrexian Ghoul / Vampire Aristocrat
Description - A poster child for sacrifice decks due to the free cost of the sacrifice. With a few creatures on the board, this can make blocking tricky for your opponent, as you have all the choices after combat. You will be more willing to attack with something that might end up in a losing trade, because you can always pump this. If they block this with a larger creature, you can sacrifice other early drops or tokens to improve board position. At some point, they have to block because you may be able to threaten lethal if they don't. You have to be wary you don't end up with just a 2/2 on your next turn and you can become undone with timely removal, but this certainly makes combat more interesting. Choose the creature type that has the most synergy with your cube.
Anchors - Sacrifice
Supports -
Necrogen Scudder
Description - It's fine as a black aggro evasive option. On overall power Dauthi Marauder is better, though this does have the benefit of surviving single points of damage / Pyroclasm / Drown in Sorrow etc. or can find a place alongside the Marauder in larger cubes or cubes that want to go deep on 3cc aggro creatures.
Anchors -
Supports -
Ogre Marauder
Description - You can just play Dauthi Marauder so they can't block at all, but this is still fine. Not common, but can create scenarios where they sacrifice something so they can block (usually because they can't afford to keep taking the damage), and you respond with removal on the blocker or some way to save it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Phyrexian Rager
Description - It can feel a bit like filler, but it fits into almost any black deck. It replaces itself, and is fine if you can trade with something in a control deck. The biggest downside, if you want to consider it one, is that it doesn't really add definition to your cube.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sorceress Queen
Description - It's essentially a 3 mana onboard combat trick that takes a turn to come online, but it can be a powerful repeatable effect. It makes blocking choices difficult for your opponent given you can use it at instant speed. Aggro can use it to save their best creature after blocks, and in control it can prevent the damage from the biggest incoming threat, or help you win a combat which would have been a trade. It's also fine at pairing up with -x/-x or burn spells to completely destroy large threats.
Anchors -
Supports -
Stinkweed Imp
Description - While Dredge 5 means you can't repeat it forever, the baseline is a blocker that can take almost anything out, making it playable in most defensive decks. It screams out to be in a deck that cares about having cards in the graveyard though, and is a fine role player in that deck. When it hits the board, your opponent either stalls, buying you time, or they attack into and potentially accelerate your game plan.
Anchors - Dredge / Graveyard Matters
Supports -
Undead Gladiator
Description - It's a very grindy card, but in cubes of the right speed it can be a decent card filtering tool. A 3/1 isn't so good that trading your worst card for it is going to turn games around, but when it isn't going to have board impact, you can keep cycling away dead cards to dig deeper into your deck.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Banewhip Punisher
Description - It's floor is a sorcery speed kill spell for 2BB which is not something you'd play, but it has some additional flexibility by being a creature, and it might affect the board state before you have to sacrifice it. It can kill a 1 toughness creature, or just stall the board.
Anchors -
Supports -
Blind Zealot
Description - It will suck against other black decks, but that's when you sideboard it out. Elsewhere it can be ok, being evasive damage when you need it, and trading with their biggest threat when you need to. It can be awkward though.
Anchors -
Supports -
Cabal Torturer
Description - No way it belongs in fast cubes, but it might be ok in slower cubes that supports graveyard decks. 5 mana activation is a lot, but repeat -2/-2 is also powerful.
Anchors -
Supports -
Crypt Rats
Description - 3 mana is a lot for a 1/1, but can be a good proxy for Pestilence for sweeper control decks. It is a bit awkward though.
Anchors - Sweeper Control
Supports -
Daggerclaw Imp
Description - 3 evasive power is good for 3 mana, but Dauthi Marauder is almost strictly better. There are other 3 power flyers that have other drawbacks, but don't die when they run into spirit tokens, like Necrogen Scudder. It might be an option for bigger cubes that want to go deep on this type of creature.
Anchors -
Supports -
Dauthi Jackal
Description - While not the most aggressive, it is evasive and can mess with your opponents blocking.
Anchors -
Supports -
Dauthi Trapper
Description - Make anything virtually unblockable? Sounds good, but you are invested a card, have to take a turn off to cast it, and it takes a turn to come online. Its appeal is limited, but could find a home in ramp decks or alongside saboteurs to get combat damage triggers.
Anchors -
Supports -
Deadbridge Shaman
Description - It's not bad, it's just 'meh'. It probably works fine as a value card in either aggro or control to trade while forcing discard, but it doesn't really help define your cube. Death trigger synergises with sacrifice decks.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Deathbloom Thallid
Description - It's unassuming, but enough value to consider, particularly if you support sacrifice themes.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Demonic Taskmaster
Description - It could have a place in control decks, either played as an early threat and then suppress opposition, or more traditional blue / black control to play it in the mid game with protection backup. It is fine in that role and is an option if you want to push your players in that direction, but isn't likely to see much play elsewhere.
Anchors -
Supports -
Ebon Drake
Description - It promotes a certain risk / reward style of play, with excellent stats and abilities for cost, but the drawback can add up. Best in fast environments; if most games go long in your cube, this isn't likely to see much play, and Necrogen Scudder is probably a better option.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
Eyeblight Assassin
Description - It is strictly worse than Tooth Collector. On its own it is ok, allowing you to take out some utility creatures or some cheap aggro creatures, or cast after combat for some early creatures to trade up. Only if you need a second version.
Anchors -
Supports -
Felhide Petrifier
Description - Most decks will be happier with Thrill-Kill Assassin, but a 2/3 deathtoucher for 3 isn't too bad. Tribal is mostly flavor text, but may confuse players that there is a tribal theme.
Anchors -
Supports -
Gutless Ghoul
Description - It can support dedicated sacrifice decks by giving them a sacrifice outlet for fodder. Most other decks won't want a 2/2 that costs 3 mana though. Nice to have around so you can sac stuff that would otherwise be on its way to the graveyard, but not something most decks will want to invest in.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Hidden Horror
Description - Could have some applications for reanimator / dredge / madness or other graveyard matters themes, but is pretty narrow on those themes. Not having evasion or some other benefit, and requiring specific card type for discard, knocks it down.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters, Reanimator
Kozilek's Shrieker
Description - If you are going to push an aggro colorless deck in your cube, this might be an option. Narrow, but ok in that archetype.
Anchors - Colorless Matters
Supports -
Lord of the Accursed
Description - It's a clear signal card for a Zombie deck, but they might not be as prevalent in your cube as you might initially think. If you cube it, you will need to dedicate some additional slots to at least a couple of other zombie matters cards, which most non-Zombie decks won't want.
Anchors - Zombie Tribal
Supports -
Malakir Familiar
Description - Flying deathtouchers can be annoying. It isn't great, but might be an option if you want your black removal to be combat-based, or so your decks have options to deal with hexproof creatures. It does have the life gain matters ability, but even if you actively support that archetype, it isn't your primary consideration.
Anchors -
Supports -
Mischievous Poltergeist
Description - Barring a few types of evasion, it blocks everything without trample for the paltry sum of 1 life, so you can keep developing your board instead of needing to hold regen mana up. It doesn't really add anything specific though, and you would only include it if you are looking to fill this specific hole and going deep on black control.
Anchors -
Supports -
Necromancer's Assistant
Description - It supports graveyard matters decks while at least having power equal to casting cost. The rest of the decks are just going to want better creatures though, given that this dies to the first thing it runs into. You might be happy with it if you think the graveyard decks need stuff to stem early damage while setting up their engine. You probably want to consider Crow of Dark Tidings first, unless the third point of power matters to you more than the evasion (e.g. you find these types of blocking more often than not and you want to be able to kill x/3's).
Anchors -
Supports -
Nettling Imp
Description - It supports a specific 'punisher' deck if you want to push that particular theme. Most decks apart from that aren't going to want it, though it could make a sideboard card. The kill condition can make it useful for dealing with utility creatures who can tap their way out of attacking.
Anchors - Forced Attack / Punisher
Supports -
Nirkana Cutthroat
Description - You can turn it into a 4/3 attacking on turn 4, but that may be enough time for most opponents to have 3 power on the board to trade with it. The final mode is solid, but costs 12 mana total to get there. If you are considering it, you may want to dial down on instant speed removal, so your opponent can't kill it in response to leveling up.
Anchors -
Supports -
Pawn of Ulamog
Description - It can be an engine piece in a sacrifice deck, providing you double the fodder when sacrificing nontoken creatures for benefit. While you wouldn't want to make it your entire game plan as the tokens have 0 power, it does have synergy with token boosters like Intangible Virtue. It can be a little awkward to set up and generate sufficient value.
Anchors - Sacrifice
Supports -
Plague Spitter
Description - If your aggro drops include most of those with 2 or more toughness (Diregraf Ghoul, Vampire Lacerator, Thrill-Kill Assassin etc), then this can help clear out opposing tokens or help those early drops trade up once the opponent starts dropping larger creatures. With a sac outlet it can become a proxy Drown in Sorrow, or it can make for interesting decision making while blocking in a slower decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Priest of Gix
Description - It can fit into an aggressive deck that wants to drop its hand early. Dropping this plus another 3-drop on turn 3 is decent, but there are going to be times where you just can't curve out like that, providing you with a mediocre drop, especially if you cast it off the top. It's a Best Case Scenario mindset, but with the right mana-free enablers (discard or sacrifice) you could Reanimate, Unearth or Undying this and also accelerate. Marginal support for storm.
Anchors -
Supports - Storm
Ravenous Skirge
Description - It compares closely to Daggerclaw Imp; upside of being able to block if you really need to (albeit poorly), and cornercase downsides such as with cards like Rabid Bite. Dauthi Marauder almost strictly better, and there are other flying 3 power for 3 with other drawbacks that don't die when they run into spirit tokens. Might be an option for bigger cubes going deep on this type of creature.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sibsig Icebreakers
Description - You need a specific cube with a density of effects that can take advantage of this, with solid graveyard matters or madness themes. You can always break the symmetry by having no cards in hand, but you shouldn't rely on that being the case.
Anchors -
Supports - Reanimator, Graveyard Matters, Madness
Skull Collector
Description - It is narrow, but can support a bounce theme in black if you are really into that sort of deck. Strongly depends on what ETB effects you have on your black creatures. Paired with blacks premier 2-for-1's (Nekrataal, Shriekmaw, Skinrender) it can be unfair. It's harder to support regen mana if you have to recast creatures, but a 3/3 with regen is a reasonable threat.
Anchors - Bounce
Supports -
Spined Fluke
Description - 5 power for 3 mana with regeneration is interesting enough to deserve at least a glance. The more first strikers or pingers in your environment, and the higher density of exile / 'prison' removal in your environment, the worse it gets. The more cheap sacrifice fodder you have (like Eldrazi tokens), the better it gets. Set up cost is high, but if it sticks and you can swing for 5 every turn it may be hard for an opponent to recover.
Anchors -
Supports -
Stronghold Rats
Description - There are potentially good scenarios, but they require some set up and for you to have the right cube / deck and break the symmetry. You need to support madness, graveyard matters, or the type of aggro deck that drops its hand in the first 4 turns. Once hands are empty, it is still a mostly unblockable threat.
Anchors -
Supports -
Undercity Informer
Description - Most decks play 17 lands, so you will have an idea about when you can 'combo off' with this card based on lands on the table. It can always sit on the board and sacrifice creatures when they are on the way to the graveyard anyway until you hit that point. Best in a deck that pumps out tokens, but its base stats are at least passable enough that it doesn't need to be your main win condition. You can always target yourself if you have the type of deck that will benefit from it.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens, Sacrifice
Vengeful Rebel
Description - It's a conditional 2 for 1. Clearly worse than the always on Skinrender etc, but this one does only cost 3, and making your players work for it might be more appealing to you.
Anchors -
Supports -
Wakedancer
Description - It can be a reward card for sacrifice decks (more likely to have handy triggers for morbid while getting 2 replacements), while still potentially seeing play in some aggro decks that trade early, though relying on your opponent to trade when you want is less than desirable.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Weaponcraft Enthusiast
Description - You need to be dedicated to go wide or sacrifice strategies where the extra bodies mean something; you don't include this in your deck with the intention of casting it as a 2/3.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice, +1/+1 counters
Zombie Scavengers
Description - It's aggressive stats with mana free regeneration, but if you are not in a graveyard deck, you probably won't be able to regenerate this that frequently. Even a single regeneration may still generate a 2 for 1 though, so it may be worth it. Most graveyard decks are more likely to want to re-use the creatures in the graveyard as other resources instead of this.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Nekrataal
Description - Excellent 2 for 1 which will almost always have a target, and after it hits it even has first strike to boot. The main reason you might not see it in cubes is to avoid density of this type of effect (Shriekmaw and Skinrender being similar options), rather than power level.
Anchors -
Supports - Bounce / Flicker
Ravenous Chupacabra
Description - Amazing 2 for 1, and one of the most elegant of the 'ETB, kill something' black creatures. It hits more targets than any other version, however the targeting limitations on other versions might be a feature for some cube designers.
Anchors -
Supports -
Skinrender
Description - While it's one the 'fairer' versions as it can't kill everything, it is still going to provide great value on just about any board state. As with Nekrataal & Shriekmaw, you might not want all of them.
Anchors -
Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Corpse Augur
Description - It's a double-edged sword because there is limited control of how much life you lose (note that you can choose either players graveyard though), but it's hard to argue with the power of drawing a fistful of cards. The decent power plus low toughness can make this a deterrent to attacks on the ground, letting you trade with a lot of creatures while drawing into gas... as long as it doesn't kill you.
Anchors -
Supports -
Falkenrath Noble
Description - The base stats are nothing exciting and not worth playing alone, but the drain can really start to add up quickly. It can be a fine curve topper in aggro, where you can suicide in your team to drain the last few points even if they get swallowed. Good for sacrifice decks, or if you support attrition decks that like to trade and grind out value over the course of a game.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice, Life Gain
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Accursed Witch
Description - It only drains once it dies, but it does have a bit of flexibility. In an aggro deck the 2 toughness means it is going to trade, but they can't take 4 forever and if you've applied pressure before this hits the table the drain provides reach. On defense it will trade just the same, but it can take out a reasonable incoming threat, and then provide some slow bleed. The 'cost 1 less' clause isn't too impactful either way.
Anchors -
Supports -
Bellowing Saddlebrute
Description - A decent aggro creature. Ideally you won't be losing any life in the bargain, but the stats for cost are probably worth that life anyway, particularly if you cast it on curve.
Anchors -
Supports -
Blightcaster
Description - It's clearly an anchor card for an enchantment theme. There are several black options for enchantment based removal (e.g. dead Weight, Seal of Doom) which you would probably want to play to support it.
Anchors - Enchantment Matters
Supports -
Bone Picker
Description - Paying a single mana for this is excellent, and even at 4 mana it isn't bad. Getting a creature to die isn't a foregone conclusion but happens frequently in games of magic.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Entomber Exarch
Description - It has some flexibility and you usually gain a card worth of value, but the immediate board impact of a 2/2 for 4 mana is underwhelming and worth less than a card on its own.
Anchors -
Supports -
Gavony Unhallowed
Description - The baseline isn't too exciting, but creatures die all the time in Magic. It can provide some level of inevitability; in a board stall you can always run another creature into the opposition they either have to trade or take the damage, and a fine support card for sacrifice decks.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice, +1/+1 counters
Haunted Dead
Description - It isn't high impact, but there is some value here. The baseline is slightly underwhelming, but the discard ability at instant speed gives you some space to play with. If you've got 2 cards in hand, you can always threaten to add an extra defensive power to your board if you opponent attacks. Gets better if you have graveyard themes and madness.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Keening Banshee
Description - It isn't super powerful and requires some though, but it isn't too hard to get an evasive creature while taking out something else.
Anchors -
Supports -
Marsh Flitter
Description - for beat-down it gets better the more goblin tokens other cards in the cube create, and it's fine with flicker and bounce effects. It's also decent in sac decks, giving you 3 targets (or 6 if you can find a way to reanimate it...) It does a lot of things pretty well, but in a fair way.
Anchors -
Supports -
Mer-Ek Nightblade
Description - It is perhaps a little deep on the +1/+1 counter theme, but if you have several other creatures with +1/+1 counters, giving most of your team deathtouch can be pretty solid. And if your opponent doesn't attack into your deathtouchers, you can sit back and outlast. You probably only cube it you support +1/+1 counter themes, but it might see play in control decks with marginal synergies.
Anchors - +1/+1 counters
Supports -
Null Caller
Description - It's not the most efficient, but it can provide some value for grindy control decks. It's not the best fit due to the costs involved, but sacrifice decks can put cards in the graveyard, and then get a token to sacrifice.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Orc Sureshot
Description - Good with token producers, especially those at instant speed. That aside, it is still a 4 power creature that can swing in, and you can still clear some weenies in the normal course of play, or shrink something before combat to swing it in your favour. Fringe synergies with bounce / blink.
Anchors -
Supports - Bounce / Flicker
Thorn of the Black Rose
Description - It's bad stats for 4 mana, but you get a death toucher to take out anything grounded they throw at you which helps you to retain the crown and keep drawing cards.
Anchors -
Supports -
Vulturous Aven
Description - It's not really ideal if you play the 'spell' version and pay 4 mana for a Night's Whisper. However, if you are upgrading one of your outclassed ground troops or something locked under a Pacifism etc. for a flyer while drawing some cards, then it can be reasonable.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Wei Night Raiders
Description - It's a virtually unblockable 2 damage every turn while controlling your opponents resources. The cheaper Hypnotic Specter or Dauthi Marauder are similar cards; here you get a little more inevitability and a near guarantee to mess with their hand, making this more control oriented than those cards.
Anchors -
Supports -
Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed
Description - It's a 3 power unblockable threat straight off the bat, which is reasonable. While the ability is a bit on the narrow side, getting back a key removal spell or a 2 for 1 like a dead Shriekmaw is going to be a fine play. It's durdly, but you can use the likes of Death Denied to grind out value.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Abattoir Ghoul
Description - 3 power first strikers can deal with a reasonable number of threats. It lacks a little speed for aggro decks, but on defense it will either prevent attacks in the first place or pad your life total. Even if you are playing defensively, the first strike can sometimes get in some attacks that otherwise wouldn't be profitable. Not an exciting card and may not stack up against the powerful beaters of a similar mana cost (Blastoderm etc), but will rarely be bad. The main knock is that it just doesn't really fill a hole.
Anchors -
Supports -
Bloodbond Vampire
Description - It requires some dedication to the life gain matters theme, but it can become a big beater in the right deck, but can be a little inconsistent.
Anchors - Life Gain Matters
Supports -
Bloodhunter Bat
Description - It's not a high power option, but it at least provides a little reach while being an evasive threat.
Anchors -
Supports -
Dauthi Mindripper
Description - You would prefer one of the better aggressive shadow creatures, but 4 mana to force them to discard 3 cards, albeit a turn delayed, still seems reasonable. And if they have no cards, it is still a nearly impossible to block creature.
Anchors -
Supports -
Erebos's Emissary
Description - It might be worth considering for specific cubes that care about enchantments and want discard outlets, or really care about delirium. Giving something that is already a decent size +3/+3 and threatening to go even bigger is likely to be hard to deal with.
Anchors -
Supports - Enchantment Matters, Graveyard Matters
Faceless Butcher
Description - It's lower power than similar creatures like Shriekmaw and Nekrataal, and more akin to Banisher Priest. It's still fine on its own, but you are probably only playing it if you are lowering the power of your removal in black, or if you care about exile which black doesn't get a lot of.
Anchors -
Supports -
Gravedigger
Description - You get card advantage while developing your board which is nice. However, unless you are flooded, the turn you play it you are getting a 2/2 for 4 which can sometimes be too low impact if you are under pressure. Entomber Exarch has more options with a slightly harder casting cost.
Anchors -
Supports -
Howling Banshee
Description - It isn't bad in aggro decks, providing a little reach on a decent body. You might consider Necrogen Scudder as a cheaper and slightly easier to cast alternative, but both are similar. Banshee can always chip away 3 life in the face of relevant blockers, where Scudder might just sit in your hand.
Anchors -
Supports -
Maulfist Squad
Description - A 4/2 menace for 4 isn't setting the world on fire, but isn't a terrible baseline. Having the option of 2 bodies if the board demands it or you want sacrificial lambs is nice, plus the servo can support some artifact matters themes. Not a standout, but the combination of those synergies can make it worth cubing if you support them.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters, artifact matters, sacrifice
Nightshade Seer
Description - It's slow, but in slower cubes it might be good enough for control. If you can start sandbagging cards you can take out almost anything. 7 mana before it does anything, and does nothing if you've had to drop your hand… super low floor but a reasonable ceiling.
Anchors -
Supports -
Ovalchase Daredevil
Description - The base stats means that when it is on the board, it can trade with a decent amount of stuff. You wouldn't play it on that basis alone, but if you've got enough support, after it trades you can then get that threat back. It isn't going to be consistent, but it triggers off ETB, not casting, so it triggers off cards with investigate, and combos with cards like Sensei's Divining Top.
Anchors - Artifact Matters
Supports -
Paragon of Open Graves
Description - Only if you want to push black devotion. The bonus is going to be more important than providing deathtouch given that it is a tap ability, but deathtouch can help you trade up.
Anchors -
Supports -
Returned Centaur
Description - Maybe if you want push reanimator or other graveyard themes; it isn't particularly exciting, but the 4 toughness will at least hold some things off while setting up your graveyard shenanigans.
Anchors - Graveyard Matters
Supports -
Sengir Autocrat
Description - It's narrow support for token / sacrifice decks, but is one of few ways to get 4 bodies for 4 mana.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Slum Reaper
Description - In aggro decks you can sac your outclassed early drops, and if you are on the defensive you can get rid of an early drop and have a 4 power creature to trade on defense. Fairly inconsistent though; the 4 mana here is a significant difference over 3 mana versions where you are more likely to hit the target you want.
Anchors -
Supports -
Ukud Cobra
Description - It's hard for your opponent to attack into; it can win combat with lots of creatures. It isn't going in any aggro decks, but it can make a reasonable attacker; the deathtouch kills traditional high toughness blockers, and the high toughness might require multiple blocks, with the deathtouch then killing multiple opponent creatures. Keepsake Gorgon is a more interesting variant, but the extra mana might matter more if you are looking for a 4-drop that can stem early aggro.
Anchors -
Supports -
Undead Warchief
Description - Zombies costing 1 less is probably neither here nor there if you are already at 4 mana, but the tribal boost is decent. It will depend entirely on how many zombies are in your cube; there are several playable ones, but you'd have to play with most of them and maybe some alternates to make this worth it. Pretty nasty when combined with Curse of Shallow Graves, and there are a couple of other fringe token makers you might consider.
Anchors - Zombie Tribal
Supports -
Whisper, Blood Liturgist
Description - It's a lot of set up cost; you have to have Whisper on the battlefield, waited a turn cycle to activate, AND have a creature in your graveyard that is better than your worst 2 creatures on board (Whisper can sacrifice itself though). Still, in the right deck (particularly with multiple token generators) you can get some value out of it.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens, Graveyard Matters, graveyard recursion
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Shriekmaw
Description - One of blacks best cards and the best in class of the 'ETB, destroy something' creatures, combining a wide range of potential targets with evasion. The evoke can also allow for some shenanigans, whether it is getting it back from the grave afterwards with graveyard recursion tools, or bouncing / flickering it while the sacrifice triggers is on the stack. May be removed from some cubes for being too efficient at what it does.
Anchors -
Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
None.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Fallen Angel
Description - It's a sacrifice outlet and can be a finisher, especially when paired with tokens or other sacrifice fodder. It can be inconsistent depending on the board state, and you have to avoid playing into removal, but it can end games quickly if unchecked.
Anchors - Sacrifice
Supports -
Gray Merchant of Asphodel
Description - A 2/4 for 5 isn't great, and played onto an empty board the 2 life gain swing probably still doesn’t make it worth it, but draining for 5 or more isn't unreasonable. Can be a win condition in a bounce / blink deck.
Anchors -
Supports -
Keepsake Gorgon
Description - Ukud Cobra shaves a mana to get the base creature, which is an annoying defender to attack into. But with this version, you should be able to stabilise long enough to get the creature kill on top of it. If you've stabilised, a 3/6 death toucher is going to peck away and probably requires a double block to get rid of, giving you another potential 2 for 1.
Anchors -
Supports -
Rakshasa Gravecaller
Description - At worst, it is a vanilla 3/6 for 5. Not good, but at least a decent blocker. Being able to cash something else in for a couple of zombies is what makes it worthwhile. Even if you are just sacrificing another zombie token, you are up two creatures. Not so good on an empty board (you rarely want to exploit itself) but you should get reasonable value most of the time.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Corpse Connoisseur
Description - Upfront your get a 3/3 for 5 which is not good, so it depends on the quality of your graveyard matters creatures more than anything else. At 5 mana it isn't an efficient reanimator enabler, so it is more designed for grindy graveyard decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Ghoulsteed
Description - You aren't too excited to hard cast it, but being able to trade 2 cards for a 4/4 isn't too bad. The activation cost does also give you the opportunity to filter it early and get a 4/4 as early as turn 3 which is an aggressive start.
Anchors -
Supports -
Okiba-Gang Shinobi
Description - It feels good if you can grab a couple of cards, but it is going to be inconsistent. Minor synergy if you can attack and bounce something with an ETB effect.
Anchors -
Supports - Bounce
Old-Fashioned Vampire
Description - I guess it's beefy enough if you only ever bring your cube out after dark.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sadistic Hypnotist
Description - There is an enticing ceiling, but there is some risk and set up. For it to be good, your opponent has to be holding a bunch of cards, and you have to trade in your own board presence which you invested mana into. However stripping 4 cards from your opponents hand by sacrificing a few outclassed creatures might seriously kill a slower decks game plan.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Sengir Vampire
Description - It's a flyer with reasonable stats. The triggered ability probably doesn't contribute much; if they couldn't mount a defence against a 4/4 flyer in the first place, throwing a small flying chump blocker in the way and getting a +1/+1 counter isn't likely to change the outcome that often compared to a vanilla 4/4 flyer. Overall, a decent size evasive creature in black, but doesn't stand out against some of blacks other higher cost creatures.
Anchors -
Supports -
Throat Slitter
Description - One of the better upsides on a ninja, though often you only get in once when you ninjustu it in, as it is pretty easy to block thereafter unless you grant it some form of evasion.
Anchors -
Supports - Bounce
Warren Pilferers
Description - Forget the goblin tribal element. It's a bit clunky at 5 mana, but it still represents value. The odd occasion where you get back a Beetleback Chief or whatever and get a hasty 3 points of damage is just gravy.
Anchors -
Supports - Goblin Tribal
Yargle, Glutton of Urborg
Description - I don't see many cubes where this can be consistently good as it will trade with many cheaper creatures. But with 9 power, the stories it can generate might make it worth some cube owners time. Giving it some form of evasion is nice, but if you don't have enough ways to do that in your cube (or other ways to leverage the high power), you should definitely pass.
Anchors -
Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Gurmag Angler
Description - It is just a vanilla, but it's a decent size vanilla that can come down cheap enough frequently enough, whether you 'curve' into it, or are able to cast it later in the game for only a few mana alongside another spell.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Dark Hatchling
Description - It's not as efficient as some of the other 'ETB, kill something' creatures, but the fact that it flies is an important difference, particularly given that sometimes you can kill the only thing they have that could block it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Morkrut Necropod
Description - It's big and menace makes it hard to chump block it. If they don't have 7 points of power on the board to kill it, they are probably in trouble. Once you can cast it, you can probably afford to sacrifice a few lands.
Anchors -
Supports -
Phyrexian Gargantua
Description - Reasonable value, though a grounded 4/4 for 6 mana isn't amazing, and might be outclassed. Still, drawing a couple of cards can start getting you ahead.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sultai Scavenger
Description - It only takes a couple of cards to be a Phantom Monster, which is not impressive but playable, and it can get better from there.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Grixis Slavedriver
Description - There is some value to be had, potentially giving you 4 creatures in total, though it isn't a huge impact when you first cast it. Sacrifice themes in a cube makes it value go up, though just having a stream of blockers to trade with in a control deck might be worth it for some decks. You can discard it for 'value' and unearth it, though that feels like playing a 2/2 for 4 mana with a one-shot attack which isn't thrilling.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice, Graveyard Matters
Havoc Demon
Description - A 5/5 flyer is pretty solid if it sticks, but it is quite expensive. The upside here compared to other large (and usually cheaper) evasive threats is that if it dies you are probably wiping out most of the opponents board. Cube it if you are looking for a control finisher with insurance, or possibly a reanimation target. If your cube is loaded up on exile or aura-based removal, you might not consider it as highly.
Anchors -
Supports -
Lingering Phantom
Description - It's a pretty slim inclusion, but you might include it for an artifact matters deck. This plus Ovalchase Daredevil can give an artifact deck some late game punch (if they survive long enough).
Anchors -
Supports -
Noxious Dragon
Description - You could get Sengir Vampire at a mana cheaper, but this comes with an insurance plan, and you are likely to have a target often enough. Fine, but doesn't stand out much against other options.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sibsig Muckdraggers
Description - At 5 mana it is a decent deal, but it fits in less decks that more 'generic' delve creatures which can usually come down early enough in aggro decks. It might also not gel entirely with your other graveyard based decks, particularly if you focus on repeat recursion, given this empties your graveyard.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Twisted Abomination
Description - You would mostly consider it if you have reanimation spells, allowing you to cycle it and then get back a decent size creature with cheap regeneration, which will be hard for your opponent to keep up with. If you don't have any reanimation spells, it can still act as a finisher but 6 mana is a decent amount.
Anchors -
Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Reanimate
Description - A single mana to get back a creature is usually an amazing deal. While it can support actual reanimator decks (with the appropriate discard / self-mill support) most decks are happy to play it to cheaply get back a threat. An aggro deck that can get back something that costs 2-4 cmc alongside another threat maintains solid pressure. Larger creatures lose more life, but the mana saving is almost always worth it if you've got something else to do with the rest of your mana and sufficient life total.
Anchors -
Supports - Reanimator
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Booster Tutor
Description - You'll need some form of house rule to play this, and if you are at 360 and often draft with 8 players, you won't have any cards left over to 'open'. On average there will be a handful cards that will be in your colours, and you will probably hit at least one card that will suit your deck. It's value goes up the more colours you are playing to open up more choices. The fact that it is instant gives you the opportunity to find an answer to a specific problem exactly when you need it.
Anchor -
Supports -
Darkblast
Description - Darkblast can support a number of strategies. It's value goes up the more x/1's in your cube, and most cubes include a decent percentage of those. Being able to draw it anytime you need it to deal with a relevant creature for just B gives it plenty of long game value. It's value also goes up the more graveyard matters themes you include. It helps put cards in your graveyard for flashback, threshold, reanimation, delve, cards that count what is in your graveyard, and good old Reassembling Skeleton.
Anchor -
Supports - 'Graveyard Matters' themes
Inquisition of Kozilek
Description - As a reference, the 360 card peasant cube has (at the time of review) 245 nonland cards that have a CMC of 3 or less, 68% of the cube. So that's better odds than the majority of these types of discard. Of course, your cube may vary, and deck building curves might not align exactly to the cube curve, but they are pretty good odds.
Anchor -
Supports -
Quest for the Gravelord
Description - This is a black card. Black likes to kill creatures. It shouldn't take too long to trigger this guy. Great in the early game, but not a great top deck when you are down to the wire. Size compares favourably to nearly everything in cube outside of greens ramp targets.
Anchor -
Supports -
Sarcomancy
Description - On it's own, it is decent for aggro decks based on stats for cost. Unlike similar black cards, this one doesn't have a drawback while the creature is in play, but once it leaves play. So if the token is quickly taken out that can be a bummer. However, if you are playing Sarcomancy you are probably playing other black aggro cards which happen to be zombies, mitigating the drawback somewhat. Incidental gating/bounce/sac-for-effect is also nice, though the card is good enough without going out of your way.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
Undying Evil
Cheap enough that you can leave the mana open when you need it to restore a creature to the board. +1/+1 makes it more than just a regen, plus the ability to re-use comes into play abilities shouldn't be overlooked.
Anchors -
Supports -
Unearth
Description - Solid for aggro, but also playable in a variety of decks. Solid due to efficient use of mana to get a creature back on the board, plus the ability to cycle if you are in top-deck mode and don't have a relevant target.
Anchors -
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Blackmail
Description – Not the best turn 1 play, but as the game goes on you are much more likely to get a target you want.
Anchor -
Supports -
Dark Ritual
Description - Not everyone will want it in their cube, but can be played across a spectrum of archetypes. It won't always be consistent, and the card disadvantage won't always be worth it. Late game it is often going to be a dead draw. Still, on some occasions you'll get an explosive start.
Anchor -
Supports -
Dead Weight
Description - Fair 'removal' at the 1 mana spot. With a lot of toughness affecting black removal, if it's too big you are out of luck. Dead Weight is never dead, as you can always make something big a much lesser threat in a pinch. Still, most of the time you'd rather have something that cost a little more and deals with more threats with finality.
Anchor -
Supports –
Disfigure
Description – Fair removal for the cost. Gets the job done.
Anchor -
Supports -
Divest
Description - Hitting creatures is the most prevalent card type, but hitting the occasional equipment or troublesome artifact is nice upside when it comes up. Not the sort of effect you'd probably notice missing from a cube, but fine enough. You might also consider Harsh Scrutiny if you don't cube the best artifacts, which has more consistent upside in those scenarios.
Anchors -
Supports -
Duress
Description – 137 targets in the average 360 Peasant on Cubetutor. Less targets than Despise which is a similar effect. Still, might have a place to get rid of buyback spells and the like that might be floating around in your cube.
Anchor -
Supports -
Fatal Push
Description - It's decent removal. Nothing spectacular at peasant cube level, but the appeal is the single mana at instant speed, and the revolt shouldn’t be too hard to turn on if you really need it to deal with a threat.
Anchors -
Supports -
Funeral Charm
Description - Two reasonable modes; instant speed discard can be nice, and the second option can help push through some damage, with the flexibility to kill utility x/1's or to finish a creature off after combat. The final mode won't matter most of the time, but random evasion as a bonus is nice.
Anchor -
Supports -
Fungal Infection
Description - It's unassuming, but for a single mana it can do some work, particularly in aggro decks for keeping up pressure.
Anchors -
Supports -
Harsh Scrutiny
Description - This effect isn't too splashy and you might sometimes whiff, but generally decent card due to the choice.
Anchors -
Supports -
Paralyze
Description - Good as a tempo spell that can remove early creatures from affecting the board, and even when the opponent has the mana it is still expensive to keep a creature active in the game. It might not turn off the most powerful creatures your opponents have and it's value goes down the longer the game, but it never does nothing.
Anchor -
Supports - Aggro
Phyrexian Reclamation
Description - Solid as a potential recursion engine to grind out card advantage over time. Can add more value in sac decks to get benefits from the recursion, extort decks to offset the life loss while replaying cards and getting to extort again, and graveyard fillers so you have more targets. You just have to be careful of the lifeloss.
Anchor - Graveyard Creature Recursion
Supports - Extort, Sacrifice, Self-Mill
Raven's Crime
Description - Solid re-usable discard. Can be a first turn play if you've got nothing else, and after you hit your required mana base, all lands you draw can turn into a discard spell. Best in a control deck to prevent your opponent from holding onto anything, but could still be in an aggro deck pushing a really low curve to strip slower decks of their cards once they hit the desired mana base. Also serves in reanimator decks because you can target yourself for a single mana.
Anchor -
Supports -Reanimator
Skeletal Scrying
Description - Solid for control decks. More conditional than something like Night's Whisper or Ambition's Cost, but by the time you want to cast it you probably have the resources in the yard. Being instant also really helps.
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Skulduggery
Description - 1 mana is nice for a combat trick. The impact isn't huge but is likely to turn around enough combats to be worthwhile. (Steal Strength currently at 1, drop to no reason to cube).
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Supernatural Stamina
Description - Protects from most removal and helps win combat for a single mana. Negative compared to some protection spells; creature comes back into play tapped. Upside; retriggers enter the battlefield triggers, and 'protects' creatures from sacrifice effects.
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Tortured Existence
Description -It can get your best creatures back form the yard, but having to discard another creature means you are at a card disadvantage as you have to invest in putting this on the board. Gets a lot better with dredgers or other ways to get more creatures in the yard for more selection.
Anchors -
Supports - Dredge
Tragic Slip
Description - One of the few 1 mana black spells capable of killing just about every creature in cube... when it gets triggered. Creatures die a lot in any case, plus if you are playing this you are probably playing other black kill spells or sacrifice.
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Ulcerate
Description - This will kill a decent number of creatures in most cubes, or finish something after blocks are declared. 3 life can hurt though. You want this card if you want push aggro mana efficiency to the limit, but is playable elsewhere.
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Unnatural Endurance
Description - If you prefer your removal to be combat-oriented, this might be an option to help your smaller creatures scale up and survive combat, which is fine either on offense or defense. It also provides 1 mana protection for your creatures against a lot of removal as a back up option. Coat With Venom is a comparable alternative; it guarantees trading up, while this is slanted to guaranteeing your creatures survival.
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Vampiric Rites
Description - Thrown in any deck, it may not excel but can provide an insurance policy against removal or losing combats, or turn outclassed creatures into draws. It becomes an excellent sacrifice outlet if you have creatures with death triggers, or if you have some token generators. You aren't likely to give up a creature just to trigger some life gain matters cards, but that is another minor synergy, and the incidental life gain can add up over the course of a game. It's a nice build-around if you draft it early.
Anchors - Sacrifice
Supports - Life gain Matters
Vendetta
Description -Better against small guys, but being able to kill larger ones in exchange for more isn't really a downside.
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Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Coat With Venom
Description - Most of the time, you will just want a non-combat removal spell instead of this. But it gets a mention as a spell that can help kill hexproof creatures, and may randomly save a creature you want to keep or rarely deliver the final point of damage.
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Cremate
Description - This is not the sort of effect that everyone will want in their cube, as it unlikely to matter in most games. But as a 1 mana cantrip, you can always play it to make your deck smaller so long as there is 1 card in a graveyard.
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Crippling Blight
Description - You would cube this to give aggro decks a cheap way to remove their most relevant blocker or kill an x/1.
Anchor
Supports - Aggro
Executioner's Capsule
Description - On it's own, it is almost always worst than Doom Blade. However, it can become more powerful if you have ways to tutor/retrieve/abuse it in an artifact matters theme.
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Supports - Artifact Matters
Duh
Description – This will be very swingy between different cube environments. It could hit lots if you try and make your cube new player friendly, or next to nothing if you pimp out with textless cards. Cheap and instant, so if you have enough creatures that fit the criteria it might make a reasonable alternative to blacks commonly used removal in the 2 cc spot.
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Ghoulcaller’s Chant
Description - Return a single creature to your hand from your grave is not terribly exciting as a base. Gets better if you support dredge or otherwise chuck cards into your yard. 2 creatures? Now we are talking. It seems to force tribal, but there are a number of zombies which see play in cubes without forcing tribal themes; a number of those support black aggro which is likely to see some of its creatures die early.
Anchor -
Supports – Black aggro
Graf Harvest
Description - It's a tribal card that works by itself, but is a bit slow given the activation cost. The tokens ETB untapped, so you can always hold mana up until the opponent attacks. Graveyard based decks probably have better things to do, but it works there as well. The menace can help you alpha strike, and this will probably be brutal if you ever pair it with Curse of Shallow Graves.
Anchors -
Supports - Zombie Tribal, Tokens, Graveyard Matters
Innocent Blood
Description - It's the cheapest of this type of effect, which means you can cast it as soon as they have a creature out. But it is also symmetrical (compare to Diabolic Edict). Probably only worth cubing if you want to support creature light decks, or decks that want their stuff to go to the graveyard.
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Stop That
Description -Could be ok if you are ok with un cards. It's cheap enough that if you only catch your opponent out once it's a nice two for one. If you only get one activation, it isn't worth it.
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Suffer the Past
Description -Drain Life variant that doesn't hit creatures? Nah. Clears graveyards? Nah. But if you want a graveyard clearing effect that has some other upside, at least you get that so it isn't a dead card when graveyard clearing doesn't matter.
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Vile Rebirth
Description - If you are looking for the exile from graveyard effect, this one gives you some extra value in the form of a 2/2 at instant speed for B.
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Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Cast Down
Description - Contender for the top three black removal spells (Go For The Throat and Ultimate Price being the other two). The drawback is small, cost is cheap, and instant speed. You might not need or want all of these variants, but it is top tier removal.
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Demonic Tutor
Description - Great card for all black decks, and sometimes worthy of a splash. Let's you find any answer to the current board state, or find synergistic pieces for what your deck is doing. Only costing 2 mana gives you the opportunity to cast the card you find the turn you play it. If you have ways to get it back from the graveyard it can set up combos all by itself. Value goes down slightly in purer aggro decks that may not want to spend 2 mana that doesn't affect the board.
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Doom Blade
Description - One of blacks best removal spells, it will hit the majority of creatures you face. You will rarely be wanting for targets, as even if your opponent is also playing black, they are likely playing a second colour.
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Go For The Throat
Description - One of blacks best pieces of instant removal, hitting the vast majority of creatures in cubes.
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Hymn to Tourach
Description - The best 2 mana discard spell available to black. Being random discard makes this particularly potent, as it does not allow the opponent to keep their best cards, and it can hit lands. Its for this reason that some cube owners may avoid this card; cast on turn 2 and even taking a single land can be devastating and knock some players out of their game. It's a 2 for 1 for 2 mana in most stages of the game, and in the late game its rare that an opponent will play every single card on the turn they draw it. Consider Wrench Mind if you want a 'fair' 2 mana discard 2 cards spell.
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Ultimate Price
Description - Outside of the handful of artifact creatures, Eldrazi and multi-colour creatures that most cubes have, this hits everything else, making it the top black removal spell that is playable in any deck, and is likely to be splashed even if you aren't playing black.
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3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Animate Dead
Description - Animate Dead is a solid card in almost any fair black deck, getting you back your best creature for only 2 mana. 1 less power usually doesn't matter if you only paid 2 mana for a 4+ drop. You don't need to support reanimator for Animate Dead to be good but it also has that upside. Turn 1 discard outlet, Turn 2 Animate Dead on Trostani's Summoner is going to be tough to beat.
Anchors -
Supports - Reanimator
Night's Whisper
Description - The mana cost is cheap for draw 2, offset by the life loss. Most decks will be happy to pay that though. The cheaper cost can make it playable in an aggro deck, allowing it to play this after dumping its hand and potentially playing the drawn threats that turn. Similarly control decks can cast this while keeping mana up for counterspells or other responses, or to activate on-board control.
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Terror
Description - Doom Blade and Go For The Throat both have more targets, but this still hits a lot of targets. It also kills regenerators.
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2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Corpse Churn
Description - Raise Dead is usually not considered a great card and this costs twice as much, but the self-mill effect and instant speed make this worth considering. Outside of more dedicated graveyard decks it still has some play, getting back your best creature, and potentially putting a better target into your yard. Graveyard decks will be where it shines, whether it is to help hit threshold, put potential reanimation targets in the yard, help your delve cards etc.
Anchors - Graveyard Matters
Supports -
Dance of the Dead
Description - Similar to Animate Dead, with power and toughness upside, inability to block the turn you reanimate due to coming in tapped downside, and upkeep downside. The downsides make this less applicable to 'fair' decks (though still ok) and more appropriate for reanimation decks that are happy to pay 2 mana on turn 3 to untap their 9/9 Ulamog's Crusher.
Anchors - Reanimator
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Death Denied
Description - Paying 3 mana for a Raise Dead is bad. Paying 5 mana at the end of the opponents turn to get 3 creatures back is gravy. The flexibility in casting cost and being an instant makes this a solid card for attrition-based midrange or control decks. Hana Kami on it's own is narrow, but is an engine when combined with this card. Less effective in an aggro deck.
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Devour In Shadow
Description - The combination of double black and life loss make this one harder to swallow than other removal. But it has upside over similar costed black removal in that it will kill virtually anything you want. For most it still won't be worth the downsides, but is certainly not unplayable. Value goes up if you have lots of regnerators in your card pool.
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Distress
Description - In terms of effect, stripping any nonland card is quite powerful. The question becomes is that additional power worth paying 2 black mana, over the more conditional 1 mana versions? The answer is likely to be no, as the 1 mana versions can let you better sequence plays, but this is still a playable piece of discard.
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Grasp of Darkness
Description - Serviceable if you want to control the effectiveness of your removal, and want your players to commit to black for their removal. Can give ramp / reanimator strategies a little more of a chance while still hitting a significant number of creatures in the cube.
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Last Gasp
Description - Kills a lot of things in cubes, but you need to combine with something else to take out bigger threats. Your Doom Blades and Go For the Throat are generally better, and the inclusion of Last Gasp can help ramp / control decks with larger threats have more of a chance.
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Lay Bare the Heart
Description - For most peasant cubes, this just means 'nonland card'. That is a fine range of targets for 2 mana. Playable if you want this type of effect but not essential.
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Macabre Waltz
Description - Trade this and a card you don't want (or that you want in your graveyard) for the 2 best creatures in your graveyard. You don't end up ahead, but have (or should have) improved card quality. Has synergy with graveyard decks which can put more targets in the graveyard in the first place, and the discard effect of this card, but still works fine in other decks.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Shadows of the Past
Description - It does nothing the turn that it comes into play… and potentially for a few turns after that. But creatures die in games, so you should get a number of scry's out of it, which can add up over the game. Gets better in sacrifice decks which can control the scry. Worth noting that when lots of creatures die, you might find the card you want in your first scry, making further triggers until your next draw step redundant. You won't want to rely on the drain effect, but is a nice bonus if you have the mana spare or if a couple of activations are all that is needed to finish a game. Primarily for control / attrition decks that intend to go long.
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Sinkhole
Description - If you want to push a land destruction package in black, this is your only 2 mana option. The better the nonbasic lands in your cube, the better this gets. However unless you support land destruction as a theme, on its own it is going to be very narrow targeted removal for those cards. It can be good in aggro decks to help slower decks off their bigger spells after laying down some threats.
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Smother
Description - It hits less targets than the likes of Doom Blade and Go For The Throat, and doesn't kill larger creatures that are more likely to be the ones you want to kill. But it is instant speed and doesn't discriminate against colour. It's inclusion in your cube is probably based on intentionally lowering the power level of removal in your cube, or giving your slower decks specific removal against aggro decks.
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Victim of Night
Description - Without checking any particular cubes, it probably hits more creatures than any other 2 mana black destroy spells with the possible exceptions of Go For The Throat and Ultimate Price. But it's probably not enough to make up for the double black to consider it before some of those other options. Still a fine piece of removal.
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Walk the Plank
Description - It has among the highest number of targets for a 2 removal spell. Balanced by being sorcery speed and needing to commit to black, though for some these will be features you are looking for in your removal suite rather than drawbacks.
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Wrench Mind
Description - Potentially the next best 2 mana for 2 discard spells after Hymn to Tourach. The player choice makes it worse than Hymn, but makes it fairer if you are finding the randomness of Hymn to reduce the fun factor.
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1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Bile Blight
Description - Last Gasp is easier to cast and will be better the vast majority of the time, but you might want to consider this if you want a card to deal with token decks.
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Blight
Description - You don't get too many 2 mana land removal spells, though the opponent does get one more use out of the land. You need to be pushing a land destruction deck pretty hard, but at least you give it a 2 mana option for the curve.
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Supports - Land Destruction
Cabal Ritual
Description - Narrow enabler for a storm deck. It could be an accelerator in a dredge deck, putting you up 3 mana once you hit threshold, but by the time you've hit threshold you are less likely to need that extra mana.
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Supports - Storm
Chainer's Edict
Description - Can be useful for control decks to stall an aggro start and get an extra use in the late game, You won't care if you flip it early, but has synergy with dredge decks
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Supports -
Corrupted Zendikon
Description - You can attack turn 3 with a 3/3, but if you want to use it as a creature, you tie up a mana for each subsequent turn. Can be ok in a low curve aggro deck, but not likely to get much play outside of that.
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Supports - Aggro
Diabolic Edict
Description - It's instant and great against single targets like Jetting Glasskite, but the player choice means you are less likely to actually get what you want. Might be worth it in slow cubes where decks curve out at higher end, and you don't support tokens.
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Exhume
Description - You get your best creature, but so does your opponent, and you are down this card. But if you want to maximise cheap reanimation cards, this can be an option; ideally your creature will cost significantly more than your opponents if you have discard / looting support. If you are finding reanimator decks too often being wrecked by enchantment removal (Animate Dead & friends), this gives you another cheap option alongside Reanimate.
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Supports - Reanimator
Grave Strength
Description - This card has a low floor but a high ceiling. The ceiling can be hard to reach in most decks, as it will have little value in the early game, but may provide a decent creature boost after some attrition battles. It does still open you up for a 2 for 1. Other cards can provide a boost more reliably, but the self-mill also helps other graveyard strategies as well.
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Grim Discovery
Description - The only reason you would consider this is if you were getting the 2 for 1 on a regular basis, which probably requires some form of land matters theme. There are cards that it might be able to do some work with (Goblin Trenches, Foundry of the Consuls, dead manlands) but you need a critical mass of those types of cards to consider this.
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Grim Harvest
Description - Grim Harvest offers creature recursion ad infinitum, but in practice is tricky to use. You always need the mana open to recover it, so your battle plan needs to account for this, which might be by holding it in hand until you know the mana will be available, or waiting until you are ready to trigger a sacrifice effect. Can provide long term value, but only fits in grindy value decks that can survive aggro assaults long enough to play it.
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Supports - Graveyard Matters
Grotesque Mutation
Description - It won't save something as well as something like Giant Growth, but the power boost plus lifelink combo is solid in racing situations, particularly if you have a black evasive contingent. If you are on the back foot, you can trade up a creature while padding your life total, helping you to get back in the game. It might never be a blowout, but it does something no matter where you are in the game.
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Marsh Casualties
Description - Against most opponents you will want to be getting the larger effect. 5 mana is a lot for the effect, but can apply to different situations. Against aggro or token decks, it may wipe out most of their team. Played before combat against larger creatures, you make them all ineffective blockers, either dying to your attackers, or letting the damage get through. Or played as an 'after combat trick' to ensure creatures that were dealt damage during combat die. Situational and smidge more than you want to pay, but a 1 sided Infest is worth considering.
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Moment of Craving
Description - The only reason to cube it is to seed more incidental life gain for a life gain matters archetype. You are giving up a fair bit of power compared to Disfigure or Doom Blade variants, but it might meet specific cube design goals. In a pinch it can be used to 'gain 4 life' against an incoming creature.
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Supports - Life Gain Matters
Nameless Inversion
Description - In most cases this is just going to be a Lasp Gasp with some downside (you can't just make a big creature small and have your creature survive combat). Does have upside of allowing power boosting your creatures with high toughness, though this mode is unlikely to be used often. Marginal upside of being about to be tutored by some tribal cards.
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Rime Transfusion
Description - If you let your players have snow basics, this can be a power booster and make the creature almost unblockable. Decent upside, but still at the mercy of 2 for 1, and having to pay a mana every turn can hurt early development.
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Rush of Vitality
Description - An ok trick. The small power boost might not help you upgrade much, but your creature is almost guaranteed to survive, the lifelink and indestructibility is relevant, especially if you are on the back foot. Can be used on an evasive creature in a pinch to get some life gain needed to race, or to counter most black and red removal against key creatures.
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Sign In Blood
Description - Night's Whisper is going to be the better card most of the time. This has the extra flexibility of being able to force through the final 2 life loss on your opponent, but with the rare times that will happen, you will want the easier to cast of Night's Whisper. Maybe for larger cubes where you want additional redundancy of this effect.
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Smallpox
Description - It has a powerful effect, but there isn't really a deck or arcehtype that can make great use of it.
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Steal Strength
Description - Conditional, but could turn around 2 combat trades, or kill some utility creatures. However is still situational.
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Subtle Strike
Description - The combination can give you a few lines of play during combat, and even in some cases removing a 1 toughness blocker before swinging in. If you have +1/+1 counter reward cards, this might be your black combat trick of choice.
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Supports - +1/+1 counters
Transgress the Mind
Description - The biggest problem is that it costs 2 and you can get similar effects for 1 mana, which will suck when it whiffs. It might still be a metagame choice if you want your black-based decks to be able to strip game ending cards but let your slower decks keep their low cost answers which might get stripped with the likes of Inquisition of Kozilek. Any devoid synergies are likely to be incidental.
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Trial of Ambition
Description - You are generally better off playing the instant speed Edicts (and those may already be a little shaky); the only reason to consider this is if you also cube enough cartouche's. Getting multiple activations out of this IS going to add up, but you obviously need to dedicate a bit of space in your cube to the Trial / Cartouche subtheme.
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Visions of Brutality
Description - If you want removal that is slanted towards aggro that your control decks don't want, this might be an option. It doesn't help if you are losing, but if you are the beatdown this is mostly going to act like a Pacifism.
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Withering Boon
Description - This deserves a mention as a card that is relatively unique in blacks arsenal. Removal doesn't require the timing that this does, but it can deal with some problem creatures like Blastoderm / Calciderm, Jetting Glasskite, and 'counters' any ETB effects when removal would be too late.
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Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Curse of Shallow Graves
Description - Excellent value if you intend to attack. Curving a 1 and 2 drop into this can be hard for your opponent to recover from, demanding little from you to get those tokens on the board.
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Dismember
Description - 4 life is nothing to scoff at, but it can be a 1 mana removal spell which takes out a decent number of creatures and can be played in decks of any color, while having a flexible casting cost in black decks.
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3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Ashes to Ashes
Description - The instant speed of Reckless Spite may be preferred, however this has two upsides; it can target black creatures which are more prevalent than artifact creatures, and it exiles so can reduce recursion. 5 life isn't nothing, but getting a board impacting 2-for-1 for 3 mana is a strong play.
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Necromancy
Description - It's a fine reanimation spell with a few nuances. You can always cast it at instant speed as a combat trick if you really need to, and it can grab the opponents creatures too. It's cheap enough that it can be used for value even if you have no way of dumping fatties into your graveyard.
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Supports - Reanimator, Creature Recursion
Read the Bones
Description - It lets you dig up to 4 cards deep if you are really looking for an answer. One of the better black card draw spells for black decks;Night's Whisper is often considered a better option as it can help you dig for your 3rd land, but you probably want both in any case.
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Reckless Spite
Description - Instant speed, remove two creatures from the board. Excellent impact on the board, and being able to cast it in the middle of combat or in response to combat tricks / double blocks can make this a blowout. 5 life is nothing to sneeze at, but presumably you will be saving that by not getting hit by two creatures each turn. If you want to target black creatures, you can trade in the instant speed and get Ashes to Ashes.
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2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Choking Sands
Description - A decent option if you want land destruction in your cube, which is best as aggro support. Given most decks will include some form of nonbasics, you'll get the damage often enough while also turning off fixing. Can also be fine to sideboard in against 3+ colour decks with greedy mana bases.
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Supports - Aggro
Drown in Sorrow
Description - Solid black sweeper for control decks in conjunction with higher toughness creatures, with the scry letting you recover faster and keeping threats coming. You can always attack into larger threats and then cast this post combat to remove something annoying.
Anchors - Sweeper Control
Supports -
Eyeblight's Ending
Description - You could just play Murder, but if you want your black removal to be more splashable, this can be an option. Only large cubes are likely to break into the double digits for number of Elves in the cube so is likely to hit more targets than most of the 2 mana removal.
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Golden Demise
Description - It's a decent sweeper. You probably aren’t playing it in a deck with small creatures to start with, but in the late game once you've got the City's Blessing, reducing your opponents board even if you don't kill anything can allow for an alpha strike. It would be fine in a general control deck, but if you want to support a more dedicated sweeper control deck it should probably be in your cube.
Anchors - Sweeper Control
Supports -
Haunted Crossroads
Description - At face value, you get to keep drawing creatures as long as you have some in your graveyard, which is fine if you are trading; you'll eventually end up ahead in card quality / board presence, particularly if any of those creatures provide 2 for 1's or incremental advantages. Fun with evoke creatures; you can even have Mulldrifter draw itself.
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Supports - Graveyard Matters, Creature Recursion
Kor Dirge
Description - It's only slightly conditional; you can block and just deal the damage back to the attacking creature if you can't kill it outright, or if you really want to save that blocker. Turning a trade into a win and also taking out a utility creature sitting on the sidelines is a decent play. The biggest downside is that it is a 3 mana combat trick.
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Murder
Description - Simple and elegant. In general, you will prefer the cheaper slightly conditional versions, but this is still fine and hits almost everything those don't. You might also consider it if you want your black removal to still be strong but less splashable.
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Rend Flesh
Description - Spirits are more prevalent than they used to be, but this is still going to hit a decent number of targets. This could be a tweak if you want to marginally increase the resiliency of certain Spirit cards in your cube.
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Seal of Doom
Description - While clearly less powerful than the top tier black removal, the effect is still fine. It's an on board threat so your opponent can play around it (if you don't activate it immediately), but you can always play it when you've got the three mana and no threats and keep developing your board. You might play it if you care about enchantment matters themes or have some delirium cards you want to support.
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Stupor
Description - Among the better of the 3 mana discard 2 options. The random discard can mess with plans, but isn't as back breaking as Hymn To Tourach.
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Victimize
Description - It takes a bit of set up work, but the payoff can be worth it. If you've got a token lying around, upgrading to your two best creatures in your graveyard, especially if they have enter the battlefield effects, is solid. Due to the setup, it is best as support for midrange attrition / self-mill decks as opposed to reanimator.
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Supports - Creature Recursion
Withering Wisps
Description - If you let your players play with snow basics, this is close to strictly better than Pestilence. You can't use nonbasic or nonland sources for black mana, but you often don't want to blast for the full amount anyway. Good for clearing out opposing aggro creatures if you've got a few high toughness creatures, or threatening to use both pre- and post-combat to mess with combat decisions.
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1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Buried Alive
Description - It is a pretty specific effect, but can be a build around for your graveyard decks, letting you kickstart your dredge, get you your fatty for reanimator, get Wonder online or a variety of other effects. You will want it to be worth it, given that you are spending a turn to not affect the board. You probably pick it early and build around it, or take it late if you've happened to fall into the type of graveyard deck that can benefit.
Anchors - Graveyard Matters, Reanimator
Supports -
Butcher's Glee
Description - It's probably a mana more than you want to pay, but for combat heavy cubes this offers some decent upside. The power boost almost ensures you can trade anything up, the regen ensures your creature survives, and the lifelink combined with the power boost either gets you far ahead or helps you get back into the game.
Anchors -
Supports -
Cartouche of Ambition
Description - It's not great removal, and there are only so many of your own targets where the power boost and life link combo will be great (mainly evasive creatures). Probably only for cubes that have depowered their removal to make auras a little better.
Anchors -
Supports -
Crippling Fatigue
Description - It can be a slow 2 for 1 against cheaper creatures, but you can always play it on larger creatures pre or post combat if the situation calls for it. It is still a lot worse than a lot of other removal.
Anchors -
Supports -
Crypt Incursion
Description - It's not unreasonable that this could earn you 12 or more points of life, particularly if you are playing an attrition game. It can also be a subtle graveyard hoser while not been narrow and useless outside of that role. It's effectiveness may depend on the speed of your environment; if your aggro decks overrun your control decks before much is hitting the graveyard, it isn't a good recovery card.
Anchors -
Supports -
Dark Banishing
Description - Doom Blade is pretty close to being strictly better. Usually if you've included regenerators in your cube, you don't want to hose them anyway. Still, you might choose this if you find Doom Blade a little too good.
Anchors -
Supports -
Desolation
Description - It's pretty narrow, but it is a powerful effect. If you can get out ahead in an aggro deck, it can prevent the opponent from catching up and curving into their bigger drops. Drafting enough nonland mana producers to cast spells or use abilities and avoid using lands is probably a tough ask, but might be possible if you include enough in your cube. The hosing of Plains will turn some off even if the rest looks attractive (or just house rule it).
Anchors -
Supports -
Engineered Plague
Description - It may hose some token decks, but it can also see play outside of those match-ups, making it a bit less obvious. Depending on whether you play older card printings, could be an errata nightmare for some creature types (Humans, I'm looking at you).
Anchors -
Supports -
Expunge
Description - The baseline is worse than other options, with the upside of being able to cycle if there are no targets. You probably won't cycle if often, but if you want to add some deck smoothing options in black, this is a reasonable option.
Anchors -
Supports -
Fortuitous Find
Description - It's generally going to be weaker than Death's Duet as creatures are more reliable and plentiful, but you might include this to support an artifact deck in black.
Anchors - Artifact Matters
Supports -
Flaying Tendrils
Description - It is an option if you want to go deep on the black sweepers, or you could make the swap from Drown in Sorrow / Hideous Laughter if you want to support colorless matters themes.
Anchors - Sweeper Control
Supports -
Footbottom Feast / Gravepurge
Description - It requires some set up; you need enough creatures in your graveyard to make this worthwhile, which could happen either be attrition or proactively filling your graveyard. Guaranteeing you are going to draw creatures for the next 3+ turns in a row is likely to put you ahead on the board compared to your opponent. Paying a bit more for Death Denied may be a better option to get them all in your hand now rather than setting up draws.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Grim Affliction
Description - It can give something -2/-2, while supporting a +1/+1 counter theme. Corner case of being able to save your Undying creatures another time if it really matters by using the -1/-1 counters to offset the +1/+1 counter. Raw power gives the nod to more efficient removal, but you might care more about synergies.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Heartless Pillage
Description - Of the '3 mana, opponent discards 2' options, it doesn't really add much. You might swap it for similar options if you want to strongly signal aggro control (given the raid trigger), but it is probably stretching to consider it incidental support for an artifact matters theme.
Anchors -
Supports -
Hissing Miasma
Description - It only belongs in 'punisher' decks and needs a critical mass of similar effects or drain type effects to put your opponent in a position where attacking is not profitable. Go wide decks are affected the most, but opponents with Pelakka Wurms will probably shrug if off unless you've applied lots of early pressure.
Anchors -
Supports - Punisher / Forced Attack
Icequake
Description - Straight up land destruction if you want it for your cube. Best as support for aggro. You will probably want to consider Choking Sands first, though this has upside if you allow your players snow basics.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro
Ichor Slick
Description - It looks flexible, but is a bit clunky. It's inclusion in your cube is probably reliant on how many discard outlets you have to take advantage of the madness, though even madness decks will probably just play the 'better' removal spells if given the choice.
Anchors -
Supports -
Infest
Description - Drown in Sorrow is strictly better, but you may want the redundancy.
Anchors - Sweeper Control
Supports -
Kill Destroy
Description - The baseline is good enough that you might consider it. Probably only short term before people start playing around it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Malevolent Awakening
Description - Among similar graveyard recursion cards (Haunted Crossroads, Phyrexian Reclamation), this is perhaps the most difficult to get to work due to the mana investment required (it's 6 mana before you get a creature back to your hand, not the board), and it's hard to keep 3 mana up to be able to respond to removal. However it is better in token decks so you can actually generate card advantage, and it can more easily cycle multiple creatures that have enter the battlefield abilities.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens, Sacrifice
Mind Slash
Description - You are giving up board position to hit the opponents hand, so this doesn't go in any deck. You preferably need token generators / recursion to get the best effect.
Anchors -
Supports -
Noxious Field
Description - It's inherently powerful, but success will be dependant on the board state and it may have difficulty finding a deck. You can't draft it with x/1's, but if your black aggro decks have enough 2+ toughness creatures it can help clear opposing tokens, or help trade up. It may be better in a more midrange deck; control decks might not be able to afford the life loss against aggro.
Anchors -
Supports -
Oubliette
Description - Only if you want to increase your enchantment count for any enchantment themes. Outside of some corner cases it's a worse Banishing Light (creature comes back with counters and auras it left with) which is still ok, but black has generally better options for removal.
Anchors -
Supports - Enchantment Matters
Rakshasa's Secret
Description - It narrowly supports graveyard decks, but the base effect is worse than other options like Stupor. Only consider if you want to push self-mill.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Reaping the Graves
Description - The average case is probably getting back 2 creatures. Scenario 1 which is probably the most common; you cast it on your opponents turn and you get 2 creatures after they cast a spell. Scenario 2 which is rare; you get 3+ creatures after your opponent casts 2 spells (or you have a massive turn). Scenario 3 which probably happens enough to be annoying; you wait for your opponent to cast something on their turn, and they don't. You either wasted your mana if you want to hold out, or you get back just 1 creature.
Anchors -
Supports -
Stab Wound
Description - It's not the most efficient at removing small creatures, but it can also be effective against larger creatures. It can be a 'bleeding' card, where you are happy to let the reduced creature through (or you put it on a defender) while they keep taking 2 a turn. Or put the opponent in a position where they lose 2, and are then forced to attack to stem the bleeding, with the stat reduction allowing you to easily deal with the threat.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sudden Death
Description - It's an ok removal option. You can get Murder for the same cost and have more targets, but the split second upside is a nuance you don't get anywhere else. While it might not be relevant frequently, it will be just often enough to matter. It can take out Mother of Runes, prevent sacrifice for effect in response, or get around an active Crystal Shard.
Anchors -
Supports -
Swarm Surge
Description - Only if you want to give colorless a push, but it isn't great compared to other pump. Sorcery speed gives your opponent all the information, but if it IS played in a colorless deck, the first strike still makes it harder for the opponent to profit.
Anchors - Colorless Matters
Supports -
Syphon Life
Description - Re-usability is fine, but it's hard to imagine a deck where you are truly happy to play it as it has no effect on the board. If you have life gain matters themes then you might consider it, and it could be a niche effect in an aggro deck that can use it as reach once it hits 3-4 lands.
Anchors -
Supports - Life Gain Matters
Unspeakable Symbol
Description - 3 life is a lot to pay for a +1/+1 counter, but the lack of any mana cost should not be overlooked. If you have a decent life total, you can threaten to win almost any combat, and if you are ahead, force blocks for fear of just pumping for lethal. However, you probably want to be playing it in an environment with lower power removal, specifically more sorcery speed removal, to avoid blowouts. Minor synergies with lifelink or drain strategies, and specific synergy with Kitchen Finks.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Wander in Death
Description - You could view it as a black Divination, with some caveats. It has upside of always getting you business spells to cast, where a Divination can draw you lands you don't need. If you don't have targets, you can always cycle it. Can help with other recursion creatures like Eternal Witness to grind out advantage. Death Denied has a higher ceiling, but this is more splashable and smooths draws if that matters for your cube design.
Anchors -
Supports -
Wicked Pact
Description - Reckless Spite is strictly better by virtue of being an instant, and Ashes to Ashes hits more targets in most cubes. However you might want this if you want to extra deep on this type of 2 for 1 removal, you want this effect but find the instant speed of Reckless Spite too much of a blowout, or you intentionally don't want to hit black creatures.
Anchors -
Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Diabolic Servitude
Description - On your first casting, you get back the best creature in your graveyard. This makes it fine for reanimator decks spending the first few turns getting a fatty into the graveyard (though the exile clause means you can't use another reanimation tool if it dies). However it can generate great value even in 'fair' decks, just by getting to re-use most creatures in your graveyard if creatures keep trading. The value goes up higher if you do have ways to get creatures from your hand or deck into your graveyard, and with sacrifice effects so you can get the Diabolic Servitide back to get your next target. It's not the reason you'd cube it, but it may also provide fringe support for 'enchantment matters' by getting to recast it multiple times.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters, Sacrifice
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Snuff Out
Description - Killing something for free is excellent. 4 life isn't 'free', but if you are the beatdown, laying down threats on curve while taking out their best blocker is a very strong play. The right control deck also doesn't mind paying the 4 life while setting up a defensive board; you can always pay the 4 mana later if that makes more sense.
Anchors -
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Barter In Blood
Description - This can work in creature light control decks, as long you support it with enough other similarly oriented control cards. It can also play as a support card for sweeper control decks, either after you've swept their board of small fries and then take out a couple of bigger creatures, or just to dwindle down a go wide deck until you find your next sweeper.
Anchors -
Supports - Sweeper Control
Bitter Revelation
Description - If you are going to pay 4 mana for black card draw / filtering, this is among the better options, although at sorcery speed it can be a bit slow, particularly if aggro is strong in your cube. It does allow you to dig and find what you need, while also putting cards in your graveyard, so it can make it for a fine support card for reanimator / graveyard matters archetypes.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Dread Return
Description - A reanimation tool option. The flashback is costly, but the opportunity cost is low. Tokens is not a huge theme in black, but a bunch of 1/1's is probably the only acceptable offering for most board states / targets. At least if you are playing self-mill effects, you still have a way to reanimate your target.
Anchors -
Supports - Reanimator
Hideous Laughter
Description - One of few sweepers which can be cast at instant speed, making it solid addition if you support sweeper control, and provides it more options mid-combat, or in response to your opponent spending cards or mana on pump spells or equip costs. Splice is trinket text.
Anchors - Sweeper Control
Supports -
Moan of the Unhallowed
Description - It's an ok card on first casting, making it flexible as a control tool when matched up against aggro or useful in a token sacrifice deck, with further upside once you hit 7 mana. It isn't a high pick for a graveyard focused deck, but the flashback gives it some play there too.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Pestilence
Description - While less powerful in fast cubes, there is still some raw power here. Cast on curve it doesn't do anything the turn you cast it, but it can put you in a strong position to control the board after that, especially if you've drafted higher toughness creatures to complement it. Combos well with Lashknife Barrier and Spitemare. It's biggest drawback is that, powerful as it can be, if you are losing you might not be able to afford the damage from activating it.
Anchors -
Supports - Sweeper Control
Slaughter
Description - A 4 mana kill spell isn’t the most efficient the format has to offer, but if you haven't been pressured early you can use the buyback to start buying card advantage that affects the board. Good against non-aggressive decks, and better if played alongside drain effects.
Anchors -
Supports -
Torment of Scarabs
Description - It's an oddball card. It can fit as an aggro curve topper; by the time you've cast it, ideally you've pressured their life total and they have to start sacrificing their board presence which can start sealing the game. If you are seeding it as a control card, make sure your cube has enough other ways of pressuring their resources.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Ambition's Cost
Description - It's a fairly basic, and splashable, draw 3. The card selection and potential graveyard synergies of Bitter Revelation make that a better card in most circumstances, but larger cubes might want this for their black control decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Biting Rain
Description - The 3 mana options (Drown in Sorrow) are generally better, however you might lean towards this if you are trying to push madness heavily.
Anchors -
Supports - Madness
Evincar's Justice
Description - It's on the lower end of black sweepers, to the point of needing to be desperate or really caring about the niche interactions to consider it. The downsides are that it costs 1 more than similar options, and it deals damage instead of reducing toughness so it may miss a few targets (indestructible, regeneration, Phantom Centaur etc). Buyback offers limited value; getting 4 damage in a turn is going to be a dream, and your opponent can start playing around it once they know you have it. Damaging players is a double edged sword; if you are playing sweepers you are probably the more control oriented player so you may not be able to afford the life, but if you are in control of the game and are ahead in the life race, you might be able to buy it back and chip away.
Anchors - Sweeper Control
Supports -
Eyeblight Massacre
Description - Drown in Sorrow is the better card in a vacuum, but you might consider this if you have enough Elves in your cube and you really want to push it as a tribal subtheme.
Anchors - Elf Tribal, Sweeper Control
Supports -
Gisa's Bidding
Description - Moan of the Unhallowed is more universally playable. You would only make the swap if you are going all in on madness. A turn 2 Merfolk Looter or Looter il-Kor into this on your third turn is solid value, but only just ok without it.
Anchors -
Supports - Madness
Honden of Night's Reach
Description - Probably the weakest of all the Shrines, as it is the only one that might simply do nothing (outside of supporting other Shrines) if your opponent has played out their cards. That said, even if you have no other Shrines, a control deck that can play this on curve usually forces the opponent to make some hard choices. If they've got 3+ cards in hand, they may have to reavaluate their sequencing and gameplan, and they can never hold on to tricks or anything that requires timing.
Anchors - Shrines
Supports -
Makeshift Mannequin
Description - It's a 4 mana reanimation spell, which is the top end if you are looking for 'combo' reanimator to get a big threat out of your graveyard. The problem with most of those decks is that they are already vulnerable to removal, and this just opens up the range. If it was sorcery, this would be a dud. However, the instant speed here is worth noting, whether for reanimator or midrange decks. Being able to throw your best threat in front of an attacker at instant speed or during their end of turn makes it less likely your opponent can answer it immediately. High risk / reward card; you could get some value plays, but sometimes it might sit in your hand while you face down a Gelectrode or something. The density of target effects in your cube that normally wouldn't kill the target can make a difference in how effective it is in your cube.
Anchors -
Supports - Reanimator
Midnight Recovery
Description - It certainly looks like you could get some value from it, but you are probably only happy playing this if you have enough evasive creatures, and if they are getting through you might just be winning anyway. Still, ciphering this to some shadow guy and getting back your evoked Shriekmaw every turn has some durdle appeal if that is your thing.
Anchors -
Supports -
Oblivion Strike
Description - Unless you count the hard to cast Unmake, there isn't another unconditional black removal spell that exiles that is cheaper than this. Generally this is going to be considered low powered removal and won't see play in cubes unless you are depowering, but you might care if the exile matters, or rarely because of colorless matters.
Anchors -
Supports - Colorless Matters
Rising Miasma
Description - You probably have to be going deep and have a larger cube to consider it, but it can be an option for sweeper support. The awaken cost is somewhat prohibitive; you need 8 mana if you want to capitalise and attack your 3/3 into a shrunken creature the -2/-2 doesn't kill.
Anchors - Sweeper Control
Supports -
Strands of Night
Description - An interesting grindy graveyard card. It takes some resources to get going; 6 mana, 2 life and a land before you get your first creature back, so it probably won't help recover against aggro decks. However threatening to get back your best creature in your yard at instant speed can make things interesting. There are some synergistic pairings; Arborback Stomper, Filigree Familiar and Kitchen Finks mitigate the life loss, and Filigree Familiar can help draw you into more Swamps, and Borderland Marauder and similar creatures can help find Swamps... or just get back decent sized midrange creatures and just win the attrition war before you run out of either. How powerful it is relies on the overall speed of your cube.
Anchors - Creature Recursion
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Tendrils of Agony
Description - Storm is a narrow deck, but this can be a payoff card if you want one.
Anchors - Storm
Supports -
Vigor Mortis
Description - It's an option for reanimator decks. The double black makes it a bit harder to cast than the baseline Zombify. I see this as a black card with upside if you are in green; the main reason I would include this instead of Dread Return at the same casting cost is if you have more support for +1/+1 counters than sacrifice / tokens in your cube.
Anchors - Reanimator
Supports -
Vile Requiem
Description - It has a very low floor and an incredible ceiling, but odds are it will trend towards the lower side. When you desperately need removal, it is going to be a 6 mana removal spell that makes you wait a turn. If you can buy a bit of time, especially against colours which can't deal with enchantments, it has the chance to take over how the game plays.
Anchors -
Supports -
Zombify
Description - The most basic version of this effect; it isn't the most efficient in terms of mana cost, so may not be included even in cubes that are supporting reanimator. Consider Vigor Mortis and Dread Return at this mana cost for alternatives with upside but heavier mana costs.
Anchors - Reanimator
Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Ribbons of Night
Description - While not cheap, this is solid removal if you are in Dimir. Kill a creature, add a life buffer, and drawing a card is critical to the value. You aren't playing this as a black card. It is a bit 'generic' if you want your gold cards to be signals, though it does suit control decks more than aggro at this cost.
Anchors -
Supports -
Unburial Rites
Description - A fine Orzhov value card. It's less of a reanimator support card and more of a value card, letting you re-use your best creatures. White isn't the best graveyard support colour, but also good in decks that self-mill or otherwise fill their graveyard, letting you flash this back to retrieve something you need.
Anchors -
Supports - Reanimator
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Annihilate
Description - 5 mana is a lot for removal, but it's an instant speed board affecting 2 for one that is rarely not going to have a target.
Anchors -
Supports -
Contagion
Description - Free is always good, especially when it can impact the board. It shouldn't be hard to engineer at least card parity even if you are pitching a card, and it isn't unreasonable to hard cast it later in the game where 2 for 1's become possible.
Anchors -
Supports -
Dakmor Plague / Famine
Description - Not much to say, except it is a black sweeper if you want to support sweeper control, and it deals 3 damage which there aren't many of. Exactly how good it is (particularly compared to Drown in Sorrow etc) is how toughness lines up in your cube.
Anchors - Sweeper Control
Supports -
Homicidal Seclusion
Description - It makes your lone creature quite strong; the power boost will help it kill a lot of things it would tangle with, the minor toughness boost might get it out of a few scrapes here and there, and the lifelink help you race if your opponent doesn't block, and if you are behind you can get a decent life boost just from blocking. Cube it if you want to support a loner theme.
Anchors -
Supports -
Incremental Blight
Description - Might not slot in the best for aggressive decks (that may not get to 5, or force the opponent to trade early and not have a built out board), but decent elsewhere. It can support a sweeper control theme, but also fine in any midrange deck where the opponent is likely to have at least a few creatures out. You need three targets, but in a pinch you can give one of your creatures a -1/-1 counter if you really need to hit their two creatures.
Anchors -
Supports - Sweeper Control
Murderous Cut
Description - Decent removal; less good in the early game compared to the 'best' removal, but potentially costing a single mana later in the game at instant speed for almost any target is very good.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
The Eldest Reborn
Description - If you think about it as getting a Diabolic Edict, Raven's Crime and Zombify in one card that sounds like awesome value. If you consider it as only getting a Diabolic Edict for 5 mana on the turn you play it, it doesn't sound so hot. If you can survive the first couple of turns after you cast it though, you are getting good value. Bonus points if you reanimate Eternal Witness or some other retrieval spell for some grindy value.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Deadly Wanderings
Description - Homicidal Seclusion is going to better most of the time, but this can be an analogue if you really want it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Final Parting
Description - It's certainly not efficient when you compare it to Demonic Tutor, but you might cube it to support graveyard themes. It can dump a fatty in the yard while finding a reanimation spell, though it might also be worth noting you've reached 5 mana by that point so you probably aren't getting major value.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters, Reanimator
Mind Sludge
Description - Gets a mention if you really want to support mono or heavy black. If you get 4 cards, that is really solid. The downside being that your opponent just may not have cards in hand.
Anchors -
Supports -
Necrologia
Description - It's not efficient if you pay low amounts of life, with 4 life probably the minimum you want to pay. At 5 mana, paying life, and essentially sorcery speed you will often be vulnerable the turn you cast this, but the upside of filling your hand can be a game winner if you aren't against the ropes. It's hardly necessary to support a drain / extort theme for this to be in your cube, but this can fit that style of deck nicely.
Anchors -
Supports -
Necromantic Summons
Description - It's a reanimation option, but it on the lower end of 'Zombify with upsides' variants. You could say it supports spells matters and +1/+1 counters, but the link is pretty tenuous, and you often just want a 4 mana version or upside that is always on.
Anchors -
Supports - Reanimator
Razaketh's Rite
Description - 5 mana isn't really what you want to be paying for a tutor, and Demonic Tutor is the gold standard. However you can always cycle this at instant speed if you just need to draw a card or don't need to find a specific answer. You may want to give it more consideration if you have a significant amount of build arounds and want to add in some redundancies.
Anchors -
Supports -
Rescue from the Underworld
Description - An interesting reanimation variant. You can't cast it without a creature already on the board, so it doesn't really suit traditional reanimator, but more of a midrange card that can also do some work with ETB effects. It's hardly a combat trick at 5 mana, but you can cast it in response to removal to essentially negate the effect.
Anchors -
Supports - Reanimator, Sacrifice
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally
depowering an effect.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
None.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Enslave
Description - It can be an option for control decks to steal threats while also slowly pinging away if you still aren't in a position to attack. 6 mana is a lot, but it is a 2 for 1 (unless they remove it).
Anchors -
Supports -
Stir the Sands - 2
Description - Getting 3 2/2's for 6 isn't amazing but acceptable. The cycling mode can sometimes serve as a surprise blocker or let you 'flash' in a zombie end of turn if you haven't hit 6 mana. Give it a bit more consideration if you want multiple bodies for sacrifice themes or cube a Zombie lord.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice, Zombie Tribal
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Dead Drop
Description - While it has delve, the high cost means it has a bit more variance than cheaper delve spells. The bad thing about sacrifice spells is that the opponent gets to choose, but getting 2 targets makes it a lot better than one. It's best home is in grindy attrition decks, so cube it if that is a thing in your cube.
Anchors -
Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is
little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Cloudfin Raptor
Description - Nice as an early drop for aggro decks to go over the top when you can follow it with a steady stream of creatures. Not a great top deck, but neither are most 1-drops. May have a place in more creature-oriented control decks, with some possible fringe benefits from effects like blink / bounce.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Enclave Cryptologist
Description - This guy slots into almost any blue deck that likes to play things slow. While fragile, there isn't much investment to start card filtering, and not a huge investment to turn that into true card advantage. Shame he can't trade with anything.
Anchors -
Supports - Control, graveyard matters, reanimator
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Delver of Secrets
Description - You have to push Delver of Secrets to make it worthwhile, and ensure you have enough targets in your deck. Gets marginally better the more scry or similar effects are in your cube.
Anchors -
Supports - Spells Matter
Drowner Initiate
Description - This is ideally suited for a mill deck, but can also support a blue-based graveyard matters deck. If you aren't supporting at least 1 archetype that can benefit from this, it doesn't belong in your cube.
Anchors - Mill
Supports - Graveyard Matters themes
Nephalia Smuggler
Description - Expensive to use, but can be used to blank an attacker, and re-use ETB effects. With mana open, your opponent has to play around it, especially for stuff like removal.
Anchors - Blink
Supports -
Phantasmal Bear
Description - ok as a blue aggro card. Many things your opponent was going to throw at it were intended to kill it anyway, but will be annoying to lose it to repeatable tapdown effects and similar.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro.
Siren Stormtamer
Description - It's among the better 'Flying Men'. The ability is hard to judge, as you won't always know when your opponent has been holding something back due to threat of activation, but being able to protect your game winning threats from removal later in the game is good.
Anchors -
Supports -
Wingcrafter
Description - ok for granting another of your creatures evasion, and applies to any theatre of play.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Cursecatcher
Description - Judge's Familiar is strictly better, but this card can be ok if you don't want to dedicate a multi-colour / hybrid spot for it. While it has a control element, it works better in aggro/midrange decks against control decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Dakra Mystic
Description - Can help with filtering card quality on both sides of the table. Has minor synergy with graveyard matters themes. But it is a little slow.
Anchors -
Supports -
Drifter il-Dal
Description - Can be good in blue aggro, but needs sufficient support of other aggro cards in blue.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro
Drowned Rusalka
Description - This card is functional, but not terribly exciting. It's a nice thing to have on the table to get some incremental value, but not worth going out of your way to draft. Minor graveyard matters support, as it is cheap and can always cycle itself as early as turn 2 to get a relevant target in the yard.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters themes
Faerie Impostor
Description - Cheap cost probably means you can replay the bounced card. Lack of flash removes some options, so use of this card is relegated to ETB effects or saving creatures from random negative enchantments.
Anchors -
Supports -
Gudul Lurker - 1
Description - 1/1 unblockabe is a slow clock. 4 mana for a 2/2 unblockable is... better. But you may as well be playing Latch Seeker. Only worth it if you really want to go deep on unblockability. Gets better if you have a removal-lite environment with stat boosting auras/equipment.
Anchors -
Supports -
Hedron Crab
Description - The obvious place is in a mill deck. In that deck it will be a great 1st turn play, but it's value goes down after that. Still, can be good support. Can do some extra work in decks that care about the graveyard by targeting yourself. Good synergy with specific cards Sensei's Diving Top, Brainstorm, or similar effects that play with the top of the library. Without benefiting from any of those effects or in a deidcated mill decks, it is trash.
Anchor - Mill
Supports -
Jace's Phantasm
Description - Unexciting in it's normal mode. It's going to take a bit of effort to turn this 'on', but the upside is good. Probably best in a blue/black deck that takes full advantage of discard, counters and kill to fill the opponents graveyard. Probably a trap to play this in a mill deck; you either want to win by decking, or by killing the opponent. A true mill deck would rather have something like Fog Bank than waiting for this guy to get good on defense.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sidisi's Faithful
Description - Of itself, a 0/4 for a single mana is not exciting; it can't kill anything, but at least it can be a minor roadblock to aggressive decks. Being able to bounce a creature may be effective against some threats or a good tempo play later in the game. You can always sacrifice something else, but that is pretty conditional.
Anchors -
Supports -
Spindrift Drake
Description - Might have a place in aggro, but you probably just want Drifter Il-Kor instead.
Anchors -
Supports -
Triton Shorestalker / Mist-Cloaked Herald
Description - Unblockable is a powerful ability, but this is small. With some equipment or other pumps this could turn it into a clock that needs to be answered.
Anchors - 'Pants'
Supports -
Trusted Adviser
Description - The hand size rider doesn't mean anything. This is another creature that only has a place in the blink / bounce decks. The fact that the creature has to be blue is restrictive, but there are plenty of playable blue creatures that you are happy to replay. e.g. Augur of Bolas, Sea Gate Oracle, Man-o-war.
Anchors -
Supports - Blink / Bounce
Vedalken Certarch
Description - Needs a heavy artifact theme, but would be strong in that environment.
Anchors - Artifact matters
Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Looter il-Kor
Description - Strong evasion, which means the card filtering is almost always on, which is great whether it is support for aggro decks that want to keep up pressure, or control decks trying to find appropriate answers or threats. Also provides additional support for graveyard decks or reanimator. Also handy with equipment. There is rarely a blue deck that won't want it.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters, Reanimator
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Carnivorous Death-Parrot
Description - Great for blue aggro, but also playable in any other deck, as long as you are ok with Un-cards and remember to say it.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro / Skies
Merfolk Trickster
Description - It has some flexibility in application; it can be used as a combat trick to turn off a key ability, tap down a potential attacker on the opponents turn, or tap a potential blocker. The double blue does push it out a little, but otherwise a very good card.
Anchors -
Supports -
Skyship Plunderer
Description - A 2/1 flyer for 2 mana without a drawback is already solid for most blue decks. The triggered ability obviously supports +1/+1 counters, but there are a bunch of other uses; you can throw extra -1/-1 counters on your opponents creatures, extra level counters on yours, charge counters and the like.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Vaporkin / Welkin Tern / Tattered Haunter
Description - The inability to block forces this into aggro decks more than others, but it's not unreasonable as a cheap evasive threat for control decks. It's an evasive 2 power 2-drop whose drawback is not going to be relevant most of the time in those decks.
Anchors - Aggro, Skies
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Augury Owl
Description - The body it leaves behind is not impressive, but scry 3 digs enough that it can be worth being a chump blocker to stall while setting up plays, or getting in a few points of evasive damage.
Anchors -
Supports -
Azure Mage
Description - The stats are flexible enough that it might see play in both control and aggro decks. It can allow control decks some card draw once stabilised, and give aggro the opportunity to draw some cards as a back up plan if it runs out of gas.
Anchors -
Supports -
Briarberry Cohort
Description - Can support blue aggro decks that want to go wide. It will have 2 power less consistently than some other cards that fill a similar role (like Welkin Tern, Gossamer Phantom), but when boosted the extra toughness can help it better survive divisible burn or opposing flying tokens. It's not the greatest fit for a control deck, but is a better fit than other cheap blue evasive creatures.
Anchors -
Supports -
Cloudskate
Description - Most 2 power evasive 2 drops are saddled with 1 toughness. The extra point of toughness here is not massive, but lets it attack into spirit tokens or other flying 1/1's. The fading relegates it to decks that want to win quickly, so you need to be pushing blue aggro to include this.
Anchors - Aggro / Skies
Supports -
Curious Homunculus
Description - The frontside is ok for supporting the spells matters deck, though probably not quite enough on its own. Becoming a 3/4 prowess guy for an initial investment of 2 mana though is pretty solid though, that can hit the red zone while still being an 'accelerator'.
Anchors -
Supports -
Fog Bank
Description - Sits back and blocks nearly everything your opponent throws at you, and is great for buying time in a control deck, or even in an aggro/control deck that lays cheap evasive threats and then stalls the opponent. Depending on where you want this type of card on the curve, you may also consider Guard Gomazoa for a similar effect that can actually deal damage.
Anchors -
Supports - Control
Frost Walker
Description - Blue aggro, here we come. Best if there are support cards for an aggro control or aggro tempo deck that lays threats like this, and keeps the way clear with removal, tap down, or bounce effects to get hits in. It will die to a bunch of stuff, but you only paid 2 mana for it, and if your opponent was going to target it, they were probably trying to kill it anyway. It can be inconsistent, and if you don't have sufficient tempo based support
(tap down / bounce) to ensure the 4 power matters, you might want to look elsewhere.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
Gossamer Phantasm
Description - A decent 2 power evasive 2 drop for aggro. You will probably want to consider Welkin Tern / Vaporkin ahead of this if you want to support blue aggro, as this will be easier for your opponent to remove. You get to block more stuff with this, but if you are spending time blocking, you probably want something more robust than this anyway.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
Halimar Wavewatch
Description - This can come down on turn 2 to block most aggro creatures, and with a minor upgrade can block almost anything on the ground. You would wait until you've got the game under control, but once you are ready you can dump spare mana into it to turn it into a threat.
Anchors - Control
Supports -
Invisible Stalker
Description - You can get cheaper 1/1's that can’t be blocked… but the hexproof combined with power boosting auras or equipment can make this a powerhouse. It needs the support of those cards to be good (which are not uncommon in most cubes), but for some players it goes straight from bad to being unfair and unfun as there are few ways to interact with it.
Anchors - Pants / Voltron
Supports -
Kitesail Corsair
Description - It's strictly worse than Skyship Plunderer if you only have room for one 2/1 flyer, but is about on par with Welkin Tern and variants, they can just block different things (these are currently a 3 and should go to 2)
Anchors -
Supports -
Labyrinth Guardian
Description - Most cards of this type also trigger on effects, but this only triggers on spells, making it much better; most of the time if your opponent is going to cast a spell on your creatures, it is some form of removal anyway. Decent stats, and something worth considering if you want to push blue aggro, while also being two bodies for sacrifice decks, or even control decks that need an early blocker.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice, Graveyard Matters
Magical Hacker
Description - At a quick glance, this could affect the following types of cards; opposing boosting auras and equipment (Griffin Guide, Grafted Wargear), you can make your unleashed creatures block, endless recursion with persist and undying, turn opposing +1/+1 counter strategies and prowess into a disadvantage, kill opposing Wild Nacatl / Kird Apes, add versatility to both your combat pumps or tougness based removal while nullifying your opponents, and makes monstrous hard for your opponent to activate. You won't play it in an aggro deck and you will want enough cards in your cube that it will interact with, but that is not hard for most cubes. Perhaps one of the best foils for Curse of Predation.
Anchors -
Supports -
Merfolk Looter / Thought Courier
Description - Cheap, repeatable card filtering. You will probably want to consider Looter-il-Kor before this for a similar effect with combat damage upside (though you do have more timing control here). Helps support graveyard themes while just being solid at improving your card quality in other decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Omenspeaker
Description - Good card for control, puts a reasonable butt on the board to stall aggro, while digging for what you need. Not the best target for Crystal Shard / bounce decks, but is cheap enough to recast to get that decks engine going.
Anchors -
Supports - Bounce
Quickling
Description - A cheap evasive creature that can let you re-use another creatures ETB ability. Best use is to save from removal or other destruction; take care if just using to bounce otherwise. If you cast this when you have 1 other creature, your oppoenent can cast removal while this is on the stack, forcing a 2 for 1.
Anchors -
Supports - bounce
Sejiri Merfolk
Description - You wouldn't play this as just a blue card, but has good enough abilities to fit in blue / white decks of any speed, even if it isn't flashy. Combination of abilities make it a good candidate for power boosting auras and equipment.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sigiled Starfish
Description - ok for blocking bears and then scrying at the end of your opponents turn to improve your card quality. It's not tricky and is just generally solid in any deck that isn't trying to win quickly, though it can support cards that care about what is on the top of your deck should you have any of those in your cube.
Anchors - Control
Supports -
Storm Fleet Aerialist
Description - A 2/3 flyer for 2 mana is great. You might not always have a 1-drop attacker, but even if you have to wait until turn 3 to cast it, that is still just above the curve for a 3-drop. Decent if you have the requisite support for blue aggro.
Anchors -
Supports -
Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
Description - An interesting build-around that can act as a serviceable 1/3 unblockable even if you don't have other threats, but can help blue aggro. Working with toughness makes it the most interesting, with a handful of 2/1's and 3/1's that can become unblockable and threaten some more serious damage. Best friends with Tandem Lookout.
Anchors -
Supports - Saboteurs
Vedalken Mastermind
Description - Good for bounce decks. Baseline lets you block with something and then boune it before damage is dealt as a stalling tactic, but once you start throwing ETB effects into the mix then you start generating incremental advantage. If you suspect removal, you can always hold up this effect.
Anchors - Bounce
Supports -
Wall of Tears
Description - Tempo card that can hurt aggro decks, and even it doesn't survive it still gets to return the creature. The more prevalent ETB effects are in your cube, the less effective this will be. Kaijin of Vanishing Touch slightly worse (3 toughness) but may be an option if you find this too good at anti-aggro in your environment.
Anchors -
Supports - Control
Waterfront Bouncer
Description - It's a card disadvantage trade for tempo, but can be useful for graveyard filling for reanimator. In the late game it turns all your extra lands into bounce spells to keep big threats off the board or remove blockers. It won't be your go-to for Crystal Shard decks, but can provide that deck some extra support. Fringe use of 'countering' removal by trading the target with the worst card in your hand.
Anchors -
Supports - Bounce, Reanimator, Graveyard Matters
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Aether Theorist
Description - As a base, a 1/3 for 2 that can scry is an acceptable filtering card, but it bears similarities with Sigiled Starfish and Omenspeaker; the immediacy of Omenspeaker is likely better. The Starfish is better in a long game, but the point of power on Aether Theorist might help hold off 2/1's or help with double blocking in some match-ups. Ultimately, the inclusion of other energy cards in your cube is likely the determining factor.
Anchors -
Supports - Energy
Alluring Siren
Description - Supports a narrow 'punisher' deck with cards that deal damage or otherwise punish the opponent whenever they attack, or force small creatures into Spitemare, or high toughness creatures with at least some power. It is very situational, given that your opponent is probably going to want to attack you anyway. May have more value in slower, grindier cubes. Almost useless against quick aggro decks.
Anchors - Punisher decks
Supports -
Aquamoeba
Description - At a glance it can support graveyard and reanimation strategies while having stats just ok enough to block small aggro creatures. But it's fairly narrow compared to other options.
Anchors -
Supports - Reanimator, Dredge, Graveyard Matters
Augur of Bolas - 1
Description - Not consistent enough for most decks, making it most likely to be played only in spells matters decks that are high on sorceries and instants. Omenspeaker is much more flexible while still supporting that deck.
Anchors - Spells Matter
Supports -
Balduvian Conjurer
Description - If you let your player play with snow basics, this might actually be playable in a control deck that intends to go long, letting you throw excess lands either on the attack or helping with blocks, or to sacrifice outlets. However it is still situational and is really only good in the late game in slower cubes.
Anchors -
Supports - Control, Sacrifice
Cloud of Faeries
Description - It fits narrowly into aggro decks that just want to get threats on the board early, allowing you play this and another threat. It also lets control decks play a threat while keeping mana up for counters / answers. It's evasive, but it is still a 1/1. Marginal opportunities for fixing, or acceleration with bounce lands. Can also provide Storm support.
Anchors -
Supports - Storm
Deranged Assistant
Description - Blue will usually want a less fragile accelerator, such as any mana rock. The assistance it provides to graveyard matters themes is minor, but by virtue of milling a single card, can be useful if you have enough effects like scry or look at the top of your library to hit the cards you want and improve the quality of your draws. It could be worth including then, because even without those synergies, it is still at least an accelerator.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Drake Familiar
Description - Difficult to use unless pushing an enchantment theme, though occasionally it can be used as temporary removal for opponents enchantments. You probably only want this in your cube if you are going really deep on pushing the enchantment theme. Cute synergies with Sarcomancy.
Anchors - Enchantment Matters
Supports -
Dream Stalker
Description - You are probably not going to play this turn 2 as you will probably have to return a land, but it can survive combat with almost everything up to 4-drops. It's good for bouncing ETB creatures, but can also bounce auras like Banishing Light if you want to replay them. It can even keep bouncing itself if you have ways to benefit from repeatedly playing spells or creatures entering / leaving play.
Anchors -
Supports - Bounce
Dreamscape Artist
Description - It trades 2 cards for 2 cards. The lands don't come into play tapped, so it sort of only costs 1 mana. It fills your graveyard for threshold, and let's you discard other cards that might benefit from being in the graveyard. After a few activations, you really thin your deck of lands, increasing your chance of drawing business spells. BUT, if you play this on turn 2 and activate it on turn 3 to get your engine running, it's 2 turns with no meaningful interaction with your opponent. Only for slower cubes.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters, Reanimator
Elusive Spellfist
Description - None of the stats or abilities are bad, but it looks like it doesn't quite know what it wants to be doing. It could be defensive, but there are better options. It could be aggressive, but there are better options. It can go in a variety of decks, but it is not likely to be a standout in any of them.
Anchors -
Supports - Spells Matter
Erdwal Illuminator
Description - The baseline is probably borderline acceptable. It does a decent job of halting 2/1 aggro guys, including those of the flying variety, or stalling bears. However, the triggered ability might imply you are pushing a clue theme. If your players know, it probably won't be an issue. You probably want to include at least 1 card that makes clues so the synergy is at least there. Otherwise get Seacoast Drake.
Anchors -
Supports -
Fathom Seer
Description - Gush is good, but this is not the same as Gush on legs. You can pay 3 mana and get a 1/3 and 2 cards which sounds good, but you can't do that effectively on turn 3. Gush doesn't demand any mana. It might be ok in slower cubes that can afford the setup time.
Anchors -
Supports -
Glint-Nest Crane
Description - It's easy to ignore this on the basis of the artifact clause, but a 1/3 flyer for 2, while not being exciting, might be a metagame choice for defensive decks to slow down aggro decks. The artifact rider is almost flavour text; even in an artifact deck it isn't going to hit often.
Anchors -
Supports - Artifact Matters
Kaijin of the Vanishing Touch
Description - Wall of Tears is strictly better, but this is another analogue for larger cubes if you want it, or you just want to temper the effect. Tempo card that can hurt aggro decks, and even it doesn't survive it still gets to return the creature. The more prevalence beneficial ETB effects are in your cube, the less effective this will be.
Anchors -
Supports - Control
Meletis Astronomer
Description - Only in an enchantment heavy theme. Fits into an aura-based Voltron theme, though fairly narrow on that theme.
Anchors -
Supports - Pants / Voltron
Plaxmanta
Description - You might consider this as a 2 mana mono-blue spell that counters anything that targets creatures you control, like removal. In that role, it's probably a bit narrower compared to other counterspells for the mana cost. You might class this as a Simic spell for cube construction, where it is gravy if it does cause a 2 for 1.
Anchors -
Supports -
Renowned Weaponsmith
Description - 2 mana is fairly solid acceleration, but you need several artifacts to make good use of it. At the very least it's a 1/3 for 2 mana, which is not great but at least can block smaller creatures. Including this in your cube may make it look like you have the two artifacts it searches for, which is unlikely to be the case.
Anchors - Artifact Matters
Supports -
Riddlesmith
Description - It's narrow, but can support an artifact matters theme. Outside of that particular archetype it probably won't see much play, but can be aggro filler if you need to fill out your curve.
Anchors - Artifact Matters
Supports -
Screeching Skaab / Sultai Skullkeeper
Description - Without taking advantage of the cards being put into the graveyard, you probably won't include this deck, except maybe as aggro filler. Does a little extra work in graveyard matters themes, whether it is chucking dredgers, unearth creatures, or enabling Worm Harvest / Spider Spawning / threshold cards. But even then, it will rarely see play outside of those types of decks.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Spellstutter Sprite
Description - Countering a spell while putting an evasive creature into play is reasonable. However, it is quite conditional, given that the vast majority of the time, you can only counter 1 mana spells (Quickling and Pestermite might help out, but rarely). While there are some good removal spells you might want to counter, you might be holding up mana for something that isn't there. Probably only for control decks that were going to hold up mana anyway.
Anchors - Control
Supports -
Stitcher's Apprentice
Description - If you have something that is about to die from removal or chumping in combat, you can always replace it. It might have spotty performance outside of sacrifice decks, but is probably good enough to make the cut sometimes in stalling decks. In sacrifice decks, you get a replacement, giving you an endless stream for triggers like Falkenrath Noble.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Thrummingbird
Description - It will do the most work with cards that have +1/+1 counters, so you would need enough of those cards in your cube. The dream is turn 2 Thrummingbird, turn 3 Curse of Predation, swing. But without anything else on the board, it's a bad flyer. So it only fits narrowly into that theme.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Tide Drifter
Description - If you are going to support a colorless matters deck, this may be one of the anchor cards that you want.
Anchors - Colorless Matters
Supports -
Vodalian Arcanist
Description - It’s clear what deck wants this. Questionable whether this is better than a 2cmc mana rock; this is more vulnerable, but can enter combat when needed and be early defense, and is a signal card if you want it.
Anchors - Spells Matter
Supports -
Wall of Deceit
Description - It gives control decks an early wall that can turn into a bear when you are ready to turn the game around. But it's still a 0 power wall until then. Halimar Wavewatch is comparable and likely to be preferred over this.
Anchors -
Supports -
Willbender
Description - The payoff can be great, redirecting removal back to an opponents creature. But it does come with the caveat that you need enough other morphs to give it the surprise factor, and you also need to hold up mana for the 'right time', making it situational.
Anchors -
Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
you ban them for being too good.
Man-o-War
Description - Great in aggro decks played on curve to keep the board clear for your team to get through for damage, essentially being virtual card advantage if they never get the chance to play out their cards. Still fine in control decks against aggro to keep threats off the board long enough to hit your land drops and hit your bigger spells.
Anchors -
Supports -
Serendib Efreet
Description - Perhaps blues premier aggro creature that is also playable in all but the most defensive decks. Great stats for the cost with evasion, with a very manageable upkeep cost.
Anchors -
Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Eldrazi Skyspawner
Description - Puts 3/2 of stats across multiple bodies on the battlefield which is fine for control to deal with aggro. With one of them being flying, you can get in for some damage, and potentially use the token to cast a 5-drop the next turn. Has some minor synergies with blink / bounce.
Anchors -
Supports - Blink / Bounce
Latch Seeker
Description - 3 power for 3 mana with the ultimate form of evasion, while being happy to block if the situation demands it. Great if you want blue aggro to be a thing, but also ok as a clock in control decks if you've otherwise got board control.
Anchors -
Supports -
Tandem Lookout
Description - Great saboteur option. It gets around the usual 'hard to get through' challenge of saboteurs by being able to grant it to other creatures that are easier to get through. Good if you can pair it was an evasive 1-drop or 2-drop the turn it hits play. If you can clear the way for both, that's gravy.
Anchors -
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Aerial Guide
Description - It isn't too flashy, but pairing it with a solid midrange grounded creature can push through some damage, particularly green and red beef.
Anchors -
Supports -
Aether Adept
Description - It's strictly worse than Man-o-War due to the harder casting cost, but is fine as a second version of the effect. Fine in aggro tempo decks to help early drops push through, or in control decks just to slow down your opponent.
Anchors -
Supports - Tempo
Arctic Aven
Description - Solid when considered as an Azorius card. A 3/2 flyer for 3 mana is already a solid deal, and the lifelink combined with the evasion can help win races.
Anchors -
Supports -
Calcite Snapper
Description - It can be an annoying blocker for the opponent to deal with, especially aggro decks with lots of x/1's. If you switch up the power and toughness, it will die if it runs into anything, but 4 damage is a decent threat.
Anchors -
Supports -
Cloud Spirit / Rishadan Airship / Skywinder Drake
Description - Fine as evasive aggro creatures with solid power in blue. Not really much to say apart from being solid beaters.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro
Fettergeist
Description - Serendib Efreet is better for the 'big cheap flyer with a drawback' role, but this could be fine if you want to lean more towards a low-creature count deck as opposed to something that aggro wants.
Anchors -
Supports -
Frost Lynx / Watertrap Weaver
Description - This is a solid card for aggro / tempo decks, while being flexible enough that it can serve a role in slowing down the opponent in control decks. It can lock down a creature pre-combat that an opponent left open for blocking, prevents them from re-attacking, and then prevents blocking the following turn. The bounce of Man-o-War is better in general, though most cubes have a reasonable number of creature with enter the battlefield abilities, and if they recast it they can always block with it the following turn. Stitched Mangler is comparable; choose one of these for a slight nudge towards defensive decks, but you may want both anyway.
Anchors -
Supports -
Geist of the Archives
Description - It's unassuming, and it is a 3 mana wall with 0 power which is underwhelming. Scrying every turn can be powerful though, and is going to be fine in control decks looking to play long. Aether Theorist is a close alternative; Geist's effect is permanent and the 4th toughness can matter sometimes, although the Theorist can actually kill some things. Wall of Tears can also fill a similar role, but Geist is better when matched up against opponents who aren't applying much pressure, when Wall of Tears might be doing nothing.
Anchors -
Supports -
Illusory Angel
Description - It's conditional, but played turn 4 or 5 alongside something else is solid board development. Sometimes you might be able to live the dream of a turn 3 play alongside Burning-Tree Emissary. Also synergises with suspend or rebound cards.
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Supports -
Ingenious Skaab
Description - A decent creature, slanted a little more towards aggro due to threat of activation. The prowess also plays nicely into the activated ability. You can always threaten this to become a 4/1 to trade up if required, so it gives you options in combat.
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Supports -
Jhessian Thief
Description - A decent saboteur. The base power is not amazing, but with some mana open, you can swing in threatening a combat trick / prowess trigger, or provide it some evasion to keep the cards flowing.
Anchors -
Supports - Saboteurs
Marang River Prowler
Description - Unblockable damage, plus the ability to play repeatedly. Not being able to block means you can't just recast defensively, but it is resilient to removal. Could fit into a Dimir sacrifice deck or graveyard based deck to get maximum benefit. Attacking with it, saccing to something like Vampiric Rites, recasting the same turn, repeat next turn sounds fun.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice, Graveyard Matters
Nimbus Naiad
Description - While the baseline is not amazing, being able to bestow it more than makes up for it, essentially giving you evasive hasty +2/+2 that turn.
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Supports -
Pestermite
Description - Can play multiple roles; flash in before combat to tap down an attacker, basic flash in as a surprise blocker or untap another blocker, flash in at end of turn to tap down something they intended to block with while putting an attacker on the board they weren't expecting. Pretty solid given it is also evasive.
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Supports -
Sea Drake
Description - Evasive 4 power for 3 mana is worth investigating as an aggressive option. You will almost never want to play this on turn 3; it's more likely to come down a few turns later alongside something else, or when you miss a land drop that you can replay. It comes with an inherent risk/reward proposition, but it does get a little worse the more bounce or flicker effects in your cube your opponent could target it with, and marginally better if you have landfall effects in your cube.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
Sea Gate Oracle
Description - A solid option to support control decks. The toughness is just enough to hold off some early aggro creatures, and even if you lose it in combat, you are still at card parity and you get the opportunity for card quality.
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Supports -
Silumgar Sorcerer
Description - It isn't likely to be a massive upgrade over something else you sacrifice, but it does have evasion and provides some synergy with sacrificial lambs and token strategies. You probably won't want to play it without exploiting often, but a 2/1 flyer with flash isn't terrible if they don't cast a creature spell for you to counter.
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Supports -
Spiketail Drakeling
Description - It's a slightly harder to cast Wind Drake, but you are constantly threatening to counter their best spell while also presenting a threat. You might not be able to counter anything in the late game, but at least you still get a creature.
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Supports -
Spined Thopter
Description - Effectively a 2 mana 2/1 flyer that any deck can play. Decent addition to your cube to provide all your aggro decks the option. If you are blue, you can always pay the extra mana if you draw it late.
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Stitched Drake
Description - Solid evasive stats for cost, but you may be unable to cast this on curve. Better in cubes that have more cheap creatures that can sacrifice themselves, or cheap self-mill effects to enable this early, but still playable in other decks.
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Stormbound Geist
Description - A resilient flyer for aggro decks, though it's often not hard for your opponent to just take the 2 damage each turn to prevent you from getting a bigger flyer. Fringe benefits in sacrifice decks or +1/+1 counter themes.
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Trained Condor
Description - Wingcrafter is probably better in general for this effect, but at least this won't be impacted by mid-combat removal. It's not a Simic card, but probably fits best in those decks to give green midrange / fatties evasion, or help outclassed grounded 2-drops hit the skies once this can start swinging.
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Wall of Frost
Description - It survives blocking almost anything. It doesn't kill anything but locks down the next attack step as well (sans vigilance creatures) making it similar in function to blocking 2 creatures. Good way to buy time against ground-based aggressive decks.
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Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Armored Skaab
Description - It can fill the role of defensive creature while setting up some graveyard synergies if you have them. It isn't spectacular and there are better defensive creatures, but filling two roles may make it worth considering, depending on your environment.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Artful Looter
Description - Gets a mention primarily if you are the sort of cube owner who has all of one basic land with in their land box, which might cause this to trigger enough to consider it. Everyone else will just want Merfolk Looter.
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Balduvian Frostwaker - ???
Description - Slow, but maybe if you support snow basics?
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Benthic Infiltrator
Description - It can come down early and then start swinging once you are in control or the board has stalled. On its own it is a very slow clock, but is fine with power boosting equipment, paired with Tandem Lookout etc.
Anchors -
Supports - Pants / Voltron
Clam Session
Description - It depends on your idea of fun, BUT a 2/5 for 3 mana is good stats. It's not anything more than stats though.
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Supports -
Cloud Elemental / Scrapskin Drake
Description - The decks that are willing to field a flyer that can only block other flyers generally want to be attacking. While the higher power of Cloud Spirit may seem preferable on that basis, the higher toughness here might be something to consider if your cube can create lots of flying 1/1 tokens, or to diversify your air fleet and make it less susceptible to pingers, Pyroclasm, Drown in Sorrow etc.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro
Court Hussar
Description - It is a fine Azorius card, but you can get a similar effect in mono colour with Sea Gate Oracle. That card is good enough though that you might be willing to have a second harder to cast copy.
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Supports -
Courtly Provocateur
Description - It can set up some awkward attack or blocks, but is conditional on the board state.
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Supports -
Crystalline Nautilus
Description - If you are looking for blue aggro, a 4/4 for 3 mana is decent. If your opponent was going to target it, they were probably going to kill it anyway, though it obviously still scales with the number of non-kill effects in your cube (Tumble Magnet, Infantry Veteran) and is more susceptible to divisible burn. The bestow on your own creatures is risky and probably not your primary mode, but casting it on an evasive creature while your opponent is tapped out might close out the game, or if they do deal with you are still left with a 4/4. It also has weird upside where you can bestow an opponents creature and then target it to kill it.
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Supports -
Deceiver Exarch
Description - It doesn't have the power to make flashing it in a big threat on its own, but being able to do it after attackers are declared and untapping one of your creatures can turn a combat around, or casting end of turn to tap down an opponents creature while you get ready to swing. The defensive body makes it not perfectly suited to that role though.
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Supports -
Dewdrop Spy
Description - It's a 2/2 flyer for 3 with 2 pieces of upside, though only the flash is really relevant. It fights in a spot with a lot of similarly costed flyers, but you might want the flash to promote flash / go decks while still being ok elsewhere.
Anchors -
Supports - Flash / Go
Dream Thief
Description - Your cube needs to be designed to take advantage of it, primarily with a more focused version of the spells matters deck that focuses on spell velocity with cantrips and surge spells. But this is just the type of card that deck wants.
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Drift of Phantasms
Description - It's a flyer with a decent butt so can safely block a decent amount of attackers, with the transmute giving it some upside if you have some better targets in your deck for the board state.
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Esperzoa
Description - While it needs other artifacts to be decent, even without them it can serve a defensive role in a control deck. If your opponent has led with a Diregraf Ghoul and a Borderland Ranger, dropping this probably leads to them just swinging with the Marauder, netting you a trade but also preventing 2 damage. Or you take out the Ghoul, and just replay this after you bounce it. If you are the big spells deck, they can't just hold back while you cast it every turn and hit your lands drops. You would only include it in your cube with a handful of other cheap artifacts though, preferably some of those that have charge counters so you can get extra value out of them.
Anchors -
Supports - Artifact Matters
Grizzled Angler
Description - For most decks / cubes, it is just going to be a repeatable self-mill card, and ultimately you only want to include it if that is an effect you are looking for. If that is a marginal consideration for your cube, most decks will want Ingenious Skaab or various other creatures in this slot. Transforming is probably not going to happen frequently, and forcing attacks might not be an ideal use of mana, but in the right board state it can help you dwindle your opponents board.
Anchors -
Supports - Spells Matters, Graveyard Matters
Guard Gomazoa
Description - It costs 1 more than Fog Bank, but still deals its own damage so can actually kill stuff. Bigger butt means it is also outside the range of some burn. Fine if you want a defensive option for control decks, but is narrow in that role.
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Supports -
Headless Skaab
Description - A 3/6 for 3 is great stats, but it may be difficult to cast on curve and if you have to wait it is a vanilla. Preferably you want some self-mill / card filtering effects in your cube to help enable it as quickly as possible. The more of this type of effect you have or delve cards, the worse it can get.
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Supports -
Hinterland Drake
Description - You might occasionally be sad when you can't block that lethal Galvanic Juggernaut or whatever, but for the most part this is a solid flyer for the cost, lining up well with other 3 mana flyers which are usually around the 2/2 mark. That said, there just isn't a lot to entice you to cube it.
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Supports -
Horseshoe Crab
Description - It might have some combo synergy, but you will have to force the design on your cube to make it worthwhile.
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Supports -
Illusionary Servant
Description - Evasive and aggressive stats. Many times if your opponent was going to target it they were trying to kill it anyway. Reasonable option for cheap flyer with a drawback if you are looking for density in those.
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Supports -
Jeskai Windscout
Description - You need to support decks that can take advantage of the prowess to make it worth it, but it can be fine there.
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Supports -
Jorubai Murk Lurker
Description - As a Dimir card, the 2/4 stats are passable as a defensive card. It can be fine against aggro, and the lifelink can thwart some attacks even if you can't outright kill the threats. Once you've developed your board, it can be used to start racing, especially if you have something evasive. However while you don't need that many activations to have a decent effect on your life total, the lifelink is still mana intensive.
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Lantern Spirit
Description - With mana open you can dodge removal, or block whatever your opponent throws at you and bounce. That is still a 4 mana investment each turn though. Sadly there aren't enough peasant cards that trigger on other creatures entering the battlefield to really take advantage of it.
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Supports -
Mistblade Shinobi
Description - It is probably going to be inconsistent and getting additional triggers after the first may be challenging, but could see play in a skies or evasive deck, or support for self-bounce decks.
Anchors -
Supports - Self-bounce
Nebelgast Herald
Description - It bears similarities to Pestermite but that card is probably slightly better; this can't untap your permanents thereby removing surprise blockers, and tapping down non-creature permanents can be relevant sometimes. The upside here is repeatability if you have a bunch of spirits, and there are enough playable spirits that you might get an extra trigger or two from this; a niche interaction are some of whites token generating spells being able to tap down your opponents board.
Anchors -
Supports - Spirit Tribal
Neurok Commando
Description - Because you can't target it yourself it makes it harder to get through, but is a little better against control decks full of removal or lockdown effects. Can see play if you support it with other tempo plays, but other saboteurs are likely to be a little more universally playable and consistent.
Anchors -
Supports - Saboteurs
Neurok Invisimancer
Description - Good fit for an unblockable archetype, and can help get through saboteur creatures, but doesn't stand out elsewhere.
Anchors -
Supports - Pants / Voltron
Niblis of the Breath
Description - It's not the most efficient, but it is flexible, being able to lock something down if you can't swing in.
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Supports -
Phantom Warrior
Description - It's fine if you really want to push unblockable creatures in blue. You would go Latch Seeker before this and Neurok Invisimancer, unless the second point of toughness is a really important consideration for your removal suite.
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Supports -
Prodigal Sorcerer / Rootwater Hunter / Zuran Spellcaster
Description - They are a little slow, but repeat direct damage with a one-time investment is still fine. Marginally better if your environment has a few first strikers, or other direct damage to pair them with.
Anchors -
Supports - Pinger Control
Riptide Chimera
Description - Narrow. Only in enchantment heavy environment, and even then would need the right enchantments to support it (Sarcomancy comes to mind).
Anchors - Enchantment Matters
Supports -
Ruination Guide
Description - Only if you are pushing a colorless theme or have a lot of artifact creatures.
Anchors - Colorless Matters
Supports -
Sage of Fables
Description - Because it doesn't come with any of its own +1/+1 counters it's a little narrow, but can be fine as a draw engine in the right deck. Nice with undying creatures and Lorescale Coatl.
Anchors - +1/+1 counters
Supports -
Sailor of Means
Description - It's a roadblock that can accelerate you to 5 next turn while fixing. Some of blues defensive 2-drops are going to stem damage earlier, but sometimes a 5-drop coming down earlier is going to stabilise you. If you care about supporting artifacts, you'd give it higher consideration as a card that creates artifacts but can be played in other decks.
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Supports -
Seasinger
Description - Most cube designers tend to avoid hosers, but this can play out a little differently than most if you don't mind having some sideboard cards in your cube. It doesn't prevent you from playing the hosed colour, and it doesn't exactly hose blue; you can steal any colour creature (number of islands permitting) which can be very strong.
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Supports -
Shaper Parasite
Description - It is a little on the expensive side, but it can be a 2 for 1 in blue.
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Supports -
Stealer of Secrets
Description - A decent saboteur. Jhessian Thief probably gets the nod for being a better creature if you can get a prowess activation, or Tandem Lookout for other synergies, but some cubes may want to push a saboteur archetype or have space for more of this effect.
Anchors -
Supports - Saboteurs
Thalakos Dreamsower
Description - It is a little slow, but you can keep their best creature in lockdown while pinging away for 1 damage every turn; you can always untap it, swing and target the same creature before it gets to untap.
Anchors -
Supports - Control
Thalakos Mistfolk
Description - Probably better to go with Marang River Prowler, although it isn't strictly better. As it's shadow, it's activated ability can't be used as a blocking soak, but it may help you save an evasive threat.
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Supports -
Thalakos Scout
Description - Evasive creature with some built in protection. You might have some occasional synergies to take further advantage of the disacrd.
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Supports -
Tideforce Elemental
Description - It can attack, and then tap down your opponents best creature if you hit a land drop. It does only attack for 1 though, and it is going to be inconsistent. Sometimes you can lock down a couple of key creatures to get the rest of your team in.
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Supports -
Trinket Mage
Description - You need to provide this some specific support to make it cubeable; it takes a bit of work but isn't impossible. Check the 1-drop artifact section for ideas. You may want to consider some lower power versions of other effects in your cube. Some may also consider allowing players some number of artifact lands as 'basics' during construction so it has a chance at being a Borderland Ranger if you don't draft anything else.
Anchors -
Supports - Artifact Matters
Trophy Mage
Description - There are a few excellent targets available (Grafted Wargear, Loxodon Warhammer, Crystal Shard), but you probably need to draft multiple of them before this becomes decent. It's an obvious statement, but only cube it if you have enough 3cmc artifacts to go along with it.
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Supports -
Umara Raptor
Description - While tribal, with only one other support card it is still better than a lot of other 2/2 flyers for 3, plus it's a Wind Drake that automatically benefits from +1/+1 counter enablers.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Vedalken Anatomist
Description - Expensive activation but taps down opponents creatures and eventually whittles them away, plus fringe uses with your own undying creatures. The speed may put it outside the realm of playability for some cubes.
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Supports -
Warden of Evos Isle
Description - It clearly supports a Skies theme, but it can be a little inconsistent. Following this with 2 3-drops on turn 4 is the elusive dream, but occasionally the extra mana will help you play something else or get down a larger drop earlier than expected.
Anchors - Skies
Supports -
Wormfang Drake
Description - It's one of the more conditional and risky of the 'cheap blue evasive with a drawback' creatures. You can't cast it on an empty board, and with one other creature on the board you can get blown out by removal. You also miss out on of your other creatures, which is ideally no relevant to the game state. You can exile an ETB creature so you get the effect again if they deal with the Drake or by chaining sacrifice effects, but that is respectively board dependant and leaning towards a best case scenario mindset.
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Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Whirler Rogue
Description - Among the best blue cards, because it provides so much value. 4/4 worth of stats, 2 of which is flying, is solid enough to make any blue deck. Adding on the unblockable ability just crams more value, particularly as you can use the ability the turn you play it on something else you already had in play.
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Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Clone
Description - Getting another copy of the best creature on the battlefield is great. If you have the best creature, you get to reinforce your advantage. If your opponent is ahead (especially if they've spent resources ramping into something) you can start matching their quality.
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Supports -
Mist Raven
Description - A solid tempo spell, clearing a path for your team while laying down an evasive threat. Great for supporting aggro / tempo decks.
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Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Aberrant Researcher
Description - The baseline is slightly under where you want it to be, but it sets up incidental mill, which is fine for the decks that want it, and if it does flip the stats are solid. It's better in a deck that jams a bunch of spells, but still fine elsewhere.
Anchors -
Supports - Spells Matter
Long-Finned Skywhale
Description - It's decent aggro support. In decks that don't care about blocking, 4 power evasion for 4 mana is fine. The double blue hurts a bit.
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Supports -
Lu Xun, Scholar General
Description - Decent value driven card as it is mostly unblockable. Deal your opponent 1 damage and draw an extra card every turn doesn't have immediate impact, but it starts snowballing.
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Supports -
Ninja of the Deep Hours
Description - Hard cast mode there are plenty of better saboteurs. The ninjas benefit is that he can sneak once you've attacked with something your opponent can't or doesn't want to block. If you are returning something with an ETB effect that is nice, but this is going to be inconsistent as it will rely on your opponent behaving how you want.
Anchors -
Supports - Saboteurs
Thassa's Emissary
Description - The basic version is fine; certainly not the most efficient stats as a Hill Giant, but among the largest of similar saboteurs. If you know you won't be able to get it through, you can always hold out for bestowing it on something evasive or a beefy trampler. Cute with double strikers.
Anchors -
Supports - Pants
Voyager Drake
Description - The baseline of a 3/3 flyer for 4 isn't setting the world on fire but is fine. The kicker won't always be relevant, but the floor isn't that low, and in the late game you might just win a stalled game.
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Supports -
Wing Splicer
Description - You get 4/4 worth of stats for 4, with 3/3 of that flying, but your flyer is vulnerable to the splicer being removed mid combat. In a vacuum you might prefer the safer Voyager Drake so your evasion is always on, but adding any other golems to your cube might sway you in this direction.
Anchors -
Supports - Golem Tribal
Wonder
Description - Underwhelming on hard cast, but it can make up for it with later game upside, particularly as it can't be 'removed' once it is on unless you are cubing some narrow cards. Sometimes it can be a great rattlesnake, simply because your opponent doesn't want to attack into it and grant your team flying. It provides some value for graveyard based decks, and can be a decent trick with instant speed discard. Green ground pounders will be happy to see this around.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard matters
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Aerie Worshippers
Description - It's narrow, and the support for this type of card is usually limited in most peasant cubes. A 2/4 for 4 doesn't have the highest chance of getting in profitable attacks, so without that support you'd rather play something else. Vehicles, convoke, and ways to give it evasion are the better options; you can search for effects that tap your untapped creatures as a cost, or untap creatures, but most of them are not worth cubing. It's a corner case, but it is a way to repeatedly put enchantments in play if you care about that.
Anchors -
Supports - Enchantment Matters
Archaeomancer
Description - The body is terrible and won't trade with a lot of what your opponent throws at you, so most of your mana is going towards getting a card back. With a lot of other spells matters support cards, you probably need to be going deep to consider this one. While Mnemonic Wall costs 1 more, you may want to consider it as it can keep you alive long enough to recast your spells. It can also support self-mill or graveyard strategies to get back something you mill. It does form a combo with Ghostly Flicker if you pair it with another ETB effect.
Anchors - Spells Matter
Supports -
Cephalid Broker
Description - In the majority of cases, the cheaper cost and getting started sooner with something like Merfolk Looter is preferred. However, this can help fill your graveyard faster for graveyard themes once it is online, and it digs further. You'll rarely want to help your opponent filter cards, but if you support a mill theme you can always target them if they have an empty hand.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Cloaked Siren
Description - Looks like right cost for what you get, but mostly forgettable. Probably only worth cubing if you want to support flash / go.
Anchors -
Supports - Flash / Go
Crookclaw Transmuter - 1
Description - It's somewhat conditional, but you can play it as a combat trick to either save a creature or kill something sometimes. It can straight up kill 0 power creatures. If you don't get a bonus out of the ability it is underwhelming, but flashing in a 3 power flyer is never terrible.
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Supports -
Cryptic Annelid
Description - It doesn't add up to scry 6; if the stuff you want is on the top of your deck, then the floor is essentially scry 3. In most cases you are better off with cards that can actually provide advantage like Drownyard Explorers (with extra power to boot).Only play it if you like to include combos or deep synergies in your cube and you really want the filtering.
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Supports -
Darkslick Drake
Description - It's a reasonable card for defensive decks, but isn't high impact.
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Supports -
Deadeye Quartermaster
Description - It's value will depend on the relative power of equipment and vehicles compared to the rest of the cards in your cube. You need to run enough that you can draft them together often enough. That said, 4 mana for a 2/2, even when you get to 'draw' a card, isn't pressuring the board. If you aren't under pressure though, this is a creature to equip / crew the vehicle.
Anchors -
Supports - Artifact Matters
Drownyard Explorers
Description - It doesn't do enough for most cubes, even though there is some value. Probably only worth it if you are going deep on artifact themes.
Anchors -
Supports - Artifact Matters
Gurmag Drowner
Description - Sorcery speed Impulse is not worth 4 mana, so you need to sacrifice something of low value. It probably won't make the cut in a deck without a sacrifice theme, but in the right deck you get to sac something and filter to advance your gameplan, and it's a 2/4 which can block some cheaper drops.
Anchors - Sacrifice
Supports -
Impaler Shrike
Description - It CAN be a Concentrate that does 3 damage, which sounds fine... however you have to wait a turn to get your cards, AND it has to get through. The lack of reliability and subpar baseline are unappealing, but you do have options. You wouldn't design your cube around it, but if you can get some recursion going with clear skies that would be sweet.
Anchors -
Supports -
Jalira, Master Polymorphist
Description - It requires 7 mana before it does anything, but the ability can be useful in the right deck. Exchanging your worst creature for something better is good, especially if you've drafted a bunch of creatures with ETB effects, or you can upgrade multiple token makers (Hordeling Outburst) into other creatures. Make sure your cube can support that speed of play.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Keymaster Rogue
Description - If you just want a 3 power unblockable you can got for Latch Seeker, but as long as your cube is built to make use of the 'drawback' then it is fine. If you get to re-use an ETB effect that is great, if you lose tempo that is bad.
Anchors - Bounce
Supports -
Living Tsunami
Description - It can tussle with most non-green creatures at this cost, and almost anything in the air. The drawback is significant, so you probably only want this as an aggro topper for blue, but there might also be some cute stuff with landfall triggers.
Anchors -
Supports -
Nevermaker
Description - Only if you are really looking for a lock down piece to go with your Crystal Shard and other self-bounce cards. The stats don't seem good enough to warrant a spot as a 'trade with something and slow the opponent down' card in control decks.
Anchors -
Supports - Bounce
Rushing-Tide Zubera
Description - It's perhaps a bit cute, but you have a decent chance if you throw it under the bus on defense you can get an Ancestral Recall out of it, unless your opponent is attacking you with creatures with exactly 3 power. It could be a good control card to ward off attacks, but Illusory Ambusher is probably just the better card to fill the role even if it costs more.
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Supports -
Shimmering Glasskite
Description - Whether this is worth cubing is probably reliant on how other decks deal with flyers; if most colours are light on flyers and reach creatures and rely on targeted removal, this might be worth the slightly underwhelming stats.
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Supports -
Soratami Savant
Description - If you untap with this, it might threaten to put your opponent off their game plan while they try and play around it, but it is a bit clunky.
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Supports -
Stinging Barrier
Description - It isn't 'good', but it might be a tool for control decks. It blocks well enough while being able to ping away at end of turn.
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Supports -
Storm Sculptor
Description - You can get 3 mana unblockable without the drawback. The only reason to cube it is to get cute with re-using ETB effects, which might meet some specific cube design goals.
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Supports -
Tempest Caller
Description - Considered on its own it is fine, but bears comparison to Sleep and Turnabout. Sleep is the most aggressive (particularly if you have at least a few creatures), shutting down opposing boards 2 turns in a row. Turnabout has a few other tricks due to being so modal. The biggest draw for Tempest Caller is being a creature. You get a creature that can block, though Sleep might also be better in some of these situations. It's not particularly efficient, but it can be flickered / bounced. You would probably consider it as an extra Sleep effect rather than an alternative (I can't imagine needing much board presence to win a game if you curve Tempest Caller into Sleep).
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Supports -
Thieving Magpie
Description - Lu Xun, Scholar General is strictly better (unless you cube every Horsemanship creature printed), so you'd only cube this for cube interactivity design considerations.
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Supports -
Tower Geist
Description - by the time it hits the board the body may be outclassed, but you do get an extra card, and the evasion helps if they don't have aerial defense. Marginal upside of being able to get a card in the graveyard.
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Supports -
Vedalken Entrancer
Description - If you really want to push a mill theme, this might make the cut. Enchantment and artifact versions are more resilient to removal, but this can block and still activate at end of turn. You can mill yourself, so blue based graveyard decks might be willing to use it.
Anchors - Mill
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Viral Drake
Description - From a cube design perspective, it is probably a trap and may make players think Infect is a thing. If you consider as though it just had wither, it can make for a reasonable blocker, and may hold off attacks that would otherwise be profitable if it was a vanilla 1/4. It's really the instant speed proliferate that makes you really care, and you probably only want to cube it if you have +1/+1 synergies or a number of other counters in your cube.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Water Servant
Description - There isn't anything particularly standout about it, particularly with double blue in the cost, but the base stats are decent enough, with some flexibility in combat with some mana up.
Anchors -
Supports -
Youthful Scholar
Description - Drawing two cards is enticing, but by the time it hits the board it isn't likely to go toe to toe with other similarly costed creatures. At least the fail case is 'prevent some damage, draw cards', and if you get to trade with something then it's pretty decent. Filigree Familiar fills a similar role and is a better option for most decks (and therefore cubes), but you might cube this to support a sacrifice theme.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Aetherplasm - Interesting design, but too much set up.
Amphin Cutthroat - Strictly better stuff.
Amphin Pathmage - 3 mana doesn't seem like a bad rate for repeatable unblockability, but with the baseline as bad as it is, you really need to rely on getting value out of that ability, and it doesn't seem enough.
Aphetto Runecaster - Too narrow.
Aquamorph Entity - Neither mode is great for the mana cost, and the morph doesn't make up for it.
Ascending Aven - Bad.
Aspiring Aeronaut - Too low impact.
Aven Augur - Just play Undo or other bounce options.
Aven Fisher - Doesn't do enough.
Aven Fleetwing - Doesn't do enough.
Aven Fogbringer - Meh.
Aven Initiate - Seems fairly costed, but not a card that peasant cubes are interested in.
Aven Reedstalker - Underwhelming.
Aven Smokeweaver - Random hoser and bad otherwise.
Azure Drake - You'd rather have something with more impact.
Balshan Collaborator - Not good enough as a gold card.
Benthic Explorers - There isn't a deck that wants this.
Blockade Runner - Bad. Just play Phantom Warrior.
Breaching Hippocamp - It looks best as am ambusher, but there are better options.
Breezekeeper - Bad.
Brine Hag - Interesting card, but it just isn't going to work out without jumping through a bunch of hoops.
Brine Seer - There might be games where this is a lockout, but having it be better than a Mana Leak isn't going to happen often enough, on top of the initial mana and broadcasting.
Brushstroke Paintermage - Nope.
Cephalid Sage - Meh.
Chameleon Spirit - Not going to be consistent, and it gets worse as you start to win and clear their board.
Chorus of the Tides - You will rarely get the heroic triggers.
Clambassadors - It's just bad.
Clinging Anemones - There are plenty of other defensive options.
Cloud Manta - Strictly better options.
Coastline Chimera - It can survive some burn, but there is little reason to play this over Guard Gomazoa.
Cryptic Crusier - Not enough worthwhile enablers for cube.
Deadeye Rig-Hauler - The problem is that this type of effect is best triggered before combat, but you can only use this after combat.
Descendant of Soramaro - Base stats are underwhelming, and it requires ways to get cards off the top of your library (aside from drawing them) to really dig and get the best benefit.
Dream Prowler - Too inefficient.
Dreamwinder - Bad.
Drunau Corpse Trawler - Doesn't do enough.
Elguad Shieldmate - There are scenarios where the hexproof on something else will be good, but a random underwhelming 4-drop doesn't seem to fit any particular game plan; if you need to protect something, just use better spells.
Enigma Eidolon - Not going to do enough in cube.
Enlightened Maniac - There doesn't seem to be a place in cube for this. It doesn't add enough to the board and there are better flicker / bounce targets.
Ethereal Whiskergill - Bad.
Faerie Harbinger - Tribal.
Faerie Mechanist - Glint-Nest Crane is a better option.
Faerie Swarm - You need 2 other blue creatures just to equal a Phantom Monster. Not going to be consistent enough.
Fallowsage - Doesn't do enough.
Fatestitcher - Too low impact.
Fencer Clique - Outside of some corner cases, you would always want the similar card that can bounce itself back to your hand.
Fighting Drake - There are strictly better options.
Filigree Sages - Not enough targets.
Fledgling Mawcor - Just 'meh'. While it can attack in the air if it has nothing to ping, it just isn't efficient.
Floodgate - Too narrow.
Fortress Crab - It can block 'derms, but so can Guard Gomazoa.
Ghost Ship - It probably doesn’t play terribly, especially in a heavy blue deck, but it just doesn't compare well enough to other options.
Giant Octopus - Bad.
Giant Oyster - Bad.
Glen Elendra Pranksters - Too limited in timing.
Glowing Anemone - Doesn't do enough.
Gravity Negator - Doesn't do enough.
Gulf Squid - Doesn't do enough.
Harmattan Efreet - Too low impact.
Headwater Sentries - It's the cheapest creature with these stats… but if you want a 4 mana defensive creature, there are plenty of other more interesting options.
Homarid Explorer - It can support graveyard matters decks (or mill decks if you really want to stretch) but there are better cards that can do this.
Hoverguard Observer - Bad.
Illusionary Forces - Bad.
Incubator Drone - It doesn't compare well enough to similar alternatives that put two bodies on the board (Eldrazi Skyspawner, Talrand's Invocation, Whirler Rogue).
Inspired Sprite - Tribal.
Iridescent Drake - You can support aura themes, but unless that theme is pervasive throughout your cube this is not a card you want.
Jolting Merfolk - It might play fine in retail limited, but in cube you just have better alternatives across the board; Sleep or Turnabout to tap the entire team, or Tumble Magnet and Icy Manipulator for tapping down single threats.
Keeneye Aven - Bad.
Kingfisher - Doesn't do enough.
Kinscaer Harpoonist - Doesn't do enough.
Kukemssa Serpent - Bad.
Laboratory Brute - 4 cards is a decent amount, but there are better graveyard enablers.
Labyrinth Minotaur - There are cheaper, better versions.
Latchkey Faerie - Tribal.
Living Airship - Meh.
Louts Path Djinn - A bit on the underwhelming side. You'd rather have Voyager Drake.
Lumengrid Drake - It's too underwhelming when it isn't on. Mist Raven is a playable version with a slightly harder casting cost.
Makeshift Mauler - It isn't bad if you cast it on curve, but it doesn't really stand out by being a vanilla creature.
Marchesa's Emissary - Not going to be consistent enough.
Master of the Veil - Bad.
Master Thief - Narrow.
Mercurial Kite - I'm just not seeing a 'best case scenario' that is any good. Maybe you get to tap down their 1/3 blocker once in a while, but most of the time you are just trading off your underwhelming 4-drop for little advantage.
Merfolk Seastalkers - It's just on the underhwleming side.
Merfolk Skyscout - Not impactful enough.
Merrow Harbinger - Tribal.
Merrow Levitator - Doesn't do enough; it's an underwhelming flyer for the cost, and if you just want to give something flying there are better options.
Mesmeric Sliver - Tribal.
Mirozel - It protects itself from spot removal, but it's a liability against too many repeat effect permanents in the vast majority of cubes.
Mirror Wall - Bad.
Mistfire Adept - It's hard to be excited. You can get Voyager Drake for the same cost, and while prowess can make this bigger, the always on evasion is going to trump it.
Mistfire Weaver - Doesn't do enough for the investment.
Mistform Seaswift - Bad.
Monastery Loremaster - Too slow.
Moon Heron - Bad.
Murk Strider - It's too many hoops to jump through for cube
Naga Oracle - The body isn't good, and the ability doesn't add enough.
Nameless One - Tribal.
Narwhal - Random hoser.
Nephalia Seakite - Just 'meh'. Doesn't really contribute to a deck at this cost.
Nimble Innovator - Doesn’t do enough.
Nivix Barrier - The ETB effect can turn around a trade, but so can cheaper combat tricks.
Numbing Jellyfish - Milling opponents isn’t a thing, and there are better self-mill options if you want those.
Oboro Envoy - Doesn't do enough.
Ojutai Interceptor - It isn't efficent enough.
Opal Lake Gatekeepers - Bad.
Oraxid - Just bad.
Outrider of Jhess - Yuck. Completely underwhelming.
Paragon of Gathering Mists - It doesn't do enough consistently.
Pendrell Drake - Just underwhelming.
Phantasmal Dragon - The biggest benefit of 'skulkers' is usually the effects opponents would target them with were intended to kill them anyway, and they don’t get mana efficieny. At 4 mana, you aren't going to maintain that mana parity, it dies to any removal spell plus a bunch more stuff.
Phantasmal Forces - It's 4 flying power for 4 mana, but it dies to anything that can block it and the upkeep isn't worth it when you could just get a better 4 drop.
Phantom Beast - May as well just go Phantasmal Dragon if you are considering this (but don't do that either).
Phantom Monster - Voyager Drake is strictly better.
Primal Plasma - Just 'meh'.
Question Elemental? - There are just better options?
Rainbow Crow - Bad.
Rimewind Cryomancer - If you allowed snow basics, this is still going to be too inconsistent, and it's actively bad against decks that are just turning guys sideways.
Rishadan Footpad - On curve your opponent is probably going to have sac something, but it is going to be too inconsistent.
Riverwise Augur - It's at least the equivalent of a 4 mana 2/2, draw a card. Which is a bit less than what you want, and there isn't enough shuffling in peasant to get extra value from shuffling away useless cards.
Rummaging Wizard - I like the effect if it was a 'free' bonus, but it needs to be on a body I care about.
Runewing - Doesn't do enough.
Sage Aven - Too low impact.
Sailmonger - Bad.
Saprazzan Legate - Bad.
Saprazzan Outrigger - You not only lose your board prescence, you also lose your draw step, and pay 4 mana every turn for the privilege.
Scaldkin - Not efficient enough.
Scion of Glaciers - Just 'meh'.
Scornful Aether-Lich - Nope.
Screeching Drake - Just 'meh'.
Secretkeeper - It isn't going to be consistent enough. Either get a flyer with a drawback at this cost, or wait an extra turn and get Air Elemental.
Sentinels of Glen Elendra - Just 'meh'. Doesn't really contribute to a deck at this cost.
Separatist Voidmage - It's actually a fine card in its own right, but there is no reason to cube it with the strictly better Man-o-War around.
Serum Raker - Only with strong madness support.
Shifting Sliver - Tribal.
Shipwreck Moray - Doesn't do enough.
Silent Observer - Coastline Chimera strictly better.
Silver Erne - Doesn't do enough.
Siren Reaver - A 3/2 flyer for 3 seems fine, though not exactly exciting, but bad at 4 mana. Latch Seeker gives you similar results.
Snapping Drake - Bad.
Soratami Mindsweeper - There isn't a mill deck where this will do enough.
Soratami Mirror-Guard - It's too low impact based on stats, and too low impact on its ability.
Soulsworn Spirit - Detain is nice, but not enough when compared to better unblockable creatures.
Spire Winder - A 3/4 flyer for 4 is ok, but this won't be consistently good enough.
Spy Eye - Only for the fun of it. Drawing from your opponents deck means you draw cards that don't suit your game plan, or that you simply may not be able to cast.
Steamcore Weird - It's not likely to be bad in Izzet decks, but when you can cube Fire Imp in mono-colour it compares poorly.
Stern Mentor - Only if really pushing a mill theme.
Stitchwing Skaab - It doesn't have enough impact at these costs, particularly as it is so fragile. Advanced Stitchwing will fill this role better in most decks.
Stomrwatch Eagle - Bad.
Stronghold Zeppelin - Bad.
Talas Air Ship - Bad.
Telekinetic Sliver - Tribal.
Thalakos Drifters - At a glance it can be a discard enabler, and it can block early, and then be unblockable in the late game. But it just doesn't seem efficient enough or effective enough at anything to consider cubing it.
Thought Harvester - Even if you supported colorless matters you would not want this.
Tidal Courier - Tribal.
Tolarian Sentinel - Bad.
Torch Drake - There are better Izzet options.
Treetop Sentinel - Bad.
Triton Cavalry - I can see some interesting interactions, but it is heading towards Magical Christmas Land for cube environments (cast Rancor, get back Gryff's Boon, draw cards off my Mesa Enchantress, repeat…)
Turtleshell Changeling - Maybe the changeling ability adds in some obscure synergies, but there doesn't seem a reason to play this.
Unblinking Bleb - Doesn't do enough.
Vaporous Djinn - Bad.
Vedalken Infuser - Narrow. Only if artifact theme really pushed.
Veiling Oddity - Underwhelming as a hard cast and suspended takes too long and the opponent can prepare.
Vizier of the Anointed - Too narrow.
Vodalian Serpent - Yuck.
Voidmage Husher - Too slow and too low impact.
Walking Dream - The drawback is too much.
Wall of Vapor - Fog Bank or Guard Gomazoa exist.
Wall of Wonder - Too low impact.
Water Servant - It probably plays ok in a limited environment; it just doesn't really add any definition to your cube and that fact plus the double blue in the cost means you aren't likely to see it in cubes.
Waterspout Djinn - Bad.
Wave Elemental - There are better options for tapping down opponents creatures.
Wayward Soul - Outside of some corner cases, you would always want the similar card that can bounce itself back to your hand.
Weldfast Wingsmith - Voyager Drake strictly better.
Whirlpool Drake - It's got some specific card interactions with stuff like Land Tax, but not enough to consider cubing it.
Wilderness Hypnotist - Bad.
Windrider Eel - The upside isn't high enough.
Windscouter - Bad.
Wizened Snitches - Bad.
Wormfang Crab - Bad.
Wu Elite Cavalry - It's virtually unblockable, but you can get better unblockable creatures.
Zenith Seeker - Not going to trigger often enough.
Mulldrifter
Description - Fantastic value when you cast it, it's a 5 mana 3 for 1 that includes a creature. Even if you are behind, you get a blocker and the opportunity to draw into more spells. It's a solid bounce or flicker target, especially when you can do it with the evoke trigger on the stack.
Anchors -
Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Infiltrator il-Kor
Description - Solid aggro blue card, particularly if you can suspend it on turn 2. Latch Seeker can block, but this doesn't demand heavy blue and fits into curves better.
Anchors -
Supports -
Riftwing Cloudskate
Description - You can get the hard cast version in Mist Raven, but being able to suspend this is decent upside, especially if you suspend it on turn 2, or even fit it into your curve later if you have other things to do with your mana. Your opponent can only do so much to play around it. It's probably rare, but if you really think they are playing around it, you can bounce the Cloudskate itself and then just threaten to hard cast it.
Anchors -
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Advanced Stitchwing
Description - You can better value upfront, but being able to trade in your two worst cards to get another go at a reasonable sized evasive creature isn't a bad deal. You might also cube it if you want blue to be part of your graveyard themes; discard this from a turn 2 Merfolk Looter, Tormenting Voice etc, then discard other stuff that likes being in the yard to get this on the board turn 3 can be a good start for a graveyard deck.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Illusory Ambusher
Description - It requires timing and the right situation, but this can change the dynamics of a game and it isn't hard to engineer a situation where it is decent. A 5 mana combat trick that trades with something and potentially draws 3+ cards is great. If the coast is clear, you can always cast it end of opponents turn and swing in; it does have 4 power after all.
Anchors -
Supports -
Lu Meng, Wu General
Description - Essentially a 4/4 unblockable for 5 mana, that can sit back and be a blocker if you need it. It represents a 5 turn clock on its own if your opponent doesn't have removal. You might want your creatures to be more interactive. Sun Ce, Young Conqueror is probably the better card if you are comparing horsies, but this is a faster clock.
Anchors -
Supports -
Murder of Crows
Description - Fine flyer. Reasonable stats, with a reasonable ability. It's decent, but not a standout. The synergy is minimal, but the ability does help sacrifice and graveyard decks.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Peregrine Drake
Description - Kind of free IF you have other spells to play with the lands you untap, though at 5 mana it isn't going to play into an aggro 'drop your hand' strategy very well. Can be a support card for more traditional blue control to lay down a threat while still holding up protection mana. You should give it higher consideration if you cube bouncelands or effects like Dawn's Reflection, and can generate mana when paired with flicker effects.
Anchors -
Supports -
Relentless Skaabs
Description - By the time you get to 5 mana, it shouldn't be too hard to pay the additional cost. Being a vanilla isn't great, but 4/4 plus undying provides some interesting decision points; it's big enough that your opponent can't ignore it if you attack, most cubes don't have many 1/5's etc that could just stonewall it, and if they do trade, you get back an untapped 5/5. Similar story on defence.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sun Ce, Young Conquerer
Description - It’s got a few things going for it, though there are some comparisons to make. You can get cheaper unblockackable creatures (Latch Seeker) and cheaper evasive bouncers (Mist Raven) but this is a solid combination of those abilities, and this survives spells that deal with 2 toughness.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Air Servant
Description - The downside of losing a toughness compared to some other options is somewhat mitigated by being able to tap down opposing flyers to get through, or if you are on the back foot, it can just hang back while locking down their flyers. It does die to Last Gasp, Lightning Bolt and similar analogues (or even 3 power reach creatures) that something like Murder of Crows would survive, so depends on your specific environment.
Anchors -
Supports -
Belltower Sphinx
Description - It points towards a mill theme, but you really need to be dedicated for it to do something. If you have enough other cards supporting that theme (Sphinx's Tutelage etc), this helps that deck by being a decent blocker while also accelerating your game plan.
Anchors - Mill
Supports -
Cache Raiders
Description - It's 'bad' at first glance because it isn't even overstatted to account for the 'drawback', but might support a few specific strategies. You can get back any blink or bounce target, or retrigger landfall if you cube any of those cards. If you are being cute like that, at least this is a 4/4 that can block reasonably well.
Anchors -
Supports -
Coveted Peacock
Description - You can get flyers with that extra point of power at this cost, but the effect is somewhat unique, and can be a way to eat some of your opponents creatures and whittle their board if the skies are clear and you've got something else reasonable to block with. Even if you don't block the target, it might open up attacks on your next turn. Cards like Murder of Crows and variants are going to better in the majority of cases, but it opens up lines of play you don't get from many cards.
Anchors -
Supports -
Gryff Vanguard
Description - It is overshadowed byMulldrifter, but this is still a reasonable card in its own right. Probably only worth cubing if you find Mulldrifter too much value, or the extra point of power really matters for your cube environment.
Anchors -
Supports -
Jwar Isle Avenger
Description - A 3/3 flyer for 3 is excellent, but you probably want at least a little bit of support. Rebound, suspend and free spells are the best, but it can also be fine in a U/x aggro deck, dropping a 1 or 2 drop alongside it in the mid game. The fail case is underwhelming but not terrible, so the risk isn't super high.
Anchors -
Supports -
Ominous Sphinx
Description - You probably want to be fairly heavy on looters and other discard effects, but if you can activate those effects at instant speed this can help change combat math. Murder of Crows is probably more universally playable and you would cube that if you don't have sufficient ways to trigger this, but a 4/4 flyer for 5 is still a decent baseline if you don't get the trigger.
Anchors -
Supports -
Prescient Chimera
Description - It's a support card for the spells matter deck. These stats aren't terrible on a flyer, but you can get similar card filtering from Murder of Crows which would beat this in combat.
Anchors - Spells Matter
Supports -
Whitewater Naiads
Description - You aren't considering this unless you are pushing an enchantment theme, but at the very least you get a 4/4 for 5 that is likely to push some damage through the turn it comes into play.
Anchors - Enchantment Matters
Supports -
Windrider Patrol
Description - How good it is will probably depend on how power and toughness line up in your cube. Any of the flying 4/4's with upside are probably a better inclusion, but if this would survive most of the things they would, this might be a reasonable alternative.
Anchors -
Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Errant Ephemeron
Description - You really don't want to hard cast this, but it can be worth it in a control deck, where mid-game you can suspend it and still hold up counter magic, and have all your mana to protect it the turn it enters the battlefield. Even on turn 2 in an aggro deck you cast cast something else the turn this hits play and turns sideways.
Anchors -
Supports -
Jetting Glasskite
Description - A solid control finisher by being able to protect itself from targeted removal, although it it still vulnerable to targeted abilities followed by removal. It's not necessary, but you can pair it with targeted discard to minimise their chance of holding onto removal until they get 2 ways to target it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Phyrexian Ingester
Description - It ends up being a vanilla after it hits the board, but it is an odd blue card that effectively kills just about any creature, and it can still be a decent size vanilla. Good control top end to put down a threat while removing their best creature.
Anchors -
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Cryptic Serpent
Description - It's vanilla, but at 5 mana you are getting a decent deal, and card filtering or graveyard fillers might even make it come down earlier. Certainly signals a spells matters deck.
Anchors - Spells Matters
Supports -
Jodah's Avenger
Description - It can be a control finisher, with a range of options given the abilities. Give it shadow and unblockable for 4 damage. Or give it vigilance as well and drop to 2 damage, but threaten a double striker on blocks. Or don't activate anything before blocks if they have a weak board, allowing you to double strike in for 6 damage or kill a 3 toughness creature they might block with. The ceiling on its own isn't high, but it does pair nicely with pump and pants.
Anchors -
Supports -
Striped Riverwinder
Description - It cycles for a single mana, which does allow you to set up a turn 2 renimation spell on a hexproof creature, which is a solid start. At 7 mana it's a bit more underwhelming if you have to hard cast it. Aside from reanimation, cubes with pants or pump spells might be another reason to consider it.
Anchors -
Supports - Reanimator, Pants
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Angler Drake
Description - It's a good size flyer with a decent ability. It's never going to be bad, but the bounce is a little worse once you are in the late stages of the game, where it might be a once-off opportunity to push some damage through as opposed to the early tempo hit of something like Man-O-War.
Anchors -
Supports -
Benthic Giant / Cold-Water Snapper
Description - Jetting Glasskite is a similar option, but this is another option if you want something that is truly hexproof beef. You will probably also consider Striped Riverwinder which is more expensive, but cycling makes it more flexible and a better reanimator target.
Anchors -
Supports - Pants
Mahamoti Djinn
Description - It's blues biggest evasive creature, but it does cost 6 mana and is otherwise somewhat uninteresting. Given that it is a french vanilla, the main consideration is on how power and toughness and power line up in your cube, particularly against other creatures with flying / reach. Skysnare Spider is only one card, but if you have that and enough similar creatures around the same cost or cheaper that can tussle with the Djinn, then it's value goes down.
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Supports -
Mindscour Dragon
Description - If you cube it, it should be because you can benefit from targeting yourself, not your opponent. I can see including it for more blue support for graveyard-based decks, but you are taking a minor power hit.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Skaab Goliath
Description - It costs 6 and an additional cost, but there isn't much outside of green's 7 drops that could block it. The additional cost prevents it from being a creature-lite control deck finisher, but those stats are impressive. It's not resilient to removal, but if your opponent doesn't have any in hand it is going to be a difficult to deal with reanimator target.
Anchors -
Supports - Reanimator, Graveyard Matters
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Condescend
Description - Solid counterspell, which can somtimes be the equivalent of a Mana Leak on turn 2 with scry attached.
Anchors -
Supports - Control
Preordain
Description - This is a solid card. It isn't flashy, but sets up your draws in the early game, and clears lands or other unwanted cards in the late game. It slots into most blue decks, with the probable exception of aggro decks that want to stick to using all of their mana to play threats. Also useful to hold and cast when a particular threat is presented to give you the best option of finding an answer at the time.
Anchors -
Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Ponder
Description - This is a solid card for getting you closer to what you need. While it can be used to set up sequences of future play, it can also be held until a specific threat comes along that needs to be dealt with; this then gives you 4 different chances to find the right answer on that turn, with a marginal advantage if you shuffle and don't find what you are looking for (over getting the next 3 which you know aren't what you need).
Anchors -
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Aqueous Form
Description - This opens you up for 2 for 1's so it's value gets better the less direct removal in your cube. But if unanswered, it has some decent upside if you have at least mid-sized creatures to put the opponent on a decent clock, as well as lining up your future draws.
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Supports -
Artful Dodge
Description - Can be used to force through some damage for relatively cheap. While not great, it can let a finisher get through unopposed for a couple of turns, or let a couple of creatures through for the final few in a more aggro or midrange build. Also has some synergy with some of the 'spells matters' creatures (Kiln Fiend etc) by giving them a boost from casting while also letting them through unopposed. Also friendly with combat triggers (Stealer of Secrets etc).
Anchors -
Supports - Spells Matters
Blustersquall
Description - Can turn off their attack if cast during your opponents turn, and let you swing in. Conditional on the board state, but can be swingy.
Anchors -
Supports -
Brainstorm
Description - Brainstorm is worse in the Peasant cube format than its profile in Constructed and even compared to powered cubes. One of the preferred uses of Brainstorm is to put cards you don't need right now on the top of your deck and then shuffle. Most peasant deck decks don't have a steady stream of shuffle effects, so you get some marginal card quality for a couple of turns, but end up in the same place. It might be what you need to hit your land drops or find you the critical spell you need if it happens to be sitting near the top of your deck.
Anchors -
Supports -
Careful Study
Description - Given the card disadvantage, you want the card filtering to be worth it. In which case, you need to be supporting some form of Graveyard Matters theme.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters, Reanimator
Curiosity
Description - Good on evasive guys (especially shado / unblockables) and pingers, but can also be good when you can simply tap down your opponents creatures or make blocking annoying. Opens you up for 2 for 1's, but the upside is high. Cinder Pyromancer is cute. Consider Curious Obsession for something more aggressively tuned.
Anchors -
Supports - Pants
Curious Obsession
Description - Bears comparison to Curiosity. The +1/+1 can help get attacks in that might not otherwise be possible with Curiosity, but Curiosity sticks around when you have no profitable attacks and triggers off non-combat damage. You might cube it to fuel aggro decks, particularly of the evasive variety.
Anchors -
Supports -
Distortion Strike
Description - Bears similarities with Artful Dodge. You don't need to spend an extra mana, but you lose the flexibility of using it all up in one turn. As an extra bonus, you can do some extra damage. Good with spells matters or combat triggers.
Anchors -
Supports - Spells Matters
Essence Flux
Description - It's a blue Cloudshift. Can be used to 'counter' a spell or effect targeting the creature, shift out after blocking so that it survives, or simply re-trigger an ETB effect… preferably more than 1 of those at a time. Bonus if you have spirits in your cube, but fine without them.
Anchors -
Supports - Blink
Flood
Description - Flood can be solid in control decks that want to gum up the ground until stabilised, or to turn off key blockers to make an alpha strike. It's effectiveness scales depending on how many flyers you have in your cube and the general speed of the cube. Heavy blue can make it hard to use.
Anchors -
Supports -
Force Spike
Description - Can be a great early tempo play for any type of deck, but good for aggro tempo plays. Loses potency in the mid to late game.
Anchors -
Supports -
Genju of the Falls
Description - Decent 'manland' card, that can give control decks some long game by being able to trade or chump, or having a repeatable evasive beater in the late game.
Anchors -
Supports - Control
Gitaxian Probe
Description - This card is a solid support card. Most cube designers consider this to be colourless, as it can make any deck smaller. While it offer some minimal support to something like a storm archetype, it is often just a 'good' card. Can help with blue decks that want to check the opponents hand before countering a spell, or verifying whether removal should be reserved for another threat.
Anchors -
Supports - Storm
More or Less
Description - A quirky card that has a lot of fringe uses, but you will often have something to use it on. Kill X/1's. Boost or reduce a power or toughness as a combat trick. It can cycle itself alongside most draw spells. Prevent Pyroclasm from wiping out your board... or make it kill all their 3 toughness creatures.
Anchors -
Supports -
Mystical Tutor
Description - Best used as redundancy in a deck that needs its best answers or high impact spells despite the card disadvantage. While any deck can use it, probably more suited to control decks to find sweepers or lockdown effects.
Anchors -
Supports -
Repeal
Description - This provides mana and card parity, which isn't exciting. But the tempo might be worth it. It can target any permanent, but in most cases it is likely to target creatures, and something like Repeal is probably more applicable and a better tempo play. Great for killing tokens for a single mana while drawing a card to boot.
Anchors -
Supports -
Serum Visions
Description - Worse than Preordain because it doesn't let you filter to get the card you need this turn, but still playable and serves a similar function.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sleight of Hand
Description - This is worse than Preordain, but still ok for this effect if you want extra redundancy.
Anchors -
Supports -
Triton Tactics
Description - For 1 mana, this can do some interesting things. It says 'I'm optimal when blocking' but it isn't a requirement. You might use it when swinging in to save 2 of your guys from trades, with the upshot of being able to block on your opponents next turn. Just untapping 2 guys for 1 mana isn't a bad deal, though admittedly not many cubes have a plethora of strong tap for effect guys. If you are on the defense, being able to lock down two of their creatures is a pretty solid play for 1 mana. It's limitation is having enough stuff on the board to take reasonable advantage.
Anchors -
Supports -
Unsummon
Description - An old classic that doesn't need much cube support to make it effective, as it works in a range of decks. In general, it's best use is as a tempo effect to return a creature that cost your opponent much more than the Unsummon, allowing you to swing in with what you've already cast, and hopefully cast something else alongside it. Can be used in a pinch to save a finisher from being removed, or to reu-se a critical ETB effect.
Anchors -
Supports -
Vapor Snag
Description - The standard mode for Unsummon effects is to bounce your opponents creature, which means that the mandatory life loss on Vapor Snag is nearly always upside, and helps advance the aggro/tempo game plan. It will still occasionally be the correct play to take the life loss and save a critical creature on your side of the board. This is going to give Vapor Snag a leg up on Unsummon in most cubes.
Anchors -
Supports -
Word of Undoing
Description - This is an oddball card. It gets the same score as Unsummon on the basis that it will be just an Unsummon most of the time, with some marginal upside. On the other hand, it might provide signals that you are supporting something specific, so you may not want to include it if you don't support some form of Azorius aura theme.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Cerulean Wisps
Description - Cycles and can create a surprise blocker or re-use a relevant tap ability. Pretty conditional on the right board state, but with cycling can create a 2 for 1 in the right situations.
Anchors -
Supports -
Clutch of Currents
Description - The base mode is strictly worse than Unsummon. While the baseline is the more likely mode, it has the awaken upside. It might be an include as a way to shoehorn +1/+1 counter support into your chosen bounce effect.
Anchors -
Supports -
Courier's Capsule
Description - The only reason to cube it is in support of an artifact theme. There are plenty of other options for card draw. However if you do cube it, it isn't so bad that other decks wouldn't play it from time to time.
Anchors - Artifact Matters
Supports -
Curfew
Description - You aren't always going to want a symmetrical effect, but it does have some interesting applications. It can be used to save a creature from removal while setting your opponent back, or similarly just to re-use a ETB effect while affecting your opponents tempo. Minor note that due to non-targeting it can force your opponent to bounce hexproof guys if they have nothing else. But the non-targeting can also be a downside, and limit the times where you can cast this profitably; mainly because your opponent can choose the best option, which may include one of their own ETB creatures. Peel From Reality is often going to be the better card because it does similar but targets, but you may want this for maximum redundancy, or if the single mana really matters to your cube design.
Anchors -
Supports - Bounce / Flicker
Diminish
Description - Narrow scope, but could find a place as a blue removal spell. It require some set up and the right board state.
Anchors -
Supports -
Disrupt
Description - At it's worst (your opponent can pat the 1), you are card neutral and mana neutral. But when it works, it will be 2 for 1, and hopefully with a big tempo advantage by costing only a single mana.
Anchors -
Supports -
Dive Down
Description - It will depend on the make up of spells in your particular cube, but it can act as a 1 mana counterspell for burn / removal against creatures, and might be more of a sideboard card against removal heavy decks. The toughness boost is likely to be less relevant, perhaps turning a trade into a win, but it is still card parity at that point.
Anchors -
Supports -
High Tide
Description - The card disadvantage is probably not going to be worth it. You may want to include it as an accelerator if you really want to push mono-blue as a thing in your cube.
Anchors -
Supports -
Mark of Eviction
Description - This is going to be too slow on most opponents creatures as it takes a full turn. On the plus side, it is repeatable, though the time delay can be painful and give your opponent time to do something profitable, like attack you. Could be used as a slightly awkward support card for bounce / blink strategies.
Anchors -
Supports - Bounce / Blink
Mystic Speculation
Description - At it's base, Mystic Speculation offers you future card quality for card disadvantage. In a weak opener, it can set up your land drops and early plays. It's best benefit comes from the buyback and being able to always draw your best cards. In some scenarios better than Crystal Ball (because you can play it turn 1) and in other instances worse (long term Crystal Ball is cheaper). Also has synergy with Spells Matters decks as a relatively cheap buyback spell.
Anchors -
Supports -
Opt
Description - While the base effect is slightly worse than Preordain, this is an instant, which may matter if you are pushing a more 'draw-go' style in blue, or have Isochron Scepter.
Anchors -
Supports -
Piracy Charm
Description - Has some flexibility in being able to pump someone, kill a small dude, or use some instant speed discard. Consider occasional evasion a bonus.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro / Tempo
Pongify / Rapid Hybridization
Description - Deserves a mention for being a 1-mana blue spell that can kill almot anything. Giving the opponent a 3/3 isn't exactly ideal though. It's best use will be against big creature decks, but even then you are just downsizing their creature. Has some minor upside in that you can flash in a 3/3 in response to some removal or one of your creatures on their way to the bin, so could be a conditional 3/3 for u in an aggro based deck, but that is a pretty narrow application.
Anchors -
Supports -
Rush of Ice
Description - At a single mana it might be good enough for pushing aggro strategies, with upside if you reach 5 mana. There are plenty of other cards with this effect, the reason you might play this one is if you really want to push a 1 mana version, or really reinforce +1/+1 counters in blue with the awaken option. The bounce of Clutch of Currents is probably a little more universal, with this being a bit better in some aggro strategies or against ETB creatures.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Seal of Removal
Description - The lack of instant speed casting means this offers less surprise than Unsummon. However you can drop it any time you have the spare mana instead of holding onto the instant. It's a decent analogue if your cube cares about enchantments, or you have any devotion to blue themes.
Anchors -
Supports - Enchantment Matters, Blue Devotion
Shadow Rift
Description - Single mana, card parity to get your best creature through for some damage. But still susceptible to a 2 for 1 if they remove your target in response to casting.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro
Sigil of Sleep
Description - Sigil of Sleep can have some reasonable upside if it sticks, but is generally only going to be worthwhile on an evasive creature that can get multiple activations to maintain tempo advantage. Most cubes have a lot of good ETB effects, so it's value goes down the more you have given that the bounce is mandatory.
Anchors -
Supports -
Slip Through Space
Description - Single mana to get your best creature through while being at card parity. Susceptible to a 2 for 1 if they remove your target in response to casting. Almost interchangeable with Shadow Rift with the devoid being mostly flavour text, but if you want to support a colourless deck this might sway you.
Anchors -
Supports - Saboteurs, Colorless Matters
Spell Burst
Description - The effect itself is not great, but could be used as a late game lock, perhaps in a ramp deck... in which case you might be better off ramping into other threats. Regardless, the option is there if that type of deck is your cup of tea.
Anchors -
Supports - Ramp
Spell Snare -
Description - Hits 110 targets out of 360 in the average peasant cube on cubetutor on the cheap. But as a reactive counterspell you have to cast it at the most opportune times. So you may counter a non-ideal threat just because it fits the criteria and you aren't sure when the next one will come along. Restrictive removal can always be cast after something hits the table, but you have a limited window to use this.
Anchors -
Supports -
Spell Pierce
Description - 137 targets out of 360 in the average peasant cube on cubetutor. 42% of nonlands in the cube (324). Though its questionable whether the average cube deck contains the same percentage of noncreatures spells (9-10). Instinct says restricted targets plus reduced usefulness in the late game indicates playable but far from amazing.
Anchors -
Supports -
Thought Scour
Description - Can be viewed simply as an instant speed cantrip. It can support a mill theme, and gives some synergy with dredge or other graveyard matters themes. If you want to support those themes, Mental Note is technically strictly worse, but can give a clearer signal to those new to your cube.
Anchors - Mill
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Turn Aside
Description - While narrow, if your opponent is targeting your stuff with a spell, it's mostly likely to destroy it or permanently disable it... but your opponent may not be playing any, or very few of those spells.
Anchors -
Supports -
Twisted Image
Description - Could be an ok combat trick that cycles, but will depend on the makeup of creature stats in your cube. Can kill 0 power creatures, so this may be stronger if you have a number of those walls in your cube.
Anchors -
Supports -
Unstable Mutation
Description - This can be effective if you are pushing blue aggro. You just want to make sure that after you cast it, you are going to kill them within the next 3 turns. Suffers from the usual 2-for-1 trade on auras.
Anchors - Aggro.
Supports -
Void Snare
Description - Most of the time, Void Snare is going to bounce a creature. In which case, you may as well move to Unsummon / Vapor Snag, which can give you instant speed. Still, the option is here if you really want the flexibility of all permanents, and it does still offer tempo advantage at sorcery speed.
Anchors -
Supports -
Whispers of the Muse
Description - You need a bit of work to make Whispers of the Muse good in your cube. If your cube is fast, Whispers is not going to make it. It costs 6 mana if you want to use it as a card draw engine, for your first buyback. For 13 mana, you can buy it back twice and recast, to replace it with 3 other cards. For 5 mana, you can cast Jace's Ingenuity. It's best upside over Jace is not to forget that it only costs 1 mana. So the likely best use is to cycle it early game, and view the buyback as a bonus.
Anchors -
Supports -
Wind of Zendikon
Description - This is a 2/2 flyer for 1 mana, with the quirky drawback of 'costing' a mana when you attack with it. Once cast, you could always view it as now having the option of swinging for 2 if you don't have enough other ways to maximise your mana... but you probably want to be swinging if you spent a card. At least you aren't a land down permanently if it gets removed.
Anchors -
Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Mana Drain
Description - Occasionally it might just be a counterspell if you top deck it or just don't have anything, but other times it will lead to absolute blowouts, resulting in massive board advantages. Great in any deck with enough islands.
Anchors -
Supports - Control
Mana Leak
Description - Excellent tempo counterspell or early play for a control deck. Only costing a single blue makes it more likely you can cast it on turn 2 over options like Counterspell to stem early aggro, as well as the ability to cast other blue spells while holding up Mana Leak. However it can lose some steam in the late game when they have the 3 mana spare. Can be a good support spell for aggro decks to counter the opponents answers and maintain board pressure.
Anchors -
Supports - Control, Aggro / Tempo
Remand
Description - One of the best tempo plays available. Sure, they get the threat back, but if it required timing or finesse, that is out the window. It can mess with your opponents sequencing, can keep the board clear if you are the agressor, and if you counter a 4+ cmc card and are still using the rest of your mana, you are clearly ahead. On top of that, the card draw keeps you at parity. Excellent whether you need to push your advantage, or just buy some time to get back into the game.
Anchors -
Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Counterspell
Description - It's a baseline for hard counters, but the double blue in conjunction with non-Constructed mana bases can make the U1 soft counters more desirable, depending on the deck. But still a solid counter for most blue based control decks, particularly for long games.
Anchors -
Supports - Control
Daze
Description - Most of the time it is going to be cast in the mid-game when your opponent taps out for a midrange threat, providing you a solid tempo boost while having minor impact on your ability to keep affecting the board.
Anchors -
Supports -
Impulse
Description - Great for digging and finding the answer / threat that you need, and fits in nearly every blue deck. It doesn't enable anything specific; it's just good everywhere. Instant speed lets you dig for the answer you need at the exact time you need it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Into The Roil
Description - Solid and flexible tempo card. Early game you can simply clear an early threat and push a board advantage, and late game you can throw card draw in to maintain card parity.
Anchors -
Supports - Tempo
Jilt
Description - You might consider this a blue+ card, or an Izzet card. There are better pure blue options for creature bounce, but is still ok as just bounce for tempo. When kicked it can clear the board for a turn and usually results in strong tempo advantage while maintaining card parity. The rating reflects how powerful it can be in red / blue decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Singing Bell Strike
Description - Great tempo-based removal for blue. Removes most creatures from the game completely, though in the late game they can untap it if they have nothing else to spend the mana on.
Anchors -
Supports -
Snap
Description - Good tempo card, allowing you to set back your opponent while still using the mana to develop your board. Also supports Storm if you are pushing that. Minor synergies with bouncelands to accelerate, or cast Snap and untap other lands you weren't representing.
Anchors - Tempo
Supports - Storm
Standstill
Description - Standstill is an interesting card because it is either great or it is terrible. If you are in a dominant board position, you can lay it down and your opponent has to respond. If you top deck it while you are behind, it does nothing. For those reasons, it is best in blue-based aggro decks that can get out ahead quickly, forcing the opponent to respond. Also works well with manlands. If your blue section is slow and only control focused, you probably don't want this in your cube.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Arcane Denial
Description - It's the only unconditional counter that doesn't have 2 water drops in its casting cost. It does give your opponent extra cards, but if you are playing the tempo game and just need to keep the board long enough to win, the cards in their hand won't matter. You also get to draw into (hopefully) more tempo-oriented spells to keep the pressure going. In a slower control deck, the card disadvantage is likely to matter more.
Anchors -
Supports -
Boomerang
Description - There are better ways to bounce creatures, but being able to bounce lands puts this in contention. Setting your opponent back in the early game can make this a great tempo play, epecially against lands that enter the battlefield tapped. Brutal against bouncelands if you have them in your card pool. It still plays as creature bounce once your opponent has a stable land base.
Anchors -
Supports - Tempo
Cartouche of Knowledge
Description - As long as you get it into play, the replacement draw mitigates the usual aura drawback, and power boost plus evasion is decent, particularly if your opponent doesn't have an answer. Depending on the board state, can also be a decent top deck.
Anchors -
Supports -
Censor
Description - It will feel good when you hit something, and while the window of opportunity is low, you can also cycle it when it isn't likely to help your game plan any more.
Anchors -
Supports -
Chart a Course
Description - 2 cards for 2 mana is a good deal, and even if you aren't attacking the filtering is still reasonable. It's also fine as a 2 mana enabler for graveyard / reanimation strategies. Aggro decks are happy to play it as an efficient way to get gas in the middle of the game.
Anchors -
Supports -
Compulsion
Description - The filtering can be useful, though is unlikely to make the cut in faster cubes. In slower cubes, the extra time can improve your card quality while helping dump relevant cards in the graveyard for any graveyard matters theme. It has more resiliency than creature based version, and with sufficient mana on the board can help you really dig for the answer you need. Opens up the opportunity for a turn 3 filter plus Reanimate.
Anchors -
Supports - Reanimator / Graveyard Matters
Essence Scatter / False Summoning / Preemptive Strike / Remove Soul
Description - You will always have targets, but the lack of flexibility hurts it a little. You'll sometimes wish you just had a soft counter like Mana Leak in the early game for non-creature threats (e.g. Curse of Predation), but is better in the late game for control decks that want to go long. Sometimes the extra mana matters, but Exclude gives you card advantage for an additional mana and may be the preferred spell.
Anchors -
Supports -
Favorable Winds
Description - Can be used as an anchor card for a Skies deck. Great with cards that put multiple flying tokens into play, like Spectral Procession, Lingering Souls, Midnight Haunting, and Talrand's Invocation, where the boost can add up quickly across multiple creatures.
Anchors - Skies
Supports -
Hands of Binding
Description - It has some high upside, particularly if you can pair it with something evasive. The first cast also makes it more likely you will get through, allowing you to keep a big threat in lockdown, or over a couple of turns guarantee 2 creatures are out of action. Gets more value if your cube has some unblockables, shadow etc.
Anchors -
Supports -
Legacy's Allure
Description - Played on turn 2, this can be a powerful effect to have on the board, forcing your opponent to make hard decisions about what they commit to the board. The instant speed flexibility to activate can make it hard to play around and is therefore resilient to enchantment removal. Once it has enough counters, your opponent has to consider the possibility of activating it end of their turn and then swinging with the target. However, it is situational and if you are behind, it can be a bad top deck unless you are going to survive another few turns.
Anchors -
Supports - Control
Memory Lapse
Description - It's not great if the spell is truly powerful because it will come back next turn, but if the spell required timing, it can be almost as good as a regular counterspell. You also know they have the spell, allowing you to play around it next turn if needed.
Anchors -
Supports -
Miscalculation
Description - The difference between 2 mana here and the 3 mana on Mana Leak is considerable, but this counter serves mostly the same purpose. It just fizzles a bit sooner, but has the bonus of being able to cycle in the late game, or if you just need to draw a threat
Anchors -
Supports -
Narcolespy
Description - Decent blue removal, but it doesn't tap upon casting, which doesn't allow you to get past blockers that turn, and if it has a tap ability, it can still be used in response.
Anchors -
Supports -
One With the Wind
Description - It's efficient enough and can represent a reasonable clock if unanswered, but the standard aura drawbacks apply. Best in environments with a bias towards sorcery speed removal, or looking to give blue some pants support.
Anchors -
Supports - Pants
Prohibit
Description - Decent if a little unexciting. There are a number of decent targets at 2 mana (including most removal). In the late game you probably don't mind paying the kicker cost to hit the majority of targets.
Anchors -
Supports -
Riddleform
Description - A 3/3 flyer for 2 is obviously great, but only if it is on consistently enough. If it is only every other turn it equates to 1.5 damage per turn, but there are a couple of other upsides. With mana open and cards in hand, they might choose not to attack into it, which might make it worth the 2 mana even without a lot of actual activations. It can also provide insurance against sorcery speed removal and sweepers if those are prevalent in your environment.
Anchors -
Supports -
Telekinesis
Description - On it's own, this can take out a creature for 3 attack phases, which is excellent against mid-size creatures or ramp targets if you just need to survive a bit longer. However enchantments like Singing Bell Strike can do that more permanently. The double blue makes it harder to recommend over some of those options.
Anchors - Tempo
Supports -
Think Twice
Description - It's not particularly fast, but it is inevitable card advantage. You aren't going to be particularly excited about it in a dredge deck. Better in control decks full of instants or flash creatures to be able to hold up mana and cast at end of opponents turn if there is nothing better to do.
Anchors -
Supports - Draw/Flash Go
Unsubstantiate
Description - It's card disadvantage, but it is a flexible tempo spell. Two mana is more than Vapor Snag, and bouncing a spell is usually worse than Mana Leaking it, but this is effective at dealing reactively with spells as well as dealing with creatures already on the board.
Anchors -
Supports -
Withdraw
Description - Answering your opponents tapout on turn 4 or 5 and returning 6 or more mana's worth of creatures to their hand is a good beating. The last clause makes it bad in the late game, but decent for a tempo-based deck that just wants to keep the way clear long enough. The double blue isn't terrible, as you won't want to play it in the first few turns. May have some legs in a bounce deck by targeting your own creature with the second effect (they don't need to be controlled by the same player) while also setting your opponents board back. Worth noting that you must have two targets to be able to cast it.
Anchors -
Supports - Bounce
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Agoraphobia
Description - It removes a threat, but you still have to attack into it. However it may still have a place in control decks that just need to shut down early threats.
Anchors -
Supports -
Anticipate
Description - It's worse than Impulse, but it is still playable if you want redundancy of the effect, giving you instant access to the top 3 cards if you need an immediate answer.
Anchors -
Supports -
Call to Heel
Description - Most bounce leans towards your opponents creatures with the upside of targeting yours in a pinch, but this is the opposite. Can help save a creature from removal while generating card advantage, or provide assistance to a bounce deck. In a pinch, you can always clear a blocker or a truly threatening creature.
Anchors - Bounce
Supports -
Chronic Flooding
Description - It doesn't affect the board, but could be useful if you want to go deep for dredge / delve / threshold strategies. Potential for player to assume you have mill win conditions in your cube if they see this without understanding the archetypes you are pushing in your cube.
Anchors - Dredge, Graveyard Matters
Supports -
Confound
Description - It has limited targets, but it counters most removal as well as opposing creature buffs while providing card advantage.
Anchors -
Supports -
Delay
Description - So long as you are going to win in the next 3 turns, it doesn't matter that the spell is coming back. It makes this counterspell a bit narrower than others, but can help give aggro / tempo decks a counterspell that 'hunker down' control won't want. Some spells might fizzle or be less than optimal if they do come back.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro / Tempo
Deprive
Description - It's obviously worse than Counterspell, but is a 2 mana hard counter. You won't be playing it early, but allows you to hold up two mana in the late game when the likes of Mana Leak are too late to be effective. Aggro / tempo decks might have more option to give up the land drop a little earlier, but the soft counters are probably going to be just as effective there.
Anchors -
Supports -
Echoing Truth
Description - Tempo decks are going to much prefer Vapor Snag / Unsummon. There will be occasions where you will want to bounce an artifact or enchantment, but auras and equipment will still fall off if you bounce creatures. The mana difference will be relevant more frequently. This can hose tokens if you want a card to counter those types of decks; consider Disperse if you don't want that effect. Into The Roil is going to strictly better unless you really care about dealing with tokens.
Anchors -
Supports -
Eel Umbra
Description - It's functional, but not exciting. It's best use will be where the +1/+1 is enough to win a combat that was going to be a loss, and then have the totem armor provide a sort of 2 for 1 by surviving another combat. But that is all situational and it is likely to be stranded in your hand for a while.
Anchors -
Supports -
Familiar's Ruse
Description - Counterspell is 'strictly' better because it doesn't have an additional cost, but this has narrow applications in a bounce deck. You might play it outside of that archetype, but it will be inconsistent and sometimes just stranded if you don't have a creature on the board.
Anchors -
Supports -
Ideas Unbound
Description - It can help graveyard based decks, but has minor use outside of that archetype given that it ends up being card disadvantage. It could be used in explosive aggro decks as the last card in hand that it plays in the mid-game, to fill up the hand and cast stuff the same turn, but that is pretty narrow, and the double blue doesn't help.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters, Reanimator, All-out aggro
Jace's Scrutiny
Description - It can win a combat you would normally trade, or just prevent some damage to you if the situation calls for it. It would be bad without the investigate; it isn't efficient but at least you don't end up down a card.
Anchors -
Supports -
Mage's Guile
Description - It's like a narrow counterspell for removal, with some flexibility upside with cycling. Or you could view it as a 1 mana cantrip to make your blue decks smaller with shroud upside.
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Merchant Scroll
Description - It's usefulness will largely depend on other blue instants in your cube and the decks you are pushing, but the narrow target range means it often won't make the cut.
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Military Intelligence
Description - Could be worth it for blue / X aggro decks, particularly for 'Skies' or tempo based aggro, using the card draw to continue to lay down aggro threats, or bouncing / tapping down opponents resources. Can also work in a token deck, but it is the kind of card you want to go to work for you right away, not wait around in your hand. Minor tension with whether to drop this or drop threats first.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro / Tempo
Negate
Description - There are some powerful noncreature spells in cube. This might end up being a sideboard card, but its inclusion in your cube scales with the quality and quantity of your noncreature spells. Other soft counters are more flexible and likely to be more desirable for decks than this.
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Ongoing Investigation
Description - Military Intelligence costs the same and straight up draws you cards, so how different are the conditions? This only requires a single attacker, but it must get through, so it favors evasive creatures. Blue usually has the requisite number in most cubes. Still, it is conditional on how combat normally plays out in your cube. It might not be enough for decks without green, leading you to count it as a Simic card. That ability helps you draw cards while keeping you in the game, so it can be strong there.
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Open into Wonder
Description - It looks a little clunky, but there is certainly some upside to be had. There is opportunity for lots of lines of play, but they will ultimately depend on what you include in your cube. If you support blue aggro / tempo, sending in 2 or 3 guys to get the opponent low and draw into the likes of Undo or Man-o-War could seal the deal. In a control deck that is going wide, you might be able to win in one swing.
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Ovinize
Description - It's not an outright kill spell, but this can serve as blue removal, letting you kill an attacker as long as you have something with at least 1 power to block with. Conditional, but is a blue 'removal' option.
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Perilous Research
Description - At least as an instant, you can sac something that is about to chump or is the target of removal. Provides some minor synergy with sacrifice decks, but most decks will want their card draw to be more flexible. Minor support for sacrifice decks with the likes of Blood Artist / Falkenrath Noble / Hissing Iguanar.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Spectral Flight
Description - It comes with the standard 2 for 1 aura problem, but evasion and a decent boost for a reasonable cost can make this one worth consideration, primarily for decks that want to end games quickly before the opponent can answer the threat.
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Strategic Planning
Description - Let's you filter for card quality, while also being able to dump stuff in the graveyard. At 2 mana, you can either have better digging options with Impulse, or some of the 1 mana cantrips. This might be a swap if you want keep card filtering but give your graveyard matters decks a little push.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Telling Time
Description - Reasonable card filtering. As an instant can help you filter or dig when you need to. Impulse is better because you get to dig a card deeper. While it's definitely a niche archetype, this supports 'top of deck matters' cards.
Anchors -
Supports - Top of Deck Matters
Words of Wisdom
Description - You end up at card parity, but you get to cast it end of turn, so you get to play your 2 new cards first. Could fit in a tempo deck that gets an early board presence and keeps bouncing the opponents permanents, and they won't benefit from the extra cards before they're dead. However it is pretty narrow on that archetype.
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Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Psionic Blast
Description - One of the best burn spells; kills a good spread of creatures, instant speed, can burn face. The damage to yourself is pretty minor in the scheme of things. Some may not include it for color pie reasons, but in terms of power it is one of the best blue spells.
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3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Compulsive Research
Description - You can whiff and end up at card parity, but most times when you cast this you will either have the land already or draw one, making it more likely you get to keep business spells. Fine filtering / digging tool for most decks in general, it's also good for graveyard / reanimator decks to pitch a couple of cards they want in the yard.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Exclude
Description - Countering a spell while generating card advantage is excellent. Creatures are the most prominent card type played, so you will always have targets.
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Propaganda
Description - Great anti-aggro card… possibly too good. Played on curve, it can single-handedly crush aggro's momentum, forcing them to choose between attacking with what is already on the board, or using mana to develop their board. All the while, you get to keep developing your board unhindered. Absence from a cube is usually a conscious choice to make aggro more relevant.
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Repulse
Description -Great tempo play without the cost of a card. You either get to clear out an opposing creature to get your guys through, or just slow down your opponent if you are the control deck. You can cast mid-combat to mess up double-blocks, and in a pinch you can save one of your critical creatures from removal.
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Thirst For Knowledge
Description - Solid inclusion even if you don't have many artifacts in your cube. Decks are more likely to keep 2 cards off of Compulsive Research, but the instant speed here can be important (particularly for reactive control decks), and from a cube design perspective raises the value of other artifacts during the draft process.
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Time of Ice
Description - This can be a beating in aggro if you can curve into it, giving you plenty of time to put the nail in the coffin. Less relevant for a more ontrolling deck as it is inherent card disadvantage, but it does buy some time. It isn't like to come up often, but you can also return your own creatures and re-buy ETB effects if the opportunity arises.
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2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Anchor to the Aether
Description - In aggro decks it can help your early plays get past a blocker, and potentially delay your opponents land development by a turn. On defence it can buy you a turn, but is a little less impactful. It's fine, but is conditional on the board state and the opportunity to take advantage of it.
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Chilling Grasp
Description - It's a strictly better Frost Breath.
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Claustrophobia
Description - It's decent removal for blue. The double blue in the casting cost is not ideal, but once it hits it is more consistent than most other blue options. Probably not significantly better compared to 2 mana variants, but could be fine for larger cubes.
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Cloudform
Description - The mana cost for a 2/2 flyer with hexproof is not a bad base. Manifest is pretty unreliable, but that is essentially upside to the baseline.
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Complicate
Description - Sometimes you get something mid-game, you can cycle it late game when it would otherwise not be valuable, and occasionally you get a blowout when they tap out and you get the 2 for 1.
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Dissolve
Description - It's an ok counterspell, but fights among a whole bunch of other options. It costs more than Counterspell and may not compete quite as well as the 2 mana splashable soft counters, but is among the better of the 3 mana hard counters, with the scry being something that decks that want to counter spells will welcome. Consider it if you want more deck smoothing options, want more hard counters, or just want counters to not be as splashable.
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Forbid
Description - Without providing it specific support the buyback makes you 2 for 1 yourself, but if you have excess lands, or even just cards that like being in the graveyard, it can be worth it. In decks that can generate card advantage over the long game it can lead to lockouts, particularly with something like Land Tax.
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Forbidden Alchemy
Description - For the first casting it seems like a more expensive Impulse, but that effect at 3 mana is still reasonable even if you are just in blue. It has the obvious upside of being able to be cast a second time in Dimir decks, but it also dumps cards in the graveyard, which can be relevant depending on the rest of your cube, while also being a card that doesn't mind being dumped into the graveyard itself (7 mana is significant, but most graveyard decks want to go long anyway).
Anchors - Control
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Frantic Search
Description - You end up at card disadvantage, but you get improved card quality with no tempo loss. If you play bouncelands, Wild Growth etc you can even net mana. If you are digging for answers, you may get to play the answer straight away, plus the discard can help enable graveyard shenanigans. It's the perfect card if you want to support reanimator; discard your fattie, find your reanimation spell and cast it straight away. The inherent card disadvantage means you won't just throw it in any deck, but it enables a lot of things without much work. Fine for storm, supporting Illusory Angel etc.
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Supports - Graveyard Matters, Storm, Reanimator
Ghostly Flicker
Description - Solid for the blink archetype but sometimes playable elsewhere. The baseline can let you block and then flicker them as a peseudo-Fog. Obviously great with enter the battlefield effects, and can reset creatures with vanishing / fading, reset cards with limited counters like Serrated Arrows etc. If you flicker Eternal Witness, you can get the Ghostly Flicker back while flickering some other ETB creature repeatedly.
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Supports - Blink
Grip of the Roil
Description - Frost Lynx and Stitched Mangler give you mostly the same effect, but put a creature on the board instead of a card in your hand. Upsides here is that it is instant, so you can prevent two attacks instead of preventing two blocks. It might be a better choice than the creature versions if you want to push a control deck that buys time, where the card draw might be more relevant. Instant + card flow also helps spells matters decks, and the surge fits nicely there as well.
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Supports - Spells Matter
Hour of Need
Description - In the mid to late game, it can turn a couple of your early stallers into real threats. The fact that it can do it at instant speed means it can be used as a combat trick before blocks, or on the opponents end step to come in swinging with a couple of Sphinx's.
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Magic Word
Description - If you don't mind the Un- aspect, it is a reasonable piece of blue removal. It can tap down immediately and every turn. Marginal upsides that it works even if your opponent can untap the target, with occasional downside compared to versions that don't let them untap (pingers or cards that tap for effect).
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Probe
Description - As a blue card, the base effect is reasonable card filtering. It keeps you at card parity but you get to see three new cards and it can support graveyard matters themes. You could either classify it as a 'blue+' card or a Dimir card; casting it with kicker is solid but is fine just as a blue card.
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Rushing River
Description - A decent and flexible bounce option. Paying 3 mana for the base mode isn't the most efficient, but most times you will pay the kicker and being able to bounce two creatures at instant speed is very strong. The land sacrifice isn't nothing, but you either don't play it on curve (you probably want to wait for optimum targets anyway) or you play it in low curve decks in the first place where the sacrifice doesn't matter so much.
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Slow Motion
Description - Reasonable tempo card. It can help stall the opponent early by costing them 2 each turn. They can choose to lose the creature and develop their board or cast something else, but you start generating card advantage. Eventually they can just afford the payment and it might be a poor top deck, but early this can be very disruptive.
Anchors -
Supports - Prison
Sphinx's Tutelage
Description - An anchor build-around card for a mill control deck. Perhaps the best repeat option, as sometimes it will mill for more than 2 naturally. The activated ability is incidental upside, but can help you accelerate the mill while also filtering for better spells. It's a build around that needs a couple of redundant options to be worth including.
Anchors - Mill
Supports -
Undo
Description - Solid bounce spell that can be a real tempo hit to your opponent. It's hard to say needing two targets is a downside (as you really want 2 anyway), but you can always target one of your own ETB creatures while setting your opponent back one of their creatures.
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War Tax
Description - Decent anti-aggro card. Some cube owners may include this as a fairer version of Propaganda, as this requires you to provide ongoing investment, but can also provide a higher upside in the late game.
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1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Call to Mind
Description - It's a narrow card for the spells matters deck. You probably just want the effect stapled to a creature, but it is a sorcery itself. You may want to consider Mystic Retrieval and Pull from the Deep.
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Capsize
Description - It is going to be too slow for some cubes, but you might include it in your cube to support 'lock' decks that can just keep bouncing opponents stuff, particularly in ramp decks. 3 mana is far from ideal for a one-shot bounce spell, but you always have that option. The buyback does provide fringe support to trigger repeat spells matters cards.
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Supports - Spells Matter
Containment Membrane
Description - It doesn't tap down the creature, but it will keep it locked down. The surge cost is also really cheap, making it easy to fit in alongside another play and the main reason you would consider playing it instead of more consistent blue removal. It's in a weird place; the surge cost makes you want to play it alongside beaters in an aggro / tempo deck, but because it doesn't tap down blockers it loses value there.
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Crow Storm
Description - At peasant, it's probably just a bit too… fair. You really want 3 tokens to at least feel like you got enough, and at least 4 to feel like you are getting away with something. Getting three requires you to play two OTHER spells and then spend another 3 mana on this. You would want to have heavy support for storm to consider it. The tokens being evasive makes it reasonable if you can pump out a number of them.
Anchors - Storm
Supports -
Curse of Inertia
Description - Most common use will be to shut down a blocker, which might be fine for aggro decks to push through, probably serving those decks better than something like Claustrophobia because you can always change the target if you don't care as much at being attacked back. Can also give something 'vigilance' if it makes sense. Corner cases of being able to re-use tap abilities, or even casting an extra spell off a land / accelerator untap. Corner cases aside, bodies attached, ala Frost Lynx and Stitched Mangler, are probably going to serve better in most decks.
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Curse of the Bloody Tome
Description - If you are pushing control decks that can mill out an opponent, Sphinx's Tutelage is your first option, but you probably want a few redundant pieces if you are pushing that type of deck and this has a one-time cost.
Anchors - Mill
Supports -
Displace
Description - It's a strictly worse Ghostly Flicker as it only hits creatures. Larger cubes might be in the market for both if they are pushing the blink / flicker / bounce archetype and you don't want to break singleton.
Anchors - Flicker / Bounce
Supports -
Dissipate
Description - Other hard counters are more effective against the field in general; Counterspell is more efficient, and Dissolve helps smooth your deck. However, against certain cards / decks this may be better by turning off recursion elements, keeping them off threshold etc. Consider it if you want to include some ways of counteracting those strategies.
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Dominate
Description - It's a Control Magic variant that can't be undone by enchantment removal and can be played mid-combat. However, it can be prohibitively expensive. You might play it if you are depowering your 'removal', and it does become a bit more playable in ramp decks.
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Encrust
Description - The biggest downside of Encrust is that it doesn't tap down the creature, which makes this less useful in aggro decks to turn off blockers. However, it does turn off activated abilities that might be relevant occasionally, and it does hit artifacts so it can shut down equipment, Crystal Shard's etc.
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Exhaustion
Description - In the right scenarios it can have high impact, but is conditional on those scenarios happening. Against aggro, you get to take a turn off from taking damage while disallowing them another turn to set up their board. In a race situation, you get two consecutive swings. But it starts getting a lot worse if they aren't tapped out.
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Fowl Play
Description - It doesn't lock or tap down like similar options, but removing static abilities is unique for blue removal, and can shut down things like Guttersnipe which other blue removal won't. Makes it better for control decks to slow the opponent. Slightly less good in aggro because they can still block with it, but you would still play it there to remove bigger threats once they come online. Downsides compared to other blue removal is that it doesn't help you deal with positive auras or +1/+1 counters, and they don't suffer tempo loss if the creature was equipped (they don't have to re-equip to something else).
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Ojutai's Breath
Description - Instead of drawing a card like Grip of the Roil, you essentially draw and play another copy next turn. Other versions, particularly those attached to creatures, are generally better, however this one may get the slight nod in environments that are pushing spells matters themes.
Anchors -
Supports - Spells Matters
Retreat to Coralhelm
Description - Being able to tap creatures down each turn is solid, but it will be inconsistent. Because lands will mostly hit play on your turn, you can't really use it defensively.
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Tinker
Description - You have to warp your cube around an artifact matters theme to include it. There isn't any redundancy for this effect to find big artifact creatures, and there are few targets to begin with (most of our playable big monsters are Eldrazi). Which leaves the most likely plays being a toolbox approach with some utility artifacts. Could work with some thopter tokens or Clues.
Anchors - Artifact Matters
Supports -
Void Shatter
Description - Only if you want to swap out another counterspell to provide incidental colorless matters support.
Anchors -
Supports - Colorless Matters
Whisk Away
Description - It's a waste on a blocker, but can be an ok stalling tactic against attackers. Anchor to the Aether doesn't need attacking creatures but this can be used in response to opponents combat tricks and mess with the opponent mid-turn.
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Windfall
Description - It can be a reward card for aggro decks that empty their hand fast, or that have plenty of bounce / temop plays to keep the opponents hand full, so you can restock your hand. Many cubes promote a low curve, so the likelihood of being consistent is low, but it might make sense for some cubes.
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Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Control Magic
Description - Excellent card, taking their best creature and adding it to your board, so it's the best type of board affecting 2 for 1. It works anywhere, whether it is an aggro deck removing a blocker while adding an attacker for next turn, or a control deck just looking to remove a threat and gain a blocker so it can get to the late game, or even use the stolen creature as the finisher.
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Fact or Fiction
Description - EOTFOFYL is still pretty applicable at peasant (End of Turn, Fact or Fiction, You Lose). The premier 'card draw' spell in blue. It's easy for the opponent to make 'mistakes' when separating the piles, creating a pile that perfectly complements what is already in your hand. Plus you get to select what goes into your graveyard, making it even better for decks that care about graveyard synergies. There are occasions where you whiff (e.g. 4 lands and a mediocre spell), but it's rare not to get more than your mana's worth.
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Talrand's Invocation
Description - Great bodies for what you are paying, and by being a sorcery supports spells matters decks while putting bodies on the board. You would play it in the majority of blue decks.
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3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Ray of Command
Description - Solid combat trick on defense while being a reasonable aggro card. Stealing an attacking creature and blocking another is excellent, particularly if they trade. Sometimes you are only facing a single creature or the stats don't line up, but you'll usually find a trade. You can always use it offensively like any Threaten effect, but the instant speed really gives it room to breathe in a lot of decks.
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Tezzeret's Gambit
Description - Most consider this a colorless card. Divination is usually not considered great, but the proliferate can help support some themes while giving card draw to colors that get little.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Abduction
Description - It has an upside over Control Magic when you cast it, by untapping the creature and potentially giving you a blocker you didn't have access to. There is a downside of course; they get the creature back in the face of removal or if it dies in combat. Timing of removal might lead to occasional blowouts, but the tempo of a temporary 2 for 1 can still add up.
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Aetherize
Description - It has the opportunity to stabilise the board, and particularly good against token swarms.
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Binding Grasp
Description - It's 'worse' than Control Magic, but it isn't strictly worse, and still fine it its own right. You might play it if you want to go deep on this effect or you want to depower Control Magic.
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Careful Consideration
Description - It sees four cards which is solid if you are trying to find something particular. You need to cast it during your main phase if you want to get card advantage, so it's best for cubes that care more about card selection or getting cards in the graveyard.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Concentrate
Description - It's basic but effective enough 3 for 1 card draw. You might consider Jace's Ingenuity which has more lines of play due to instant speed (supporting flash / go types of control decks).
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Supports -
Deep Analysis
Description - The first hard cast isn't efficient, but this card has some flexibility. 6 mana and some life for 4 cards is decent, and you can always discard it or mill it and just get the mana efficient side.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Dismiss
Description - The casting cost itself is not efficient, so if you have mana open you might be willing to counter anything. However it is a 2 for 1 which can make it playable in control decks to get ahead in the midgame.
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Domestication
Description - It's fine as a Control Magic alternative; the targets are more limited, but it's still a 2 for 1. In a pinch, you can steal their Pelakka Wurm or whatever for a turn if you just need to get a blocker out of the way.
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Foresee
Description - It digs deep. It's perfectly fine but interchangeable with a lot of other card filtering / draw. If your cube leans towards cute synergies or combos, its value goes up a little.
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Glimmer of Genius
Description - Solid card draw. Combo of scry and draw 2 at instant speed means you are likely to get business spells (or lands if you building towards a big play). The energy is just bonus at that point.
Anchors -
Supports - Flash / Go
Krovikan Whispers
Description - It's a Control Magic variant with a scary looking drawback, but stealing a creature is such a strong base effect that it is often still going to be worth it. The drawback does make it slightly more oriented for aggro decks, where they intend to win before the cumulative upkeep matters, or don't care if they lose a few points of life if the creature dies in a trade while keeping up the pressure.
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Supports -
Sleep
Description - Can act as a finisher in aggressive or midrange decks. If the alpha strike doesn't get them, the followup often will. It's bad when you are behind, but at least it can act as a Fog in a pinch.
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Turnabout
Description - The ultimate modal spell. It's most likely to do a poor impression of Sleep, but as this is instant you can ensure their entire team is tapped down if cast end of turn (they can't play extra blockers).It does have a few other uses; you can tap down their land during their upkeep, or untap your team after they attack. The rest are corner cases.
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Zephid's Embrace
Description - If you want a blue power pumping aura, this is a solid option. The combination of abilities makes it hard to deal with; flying reduces the creatures your opponents can throw in its path, if the creature had any decent stats to begin with the stats boost further reduces the likelihood they can effectively block or attack into it, and the shroud means they can't use spot removal either. Similarly, if you are currently behind, the shroud means your blocker can sit back and wait without fear of being blown out by spot removal.
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Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Chamber of Manipulation
Description - It's a little bit of investment, but stealing creatures at instant speed is powerful. It doesn't untap them or give them haste, so it becomes a bit narrower, but it does still challenge a developed board; does your opponent attack with everything which might include some easy blocks for you, or leave something back that you could steal and block with? Can also be decent in a deck with sacrifice outlets.
Anchors -
Supports -
Choking Tethers
Description - You may want to consider Turnabout or Sleep for a similar effect, which is likely to replicate the main mode in a lot of cases. This does have the advantage of having a secondary cycling mode when you are behind to stop a big creature from hitting you while looking for answers.
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Supports -
Coastal Discovery
Description - It has upside of being a potential threat later in the game, but the baseline is worse than a lot of other card draw. You probably only want to cube it if you have other synergies like manlands you can make bigger or other cards that care about lands.
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Coastal Piracy
Description - Repeat card draw is great, as long as your creatures can get through, but you might be better served with a creature that has this ability, or with a straight up card draw spell; this needs to draw you 4 cards to be better than Concentrate. So only for grindy cubes where that is likely to happen at least occasionally.
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Cumber Stone
Description - Fine for control decks that want to slow the opponent down, and can shut down some go wide / token decks. Dampening Pulse as an alternative or double up to support a soft lock deck.
Anchors - Prison
Supports -
Dampening Pulse
Description - Fine for control decks that want to slow the opponent down, and can shut down some go wide / token decks. Cumber Stone as an alternative or double up to support a soft lock deck.
Anchors - Prison
Supports -
Dream Tides
Description - The nongreen clause is likely what turns people away from playing it (I'd houserule it), but it functions similarly to Propaganda; it doesn't hit vigilance creatures, but it does hit tap abilities. It does hit your own creatures though which makes it considerably worse. You might include it if going deep on prison decks.
Anchors - Prison
Supports -
Ensnare
Description - It taps your creatures, so the only time you really want to play this is on your opponents end step, just before your team untap. The 'free' cost means you can curve out and then tap down if you are ahead for an alpha swing, though Sleep is often going to be a better card. It can still shut down an attack phase after the opponent plays something beneficial pre-combat, and on the odd occasion you might be able to use the bounced lands as another resource or get extra landfall triggers. Still pretty conditional compared to other options.
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Fortune's Favor
Description - It's an interesting mini-game, but is obviously weaker than its inspiration, Fact or Fiction. Inclusion is probably because you like the decision trees it represents, as opposed to pure power level.
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Illusionist's Stratagem
Description - You need to get value out of the flickering to be really ahead, and the 4 mana can be hard to find. It's hard to be really behind if you cast it in response to removal or combat tricks. In a pinch you can use it to save blockers who are chumping without being down a card, albeit at a tempo hit. It's super grindy, but you can get cute with Mnemonic Wall, Eternal Witness etc.
Anchors - Blink
Supports -
Levitation
Description - There are going to be some scenarios where this is great (drop it, alpha strike over the top), but it's fairly situational on the board state. Wonder isn't the same (you can't immediately alpha strike), but that card is better if you are behind as it at least gives you a blocker first if that is what you need.
Anchors -
Supports -
Mystical Teachings
Description - It supports a pretty narrow band of decks, but you'd play it in a flash / go deck, or just a Dimir control deck looking to find its instant speed removal and grind the 2 for 1 later in the game.
Anchors -
Supports - Flash / Go
Pull From The Deep
Description - It's a narrow support card for the spells matters deck. It's conditional on having the right targets in the graveyard, but at least you are getting 2 business spells for your mana.
Anchors - Spells Matters
Supports -
Rewind
Description - On paper Rewind looks great; counter a spell without it costing you anything. But you do have to keep 4 mana open, and then for the 'free' aspect to matter, you have to be able to spend that 4 mana on something else. It's a fine card for flash / go decks to counter something and then cast an instant speed threat, but it can be awkward in decks not designed to take advantage of the free mana.
Anchors -
Supports -
Tricks of the Trade
Description - It suffers from the usual 2 for 1 risks from auras, but the upside of putting your opponent on a decent clock may be worth it. Blue is not usually the colour for 'pants' decks, but this can be a way to bleed that deck into blue, but it can also be good on saboteurs, with blue being a primary colour for that archetype. If you are playing all the top-tier instant speed removal, then this is probably not worth cubing.
Anchors -
Supports - Saboteurs
Wash Out
Description - It might be subpar depending on the matchup, but against a deck heavily leaning on one creature it has high upside. Can also be a sweeper against token strategies if you want to support that type of interaction or have an answer to them.
Anchors -
Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Force of Will
Description - You two for one yourself most of the time, but it doesn't cost you any mana so it can be a tempo hit for your opponent. A U/x aggro deck is probably happy to play it so it can develop the board while disrupting the opponent… as long as it has a blue card to exile. It's less important at peasant than in rare cubes that are chock full of broken cards, but answering a critical threat for free is still good.
Anchors -
Supports -
Gush
Description - It's the alternate mode that really makes this card (though you can hard cast it). If you are stuck on 4 lands, you can tap them, return 2 Islands to your hand, then replay one so you cast your 5-drop. Mid to late game, you get to mitigate one of the drawbacks of most draw spells; the tempo loss. In the late game, you can often just cast Gush and then cast 1 or 2 other spells. It also opens up some other lines of play with effects requiring a discard; a Psychatog with a single card in hand might not be too threatening, but if that card is Gush, it can be worth 6 damage. Also consider higher if you care about landfall.
Anchors -
Supports -
Mind Control / Persuasion
Description - Control Magic is strictly better, but at 5 mana the ability is still very strong. It can either be a second Control Magic, and some cube owners have been known to 'depower' Control Magic and play this instead.
Anchors -
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Jace's Ingenuity
Description - Elegant and efficient. It isn't overly powerful, but is simple and effective enough that it forms a baseline to compare other card draw against.
Anchors -
Supports -
Psychic Spiral
Description - It can be a control finisher, as long as you provide it with enough support. If your control decks are full of 1 for 1 trades, or a lot of incidental self-mill or card filtering, then this can be a win condition. Note that it is inherent card disadvantage, and the improvement to card quality will take several turns to equal a card, so don't cube it unless you have decks that can win with it.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Tidings
Description - Drawing 4 cards is a decent amount; this might be a choice if you want your control decks to take risks and tap out instead of hold counter magic and cast instant speed card draw. If you are in stable position, those extra cards are going to add up. Sits in a similar power level to Jace's Ingenuity and Opportunity, but you'd cube those if you want decks that lean more towards 'draw / go'.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Honden of Seeing Winds
Description - It is one of few cards that, on its own, can draw you a card every turn without any further investment. You could just play Jace's Ingenuity for the same cost for instant cards, but if you've stabilised and heading for the long game you are likely to overwhelm the opponent with card advantage. It can be played on its own, but you are probably only cubing it as part of a Shrines package.
Anchors - Shrines
Supports -
Pore Over the Pages
Description - Interesting design, in that the untap clause potentially lets you cast something you draw (particularly if you are on more than 5 lands), mitigating some of the drawback of sorcery speed card draw (doing nothing to affect the board that turn), although it nets you less cards than something like Jace's Ingenuity. The discard provides some incidental graveyard matters support, and it will feel more at home in cubes with bouncelands or Wild Growth variants.
Anchors -
Supports -
Quicksilver Geyser
Description - Undo seems a lot better, but this does do instant speed and can hit artifacts and enchantments if it needs to.
Anchors -
Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Treasure Cruise
Description - One of blue's better card spells, simply because you can often wait until it is going to be really cheap before refilling your hand. The number of looting and self-mill cards in your cube can play a part in how often it is excellent, but even without them general attrition can still make it cheap.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Confiscate
Description - It's a catch all, though creatures will be the most prominent target. Even at 6 mana, removing your opponents best thing and adding it to your board is still reasonable. Give it more consideration over Control Magic / Mind Control if you play the powerful nonbasic lands or artifacts.
Anchors -
Supports -
Mirror Match
Description - It is fairly unique in its effect, and can really turnaround a combat. For creatures with toughness greater than power, you can always multi-block with your other creatures. You also get any ETB effects. It won't always be amazing (sometimes it will be Fog) but it can lead to stellar blowouts.
Anchors -
Supports -
Opportunity
Description - Drawing 4 cards on your opponents end step is probably going to make them groan. If you only want one instant draw 3+ spell, Jace's Ingenuity is a similar consideration; this gives you an additional card, but will suck if you are on 5 lands for multiple turns.
Anchors -
Supports -
Rise from the Tides
Description - It's conditional and high variance, but if it puts half a dozen zombies on the battlefield you are probably going to be pretty happy (as long you don't die before you untap). You just need enough spells to make spell-heavy control decks viable, but you can maximise its value in your cube by including self-mill and card filtering to morph it into a graveyard matters strategy as well.
Anchors - Spells Matters
Supports - Graveyard Matters
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Amnesia
Description - It's fairly unique in blue. There are more efficient ways in other colours to control your opponents hand, but this can give blue control a way to be more proactive in attacking the opponent. You may want to have artifact ramp in your cube so that it isn't a blank too often.
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Arbor Elf
Description - Excellent card for helping accelerate your plays. Only the most marginal downside over mana-generating contemporaries (can't create mana if your green source is not from a Forest, rare occasions where your untap on the stack is responded to in a meaningful way), but has other upsides if your card pool includes Wild Growth, Utopia Sprawl, Dawn's Reflection etc. Arbor Elf on turn 1 followed by either Wild Growth or Utopia Sprawl can lead into 4-drops being possible on turn 2. Other synergies are marginal, but can interact with Genju of the Cedars and other land animation effects, or the likes of Squirrel Nest.
Anchors -
Supports - Midrange, Ramp
Experiment One
Description - Excellent turn 1 play for an aggro/midrange deck that can follow up with almost anything to start making it bigger. Doesn't require much in the way of support to make it good.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro, Midrange
Joraga Treespeaker
Description - Among the top green mana accelerators; there isn't much better than a turn 1 Treespeaker, turn 2 level up into some more acceleration. Has some marginal upside with a full level up with some token themes.
Anchors -
Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Elvish Mystic / Fyndhorn Elves / Llanowar Elves
Description - This is a solid staple for greens mana acceleration plan, whether into midrange, into a 2nd turn Cultivate for ramp decks, or helping control deck set up. In an aggro deck, it can even beat down for 1 and provide support later. It's not uncommon for cubes to include more than 1 of these if the cube owner doesn't care about functional reprints.
Anchors -
Supports -
Kessig Prowler
Description - Not everyone supports green aggro, but if you do this is probably the premier 1-drop in the colour. If you get to transform it, it may be difficult for some opponents to deal with effectively.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro
Wild Nacatl
Description - It almost forces you into red or white, but as a 2/2 for 1 mana, this is good value. If you get it to 3/3, that's just gravy.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Gnarlwood Dryad
Description - A 1/1 deathtoucher is fine, though it may compete with Wasteland Viper; some cubes might want both. Your opponent might let a 1/1 wander past their troops, but once it becomes a 3/3 it becomes a bit harder to ignore.
Anchors -
Supports -
Jungle Lion
Description - Has a place in aggro decks that just want to be swinging.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
Narnam Renegade
Description - Solid deathtoucher as a baseline, but with decent upside if you can turn on revolt.
Anchors -
Supports -
Scythe Leopard
Description - It only fits green aggro decks, but this can be a card to help push that particular deck. It needs the support of similar aggro cards to be worthwhile.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
Twinblade Slasher
Description - While mildly mana intensive to activate, the wither can help get around some low power/high toughness blockers that might be floating around in your cube.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro
Wasteland Viper
Description - Seems decent for green aggro. It either pings through for damage, or can trade with anything. Can also use bloodrush to take out larger threats and survive fights, or in a pinch deal that extra damage to the opponent.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro
Young Wolf
Description - It doesn't need any support and is not a threat before dying, but is likely to keep pinging through for damage because your opponent doesn't want to block it. Can be ok as a chump blocker that upgrades or useful as a sacrificial lamb.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Avacyn's Pilgrim
Description - As a general ability, the acceleration ability is solid regardless of colour produced. However most cube owners are likely to consider this a Selesnya card (which is what it will signal), and it isn't exciting for those limited slots however.
Anchors -
Supports -
Basking Rootwalla
Description - This is marginal as an aggro 1-drop due to the threat of activation, though if you do activate it, it slows down your development. Madness is fine if you want to maximise a looter etc, but this is unlikely to influence your decision to include it in your cube. Almost strictly worse than Twinblade Slasher as the madness is rarely going to be relevant.
Anchors -
Supports -
Blisterpod - 1
Description - Not a particularly thrilling card, but if you are trading with 2/1's or 3/1's you end up on top. If you are facing off against an aggressive deck, trading / chumping and then using the once off acceleration can be a decent play to get out bigger threats. Minor support for token theme or sacrifice decks.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Boreal Druid
Description - It accelerates, even if it is colorless. This still has value in cubes, but there are a lot of options that produce coloured mana. This could make the cut if you are supporting some form of snow in your cube.
Anchors -
Supports -
Elves of Deep Shadow
Description - Another mana accelerator. As with other non-green mana critters, this signals a specific direction even though it is decent in non-black decks. Damage knocks its stock down slightly, but most of the time you will be happy to take the hit and accelerate.
Anchors -
Supports -
Elvish Herder
Description - It's in the color of decent-sized creature, but requires the right conditions to be decent. Can support ramp creatures that don't have trample, or help step over chump token blockers.
Anchors -
Supports - Ramp
Elvish Pioneer
Description - Has some upside over mana accelerators; they can be more easily removed than a land being put on the table. On the downside, Elvish Pioneer is a terrible top deck. This inconsistency limits its appeal.
Anchors -
Supports -
Essence Warden
Description - Life gain isn't going to be relevant most of the time. You'll get more out of it if you support tokens (and may keep you in the come against aggro decks whgile you build a critical mass of them) but not too exciting. Has little value in the late game.
Anchors -
Supports -
Ghazban Ogre
Description - It's hard to ensure you can manage the drawback, but with strong aggro support in green this might find a place.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro
Gladecover Scout
Description - Requires the support of the Voltron deck (equips and auras), but can be solid as a first turn play in that deck to follow up. Without that, he is a vanilla 1/1 most of the time and not worth a place in your cube.
Anchors - Voltron
Supports-
Granger Guildmage
Description - Off-colour activation is not great, but a pinger often has impact on the board.
Anchors -
Supports -
Groundskeeper
Description - Gets a mention for being the only repeatable effect like this. Has specific synergies with Constant Mists, Genjus, looters, retrace cards, and Forbid. While those synergies exist, adding 1G to those effects will create a slow engine. Perhaps the biggest knock is that there is no redundancy, meaning your inclusion should support other themes, not push its own archetype.
Anchors -
Supports -
Ivy Elemental
Description - It's always going to be smaller than whatever you could cast for the same mana cost. It's flexible, but you are probably going to feel slightly underwhelmed in most cases when you cast it. Probably the only reason to give it real consideration is if you are pushing +1/+1 counters themes pretty hard.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Nettle Sentinel
Description - Can work in heavy-green aggro deck, as a turn 1 play should be able to attack without much of a drawback.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
Pouncing Jaguar
Description - Needs the support of other aggro cards, but is unexciting.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
Quirion Ranger
Description - Has utility, but most cubes don't have a lot of creatures that tap for effect that you would want to use this for. Can still set up blocks after you've attacked, get out from some opponents tap effects. It can also re-use mana accelerators, replay Forets for landfall triggers, and if you don't have a land drop for the turn, pseudo-acceleration. While those synergies exist, they aren't high impact most of the time.
Anchors -
Supports -
Rogue Elephant
Description - Only fits into aggro, and the loss of a land is a decent hit to your development. Played alongside something else around turn 3 is probably the sweet spot to maintain early pressure.
Anchors -
Supports -
Scattershot Archer
Description - It's application is pretty limited, but may differ depending in your cube. Most likely targets are spirit and bird tokens, with a few other x/1's in blue. You might be able to use this in conjunction with a blocker to take something out, but generally this is pretty narrow. Has downside of hitting your creatures too should you have any.
Anchors -
Supports -
Scythe Tiger
Description - Similar to Rogue Elephant, this can suit an aggro deck. It loses out on a point of toughness, allowing 2/x's to trade with it, but the shroud can prevent you from getting effectively 2 for 1'd.
Anchors -
Supports -
Servant of the Scale
Description - If you are going to play a 1/1, being able to transfer a single +1/+1 counter upon death is ok, but not exciting. It's value goes up if you support a +1/+1 theme where there is sufficient opportunity for it to get more counters. Has synergy with Cenn's Tactician.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Skarrgan Pit-Skulk
Description - It's not a 1 drop you want to play on turn 1, but can support a Sligh style deck full of 1 and 2 drops.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro
Skyshroud Archer
Description - Scattershot Archer is probably better, because it gives you extra toughness and hits everything at once. Minor upside is that this sometimes you might be able to make larger creatures small enough to survive a block. But it has limited targets and only useful in very specific board states.
Anchors -
Supports -
Spore Frog
Description - It's a fog effect, which is something. Given that you have to have it on the board, it doesn't provide the surprise of most Fog effects. Being a creature opens it up to potential recursion, but it's a bit of work.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sunblade Elf
Description - Decent card for Selesnya, if not terribly exciting. Secondary ability does have some synergy with token strategies, which often happen to be in those colours. However you need to be looking for a 1 mana 2/2 for those colours or have the pump ability be very relevant to consider it over other options.
Anchors -
Supports -
Taunting Elf
Description - Narrow applications. Can be used as a 'finisher', but beware removal. You can swing in with everything, this dies to removal and then your opponent can eat your attackers. Most decks will want better forms of evasion than this.
Anchors -
Supports -
Thornscape Apprentice
Description - The tap down effect is good, but forcing it into two colours makes it less likely to find its way into both decks and cubes. The first strike is not particularly appealing; it's upside to what is essentially a Selesnya card.
Anchors -
Supports -
Tinder Wall - 1
Description - This can be used to stall early in a game if required, with some minor upside of being able to kill something it blocks. The bigger upside is usually to accelerate into something else. Can be used as a Gruul monster ramp card, but it's perfectly fine in a non-red ramp deck. It can also be used aggressively, either as turn 1 play into 2 red 1-drops, or into a turn 2 Lava Hounds/Blastoderm etc. Like Dark Ritual, it might not be worth the card disadvantage, but it does have more flexibility than pure acceleration.
Anchors -
Supports -
Veteran Explorer
Description - It can be good where the symmetry works more in your favour, which is mostly against aggro decks, so you can ramp into bigger spells. It might make it a sideboard card some of the time, but can at least absorb an attack while accelerating you.
Anchors -
Supports -
Wild Dogs
Description - Can still switch sides once it is on the board, but downside mostly mitigated by being able to cycle.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Duskwatch Recruiter
Description - Excellent frontside, let alone transformed. It's a fine 2-drop at any point in the game, allowing you to dig into your deck for gas. Playing it on turn 2, you can play its ability and just pass the turn to get it to flip, then next turn you might be able to cast multiple creatures. Sure, he will flip back, but sometimes you will actually WANT the frontside. Can be a must-kill creature; if you stabilise with this on the board, you can play attrition while generating card advantage.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sakura-Tribe Elder
Description - Excellent accelerator and fixer while also able to be a 'free' speed bump, stemming damage in the early game against aggro, or even a large late game threat. Possibly the only time you wouldn't play it is in a blistering fast green/x aggro deck that doesn't want to take time off from swinging.
Anchors -
Supports -
Wall of Roots
Description - Can stall early aggro for a couple of turns while still getting value from the acceleration. Can help squeeze out extra value by providing mana in your opponents turn if you have combat tricks, flash creatures, or instant speed activated abilities. Top tier accelerator
Anchors -
Supports - Flash / Go, Ramp
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Devoted Druid
Description - It lets you untap on turn 3 into 5 mana if you hit your land drop, which can lead to an explosive start. You wouldn't rely on it, but you might eke out 3 or more mana in a single turn if you can boost it's toughness.
Anchors -
Supports - Ramp
Jade Mage
Description - It might not make the cut is super-fast aggro decks, but even there it gives you something to do with spare mana. Left alone a while it can build a solid board state that is useful to most types of decks. Can be a contributor to a sacrifice deck, or a more controlling version of a token deck.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens, Sacrifice
Leafcrown Dryad
Description - Its flexibility makes it solid. 2/2 with reach isn't setting the world on fire, but is still ok in a range of decks. The bestow is where it shines, giving you the option of setting up a strong defensive creature, or just keeping up pressure by casting and then swinging. Supplementary support for enchantment matters theme if you include them in your cube. To n00b1n8tR, it is a crime not to consider the art in your evaluation.
Anchors -
Supports - Voltron, Enchantment Matters
Mire Boa
Description - The swampwalk may turn some cubers away as it punishes black, but a 2/1 that regenerates for a single mana is solid in aggro decks to survive combat where it would usually trade, or to sit back in a more controlling deck and ward off attacks.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro
Nest Invader
Description - A bear+ that provides some synergies for a few different types of decks. The additional mana on the following turn can help cement a board prescence for aggro / midrange decks. It fits into sacrifice decks, and works particularly well with the morbid ability. It doesn't set the world on fire for token decks, but helps you go wide if you have power boosters. At worst in a control deck, you get a couple of blockers against early aggro decks to survive until you can make your late plays.
Anchors -
Supports -
River Boa
Description - The islandwalk may turn some cubers away as it punishes blue, but a 2/1 that regenerates for a single mana is solid in aggro decks to survive combat where it would usually trade, or to sit back in a more controlling deck and ward off attacks.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro
Strangleroot Geist
Description - Good enough upside to consider double green on a 2-drop. Swings for 2 on turn 2 with a good degree of resiliency. Even on the defensive, starting at 2 power and upgrading to 3 means you will usually have the opportunity for a couple of trades. Also has some value in getting a couple of uses from sacrifice decks.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Wall of Blossoms
Description - Solid for ramp or control decks, providing an early blocker without the cost of a card. It's not a juicy target for bounce decks, but can get some card draw going for that deck if it needs it.
Anchors -
Supports - Ramp, Bounce
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Ainok Survivalist
Description - It will depend on your stance on morph, but is a reasonable piece of enchantment / artifact removal. It costs 5 mana if you need that removal right now, but the morph options mean you can break down those costs depending on the game state. Sometimes you might just need a 2-drop to sequence your plays and hit your curve.
Anchors -
Supports -
Albino Troll
Description - The echo can make it harder to sequence, but you can always drop it turn 2 to stem some early aggro until you can hit your regen mana. In an aggro deck you aren't going to want to pay for your 2 drop twice, but the 'split' cost of echo can can help you drop 2 creatures later as you curve out.
Anchors -
Supports -
Ambush Viper
Description - It's most common use would be as a 'removal' spell for non-flying attackers. In that light, it is a pretty narrow removal spell, but this is green. It is also a creature you can flash in at the end of your opponents turn and beat down with if you need it to. Ultimately it is not bad, just not exciting. Maybe if you are looking for options for a Simic flash / go deck.
Anchors -
Supports - Flash / Go
Beastbreaker of Bala Ged
Description - It can potentilly swing into just about anything on turn 3 for 4, but you have to give up other third turn board development to do so. In topdeck mode, dropping this for 5 mana for a 4/4 is not efficient but not terrible. The upside of the final level is not enough to consider spending the extra 9 mana unless you have nothing else to do.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro / Midrange
Borderland Explorer
Description - It's a 3 power 2-drop for aggressive decks, and if it is in your opener you can keep land light hands that might otherwise be sketchy. It does let your opponent search too which seems like a drawback, but for some this can actually be a feature, and lead to less non-games. Being able to discard a card of choice provides some marginal synergy with graveyard themes.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters, Reanimator
Boreal Centaur
Description - The score is on the assumption you let your players have snow basics, in which case it can be ok as an aggro creature. It can make combat decisions more difficult for your opponent in the early game, and having the mana spare isn't likely to be a problem later.
Anchors -
Supports -
Broodhatch Nantuko
Description - If your opponent is the beatdown, this can be an ok early staller, chumping to get some number of token replacements. Difficult to abuse, and requires your opponent to be willing to attack you, but if you support enough morph creatures for this to be a surprise it might be decent. Get's a little better if you can throw Rancor or power boosting equipment on it so your opponent has to take notice, but I'd be dubious that the tokens are worth putting other auras on it and getting 2 for 1'd. Can also get some mileage in token decks.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens
Darkthicket Wolf
Description - It's a bear that can threaten to be worth two bears. Best in aggro decks, where you can drop it on turn 2, and swing on turn 3 with 3 mana open into almost anything. If the opponent blocks, you can pump and secure board advantage. If they don't, which is more likely, you get to connect for a couple of damage and keep developing your board.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro
Deadly Recluse
Description - Similar to Thornweald Archer, though this is more defensive. They are likely to trade in combat in similar situations, but the spider can survive spirit tokens and is a little more resistant to divisible burn or pinging effects if that is more important to you than being able to attack for 2.
Anchors -
Supports -
Drover of the Mighty
Description - If you ignore the dinosaur stuff, it's a decent fixer / ramp dude. Llanowar Elves and friends are better at pure ramp, but fixing any colour is sometimes worth paying the extra for. Who knows, sometimes you might get it alongside a Charging Monstrosaur or something.
Anchors -
Supports - Ramp
Flinthoof Boar
Description - This can come down as 3/3 on turn 2 which is excellent, with the possibility of being a hasty 3/3 for 3 later. Solid all around for Gruul decks.
Anchors - Aggro / midrange
Supports -
Gatstaf Shepherd
Description - It might not be consistent, but it does help green aggro.
Anchors -
Supports -
Gemhide Sliver
Description - 2-drops that generate mana are generally poor, but making any colour makes this ok even when it is alone. However, it may make your drafters believe there is a sliver theme to draft. Manaweft Sliver only affects your own, but is unlikely to matter unless you actually push Slivers as a tribe.
Anchors -
Supports - Sliver Tribal
Heir of the Wilds
Description - A bear with deathtouch is reasonable. It compares with Thornweald Archer or Ambush Viper, but this is the slightly more resilient and aggressive version, allowing it survive chump blocks by 1/1's, ans sometimes getting in for 3 damage.
Anchors -
Supports -
Hermit Druid
Description - Can be an enabler for graveyard based decks. Decks that have recursive elements often require a bit of mana, so the land searching aspect is good for those decks while also dumping things in the yard. Picked early, you might prioritise more nonbasics to maximise the graveyard dump. It might not be the first choice, but in non-graveyard decks like ramp or control it can still find extra lands to be played.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters, Ramp
Kujar Seedsculptor
Description - The base of a 2/3 for 2 is alreay decent stats (ignoring corner cases of Shock or whatever dealing with it while the trigger is on the stack). Leaving behind a 1/2 is not great, but putting that counter somewhere else can sometimes be a better bet, whether so you can attack with that point of power immediately, put it on something evasive, or something like Spikeshot Goblin.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Lambholt Pacifist
Description - The promise of a 2 mana 4/4 is enticing. From a cube design standpoint, it is probably best employed as a green defender in control / ramp to stave off early aggro, with some late game upside. It's likely to be less inconsistent if you try and jam it into aggro or midrange. Being able to flip makes it a bit better there, but don't count on it being the default mode.
Anchors -
Supports -
Longtusk Cub
Description - A fine 2-drop. It might be hard to get through later in the game, but if it goes unopposed early in the game, it can end up being difficult to deal with. In the early game, it can even prevent attacks from coming your way, as your opponent may not want to let it through. Best in aggro / tempo decks that can clear a path.
Anchors -
Supports - Energy
Manaweft Sliver
Description - 2-drops that generate mana are generally poor, but making any colour makes this ok even when it is alone. However, it may make your drafters believe there is a sliver theme to draft. You could go Gemhide Sliver if you want a second of this effect; they are identical unless you actually support other Slivers.
Anchors -
Supports -
Merfolk Branchwalker
Description - Both modes are fine, but you might not always get what you want depending on what the overall deck is doing and the game state. That said, the 'worst' mode for the situation still isn't that much worse than the optimal. It's marginal.
Anchors -
Supports -
Noose Constrictor
Description - A 2/2 reach for 2 is perhaps a passable base line, but 'free' pump on top of that is good. It's a free discard outlet, and with a handful of cards can start threatening opponents on low life totals, while also giving you the option to trade up against other creatures if the cards in hand aren't great.
Anchors -
Supports -
Obsessive Skinner
Description - The baseline is a bear. Sometimes you will want to give something else the counter, but then you are left with a lowly 1/1. It's really the delirium that makes the card shine, so you may want to put in a little effort for card swaps that help enable it.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Overgrown Battlement
Description - Most 2 drop accelerators are not very good, but the 4 toughness gives this some flexibility to stall aggro, especially if you have instants or on-board abilities you can sink the mana into end of turn. While the 'defender deck' is a narrow archetype, it does support it, though it is comfortable just sitting alongside Wall of Blossoms as the only other defender in your cube without needing specific defender support.
Anchors -
Supports - Defender
Satyr Wayfinder
Description - It puts a mostly irrelevant creature on the board, but it’s the ETB effect that matters most. Helps you dig for lands if you need to find your next drop (or have a bunch of utility lands), but perhaps more importantly is the ability to drop stuff in the graveyard. A selection of 4 cards is big enough to help put creatures in the yard for reanimation, dredgers, or just put more cards in to activate threshold.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Servant of the Conduit
Description - A reasonable fixer and accelerator. While 1 mana accelerators are preferred, a 2/2 is much better than a 1/1 once you reach the late game, and this fixes while most 1-mana versions are single colour.
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Supports -
Snapping Gnarlid
Description - Fine as an aggressive option for green. Not much else to say here.
Anchors -
Supports -
Terrain Elemental
Description - Solid stats for the cost if you are pushing green aggro. It might make it into other green decks, but you don't need to cube it if you don't care about green aggro.
Anchors -
Supports -
Thornweald Archer
Description - It's not a blowout, but it is decent in a range of decks. It's likely to simply trade more often than not when used aggressively, but can break through any 0-power walls you might have in your environment (Wall of Blossoms, Nyx-Fleece Ram, Wall of Denial etc.) or trade up if all they have to block with is a midrange / fatty creature. On the defensive it can make attacking difficult for your opponent given that it can block most things, forcing them to make poor decisions or buying you time.
Anchors -
Supports -
Ulvenwald Captive
Description - While some of the most powerful creature accelerators are in the 1 mana slot, this is a playable 2 mana version. A potential problem of ramp decks is having a bunch of accelerators and nothing to do with them, and this has a place in the early or late game.
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Supports -
Undercity Troll
Description - Solid bear with upside. Played turn 2, most of the time you will be able to attack and hold up the regeneration mana if they have a blocker, providing hard choices for your opponent. Against some decks it might not be worth giving up your third turn to survive combat, but then you would just trade and play your 3-drop. The regen isn't cheap, but is mostly bonus.
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Supports -
Werebear
Description - 2 drops that accelerate a single mana need to have good upside over the 1 mana versions to be worth consideration. The ability to be a 4/4 is lucrative enough, but you need to provide sufficient support to get enough cards in the graveyard. Providing that support is not too difficult, turning your accelerator into a legitimate threat. Outside of the graveyard / attrition decks, it is going to be worse than the 1 mana accelerators.
Anchors - Graveyard Matters
Supports -
Wild Mongrel
Description - Supports a number of different graveyard strategies, particularly being able to drop a target for reanimation, can turn threshold on at instant speed, and can set up an early Roar of The Wurm or other flashback cards, all while threatening combat. Even without support it can be difficult to block, and attacking an opponent who has low health while you have a few cards in hand can make decisions difficult for your opponent.
Anchors - Graveyard Matters, Reanimator
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Blight Mamba
Description - Too hard to make infect a thing, so this won't be attacking. It could be a defensive creature that slowly dwindles opposing creatures down… slowly… It might just be ok if you throw some equipment or other power boosters on it; your opponent might be willing to throw his wider army at you a few turns in a row if you are only reducing his total forces by -1/-1, but be more reluctant if you can outright kill that Skysnare Spider in 2 attacks. You would have to have enough support and draft around this pretty aggressively to make that happen though.
Anchors -
Supports - Control
Boneyard Wurm
Description - You aren't likely to play this on turn 2. Can be a solid finisher in attrition based decks, or dredge decks, where it can get large quickly. If you are going to be waiting to cast it, you want the payoff to be worth it. If you are consistently not playing it until you've got 6+ mana on the board, it had better be a 5/5 or greater, which might be a third of the creatures in your deck being in your graveyard.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Bramblesnap
Description - It can be useful in a tokens deck or other decks that go wide, though it isn't likely to be of much use elsewhere. It's dependent on the board position, but with a few other creatures it can make it harder for your opponent to attack into you and expect a trade, and with a few more, the trample can help you break through stalemates. With only a couple of other creatures on your board though, it doesn't have a lot of value.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens
Bramblewood Paragon
Description - If you have enough Warriors in your cube, this could be worth the times it will just be a bear. With monstrous and unleashed creatures in your cube, the trample can also be relevant. But it needs that specific support to be worth considering.
Anchors - Warrior sub-theme, +1/+1 counters
Supports -
Brindle Shoat
Description - If your opponent is the beatdown, this can be an ok early staller, hopefully trading the 1/1 but at least chumping and then getting a more reasonable threat. If you are the beatdown, this is terrible though, as the opponent will just let the 1 damage through. Has some extra legs in sacrifice decks as a 2 for 1.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Brushstrider
Description - With power more than the casting cost, this could fit into a green aggro mold, though the vigilance is not exciting and it will die to almost anything. Best in decks that can keep blockers out of the way.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro
Canopy Spider
Description - It will depend on the prevalence and breakdown of flyers in your cube, but it can deal with spirit tokens, and some of the aggro options such as Mistral Charger, Vampire Interloper, and Welkin Tern, while also being able to hold off bears on the ground. It might not be exciting, but it might fill a particular spot for your defensive green decks in dealing with that subset of creatures. You may also consider Juvenile Gloomwidow if you don't care about the double green.
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Supports -
Carapace Forger
Description - Only playable in the artifact deck, which you would need to support pretty hard to make up for the times this would jut be a bear.
Anchors - Artifact Matters
Supports -
Dreampod Druid
Description - You wouldn't play it outside of an aura-based Voltron deck (unless you are desparate to fill your curve), but this could be a solid anchor for that deck. Usual 2 for 1 caveat applies, but getting 2 token per turn cycle is decent upside. Following this up with something like Griffin Guide or Elephant Guide can quickly give you excellent board development if your opponent doesn't have an answer. A bear isn't too threatening, but if it's unenchanted your opponent won't dare cast the likes of Pacifism or Singing Bell Strike on it.
Anchors - Voltron / Pants
Supports -
Dryad Sophisticate
Description - It's value will change depending on the prevalence of nonbasic lands in your cube or your draft format, but the inconsistency means it isn't amazing.
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Supports -
Elvish Visionary
Description - It can at worst chump while cycling. It's mostly filler though, and doesn't really support any specific types of decks.
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Supports -
Elvish Warrior
Description - It's strictly worse than Kalonian Tusker. It does have good stats for its cost, but costing double green makes it difficult to land on turn 2. While it has good stats, the lack of extra abilities means that it is more likely to be outclassed by the time you cast it.
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Supports -
Exemplar of Strength
Description - It will be inconsistent, but could have a place. On it's own it can still attack as a bear while randomly gaining life, and on curve can be a good beater if they can't present an early trade. Sometimes it will make sense to kill something else off and get a 4/4.
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Supports -
Feral Prowler
Description - It's probably ok as a defensive card for control decks in environments chock full of 2/1's and 2/2's and get a card back later. Even if you just play it and it chumps you still get the card back. It doesn't really add much, so inclusion should be based on whether you think green control / ramp decks need this early interaction to survive a little longer.
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Supports -
Garruk's Companion
Description - It has good stats, but it's not quite big enough for the trample to matter a great deal, and the 2 toughness means it is still going to get killed by a decent amount of things. Not being able to consistently cast this on turn 2 in multi-colour decks also makes it harder to consider, unless you actively push mono-colour decks.
Hamlet Captain
Description - There are likely to be enough Humans in your cube that this might actually be ok to contribute primarily towards wide, depending on your thoughts on errata and the versions of cards that you have.
Anchors - Human Tribal
Supports -
Kalonian Tusker
Description - Solid stats for cost, but it's the sort of creature you want to cast on turn 2, which will be more difficult given the double green in its cost. If you actively support mono-decks though, then this is solid in that deck.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
Kavu Predator
Description - This will be cube dependant, but if you have a lot of incidental life gain effects, this might be worth including. It's not worth considering any cards that might give your opponent life to pair it with though, and it might be too strong a hate card if you are pushing a life gain matters theme.
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Supports -
Laughing Hyena
Description - Give it a mention because it could be decent in graveyard strategies. But of course will depend on your play group… and whether you are funny or not.
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Supports -
Nightshade Peddler
Description - In most decks, you are just going to want a better creature that has deathtouch. It probably only has use in decks where you can pump out tokens, so you can keep pairing them. Also has fringe use with reds pingers.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens
Pendelhaven Elder
Description - At first glance, it would fit in with a token theme, and would work well alongside a number of token generators that make 1/1's, with some minor upside with some other utility creatures. However, it can turn into a nombo if you include other permanent token boosting cards (Intangible Virtue, Phantom General).
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens
Plant Elemental
Description - Supports low curve aggro, allowing this to be played potentially alongside another 2 drop on turn 4. You will need to be heavy on green aggro to consider it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Priest of Titania
Description - Played alone, this is a bad Llanowar Elf. With another Elf on the field, it becomes good acceleration. Its inclusion is likely to be less as an indicator of Elf tribal being supported, but rather a ramp strategy supported by Elf mana producers. You need enough other Elves, but there are enough playables Elves without going out of your way to include them.
Anchors -
Supports - Ramp
Quirion Sentinel
Description - Most of its value will come from being in an aggro deck, putting two power on the board and then playing something else. It's pretty close to being strictly worse than Burning-Tree Emissary in a similar role (minor flexibility in casting and creates any colour mana) but it can fit a similar role in helping to fill the board quickly.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro
Scryb Ranger
Description - Has utility, but most cubes don't have a lot of creatures that tap for effect that you would want to use this for. Can still set up blocks after you've attacked, get out from some opponents tap effects. It can also re-use mana accelerators, replay Forets for landfall triggers, and if you don't have a land drop for the turn, pseudo-acceleration. While those synergies exist, they aren't high impact most of the time. You probably want Quirion Ranger over this for the cheaper mana cost.
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Supports -
Silhana Ledgewalker
Description - Can fit the hexproof version of the Voltron / pants deck, but if you aren't actively supporting it, you don't want this.
Anchors - Voltron / Pants
Supports -
Stalking Drone
Description - The threat of activation on turn 3 is solid. However, requiring colorless to activate is probably tough for most cubes. The likelihood of having a land base that can support this and be sufficiently aggressive is not high, but some cubes may have a land base to consider it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Temur Charger
Description - It exists if you want to maximise greens 3 power 2-drops for aggro decks. The morph doesn't add a lot, but the option is there at least.
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Supports -
Thallid Shell-Dweller
Description - In general it doesn't compare favourably to something like Wall of Blossoms, but it can provide an early blocker with some upside. It supports token decks and sacrifice decks, but only in a minor way because it takes so long.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens, Sacrifice
Viridian Emissary
Description - I can see it being played either aggressively or defensively in a ramp deck, and even as an aggro-ish creature in midrange, trading while setting up your beef next turn.
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Supports -
Voracious Wurm
Description - You would need a pretty solid 'life gain matters' theme to get this to trigger enough to warrant inclusion. Which is not impossible, but it would just take a bit of work to push as a theme.
Anchors - Life Gain Matters
Supports -
Wall of Mulch
Description - It can cycle itself, which is nice. In a vacuum, Wall of Blossoms is significantly better by getting you the card ETB instead of saccing. However it can support a defender theme if you have enough defenders with the wall creature type.
Anchors -
Supports - Defenders
Wandering Wolf
Description - You would only be excited about drafting it in a Voltron deck, though it remains vulnerable to removal. At least it can't be blocked by tokens.
Anchors -
Supports - Pants / Voltron
Whisperer of the Wilds
Description - Whether this is useful will depend on how many creatures fit the criteria in your cube, particularly in green. However most decks will want more efficient / reliable mana acceleration.
Anchors -
Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Eternal Witness
Description - Perhaps the epitome of an absolute staple that won't be removed from cubes for being overpowered. About the only bad thing you could say about it is that the stats for cost aren't amazing, but who cares when you are getting back the best card from your graveyard? It's a card that nearly any green deck will play, but also gets better in certain decks; graveyard or self-mill decks, bounce/blink decks (especially Ghostly Flicker), or paired with other recursion elements to make infinite loops.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Recursion, Graveyard Matters, Bounce / blink
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Borderland Ranger / Civic Wayfinder
Description - Great for midrange and ramp decks to help hit your fourth land while putting a threat on the battlefield. It isn't huge, but enough power to trade with other stuff or at least be a chumper while you start casting your bigger stuff. Civic Wayfinder usually preferred for Elf and/or Warrior tribal synergies.
Anchors -
Supports - Ramp
Reclamation Sage
Description - A flexible piece of removal. It removes either of the 2 main noncreature permanent types while having a body attached at a reasonable price, and you can always cast it even if you don't have any targets.
Anchors -
Supports -
Trophy Hunter
Description - One of the best green flying-hosers. A 2/3 for 3 is not completely embarrassing if you don’t have targets, and it can always get bigger, while being a creature that can support +1/+1 themes. It can create either real or virtual card advantage often enough.
Anchors -
Supports -
Wolfir Avenger
Description - One of greens better 3-drops. The reasonable base stats combined with flash can often be used as a combat trick to eat a smaller incoming creature, or just cast end of turn to swing in with regeneration mana available.
Anchors -
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Abzan Beastmaster
Description - It makes you pay a little more attention to toughness, and can be a decent inclusion in midrange or ramp decks to improve card flow. It's not great if you aren't getting card draw out of it, but you either pick it up somewhere early and draft around it, or if you've drafted the right kind of deck it might slot in nicely as a late pick.
Anchors -
Supports - Ramp
Awakener Druid
Description - You could treat this as a 4/5 with haste for 4 mana, and in that context it is extremely good. It is balanced with downsides however; it's fragile and you can't use the land for mana while it's attacking. It gets a bit worse the more toughness based removal / divisible burn is in your cube.
Anchors -
Supports -
Carven Caryatid
Description - A fine defensive option that effectively doesn't cost you a card. General consensus is that Wall of Blossoms is better as you can play it off a 1-Forest, 2-land hand to draw into extra lands, and smaller cubes may not want both. However the 2 power here can hold off attacks when your opponent might be able to comfortably swarm around a Wall of Blossoms.
Anchors -
Supports -
Crocanura
Description - It isn't bad, and there are other creatures that can fit a similar role, namely Penumbra Spider and Seed Guardian, but it can quickly become bigger than those creatures. Fine as support for +1/+1 counters, or give your ramp decks a defensive creature that can start swinging for the fences after your fatties have hit the board.
Anchors -
Supports - Ramp, +1/+1 counters
Golgari Brownscale
Description - It can be an engine card for the dredge / graveyard deck. Even if you are chumping with it every turn, you can pad your life total while getting critical mass of cards that enjoy being in your graveyard.
Anchors - Graveyard Matters
Supports - Life gain Matters
Hungry Spriggan
Description - A fine option if you want to push green aggro a little harder, essentially giving you a 4/4 trampler for 3 without a meaningful drawback in the right deck. Not really being able to block doesn't matter if you are the beatdown. Cute if you play Pendelhaven. Vulnerable to divisible burn or -X/-X effects while it isn't attacking, but so are most creatures at this casting cost.
Anchors -
Supports -
Imperious Perfect
Description - An efficient token creator, and a tribal card that is perfectly fine in a deck without any other Elves. It might be too slow to recover if you are more than a few steps behind, but in a stalled board this can turn the game around if your opponent can't deal with it quickly.
Anchors -
Supports -
Manaplasm
Description - It bears comparison to Hungry Spriggan, as both want to be in aggressive decks. Manaplasm has higher variance, but the opportunity to 'go big' can be more interesting and open up different decisions trees. Curving out with a 4-drop and then 1 or 2 spells totalling 5 mana is going to be difficult to block, but by the same token top decking Hungry Spriggan is usually going to be much better than Manaplasm.
Anchors -
Supports -
Maulfist Revolutionary
Description - Decent body already, and triggering twice is great. Not really tricky, just solid.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Phantom Tiger
Description - A decent number of times it is going to act like a 3/2 that replaces itself with a 2/1 when it dies, with downside of not being able to run favourably into 1/x's. Other upside of supporting cards that care about +1/+1 counters, or being rewarded if you play cards that distribute +1/+1 counters. Fine either aggressively or defensively. The damage prevention happens regardless of whether you can remove a +1/+1 counter or not, so if you can boost it's toughness with something like equipment or aura it becomes nearly indestructible, so you might give it another look to push a pants theme.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters, Pants
Ranging Raptors
Description - Decent include for control / ramp, even if it trades with a 2-drop while accelerating you. You can change your cube to include some more incidental support in divisable burn and pingers, or go deeper with the likes of Pyrohemia and sweepers, but it isn't necessary
Anchors -
Supports -
Shrill Howler
Description - The baseline is probably JUST below where you want it to be, but is still fine in aggro decks. If you can flip it though, it becomes much harder to kill and the damage trigger can start steamrolling; 5 toughness can run into a reasonable number of opposing creatures, and your opponent may not be able to double block if they don't have multiple creatures with 3+ power.
Anchors -
Supports -
Thrashing Brontodon
Description - It's the biggest stats at this cost with a reasonable upside. There are arguments for and against sacrificing it (you can play it on an empty board and still threaten the effect) vs ETB alternatives that stick around after destroying a target (Wickerbough Elder, Reclamation Sage).
Anchors -
Supports -
Thriving Rhino
Description - It ends up being a 3/4 attacker for 3, and is a decent option if you want to support green aggro. Obviously gets better if you have other energy cards in your cube, but fine enough on its own.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counter, energy
Trusted Forcemage
Description - A reasonable option to give green aggro a push, propping up your 2-drops and conditionally adding 4 power to the board for 3 mana. You might get the occasional blowout mid-combat.
Anchors -
Supports -
Yavimaya Elder
Description -Provides a fair bit of value, mostly for midrange or ramp decks. He can trade and let you hit your land drops, or you can chump and then draw a card on top of getting your lands.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Atzocan Archer
Description - Fine enough for green control decks. It doesn't hit for much, but the toughness means it can survive most things it would fight, and better the more X/1's in your cube.
Anchors -
Supports -
Aura Gnarlid
Description - You need to push an enchantment matters theme, but it only requires one aura to be reasonable. You probably want to consider more bestow creatures and aura-based removal to give this the right level of support.
Anchors - Enchantment Matters
Supports -
Bloodbriar
Description - It's all-in on the sacrifice theme and requires some set up, but it only takes one trigger to be above the curve. Eldrazi tokens make decent enablers.
Anchors - Sacrifice
Supports -
Elvish Spirit Guide
Description - It can provide some fast mana if you really want it, but the card disadvantage is usually not going to be worth it. The hard cast is there if you have nothing better to do, but that is pretty bad.
Anchors -
Supports -
Fairgrounds Trumpeter
Description - It's a reward card for the +1/+1 counter theme, but a bit deeper than some other options, as this only belongs in that deck. It can be fine in that deck though.
Anchors - +1/+1 counters
Supports -
Fierce Empath
Description - It's inclusion is highly conditional on your 6+ drops and how you want those decks to perform. There are some solid creatures in the target range (Sentinel of the Eternal Watch, Baloth Null, Skysnare Spider, Great Oak Guardian) that it may warrant playing in decks that include them, acting as a speed bump on the way to you casting your fattie. Can also find some cost reduction creatures, like those with emerge (and it can be sacrifice fodder) or delve.
Anchors -
Supports - Ramp
Ghost-Lit Nourisher
Description - On board +2/+2 is reasonable even if the activation is more than you want to pay. Channel is obviously expensive, but seems ok as a secondary mode if you are in a position to close out the game. Forbidden Lore may be another option for on board pump which is less vulnerable.
Anchors -
Supports -
Gloomwidow
Description - At least it's a bit more interesting than Nessian Courser. This a pretty specific local metagame choice; it gives you something that green is happy to attack with, without giving it something defensive against ground troops.
Anchors -
Supports -
Hooded Brawler
Description - It's a 3-drop that can attack for 5 as needed, so it can usually find a good time to attack even in the late game.
Anchors -
Supports -
Hunting Moa
Description - Performs best in defensive decks, potentially pumping something on the way in, trading with something aggressive, and pumping something on the way out. Paying the echo cost is painful, but if it held off an attack it is probably worth it. Less useful in aggro; you get an extra point of power the turn you play it, but in aggro you are going to feel the echo cost a lot more, and 3 mana isn't worth it just for 2 +1/+1 counters.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Jungleborn Pioneer
Description - It's 3 power across 2 bodies for 3 mana, which is ok. Main reason to cube it is to support tokens / go wide in green, with fringe applications for bounce.
Anchors -
Supports -
Leatherback Baloth
Description - A 4/5 for 3 mana is excellent… but costing triple green is going to be far less consistent. You might include this if you want to reward your green drafters or push mono-green. In a 2 colour deck it's more likely to hit play around turn 5.
Anchors -
Supports -
Lowland Basilisk
Description - It's not particularly exciting, but the stats can survive small aggro creatures so may survive some assaults, and the deathtouch effect can help it trade up against larger foes.
Anchors -
Supports -
Manglehorn
Description - . It doesn't compare favorably to the flexibility of targets of Reclamation Sage, but larger cubes might consider it, particularly if you don't shy away from the more powerful artifacts or are otherwise pushing an artifact heavy theme.
Anchors -
Supports -
Mwonvuli Beast Tracker
Description - It was interesting until I realised this is top of library, not into your hand. That doesn't make it awful, but it means you get a 2/1 for your 3 mana with an improvement in card quality, so long as you can cast the card you found when you draw it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Salt Road Quartermasters
Description - Reasonable stats and comes with +1/+1 counters out of the gate, so can immediately benefit from those enablers. The transfer is expensive, but is still all upside. The base stats make it fringe playable elsewhere, but you will probably ignore it from cube inclusion if you don't have at least one +1/+1 enabler, but don't have to bend over backwards to include it if you do.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Scion Summoner
Description - It's 3/3 worth of stats, the scion can threaten to block x/1's, it can help you accelerate from 3 into 5, it provides 2 bodies for sacrifice archetypes… it's flexible, but at the same time it doesn't particularly excel at anything.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice, Tokens
Shellephant
Description - Neither version alone is worth the cost, and flexibility on board probably doesn't quite get it there either. The primary reason to cube it is to create triggers or other minor synergies. Combos with Crackdown Construct (Shelly needs to be in play though) and it can be a 3 power unblockable with Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive, and there are probably a few other two-card combos.
Anchors -
Supports -
Simian Grunts
Description - It might not be as effective against some decks, but against aggressive decks you can flash this in and take out an attacker, then pay the echo cost and have a decent stat creature to play defence with. The echo doesn't play nice aggressively, but you can always flash it in end of turn and add 3 more damage than the opponent is expecting in the mid to late game.
Anchors -
Supports -
Skullwinder
Description - The effect is interesting, but it is pretty hard to control. The ability isn't optional. It's going to be at its best in decks that are likely to play early sorceries or instants and retrieve it before the opponent has anything in the yard. Sakura-Tribe Elder followed by this is not a bad opener. That assumes you have this in your opener; later you have to consider whether the best card in your graveyard is better than the best card in their graveyard, which might make this uncastable regardless of how much a deathtoucher will help your board.
Anchors -
Supports -
Slaughterhorn
Description - It's not exactly bad, but as a creature it is worse than a decent amount of other stuff you could play, and Giant Growth is more flexible than the bloodrush. It has the flexibility thing going on of course, but I'd be much happier bloodrushing than hard casting. You might go for it if you want your pump spells to be more aggressively oriented than defensive.
Anchors -
Supports -
Spike Rogue
Description - It's pretty deep on the +1/+1 counter theme, but it can let you move them around if you've got the reward cards, or take them back from dying creatures.
Anchors - +1/+1 counters
Supports -
Sporecap Spider
Description - Only if you really care about the specific combination of reach and high toughness at this cost. Crocanura might be a consideration as an alternate, but this can survive just about every flyer in the format while still holding off 1 toughness attackers without any help.
Anchors -
Supports -
Thornscape Battlemage
Description - It's flexible, but you need to have at least one kicker to make this worth playing, with red being the most attractive. You could play mono-colour cards that give you similar effects, but you might prefer the flexibility this offers.
Anchors -
Supports -
Tilling Treefolk
Description - Mostly for specific cubes, though it does play ok in self-mill themes, or with loot-type effects to generate actual card advantage. Particular synergies with lands that sacrifice for effect; might be higher profile if you break rarity for saclands.
Anchors -
Supports -
Timberwatch Elf
Description - It may look too tribal, but it still does something on its own (though not very well), and with one other Elf on the field the pump seems like it will be relevant enough.
Anchors -
Supports - Elf Tribal
Tracker
Description - In general it's too slow and costs too much. It is relatively unique for green, so if you throw something like Elephant Guide on it you may be able to (slowly) take over a game. However that is putting all your eggs into one basket and won't work against fast decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Tuskguard Captain
Description - Taking a turn off to make it a 3/4 trampler is a bit dicey, but it can add another way for your cube to avoid board stalls. If you can afford a few turns off, a 5/6 trampler or larger is going to do some work, but you will be sad if it meets removal when you are ready to swing. At least the mana investment is not high. You may want to consider Bramblewood Paragon for similar +1/+1 synergies.
Anchors - +1/+1 counters
Supports -
Ulvenwald Bear
Description - A 4/4 for 3 is good value, but you need enough enablers to make sure it happens consistently enough, because you really don't want a 2/2 for 3. Sakura-Tribe Elder and Nest Invader are probably the most prominent cards to enable this on curve, but attacking and trading will also do the trick. It's inclusion is probably dependant on on how early combat plays out in your cube.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice, +1/+1 counters
Valeron Wardens
Description - Becoming a 3/5 is decent, but it will rarely get there without help because the base stats are bad. Most cubes don't include enough renown creatures to consider the card draw except for triggering itself. You can prop it up if you pair it with blue tempo / unblockability cards to get it through, or in colour with trample pump spells like Predator's Strike.
Anchors -
Supports -
Wild Mammoth
Description - Only if you want to push green aggro, and it needs some specific support. In colour you probably want cards like Blisterpod and Nest Invader etc. to help ensure you lead the creature race. But when this is bad, it is very bad.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro
Wood Elves
Description - It does accelerate, but the body it leaves behind is underwhelming, and it can't help fix your mana. It gets a little better in cubes that break rarity for dual lands. How beneficial it is will be inconsistent; while it can accelerate and the land comes into play untapped, you may not be able to use it that turn, or if you have no more lands left in hand to play and haven't hit a land drop that turn, Borderland Ranger provides essentially the same effect for a bigger body while being able to fix.
Anchors -
Supports - Ramp
Yavimaya Dryad
Description - You accelerate with a reasonable body, though it does require a commitment to green. Played early you won't want to give the land to your opponent and accelerate them, but there is a niche case for making this a late evasive threat.
Anchors -
Supports - Ramp
Yavimaya Enchantress
Description - It's a build around that requires a bit of support; preferably some enchantment creatures and a few of the better auras, but also pairs nicely with whites enchantment-based removal.
Anchors - Enchantment Matters
Supports -
Yeva's Forcemage
Description - The baseline isn't great, but the pump can be relevant pre-combat to help your early creatures trade up and apply pressure.
Anchors -
Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Blastoderm
Description - Possibly the best green aggressive 4-drop. On curve it can be difficult to mount a defense against it, especially if you've got a few hits in already. It does go away eventually, but 15 damage is not something your opponent can usually take; they may have to make decision to double block and 2 for 1 themselves, or chump until it goes away. Occasionally it can be stonewalled by an 0/6 or a couple of 3/3's or something, but it is solid in most board states.
Anchors -
Supports -
Briarhorn
Description - 3/3 flash alone is probably passable if unexciting, but the ETB effect really pushes it over the top. If you’re the aggressor, you can punish the opponent if they double block, or even just get in an extra 3 points of damage if that is all you need. On defense, it is at worst a 6/6 surprise blocker, but you can always spread the stats somewhere else and also block with this. AND it has a Giant Growth back up mode.
Anchors -
Supports - Flash / Go
Phantom Centaur
Description - The protection from black might turn some people off as a random hoser, but the rest of the card does something fairly unique. 5 starting power makes it likely to threaten trades with something, and if you are on defense it can 'trade' multiple times. Plays well with cards that provide +1/+1 counters, and dodges black and most red removal. The damage prevention works even if there are no +1/+1 counters to remove, so if you can boost its toughness (e.g. Trusty Machete, Elephant Guide, Gaea's Anthem) it becomes nearly indestructible.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Druid's Familiar
Description - When it works, it is the equivalent of 6/6 worth of stats for 4 mana. It has some vulnerabilities if your opponent interacts with it or its partner mid-combat, but it can threaten 2 hasty power the turn it comes down (or effectively more if you couldn't have attacked otherwise), or threaten to grow to a 4/4 at a moments notice if it is unpaired, which can make your opponent nervous. Fine for pushing aggro or midrange, with some cute synergies with 'power matter' cards like Spikeshot Goblin or doublestrikers.
Anchors -
Supports - Doublestrikers
Iwamori of the Open Fist
Description - While there are handful of playable legendary creature cards at peasant (particularly with the release of Dominaria) this is about the biggest bang for buck green gets at 4 mana. It will be annoying on the occasions where the opponent does get to drop something, but that is going to pretty infrequent (they need to have drafted a legend and have it in their hand at the time you cast this).
Anchors -
Supports -
Penumbra Spider
Description - Solid spider; sometimes they might have the board or removal to trade with the first body, but have trouble getting through the second. Solid in recursive decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Temur Sabertooth
Description - It's a nice package. Without specific synergy, just having a 4 power creature that can threaten indestructibility at instant speed is good; you can even bounce another attacker or blocker if that interaction is unfavourable. It gets better if you've got synergy with enter the battlefield effects, and having an indestructible creature helps buy you the time to repeat the cycle.
Anchors -
Supports -
Wickerbough Elder
Description - A fine option for artifact / enchantment removal. Even if you don't have a target, a 3/3 for 4 is underwhelming but not horrible.
Anchors -
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Briarpack Alpha
Description - This is a strictly worse Briarhorn, but still a decent power level overall filling a similar role.
Anchors -
Supports - Flash / Go
Crocodile of the Crossing
Description - 4/3 haste for 4 is a decent baseline, and sometimes it will make sense to throw the counter elsewhere. It's fine in midrange, but probably worth a bit more if you want to push green aggro.
Anchors -
Supports -
Cudgel Troll
Description - Reasonable stats for cost, with a cheap regenerate cost. Sometimes you may want to play it as a 5-drop (to keep regeneration mana open) but it can play well in most board states.
Anchors -
Supports -
Cytoplast Root-Kin
Description - A solid +1/+1 counter lord; the 4/4 for 4 baseline is reasonable even if you don't have any immediate synergies, but being able to boost your team the turn it comes into play is nice. The ability to move counters at instant speed is nice, whether in response to removal or in combat where your other creatures will still trade, or if you just need a single beefy Root-Kin to smash in and break up defenses.
Anchors - +1/+1 counters
Supports -
Heroes' Bane
Description - You get a slightly below par baseline, but it can become a difficult to deal with threat. It doesn't have trample, but if it survives after a single activation, it's going to be almost impossible to kill in combat.
Anchors -
Supports -
Karstoderm
Description - A 5/5 for 4 is solid, and even if you get a single counter it is still decent. If you support any sort of artifact theme or a higher count than normal, it isn't worth it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Kozilek's Predator
Description - It's not really for aggressive decks, but it is 3 bodies for sacrifice decks, and might make it into ramp decks as a way to trade off with something or hold back some aggro creatures while using the spawn tokens to accelerate into something the following turn.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice, Ramp
Masked Admirers
Description - This is a grindy card that packs some value, but the game has to go long to realise all the value. The baseline of creature plus draw a card is fine, but against some decks the body might be outclassed, but if it trades and you can get it back multiple times that is gravy. Costing double green to get it back is probably harder than you might think though, particularly when casting other green creatures. Also fine for graveyard based decks, or with appropriate sequencing with discard outlets.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Oasis Ritualist
Description - This can fill the role of being an accelerant while also being a defensive creature when needed in a ramp deck. The 4 toughness can help stem aggro early, ramp you by 2 if you aren't under pressure, and just be an attacker late in the game when you don't need the ramp any more. Ondu Giant is an alternative; it ramps you less, but the ramp effect is permanent.
Anchors - Ramp
Supports -
Ondu Giant
Description - It can fit the midrange ramp category, helping ramp decks block in the mid game while still ramping, and potentially holding back a few aggro creatures that can't attack into it.
Anchors -
Supports - Ramp
Pack Guardian
Description - The base stats plus flash is ok, though that alone only matters if you are looking specifically for flash creatures. The extra ability does give it a bit of extra play, potentially letting you put 6/5 worth of stats on the board, which can be fine as a surprise aggro curve topper cast at the end of the opponents turn, or just to mount a surprise defense. Marginal support for delirium and threshold.
Anchors -
Supports -
Peema Outrider
Description - While looking somewhat 'filler' on the surface, a 4/4 trampler for 4 serves the role of beef well enough, with the fabricate providing some flexible synergy options.
Anchors -
Supports - tokens, +1/+1 counters, artifact matters
Quarry Hauler
Description - It supports +1/+1 counters which are fairly common in cubes, while also providing some benefits to things like levellers or resetting your persist creatures. The remaining body is still reasonable even if you don't benefit from the synergy. It doesn't do much to stand out from other +1/+1 or counter synergies though.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Seed Guardian
Description - 3/4 reach for 4 is a reasonable baseline, but getting a replacement creature when it dies pushes it a little higher. It counts itself, so you will always get at least a 1/1, but this is the sort of card that gets better the longer the game goes, or in decks with self-mill / card filtering graveyard elements.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Sosuke, Son of Seshiro
Description - It's easy to overlook simply because it is a tribal card, but it is essentially a 3/4 deathtoucher for 4 mana; not amazing, but reasonable. The upside if you have any other snakes (not many) or warriors (more likely) in your cube could make this worthy of consideration.
Anchors -
Supports - Warrior tribal
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Algae Gharial
Description - 4 mana for a 1/1 is pretty bad, but you can support a deck that plays attrition wars where this could work. It's bad top deck, but in the right deck (and therefore cube) it could turn into a massive beater that can't be dealt with by spot removal. Lumberknot is probably better because you can cast spells on it, but you might also play this for redundancy or for better splashability.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters, sacrifice
Armorcraft Judge
Description - This is a reasonable +1/+1 counter payoff. You aren't playing this in a deck without +1/+1 counters, but with zero payoff you still have a creature. The ceiling is decent, and drawing more than a couple of cards will feel great.
Anchors - +1/+1 counters
Supports -
Crowned Ceratok
Description - If you want this specific +1/+1 synergy, you probably want to consider Bramblewood Paragon (for additional Warrior synergy) orTuskguard Captain (built-in synergy) first. This might be a consideration based on the curve of your other +1/+1 support cards.
Anchors -
Supports -
Emperor Crocodile
Description - Solid stats, so you need to make sure you can mitigate the downside. The easiest way is with go wide decks or midrange decks that can protect their decks. It might be too risky to run in some decks, or be sideboarded out in certain matchups.
Anchors -
Supports -
Festerhide Boar
Description - A 5/5 trampler for 4 mana isn't bad. It doesn't really stand out from the crowd, but if you support sacrifice themes (to more easily enable morbid) and play +1/+1 counter 'lords', this goes up in value. Karstoderm is likely a more reliable beater, but this does have trample.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters, sacrifice
Gamekeeper
Description - It's not on the best body, but it's a guaranteed 2 for 1, and it is likely to put a few cards in your graveyard for decks that like that. Setting up a big play is difficult, but there are a few playable or fringe cards; Sensei's Divining Top, Brainstorm, Crystal Ball etc.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters, sacrifice
Ivy Lane Denizen
Description - It needs to provide 2 counters to be on the curve, so it has a bit of setup cost, but being able to distribute the counters where you like has upside. Only triggering off green creatures is a negative, but if you've got some token creators or recursion it can go up in value. It's only for slower cubes where you are likely to get 3+ counters of it though.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens
LLanowar Empath
Description - There isn't a compelling reason to go out of your way to play it, but the effect itself is fine.
Anchors -
Supports -
Lumberknot
Description - 4 mana for a 1/1 is pretty bad, but you can support a deck that plays attrition wars where this could work. It's bad top deck, but in the right deck (and therefore cube) it could turn into a massive beater that can't be dealt with by spot removal. This is the better version because you can target it, but you could play Algae Gharial as well if you want redundancy.
Anchors -
Supports - Pants
Paragon of Eternal Wilds
Description - As a 2/2 for 4, it isn't really good enough in a generic deck with green cards. The only reason to cube it is if you have multiple token creators in green. E.g. Imperious Perfect, Sprout Swarm. The trample is fairly throwaway, but could matter sometimes.
Anchors -
Supports -
Roaring Primadox
Description - You get a decent body for the price. The 'drawback' needs to be a feature of your cube, with enough ETB effects to abuse. The forced timing is a negative compared to other options, but the repeatability with no additional mana investment is nice. Could backfire depending on the board state, but at the very least you'll get a 4/4 blocker, even if you have to recast it until you draw something else.
Anchors -
Supports -
Saber Ants
Description - The body is unimpressive, but it could be difficult to attack into. Maybe if you want to push controlling green decks; the most likely outcomes are either preventing attacks while your opponent waits to draw a non-damage answer, or they trade with it and leave you a handful of 1/1's.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens
Saddleback Lagac
Description - It can add 5/3 of stats to the table. If it was just that there are better options, but 2 of that power can be 'hasty', and it supports +1/+1 themes.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Simic Ragworm
Description - Gets a mention as a combo piece if you are pushing that sort of thing, but you really have to push cube design around it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Somberwald Alpha
Description - It really needs to be in an aggressive deck so the opponent is under pressure to block, but if you are attacking it can impact potential blocks your opponent might have been intending to make, potentially turning what would have been losses into trades or trades into wins. The trample is mostly bonus.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sporesower Thallid
Description - It's a 4/4 for four which is a good start. However the upside is very slow, and most cubes are better served with a better beefy creature in this role. Maybe if you want to support controlling green decks; it can block well while (very) slowly building an army.
Anchors -
Supports -
Tenacious Hunter
Description - 4/4 for 4 is a decent starting point, but you would have to make -1/-1 counters a theme if you really want to get the advantage. If you can turn it on, deathtouch and vigilance are a decent combo, particularly if they don't have something already on board that can trade 1 for 1 with it. You should probably expect it be just a vanilla 4/4 more frequently though.
Anchors -
Supports -
Vital Splicer
Description - You get 4/4 worth of stats which is ok but not exciting. On its own, there are better green 4-drops. Some of the other golem cards are better, and considering those is the main reason you would include this.
Anchors -
Supports - Golem Tribal
Yavimaya Ants
Description - There are going to be board states where it is actively bad, but it can threaten a lot of power. If you support green aggro, it threatens 5 damage the turn it comes into play, and if they didn't leave back a blocker, it's threatening 10. Usually they can't afford not to block, because it is just going to swing in next turn, so it can end being a kill spell + Lava Spike, which is probably just fine for aggro decks.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Ridgescale Tusker
Description - Potentially greens best 5-drop; the floor is a 5/5 for 5 which is already fine, and sometimes you will get a bunch of +1/+1 counters which can instantly change combat math.
Anchors -
Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Acidic Slime
Description - It will usually destroy something relevant; even if there is no artifact or enchantment, you can still nab a nonbasic or mess with one of their colours. The deathtouch then allows it to trade with something else.
Anchors -
Supports -
Arborback Stomper
Description - Solid stabiliser; the body blocks well on the turn it comes down, while the life gain mitigates the potential for opponents going wide to just attack past it. After that, it is still a good-sized threat on its own.
Anchors -
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Bellowing Tanglewurm
Description - It probably makes half your team unblockable. Most of the time. Weird card, but a 4/4 for 5 that will be hard to block for most decks is fine (even if your opponent is playing green, they probably aren't mono-green so have restricted blocking options).
Anchors -
Supports -
Conclave Naturalists
Description - A fine artifact / enchantment removal creature. Nothing flashy, but it serves a purpose. Wickerbough Elder is probably considered the superior version (you can kill something after it hits the board), but this is a fine alternate or additional copy of the effect.
Anchors -
Supports -
Crested Herdcaller
Description - It's 6/6 worth of stats for 5 mana, which isn't super powerful, but fine on its own before you consider synergies with bounce or go wide strategies.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens, Bounce
Entourage of Trest
Description - Solid monarch card, and better than most if you are behind by virtue of being able to block two grounded creatures to protect the crown for a turn if needed, plus the stats are reasonable enough to protect it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Garruk's Packleader
Description - It isn't difficult to draft around the trigger condition. It's a vanilla 4/4 once it is on the board, but those are ok stats if you get a couple of card draws out of it. Better if you want green to support grindy attrition games; there are better cards if you want a 5-mana aggro curve topper.
Anchors -
Supports -
Nessian Asp
Description - Stats plus reach can make this a a reasonable stabiliser the turn it comes down. Monstrous being instant speed can make blocking decisions difficult; not block and potentially take 8? Chump? Throw 9 power worth of blockers in front of it? 7 mana isn't nothing of course, but as long as you play around removal it can be effective.
Anchors -
Supports -
Nessian Game Warden
Description - If you whiff you still get a vanilla 4/5; we can do better but that is a reasonable baseline. It will depend on deck construction, but on curve with 3 Forests it's somewhere in the 80% range, which is not a bad starting point, and selection gets better later in the game.
Anchors -
Supports -
Snapping Sailback
Description - The ideal line of play is flashing it in to block something and end up with a 5/5. 5 mana is a lot to hold open, so your opponents might not play it into it though. Better if you have other ways to damage it, and you can go nuts with the likes of Pestilence and Pyrohemia.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters, Pingers
Somberwald Stag
Description - 3 toughness on a 5cmc green creature isn't ideal, but you can take out a smaller creature often enough, and sometimes trading it as a 5cmc removal spell will be the right move.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Arrogant Wurm
Description - Hard cast, you can get Arborback Stomper which is clearly better. This isn't terrible, but you need to have a lot of self-discard themes in your cube to consider it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Bitterbow Sharpshooters
Description - Reasonable combo of stats and abilities, allowing it to attack while still putting up air defense. Fine, though there are a number of alternatives for mid-large sized reach creatures and you don't need them all and can choose the ones that suit your curve (Penumbra Spider, Seed Guardian, and Skysnare Spider are solid alternatives).
Anchors -
Supports -
Dowsing Shaman
Description - It's a pretty slow engine, but it can be a piece for the enchantment decks if you want it. You probably want to be playing sacrifice auras like Seal of Doom, and sufficient bestow creatures to warrant it.
Anchors - Enchantment Matters
Supports -
Durkwood Tracker
Description - It's clunky, but green doesn't get many control-oriented cards. It can always block and then activate. More likely to prevent attacks rather than respond to them. The instant and unconditional fight ability of Somberwald Stag is likely to just be better the vast majority of the time.
Anchors -
Supports -
Embodiment of Insight
Description - It's a reasonable baseline, and once you hit a certain threshold of lands, turning those land draws into creatures is fine. However you aren't always going to do that every turn, and if you cast this on curve you are probably out of lands to play. You'd rather curve out with the likes of Cultivate, but with this on the table, those types of spells can throw up an extra 6 damage out of nowhere.
Anchors -
Supports -
Lifecraft Cavalry
Description - A 6/6 trampler for 5 mana is decent. It comes down to how often you can trigger revolt, which won't always be consistent. The fail case is underwhelming but serviceable.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Llanowar Behemoth
Description - It's a reasonable play on a board with a handful of other creatures, or alongside a token / go wide strategy to then go tall. Threatening a 6/6 or higher on the following turn is decent, and if you need to be defensive it can be hard to attack into. When you are on the back foot a lot of other 5-drops are going to be better though.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens / Go Wide
Rhox Maulers
Description - It is ok, it just doesn’t really stand out among other options.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Spike Colony
Description - The baseline isn't embarrassing, but the activated ability is a little clunky. Only worth considering over similar size green creatures if you are heavy on +1/+1 counter 'lords'.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Spitting Spider
Description - Consideration for inclusion is very dependent on specific cube make-up. It can block the likes of Serra Angel and Murder of Crows, and it is good against swarms of small flyers. Consider Penumbra Spider and Bitterbow Sharpshooters first. Extremely marginal considerations but perhaps worth noting is that it does help threshold / delve and delirium.
Anchors -
Supports -
Stampeding Elk Herd
Description - Bringing 5 power itself, it isn't going to be hard to turn on, and it's already a 5/5 for 5 in any case which is an ok baseline; it's just that it is mainly vanilla.
Anchors -
Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Pelakka Wurm
Description - Perhaps the best green ramp target, the life gain helps stabilise if the opponent would otherwise just swarm past your Wurm next turn, the death trigger gives you some insurance even if they have a removal spell, and if it sticks a 7/7 trampler is a good threat. Even if you don't support ramp, the only reason not to cube it is if you don't like the triple green.
Anchors -
Supports - Ramp
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Great Oak Guardian
Description - It plays out as a 6 mana combat trick which would normally be a big no, but it's one hell of a combat trick. On the attack, it can just push through the extra damage for the win, or destroy their board after blocks (while leaving them untapped to block survivors). On defense you can surprise with the untap, use this as a blocker if played before blocks, and often enough buff your team to destroy the incoming attackers. It's never dead, as it can always be at least a 6/7 blocker the turn you play it if you are desperate.
Anchors -
Supports -
Plated Crusher
Description - It's a solid ramp target, with hexproof providing insurance against removal and trample to break through the defenses. Even if you are on the defensive, it's a great blocker that they can't get out of the way with removal / tappers etc.
Anchors -
Supports - Ramp
Sifter Wurm
Description - A good ramp target. It's a little less powerful than the comparable Pelakka Wurm, but it will still usually gain you some life to stabilise while also setting up your draws for the next turn or two.
Anchors -
Supports - Ramp
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Deadwood Treefolk
Description - It is a decent recursion creature, with the 6 toughness making it a decent blocker, and replacing itself when it dies. Worth noting that it triggers on leaving the battlefield, so works with self-bounce as well. It supports grindier decks, and can be paired nicely with Eternal Witness and similar creatures.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Recursion, Bounce / Flicker
Hooting Mandrills
Description - With a couple of mana discount this is fine. It's also in the colour of Commune With the Gods and similar effects, so it isn't unreasonable to cast this on turn 3 sometimes. You probably wouldn't cube it without at least a few ways to filter cards into your graveyard, but that is commonplace for most cubes.
Anchors -
Supports -
Krosan Tusker
Description - It cycles significantly more than being cast and is a fine green fixer, essentially a draw 2 with one of those draws fixing your colours as needed or finding lands for ramp decks. The hard cast is underwhelming compared to many other options, but is very secondary. Reanimation or graveyard recursion decks might find some extra uses for it.
Anchors -
Supports - Reanimator, Ramp
Nemesis of Mortals
Description - It only takes a couple of mana discount to be decent from the outset, and even if you are casting it as soon as you can afford it, it isn't usually long before you can threaten to make it monstrous. Fine with normal creature attrition, but gets better in decks that fill their graveyards and supports +1/+1 counters.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Skysnare Spider
Description - It's good in a lot of board states; effectively blocks most things your opponent would throw at you if you are on back foot, and lets you attack when you need to keep a blocker to prevent crack backs. On offense, a 6/6 is a decent size threat they can't ignore for long. It's downside compared to other green ramp targets is that it doesn't come with built in value or protection; if it dies immediately to a 2 mana removal spell you are going to be pretty sad.
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Scaled Behemoth
Description - Good stats, and hexproof means your beef isn't going to die to cheap removal, tap down effects etc. It's among the better creatures in this range; the reason it might not be in cubes is due to limited room for high cost creatures (particularly in smaller cubes) or taking a pretty nontraditional approach to green.
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Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Ancient Silverback
Description - Tt really only gets trumped by 7 toughness blockers, other indestructible / regen creatures, or repeat token creators. That said, it doesn't really stand out.
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Brood Monitor
Description - The 4 bodies can make it appealing, though you probably want enough ways in your cube to take advantage of that. Generic green decks will prefer beefier creatures at this cost, but this does provide synergy for team pump, sacrifice or flicker archetypes.
Anchors -
Supports - Bounce, Sacrifice
Gravetiller Wurm
Description - An 8/8 trampler for 6 mana is very good, you just need a cube with enough support for it to be consistent. Creatures trade in combat often enough, but it gets better with Eldrazi tokens that can be sacrificed (while accelerating into it) or other sacrifice outlets. As a result it isn't in the 'top tier' of big green beaters, but may be an option for specific cubes.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice, +1/+1 counters
Howlgeist
Description - For 6 mana, you can get creatures that are bigger from the outset. However, it can be hard to get a blocker in the way, and even if they have one the first time around, they might not have a second 5+ power creature that can block it after it comes back. Dependant on the board state though.
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Maul Splicer
Description - It gives you 7/7 worth of stats over 3 bodies, but in a vacuum there are many other green 7-drops that are better. The reason to cube it is if you want it as part of a larger Golem package.
Anchors - Golem Tribal
Supports -
Nacatl War-Pride
Description - It takes a turn, but it essentially makes the rest of your team plus one 3/3 unblockable for a turn, and kills anything that dies to a 3/3. Not always consistent and you usually only get to do it once, but if it clears a fair bit of their board while getting in some damage with your other creatures that is great. Also has some fringe synergies if they matter in your cube by putting multiple bodies on the board (Goldnight Commander) or giving you multiple bodies to sacrifice after blocks / combat. If your opponent can just attack you while you drop your 6 mana 3/3 you aren't in a good spot though.
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Symbiotic Beast
Description - The front end is a fair bit worse than what you can get for 6 mana. 4 tokens is a reasonable death trigger though. Given that, the reason to cube it is to support tokens / sacrifice decks, as it isn't likely to make the cut outside those decks.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens, Sacrifice
Thundering Spineback
Description - It's a lot of investment before it pays off, but if you can activate a couple of times you are looking good. Centaur Glade comes down earlier and has the upside of being able to activate twice once you hit 8 mana, which probably makes that the better card to fill the role.
Anchors -
Supports - Ramp
Thundering Tanadon
Description - It's a fine colorless 4-drop for aggro decks that can afford the life payment, though this plays second fiddle to better options in that slot like Galvanic Juggernaut.
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Shefet Monitor
Description - It compares to Krosan Tusker. This can truly accelerate when it is cycled as it puts the land on the battlefield, but the cheaper mana on Krosan Tuskers cycling is probably more significant at finding you your fourth land.
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Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Rancor
Description - Excellent value as a power booster, trampler, and gets around the usual aura drawback (unless creature is removed while it is on the stack of course). Every speed of deck is happy to play this. Fringe applications if you can benefit from sacrificing or recasting it.
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Supports -
Utopia Sprawl
Description - Solid acceleration and fixing in a single card for 1 mana, with minor drawback that it has to enchant a Forest and not just any land, and you need to generate 2 mana. Good synergy with Arbor Elf.
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Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Blossoming Defense
Description - Great combat trick; cheap, enough pump to matter in most situations, works offensively or defensively, and even counters spells or targeted abilities.
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Supports -
Mutagenic Growth
Description - Having the opportunity to pay 0 mana makes this a card to respect. Allows winning a combat out of nowhere, or sealing the deal on a game when an opponent would otherwise be able to alpha strike back. The surprise factor is usually worth giving up that extra point of damage compared to Giant Growth.
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2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Berserk
Description - Solid in most aggro/midrange decks that are the beatdown to break through and deal that final blow. Can also do work in green ramp, particularly with non-trample guys getting chumped by tokens. It's very situational, but the extra damage you take might be worth using this as removal sometimes.
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Supports -
Commune With Nature
Description - Played early it can set up your curve, and as a top deck you can go digging for the best creature for the current board state. Occasionally you will whiff, and worth noting there are similar cards that dump the remaining cards in your graveyard if you are pursuing graveyard matters strategies.
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Gather Courage
Description - ok as a pump for free. Upside that a creature with summoning sickness can block, and then benefit from this before combat damage is dealt. Mutagenic Growth not strictly better, but probably better in most situations as a free pump spell.
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Genju of the Cedars
Description - Solid card, giving you the opportunity to attack with a 4/4 as early as turn 3, while also being very resilient. Playable in a wide variety of decks, though perhaps most at home in green aggro/midrange decks.
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Giant Growth
Description - The old standby. ok, but not spectacular. Ideally you want to maintain card parity while impacting the board (changing a trade into a kill), or put the opponents life total within reach.
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Supports -
Groundswell
Description - In decks that like to be the beatdown, this is likely to be better than Giant Growth more often than not, and you'll usually know when the +2/+2 will be sufficient for the situation anyway. Still playable in a deck that intends to go long, but a little less good on the defense.
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Hunger of the Howlpack
Description - Without morbid, it isn't very good. But giving something +3/+3 permanently is good upside. Still situational due to the morbid trigger, sometimes preventing the opportunity to boost mid-combat, but can be cast after a trade or block. Sometimes your opponent will answer it before you get any benefit, but if they can't you have a creature that should hit pretty hard.
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Supports -
Hurricane
Description - The biggest effect that matters here is the damage to each player, giving green some reach. Flyers is greens weakness, but not hitting ground creatures makes it less desirable.
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Prey Upon
Description - It's always situational. You need a creature that should preferably win the fight. You might win the fight, but the damage dealt to your creature might now make it unwise to attack into whatever is left remaining. It’s sorcery speed, which means no mid-combat tricks. On the plus side, if you have creatures of a decent size (which green has) for a single mana you can take out large creatures on the opposing side of the board.
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Rabid Bite
Description - It is ok for green removal. It isn't a fight effect, but it can be countered by instant speed removal or neutered by power reducing effects. You may want to consider Clear Shot or Epic Confrontation.
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Supports -
Vessel of Nascency
Description - You will almost always hit a target, and it can feed your graveyard. Depending on the deck, you can always keep it on board until you are ready to look for a specific answer. Top decked paying 3 feels a bit much, but
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Supports -
Vines of the Recluse
Description - It's a combat trick that you might consider given that it costs only 1 mana. Has the surprise untap factor, and the toughness boost plus reach means you are likely to survive whatever you kill. It can even be used aggressively to turn a trade into a win while setting up a blocker with the untap.
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Supports -
Vines of Vastwood
Description - Solid effect with 2 modes. Hold it as a counterspell to removal or other targeted ability for a single mana. Or as a good combat trick for 2 mana. Hopefully both! Does require the right situation to maximise value, but those situations come along frequently enough.
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Supports -
Wild Growth
Description - Utopia Sprawl is going to be better most of the time because it also fixes mana, but worth noting it isn't strictly better than Wild Growth. If you only have one Forest, you can play Wild Growth onto another land and get the benefit straight away.
Anchors -
Supports - Ramp
Worldly Tutor
Description - Provides card disadvantage, but can find you the answer you need. You may want to consider this higher if you have some creature-based combos built into your cube.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Abundant Growth
Description - It doesn't accelerate, but draws a card. Not a terrible card if you want fixing as opposed to acceleration, though I suspect most cubes prefer to get both out of a single card.
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Supports -
Aerial Volley - 1
Description - It's conditional removal, but can be decent in certain environments / matchups, though it will be a dead card against certain decks. Most cubers won't want a 'sideboard card', but getting a 2 for 1 or being able deal with multiple spirit / bird tokens will be good against those decks.
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Supports -
Aim High
Description - It's an ok combat trick slanted to the defensive side. It has a few different angles; surprise blocker on something that is tapped, able to block that incoming flyer, or sometimes just the pump is all you need. It can also be used offensively, potentially letting you trade up or win a block that was favorable for the opponent, and the creature can now pull blocking duty as well.
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Supports -
Ancient Stirrings
Description - Finds lands and the occasional artifact / Eldrazi. Caravan Vigil is going to be the better card in vast majority of cubes because it gets you exactly which (basic) land you need. You probably want to upgrade to Mulch, but this does help find early lands at the cheapest cost. Has more value in a cube that has strong artifacts or artifact creatures.
Aspect of Hydra
Description - You need to build around it to some degree (by drafting more green), but can be good bang for buck. More effective in green ramp decks that tend to use more creatures that have double green in their cost.
Anchors -
Supports - Green Ramp
Caravan Vigil
Description - Grabs you whatever land you need for only a single mana. You probably want to upgrade to Mulch, but this does help find early lands at the cheapest cost. Morbid is going to hard to trigger in early turns, especially as this is a sorcery, which limits the effectiveness. Later in the game the morbid is easier to trigger, but even if you don't you can probably just play the land from your hand anyway. May get a bit more value if you support Eldrazi spawn-making creatures.
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Supports -
Corrosive Gale
Description - It's targets are limited so it is pretty situational, but can be used in a pinch if you need to off some fliers. In certain circumstances, against Skies decks for example, can be a blowout, or undo a Lingering Souls.
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Supports -
Crop Sigil
Description - It can support a self-mill / graveyard deck, but it is a bit slow about it. The opportunity to get back two cards is nice, but the land is not going to be gas that frequently. All that said, Codex Shredder may serve this purpose better; you can mill yourself immediately, play it in any colour, and while retrieval is more expensive you don't need delirium. Still, Crop Sigil is better at signalling the archetype.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Elephant Grass
Description - A poor man's Propaganda… or maybe a fairer one. It's not a lockdown because it will eventually go away, but might be worth it in the midgame to either hold off or minimise your opponents attack for a few turns, or hold off their board development while they attack. Extra hosing on black might turn some cube designers away.
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Supports -
Keen Sense
Description - Works well on pingers or evasive creatures. Suffers from aura 2 for 1 problem; has strong upside but harder to trigger with base green, as green has less evasion than most other colours.
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Supports -
Natural State
Description - This may be a metagame call; if the majority of your enchantments / artifacts are 3 or less it could be an upgrade over Naturalize, or for decks that know it is the cheaper ones that are their downfall.
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Supports -
Nature's Claim
Description - Cheap, instant, and uncondtional removal and hits both artifacts and enchantments. All adds up to good stuff, but unless you really want this effect to be at the 1 mana spot, Naturalize is probably going to be worth paying the extra 1 for to not give your opponent the 4 life.
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Noxious Revival
Description - Trades selective card quality for card disadvantage, and possibly for no mana. Worldly Tutor etc have the advantage of searching your entire library, where this requires a card to already be in your graveyard which is more limiting. Can be more useful in a graveyard matters theme that puts more cards in your graveyard, though by paying a little more mana you can maintain card parity (Regrowth) or obtain advantage (Eternal Witness).
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Ornamental Courage
Description - It's a cheap enough combat trick. Other tricks are better in general, but this is an option if you care about the 'surprise blocker' effect.
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Supports -
Primal Bellow
Description - Probably only better than most growth effects if you are playing mono-green or green based ramp; as it narrows down the number of decks it can be played in, majority of cubes will want something more flexible or that they can splash for. If you support mono-green in other ways then you might consider it.
Anchors - Mono-green
Supports -
Ranger's Guile
Description - The stat bonus is secondary to having hexproof, which can be used at instant speed to counter removal or other undesirable effects. While not strictly better, Vines of Vastwood is likely to be the more desirable card most of the time. This is a reasonable second if you want this effect.
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Supports -
Rofellos's Gift
Description - Very narrow application, but could be useful in the decks that wants it. Enchantment Matters or Aura-based Voltron might want this if those decks skew towards green. Absolutely need the right support to consider it though.
Anchors -
Supports - Enchantment Matters, Voltron
Sandstorm
Description - Green doesn't get a lot of ways to damage creatures. It's more effective against tokens or 'go wide' strategies, so its use will depend on your cube construction. You probably want to avoid having it being a complete blowout against other decks you might support.
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Serene Sunset
Description - If you have an empty board, it's an expensive Fog. If you have some creatures, it has the potential to be strong, either aggressively or defensively. Turning two trades into two kills, or triple blocking Pelakka Wurm without losing a dude is good times. So situational based on board state, but potential for upside.
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Spider Umbra
Description - The pump and reach is not significant, but with protection of the totem armor can provide enough to be up for consideration.
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Stinging Shot
Description - The opportunity cost is low due to cycling if you aren't facing flyers, and is good at shoring up one of greens weaknesses. It's not really necessary though.
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Supports -
Sylvan Tutor
Description - Strictly worse than Worldly Tutor, but could be a redundant piece if you are pushing creature-based combos, or want decks to be able to find their answers.
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Supports -
Thrill of the Hunt
Description - It could be +2/+4 for GW which is borderline. Probably better if you can eke out advantage from a single cast, and then threaten the second, or cast on two different creatures in the same combat, but only 1 power makes it more situational to get that advantage, and is unlikely to make it as a Selesnya card unless you really want to push combat tricks in those colors.
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Supports -
Vitalize
Description - This is pretty situational, but could cause a blowout in the right circumstances. With a few mana dorks, can be a weird way of accelerating. It's floor (which is probably most situations) is probably going to be a surprise block, with some potential upsides.
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Warrior's Lesson
Description - Draw 2 cards for G at instant speed is awesome. But it is pretty conditional and won't be reliable. Most likely to get you your cards if you are playing tokens and going around your opponent, or heavy evasive decks.
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Windstorm
Description - Narrow targets, but instant speed and can shore up a weakness in green. Situational, but can be effective.
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Supports -
Winter Blast
Description - It can serve as a finisher by tapping down potential blockers and letting you swing in. Works in any green deck, but probably best in a ramp deck to ensure fatties don't just get chumped by tokens, or aggro/tempo decks before your opponent can recover. You wouldn't play it only for its ability to kill small flyers, but it can be used that way in a pinch.
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Wreath of Geists
Description - Comes with the standard weakness of all auras, but can turn into a big threat if left unanswered. It can be ok in a midrange deck that is happy to trade guys in early turns, but the main reason to consider including this in your cube is if you are pushing a graveyard matters theme that dumps creatures from your library into your graveyard.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Regrowth
Description - Solid card in almost any green deck. It can get back the most relevant target in your graveyard for the current game state, whether it is the best creature that got hit by removal, getting back your own removal to deal with a new threat, or getting an engine going. Can combine with other retrieval cards to form loops, such as Eternal Witness. Also good in graveyard decks that can dredge stuff into the graveyard for later retrieval.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Sylvan Library
Description - If you aren't paying life to get more cards, you are invested a card. Played early it can help you hit your land drops, and stem their flow once you hit the required number. However once you hit 2 'dud' cards it isn't really helping much than if you had just drawn them. If you have a few shuffling or scry effects, it does get better by letting you see new cards more frequently. 4 life is not insignificant, but not having a mana cost attached can let you draw cards without impacting your ability to play them. Note that you are still drawing 2 extra cards a turn, regardless of whether you put them back, so it has some specific synergies with Lorescale Coatl and Horizon Chimera.
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Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Commune With The Gods
Description - Digging 5 and being able to find 2 relevant card types makes it unlikely that you will whiff. Helps find your powerful cards, and assist graveyard decks by dumping any relevant card there. In particular, dumping a reanimation target while finding a reanimation enchantment (Animate Dead, Necromancy) is some pretty strong synergy for that deck. Also solid in enchantment based Voltron / enchantment matters decks, or just to increase the chance of finding your powerful enchantments like Curses, or removal like Banishing Light. Fits well in just about any deck, but goes the extra mile in decks built to take advantage.
Anchors -
Supports - Reanimator, Graveyard Matters
Constant Mists
Description - A single Fog effect usually delays the inevitable without getting you ahead. In the case of Constant Mists, being able to buy it back a number of turns in a row can lock out the opponent while you set up your board or other plays. Once your opponent knows you have it, it makes things difficult for them; do they all out assault? Only attack with a single evasive creature to draw out the sacrifice or hope you will take the damage? Don't attack and let you draw into more lands? Has strong synergy with a handful of other cards. Land Tax keeps the fuel going, and paired with Guttersnipe can be a slow rolling death machine.
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Edge of Autumn
Description - Helps in the early game to accelerate and fix, while providing flexibility in the late game to draw into something more useful, essentially for free.
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Epic Confrontation
Description - Decent option for green removal. Allows your creatures to trade up by virtue of the toughness, and if you are clearing a path, you get an extra point of damage in. It can still be situational; even if your creature survives, your creature might have taken sufficient damage that attacking may no longer be profitable if the opponent has another blocker.
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Grapple With The Past
Description - A fine graveyard filler and retrieval combination. You probably cast it when you already have a target in mind, but you can always upgrade if something better comes along. Fine support card for graveyard matters decks, and being instant provides some extra flexibility.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Mulch
Description - Can help with decks that need to hit their land drops early, while also helping to fill the graveyard. Marginally better if you have effects which let you manipulate or look at the top of your library, but it is bit of work. Waiting unti your Sensei's Divining Top has hit 3 lands before you cast it may not fit your game plan.
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Naturalize
Description - It's not sexy, but it gets the job done. While there are plenty of options attached to creatures, you can always keep this held back until your opponent is committed to an attack before removing equipment, power boosting auras etc to maximise other opportunities to mess with your opponent.
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Nature's Way
Description - Decent green removal. Being straight up damage instead of fight reduces the risk (you can still get effectively 2 for 1'd if they remove your creature while this is on the stack), and without any damage on your creature you are more likely to take advantage of the vigilance and trample. There are plenty of similar options though.
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Predator's Strike
Description - It fights among other pump options, but 2 mana isn't back breaking to get your early creatures to trade up / survive, and the trample can be relevant to break through the final points in the lategame.
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Rampant Growth
Description - A fairly basic effect that ramp or control decks will welcome for mana fixing and accelerating from turn 2 into 4-drops. It's not flashy, but gets the job done. Sakura-Tribe Elder is better in nearly all situations, but you might include this if you want multiple 2cc spells that both fix and accelerate.
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Resize
Description - The baseline effect is worse than Giant Growth or Predator's Strike, so it depends on whether you will get use out of Recover. It's not optional; if you can't pay the mana, it gets exiled. That is going to be tricky for some decks to manage. A midrange deck that want to keep laying threats on curve and pushing the advantage isn't going to want to hold that mana up 'just in case'. An alternative play is using 4 mana in response to removal or a trigger on the stack, but you still have to have another creature worth casting this on in the first place. May be more suited to grindy cubes that find their decks with mana to spare in the late game.
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Savage Surge
Description - A reasonable combat trick, particularly in racing situations. It can either be used on the attack to win what would be a losing / trade situation and then have a blocker for your opponents turn. Or allow you to swing in, and then have a surprise blocker when your opponent swings back.
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Sprout Swarm
Description - The effectiveness of Sprout Swarm is highly dependent on the average speed of your cube. Given time, it accelerates into a machine of mass tokens. In fast cubes, you will probably be on the back foot and won’t have time to get into a position to cast it twice in a turn, and will need to start blocking with your tokens to survive, killing your engine. If you do have the time and your opponent doesn't have an answer (counterspells, targeted discard, or evasive creatures you can't deal with), it can be an inevitable win condition.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens
Symbiosis
Description - It does have the downside of requiring two targets, but it has the ability to turn around a couple of combat interactions.
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Supports -
Tangle
Description - One of the better Fog effects that can help you survive an alpha strike and then let you strike back for 2 consecutive attack phases. It might even be a reasonable stalling tactic played early against aggro, protecting your life total and giving you time to cast your larger creatures.
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Titanic Growth
Description - Pump spells often come down to personal preference (you might consider Predator's Strike or Giant Growth to fill the same spot), but this is a solid pump spell.
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Supports -
Utopia Vow
Description - 2 mana for green to remove a creature from combat is a good option. You fix and accelerate their mana; the closest comparison is Path To Exile, and while this is worse (permanently on abilities still apply, they can sacrifice the creature, sorcery speed) when it comes to green removal you won't find much better.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Assault Formation
Description - It needs some support, but it's a unique effect. You need to have enough low power / high toughness creatures that this can take advantage of. You might need to stretch a little, but if you start with creatures that fit that criteria that are playable elsewhere that's a good start.
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Channel
Description - It's possible to support the Channel / Fireball combo in peasant cube. The question is, how good is it outside of that combo? The double green in the casting cost makes it much harder to accelerate into green ramp targets. You will need 5 green mana on the board if you want to ramp into something like Pelakka Wurm. On the plus side, you can accelerate into Eldrazi or large artifact creatures as early as turn 2, so you might give it more consideration if you have more of those in your cube. It has potential for really high upside, but will be wildly inconsistent.
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Druid's Call
Description - It comes with the inherent 2 for 1 problem if your opponent has removal. But if they can't remove the target, then it can become problematic for them to attack into. It isn't likely to generate a squillion squirrels, but more likely to provide virtual card advantage by holding off attacks until they draw removal. You wouldn't want to rely on it, but minor synergies with pingers.
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Durable Handicraft
Description - It's a little slow to get going, and sometimes you are just going to have better things to do (use all your mana to play 2 threats instead of trigger this, the best creature for the board state uses all of your mana, keep mana for counters / tricks) but midrange decks may get some mileage out of. You are most likely to consider it if you have +1/+1 'lords' that can grant bonuses to your handicrafted creatures. Also pairs well with token armies, assuming you've got the spare mana to make them all bigger.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Elemental Uprising
Description - It's best use is likely to be in the early game on turn 3, when you can safely run it into a single creature that will die to it (you don’t get to choose what they block with), acting like pseudo-removal. The stats also make it reasonable to act as a defensive combat trick to kill smaller incoming creatures. However the timing is sometimes going to be awkward to use effectively. Corner case of being a pump spell if you play it on an awakened land.
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Evolution Charm
Description - Nothing is particularly noteworthy, but each effect will being relevant often enough to consider as a package.
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Supports -
Exoskeletal Armor
Description - This can have some pretty big upside, especially if you support graveyard matters decks. It's tempered by the standard 2 for 1 aura issue, and times when the bonus will be miniscule. Can be ok in hexproof / pants decks, and when paired with greens 'digging' cards like Commune With The Gods.
Anchors - Gravedyard Matters
Supports -
Explore
Description - It can help accelerate and at worst is a 2 mana cantrip.
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Supports -
Farseek
Description - At peasant, it finds less than Rampant Growth / Sakura-Tribe Elder for the same cost. However, I've listed it here noting that some peasant cube owners may break rarity for dual lands that have basic land types. In those cubes, this might have a place.
Anchors -
Supports -
Fists of Ironwood
Description - Trample might be relevant, depending on the number of fatties you have in your cube, with the tokens making up for the cost of the card. In a pinch, you can cast on a small creature just to use this as a green Dragon Fodder if you just need bodies.
Anchors -
Supports -
Gather the Pack
Description - It competes with Commune With The Gods, which can find enchantments as well. The upside of Gather The Pack is the ability to keep 2 creatures if you have spell mastery. The likely decks that would want this variant are spell-based ramp (Cultivate, Kodama's Reach etc) that can then dig for their targets with the highest likelihood of hitting spell mastery. It may be a little inconsistent in other decks.
Anchors -
Supports - Ramp, Spells Matter
Highspire Infusion
Description - Giant Growth and Predator's Strike are going to be better for most cubes. It's still fine, but the only reason to cube it is if you want to push energy support a little harder.
Anchors -
Supports - Energy
Into the North
Description - The only time you would consider including this in your cube is if you had the 5 snow dual fixers, let your players play with snow basics, and probably Mouth of Ronom as well. Without the nonbasics (and whenever you don't draft them for your deck) it's just a Rampant Growth.
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Supports -
Lead By Example
Description - It's not a bad combat trick, and supports +1/+1 counter themes.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Moment's Peace
Description - Fog variant that gives you two Fogs. It just buys time, but it buys more time than most. The threat of the second activation might actually buy you more time. Minor synergy with graveyard strategies, who might be happy to have this effect dumped in the graveyard while they set up their plays.
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Supports -
Name Dropping
Description - This… seems interesting. It could do absolutely nothing if the opponent is careful, but it could do a lot for a grindy threshold deck against some opponents. It's not optional, so it would be hilarious for your opponent to fill your hand to prevent threshold while Grizzly Fate is on the stack.
Anchors -
Supports -
Nature's Lore / Three Visits
Description - It doesn't hit the battlefield tapped like other searchers, but it only finds Forests. There aren't any nonbasic Forests worth finding at Peasant, and this locks you into finding green mana, and land searchers that find other basic land types support more decks. However coming into play untapped can be important, and can be really good when sequenced on turn 3 alongside another 2-drop.
Nature's Spiral
Description - It's strictly worse than Regrowth, but there are still enough targets that you may consider this as a second effect for larger cubes, or you are really pushing deep on recursion themes in green.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Nostalgic Dreams
Description - This requires a bit of setup. You need cards in your graveyard you want to get back, and cards in your hand you are ready to get rid of; preferably ones that benefit from being in the graveyard. Compared to the likes of Regrowth, you end up at card disadvantage, but it can give you card quality. Best in dredge-type graveyard decks that can give you lots of targets to shape your hand to the current game state.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Provoke
Description - It's a form of green removal. It's something you would play more for the gameplay it generates than raw power. It can help take out some utility creatures.
Seal of Primordium
Description - Enchantment version of Naturalize. The only reason you would play this over the instant version, or attached to creatures, is for enchantment matters themes.
Anchors -
Supports - Enchantment Matters
Swell of Growth
Description - It's fairly unique, but the question is, when will you want to play it? You want to play it when the pump matters, which is usually after the first few turns when you've cast a creature or two and they are about to get into combat. But you also want to play it when you can get the extra land drop, which makes the window for maximum opportunity pretty narrow. It might have a place in specific cubes that push landfall triggers and land bounce (Quirion Ranger).
Anchors -
Supports - Landfall
Sylvan Scrying
Description - This will be highly dependent on the nonbasics in your cube. If you are finding basics, it is just worse than Rampant Growth or Sakura-Tribe Elder. If you have powerful utility lands (Maze of Ith, Library of Alexandria) it gets a little boost, and it can always find tri-lands or rainbow lands for multi-colour decks.
Travel Preparations
Description - You aren't going to play it without the flashback, making this a conditional 4 power and 4 tougness for 4 mana. It requires two creatures to maximise value, and once you've put counters on creatures, they are still prone to removal. Being a sorcery is a knock against it, but if you support any +1/+1 counter themes this can be worth it. It also has minor synergy with persist creatures. It can also help aggro starts stay relevant long enough to close the game.
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Verdant Rebirth
Description - The timing window is a lot worse than green retrieval spells like Regrowth and Grapple With the Past. For that, it offers a 2 for 1, even if you have to recast the creature. Better in more combat oriented cubes, where you can more easily activate the 2 for 1. Best suited for grindy midrange decks intending to outvalue the opponent over time. There might be occasions where it is stuck in your hand with no creatures on the board, but it is going to be better than that frequently enough. Good with cards with ETB effects, particularly recursion with Eternal Witness (like that card needs more help).
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Wildwood Rebirth
Description - It's narrower than Regrowth, but it is instant speed, which might suit flash / go style decks. One of few retrieval effects that fits on Isochron Scepter if you want to create that synergy.
Anchors -
Supports - Flash / Go
Cultivate / Kodama's Reach
Description - One of the best accelerators and fixers. It guarantees that you go from 3 to 5, and helps you find splash colors or just meet high colour commitments. You may find both in cubes, even in smaller ones. The arcane on Kodama's Reach is flavor text in all cubes I've seen.
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Supports -
Curse of Predation
Description - Minimal investment with a big payoff. Played on curve, if your opponent was hoping to trade with creatures already on your board the counters may no longer allow that option, and it quickly snowballs from there. Maybe they don't block and play another blocker in the hopes to double block before it gets too out of hand, but then you are forcing card advantage. Top decked it can really swing a board stall, potentially adding several points of damage to the board while setting up your next swing. It's also one of the harder to remove permanents, and some cube owners remove it for being above the power level they are looking for.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Search for Tomorrow
Description - If you compare it to something like Llanowar Elves, it costs the same, it can find any basic so produce almost any color you need, land is more resilient than creatures, with the downside of waiting an extra turn before you can actually use the land. Other times, the option of suspend or hardcast can help give you more sequencing options. Even if you hardcast as long as you are using the land that turn it effectively only costs 2, putting it in line with similar options that put lands into play tapped (e.g. Rampant Growth).
Anchors -
Supports - Ramp
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
None.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Beast Within
Description - It's instant speed removal for any permanent which is some good flexibility. It is an interesting trade-off though; the 3/3 might not always be a big downgrade from the initial target. You can always turn any permanent you control into a 3/3. It might not be much of an upgrade for one of your smaller guys, but you can always trade in excess lands for a flash 3/3.
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Supports -
Boar Umbra
Description - Helps get around the inherent 2 for 1 of auras (unless they kill the target in response to casting of course). If cast early in the game the creature will likely become very hard to block profitably, and even if they double block to remove the large threat, you still get to keep the base creature.
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Supports -
Clear Shot
Description - It's a 3 mana trick, but by being instant it can lead to some blowouts in combat.
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Supports -
Elephant Guide
Description - You can build a decent threat that may steamroll the opponent if they don't deal with it quickly, and provides resilience against removal. You don't need it in your cube, but if you have any form of enchantment matters theme it is going to be high on your list.
Anchors -
Supports - Pants, Tokens
Gnaw to the Bone
Description - It can be a lifesaver (no pun intended) for creature attrition or graveyard based decks. After a few trades, cast once for 6 life, and a couple of trades later, maybe gain another 10 or more. Self-mill decks might only be able to cast it once for the flashback, but you often have more creatures in your graveyard in those decks in any case.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Harrow
Description - It has some minor synergy with delirium cards, delve cards or reaching threshold, if you want your land fixing to help those mechanics. The instant is a nice upside if you want to hold up counterspells or instant speed removal, the lands come into play untapped and it can instantly fix two colours. If you have landfall creatures in your cube, you should rate this a little higher.
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Supports -
Invigorate
Description - 3 life can be worth it to win almost any combat while still being able to develop your board; the surprise will often win a combat or 'counter' toughness based removal that lets you deliver that 3 pretty quickly. Like most 'free' spells, some players don't like having to consider playing around them or consider them to be unfair.
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Supports -
Moldervine Cloak
Description - The pump itself is solid enough to warrant the threat of getting 2 for -1'd, as it can enable you to present a threat of 5/5 or larger in the early game. If you've got a few creatures on the board, you can just dredge it back to keep hammering in with a creature larger than they can deal with, while the dredge can also enable graveyard decks.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters, Pants, Enchantment Matters
Overgrowth
Description - It can accelerate you quickly; if you get use out of it the turn you cast it, it effectively only costs 1 mana that turn. It requires specific cards, but alongside Arbor Elf or other untappers it can get ridiculous. Bonus that it isn't as vulnerable as creature acceleration. The downside is that it only produces green which might push it out against other options that fix.
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Supports -
Pulse of Murasa
Description - It's unassuming, but is probably going to fine as an instant speed mostly Raise Dead. That effect is usually not considered amazing and tacking on 2 extra mana would make it seem unplayable, but 6 life is a decent chunk. You take off a turn to cast this to get back your best creature or re-use a sacrificial lamb, but the 6 life probably compensates you for attacks that will get through while you do it. If you've already got the board locked, it starts putting you out of alpha strike range.
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Supports -
Riding the Dilu Horse
Description - It must be noted that this effect doesn't last until end of turn, so acts much like an aura. You can still get effectively 2-for-1'd by bounce or kill spells, but the upside is high; you get a pumped creature that is virtually unblockable. A 2-drop followed by this is a decent clock if they can't answer it. Solid support card for green aggro to provide it some reach.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro
Squirrel Nest
Description - It ties up a land each turn to activate it, but it does pump out tokens every turn. It might not save you from a losing position, but it can help in board stall / top deck wars, while also providing a steady steam of bodies to support sacrifice themes.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens, Sacrifice
Wildsize
Description - It is one of the more expensive pump spells to consider, but gives enough of a boost to help win combat while not costing a card, so can turn into a sort of 2-for-1, and is usually going to be fine to secure an aggro start or on defence to start clawing your way back. You might also consider Snakeform as a 'win combat, draw a card' effect, with a more flexible casting cost and a slight leaning towards defensive decks (Wildsize can always punch through for extra damage).
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Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Arachnus Web
Description - While it’s a pretty limited piece of removal for green, it does completely shut down the target without requiring you to control a creature like Rabid Bite or fight cards. In a pinch, such as in an aggro deck, you can cast it on a larger creature and get past a blocker to close out a game.
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Supports -
Benefaction of Rhonas
Description - You would probably cube Commune With the Gods first; this can find 2 targets, but the extra man is a real cost, and if you are trying to support any type of reanimator to find Animate Dead etc you want the cheaper effect. Still fine enough if you are pushing an enchantment theme a little harder, and worth noting that it can find aura-based removal.
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Supports -
Briar Patch
Description - This is an option if you want to push green control, particularly useful against aggro / go wide decks.
Anchors - Control
Supports -
Broken Fall / Molting Skin
Description - This is an odd card that could have some fringe uses. It's an onboard 'threat' so your opponent can always see it coming. In most games, it is an expensive regeneration option, but it can target any creature and has repeat uses. The decks that want that effect are likely to be defensive ones, where the threat of winning combat may prevent you from needing to recast it in the first place. What may raise the profile enough to consider it is some form of enchantment matters theme that can benefit from recasting it.
Anchors -
Supports - Enchantment Matters
Elemental Bond
Description - You can draft around it so that you hit the trigger more frequently (more top end creatures), as long as you have some ways to deal with early aggro assaults. If you have enough creatures in your deck to trigger it, you can play an attrition war and eventually come out in front on card advantage. Only if you have grindy games; otherwise you may as well have standard card draw. Garruk's Packleader is also an option attached to a creature. Abzan Beastmaster triggers off toughness, but can give you a similar kind of build around for the same cost while also being a creature
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Supports -
Fecundity
Description - This is a card I want to like, but is difficult to break the symmetry in cube, especially as you are invested a card and 3 mana. Most cubes already include tokens, so you can push cards that generate multiple creatures a little harder so this can be drafted around. Eldrazi Spawn or Scion tokens are prime candidates, and can help you cast the cards that you are drawing. Removal that exiles is also desirable for the deck that includes this. Might be fun in low power archetype driven cubes.
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Supports -
Feral Invocation
Description - It's a 3 mana combat trick, which is usually not desirable, but it does have the upside of being permanent if it sticks. The main reason to consider it is as a swap for an instant speed combat trick to provide some incidental support for enchantment matters themes.
Anchors -
Supports - Enchantment Matters, Pants
Ferocious Charge
Description - If you are going for a 3 mana combat trick, Wildsize is probably better, and most cheaper options are also better. The +4/+4 isn't often going to win much more than a +2/+2 boost, but maybe that plus the smoothing of the scry matters enough in your environment.
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Supports -
Forbidden Lore
Description - Repeatedly pumping two power for effectively a 1 mana activation is reasonable, but effectively 4 mana to drop it and get going is a little much. While the toughness boost is modest it will also help survivability on occasion. It's best feature compared to other permanent pumps like equipment is being able to activate after blocks, and that threat of activation can make things difficult for your opponent.
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Supports -
Growth Spasm
Description - While the ramp is a one-off, it can let you accelerate from 3 into 6 on your next turn, and there are few cards that let you do that outside of rituals. Rituals can usually accelerate earlier, but they only do one thing; this at least has more flexibility by putting a body on the board which can interact in other ways.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens, Sacrifice, Ramp
Hunter's Insight
Description - It's conditional but in an interesting piece of green card draw. It gets a little better the more evasive guys you have and the lower your power of removal (particularly instant speed). You might sit on it without a way to get a creature through, but it isn't unreasonable for an opponent to just let a midrange creature with 3-4 power through if they don't have profitable blocks.
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Supports -
Ice Storm
Description - The best land destruction spell in green which is fine for supporting aggro, however it doesn't support it as well as other colours.
Anchors -
Supports -
Inspiring Call
Description - It's all-in on the +1/+1 counter theme, but the reward is high if you've seeded enough other creatures with +1/+1 counters in your cube.
Anchors - +1/+1 counters
Supports -
Kruphix's Insight
Description - You probably want to be very heavy on the enchantment matters theme to consider it. That said, it still digs deeper than similar cards that can find enchantments, so even in something like reanimator you can find your Animate Dead's etc
Anchors - Enchantment Matters
Supports - Reanimator
Lead the Stampede
Description - If this is the only noncreature card in your 23, average is somewhere around 2.8 cards. 16 creatures in your deck puts the average case at about 2, which is closer to the norm. It's high variance, but the cards you 'draw' are business spells so the average case is better than a Divination (unless you are creature light). You might consider it marginally higher if you have some ways to stack your deck, like Sylvan Library, Sensei's Divining Top and Brainstorm.
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Supports -
Presence of Gond
Description - It's a build your own Imperious Perfect, but costs you two cards. It doesn't have an activation cost and you can activate it immediately if you already had something on the board, but the only way I can see someone including this in their cube is to do something cute with other marginal cards; something like Horsehoe Crab or Midnight Guard.
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Supports -
Recollect
Description - It is a strictly worse version of Regrowth, and overall weaker than Eternal Witness. You may still want some extra redundancy, depending on how much you want to push your graveyard based decks. Worth noting that Down // Dirty is strictly better, but categorisation issues may rub some people the wrong way.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters, Creature Recursion
Refresh
Description - It's not a thrilling card and costing 3 is more than you want to pay for a trick you need to hold up. Still, it does help you maintain board presence when you would otherwise trade, and counters some types of removal while drawing you a card.
Anchors -
Supports -
Reincarnation
Description - It's an intriguing reanimation spell, but somewhat narrow. To get the best benefit, you need to have a good target in your graveyard plus something you can either sacrifice or that will die easily in combat. That makes it too situational for standard reanimator strategies, but it can just provide insurance for your best creature on the board... if you have the mana up. Minor recursion with the likes of Archaeomancer and Eternal Witness if you are on the defensive and just need time to draw more cards.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters, Reanimator
Reviving Melody
Description - You probably want to support enchantment matters to some degree and have enough targets, but that is not a stretch for most cubes. Being a 2 for 1 in those situations is decent. If you aren't getting both, then it does feel like a poor Eternal Witness.
Anchors -
Supports - Enchantment Matters, Creature Recursion
Synchronized Strike
Description - It's a decent enough trick, but Symbiosis is often going to do a similar job. The untap is noteworthy, and you can cast this on a single creature if needed, but finding 2 mana is a lot easier than 3.
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Supports -
Thermokarst
Description - It's an option if you want green to have land destruction in green past Ice Storm.
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Supports -
Trial of Strength
Description - 4/2 for 3 is the going rate for green, but not something we would cube on its own. You need at least a few Cartouches I your cube to warrant it (and the green one is not great). You at least get a creature that trades with a decent percentage of creatures if you don't get a second shot.
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Supports -
Triumph of Ferocity
Description - You can get Abzan Beatmaster for the same cost for a similar type of effect with a body attached. This is power instead of toughness though, so you could draft around it and include more beefy creatures in your deck.
Anchors -
Supports -
Winter's Grasp
Description - It's an option if you want green to have land destruction in green past Ice Storm. You may want to consider Thermokarst and having your basics be snow for some marginal upside.
Anchors -
Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Symbol Status
Description - Given that cubes can include cards from every expansion, in some cubes this might actually produce 4+ tokens just based on nonland permanents in play. You can always include lots of different lands in your land box to really power this up. If you play a deck with every basic from a different expansion, it is almost guaranteed to create 4 tokens on turn 4 with an otherwise empty board, and can only get better from there.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Dawn's Reflection / Market Festival
Description - It can fix multiple colours, and accelerates by 2. If you've got an untapped land the turn you play it, it sort of only costs 2. Has upside in that its value goes up slightly if you've got things that can untap it e.g. Arbor Elf can lead to casting this on the 3rd turn, possibly giving you 9 mana on turn 4. Explosive Vegetation has upside in that it can't be disrupted by removal, marginal upside of deck thinning, and you don't need to use mana in chunks of 3. However if you are supporting an enchantment matters theme in green, this is a solid alternative.
Anchors - Ramp
Supports - Enchantment Matters
Explosive Vegetation
Description - It can fix multiple colours, and accelerates by 2. Most cubes will care more about cheaper ramp options, but this is still fine at this mana cost.
Anchors - Ramp
Supports -
Harmonize
Description - You don't get lots of card draw in green (or it is conditional) so this often finds its way into green sections. Nothing flashy, just solid in anything but aggro.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Gaea's Embrace
Description - In most cubes, the threat of being 2 for 1'd is too large. However, if it sticks, the combination of size boost, trample and regeneration can make the target hard to take down. Probably only for cubes pushing pants themes, and that have adjusted their removal accordingly (limited aura-based removal, exile effects and 'can't regenerate' removal).
Anchors -
Supports - Pants
Hunting Triad
Description - Each side is slightly overcosted, but the flexibility can make this worth it. Elves are reasonably easy to support as a tribe if you want to go wide, and if go wide isn't working for you, you have the option of going tall. A permanent Giant Growth is fine, even if it does cost 4.
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Supports -
Living Terrain
Description - It has decent stats, but on curve you don't get to block with it, and after that, you are down a land if you attack with it. If cast on an untapped land you already had in play, it can be hasty, so there is upside there if your opponent wasn't prepared for a 5/6 attacker. It's still vanilla, so how the stats stack up against the rest of your cube is the determining factor. Marginally more interesting if you support an enchantment theme.
Anchors -
Supports - Enchantment Matters
Make a Wish
Description - Compared to random card draw at least they are likely to be business spells instead of lands you don't need, but the randomness is still a negative. It's narrow and requires slower cubes, but as this is a 2 for 1 you can loop this with Eternal Witness and similar cards to really grind out card advantage over the long game.
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Supports -
Monstrify
Description - Sorcery speed pump is bad… when you can turn every land after that into a pump spell? Even though your opponent gets the knowledge before they have to block, they still have to make some interesting decisions. From now on, any card you draw could let you retrace it. Do they multi-block and kill your creature to minimise repeat threats? If you cube is fast this won't make the cut, but if games often play out with decently developed boards, this can help grind out some damage or incremental card advantage.
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Supports -
Predator's Howl - 1
Description - It isn't going to be consistent, but 3 2/2's for 4 isn't a bad deal. Could suit aggressive decks when they start trading off in the mid-game, but you can give it more support with sacrifice themes, both to trigger it more easily, and getting 3 bodies might give you more fuel for your sacrifice engine. Curving Nest Invader into this is a nice dream.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice, Tokens
Skyshroud Claim
Description - Only if you want to make mono-green a thing in your cube, OR you are breaking rarity to cube shocklands or ABU duals.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sudden Reclamation
Description - It's a 4 mana 'do nothing' the turn you cast it, but it does have a couple of things going for it. It's one of few instant speed retrieval options in green, so that can matter if you are trying to support draw go style decks. It fills your graveyard at the same time as retrieving stuff, which could matter for threshold, delve etc. It does also get you back two cards; while one is just a land, it's still an extra resource if you need it to cast your high end spells, or possibly discarded for an effect if you didn't need it.
Anchors -
Supports - Draw Go
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Overrun
Description - It requires heavy green commitment, but the effect can be almost unfair on any reasonably developed board. It doesn't take too many creatures for it to be lethal, or force your opponent to chump to prevent as much trample damage as possible, lose their board and then die the following turn. Some players exclude it for being a card that just turns around a game completely ("Attacking? I'll let them get through, so that drops me to 3. My turn? You're on 13 right? Untap my 3 random 2/2's, cast Overrun, attack for 15")
Anchors -
Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
None.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Beast Attack
Description - Getting two 4/4's out of it is decent, particularly given both times it can be at instant speed. The heavy green puts it down a bit. If you want to support draw / go decks, this can be support for that while interacting with graveyard matters themes.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Bestial Menace
Description - A reasonable menagerie of creatures. They are all vanilla, but if you are going wide it can be enough to help get around whatever blockers they have.
Anchors -
Supports -
Centaur Glade
Description - It will depend on the speed of the cube; for some, it can be too slow to stabilise, given that it takes 9 mana of investment before you get your first 3/3. That said, 3/3's are decent enough in size that it usually doesn't take too many to stabilise, as long as you have other ways in your deck (and cube) to deal with evasive threats.
Anchors -
Supports -
Grizzly Fate
Description - It can do some good work as long as your cube supports graveyard filling (card filtering, self-mill, dredge etc), and has some flexibility depending on the game state. You probably aren’t getting 4 bears on curve too often, but the potential for getting 8 bears out of a single card is pretty awesome.
Anchors -
Supports -
Incremental Growth
Description - It's conditional (requires you to have 3 creature), but it could represent hasty 6 damage if you've gone wide, and you get to spread them in the most advantageous way for the board state.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Restock
Description - It doesn't affect the board, but you get back 2 business spells. 5 mana isn't trivial, but it supports grindy attrition decks, and is also useful to support self-mill themes.
Anchors -
Supports -
Spider Spawning
Description - You probably want to be supporting a self-mill graveyard theme, but this can turn out a decent number of spiders. The second toughness makes them much better at multi-blocking than 1/1's.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Blessings of Nature
Description - The dream is playing a 1-drop and draw this on turn 2. Odds are you won't have it in your opening hand, but it might not be an optimal play on the turn you draw it. Inconsistent, but probably fun when it works. You wouldn't cube it without miracle, but if you have to pay 5 mana, at least you can attack with that extra power straight away, board state permitting.
Anchors -
Supports -
Enlarge
Description - It's conditional and it's 5 mana, but it can do a lot of damage in the right situation. It can act as a green 'finisher' if you are creature heavy. They can chump block and take a bunch of damage; if they have enough, they can gang block it so they can kill it and prevent potentially lethal trample damage; suck it up and block with their lone Sentinel of the Eternal Watch or whatever; have 0 blocks and just take 10 or so. You need to play around removal, and if your cube is rampant with cheap instant speed removal this may not have a place.
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Supports -
Honden of Life's Web
Description - It's a pretty slow token creator in its own right at this mana cost, and it will be rare that a deck wants this on its own merits. The only reason to cube it is as part of a Shrine package.
Anchors - Honden.dec
Supports -
Monstrous Onslaught
Description - High upside, but terrible floor. The final part gets around removal that can counter fight / punch cards and dividing the damage can do some work, but probably only once you get above 3 power. It will be great when it deals 6+ damage, clears 2 or 3 creatures and then lets your fatty profitably attach into what's left, but it won't be consistent. Ambuscade and the like are usually 1-for-1's but are significantly cheaper.
Anchors -
Supports -
Nissa's Judgment
Description - It develops your board while eliminating a threat (most of the time). A little on the expensive side though which makes it harder to include among other removal options. Mostly up for consideration to support a +1/+1 theme.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Overcome
Description - Gets a mention as an alternative to Overrun if you find that card too good or swingy for your environment. That said, this ultimately does the same thing (wins games out of nowhere), it just works in less situations (and maybe sometimes you can cast this when you need a 3rd green source for Overrun).
Anchors -
Supports -
Reach of Branches
Description - A 2/5 for 5 isn't great, even with flash on the first casting. It can generate some value over the longer game however, particularly if you have some specific synergies. It can provide incidental value from self-mill, creates an ok target for populate effects if you cube them, grind some value in the longer game, and plays well with cards that return lands to your hand. Marginal synergy with 'discard for effect' cards. e.g. Discard to Noose Constrictor, then play your Forest for the turn.
Anchors -
Supports -
Stand Together
Description - It requires two targets and is 5 mana, but at instant speed and permanent pump you might consider it as a way to win combat and have bigger creatures to boot. Certainly on the low end of combat tricks however.
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Supports -
Zendikar's Roil
Description - There is upside here, but at 5 mana you have run out of lands or close to. Only if you have specific synergies in your cube where you get to replay lands every turn (bouncelands, cards that return lands for benefit).
Anchors -
Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally
depowering an effect.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
None.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Become Immense
Description - Sneaking in 6 extra damage is a decent chunk. It's such a large amount you'd rather it did go to their face than just winning a combat. Not something you need, but does it's job well enough, particularly if you support go wide, graveyard synergies so that this is always cheap, or a higher density of trample creatures.
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Supports -
Roar of the Wurm
Description - For 7 mana you can get better up front, but the cheap flashback makes it playable. Either to follow up your 7 mana spell with a 6/6 plus potentially another spell, or discarding it early to get a cheap on turn 4.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Strength of the Pack
Description - 6 mana is a decent amount, but in the right board state this can add up. If it's only on 1 or 2 creatures, it probably isn't worth it. Best in decks that are likely to build out a board and stall the game, so only consider it if this happens enough in your cube. This assumes you are consciously not cubing Overrun for being too swingy.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
None.
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Crimson Kobolds, Crookshank Kobolds and Kobolds of Kher Keep aren't worth cubing. The decks that would want it are so slim that they aren't worth cubing.
Jackal Pup
Description - This is one of few good 2/x's in red. The drawback usually ends up only being a few damage when it trades with something. It doesn't fit every deck, but as long as you support some form of red aggro this is among the strongest of the 1-drops available.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
Stonewright
Description – Solid 1-drop that can help push damage through. Does extra work with evasive and first strike creatures. It can help aggro guys trade up, or finishers quickly smash through. Already good, but essential if you support a double-strikers / pump archetype.
Anchors –
Supports –Voltron / Double-strikers
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Bloodlust Inciter
Description - It can do some great work in aggro or midrange decks. Best in the opening hand where you can just swing immediately with everything bigger that follows. If you get a good start, it can start making your opponent nervous, as you could drop anything to the board.
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Frenzied Goblin
Description - Solid 1 drop, letting you turn off their most annoying blocker. Dies easy, but a couple of activations can buy you time.
Anchors -
Supports -
Monastery Swiftspear
Description – Vies for best red 1-drop that doesn’t have base 2 power and solid all round. Stats with haste is reasonable for one mana, with the option of boosting. Playable in almost any deck, but shines in red aggro (with burn support), Gruul aggro (with combat trick support) or spells matters (for obvious reasons).
Anchors –
Supports – Spells Matters
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Foundry Street Denizen
Description - ok in early turns in aggro decks. Gets better if you support red tokens; turn 1 Foundry Street Denizen, Turn 2 Dragon Fodder, Turn 3 Hordeling Outburst is good times against durdly opponents.
Anchors -
Supports -
Goblin Bushwhacker
Description - Essentially a 2-drop with an alternative 1 mana mode if you need a turn 1 vanilla 1/1 to maximise your sequence of plays. Kicked, at worst it is a 2/1 hasty guy, but is usually going to be pumping a few dudes. Can also be held back in decks that like to guy wide and punch through or around defenses with tokens.
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Goblin Glory Chaser
Description - Dropping this on turn 1 is great, with a decent opportunity to get in on turn 2, earn renowned, and have an evasive 2/2 for just 1 mana. But after the first few turns, it may just become a vanilla 1/1 that will get eaten by anything on the opposing side of the board. It also gets worse if you are on the draw. Red has ways to clear a path (can't block effects, burn), and this gets better the more you have in your cube, but this isn't likely to be consistent and is often going to be a bad top deck.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
Insolent Neonate
Description - Decent 1-drop that can get in for some damage early while the opponent develops their board. Menace can also play nice with pump spells if it forces double blocks when 1 would be enough. Being able to filter is also fine with limited opportunity cost, letting you draw more gas, or enabling early madness or graveyard matters themes if they are part of your game plan. An opening hand with this is always going to have options no matter what the opponent does. Also a decent inclusion if you have any bloodthirst / raid creatures in your cube.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters, Madness
Kird Ape
Description - Everyone counts this as a Gruul card. If in the opening hand, more often than not can be attacking turn 2 as a 2/3, which is amazing value. Playable anywhere, but helps support to red/green aggro.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
Lightning Berserker
Description - Sometimes it will just be a 1/1 that meets a 1/1 token or utility creature, other times it might only trade slightly above its weight. Other times the threat of activation against an opponent with a low life total can help trade it up. The dash can sometimes just flatout win games when an opponent is tapped out, but that is going to happen a lot less than you'd like. You have to have the mana open, but it can also serve as a deterrent to trade up on defense as well.
Anchors
Supports
Reckless Waif
Description – Attacking with this for 3 damage on turn 2 is a beautiful thing. It's an inconsistent beauty though. So it has very strong upside, but you never know when it will transform. In the aggro decks that most want it, turns 3+ might be best served with 2 low cost spells, undermining this card.
Anchors – Aggro
Supports –
Village Messenger
Description - The closest comparisons are Reckless Waif (how often it will flip) and Goblin Glory Chaser (effectiveness of the before and after modes). It is going to be high variance, but it is solid in your opening hand and if it immediately flips is a good start. Not terrible in top deck mode either, as by then your opponent is probably out of plays.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Akroan Crusader
Description - It's no Young Pyromancer, but it can serve a similar role. It's going to trigger a lot less, and is only worth considering if you include some self-bouncing auras or push a lot of combat tricks like Brute Force.
Anchors -
Supports -
Forge Devil
Description - ok for clearing out utility creatures, and can also be held back to cast after combat if you need to deal an extra 1 to something. Burn does that better, and the body isn't anything, but at least it's something. Noteworthy that the ability is mandatory, so not really playable if the opponent has an empty board.
Anchors -
Supports -
Goblin Arsonist
Description - Serviceable but not exciting. Can trade and then deal 1, unlike the sacrifice guys like Mogg Fanatic.
Anchors -
Supports -
Goblin Cohort / Mogg Conscript
Description - This needs enough support to make work, in the form of other efficient aggro beaters so that you can keep attacking. But if it is attacking every turn, then it is efficient.
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Supports -
Goblin Fireslinger
Description - The value in most pingers is being able to hit creatures and control the board, which this doesn't do. However it does have value if you support bloodthirst or other cards that care about your opponent being damaged. Outside of that it isn't stellar, but does give red decks some reach in the late game.
Anchors -
Supports -
Goblin Patrol
Description - You end up paying rr for a vanilla 2/1 which is far from amazing. On the plus side, you can be swinging with it turn 2. You only want this if you are heavily pushing aggro in red; being able to divide its cost can help you sequence your plays to maximise the use of your mana every turn.
Anchors -
Supports -
Gorilla Shaman
Description - The repeatable artifact destruction deserves a mention, but the ability does become very expensive. If your cheapest artifacts in your cube are Grafted Wargear and Loxodon Warhammer, this is not your guy. If you want players to feel good about playing him, you should only consider including him if you have sufficient targets at 0-2 mana.
Anchors -
Supports -
Intimidator Initiate
Description - The ability is nice to get your creatures through. It's drawback is that in the early game, you probably want to curve out, and don't want to leave mana up for this ability. It also means playing your spells pre-combat, which is not ideal.
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Supports -
Jackal Familiar
Description - You need plenty of other aggro oriented 1 and 2 drops to offset the risk. But if you do, you get a 2 power creature for R. Preferably comes down turn 2 or 3 after one or more creatures are on the board; as a turn 1 play, he isn't likely to be attacking turn 2. Opponents with sufficient removal will make you very sad.
Anchors -
Supports -
Mogg Fanatic
Description - Serviceable. Can threaten activation during combat to mess up other blocks, threaten small utility creatures, and can always chump and then ping something if needed.
Anchors -
Supports -
Orcish Lumberjack
Description – It's a card with a history, but a bit harder to make work in peasant cube. You don't have sufficient redundancy to rely on it to 'combo out' a big fatty on turn 3. General ramp just seems a lot more reliable.
Anchors –
Supports –
Rigging Runner
Description - A 2/2 first striker for a single mana is great, but not actually being able to cast it on turn 1 is a major downer. You could maybe curve out with a 2 drop on turn 2, attack on turn 3 and drop this alongside another 2-drop… but it isn't going to happen consistently.
Anchors -
Supports -
Satyr Hoplite
Description – You only want to consider this if you had self-bouncing auras for some ‘combo’, or have a removal-lite cube with lots of auras.
Anchors –
Supports –
Scorched Rusalka
Description – Lets you ping if your creatures are about to die anyway. Won't be a common occurrence, but additional bonus of countering cards like Lighting Helix by removing their target. The ability to use it repeat times in a turn is what elevates it to a potential finisher if the board state is right. If your opponents life total is less than or equal to the number of creatures you control, you win (mana permitting).
Anchors –
Supports –
Skittering Lizard
Description - It isn't particularly efficient at any point of the curve, but it does have versatility going for it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Aether Chaser
Description - While the triggered ability supports attacking, the first strike makes it fine for control decks as well. However best in aggro decks, and a great 2-drop for that deck.
Anchors -
Supports -
Borderland Marauder
Description - Play it, then swing for three. As simple as possible, a key card for any red aggressive deck.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
Burning-Fist Minotaur
Description - Solid baseline, and threat of activation makes it hard for your opponent to block or attack into if you've got open mana. It's also a discard outlet for graveyard based themes, and the activated ability can make it a 2 drop that has relevance in the late game by being able to discard lands or other dead cards.
Anchors -
Supports -
Frazzled Editor
Description - It requires some house rules about interpretation, but can be really strong. Mainly you need to decide whether you count reminder or flavour text. Even if you don't count those, cube is full of higher complexity cards which lend themselves to more rules text. Basically, it is a red 2/2 with protection from a bunch of stuff, which is more than red usually gets. Note that it might preclude you targeting it with some of your own stuff, but that is a pretty minimal downside in comparison to what you get.
Anchors -
Supports -
Gore-House Chainwalker
Description - You only want to include this in aggro decks that want to swing for the fences. 3 power for 2 mana that doesn't die to a 1/1 utility creature or token is excellent in those decks though. The 2/1 is a distant secondary mode if you really need it as a blocker.
Anchors -
Supports -
Keldon Marauders
Description - Good for aggro decks that want to punch through quickly. The 3/3 stats are often enough force through damage, or force the opponent to lose a creature if they block. 2 mana to either deal 5 damage to a player, or kill a creature and deal 2 damage is a pretty good deal. Even if you are behind, it can still deal a couple of damage while chumping if you happen to be behind.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro
Mogg War Marshal
Description - Decent token generator. If you don't pay the echo, you still get Dragon Fodder's worth of tokens, but you also get the opportunity to block if you aren't intending to pay. Paying the echo is mostly upside if you happen to have the mana spare. Good for sacrifice decks, getting 3 activations for a couple of mana. Can fit into a range of decks.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice, Aggro, Tokens
Stormblood Berserker
Description - Two mana 3/3 is great, and is easy enough to support with other aggressive 1-drops or other sequencing.
Anchors -
Supports -
Young Pyromancer
Description - Base stats are not embarrassing, but the ability to spawn multiple tokens over a game make this a solid card even if you aren't heavy on 'spells matters' themes. You can get it out early and use removal to keep the path clear while building your army, or use the tokens for sacrifice effects. It works well with token spells like Hordeling Outburst to really go wide. Can combine with Sprout Swarm for a quickly accelerated
army.
Anchors - Spells Matters
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Akoum Stonewaker
Description - It can be a mana sink for aggro decks to mitigate flood, with some minor synergy with providing fodder for sacrifice effects.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice, Tokens
Ashmouth Hound
Description - Obviously great in combat against X/1s, and can trade up with x/3's. Situationally good.
Anchors -
bSupports -
Blood Knight
Description - Similar to White Knight and Black Knight, perhaps a little worse as an attacker since red usually wants to keep the board as clear as possible and a 3-power dude will outperform 2-power with first strike.
Anchors -
Supports -
Bloodrage Brawler
Description - It's great stats for the cost. It comes with a drawback, but particularly if played on turn 2, your opponent might be dead before you were going to play that last card anyway. Also provides some incidental graveyard synergies; it's even a reasonable option for Rakdos reanimator to discard a target at the same time as developing your board.
Anchors -
Supports - Reanimator, Graveyard Matters
Ember Hauler
Description - Hard to cast, but when you do get it out early it can attack while it can, and turn into removal later.
Anchors -
Supports -
Firefist Striker
Description - Repeatable can't-block effects are great for aggro, and this is just easy enough to trigger to be a very solid card.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
Fireslinger
Description - Repeatably taking down X/1s is quite strong for two mana, despite the damage drawback.
Anchors -
Supports -
Generator Servant
Description - Red ramp is a very rare effect, but it's always at least on a 2/1 body and can lead to some very explosive plays.
Anchors -
Supports -
Goblin Shortcutter
Description - Solid for red aggro decks, turning off your opponents blockers in the early to midgame and forcing some damage through, or prevent a trade / unfavorable block.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
Goblin Wardriver
Description - ok stats for cost, and the battlecry can be relevant in aggro decks laying out multiple cheap threats or token decks. The double red makes it harder to cast on curve in multicolour decks. It's not flashy, but fits into decks that want to be attacking.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
Hellspark Elemental
Description - It comes out the gates swinging in aggro decks... twice. In the early game it can be hard to block, either forcing your opponent to lose a creature or take what amounts to a Lava Spike that can be repeated. minor synergies with sacrifice decks, and it isn't a prime target but could also see
play in dredge-style graveyard decks.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports - Sacrifice, Graveyard Matters
Ire Shaman
Description - A 2/1 with menace as a baseline is boring but serviceable in an aggro deck. As long as you don't mind morph, it does get a decent bit of upside. You might get value out of the morph trigger, but the flexibility if you have the mana spare makes this decent.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Kessig Forgemaster
Description - Solid all rounder even unflipped. On the offensive, it can't be blocked by x/1's, and you can seed other cards that play nicely with it by granting it first strike or deathtouch, or just trade up with 3 toughness creatures. Works just as well on defense, making it harder for your opponent ot attack into you. Flipped just makes it even more effective.
Anchors -
Supports -
Lightning Mauler
Description - You can always play it as a 2-drop haste by pairing it with a 1-drop, but it is best served waiting for a 3+ drop to come down and swing ahead of curve. As a result, it only really belongs in aggressive decks. Sometimes you might be able to sequence this plus another 2-drop on turn 4 for a surprise swing, but that will be uncommon.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
Mogis's Warhound
Description - As a baseline you wouldn't accept the attack each turn drawback, but being able to bestow it makes it reasonable to boost one of your own creatures. Good for midrange decks that want to put an extra 2 power on the board immediately and swing.
Anchors -
Supports -
Plated Geopede
Description - It may be inconsistent, but a 3/3 first striker on the attack for a couple of turns in the early game can make things difficult for your opponent. It needs to be an aggro or midrange deck that just wants to get out swinging. Some upside if you have ramp cards, or with Terramoprhic Expanse, or you break rarity for fetchlands.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
Reckless Reveler / Torch Fiend
Description - It isn't embarrassing stats if you want artifact removal on legs.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sigiled Skink
Description - The scry is a good smoother for aggressive decks. It doesn't do anything tricky; it's just solid for filtering away lands you don't need once you've hit requirements, and keep pressure up.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
Sparksmith
Description - Compared to Fireslinger, it doesn't hit players, but hitting creatures is more important anyway. The damage to yourself is usually worth it to take out opposing creatures. An early Hordeling Outburst alongside this gives you the opportunity to dominate the opposing board; the life loss will hardly matter if they have no creatures and you still have other cards to drop. Sometimes your opponent might even help you out by playing some goblins.
Anchors -
Supports - Pinger Control
Speedway Fanatic
Description - 2/1 haste is fine, if unexciting, for aggro decks. The Vehicle rider is just bonus when it comes up in cube.
Anchors -
Supports -
Thermo-Alchemist
Description - It's a reasonable drop for the spells matters deck, holding off small creatures while getting in some damage to the opponent.
Anchors - Spells Matters
Supports -
Thriving Grubs
Description - Essentially a 3/2 attacker, it bears obvious comparison with Borderland Marauder and Gore-House Chainwalker. Marauder blocks 1/1's better, but that's about it. This dies to single points of burn that Gore-House Chainwalker would survive if unleashed. But this is otherwise better; with support it can grow bigger than 3/2, and it can also block as a 3/2 later once attacks are no longer profitable.
Anchors -
Supports - Energy, +1/+1 counters
Wall of Razors
Description - The 1 toughness makes it vulnerable, but 4 first striking power makes this hard to attack into for a lot of creatures. Good for supporting defensive control in red.
Anchors -
Supports -
War-Name Aspirant
Description - They can't use tokens to trade with it, and they can't use the likes of Wall of Blossoms to stall it. Raid gives it the extra boost; in aggressive decks, getting down a 3/2 where the opponent's opportunity to easily trade up is removed, it can be solid.
Anchors -
Supports -
Zada's Commando
Description - A 2/1 first striker is a fine early drop for either aggro or control, especially in the color of burn or pingers that can pair nicely with the first strike to trade up. The cohort ability is mostly flavor text, and any synergies in your cube are likely to be incidental and supplementary to the base stats.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Blazing Effigy
Description - If you are playing defensively in red, it stalls 2/x's, and when it is outclassed is probably going to take something with it. Wall of Razors and a couple of other walls fit a similar the role, but this doesn't die to Gut Shot or divisible burn, and even if it gets bolted you still get to take something with it. Downside that you must target your own creatures if they have nothing on the board.
Anchors -
Supports - Control
Crimson Mage
Description - Decent effect tacked on to a Piker body, one extra mana is usually a fair price for tacking on haste to a creature.
Anchors -
Supports -
Crimson Muckwader
Description - A very solid card in a vacuum, but seldom seen due to strong competition among Rakdos cards.
Anchors -
Supports -
Deathbellow Raider
Description - A good attacker even for non-black decks, having a third toughness makes him much more sturdy than the must-attack drawback on a 2/2 or 2/1, but can still be a dead card from time to time.
Anchors -
Supports -
Deranged Whelp
Description - It's ok, but nothing special compared to other 2-drops. Its value goes up a little in environments that can take advantage of the menace, mainly combat trick heavy environments such as combat pump or deathtouch effects to help trade with both blockers.
Anchors -
Supports -
Dwarven Blastminer / Dwarven Miner
Description -If you want a mediocre way to punish greedy manabases, consider one of these guys.
Anchors -
Supports -
Embersmith
Description - Certainly dependent on having a dedicated artifact theme in your cube, but if that's present this is a strong threat (and, in that cube, still has the "always a bear" upside for when the theme doesn't come together fully).
Anchors - Artifact Matters
Supports -
Emberwilde Augur
Description - If it attacks and isn't blocked once then gets sacrificed, it's the same amount of damage as Keldon Marauders, but it's not reliable enough as basically a vanilla creature.
Anchors -
Supports -
Everflame Eidolon
Description - Pretty miserable when hard-cast, but will add on a decent amount of damage when used as an aura.
Anchors -
Supports -
Falkenrath Exterminator
Description - Slow, but has a very strong best-case scenario and works well with other effects that can grant it a +1/+1 effect.
Anchors -
Supports -
Furyblade Vampire
Description - There is upside is here, but it might be tricky to find its way into decks. It can be an aggro beater as a potential 4 power 2 drop, but it seems a bit wonky for a graveyard matters enabler.
Anchors -
Supports -
Goblin Skycutter
Description - 2 power for 2 is not embarrassing, and free activation cost gives it some flexibility to take out opposing flyers if you need to clear them out. It will be actively subpar against any deck that doesn't have many flyers though.
Anchors -
Supports -
Horde Ambusher
Description - Without morph it is a bear with downside, but the 'free' morph cost gives you options and supports the 'can't block' subtheme.
Anchors -
Supports -
Humble Defector
Description - Drawing 2 cards is pretty solid, but what if your opponent gets to do it too? Being in red, in the late game this could help you draw into reach and possibly close out the game before your opponent can respond. It can also work by sacrificing or bouncing in response to an activation. While there aren't many untap effects that are highly playable, untapping it in response to the first activation can net you 4 cards before you give it to your opponent.
Anchors -
Supports -
Kiln Fiend
Description - You need to be pretty heavy on the spells matters themes to get this to work, but can be a good threat. Using removal to keep the path clear and swinging in for 4 damage is a solid plan, but the 2 toughness doesn't give it a lot of longevity, and it will be inconsistent. When your opponent is in the single digits and you have cards in hand, it can make them a little nervous.
Anchors - Spells Matter
Supports -
Kozilek's Sentinel
Description - 2 mana for a 1/4 can be an unexciting but serviceable blocker, soaking up damage in defensive decks, with the 1 power being a deterrent to your opponent just swinging in with all their x/1's. While it supports colorless, you probably want to see that as a bonus if you are looking to fill your defensive creature quota in red. That said, if you can keep casting colorless spells swinging in early with a 2/4 is not a bad plan. Other red defensive creatures are probably more universal (Mogg War Marshal, Wall of Razors), but this survives sweepers better than most if that is what you are looking for.
Anchors -
Supports - Colorless matters
Kruin Striker
Description - Has a reasoable chance of hitting for 3, and can be more if supporting tokens. The trample is mostly bonus, so getting power is the real draw, in which case most creatures that have a baseline 3 power when attacking are going to be better served in the same slot, or that have better upside. This also forces you to play 'badly', making you cast creatures before combat.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
Makindi Sliderunner
Description - It isn't bad, but it may get lost in the sea of aggro red 2-drops. Cheap red creatures with trample are in short supply, so this fits better in cubes that have a few pump spells or ways to give it +1/+1 counters to take advantage of that.
Anchors -
Supports -
Mardu Scout
Description - Reds only base 3 power creature at 2 mana that doesn't kill itself or have a drawback (aside from costing double red). However it just doesn't do enough compared to other options. The dash can be a surprise, but having to pay for it each turn is either going to stunt your development or will often start coming down too late to matter.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
Mogg Flunkies
Description - While its drawback can be overcome, it isn't going to be a consistent 3 power attacking 2 drop like some other cards, but might be an option for larger cubes. Not having a 1 drop means it can't attack turn 3 (or block opposing 2-drops), and it can get neutered by removal on other creatures. If you can draft go wide decks in your cube, its value goes up a little as it helps mitigate the drawback to some degree.
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Nest Robber
Description - It's aggro filler. Speedway Fanatic is strictly better as long as you have at least one Vehicle in your cube. You might cube it if you are trying to promote a red/X (probably green) 'Fires' deck full of hasty dudes / effects.
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Raptor Hatchling
Description - It's an option for control decks to put up some roadblocks. You don't get your token for non-damage removal (as compared to similar Brindle Shoat), but if your 2-drop draws a removal spell you probably aren’t too upset. Work well with auras, equipment or pump spells to enable damaging it without killing it; you probably shouldn't go out of your way to enable it, but will make for good stories when it happens. Not being able to sacrifice it for effect is a downer.
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Rustrazor Butcher
Description - On its own, it can survive combat with 2/x's, but this doesn't fit an aggro deck. Better as a defensive creature, but you would need ways to pump its power, and get more benefit from the first strike / wither combo, to feel comfortable playing it. If you can put a couple of +1/+1 counters on it, it can survive a lot of combat situations.
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Sanguinary Mage / Nimble-Blade Khenra
Description - An ok support card for a spells matters deck, but still not the most exciting and less likely to see play in decks without spells.
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Skirk Marauder
Description - It seems expensive, but a 2 for 1 particularly with direct damage may deserve some respect. Probably only if you support a morph contingent to your cube.
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Slavering Nulls
Description - It isn't flashy, but as a Rakdos card, you are in the two colors that can help clear a path (burn, kill spells, can't block effects) and get it connecting early. It's fine in that deck, but it fights with other more 'interesting' Rakdos cards, given black has access to Hypnotic Specter and similar friends.
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Soulbright Flamekin
Description - Whether this is effective or not will probably depend on how red pairs up with other colors. It might be ok with green on the assumption you are playing ramp targets, with some higher end red aggro / midrange creatures.
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Sparkmage Apprentice
Description - It might be useful if your cube is crammed with x/1 aggro creatures, or 1/1 utility creatures, where it can both kill one on the way in and then trade with something. Elsewhere it is likely to be lackluster, and require awkward timing to get use of the damage, and then leave behind a mostly useless body.
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Stingscourger
Description - It's ok as a control card. 2 mana sorcery Unsummon is not great, but even if you aren't paying the echo you still get a chumper that can trade. Needing to pay the echo cost is hard though, given you have to give up the chance to cast something relevant you may be able to draw.
Anchors -
Supports - Control
Viashino Slaughtermaster
Description - The activated ability makes it look like this is a 3 colour card, but as a baseline it is a red Fencing Ace. On that basis, you might consider it if you have a Voltron / pants theme, or sufficient combat pump spells. Outside of that support it isn't going to be good.
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Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Fire Imp
Description - Excellent value regardless of deck type which is nearly always a 2 for 1; aggro gets to remove a blocker while developing the board, and control can remove an aggressive threat and then trade with something else. It can always be cast after combat in an aggro deck to remove a larger blocker. Fine blink / bounce target.
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3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Acolyte of the Inferno
Description - The 1 toughness makes it a little vulnerable, but dealing 2 damage once blocked is massive. It turns things that would trade with it into chumpers, and turns losing combat into trading up.
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Ahn-Crop Crasher
Description - 3/2 haste for 3 is already a decent deal for aggro decks. Being able to turn off a blocker when you want is excellent (particularly if they don't have many creatures), and if you get multiple uses out of it, that is great.
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Brazen Wolves
Description - So long as you are turning it sideways, this is a 4/3 for 3 mana without a drawback which is great value. Unlike the similar Borderland Marauder, this is not entirely embarrassing as a blocker if that is what you need.
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Splatter Thug
Description - Great for aggro decks; 3 power first strike can sometimes be difficult to profitably block. The first strike makes it not an embarrassing blocker if you need that mode.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Blood Ogre
Description - A reasonable option for 3 power first strike on a 3-drop. It isn't guaranteed, but the bloodthirst can help push your players to play aggressively or take risks, which might be the gameplay you want to promote.
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Boggart Brute
Description - A decent attacker, making it hard to either trade or just chump block. It (along with most menace creatures) become a bit better if you support it with a few pump spells, which may help blow out a couple of blockers when they block.
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Brazen Scourge
Description - The stats plus haste can make this ok for aggressive decks. Not much more to it than that, though the double red may impact on whether it makes it into cubes.
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Cunning Sparkmage
Description - Perhaps the best red pinger. You can always drop this post combat to help trade up, and can provide reach if you get into a board stall.
Anchors -
Supports - Pinger Control
Fervent Cathar
Description - A fine aggro support creature, it adds 2 immediate power to the board while also taking out the best blocker on the other side of the table. The haste / can't block combo can either steal games or disrupt your opponents gameplan as they attempt to protect their dwindling life total.
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Ghirapur Gearcrafter
Description - It puts two creatures on the board, one of which is evasive. It isn't thrilling, but can give a slight nudge to tokens, team pump effects, or sacrifice effects. You might also consider it if you have any sort of artifact matters synergies.
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Ghitu Slinger
Description - The lack of echo on Fire Imp fills this role better. However if you are finding the likes of Fire Imp a bit easy to get 2-for-1's, you might consider this to lower the power of removal. It can still block so you might not need to pay the echo, or your opponent might not choose to attack into it if they assume you aren't going to pay the echo.
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Guttersnipe
Description - Solid anchor card for the spells matters deck. Perhaps the only 'downside' is that it can sometimes behave like an enchantment, in that you may not want to run into combat depending on the matchup. If you have enough spell support, particularly removal, it can provide a sense of inevitability if the opponent is not in a position to pressure you. It's biggest downside is that it doesn't really help you claw back into a game you are losing.
Anchors - Spells Matter
Supports -
Hissing Iguanar
Description - A decent effect in its own right, as creatures are simply going to die in combat during the course of a game. It plays a little different in different decks; played before combat, it can really add pressure in aggro decks. In attrition decks you eventually bleed them out, and sacrifice / recursion decks get can grind them out. It's a 3 drop with 3 power to boot, and sometimes trading on curve is the best play.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Imperial Recruiter
Description - It is a 1/1 for 3 mana, but it does provide some utility for most decks, while giving you another angle to pay attention to during drafting. Can be used to find utility (Reclamation Sage), archetype specific cards (Young Pyromancer) or just good cards (Mother of Runes, Vampire Nighthawk).
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Khenra Scrapper
Description - It can hit as hard as Brazen Wolves, albeit every second turn. However the menace can help it hit early, and then smash for 4 when the time calls for it. Doesn't do anything a lot of other red aggro 3-drops can't, but still ok in this slot.
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Pyreheart Wolf
Description - The effect may not appear effective, but giving menace to everything can make blocking difficult. To eliminate the effect, your opponent needs to block the wolf, but you are almost guaranteed to get the effect twice. If you've already applied some pressure, it can be hard for the opponent to come back from. Consider Goblin War Drums for a version that has immediate impact on the board.
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Qal Sisma Behemoth
Description - You only want this to push red aggro, but it is of a different ilk than most aggro creatures. It's very beefy and can be difficult to block on curve. You can't develop your board as well while you are attacking, but if your opponent can't deal with it they don't have long. It's downsides are that it can't usually block before its first attack, and it can meet instant speed removal after you've paid your 2.
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Rage Forger
Description - Shaman's are an unassuming tribe, so you are more likely to include this if you are pushing a +1/+1 counters theme, helping your team punch through. An alpha swing that carries an extra 3 or 4 damage is formidable. You probably have a smattering of Shamans as incidental support, and you can run a gatherer search to look for potential card swaps if you want to go a bit deeper. It has obvious build-around potential, but without a reasonable amount of +1/+1 support you shouldn't play it.
Anchors - +1/+1 counters
Supports -
Reckless Bushwacker
Description - Curving out and laying this down on turn 4 after casting another 2-drop is sweet. It can really catch your opponent out, providing a bunch of extra damage they weren't expecting. On the flipside, it can be a poor top deck, but at least the haste makes it not too embarrassing in that mode and you can always hold out for a turn or two to set up a big swing.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro, Go Wide
Spikeshot Goblin
Description - If you are paying mana every turn just to deal 1, that is not ideal, but the excitement comes from being able to build a bigger goblin. Power pumping equipment excels here, but also plays nicely with pump spells and auras.
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Thopter Engineer
Description - It does provide 2/4 worth of stats for 3 mana. It can help get something to block early aggro while chipping away in the air, or provide you two bodies to support a go wide / team pump game plan.
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Vithian Stinger
Description - Fairly comparable to Cunning Sparkmage. This is better with sacrifice outlets and slightly better in graveyard decks. If these don't matter, you probably want Cunning Sparkmage as your first option which allows you to hold it in hand as an after combat trick.
Anchors -
Supports - Pinger Control
Wall of Heat
Description - It's an ok set of stats that will block a bunch of large creatures up to the likes of Blastoderm, while the 2 power is usually enough to stymie ground-based aggro assaults. It only does one thing but it does it well enough; it's biggest downside is just being boring.
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Weaver of Lightning
Description - A 1/4 with reach for 3 mana is an odd fit for red but an ok defensive creature. The trigger can also help impact the board, whether it is 'upgrading' your burn to hit larger targets, clearing small targets, or being used mid or post combat to trade up.
Anchors - Spells Matters
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Aether Membrane
Description - It's an option for red defensive decks, but it could be oppressively good against aggro decks.
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Arc Mage
Description - If you get it online, it probably won't take over games, but it can make combat tricky for your opponent if you've got the mana open and cards in hand. It is still slow to set up and use, and the cost of a card makes it fair.
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Archetype of Aggression
Description - It probably plays fine as a filler and sometimes the random trample will get you the final damage through, but there aren't really any decks that will go out of their way to draft this.
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Arms Dealer
Description - While it's tribal, it can sacrifice itself if necessary and most cubes include enough goblin cards that it might be worth a look in. If your red section is comprised of Dragon Fodder, Hordeling Outburst and Beetleback Chief you can get some mileage out of it.
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Breakneck Rider
Description - The casting cost is mildly prohibitive, and unflipped you aren't too excited. The flipside looks decent, but it is going to be unreliable. The power bonus can help out go go wide decks, and the trample can help your go tall decks. But it does come with the downside that by the time you cast it most players are going to be casting a spell each turn, and the bonus is not triggered; if he gets removed in the middle of combat, you just lost all your bonuses, which can make for some feel-bad combat situations.
Anchors -
Supports -
Chandra's Spitfire
Description - It requires some building around, but if you do the upside is there. You probably want a few pingers in your cube to supplement burn spells, and there are some specific cards that work nicely with it; Pyrohemia and raid Bombardment are a couple of cute synergies.
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Conduit of Storms
Description - The front side is probably just a little under where you want it to be. The ability is aggressively tuned, and a 2/3 for 3 is ok but the not the most aggressive. However, if played on curve and you hit your fourth land drop, it can flip itself the first time it attacks. It isn't going to be terrible to hang back if there are no profitable attacks, and transform a few turns down the line if you've got nothing better to do.
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Crossway Vampire
Description - There are a number of similar 'can't block' options, and the double red makes this a little worse than most of the others.
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Ember Beast
Description - It might be fine in creature heavy or go wide decks. Sometimes you won't have much board presence which can make this a bit worse, including some board states where your opponent can prioritise removing your other creatures so this guy is lonely. If it sticks and can attack on curve following a 1 and 2 drop though, the stats are solid and will apply a decent amount of pressure on your opponent.
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Fault Riders
Description - The baseline isn't great, but the threat of 4 power first strike damage can make both attacking and blocking decisions hard for your opponent. Helps with delirium and threshold if those are things in your cube.
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Firemantle Mage
Description - Menace is a fine effect to grant your team, but you need to time this; if you need to get creatures on the board, you will be sad to have to cast this at a suboptimal time. Goblin War Drums and Pyreheart Wolf are close cousins; Drums has immediate effect like the mage but can be cast anytime and is permanent if you need multiple attacks. The wolf has a turn delay but usually gets at least a couple of triggers. While each have board states they will be the perfect card for, on balance Firemantle is probably just below the others unless you have a decent contingent of allies in your cube.
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Flaring Flame-Kin
Description - It is very narrow and will require a very specific cube to work; one with an aura-based 'pants' theme with enough support in red. In comparison, Arrogant Wurm is probably easier to enable for a similar upside.
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Ghost-Lit Raider
Description - The activation is expensive, but getting repeat 2 damage out of a single card investment can have a reasonable impact on the board… if you get to untap with it enough times. If your aggro decks are fast, they may steamroll before this can get online, and it might be stranded against ramp decks.
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Goblin Artillery / Orcish Artillery / Orcish Cannoneers
Description - 2 damage, no mana cost to activate, hits both players and creatures. So far so good. That 3 damage is going to add up though, and by the time you cast this and are able to activate it a couple of times, you might have already taken a number of hits from an aggro deck.
Anchors -
Supports - Pinger Control
Goblin Ruinblaster
Description - Most decks will include some nonbasic lands that this can target; the question is whether you are happy to a 3 mana hasty 2/1 in other situations. Probably not.
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Hellraiser Goblin
Description - The best case is that you get some kind of aggro 'Fires' deck going where you just get to hastily swing in every turn, which is going to be solid and put pressure on a lot of decks. It is a double edged sword; the moment they put down a creature that can eat one of yours, you might be in a bad spot if you haven't applied enough pressure or have answers to deal with them.
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Inner-Flame Acolyte
Description - It can come down as a 4/2 that becomes a bit lacklustre afterwards, but you can also pump something else already on the board to force some hasty damage through. The evoke isn't going to be a primary mode, but with it in hand you can shape your plays around it and cast a beefy dude and swing in when your opponent hasn't left back enough blockers. Those uses are pretty situational though, and the double red hurts.
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Inner-Flame Igniter
Description - It's a mana sink, but the floor is low if you spend 3 mana and all you do is make this a 3/2. Better if you tend to find your red decks go wide. +3/+0 and first striking your team is awesome… but 9 mana.
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Kessig Malcontents
Description - It has the desirable power for it's casting cost to be considered aggressive, even though it dies to anything. Sometimes you'll get to Lightning Bolt the opponents face as part of the bargain. Passable but not exciting.
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Supports -
Lobber Crew
Description - It supports a narrow control deck, alongside the likes of Vent Sentinel. The untap clause is mostly flavor text in cube.
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Manic Vandal
Description - About the only thing that can be said about it is that it is an option for artifact removal.
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Supports -
Minotaur Skullcleaver
Description - It comes down as a hasty 4/2 which might be fine if you've cast threats on curve, but it gets a bit lacklustre after that. You could always upgrade to Inner-Flame Acolyte if you don't mind the double red.
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Mudbutton Torchrunner
Description - It will be conditional on the board state, but it can make for a nice deterrent against attacks, or buy time against aggro decks.
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Pain Kami
Description - It can be a lowered power removal option, but it isn't very efficient.
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Pitchstone Wall
Description - It's not a bad baseline for a defensive red creature if that is what you want from your red decks; survives most midsize attackers while killing smaller ones. The triggered ability is fairly secondary, but could have some occasional uses.
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Priest of Urabrask
Description - It's not ideal, but it might be useful as an aggro enabler, to dump this and then follow with another red drop.
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Reckless Racer
Description - First strike can make it ok on defence, with mostly passable stats but not too exciting. The first strike can still help it get through sometimes (especially if your cube leans a little heavier on combat tricks) and let you filter your cards.
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Rockslide Elemental
Description - On it's own, it takes a couple of deaths to become a threat, but the first strike at least gives it a little something. It will have some variance and won't work in every deck, but if your opponent is forced to make a trade with something else, a 3/3 first striker is a reasonable threat. It's a bad top deck if you are behind, but can be ok in board stalls and grindy games. Gets a bit better in cubes that push +1/+1 counters or sacrifice decks.
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Satyr Nyx-Smith
Description - The inspired ability is fine, and the haste might let you get it in without being blocked sometimes so you can get the trigger. However it is going to be pretty inconsistent.
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Scalding Salamander
Description - It will have some games where it is great, and others where it behaves like a vanilla 2/1 for 3 mana. It slots into aggro decks fine; if you are on the offensive it can help your team trade up. However there are lots of more flexible spells like Electrickery or just other divisible burn that are more effective in more situations. Nice incidental synergy if you have ways in your cube to give it deathtouch.
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Simian Spirit Guide
Description - It can serve as an early accelerator if you really want it. It's less useful in cube, but red is usually an aggro colour so you may be able to drop down early beaters, but the card disadvantage often isn't worth it. The hard cast is secondary, but you aren't likely to be happy when you have to actually cast it.
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Skirk Commando
Description - The trigger is solid, but the stats make it less likely it will get through. It gets a little better if you already support saboteurs with ways to get through. E.g. Reds can't block effects, blues tap down effects, evasion granting etc.
Anchors -
Supports - Saboteurs
Spur Grappler
Description - It isn't a premier aggro creature, but it can be a 4 power 3 drop consistently enough. Usually it means you have to play spells pre-combat which will sometimes be awkward, and you may not be able to represent combat tricks or on board effects.
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Sulfur Elemental
Description - It's an uncounterable 3/2 flash creature for 3 which is solid. The effect on white creatures is odd though. If you are white, you need to be careful what you draft alongside it. Against white opponents, sometimes you will blow out all of their spirit tokens and x/1 creatures, and other times you might give them the means to trade up with your team or allow them to swing for lethal.
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Suq'Ata Lancer
Description - It's serviceable in aggro but forgettable. The ETB effect on Fervent Cathar is probably preferable to most decks, but this does have slightly more survivability.
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Tunneling Geopede
Description - The baseline is not good enough compared to other 3/2's at this cost. Probably the only reason to include it is if you play several bloodthirst creatures where this can be an additional enabler.
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Supports -
Uthden Troll
Description - The regeneration cost is cheap, so it might help if you want red control decks. It might make it in the odd aggro deck (especially those with equipment) but you should only include it if you want slower red decks.
Anchors -
Supports - Control
Valakut Predator
Description - Attacking on turn 3 with a 4/4 is decent, but this is not going to be consistent. You might get the occasional 6/6 out of saclands or ramp effects, but without trample sometimes that can be wasted, Depending on your cube and enablers, you might considerArrogant Wurm as your potential turn 3 4/4, but it will always a 4/4.
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Viashino Bladescout
Description - The double red isn't attractive and will keep it out of most cubes, but this can be an ok combat trick while developing your board. Perhaps more for cubes with lower power removal and more combat-trick oriented.
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Supports -
Vile Aggregate
Description - You need to be pushing colorless / artifact creatures pretty hard and no other deck will want it, but it can be a threat in that deck. You won't be throwing this is in any cube.
Anchors - Colorless Matters
Supports -
Vulshok Sorcerer
Description - The 1 power here isn't worth the harder casting cost as a first choice, but it's a second Cunning Sparkmage if you want it.
Anchors -
Supports - Pinger Control
Wall of Dust
Description - The thing about low power blockers is that opponents can attack around them if they have more guys. This helps mitigate that and will slow down most aggro decks. Even if you are overwhelmed and you chump a fattie, it still can't attack next turn. Still, not particularly thrilling.
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Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Flametongue Kavu
Description - Possibly reds best creature, it is very rare that 4 damage is not going to kill a relevant target, and while the toughness is low, 4 power makes it likely to trade with a lot of creatures. Hard not to find a 2 for 1 out of this, and makes for a ridiculous bounce / blink target.
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Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting
a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Goblin Heelcutter
Description - Having to pay for it every turn doesn't seem great at first glance, but firstly it gets haste, and secondly, you might just need to shut down your opponents best stabilising creature for a couple of turns to get the win through. Once your opponent has seen it once, it may change the way they plan their defense (e.g. keep back an extra blocker when they could have made an attack), which you could exploit by just casting other spells to develop your board instead of dashing this out again immediately. Marginal synergies if you support cards that trigger off repeatedly casting creatures or entering the battlefield (extort, Impact Tremors)
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Supports -
Keldon Champion
Description - This has the opportunity to win games out of nowhere or really shift games. An extra 6 damage the opponent didn't plan for might force them to abandon lines of play they had invested resources into in an attempt to scramble up a defense next turn, or it might just drop them to a low enough life total that you just win the following turn.
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Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-
around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Avalanche Riders
Description - Fine aggro curve topper to keep some pressure up while keeping them off a bigger play long enough to kill them, or potentially keeping them off a colour or punishing land light hands.
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Supports -
Beetleback Chief
Description - Fine for putting bodies on the board. Either to go wide on the attack, or just gum up the board on defense.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens
Bloodfray Giant
Description - Solid aggro beater. 5/4 trampler for 4 hits fairly hard and can be hard to deal with, especially if you've already curved out. If you are behind, a 4/3 blocker isn't terrible.
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Supports -
Dragon Whelp
Description - The base isn't exciting, but it's a red flyer if you want one, and if the opponent doesn't have blockers it can turn into a decent clock if you are at a point where you don't need to develop your board. You can always hold mana up on defense if you are behind and need to threaten to kill a large attacker.
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Embodiment of Fury
Description - The baseline stats with trample is fine enough. Being able to turn lands into hasty creatures, especially later in the game when you don't mind if they just trade, can be a decent gameplan for midrange decks, or even as an aggro topper. There are probably marginal considerations, but it does have synergies with awaken cards (effectively gives the lands +3/+3) and cards like Cultivate played in the late game can give you multiple threats in a single turn.
Anchors -
Supports -
Gorehorn Minotaurs
Description - It might be consistent enough in generic red aggro or midrange decks that want to turn sideways to be a 5/5 for 4. You can always tweak a few effects to improve its effectiveness.
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Supports -
Lava Hounds
Description - It's a decent aggro curve topper; 4 hasty power is nice, and the toughness also means it isn't going down without a fight. The 4 damage to yourself isn't nothing; if your cube has a high density of bounce / flicker spells, you might want to give this one a miss to avoid feel bads.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
Roc of Kher Ridges
Description - A 3/3 flyer for 4 is fine. It may be 'less important' than something like Voyager Drake because red doesn't have the critical mass of flyers to make it a game plan. You might consider Dragon Whelp as an alternative with more upside if unblocked, but this is easier to splash.
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Scrapper Champion
Description - For aggro decks, this is mostly a 3/3 double striker, which is solid already. Even if you are forced to block, the 4 damage will still take down a reasonable number of ground based attackers. If you have other energy outlets or just suit it up with aura's / equipment, it can become hard to deal with if your opponent doesn't have removal. The double strike can even make double blocking hard.
Anchors - Pants
Supports -
Smoldering Werewolf
Description - The frontside might not always find targets, but it can clear small threats or you can use the damage post-combat if required. The frontside alone is slightly underwhelming, but transformed can be a bit of a powerhouse, potentially clearing out something that would threaten to double block it.
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Stalking Yeti
Description - It isn't Flametongue Kavu, but even without snow mana it can still kill small creatures. Sometimes it will be correct to use it as a 'bad' burn spell and trade. If you support snow basics (or manage to draft that Coldsteel Heart), you can get a slow rolling machine to kill small creatures.
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Vaultbreaker
Description - It can hit hard and filter cards. It's not flashy, but it gets the job done.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Bloodshot Trainee
Description - I don't know what the exact number is, but you need several pretty specific cards that offer repeat or permanent pump in your cube to make this worthwhile. Bonesplitter, Trusty Machete and Madcap Skills are regularly played, Elephant Guide and Griffin Guide are decent options, but you might have to dig deep if you want this to be at least somewhat reliable. Repeat 4 damage is obviously great though.
Anchors -
Supports -
Bonded Horncrest
Description - It's fine enough for aggro decks looking to curve into it. The downside sucks when it is active though. The upside of overpowering most opposing creatures once it hits the board can be worth it in the right deck.
Anchors -
Supports -
Brood Keeper
Description - It's very underwhelming without the trigger, so you clearly need to be supporting the enchantment (and specifically auras) matters archetype. Self-bouncing auras are cute if a little slow.
Anchors - Enchantment Matters
Supports -
Changeling Berserker
Description - 5/3 haste for 4 is decent, but the champion clause is a real cost. Ideally it will be something that has an ETB effect so you have some 'insurance' if it gets removed, but an aggro deck could also trade in an outclassed early drop. You might compare the stats and board implications to a vehicle like Renegade Freighter, but the haste here might make it worth considering as an aggro curve topper.
Anchors -
Supports -
Corrupt Eunuchs
Description - It isn't bad in and of itself, but it's strictly worse than Flametongue Kavu, and the cheaper cost on Fire Imp is usually worth more than the extra point of toughness. It's still a fine card if you find Flametongue Kavu too powerful or want depth of this effect.
Anchors -
Supports -
Enthralling Victor
Description - It isn't going to be consistent. Sometimes they have nothing to steal, or maybe a defender that does nothing. It might depend on the exact composition of your cube; it does get a little better if you support sacrifice effects.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Fallen Ferromancer
Description - It's likely to be too slow and mana intensive for most cubes, but distributing -1/-1 counters on creatures every turn (and at instant speed) can start dealing with stalled board states and mess with combat. Also pairs nicely with undying creatures.
Anchors -
Supports -
Goblin Freerunner
Description - 3/2 menace for 2 mana is great, but not being able to cast it on turn 2 sucks, and paying 4 mana sucks. Ideally you want the right support cards; low to the ground aggro, or cards that provide you with mana; Manamorhpose, Burning-Tree Shaman, Priest of Urabrask etc. to make it consistent enough to cube.
Anchors -
Supports -
Goblin Settler
Description - At face value, it's 4 mana land destruction spell with a mostly irrelevant body, and 4 mana is not what you usually want to be paying for land destruction. However, it might have some value in blink / bounce decks to clear out opposing utility lands or cut an opponent off a colour if you want to support that type of interaction.
Anchors - Land Destruction
Supports -
Kird Chieftain
Description - A 4/4 for 4 is a decent starting point (in the right deck of course), but it isn't quite as effective as other Gruul options. Still, while the activated ability is expensive, it does threaten to mess with combat (whether making this a 6/6, or forcing trading up something else) or the trample mess with the opponents life total if they intended to chump block. Potential inclusion if you are looking for grindier inevitable Gruul decks as opposed to ones that are more aggressive.
Anchors -
Supports -
Lesser Gargadon
Description - If you want a curve topper for balls to the wall aggro that no other deck wants. The lack of trample is notable, and could create some feel bads if your opponent can afford to chump for a few turns or has a repeat token maker.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
Mad Prophet
Description - 4 mana is not what you want to be paying for this effect, but it can be a filtering option for red if you want one.
Anchors -
Supports -
Mardu Heart-Piercer
Description - It's worse than Fire Imp and Flametongue Kavu, but you might cube it to make your 2-for-1's a little more skill testing, or to orient the effect more for aggro decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Maulfist Doorbuster
Description - The low toughness isn't great, but the triggered ability increases the likelihood that it will get through. Even if it trades on the first swing, it might mean getting some of your other early threats through that otherwise might have been eaten.
Anchors -
Supports -
Needletooth Raptor
Description - In a control deck, it can serve as a roadblock that can trade with anything up to a Pelakka Wurm, and even if they swing in with a 3/3, you might still be able to kill something else they would rather keep around. However it relies on your opponent attacking into it, and isn't going to help you stabilise against evasive creatures. That said, it is a mini-combo with pingers or Pyrohemia, and the presence of these in your cube is the main reason to consider it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Oxidda Scrapmelter
Description - There are lots of similar options, but this one does give you an ok body. Unexciting, but serviceable.
Anchors -
Supports -
Paragon of Fierce Defiance
Description - Probably only worth it if you have a high enough token contingent in red (Hordeling Outburst, Mog War Marshal, Beetleback Chief). You aren't as worried about the haste, particularly as it costs mana, but it will still come up sometimes.
Anchors - Red Devotion
Supports -
Pyre Hound - 1
Description - You have to cast a spell before it reaches Vestige of Emrakul status, and two before you are somewhat happy. The growth plus trample might still make it worth it for slower cubes.
Anchors - Spells Matters
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Rubblebelt Maaka
Description - You really don't to play this as a Hill Giant, and if you want a pump spell you would rather have Brute Force which can be used defensively or in response to toughness based removal outside of combat. It does have some flexibility, and the pump only working aggressively may be what cube designers are looking for.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
Rukh Egg
Description - It isn't going to fit into most decks, but you might cube it for sacrifice effects or to support red controlling decks. If your opponents game plan doesn't include early pressure then it isn't great.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Skirk Volcanist
Description - It needs you to have enough mountains on the board, which can certainly prevent you from morphing it early, but it can be an instant speed Flames of the Firebrand that requires no mana up. Somewhat clunky, but the upside is there.
Anchors -
Supports -
Spontaneous Artist
Description - Not particularly high impact on its own, but giving a 5-drop or ramp target haste might make this worth considering.
Anchors -
Supports -
Terra Ravager
Description - It's rarely going to be worse than 3/4 (if your opponent is mana screwed), but it's going to be often enough a 5/4 or better even when close to on curve. It's not something you want in a deck that is intending to block of course, but it can be aggro support.
Anchors -
Supports -
Tormentor Exarch
Description - Even if you discount the amazing Flametongue Kavu, there are a number of similar and probably better options (Stalking Yeti, Fire Imp). It might still be ok if you are going deep on this kind of effect.
Anchors -
Supports -
Vent Sentinel
Description - It's a reasonable blocker, but it is probably a signal that you are supporting a defender subtheme in your cube. The fact that it only hits players is a downside, but could support a controlling red deck.
Anchors - Defender
Supports -
Voldaren Duelist
Description - The combo of haste and shutting down a blocker can throw more damage on the table than the opponent was expecting. Probably best to support a 'can't block' theme in red along the curve, as the cheaper versions are usually considered better. Ahn-Crop Crasher is a better option in most cases though.
Anchors -
Supports -
Warfire Javelineer
Description - There are plenty of other 'spells matters' options, and red also has a number of other 'ETB, deal some damage' creature options as well. Nevertheless, the ceiling, while inconsistent, can be higher than those options.
Anchors - Spells Matters
Supports -
Worldheart Phoenix
Description - Most cubes don't need to include 5 colour reward cards. If you want one though, this is probably one of the better ones. A 4/4 flyer is solid, but it can still be outclassed. Being able to cast it every turn gives you some range to trade or even chump while you find answers if you need to.
Anchors - 5-colour / Domain
Supports -
Zada, Hedron Grinder
Description - By default most cubes have a narrow range of relevant spells; you can expand them to design around this, but they are still likely to be narrow. The most likely candidates are pump spells. Inconsistent, but it will be awesome when you pull it off.
Anchors -
Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is
little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Charging Monstrosaur
Description - A good set of abilities and stats. If your aggro decks curve out into this, your opponent is probably hurting pretty bad. One of the better red 5-drops.
Anchors -
Supports -
Garbage Elemental (the one with cascade)
Description - A 3/3 for 5 that draws you a card, AND casts it is pretty reasonable. Tack on some bonus damage and you are pretty happy.
Anchors -
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Garbage Elemental (the one with battlecry that can create Goblin tokens)
Description - So it creates between 0 and 5 tokens, and you probably want at least 2. Youll get 1 or less about 45% of the time,and 3 or more 33% of the time. If you get 5/4 worth of stats that is probably reasonable, given the battlecry. The floor of 0 tokens certainly makes you unhappy, but if you are playing it in a 'go wide' strategy hopefully the battlecry still makes it useful in that scenario. Inconsistent, but can be strong when it works.
Anchors -
Supports -
Glarewielder
Description - There are better options if you are only ever going to evoke it, but the flexibility of waiting until you get to 5 mana and also throwing 3 hasty damage on the table can swing games.
Anchors -
Supports -
Keldon Halberdier
Description - There aren't too many high power playable first strikers at peasant. Solid a on turn 1 suspend, and even if you hard cast it, there probably aren't large amounts of creatures in most cubes that can block it effectively.
Anchors -
Supports -
Seismic Elemental
Description - It can be a decent top end creature to get your earlier plays through, whether to close the game or get them on a low enough life total that you can swing around them the next turn. Glarewielder is a similar alternative; that usually applies more immediate pressure, while this gives a better creature if you need a blocker. However if they've built out a sizeable ground force, this will help break through them.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sprinting Warbrute
Description - A decent enough curve topper for aggro decks, mostly treated as a 4-drop to maintain immediate pressure.
Anchors -
Supports -
Vildin-Pack Outcast
Description - 4/4 trampler for 5 is a passable base but not really worth cubing, however the other upsides give it some play. The activated ability already plays well with trample, and if you transform it, it becomes much harder to deal with.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Ancient Hydra
Description - Sometimes you might untap, and divide 5 damage to clear out some small creatures, or swing in with your team with 4 counters to divvy up as needed mid-combat. It is pretty board dependant and clunky though.
Anchors -
Supports -
Charging Tuskodon
Description - There is some upside to be had here, but you probably only want to consider it in a cube with enough combat tricks or ways to consistently give creatures evasion.
Anchors -
Supports -
Crown-Hunter Hireling
Description - Red doesn't get many ways to draw repeat cards, making this an option for red control decks. The stats make it a decent blocker in its own right, helping you protect the crown.
Anchors -
Supports -
Emrakul's Hatcher
Description - It's going to be pretty low impact in most decks. However it does put 4 creatures on the battlefield, which can play into either sacrifice themes, or go wide pump. It can be used to ramp in a stretch.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice, Go wide
Gathan Raiders
Description - At its best, it's a 5/5 for 3 mana. It just isn't going to be at its best very often, unless you really develop your cube around a hellbent / discard theme.
Anchors -
Supports -
Gatstaf Arsonists
Description - The frontside is bearable but unexciting. The prospect of turning it into a 6/5 menace creature is reasonable. It isn't likely to flip on curve very often as both players are still likely to have a few spells to cast, but good when it does.
Anchors -
Supports -
Hoarding Dragon
Description - At worst it's a red Air Elemental which some decks might want, with some quirky upside if you've drafted an artifact or two, giving you an insurance plan if it dies. It can represent value, but there isn't anything particular that stands out. Might be worth considering if you have an artifact matters theme to get triggers / benefits when it dies (and if it doesn't, you are probably hitting them for 4).
Anchors -
Supports -
Incorrigible Youths
Description - 4/3 haste for 3 is awesome... but you really need to be all-in on support for madness to consider it for your cube.
Anchors - Madness
Supports -
Ingot Chewer
Description - It’s low on the list of artifact destruction options in red, but you can evoke it when the situation calls for it, and can cast it when there are no targets if you are desperate.
Anchors -
Supports -
Reckless Wurm - 1
Description - You want to have a very high density of discard for this to be worth it. Otherwise Vildin-Pack Outcast is just going to be better.
Anchors - Madness / Discard Outlets
Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally
depowering an effect.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
None.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Markov Warlord
Description - If your opponent was expecting to block, this can swing combat by 3 creatures (hasty attacker plus remove 2 blockers). Hard to imagine wanting a 6 mana creature in your aggro decks, but for the red/x midrange decks it can help break through.
Anchors -
Supports -
Volcanic Dragon
Description - Reasonable top end creature for red. It doesn’t support anything specific, just a reasonable collection of stats and abilities.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Oni of Wild Places
Description - It's not a good card in a more 'generic' strategy, and you would only ever cube it as a synergy piece; returning the likes of Fire Imp or Flametongue Kavu can be powerful. At least compared to other versions, this has haste so you can always attack with it even if you have nothing else to bounce.
Anchors - Self-bounce
Supports -
Pardic Dragon
Description - Suspending this is rarely a good idea. If you suspend it on turn 2, your opponent is likely to play spells for the next several turns, keeping it in limbo. That said, if you hard cast it, it does have the opportunity to hit hard. Volcanic Dragon is likely to perform better most of the time in this role, but this can trade in some occasions where that can't, or you might want both.
Anchors -
Supports -
Ripscale Predator
Description - It's not a standout, but the stats plus menace is borderline for the average cube; it is probably decent and worth consideration in cubes with depowered removal and more focus on combat tricks. i.e. Where there is a higher chance of blowing out a double block with a Giant Growth etc.
Anchors -
Supports -
Skarrgan Firebird
Description - Struggling to find a good reason to actually say 'this is the type of environment you would consider cubing it in' but it does seem like it could find a home. A 6/6 flyer is solid if you hit it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Spitebellows
Description - Reasonable for control decks that can take out most threats early with evoke if needed, and then put an annoying blocker in the way later in the game. In combat, it is usually going to take down whatever it tussles with and take something else along with it.
Anchors -
Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Lightning Bolt
Description – The gold standard for 1 mana burn. The most damage you will get for 1 mana that hits players or creatures at instant speed without any drawbacks. Usually worth splashing for if you have any kind of mana fixing.
Anchors –
Supports –
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Chain Lightning
Description – As a sorcery, it isn't going to be better than Lightning Bolt a lot of the time, but can be another analogue, as 3 damage for 1 mana is always going to be good. Fringe use of being able to target your Spitemare, and then copy to deal another 3 to the opponents face if you just need to get 6 damage through.
Anchors –
Supports –
Faithless Looting
Description – Solid red looting card. It provides card disadvantage on the first casting, but will usually make up for it with card quality. Can help enable some graveyard strategies, and being able to cast a second time is gravy. Spells Matters decks also like this card triggering on each casting, as well as increasing likelihood of finding. Low curve aggro decks are also happy to throw away extra lands to keep the gas going.
Anchors –
Supports – Reanimator, graveyard matters, Spells Matters, Aggro
Firebolt
Description – Fair burn spell. You might consider this over Burst Lightning, depending on whether and how much you want to balance sorcery and instant speed burn. This also plays well into graveyard themes if you can dump it there to flash it back.
Anchors –
Supports –
Flame Slash
Description – Sorcery speed , but maximum damage for a single mana. It won’t deal with hasty creatures immediately, but the ability to take out a lot of larger threats before they get to attack while still having mana to develop your board is excellent.
Anchors –
Supports –
Skred
Description - If you allow snow lands for basics, then this is excellent burn. If not, then it doesn't go in your cube.
Anchors -
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Brute Force
Description – Playable combat trick. It’s not flashy, but in aggro trades can help trade up or win otherwise bad combats, or help key creatures survive for a single mana.
Anchors –
Supports –
Burst Lightning
Description – Most of the time this will just be a Shock, which is fine, with upside in the late game. 5 mana looks like a lot, but outside of and green and Eldrazi there aren't going to be many creatures that can survive a kicked Burst Lightning.
Anchors –
Supports –
Coordinated Assault
Description – The combo of surprise power boost and first strike is going to win you some combats that might have been going the other way. Being able to do it with two creatures is gravy. It requires the right board state, but it won't be too often that this won't be able to do something.
Anchors –
Supports –
Dynacharge
Description – The more likely mode for this spell is to boost an aggro team swinging for the final kill. Great anthem for token decks, or aggro decks full of cheap threats. Occasionally there will be board states where it won't matter, but there is also the single mana mode if you need to take out a larger threat during combat. While you'd rather use it in an aggro fashion, it can still help you boost your defending team if needed. No toughness means it doesn't help your team stay alive, but increases your chances of removing other threats.
Anchors –
Supports –
Fireball
Description – It hits both creatures and players, and can divide its damage between creatures and players if required, and it is scalable direct damage. This card offers great options to either help clear the board so you can swing in, or just going straight for the opponents face. Its effectiveness will scale depending on the speed of your cube, but in slower cubes most decks will be willing to splash this.
Anchors –
Supports –
Flame Jab
Description – 1 damage does not appear significant, but repeatable burn is very powerful. Once you've hit your required land drops, this can help maintain control of creatures on the board, and with cards in hand your opponent will need to play around it.
Anchors –
Supports –
Forked Bolt
Description – Sometimes you'll deal the final 2 needed to kill a large creature after combat. Sometimes you will take out a Guttersnipe before it gets online. Sometimes you will take out that Mardu Woe-Reaper and Dragon Hunter on turn 2. Sometimes you will deal that final 2 to the dome. Basically, this is a flexible spell that will always have some use; preferably as a 2 for 1, but it's never going to be a dead card. If you support fast aggro with lots of x/1’s, the value goes up.
Anchors –
Supports –
Genju of the Spires
Description – 6 power that is repeatable is something to be respected. Can simply be a 1-drop to activate once you've played out other threats in an aggro deck, and can be a surprise 6/1 hasty 4-drop. Even if it dies every turn, in a longer game, repeatedly swinging with 6 power is going to whittle away most defenses opponents can put up.
Anchors –
Supports –
Gut Shot
Description – 'Free' is always good. Can be good to support any storm cards in your cube. Control decks may be happy to take the 2 life to remove an aggressive creature while using mana to set up defenses. Also good in an aggro mirror to maintain board control.
Anchors –
Supports – Storm
Hammerhand
Description – This can be a roleplayer in an aggro deck; it can push through damage by preventing blocks, pumping power, and giving something haste. It does require the right board state and sequence of plays to maximise its effectiveness.
Anchors –
Supports – Aggro
Lava Dart
Description - What it lacks in raw power (compared to other burn spells that provide the same total damage) it makes up for in flexibility. Flame Jab may be better in a number of situations because it is more repeatable, but if necessary this can be cast twice in succession with only a single mana, which may be better if you support Storm cards. Outside of that archetype, it can still take out a couple of aggressive or utility creatures, or deal an extra point needed mid or post combat.
Anchors -
Supports - Storm
Magmatic Insight
Description - While any deck can play it, it is more suited to aggro decks, as they are most likely to have the land spare early in the game. Costing only a single mana can help sequence plays more effectively in those decks. It is reasonably effective, but it only does one thing. Because it only lets you discard land, it doesn't help other graveyard strategies like Faithless Looting, a card that is slightly less good in the pure aggro decks, but more versatile for other archetypes.
Anchors -
Supports -
Onslaught
Description – It is situational, but if played early you can turn off their most effective blocker in subsequent turns. Even if you are racing, you can prevent their summoning sick creatures from blocking. Worth noting this is not optional; if your opponent’s board is clear, you want to attack first, then target your tapped creature. This might be awkward for some creatures which are worth playing pre-combat, but if the opponent’s board is clear, you are probably winning anyway and can afford the awkwardness. Works well with flash creatures to tap down creatures on opponents turn. Good friends with Whitemane Lion.
Anchors –
Supports –
Otherworldly Outburst
Description - It's a quirky spell; it's obviously conditional, but it's 1 red mana for a 3/2 creature which sounds awesome. Casting it in response to something about to die is the base condition, which is going to happen often enough, and the power boost might even help you trade up at the same time. Great for aggro to punish the control player for blocking and trading.
Anchors -
Supports -
Reckless Charge
Description – Of the 1-mana spells that grant haste, this one has other upside to make it worth casting even if a creature didn't come into play this turn. Casting something and swinging in with an extra 3 power is nice; hopefully the haste means you have the best chance of actually connecting. So it is still situational. Flashback is nice, though the cost makes it harder to use on something you've just cast. But if all you need is to push through that final 3, the threat may keep your opponent from swinging in.
Anchors –
Supports –
Rock Slide
Description – An X-spell that has big blowout potential, balanced by a restriction on what you can target. Being able to divide the damage provides a lot of potential to either take out some attackers/blockers before combat damage, or spread it out enough to wipe out the opposition after your creatures apply combat damage.
Anchors –
Supports –
Titan's Strength
Description - ok combat pump with some card filtering. It isn't exciting and will mostly be a 1 for 1, turning a trade into a win, or a chump block into a trade, with the occasional opportunity for winning when you get double-blocked, or just deal the finishing 3. Gets the job done and can work in a range of decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Weapon Surge
Description - Instant speed, first strike, and power boosting potentially for your entire team. You won't need to work too hard to make this reasonable, with some occasions where you might take down a number of opposing creatures. The fact that it is flexible and can be used on the attack or block makes it useful in a range of decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Barrage of Expendables
Description – It's a poor imitation of Goblin Bombardment, but is still playable if you want redundancy of that effect. You just can't win out of nowhere with this.
Anchors –
Supports –
Collateral Damage
Description – Generally, burn is universally good; Collateral Damage is a more aggro-oriented piece of burn. Control decks are often not going to have creatures they are willing to throw away, whereas aggro decks are more likely to have 1-2 drops that have outgrown their usefulness, or are about to die in combat. You may want to include to give aggro burn that other decks are less likely to want.
Anchors –
Supports – Aggro
Crimson Wisps
Description - In an aggro deck, it can help push through a few damage a turn earlier than expected, or once a control deck has taken control of the game, can drop their finisher and start swinging. There will be times you wish you had drawn something else, but as long as there is a creature on the board you can cycle it for 1 mana.
Anchors -
Supports -
Crowd's Favor
Description - Being potentially free makes this worth a mention. Dropping a red creature, attacking with something else and then taking advantage of the convoke to win combat is nice. Similarly blocking with a red creature, and then tapping it to pump itself and give itself first strike is a great tempo play.
Anchors -
Supports -
Death Spark
Description – It may take some diligence, but casting it in response to one of your creatures about to die isn't too difficult to keep pinging away. Can help fuel a spells matters deck.
Anchors –
Supports – Spells Matter
Disintegrate
Description – Direct damage X spells that hit both creatures and players are good value. Mid-game it can remove almost any creature from the board, and provides reach that can help a stalled deck win out of nowhere. It shuts down regeneration creatures and potential graveyard shenanigans. It’s effectiveness will scale depending on the speed of your cube, and is not likely to be effective in fast cubes. Fireball is likely to be better in most situations, unless there are significant regenerating creatures or graveyard shenanigans in the cube.
Anchors –
Supports –
Dragon Mantle
Description – If you want this effect, at least it nets you a card if it resolves. Stonewright is probably going to be better in majority of situations.
Anchors –
Supports –
Electrickery
Description – Overload is going to be the primary mode for this spell. Certain decks are particularly vulnerable; black and white aggro often have a number of x/1's, and token based decks are likely to suffer. Against other decks or higher toughness, it still provides extra damage mid or post combat to turn things around. It won't suit all situations and you might side it out against particular decks, but against most it isn't usually difficult to obtain a 1 for 1, with opportunities for upside.
Anchors –
Supports –
Furor of the Bitten
Description - The power and toughness boost is solid for a single mana, and the attack clause probably means nothing when you wanted to attack anyway. As with all auras, it opens you up to 2 for 1's; in a regular environment it probably isn't strong enough to overcome this downside. Best in environments that are removal-lite, or push prowess/heroic mechanics.
Anchors -
Supports -
Kaervek’s Torch
Description – An X-burn spell that targets creatures and players is rarely bad. The secondary effect on this is probably not going to matter in majority of games, so other options are probably better.
Anchors –
Supports –
Lava Burst
Description – Direct damage X spells that hit both creatures and players are good value. Mid-game it can remove almost any creature from the board, and provides reach that can help a stalled deck win out of nowhere. It’s effectiveness will scale depending on the speed of your cube, and is not likely to be effective in fast cubes. Fireball is likely to be better in most situations, unless there are significant damage redirection/prevention effects in your cube (Harm’s Way, Test of Faith, Lashknife Barrier). In which case, this mostly becomes an anti-white card.
Anchors –
Supports –
Magma Spray
Description – 2 damage that only hits creatures is not especially effective compared against other options. However, it’s value does go up in environments full of persist/undying creatures or graveyard retrieval. If you have few of these, there are better burn spells. (Maybe there is something almost always better for this effect I’m not considering?)
Anchors –
Supports –
Mark of Fury
Description – It can effectively give all of your creatures haste when in top deck mode, though something like Lightning Greaves is generally going to be better. It does open you up to 2 for 1's from removal or your creature dying in combat, so Racecourse Fury is more resilient if you want the effect in red. You might consider playing this if you have some constellation effects in your cube, or noncreature triggers like prowess or heroic.
Anchors –
Supports –
Mugging
Description – Neither effect is best in class, but it is flexible. Worth it? It is more aggro oriented, where it can be used to either clear a blocker completely, or turn a larger one off to get extra damage through.
Anchors –
Supports – Aggro
Pillar of Flame
Description - 2 damage for 1 mana is reasonable in most environments, though there are better options. However, it’s value does go up in environments full of persist/undying creatures or graveyard retrieval. If you have few of these, there are better burn spells.
Anchors -
Supports -
Racecourse Fury
Description – Looks ok at first glance as it can give anything you cast haste, but it costs the use of a land. So its best use comes when you are in top deck mode, or you are happy to play creatures 1 below your curve… which negates the best impact of granting haste in the first place. Lightning Greaves is better in most situations, but this may be an option if you want the effect to be in red.
Anchors –
Supports -
Raze
Description – Probably only if you are pushing land destruction really hard; turn 3 3-mana LD spell, followed by a turn 4 3-mana LD spell + this equals bad times for your opponent. But could also make the cut in a low curve aggro deck on turn 3+ alongside another drop to keep your opponent off their higher cost spells or deny them a colour.
Anchors –
Supports – Land Destruction
Renegade Tactics
Description - Fine to get something out of the way for a turn. Doesn't seem high impact, but aggro can use it mid-curve to keep getting damage in on a critical turn, prevent double blocks etc without costing a card. Worst case scenario you can cast it as a single mana cantrip as long as there is a creature on the board.
Anchors -
Supports -
Rites of Initiation
Description – This has a high cost for its effect, but also comes with a potentially high ceiling. 1-drop into turn 2 Dragon's Fodder into Turn 3 Hordeling Outburst gives you 6 creatures, and end of that turn you may have already dealt 3+ damage; turn 4 give those 6 creatures +3/+0 for 24+ damage. This is an all or nothing card, so it depends how you want red to play and whether you want to reward your players for having the balls to cast this.
Anchors –
Supports –
Seal of Fire
Description - Downsides; while activation is instant speed, casting it is sorcery speed. If you play it without intention of using it straight away, opponent has option to play around/into it. Upsides; Can play on a turn when you have the mana spare and don't have to hold up mana. Can be supportive of an enchantment matters/retrieval theme, and on balance is probably the only reason you would ply this over other burn.
Anchors -
Supports -
Shard Volley
Description - As straight burn is universally good, all speed of decks vie for them. If you want your burn to support your aggro decks, Shard Volley is a good option as control decks are less likely to have the lands to sacrifice.
Anchors -
Supports -
Shattering Spree
Description - Shattering Spree trades instant speed (Smelt) for replication. The instant speed is going to better a lot of the time (to remove equipment mid-combat for example, especially if it was cast and equipped same turn), and probably outweighs the times that Shattering Spree will destroy multiple artifacts. It's value goes up the more artifacts in your cube.
Anchors -
Supports -
Skin Invasion
Description - It's an interesting card at least. The ceiling of a board affecting 2 for 1 (kill one of their creatures by luring it in while getting a 3/4) sounds pretty awesome. It can also be fine in aggro decks on your own creatures when their low life total forces them to trade so you can keep pressure up. It is still conditional of course; if your force them to attack, you need to have a defensive board that can deal with the threat, and if your opponent wasn't going to block anyway playing it on your guy is not going to do anything. Can get some extra mileage in sacrifice decks.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Wave of Indifference
Description - Can be used as a finisher, or let some combat trigger creatures through for a turn. Is still pretty conditional.
Anchors -
Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Abrade
Description - Solid addition to a cubes removal suite, giving it flexibility to deal with problematic artifacts without sacrificing a deck slot specifically for that; 3 damage for 2 mana at instant speed is a good deal, even if it doesn't hit players.
Anchors -
Supports -
Arc Trail
Description - Great divisible burn, with the flexibility to take out two smaller creatures, or a creature plus sneak in some damage against your opponent. Excellent control tool against early aggro, so you may include / exclude depending on how those matchups are looking in your cube.
Anchors -
Supports - Control
Goblin Bombardment
Description - Good sacrifice outlet for a number of decks. It can provide reach, being an almost instant win once your opponents life total is less than or equal to the number of creatures you have in play. Synergises nicely in the 'sacrifice deck' with Falkenrath Noble, Hissing Iganuar, and Blood Artist. Not requiring mana to activate makes it very easy to get extra damage in just during the normal course of gameplay.
Anchors - Sacrifice
Supports -
Incinerate
Description - Just good solid burn. It's a 2 mana Lightning Bolt in most cases, but depending on the make-up of your cube, it might kill the odd Cudgel Troll, Undercity Troll and friends.
Anchors -
Supports -
Pyroclasm
Description - A good sweeper given how cheap it is. It clears out a decent number of opposing creatures against aggro and is good against token decks. In midrange once you get past the 2 toughness barrier, it can clear out opposing creatures to let you swing, or you can cast it after combat to help trade up. You wouldn't play it in low to the ground aggro, but it's powerful enough to play it in decks where it will kill some of your creatures, given you have the power of when to cast it.
Anchors - Sweeper Control
Supports -
Searing Blaze
Description - Generally only playable on your turn (to meet landfall requirement), this is still a good card to clear out opposing blockers to swing in, while pushing damage through to the opponent. It's 6 damage for 2 mana which is excellent. There might be the occasional timing issues (no lands to play) but is going to be excellent most of the time. Even if you can't kill an opposing creature it can just be used as reach, and even with landfall you can still use it midcombat to enhance things like first strikers. You can always hang on to an Evolving Wilds to crack it on your opponents turn too... or bluff that you have this.
Anchors -
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Breath of Darigaaz
Description - 4 mana for 4 damage is going to clear out most opposing creatures on the ground. While red doesn't really contribute to the flyers archetype, this can also be a decent splash card for that type of deck.
Anchors - Sweeper Control
Supports -
Cathartic Reunion
Description - Tormenting Voice may be better simply because that only requires one other card in hand, where this requires two. The upside is that you get to dump more cards if you care about filling your graveyard, and it does dig deeper, so this can be support for reanimator or other graveyard shenanigans.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters, Madness, Reanimator
Dragon Fodder / Krenko's Command
Description - It's not exciting, but it puts bodies on the board. To get the most benefit, you want it in aggro decks that have some form of pump. Nice on defense if you are facing aggressive x/1's to gain card advantage.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens
Flame Rift
Description - It only deals damage to players, and that includes you. However, it is 4 damage for 2 mana, something you won't find anywhere else. You would include it in your cube if you want to give aggro decks some burn that will wheel, giving them some extra reach to close out the game.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
Lightning Strike / Searing Spear
Description - It's strictly worse than Lightning Bolt and Incinerate. However, it is still 3 damage at instant speed for 2 mana that can hit either players or creatures, which is still a good deal, possibly for larger cubes.
Anchors -
Supports -
Madcap Skills
Description - By giving the creature menace, it helps reduce the possibility of getting 2 for 1'd in combat, as the power boost will often help you take out 2 blockers if the opponent can block. If they don't block, an extra 3 'haste' power on the board does good work in aggressive decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Magma Jet
Description - Without scry it is inefficient burn, but the scry is excellent, particularly in red which is without many smoothing options.
Anchors -
Supports -
Rolling Thunder
Description - One of the better red X spells, though it is still slow. It takes a bit of mana to be better than Arc Lightning, but is flexible in allowing you to kill multiple creatures of varying sizes.
Anchors -
Supports - Ramp
Searing Blood
Description - It can clear out creatures while dealing damage to the opponent. While it has more flexibility in timing compared to Searing Blaze, the third point of damage to creatures that card can do is important, and needing to kill the creature to get the extra 3 damage to the player also makes this less flexible in targets. It's a decent card of itself if you have space for 2 cards that cost double red.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sure Strike
Description - Standard 'vulnerable to removal in response' clause applies, but otherwise it nearly guarantees you will trade up, or potentially a blowout in a multi-block situation.
Anchors -
Supports -
Temur Battle Rage
Description - Obviously best in a midrange deck that can pull off the ferocious consistently, but giving double strike to a 2 or 3 power might turn trades into wins, or a loss into a win once the normal bout of damage is dealt. The combo of double strike and trample is solid to run over chump blockers while keeping your creature alive; any 4+ power creature being chumped by the likes of a spirit token is still going to hit the opponent for a good chunk of damage.
Anchors -
Supports -
Tormenting Voice
Description - Helps support graveyard / reanimator strategies in red, and can be a way to give aggro decks some gas by discarding land they no longer need. It doesn't excel, but is fine in those decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Whipflare
Description - It's a decent enough proxy of Pyroclasm, though your mileage may vary depending on your artifact creature count and sizes, with both upsides and downsides. If your cube is full of artifact creatures it might do little, but if there are enough that you can draft the 'artifact deck' then you might be sitting pretty against other decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Wrangle
Description - The cheapest of this type of effect, giving you the greatest opportunity to remove a threat for a turn while playing another creature at the same time, which is relevant given this is not a turn 2 play. Lots of similar options, but this is the cheapest.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Break Through The Line
Description - It's effectiveness is going to depend on the specific makeup of creatures in your cube, but it could support saboteurs or aggro. Once your opponent starts stabilising while in the single digits, it can let your outclassed early drops get through. In control decks, it can let card drawing sabotuers through to maintain card advantage while slowly pinging away their life total. Shoutout to Throat Slitter for beig able to eliminate their board at the same time. Don't forget the haste which can also be important. Those upsides or situations aside, it is still going to be situational.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro, Sabotuers
Brute Strength
Description - Comparable to other pump; it isn't strictly worse than anything and is good if you have a big target to get the trample damage through, but some of the other options are probably going to be more universal (Brute Force without the trample for lower cost and higher survivability, or Sure Strike for the first strike).
Anchors -
Supports -
Burning Oil
Description - The timing is more restrictive than most burn, but the 2 for 1 can make up for that. You are loathe to cast this on a blocker, but in a defensive Boros deck it might be worthwhile to stem an early threat with another use late game. However it isn't likely to be considered among other Boros options and may also be considered 'boring' as a gold card.
Anchors -
Supports -
Circle of Flame
Description - It can invalidate some token strategies, but what deck wants this? It's a sideboard card as opposed to part of a particular strategy.
Anchors -
Supports -
Fall of the Hammer
Description - On pure power, it is worse than more consistent burn. However it might be a more interesting burn choice if you want removal that your midrange / ramp decks are likely to want more than your aggressive decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Fiery Conclusion
Description - 5 damage kills a lot of creatures. Can help aggro decks trade up, sacrificing a creature in a 'go wide' strategy to help keep the guys get through. However there might not always be an opportune time to cast it, and occasionally will be a dead card when you have no creatures on the board.
Anchors -
Supports -
Fling
Description - The question is, how often will this be better than Searing Spear, and how often will you be willing to sac a creature for it? That consideration will limit it to ramp or midrange decks with enough big creatures to get advantage from it, probably to close out the game. Also has synergy with temporary steal effects, so it might be more appealing if you have a few of those.
Anchors -
Supports -
Grapeshot
Description - The only reason you would include this in your cube is as an anchor card for a storm deck, and will need to support it with other cards that support storm.
Anchors - Storm
Supports -
Harnessed Lightning
Description - It's an ok burn spell in and of itself, but in a vacuum far behind better alternatives available in peasant cube. However, if you have enough other energy cards, then it might be worth considering.
Anchors -
Supports - Energy
Impact Tremors
Description - Ongoing damage triggers are nice, but the issue is that it doesn't develop your board. Red aggressive decks need to lay down threats and get them in for damage before the opponent stabilises; taking a turn off to cast this reduces the ability to do that. It does have use in midrange decks, token decks, or grindy graveyard creature recursion decks, but it won't fit everywhere.
Anchors -
Supports -
Incendiary Flow
Description - The most likely reason for inclusion is depowering your burn to sorcery speed; there are several 'better' options for dealing 3 damage, including some at 1 mana, or instant speed at this mana cost. There will be some marginal upside here though, as you can exile some troublesome creatures which exist in a lot of cubes, mainly the persist creatures like Kitchen Finks, or you might disrupt some graveyard recursion.
Anchors -
Supports -
Lash Out
Description - Other burn can target both players and creatures, but often burn is best saved for creatures, so the possibility of hitting your opponent may be worth considering.
Anchors -
Supports -
Makeshift Munitions
Description - It can be a redundant version of Goblin Bombardment if you want one. Obviously the activation cost makes it worse in most cases, but if you have an artifact theme (or just enough artifacts in your cube) that is a point of difference.
Anchors -
Supports - Artifact Matters, Sacrifice
Mob Justice
Description - It only hits players. Most burn will be better, unless you want some burn that is going to wheel to players drafting 'go wide' decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Nightbird's Clutches
Description - It's not flashy (but it's flashbacky...) but it can get past some annoying blockers when you need it to. It's bad as a 6 mana sorcery if you need to push through in a single turn (Order // Chaos is your guy) but spreading over 2 turns and having minor synergy with graveyard themes might cause you to choose this for your cube.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard themes
Ordeal of Purphoros
Description - Throwing on a 1-drop that can outrace the defense, and then take out something at the end seems reasonable, but is going to be inconsistent. Also good on evasive creatures. However, it is going to be inconsistent and still fails the 2 for 1 test.
Anchors -
Supports -
Pyrostatic Pillar
Description - Many cubes are built with tight mana curves in mind and a reasonable number of spells that cost 3 or less. It means it will trigger often enough, but so will your spells. Aggressive decks are the ones that are most likely to want it, but are also more likely to play the trigger cards. It's abstractly powerful, but hard to break in a cube context.
Anchors -
Supports -
Scouring Sands
Description - This is probably a metagame call if you want to punish over reliance on aggressive x/1's or token creatures. Boiling Earth and Electrickery are similar options you may wish to consider. You'd pick this over those mainly if you just want to add more deck smoothing cards to your environment.
Anchors -
Supports -
See Red
Description - A cube doesn't need too many of these effects, but it can give an aggro deck a way to punch through in the midgame, as well as providing support for a pants theme. You may need toned down removal to really consider it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Shrapnel Blast
Description - If you push an artifact deck, this could be included as a reach card for that deck, but no other deck will want it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Skullcrack
Description - This is highly environment dependent, but can stem life gain effects if they are prevalent in your cube, and can be a metagame card against prevention effects like Phantom Centaur. You need to be running enough cards it is going to hate on to be worth it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Smash to Smithereens
Description - Dedicated artifact destruction cards are a hard sell, but it has reasonable upside so might be worth considering.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sparkmage's Gambit
Description - This could kill a couple of small defenders pre-combat, get past defenders this turn, or being played after combat to help you trade up (or if your opponent doesn't block, fearing the trick, you can just make the creatures not block next turn). Situational, but flexible.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sudden Shock
Description - It is inefficient compared to most burn. You would only consider it if you want specific options to deal with troublesome cards, like Mother of Runes. Most would consider this unecessary, but the option is there.
Anchors -
Supports -
Twin Bolt
Description - This is decent flexible burn. The 2 mana shock option is poor but it is still burn, but can take out two creatures, particularly helping trade up in combat or in conjunction with first strikers. Fire // Ice is strictly better, depending on your stance (some count it as mono-red with occasional upside in blue decks).
Anchors -
Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Arc Lightning / Flames of the Firebrand
Description - One of the best divisible burn spells. It's sorcery, but at instant speed this would be nuts. Particularly where aggro is pushed, peasant tends to have a number of creatures in the 1 and 2 toughness range, making it common to get 2 for 1's without much effort, and sometimes you will even get that 3-for-1. Comes with excellent flexibility, as sometimes you just need to remove that annoying 1/3, and you can always distribute a point or two to the opponent if you just need to get rid of one small creature, or just send it all to their dome if it will seal the game. You probably don't want both of these; even a single copy can be brutal against aggro decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Lust For War
Description - It can mess with your opponents plan while being a form of reach. In the best scenarios, you get to cast it on a utility creature, and ping them for 3 each turn when they use it or maybe they get in a for a damage or something. It doesn't get a creature out of the way immediately, but it can remove a blocker from your future attack phases. On the lower end, when you are in a position where you need to block, it can still be cast on a creature you can then block and kill while getting in 3 damage, making it sort of pseudo-removal.
Anchors -
Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Staggershock
Description - One of the better burn spells at the 3 mana spot. 2 damage is enough to kill a decent number of things in most cubes. Often a 2 for 1, but it can always jut hit your opponent in the face on the rebound. Casting it at the end of your opponents turn can be nasty, potentially clearing out two blockers before you get to swing, or dropping their life total by 4 before alpha striking. Rebound provides secondary support to spells matters effects, and spell velocity / storm effects.
Anchors -
Supports - Storm, Spells Matter
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Acidic Soil
Description - This can be an 'oops I win' card for red aggro decks. While symmetrical, it will rarely matter if you are still on 20 and you've got your opponent into the single digits.
Anchors -
Supports -
Act of Treason / Threaten
Description - A decent way for aggro to push through, usually removing their best blocker and adding it to your team. Even if you don't win that turn, you might put them in a position that is difficult to recover from. It doesn't do anything for control decks (usually it just acts like burn to the face without developing your game plan), but you will probably consider it higher for inclusion if you push sacrifice archetypes in your cube.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports - Sacrifice
Besmirch
Description - The double red can make it a bit harder to swallow than similar options. However, the bonus here is nice as it can allow aggressive decks to keep applying pressure. If they choose not to kill their own creature that combat (and you are still happy if they do), forcing it to attack you the next turn means it can't block again on your next turn, which might be enough to close the door when an Act of Treason may not.
Anchors -
Supports -
Brimstone Volley
Description - 5 damage for 3 mana is solid if you can get the morbid trigger. There are some non-ideal situations where you might have to trade and then fire off the 5 damage afterwards to kill something bigger, but aggro decks might also benefit from swinging in, trading, and then dealing the final 5 to the dome.
Anchors -
Supports -
Fiery Cannonade
Description - It's mostly an instant speed Pyroclasm, though there are a few highly playable Pirates. The instant speed allows for swinging a board state on your opponents end step, and occasionally mid-combat. It can just be a control tool, but if you want sweeper control to be a thing then it should be in your cube.
Anchors - Sweeper Control
Supports -
Goblin War Drums
Description - This can really mess with combat, especially if you are the aggressor. It makes some suicidal attacks more palatable, and can prevent your opponent from turning the corner or just flatout win by getting enough guys past.
Anchors -
Supports -
Hordeling Outburst
Description - 3 bodies for 3 mana, which is fine if you just need extra bodies to get around your opponents defenses. Most cubes include the type of 'go wide' support that make this card worthwhile; team pump or things like Intangible Virtue.
Anchors -
Supports -
Meteor Blast
Description - There's some pretty big upside to be had here. It takes commitment to red, but 6 mana can clear out many opposing boards, and being about to hit players as well makes this solid.
Anchors -
Supports -
Molten Rain
Description - One of reds better land destruction spells; if your opponent has one, odds are you were going to target a nonbasic anyway. Harder to cast than Stone Rain, so depends if you want splashability/consistency over power; here the extra couple of damage can help aggro get those last few points in.
Anchors -
Supports - Land Destruction / Aggro
Rift Bolt
Description - The hard cast mode is poor compared to other options, but suspending for a single mana is solid. Can help if you are pushing some sort of Storm deck or want to enable 'spell velocity' cards like Illusory Angel.
Anchors -
Supports - Storm
Savage Alliance
Description - 4 mana is a reasonable amount, but deal 3 damage to one creature and 1 to the rest is a reasonable mode. Being an instant it can cause some blowouts mid or post combat. The trample is mostly negligible, but if you are also dealing 1 damage to each blocking creature you will get a few more points of damage through.
Anchors -
Supports -
Super-Duper Death Ray
Description - 4 damage for 3 is a reasonable rate, and the upside of dealing some damage to the opponent is nice. Fairly interchangeable with other burn options.
Anchors -
Supports -
Volcanic Fallout
Description - Most decks that would cast this would also prefer to protect their life total, and playing the easier to cast Pyroclasm can do that. However the instant speed makes this play out differently so it can be used after blocks if it makes sense, or even in response to attacks to kill creatures cast pre-combat, or in response to team pump spells. The uncounterability probably won't come up often but it's a nice extra.
Anchors -
Supports -
Volt Charge
Description - It isn't top tier burn, but most cubes are likely to get some mileage and add some synergy to their burn. +1/+1 counters is obvious (Rakdos Cackler, Gore-House Chainwalker, Volt Charge your blocker) but most cubes will have enough other counters to consider it.
Anchors - +1/+1 counters
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Barbed Lightning
Description - It isn't the most efficient, but it can be a decent option in the late game to clear either a blocker for aggro or an attacker in control decks while whittling the opponents life total.
Anchors -
Supports -
Browbeat
Description - Both modes look fine on the surface, but because your opponent gets to choose you aren't likely to get the optimum mode for the particular situation. It never impacts the board like most other burn can, and if you aren't applying pressure or are behind the 5 damage is probably acceptable to your opponent so you don't draw into answers. It probably only plays a role in aggro decks that can apply pressure early, where both modes are going to be ok in the mid game.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro
Carbonize
Description - It's a low power burn option, but it does get around regenerators if you want removal for them, or if you care about the exile clause. Yamabushi's Flame is the same if you don't want the regenerate clause.
Anchors -
Supports -
Destructive Urge
Description - The best case scenario (which you can design towards) is pretty awesome; something like Insolent Neonate or Deranged Whelp not being opposed on turn 3, locking your opponent out of the game. Awesome as in game winning, but probably miserable to be on the receiving end. BCS aside, it is often probably going to do nothing if you don't have early evasive guys.
Anchors -
Supports -
Devour in Flames
Description - 5 damage is a decent amount, but considering it for inclusion probably depends on how important dealing that 5th point of damage is in your cube (i.e. how many 5 toughness creatures it can target compared to make it worth more than Flame Slash). Any sort of landfall effects might also influence your decision. Also has some fringe synergy with 'discard for effect' stuff. All that said, it is still a low power burn option.
Anchors -
Supports -
Disharmony
Description - Most effects of this nature are sorcery speed aggro tools; here you have a control oriented version, but can make for a conditional 2 for 1 sometimes, a 1 for 1 while preventing damage the rest, or rarely a 'prevent damage from a creature this turn' effect. Blind With Anger is more flexible, but this is an option specifically if you want to signal red control / defensive decks.
Anchors - Control
Supports -
Fiery Temper
Description - The baseline is obviously outclassed by Lightning Bolt and friends, but they are very strong in the first place. You might consider this if you are stepping down your removal slightly, while offering some decks the chance to get extra value from discard effects. Using Looter-il-Kor to burn something while netting a card for a single mana will feel pretty awesome. Requires enough discard outlets to consider it though.
Anchors -
Supports - Madness
Furnace Celebration
Description - It's narrow on sacrifice archetypes and requires the right environment. It can be solid there, but probably needs a little more legwork than some other rewards cards, especially given the cost for each trigger. You probably want a decent contingent of cards that produce Eldrazi tokens to have sacrifice outlets on tap as well as mana sources. It's probably going to require a slower environment to do some work, which might include a higher density of lower toughness utility creatures to get the right amount of value.
Anchors - Sacrifice
Supports -
Geistblast
Description - You would count this as an Izzet card, as it's bad as a red card. In blue/red you can get some reasonable value out of it as long as you have a few other decent instants or sorceries in your deck. Otherwise it is bad removal.
Anchors - Spells Matter
Supports -
Ghirapur Aether Grid
Description - Unplayable in most cubes. If you go out of your way to support an artifact matters theme with some fringe playable artifact token generators and maybe artifact lands, then it can be a reward card for that deck. Slow to get started, but if you get a critical mass of artifacts on the board it can take over games.
Anchors -
Supports -
Hanabi Blast
Description - It gets a mention mostly for being unique. Limited decks like burn, so having a chance to get it back is nice. You can maximise it by keeping back lands or stuff that likes being inthe graveyard anyway, and is a little more valuable if you have madness cards in your cube.
Anchors -
Supports -
Honden of Infinite Rage
Description - It's passable on its own in a more controlling red build. Generally it doesn't compare as well as a standard pinger; an enchantment is more resilient than creatures, but they have more flexible timing. It isn't worth cubing without having at least a couple of other shrines, but the right deck might be willing to play it without any of the others.
Anchors - 'The Shrine deck'
Supports -
Lightning Storm
Description - An odd card, with unpredictability that may be something cube owners desire. If it intrigues you, you probably want to support it with some things that return lands to your hand (Quirion Ranger) or land searchers (Land Tax) to give it some edges in drafting.
Anchors -
Supports -
Lightning Talons
Description - An option for low power / combat heavy cubes. If it sticks, the creature may be difficult to deal with in standard combat and becomes a decent clock otherwise. Actively bad in cubes with the most powerful removal however.
Anchors -
Supports -
Magma Rift
Description - It kills lots of stuff, but from a power level not significantly more than Flame Slash for the extra costs involved here. Devour In Flames is better in most decks if you want a low power burn option that requires a bit of thought, but this does help enable threshold and delirium if those are things you care about.
Anchors -
Supports -
Mark of Mutiny
Description - It's a temporary creature theft option with an upside that can also be a downside. The swing of removing their best blocker and getting a hasty attacker can turn things around, particularly with the +1/+1 counter… but if the creature survives they now have a better blocker for future turns. Can increase the complexity of decisions compared to Act of Treason if that is something you want to promote. Sacrifice themes are also helpful here. Support for +1/+1 counter themes could either be useful or backfire depending on the board. In a pinch, you can cast on your own guy to keep the +1/+1 counter, get extra activations from tap abilities, or have a blocker after you've attacked.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Orcish Cannonade
Description - Red gets much better damage efficiency, but has few playable burn spells that cantrip. This one is questionable, and sometimes you might be in a position where you can't cast it, but dealing damage while drawing a card is worth noting, particularly for spells matters decks that want to keep playing more spells.
Anchors -
Supports - Spells Matters
Pillage
Description - If you want land destruction in your cube, this can be an option which has some flexibility. Perhaps best suited to cubes that have the more powerful artifacts so red aggro doesn't feel so bad about maindecking artifact removal.
Anchors -
Supports -
Puncture Blast
Description - It might be worse in general than premium burn, but it has some interesting corner cases. It can kill indestructible or regenerating creatures. Where other burn might help you trade your small creatures up, this might help them survive combat altogether by also reducing power. If you have no board presence the worst case scenario is you can slow down their clock against large creatures where straight up burn is ineffective.
Anchors -
Supports -
Raid Bombardment
Description - It's niche, but some environments can get a bit of damage out of it. The challenge is that the decks that will get the most damage will have more 2 power creatures out that want to be attacking, which would imply aggro, but those decks usually employ a number of 3+ power spots. However, Borderland Marauder, Brazen Wolves, Soltari Champion and other things that pump power as attack triggers work nicely with it. Go wide decks, particularly with token creators like Hordeling Outburst, can get decent results.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro, Tokens
Scrap
Description - At least you can cycle it if you don't need it. Probably only if you play the best artifacts and maindeckable artifact removal is required.
Anchors -
Supports -
Seething Song
Description - The average deck probably isn't going to care enough about the one-time acceleration compared to the card advantage, but some might depending on the environment. The main reason to include it is as a storm enabler.
Anchors - Storm
Supports -
Shattered Perception
Description - It's card disadvantage which will discount it from consideration in most environments, but for cubes with a heavy graveyard focus it might be worth something.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Spellshock
Description - Timing can be tricky, but this can help seal a game if you are ahead. If you are behind though, it isn't going to help you. Punishes decks with cantrips or card draw spells. It's hard to break the symmetry, but you could pair it with Undo and Withdraw, and it gets slightly better if you have spells that have activated abilities from your hand / graveyard.
Anchors -
Supports -
Steam Blast
Description - Pyroclasm is cheaper for clearing out creatures, and Volcanic Fallout does this at instant speed for a slightly harder casting cost. Might be worth noting that if you are playing this kind of spell, you probably want to preserve your life total, but this could be an option for larger cubes that want to go deep on the sweeper archetype.
Anchors - Sweeper Control
Supports -
Stone Rain
Description - The original red land destruction spell. Easier to cast than some of its contempories, but they come with other upsides. They are probably more desirable, so this is only if you are going deep on land destruction spells or you just want the easier casting cost.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro
Thunderclap
Description - The hard cast is poor, and you probably can't use the alternate cost for the first few turns. Nevertheless, a free creature bolt in the midgame, especially to clear a blocker for aggro, might make this worth a look in. Some players don't like free spells, but at least it adds another layer of decision making.
Anchors -
Supports -
Undying Rage
Description - If you think about it being cast on your creatures you might consider something like Vulshok Morningstar for the repeatability but avoiding the downside. However it does have the flexibility in aggro decks to be cast on your opponents creatures if pumping your own creatures is not going to be enough to break through and you just need to get an annoying blocker out of the way.
Anchors -
Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Frenzied Fugue
Description - Some of the other 4 mana versions provide more benefits upfront, but if you can get 2 uses out of this you are going to be very happy. You get the instant swing from an extra attacker and one less blocker, and if they don't kill their own creature on defense you just get to repeat it every turn, setting you up to race effectively. You aren't really giving up much compared to the 3 mana versions, as you aren't curving into this effect on turn 3 that often.
Anchors -
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Blind with Anger
Description - You can get cheaper effects for aggro, but the instant speed gives this range in control decks as well. You might not always be able to steal a creature and set up a perfect trade, but it will rarely be worse than a 1 for 1.
Anchors -
Supports -
Blood Mist
Description - It's likely best in a creature heavy midrange deck, where most of your creatures are in the 3+ power range. It can do some work there though; the double strike can make it hard to win in combat, and if it gets through it starts hitting hard.
Anchors -
Supports -
Forked Lightning
Description - How good it is will be match dependant; it will feel good if you are regularly taking out multiple creatures, but not so hot if you are using it kill single creatures. Even then it is still fine. A mana and a damage more than Arc Lightning, but downside of not hitting players.
Anchors -
Supports -
Furious Reprisal
Description - A decent but forgettable burn spell. You might consider Forked Lightning, which is more flexible with dealing with creatures, but this can hit players.
Anchors -
Supports -
Hammer Helper
Description - It's a reasonable Act of Treason variant. The average case is 3.5 extra power, which seems like a decent enough amount, though the variance will be annoying at times.
Anchors -
Supports -
Malevolent Whispers
Description - A solid version of this effect. Removing a blocker, gaining an attacker AND getting an extra 2 power from the attack is good for aggro decks. It's fine without madness so don't feel like you need to go out of your way to enable it, but in games where you can take advantage of that you will feel like you got away with something.
Anchors -
Supports - Madness
Pyrohemia
Description - While less powerful in fast cubes, there is still some raw power here. Cast on curve it doesn't do anything the turn you cast it, but it can put you in a strong position to control the board after that, especially if you've drafted higher toughness creatures to complement it. Combos well with Lashknife Barrier and Spitemare. It's biggest drawback is that, powerful as it can be, if you are losing you might not be able to afford the damage from activating it.
Anchors -
Supports - Sweeper Control
Stoke the Flames
Description - Potentially casting a burn spell for free is good, especially when you cast it at the end of your opponents turn so you can represent a defensive board.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sulfurous Blast
Description - Supports sweeper control. Not much else to say here, but one of few peasant cards that can deal 3 damage to everything, with some flexibility of killing your opponents stuff at the end of their turn or mid combat if the right opportunity presents itself.
Anchors - Sweeper Control
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Æther Flash
Description - You need to build around it and make sure the support is in your cube to make it decent, but in the right deck it can do some work. In a deck with high toughness creatures it can prevent your opponent casting some of their cheap aggro creatures, and you can top up the ETB effect with other instant speed burn spells to pick off bigger stuff.
Anchors -
Supports -
Aftershock
Description - Red doesn’t get much in the way of straight up creature kill. Paying 4 mana AND 3 life for these targets feels a bit rough, but you might consider it if you really want a catch all (catch most?) answer for red.
Anchors -
Supports -
Burn Trail
Description - It has upside of being able to kill 2 smaller creatures, one decent size creature, or just dealing the final 6 to the face with one spell. Offset by the downside of being sorcery speed, and needing two red creatures you are willing to tap down for a turn to get those upsides. While 1 and 2 mana burn options are definitely better, you might include this for more interesting burn options and in-game decisions.
Anchors -
Supports -
Chandra's Outrage
Description - On power level, if you need something that deals 4 to creatures Flame Slash is your best option. You need to consider whether the 2 damage to the face and instant speed makes enough difference for the decks you want to support.
Anchors -
Supports -
Dance with Devils
Description - Straight up burn is more powerful, but this is at least an interesting combat trick aimed more at defensive decks. Being able to throw up a couple of chump blockers and then use the death trigger to take out the attacker or something else the opponent tactically held back is fine.
Anchors -
Supports -
Empty the Warrens
Description - It can be a Storm win condition if you want to support that deck. Has the benefit of not being as 'all-in' as some other storm cards. If you can generate 6-10 tokens you aren't going to win in a single turn, but it might be enough to overwhelm the opponent over a few turns.
Anchors - Storm
Supports - Tokens
Flameshot
Description - This could work in an aggro deck in the midgame to clear a path when you don't need that mountain on the battlefield. On the low end though.
Anchors -
Supports -
Grab The Reins
Description - Any one mode is pretty average, or even bad. Blind With Anger is better than the first mode (it doesn't untap the creature, which is pretty bad), Fling is better than the second mode. Entwined it might take out their two biggest creatures, or kill a creature and deal damage to their face, which is perhaps the most appealing mode but costs 7. The versatility is what is appealing, as even the 'bad' modes will still come up every now and then.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Incendiary Sabotage
Description - Requiring the sacrifice of an artifact before this does anything is a significantly high set up cost. If you are pushing sweeper control and want to include this, you really need to dig deep into incidental artifacts like cards with investigate or that bring artifact token friends.
Anchors - Sweeper Control, Artifact Matters
Supports -
Kyren Negotiations
Description - You wouldn't consider it a 'good' card, but if want to support red control decks that can gum up the ground, this can be a win condition; just make sure you have redundancies or have other ways for those decks to win.
Anchors -
Supports -
Lose Calm
Description - An ok Threaten effect, but probably a bit below similar effects. You don't usually play these on curve so the extra mana isn't a huge factor. The menace gets a little better because you are stealing a creature, giving them one less to block in the first place. But if they are just blocking the other creatures you are attacking with, that upside may not be worth much either.
Anchors -
Supports -
Rageform
Description - You get a 2/2 doublestriker; the manifest has the opportunity to be amazing upside on something as basic as Sentinel Spider, but the consistency of an attacking 3/3 in Scrapper Champion is probably better. It can give you density of enchantments without reducing your creature count if you care about that.
Anchors -
Supports - Enchantment Matters, Pants
Rivals' Duel
Description - What you are hoping for is getting 2 of your opponent's creatures to kill each other, but you can get one of your creatures to kill their only creature in the right situation. Pretty variable and more interesting than powerful, though it will feel great when you do get that 2 for 1.
Anchors -
Supports -
Ruthless Invasion
Description - Unless you are heavy on artifact creatures, this is going to be a colorless Falter most of the time if you want provide this effect to every colour.
Anchors -
Supports -
Shiv's Embrace
Description - Evasion and stat boost are nice, but comes with the usual 2 for 1 caveat of auras. Probably only for environments with depowered removal. Turning Borderland Marauder or similar into a 5/4 pumpable flier is going to do some damage though if unchecked. Cheaper auras like Madcap Skills are usually better as you are less likely to get a tempo blowout from removal.
Anchors -
Supports -
Spiteful Motives
Description - First strike and flash is a solid combo, but 4 mana is a lot. Flaming Sword is probably just better if you want this type of effect.
Anchors -
Supports -
Surreal Memoir
Description - Randomness makes this a bit iffy, but in a deck with enough instant speed removal it can gain a bit of value. Worth noting that if you have a single instant and don't have enough mana to cast what you retrieve the same turn, you can cast the instant in response to the rebound trigger so you can get that instant back again.
Anchors - Spells Matters
Supports -
Trove of Temptation
Description - It isn't particularly good, but does create a steady stream of artifacts if that is something you care about, and probably the only reason to consider cubing it. You can sometimes generate some value out of the forced attack if you have the right blockers, but probably not something you should strive for.
Anchors -
Supports - Artifact Matters
Violent Eruption
Description - Triple red is really rough. Only consider it if you are heavy on discard outlets where the madness can be taken advantage of consistently enough.
Anchors -
Supports - Madness
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Shower of Coals
Description - If you are going to play 5 mana burn, this is your spell. 6 dividable damage is often going to clear out a couple of creatures plus deal some to the dome. If you hit threshold (this card is good in spells matters decks) then it becomes amazing.
Anchors -
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Cone of Flame
Description - Shower of Coals is the better option, but this is still reasonable removal.
Anchors -
Supports -
Jagged Lightning
Description - Shower of Coals gets the nod, but this is still fine in its own right.
Anchors -
Supports -
Rite of the Raging Storm
Description - It doesn't do anything the turn you play it and it doesn't stabilise you, but it adds some inevitability. It either gives you an aggro curve topper to seal the game, or as a win condition for a control deck. A 5 power trampler is hard to defend against indefinitely. It gets a little worse against repeat tappers or pingers, but at the very least it locks them up every turn. Might be occasional downside where your opponent has a sacrifice outlet for their tokens.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Act of Aggression
Description - It can be a 3 mana Blind With Anger for any colour, but 4 life isn't insignificant. Can be a way to give reach to each colour, particularly if you are trying to push green or blue aggro, though instant speed lets it be played in control decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Fissure
Description - At 5 mana it isn't powerful removal, but it gets a mention as one of few red spells that outright destroys creatures of any size. You might also consider Aftershock to fill this slot.
Anchors -
Supports -
Goblin Rally
Description - You wouldn't cube it over Hordeling Outburst, but if you are going deep on armies in a can, you might consider this. 4 bodies is great for sacrifice and go wide decks, and Goldnight Commander in particular will be pretty happy to see these goblins chasing after him.
Anchors -
Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Fireblast
Description - There are certainly more efficient versions if for the hard cast mode, but the point is it rarely gets hard cast. Aggro decks love it on critical turns to cast a threat the same turn as removing a blocker, and it isn't unreasonable to get an opponent down to single digits and fire this off alongside another direct damage spell. You can always hard cast it if you have the mana. Some cube owners may not include it as free direct damage is a very powerful effect. It's far from the reason you'd consider it, but it does add lands to your graveyard for threshold / delirium.
Anchors -
Supports -
Slice and Dice
Description - If you want to support sweeper control as an archetype, this is the red card of choice. Will clear a decent number of creatures, and sometimes you can cycle to get a 2+ for 1 in the right board state.
Anchors - Sweeper Control
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Pyrokinesis
Description - Fireblast is the free burn spell of choice, but being able to divide 4 damage without paying mana can be a massive tempo play early in the game or swing combat in the midgame.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Flame Javelin
Description - Probably only worth cubing if you really want to give non-red ramp decks a 6 mana burn spell, and 2RR instant deal 4 isn't totally unreasonable either.
Anchors -
Supports -
Flame Wave
Description - It's a powerful effect, but the intensive mana costs make the decks it will fit in narrow. It's most likely home is a Gruul ramp / control deck that can consistently ensure there are enough red sources to cast it. If you have the right support for that deck, this might be an include.
Anchors - Sweeper control
Supports -
Spreading Flames
Description - It's expensive and sometimes you might die with this in your hand. It can have a powerful effect on the board when cast however. Cubing it will depend on the make-up of your cube; if you have the tools for red decks to go long, this might be worth it. If your aggro decks would consistently kill you before you can cast this, it's a trap to cube it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Thunderous Wrath
Description - The miracle cost is awesome, though it is offset by the fact that the timing can be awkward, and if you draw it in your opening hand it is pretty bad.
Anchors -
Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Mother of Runes
Description - One of whites most annoying creatures to be on the opposite side of the table. In a defensive deck you can block almost anything (preferably killing it with a large enough blocker) which can stall the board, and in an aggressive deck it can help push through some final damage or let creatures that were blocked survive. It may draw removal immediately, but if it does you only paid 1 mana for it. If it doesn't get hit immediately, it becomes harder to remove. It's far from infallible, but often requires your opponent to make a sub-optimal play to get you to tap it so they can safely target it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Mardu Woe-Reaper
Description - This is perhaps the best aggressive 1-drop in white. 2 power for 1 mana, with upside of potential life gain. You may not want it in slower decks, but highly desirable for any white aggro deck. Being bale to negate some random graveyard strategies is a nice bonus. It's not likely to make you revalue other warriors in your pool, but if you trigger it more than once is another bonus.
Anchors -
Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Dragon Hunter
Description - 2/1's for 1 mana with upside are hard to beat. Great for aggro, but can be played anywhere. The protection from Dragons is likely to rarely matter, and should make for a good story when it does happen.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro
Elite Vanguard / Savannah Lion / Expedition Envoy
Description - 2/1 for 1 mana with no downside is good for aggro support, but can always be played in any deck. Elite Vanguard's creature types may sometimes matter. Mardu Woe-Reaper and Dragon Hunter are strictly better, but the base stats are good enough that you may want to go deep and include one or both of these.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro
Gideon's Lawkeeper / Goldmeadow Harrier
Description - Role players in many decks, allowing aggro decks to down down big threats in the mid-game to allow you to break through, or tap down offensive threats in a controlling deck while setting up your big players. Not uncommon for both to be played in a cube. Goldmeadow Harrier is usually the choice if using only 1 due to synergy with Cloudgoat Ranger.
Anchors -
Supports -
Skymarcher Aspirant
Description - Solid aggro 1-drop. You don't expect the flying to turn on often, but it gives your aggro decks an evasive threat later if you failed to punch through early.
Anchors -
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Boros Elite
Description - ok card for aggro decks, and can get some mileage in token deck. If you aren't pushing white aggro, you shouldn't play this.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
Cenn's Tactician
Description - As a baseline, can block and pump himself in response, or pump at end of turn, which can be good for a control deck biding its time. With a bit of soldier support (which isn't difficult in most cubes), can help mess with combat math, shifting it to more aggro support. The additional block probably isn't going to matter much, but is a nice bonus.
Anchors -
Supports -
Doomed Traveler
Description - A reasonable 1-drop. In an aggro deck, at least you get an evasive replacement once it is outclassed. In a control deck even if it is just chumping at least you get to do it twice. Good upside against aggressive decks full of x/1's, and potential for two activations for a single mana in a sacrifice deck.
Anchors -
Supports -
Loam Lion
Description - Generally considered a green/white card, this is solid if you are pushing aggro in both those colours, and efficient enough that you would play it in decks of nearly any speed.
Anchors -
Supports -
Perimeter Captain
Description - Strong early anti-aggro card. On its own it can block mid-sized creatures with relevant life gain upside, which can offset other unblocked attackers. Also out of Bolt range.
Anchors -
Supports - Defender
Steppe Lynx
Description - Can be ok for aggro decks, played turn 1 and then swinging in with a 2/3 for the following number of turns. However it can be unreliable. Note : Some peasant cube owners support multiple copies of Terramorphic Expanse or rare saclands, which make this card better. Playable without them, but lacks consistency.
Anchors -
Supports -
Thraben Inspector
Description - The stats aren't impressive, but being able to draw a card helps. Assuming your cube has a few of the white team anthems that most peasant cubes include, white doesn't mind having extra bodies lying around. It may also be support as an early white drop for an artifact themed cube, and it's also fine as a sideboard card against aggro decks full of x/1's; trading while you get a clue will not make your opponent happy.
Anchors -
Supports -
Topplegeist
Description - 1/1 flyers for 1 mana aren't usually considered a good deal. This can at least tap down the biggest offenders on the opposite side of the board if not played early, and even if you don't specifically support delirium, having it turn on mid-game from time to time is going to feel pretty awesome for a single mana.
Anchors -
Supports -
Town Gossipmonger
Description - The ideal play of this on turn 1, play a 2 drop and transform during their turn (threatening to block and then transform), then attack with both on turn 3 is a decent opening. When not played early though, it can become a bit more unreliable and harder to transform. The pump on the flipside is a nice bonus.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Akrasan Squire
Description - Played turn 1, it can attack for 2 on turn 2 which is nice. But most decks drafted from cube don't facilitate a single attacker being effective, so it can awkward to get benefit from it after that.
Anchors -
Supports -
Alaborn Zealot
Description - It's situational, but it will usually either provide mana tempo by taking something out more costly, or hold off attacks while your opponent searches for an answer.
Anchors -
Supports -
Anointer of Champions / Infantry Veteran
Description - It can help with combat math after blockers are declared in an aggro deck, to help your creatures either survive, trade up, or maximise damage to the opponent. Conditional on board state, and bad if you are losing.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro
Aven Skirmisher / Lantern Kami / Suntail Hawk / Kitesail Scout
Description - Not exciting, but serviceable. If you want one of these, Aven Skirmisher's tribe of Warrior is the most likely to matter. If you include hybrid cards in the comparison, Judge's Familiar is a strict upgrade.
Anchors -
Supports -
Benevolent Bodyguard
Description - Fragile as a creature, but can act as a way to counter removal against some of your bigger threats, or clear a way for final damage.
Anchors -
Supports -
Deftblade Elite
Description - It looks innocuous, but it can sit back and soak up damage. The provoke doesn’t do much most of the time, but when you are ready to swing in it can tie up an annoying defender from blocking something else. Mostly fits in defensive decks. If you can give it a power boost with equipment, it can turn into an odd form of spot removal, but is upside you should probably not be relying on.
Anchors -
Supports -
Dragon's Eye Sentry
Description - It serves a specific role, but its stats for cost with first strike are worth noting. It can take out aggressive x/1's and survive 2 power creatures. The faster your aggro section is, particularly those with 1 power, the better tool this will be to allow control decks to reach their end game.
Anchors -
Supports - Control
Favored Hoplite
Description - You need to support specific types of decks to get the best value. Either an aura-based Voltron theme, or heavy pump theme is needed to get the best value. Outside of those archetypes, you want at least a few white spells you would be willing to throw at this guy to consider inclusion.
Anchors -
Supports - Voltron / Pants (aura-based)
Glint Hawk
Description - This requires a very specific environment to work, ideally one with lots of artifacts, that are also cheap, that you would also benefit from playing twice. Generally, most cubes won't fit this criteria.
Anchors -
Supports -
Icatian Javelineers
Description - The ability to threaten use while others attack can mess with combat math. The one off reduces its threat level, and then becomes a vanilla 1/1. But it can also threaten players and provides reach; minor, but it is there.
Anchors -
Supports -
Kor Duelist
Description - If you are supporting a Voltron / pants archetype, this might just make the cut, on the assumption you have a high number of power-boosting equipment. Outside of that deck/environment, not worth it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Loyal Pegasus
Description - It's a terrible 1st turn play but with the support of enough other small creatures to mitigate the drawback, is an efficient beater. Gets worse in a heavy removal environment.
Anchors -
Supports -
Nomads en-Kor
Description - Only good enough if you support defensive decks with a lot of of high toughness creatures. Minor synergy with Spitemare.
Anchors -
Supports -
Soltari Foot Soldier
Description - It's not a great clock, but there are likely to be few other creatures in the cube that can block it. It can always carry equipment or auras, so can be good in a Voltron deck.
Anchors -
Supports - Voltron
Soul Warden / Soul's Attendant
Description - Functionally identical apart from the 'may' ability which you will always trigger. This can be quite variable depending on both your and your opponents deck, and you really need it to be giving you upwards of half a dozen life to be worth the cost of the card. Played early in or against a token deck, it can buy you time and make it difficult for your opponent to swing in. As a top deck in a game where players have exhausted their hands, it is going to be bad.
Anchors -
Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Accorder Paladin
Description - 3 power at 2 mana which can also boost the rest of your team makes this a fine aggro player, but it dies to anything. If you can keep it unopposed for a couple of turns, it's base power plus stat boost can add up, and sometimes even a single swing can do a fair bit of damage.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro, Tokens
Cloistered Youth
Description - What is essentially a 3/3 for 2 mana is great for aggro. The pain makes it tuned for aggro decks and not elsewhere, but the value is worth it for those decks. Annoying when it can't break through, but the transformation is optional, so you can always commit it the board and wait if you haven't already committed to the transformation.
Anchors -
Supports -
Consul's Lieutenant
Description - A card that is full of upsides. The first strike often forces blocks where you win, or they let it through and get renowned. The renowned just makes the first strike better, plus the team pump in go wide decks can make it hard for your opponent to recover. The first strike still makes it reasonable on defense even if not renowned.
Anchors -
Supports -
Mistral Charger / Stormfront Pegasus
Description - Not much to say; it's a solid evasive aggro beater for white that is almost always going to make your deck.
Anchors -
Supports -
Seeker of the Way
Description - It might be a bear more often than not, but the opportunity for it to be a 3/3 lifelinker at instant speed can make your opponent nervous during combat.
Anchors -
Supports -
Soltari Trooper
Description - Solid evasive creature. Not being pumped on defense is meaningless because attacking is what this is built for, and it will trade with nearly all shadow creatures on defense anyway. Good for aggro, and ok for control as a clock.
Anchors -
Supports -
Wall of Omens
Description - This is a solid control card, allowing you to stall early aggro assaults without being down a card.
Anchors -
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Adanto Vanguard
Description - A good aggressive card, the mana-free indestructible ability can make blocking quite difficult for your opponent. It's not really profitable on defense. It wears auras and equipment really well, so consider this over similar options if you are pushing a pants archetype.
Anchors -
Supports - Pants
Azorius Arrester
Description - Decent for aggro / tempo decks to get damage through and stall incoming attacks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Daring Skyjek
Description - It will feel lackluster when it isn't flying, but it's still 3 power for 2 mana.
Anchors -
Supports -
Dauntless River Marshal
Description - Solid stats for 2 mana in an Azorius deck in an aggro capacity, and in the late game can tap down their biggest blockers.
Anchors -
Supports -
Felidar Cub / Kami of Ancient Law / Keening Apparition / Ronom Unicorn
Description - It's enchantment removal on legs. They are fine, and you can always play them as bears even if there are no targets. War Priest of Thune gives you the opportunity for a 2-for-1 but is less flexible in casting to maximise that value. It's probably a personal choice as to which type of play you prefer (if you don't include both effects, of course).
Anchors -
Supports -
Gearshift Ace
Description - It might not be thrilling, but there aren't a lot of 2 mana 2 power creatures with built in first strike. Fine for aggro, and good at stalling 3/2 aggro creatures like. Crewing vehicles is upside to an ok baseline.
Anchors -
Supports -
Gust Walker
Description - Decent enough for aggro decks. It can bash in as a bear, and then start going over the top when the time calls for it. A 3/3 flyer compares favourably enough with a decent number of flyers in the format, considering you only paid 2 mana for it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Kazandu Blademaster
Description - It may get ignored because it looks like it needs ally support, but 2/2 first strike and vigilance is still good without other ally support. The main thing holding it back is the double white. If you have any other incidental allies or +1/+1 counter themes, it's worth considering.
Anchors -
Supports - Allies, +1/+1 counters
Knight of Meadowgrain
Description - Good all round. In aggro the first strike prevents early trades while the life link helps you win races. In control, the first strike helps on defense while recovering your life total (or more likely just prevents attacks).
Anchors -
Supports -
Kor Skyfisher
Description - Great for bouncing and re-using ETB effects, or resetting Serrated Arrows / Tumble Magnet / Banishing Light etc. In later turns it can always just bounce a land. Can bounce itself if you have any effects that trigger on casting spells / creatures coming into play (Extort, Goldmeadow Commander).
Anchors -
Supports - Crystal Shard / bounce
Leonin Relic-Warder
Description - It's ok removal on a stick, but you are probably better off not needing double white for this effect. The benefit over some other removal options is that this targets both enchantments and artifacts.
Anchors -
Supports -
Lone Missionary
Description - Good as a control card to help survive the early game and hopefully trade with something else to get you through to the late game. Less desirable in aggro but can be a filler 2-drop there.
Anchors -
Supports - Control
Lone Rider
Description - It needs the right support in your cube, but a 4/4 trample first strike lifelinker is a solid payoff and the right support cards are playable in their own right. The built in lifelink gives it some play with pump effects, and it might elevate the value of other playable cards with one-shot life gain effects; Lone Missionary, Faith's Fetters etc.
Anchors -
Supports -
Loyal Cathar
Description - ok for aggro / sacrifice, but the WW cost might keep it out of contention for smaller cubes.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro, Sacrifice
Nearheath Pilgrim
Description - It's probably just filler in an aggro deck with some life gain upside, but has some upside in other situations. Paired with something evasive it can help you race, and even if you are on the defensive, you can potentially block aggressive attackers with paired creatures while trading and getting a life buffer until you can cast your more expensive spells.
Anchors -
Supports -
Niblis of the Urn
Description - The evasion can help it attack when the opponent has multiple ground troops, and help your own ground troops get through. At worst it can tap down a lone flyer on the opposing side to get in for a point of damage. However the fact that it is small makes it easy to pass on.
Anchors -
Supports - Tempo / Control
Nyx-Fleece Ram
Description - Good control card to block with, and if they can't break through you get incremental life gain. Being an enchantment is a minus as it can be removed by more things, but it can be a big synergy plus if you provide it the right support cards.
Anchors -
Supports - Enchantment Matters
Oketra's Avenger
Description - 3/1's for 2 need some upside, and this is about on par with the alternatives. The exert can help you force some damage through or force unfavorable blocks, but loses some value as soon as a 4 toughness creature hits the battlefield. Gets a little better if you give it some pants to wear. The threat of activation on Adanto Vanguard and being able to activate it on defense gives that a bit of an edge, but this isn't far behind and does block better if you can't afford the life loss.
Anchors -
Supports -
Soltari Monk
Description - While protection is something that most cubers don't consider, this can be an unblockable threat that black mages can't take out with kill spells, which is solid for aggro decks.
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Supports -
Soltari Priest
Description - While protection is something that most cubers don't consider, this can be an unblockable threat that red mages can't take out with burn spells, which is solid for aggro decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Syndic of Tithes
Description - Decent bear, enabling drain that can be useful in an aggressive deck that has spare mana, or in a control deck.
Anchors -
Supports -
Topan Freeblade
Description - If it was just 2/2 vigilance, it would probably be a little under par. If it gets in for the first attack, it becomes reasonable. However even on the play, most decks will be able to play something that can trade with it. It's all around decent; however it doesn't provide any specific support to any particular deck.
Anchors -
Supports -
Trueheart Duelist
Description - The baseline doesn't stand out, but it kind of has 'when this dies, draw a Pearled Unicorn'. It's not a great body, but you still get some value particularly as a stalling tactic, and has some incidental synergy with self-mill, sacrifice or self-discard.
Wall of Essence
Description - Good control card to block with, it can completely blank some aggro assaults, with the life gain offsetting damage from other creatures that get through.
Anchors -
Supports - Control
Wall of Glare
Description - It can blank some aggro assaults, sometimes able to block 2 creatures and survive, and sometimes act as a pseudo-Fog against an alpha strike.
Anchors -
Supports -
Wandering Champion
Description - It isn't tricky, it's just a solid card for aggro decks, with some nice card filtering tacked on as a bonus.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports - Graveyard Matters
War Priets of Thune
Description - When compared to the likes of Kami of Ancient Law, this can be a 2 for 1, but you have to wait until you have a target. While they are different, most will prefer the flexibility of being able to attack with your 2/2 and activating afterwards instead of needing to hold onto it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Whitemane Lion
Description - It's flexible in the way you can make use of the 'drawback'. It can save your creatures from removal. It can put down a surprise blocker if all of your creatures are tapped. It can help re-use ETB effects like Shriekmaw. It can bounce itself if you really want to keep triggering other ETB / cast spell effects, like Extort.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Ainok Bond-Kin
Description - It might be a little slow, but with an activation or 2 becomes respectable. A decent enough 'lord' if you push +1/+1 counters in your cube.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Ajani's Pridemate
Description - It's ok on the basis you have incidental life gain, lifelink or extort in your card pool. A single activation puts this above standard rate for cost. You can seed cards to really make it a build around, but if you only have a couple of life gain effects in your cube then it isn't worth it.
Anchors -
Supports - Life Gain Matters
Angelic Wall / Orator of Ojutai
Description - It's an ok card to block with, providing blanket defense in the air and on the ground. Orator of Ojutai is technically the strictly better option, but you might select Angelic Wall so as not to confuse your players if there aren't (m)any Dragons in your cube. Fine but boring.
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Supports -
Arashin Cleric / Temple Acolyte
Description - It can be an early blocker in a control deck to fend off some smaller aggro creatures while providing a life buffer, but it is pretty unexciting.
Anchors -
Supports -
Auriok Bladewarden
Description - This could be a reward card if you have an environment full of power pumping auras and equipment. If you've only got a few of those effects then this isn't worth cubing.
Anchors -
Supports -
Aviary Mechanic
Description - It's a 'may' ability so you can play it on an empty board, and it lets you return any permanent, but outside of some corner cases, the flash on Whitemane Lion is going to perform better in the intended role. Resetting Oblivion Ring or other aura-based removal is still a noteworthy upside.
Anchors - Blink / Bounce
Supports -
Ballyrush Banneret
Description - Unlikely to have Kithkin support, but could be good with enough soldier support which show up in enough numbers in most cubes.
Anchors -
Supports -
Battlefield Medic
Description - Clerics you might play; Banisher Priest, Blind Zealot, Custodi Squire, Drana's Emmisary, Fiend Hunter, Goldnight Commander, Kor Sanctifier's, Mother of Runes, Suture Priest, Syndic of Tithes. Preventing 1 damage is pretty meh, but jumping up to 2 gives you the opportunity to turn around some combats.
Anchors -
Supports -
Beloved Chaplain
Description - It's might have some play in a Voltron deck with equipment or aura support, but it still dies to most removal. It can serve in a control deck to block anything on the ground without trample, but it doesn't do much else. An ok card to seed for control to survive the early game.
Anchors -
Supports - Voltron, Control
Benalish Cavalry
Description - It's an ok aggro card that can't be blocked by 2 tokens, and wins combat with 2/3's. It's not bad, but is also replaceable.
Anchors -
Supports -
Cheap Ass
Description - 3 1/2 pretty much means 4, and 1/4 is good stats for 2 mana. The 1/2 mana saving makes it a smidge easier to cast 2 spells in one turn.
Anchors -
Supports -
Cleric of the Forward Order
Description - Ignoring the signal that you might be playing multiples, this seems ok for control decks to trade with something while buffing your life total. Comparable to Lone Missionary with upside (+1 toughness) and downside (-2 life gain). The life gain can be countered if the creature is removed from play before the ability resolves, so caring about the additional toughness is probably the critical consideration.
Anchors -
Supports -
Concordia Pegasus / Territorial Roc / Makindi Aeronaut / Skyblade of the Legion
Description - Anti-aggro against 2/X creatures, flying or otherwise, but isn't too exciting.
Anchors -
Supports -
Fencing Ace
Description - It's usually only going to be effective in a Voltron deck that can pump it's power with equipment or auras, but in that deck it can decent. It will depend on how prevalent or powerful removal is in your cube.
Anchors - Voltron
Supports -
Field Surgeon
Description - On the plus side it gets around summoning sickness, and there is no mana cost involved. With sufficient untapped creatures on the board, it makes it difficult for opponents to attack into you. On the attack it is harder to use though as you will usually have to tap some of them.
Anchors -
Supports -
Inner-Chamber Guard
Description - Essentially a 2/4 defender for 2 mana that can be killed by a Shock. It doesn't look like much, but it can be an ok staller for control. It's considerably less interesting than a lot of other walls, but a 2/4 blocker for 2 mana might fit your particular meta.
Anchors - Control
Supports -
Jeskai Barricade
Description - It's a 'may' ability, so it is all upside for saving good creatures from removal or re-using ETB effects. However after it hits play it only plays defense, and Whitemane Lion is more universally playable despite having mandatory bounce. You probably need to be deep on the self-bounce, or want that type of deck to play more defensively, to include it in your cube.
Anchors -
Supports -
Knight of Glory
Description - It is going to be inconsistent; it can attack by itself as a 3/2 on turn 3, or pump a 1-drop on turn 2, but most cube decks aren't going to be tuned to win by attacking with a single creature.
Anchors -
Supports -
Leonin Snarecaster
Description - Worse than Azorius Arrester, but could be an option if you want to go deep on tempo creatures.
Anchors -
Supports -
Leonin Squire
Description - You would have to be reaching for an artifact matters theme, and have enough things like spellbombs or relevent 1cc artifact creatures to consider this.
Anchors -
Supports -
Longbow Archer
Description - ok stats, but interchangeable with a lot of other '2/2 + abilities for WW' creatures. You would only consider this over the other options if you were trying to fill a specific hole to help white deal with flyers (which it usually deals with by having its own flyers). It might be a metagame call against the likes of Lingering Souls and Talrand's Invocation.
Anchors -
Supports -
Martyr of Dusk
Description - It supports token decks and a couple of bodies for sacrifice themes, but isn't high on the list.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice, Tokens
Myrsmith
Description - Good as an anchor card for an artifact matters theme, but only good for that deck.
Anchors - Artifact matters
Supports -
Phalanx Leader
Description - The repeat ability to put +1/+1 counters on each of your creatures is strong. However you need the support of the right spells to be able to trigger this frequently enough. Mark of Fury and self-bouncing auras come to mind to get more value from it, though it does complement an aura-based Voltron theme as well.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters, Voltron (aura-based)
Phantom Nomad
Description - Might be ok for both aggro and control. Aggro doesn't lose it's creature to the first defence and can swing again. Same with control, allows it to chump block.
Anchors -
Supports -
Restoration Specialist
Description - It's a 2 mana 2 power creature when you need it to be one, but the only reason to cube it is to support an enchantment matters or artifact theme. Getting two targets is probably going to be rare, but will be great when you do.
Anchors -
Supports - Enchantment Matters, Artifact Matters
Revered Dead
Description - It only fits a specific role, which is to soak up some damage with its cheap regen cost. Only if you are looking to fill a particular niche.
Anchors -
Supports -
Samite Pilgrim
Description - By the time this comes online, in most decks you are going to be able to prevent 2 damage which is not a bad baseline. It depends on whether you want this type of effect in your cube.
Anchors -
Supports -
Samurai of the Pale Curtain
Description - On offense the flanking of Benalish Cavalry is better without costing WW, but this can provide better defence. Its inclusion is probably reliant on whether the graveyard hate effect is something you want in your cube. It can deal with Persist, Undying, prevent other 'death' triggers such as Rancor, Blood Artist etc. which some play groups might hate and others might love having that dynamic to draft / play around.
Anchors -
Supports -
Serene Steward
Description - Cross synergy with life gain matters themes and +1/+1 counters. Not requiring a cost makes Ajani Pridemate more desirable for most, but this does let you distribute the counters. If life gain is incidental in your cube, or you don't have at least a handful of repeatable life gain sources, it doesn't belong in your cube.
Anchors - Life Gain Matters
Supports - +1/+1 Counters
Sigiled Paladin
Description - Exalted is fine, but is going to relevant less frequently than abilities on otherwise similar creatures, like Knight of Meadowgrain or Kazandu Blademaster. It's not bad, but is probably only worth considering in larger cubes.
Anchors -
Supports -
Steadfast Cathar
Description - It's an attacking 2/3 for 2 in white, which is fine for aggro decks. How much the third toughness will matter is cube dependent.
Anchors -
Supports -
Steward of Solidarity
Description - It's a 2 mana token creator that requires no further mana investment which makes it appealing. Only creating one every other turn can be a little slow, particularly if not cast on curve, but over a longer game it can add up.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens
Suture Priest
Description - The life loss is more important than the life gain, but it can make for a good package. However it needs several triggers to add up. It can make for a decent turn 2 play, but it may be low impact later in the game. If you can play the attrition game, trading creatures 1 for 1 while draining, and continuing to play threats so they have to answer with playing more creatures, it can be ok, but is pretty situational. The repeat life gain can make it a good support card for any life gain matters cards.
Anchors -
Supports - Life gain Matters
Trusty Companion
Description - It's an option for cheap white aggro decks intending to drop their hand early to mitigate the drawback. You might consider some 3/1's with upside instead, but the 2nd point of toughness here might be a consideration if you have a high density of 1/1 tokens or 1/3's that more readily trump those. The vigilance doesn't add much at these stats.
Anchors -
Supports -
Vanguard of Brimaz
Description - Being able to pump out tokens makes this worth a look, but it requires the inclusion of enough spells you would want to cast on it, which probably requires the inclusion of other suboptimal cards.
Anchors - Heroic
Supports - Soldier Tribal
Wall of Resistance
Description - It might be sideboard material against some decks, but it can make attacking difficult for your opponent. Similar walls at this cost are likely to offer better value to most decks, but it does have flying going for it.
Anchors -
Supports - Control
Warrior en-Kor
Description - Can be ok for midrange decks to spread the damage around and survive opposing blocks, or redirect it all to a token. Has some synergy with Spitemare. The WW really hurts, as it isn't as universally good as other WW options.
Anchors -
Supports -
Wings of the Guard
Description - It's a 2/2 flying attacker for 2, which is worth something. It might survive being blocked by a 1/1 Spirit token or some such, but not having 2 power when you are behind probably puts it behind something like Stormfront Pegasus. You might cube it for maximum redundancy of cheap flyers.
Anchors -
Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Advance Scout - Assume better ways to give team first strike.
Ajani's Sunstriker - Knight of Meadowgrain strictly better.
Akroan Skyguard - Rarely going to be good.
Alabaster Mage - Most of the time, this is going to be too much investment. Nice to have the effect on the table if you have mana spare, but not worth going out of your way to include.
Alaborn Grenadier - Strictly better options in Loyal Cathar and Kazandu Blademaster.
Alalborn Musketeer - Not likely to be relevant.
Amrou Kithkin - Bad.
Amrou Scout - Only if major Rebel support.
Angelic Curator - Bad unless heavy artfiact theme.
Angelic Page - The effect is not efficient enough.
Anointer Priest - Not high enough impact.
Araba Motrider - Not good enough.
Arctic Foxes - Bad.
Ardent Soldier - Neither mode is good and the flexibility does not make up for it.
Armored Pegasus - Worse than Concordia Pegasus.
Armored Warhorse - Strictly worse than Veteran Armorsmith.
Audacious Infiltrator - It's a 2 mana 3/1 with upside, but mostly irrelevant for cube.
Augur il-Vec - Not efficient enough.
Auriok Edgewright - Not going to be consistent enough.
Auriok Suncasher - Bad unless heavy artifact theme.
Avacynian Priest - You likely want to upgrade to Benalish Trapper/Blinding Mage at this cost, or go for Goldmeadow Harrier/Gideon Lawkeeper.
Aven Farseer - Only in heavy morph theme.
Aven Squire - It can be a 2 mana attacking 2/2 flyer, but you aren't going to win on that alone. It isn't going to fit in the game plan of most decks.
Aysen Bureaucrats - Ability is too restrictive.
Beacon Hawk - It can provide pseudo-vigilance to something, but it isn't enough.
Benalish Trapper - Probably just want to go for Goldmeadow Harrier/Gideon Lawkeeper.
Benevolent Unicorn - Narrow.
Binding Mummy - There aren't enough white zombies that are playable outside the zombie deck to make this worth considering; otherwise you will have high density of cards that only work in one deck.
Bishop's Soldier - Doesn't do enough.
Blade of the Sixth Pride - Strictly worse than Accorder Paladin, Daring Skyjek and Wandering Champion, and you won't need this many 3/1's for 2.
Dromoka Warrior - As above.
Oreskos Swiftclaw - As above.
Blinding Mage - Probably just want to go for Goldmeadow Harrier/Gideon Lawkeeper.
Boros Mastiff - Not enough upside compared to other options.
Capashen Knight - Not good enough. You'd rather have Youthful Knight over the rare times you will spend 4 mana on the activated ability.
Capashen Unicorn - Stats not good enough and too expensive for the ability.
Cardpecker - Nope.
Catapult Squad - While you might have enough soldiers in your cube to get some support for this, it almost demands to be played in a control deck, making this too narrow.
Cathedral Membrane - It looks like good upside, but as a once off it isn't good enough.
Cavalry Pegasus - You would have humans running around in your cube, but this too conditional and a poor creature on its own.
Cenn's Heir - Only if Kithkin support.
Clergy en-Vec - Same as Femeref Healer / Samite Healer. These are not worth it. Field Surgeon only affects creatures, but is among the best 'healers'.
Femeref Healer - As above.
Samite Healer - As above.
Cliff Threader - Too narrow.
Cloudreach Cavalry - 3/3 flyer for 2 mana is amazing, but you won't have enough birds.
Countless Gears Renegade - It looks like it can provide value, but you can almost never get that value on curve and the inconsistency is decent downside.
Courier Hawk - Not good enough.
Crimson Acolyte - Too narrow.
Crossbow Infantry - Not good enough.
Darklit Gargoyle - It isn't good as a white card, and it doesn't do enough as an Orzhov card.
Daru Spiritualist - Bad.
Defiant Falcon - Only if Rebel support.
Disciple of Grace - Narrow.
Disciple of Law - Narrow.
Duskrider Falcon - Narrow.
Eddytrail Hawk - Not high enough impact.
Enlightened Ascetic - Many better options for removal on a body.
Monk Realist - As above.
Errant Doomsayers - Not going to have enough targets.
Exorcist - Too narrow.
Expendable Troops - Not good enough.
Famished Paladin - It's fairly low on the totem pole of life gain matters cards. Behaves a bit like a 3/3 defender for 2, which most decks don't want. The best case is a 3/3 with vigilance which is fine but doesn’t seem worth jumping through hoops. Might be worth noting you can go Magical Christmas Land and go infinite with a few combo variations.
Fledgling Griffin - You would much rather have Mistral Charger.
Fleet-Footed Monk - Bad.
Fortified Rampart - Wall of Tanglecord exists. Only if you REALLY want only white to have it.
Freewind Falcon - Narrow.
Fresh Volunteers - Bad.
Geist of the Lonely Vigil - Too much set up for the payoff.
Ghost Warden - Doesn't do enough. Activation is more flexible than Anointer of Champions / Infantry Veteran, but the extra mana is not something you want to spend.
Glory Seeker - Bad.
God-Favored General - This is going to get swallowed before you get to activate it.
Griffin Rider - Good upside, but rarely achieved.
Guardian of Pilgrims - It doesn't do enough.
Hand of Honor - You would rather have Benalish Cavalry for easier casting, or any number of better WW creatures.
Herald of Dromoka - You would rather have Topan Freeblade filling a similar role. Giving other Warriors vigilance is not a big enough draw for an otherwise downgrade.
Hipparion - Worse than Concordia Pegasus/Jeskai Student.
Huatli's Snubhorn - Strictly better options. (Topan Freeblade).
Icatian Lieutenant - Not efficient enough stats or effect.
Ikiral Outrider - Not efficient enough.
Inquisitor Exarch - Does not do enough compared to many other options at WW.
Jeskai Student - Swinging into stuff on turn 3 as a 2/4 is solid, but it isn't powerful enough to slot into most decks you would support in your cube.
Jotun Grunt - Don't think there is any way you can profitably take advantage of this ability in cube.
Judge of Currents - Too tribal.
Keeper of the Light - Takes 3 activations to be better than Rest for the Weary, which works when this doesn't and is already not up for consideration.
Kinsbaile Skirmisher - It doesn't apply enough pressure compared to other cards.
Kithkin Greatheart- Unlikely to get support.
Kithkin Shielddare - Too narrow for most decks/ cubes.
Kithkin Zealot - Too narrow.
Kitsune Loreweaver - Too weak.
Kjeldoran Guard - Bad.
Kjeldoran Outrider - Bad.
Knight Errant - Bad.
Knight of Cliffhaven - Not efficient enough.
Knight of Hokey Pokey - It's ok, but not better than other WW options.
Knight of the Holy Nimbus - The regen is mostly a bonus, but is annoying for opponents. It's ok, but there are too many better options at ww to consider.
Knight of the Skyward Eye - This might be ok in midrange W/G but it isn’t good enough compared to other options.
Konda's Hatamoto - Bad.
Kor Aeronaut - Bad.
Kor Bladewhirl - It requires too deep on Allies to work. It might be fine acting like a 'sorcery' that gives your team first strike for an alpha strike, but there are better cards for that, and played on curve this will just be a bear.
Kor Castigator - There are enough 3/1's with upside (that will actually matter more than 1% of the time) that this falls out of contention.
Kor Firewalker - Narrow as a hate card, and not good enough as a Boros card.
Kor Line-Slinger - Too narrow.
Kor Outfitter - There isn't going to be enough support for this.
Leonin Den-Guard - Not going to be consistent enough in a cube setting.
Leonin Skyhunter - Decent, but not exciting, and not good enough to warrant double white.
Lightwlker - Going to be too much work to make it good.
Longbow Archer - ok stats, but interchangeable with a lot of other '2/2 + abilities for WW' creatures.
Lost Leonin - Can't make infect a thing.
Marsh Threader - Bad.
Master Decoy - Probably just want to go for Goldmeadow Harrier/Gideon Lawkeeper. The extra point of toughness is not going to matter often enough.
Mesa Chicken - Bad.
Mesa Falcon - Poor aggro, and must be better flyer for defence.
Mesa Pegasuys - Bad.
Metallurgeon - If you want to push an artifact theme, this is likely to be too deep to consider.
Mistmeadow Skulk - It doesn't have protection from enough stuff to make up for the fact that it is a 1/1 for 2 mana.
Moorland Inquisitor - Bad.
Mummy Paramount - There isn't quite enough support for zombies in white to consider this.
Mycologist - Too slow.
Mystic Familiar - Not going to be good consistently enough.
Mystic Visionary - Strictly worse than Mistral Charger or Stormfront Pegasus.
Ninth Bridge Patrol - You need 2 counters to be above the curve, and it just doesn't seem consistent enough.
Obsidian Acolyte - Too narrow.
Ondu Cleric - Not going to be effective enough.
Ondu War Cleric - It's mostly going to be a bear. Even if you have enough incidental Ally support, this is not that good.
Order of Leitbur - Not worth the mana investment.
Order of the White Shield - As above.
Order of the Golden Cricket - Just get Mistral Charger.
Oreskos Explorer - The worst case is that this is an Eager Cadet, and the best case is that (in 1 on 1) you get 1 mana discount on a Borderland Ranger with a restriction on what you can find. It might be fine on the play, but the discrepancy doesn't seem worth it.
Oreskos Sun Guide - Won't fit most game plans, and doesn't seem any better than having lifelink.
Osai Vultures - Bad.
Patrol Hound - Not worth the card disadvantage.
Patrol Signaler - Errr… it's good against opposing Goldmeadow Harriers?
Pikemen - Bad.
Prison Barricade - Better cards at both costs; flexibility is not worth it.
Pteron Ghost - Too narrow.
Quickening Licid - 4 mana for a Lance. Nope.
Quilled Sliver - Tribal.
Ramosian Lieutenant - Rebels tribal.
Raptor Companion - Strictly better options.
Repentant Blacksmith - Too narrow.
Revered Unicorn - Not good enough for aggro with upkeep cost and life gain not relevant for what you need to pay.
Ruin Ghost - It has some niche uses, but they are either heading towards Magical Christmas land (exile your Maze of Ith to prevent 2 attacks) or not worth a card (target a tapped land to help get extra mana of a particular colour).
Safehold Sentry - It's no Darkthicket Wolf.
Samurai of the Pale Curtain - Would rather have Benalish Cavalry. The exile may turn off strategies you are trying to promote.
Sentinel Sliver - Tribal.
Setessan Battlie Priest - Life gain upside not as good as other upside you can get for these stats.
Shield Bearer - Bad.
Shimmering Barrier - It doesn't really fit in any deck you would want to draft.
Shinewend - You would prefer your enchantment removal to not have a cost attached to it.
Shu Farmer - Terrible.
Sigardian Priest - Gideon's Lawkeeper and Goldmeadow Harrier are better versions.
Sighted-Caste Sorcerer - It just doesn't do enough.
Sightless Brawler - It's great stats for cost, but the attack with others will turn it off sometimes. It would feel bad to bestow a creature and then have the bestowed creature stranded due to removal on other creatures.
Silent-Chant Zubera - Doesn't do enough.
Silkenfist Fighter - Doesn't do enough.
Silver Knight - Unless you really want to push protection in your cube, other first strike Knights for WW are better.
Silverchase Fox - Adding cost to Ronom Unicorn is not worth it just for exiling.
Silvercoat Lion - Bad.
Sinew Sliver - Tribal.
Skyshroud Falcon - Doesn't do enough.
Soltari Emissary - being able to block non-shadow creatures does not make up for having to pay for your shadow every turn when compared to Soltari Trooper.
Soul Shepherd - There are better ways to repeat life gain.
Soulcatcher - It looks like it could fit in a Skies deck, but that deck wants its flyers to get through, not die. It is not going to be consistently big enough to warrant inclusion.
Spectral Rider - At this cost you can just get shadow guys.
Spirit Weaver - Not a big enough effect.
Split-Tail Miko - Samite Pilgrim doesn't hit players, but doesn't cost to activate.
Squadron Hawk - It doesn't do anything in singleton cube.
Welkin Hawk - As above.
Squall Drifter - It isn't as efficient as Goldmeadow Harrier / Gideon's Lawkeeper, and the flying does not make up for that.
Squire - Bad.
Stalwart Shield-Bearers - Even the defender deck doesn't want a 0/3 for 2 mana.
Standard Bearer - If you want this effect, you want it on Coalition Honor Guard.
Starlight Invoker - You want more from your defensive creatures than this.
Steadfast Guard - Worse than Loyal Cathar and Kazandu Blademaster.
Stoic Champion - Needs cycling support, and is terrible without it.
Stone Haven Medic - Doesn't do enough.
Stonewise Fortifier - Too inefficient.
Sun Sentinel - Strictly better options.
Sungrace Pegasus - Not an effective enough combination of abilities and stats.
Sunscape Familiar - Mana rocks are going to be more efficient and reliable most of the time.
Sunspear Shikari - Narrow. You would really have to push a lot of equipment.
Sword Dancer - Not efficient or effective enough.
Tallowisp - Too narrow.
Talon Sliver - Tribal.
Teacher's Pet - Only for very specific cubes.
Thraben Heretic - If you want this effect, you probably want something that can target any card so you can turn off stuff like flashback or threaten other graveyard targets, not just creature cards.
Thraben Valiant - Topan Freeblade strictly better.
Tonic Peddler - Doesn’t do enough.
Trained Pronghorn - I don't know why you would waste a card to save a 1/1 that you paid 2 mana for.
Traveling Philosopher - Bad.
Unruly Mob - It takes 2 of your creatures dying to become more than a bear, which is too much setup. It might have upside in token / sacrifice decks, but it isn't worth it being a bad card in other decks.
Veteran Armorer - It doesn't do enough. You will cry if other creatures were relying on the boost to survive combat and this gets removed.
Vizier of Remedies - It's great with Devoted Druid which can give you infinite green mana, and persist creatures go infinite. But that isn't enough when you aren't going to be playing many other cards that put -1/-1 counters on your creatures that are playable in other decks.
Youthful Knight - Gearshift Ace strictly better.
Aerial Responder
Description - Excellent combination of stats and abilities. It's evasive, add lifelink to make to good at racing, and add vigilance so you can pull double duty on the lifelink if the opponent dares to attack.
Anchors -
Supports -
Porcelain Legionnaire
Description - Most consider this a colorless 2-drop. Even without phyrexian mana considerations, it is still a 3 power first striker for 3 mana which would be strong enough on its own. However dropping this on turn 2 is going to be hard for your opponent to deal with, and sets up a lot of pressure, and is excellent whether you are on the beatdown or being defensive.
Anchors -
Supports -
Soltari Champion
Description - Possibly the best team pump effect in white. On it's own it is close to unblockable 2 power, but being able to pump your team every turn can add up quickly, particularly in token decks. Being unblockable means your opponent can't throw blockers at it to prevent it from repeating, they have to find another out, and on top of that it is pretty easy to splash.
Anchors -
Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Flickerwisp
Description - A fine card to re-use an ETB effect. Failing a way to get that value, it can be used to untap an attacker after combat, remove a blocker before combat, or 'reset' one of your or your opponents cards that has counters. It can target any permanent, so it has some other fringe uses.
Anchors -
Supports - Blink
Kor Sanctifiers
Description - The baseline isn't too embarrassing, and you get some artifact and enchantment removal all in one. One of the more flexible artifact / enchantment removal options in white.
Anchors -
Supports -
Pianna, Nomad Captain
Description - If you play online rarities, this plays second fiddle to Soltari Champion. However it isn't a bad second version, and some cubes will include both. It helps add pressure to aggressive starts, or for providing a good chunk of extra damage in go wide strategies.
Anchors -
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Abzan Falconer
Description - Base stats aren't exciting, but there is some reasonable upside to be had. With a mild +1/+1 theme in your cube, you might put this down and then just swing your team over the top, but it is also fine in a board stall where you can afford to outlast it for a few turns; a 4/5 or larger flyer is probably going to be challenging for most decks.
Anchors - +1/+1 counters
Supports -
Archetype of Courage
Description - The upsides look high. Aggro might lay this down before swinging, turning what would be trades into wins. On defense, it can make you very hard to attack into. You need to be aware of the downside though, which is the potential for blowouts if this gets removed after blocks that you were relying on.
Anchors -
Supports - Enchantments Matter
Attended Knight
Description - It's ok if not thrilling. It puts 3 power and toughness on the board for 3 mana, and the first strike is not irrelevant. It's hardly an optimum blink / bounce target, but it has synergies there as well as providing 2 bodies for sacrifice effects, or go wide effects like Soltari Champion.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice, Blink / Bounce
Aven Riftwatcher
Description - It's decent stats for a flyer. Unchecked, it generates an 8 point life swing, or it might just be a tool in the early game to stall aggro. If you support any life gain matters cards, this is probably worth investing in for the double triggers. You might consider Aerial Responder, but this does provide guaranteed life gain in the face of removal which may be important for your defensive decks, and is easier to cast if you are monitoring your double mana spells.
Anchors -
Supports -
Banisher Priest
Description - Decent removal on a stick for white. High upside in that you remove a threat while laying down one of your own which can be a solid tempo hit. Offset by downside of not really being a 2 for 1, and removal on it in the middle of combat might make things ugly for you depending on what they get back. Still very solid. Fairgrounds Warden is likely better on the basis of an easier casting cost, but you might prefer Banisher Priest if you want a slightly more aggressive version.
Anchors -
Supports -
Blessed Spirits
Description - It's not a bad baseline, and casting even a single enchantment makes it solid.
Anchors -
Supports -
Cloudchaser Kestrel
Description - Good for destroying enchantments while still being a decent evasive threat on its own. Main negative is it is not optional, so it will suck if only you have an enchantment on the board.
Anchors -
Supports -
Dauntless Cathar
Description - You get 2 bodies, with the first being respectable stats and the second being evasive. Nothing to write home about, but a value card that mildly supports sacrifice or self mill.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Descendant of Kiyomaro - 1
Description - There is some upside here for the right deck. 3/5 that gains life when it blocks can make it hard for your opponent to attack profitably. Still, it isn't quite thrilling enough to draft around, and is probably only worthwhile when paired with blue for some card drawing, or perhaps as a sideboard card against aggro.
Anchors -
Supports -
Fairgrounds Warden
Description - High upside in that you remove a threat while laying down a defensive creature which can be a solid tempo hit. Offset by downside of not really being a 2 for 1, and removal on it in the middle of combat might make things ugly for you depending on what they get back. Still very solid. You might consider Fiend Hunter if you really want to promote the 'stack tricks' possible there. Consider Banisher Priest if you would prefer a more aggressive version.
Anchors -
Supports -
Fiend Hunter
Description - It's mostly worse than Fairgrounds Warden due to the casting cost, but you might want this for larger cubes, or if you really want to promote the 'stack tricks' that aren't possible with Fairgrounds Warden (sacrifice this while it's ETB is on the stack so they lose the creature permanently). High upside in that you remove a threat while laying down a defensive creature which can be a solid tempo hit. Offset by downside of not really being a 2 for 1, and removal on it in the middle of combat might make things ugly for you depending on what they get back. Still very solid. Consider Banisher Priest if you would prefer a more aggressive version.
Anchors -
Supports -
Glint-Sleeve Artisan
Description - It's a 3/3 for 3 which is ok, and it has enough synergy to be up for consideration; works well with +1/+1 lords, artifact matters themes, or 2 bodies for sacrifice themes.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters, artifact matters, sacrifice
Inspiring Cleric
Description - The life gain plus 3 power can make it reasonable as an early trade-off for control decks against aggro. It doesn't stand out, but it fills a role.
Anchors -
Supports - Life Gain Matters
Ironclad Slayer
Description - It has a narrower range of targets than the likes of Auramancer, but the extra point of power is notable, and a fine support card for a Voltron archetype. Also plays nicely with aura-based removal if you play with those, such as Dead Weight.
Anchors - Voltron / Pants
Supports -
Kor Hookmaster
Description - A fine aggro / tempo card to keep pressure up after following some early drops. Can also see play in a control deck to slow down the opponents assault to buy time.
Anchors -
Supports -
Mardu Hordechief
Description - It's fine to push aggro, especially if you have some go wide support. There are similar cards that bring a friend that aren't conditional (Attended Knight, Sandsteppe Outcast) but you might want this to give aggro a tool, rather than just value creatures that midrange or control might play.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
Sandsteppe Outcast
Description - It's ok value. Default mode is probably the spirit token, but in a deck with +1/+1 lords the counter can also come in useful, or if you really need a 3 power creature to be able to trade, and you always get the flexibility based on the current game state.
Anchors -
Supports -
Soltari Visionary
Description - 3 mana for 2/2 unblockable is reasonable, and you get the option to remove enchantments from the other side of the board.
Anchors -
Supports -
Spirit en-Dal
Description - This is a reasonable way to make your creatures mostly unblockable with the forecast, which can make it useful for saboteurs or ramp, or just to chip away in a board stall. Having to forecast before your draw step is annoying, but you'll usually know when it is right to do so. Also has bonus upside of being able to give your opponents creatures shadow, which might help you swing in with your whole team instead of attacking with a single evasive creature.
Anchors -
Supports - Saboteurs
Stonecloaker
Description - This is a reasonable flash gating trick, whether it is to save a creature from removal or throw down a surprise blocker. Exiling from graveyards is incidental, but this card is a way to include that effect if you want it without taking up a dedicated slot.
Anchors -
Supports - Blink / Bounce
Sunscourge Champion
Description - A 2/3 gain 2 life for 3 isn't exactly good, but trading the worst card in your hand into a 4/4 gain 4 life for 4 mana is ok. It's not super exciting, but it's functional.
Anchors -
Supports - Gaveyard Matters
Territorial Hammerskull
Description - Good for keeping pressure and getting damage through, especially if you have other tap down effects to keep their creature count low. Kor Hookmaster might be considered better because the effect is immediate, can't be undone by removal, and can prevent a swing back.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Auramancer
Description - You need to go a little out of your way to support an enchantment theme of some sort (preferably the types that will make their way to the graveyard) to consider it, but it is pretty obvious which decks it supports.
Anchors - Enchantments Matter
Supports -
Aven Sunstriker
Description - With equipment or other ways to pump this it can be a solid attacker or blocker. Unpumped, it is still going to die to anything with more than 1 toughness. There is a 5 mana difference between the baseline and megamorphing it, so you probably don't want to rely on that being the default mode. You can go Skyhunter Skirmisher if you don't care for morph.
Anchors - Pants
Supports -
Avian Changeling
Description - It will depend entirely on your density of tribal lords, but you might find this gets almost accidentally better than a Wind Drake often enough.
Anchors -
Supports -
Azorius Herald
Description - You would never play this as just a white card. Life boost plus an unblockable creature is nice, which could you race, though not exciting compared to other Azorius options.
Anchors -
Supports -
Ballynock Cohort
Description - The closest comparison is Attended Knight which also gives you a 2/2 first striker with upside. That card always give you the third power and insurance by being across 2 bodies. Still, a 3 power first striker is going to be better on the attack. Base white aggro decks that are laying down threats quickly may benefit from having this guy on their team, but is probably less consistent than other options.
Anchors -
Supports -
Basilica Guards
Description - It's ok there for stalling while occasionally draining, but it only really fits one game plan.
Anchors -
Supports - Life Gain Matters / Drain
Benalish Knight
Description - Flash and first strike can make for a nice combination. It's fine, but is only really for more defensive decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Burrenton Bombardier
Description - It's reasonable flexibility. If you've already got something evasive in essence you give this card 'haste', though you do open yourself up to getting a 2 for 1 removal. It can act as a combat trick to win a combat, but you still get an upgraded creature.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Dauntless Cathar
Description - You get 2 bodies, with the first being respectable stats and the second being evasive. Nothing to write home about, but a value card that mildly supports sacrifice or self mill.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Descendant of Kiyomaro
Description - There is some upside here for the right deck. 3/5 that gains life when it blocks can make it hard for your opponent to attack profitably. Still, it isn't quite thrilling enough to draft around, and is probably only worthwhile when paired with blue for some card drawing, or perhaps as a sideboard card against aggro.
Anchors -
Supports -
Desperate Sentry
Description - It's a bit of an oddball, with a baseline somewhat similar to a creature with undying. That's probably fine enough as even if you just lose the Sentry, the token should trade with something, so it may be a creature for control decks to buy time. The delirium mode is good, but should be considered gravy once you are happy enough with the baseline to include it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Devoted Crop-Mate
Description - There is some value, and perhaps the turn you cast it you had already sent in 2-drop to trade. It will be inconsistent though; sometimes you won't have a target, and sometimes there won't be a good attack.
Anchors -
Supports -
Everdawn Champion
Description - It can block most decent ground pounders, but it isn't going to be able to attack much, and it does still die to burn. It might be annoying to attack into, but probably only worth cubing if you support a pants theme; they might have a random 2/3 they can just block with, but if you make it a 5/5 wtih Elephant Guide or whatever, they are much less likely to have something that can stonewall it.
Anchors -
Supports - Pants
Gavony Ironwright
Description - It isn't great, but it is defensive enough in the early game, and makes it very difficult to break through the final attack.
Anchors -
Supports -
Ghostblade Eidolon
Description - Neither mode is particularly efficient, but it can provide some support for a pants archetype, either by being a creature that inherently gets better if you can boost it, or by being the boost itself. Minor synergies with other enchantment themes, and is 2 card types if you care about delirium.
Anchors - Pants / Doublestrikers
Supports - Enchantment Matters
Glittering Lion
Description - It’s ok as an anti-aggro card. If your opponent is attacking in, they are forced to take a turn off just so they can trade. The base stats make it a bit less exciting as an aggro card. Magical Christmas Land is forcing them to pay 3, then playing a cheap pump spell to force a big tempo hit.
Anchors -
Supports -
Graceblade Artisan
Description - It only fits one deck, but if your cube is loaded up Griffin Guides, Elephant Guides and the like you might consider it.
Anchors - Enchantments Matter
Supports -
Hallowed Healer
Description - On board damage prevention isn't something most cubers care too much about and it takes a turn to come online, but preventing 2 damage without any mana cost is going to mess with combat frequently enough. You can go Sanctum Custodian if the extra point of toughness really matters to you, but preventing 4 damage is going to make combat choices really hard for your opponent.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Heliod's Pilgrim
Description - It fits an aura theme, and is most useful if you have a couple of colours in your cube that have aura-based removal, which can give it a little more play than just as a 'pants' enabler.
Anchors -
Supports - Pants
Icatian Crier
Description - Good for token and army building themes, while also being a discard / graveyard enabler.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Kabuto Moth
Description - Apart from the first turn, it can block by itself as a 2/4 in the air. It's not a thrilling card, but it is functional if you are looking for something to mess with combat math.
Anchors -
Supports -
Kitsune Blademaster
Description - A 3/3 first striker can be somewhat troublesome to deal with in combat, but it isn't particularly thrilling.
Anchors -
Supports -
Knight of the Pilgrim's Road
Description - It's only marginally below the curve, and becoming a 4/3 for 3 mana is reasonable. However your opponent has a turn between you casting it and attacking with it, so if they are worried about it turning into a 4/3, they can plan to block and trade, which they can do with a lot of 2-drops.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Mesa Enchantress
Description - A clear archetype signal, but you do need to give it ample support in your cube. At a baseline, it is a 3 mana investment that isn't really going to contribute to combat. You want an environment that swaps basic effects for enchantment versions such as removal (Journey to Nowhere over Path to Exile), ramp (Utopia Sprawl over Llanowar Elf) and creatures (Nyx-Fleece Ram over Wall of Omens). It's worth considering enchantments that can be recast, such as Mark of Eviction, Genju's, or Agorophobia.
Anchors - Enchantment Matters
Supports -
Monk Idealist
Description - Only in cube with heavy enchantment theme. Being able to get back Dead Weight or Seal of Doom is going to feel pretty good though. Corner case, but strictly worse than Auramancer which is a 'may' ability in case you don't want to turn off delirium or threshold.
Anchors - Enchantment Matters
Supports -
Niblis of the Mist
Description - It's ok as a card that can get some of your earlier drops through for aggro / tempo decks. Kor Hookmaster is probably better most of the time for the extra turn of lockdown, but this does provide an evasive threat.
Anchors -
Supports -
Nightguard Patrol
Description - Logically first strike and vigilance make for a nice pairing, and this is probably fairly costed for what you get. However it just doesn't really feel good enough. It's probably good enough in environments that are combat trick heavy, removal light.
Anchors -
Supports -
Nomad Decoy
Description - Gideon's Lawkeeper and Goldmeadow Harrier are certainly better options. However, being able to tap down two creatures is worth noting. It's probably only worth considering if you are going deep on self-mill or graveyard themes in white.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Outrider en-Kor
Description - The best case scenario is getting in for 2 damage, which is not amazing on a 3-drop. It is hard to block, letting you redirect damage to something else with reasonable toughness. Can also make a reasonable blocker for the same reason. Cute with Spitemare.
Anchors -
Supports -
Pegasus Charger / Voiceless Spirit
Description - Whether this is good is very environment dependent. 2 evasive power for 3 mana isn't really where you want to be, but in a cube full of 2 toughness creatures or small flyers, this could do some work in either holding off aggro guys like Borderland Marauder or evasive guys like Welkin Tern, or attacking into spirit tokens. The higher proportion of 3+ toughness stuff in your cube, the more you will wish it was a Stormfront Pegasus that could have just hit a turn earlier.
Anchors -
Supports -
Pious Evangel
Description - It can be a player in a drain deck or control deck looking to go long, though it is slow to get going. It isn't going to do much for you if you are behind though.
Anchors -
Supports -
Priest of Norn
Description - If it had wither, this would probably be fine in defensive decks. It probably still doesn't play terribly with infect (its mere prescence will probably prevent a lot of attacks) but from a cube design standpoint it will just make people think that infect is a thing in the cube.
Anchors -
Supports -
Saltfield Recluse
Description - Conditional on board state and takes a turn to come online, but either on offense or defense 2 power shift after blocks may have enough impact.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sanctum Custodian
Description - Being able to threaten to prevent 2 damage, particularly as there is no mana cost, is going to mess with combat math after blocks whether you are on offense or defense. Also makes your opponents burn worse, or can just protect your own life total from attacks, particularly evasive creatures chipping away at you. Damage prevention can draw out games so not all cube managers will want to include it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Skyhunter Skirmisher
Description - You need to give it enough support, primarily with power boosting equipment or auras, but in the right deck it can do some work. Without that support it will behave mostly like a 2/2 flyer. Aven Sunstriker is strictly better if you are ok with morphs.
Anchors -
Supports -
Soltari Crusader
Description - Pumpable and nearly unblockable isn't a bad combination, but most decks that want this will also want the more efficient casting cost of Soltari Trooper.
Anchors -
Supports -
Spectral Shepherd
Description - The baseline is acceptable enough, but you really need a strong contingent of white and blue spirits to really generate value.
Anchors -
Supports - Spirit Tribal
Tethmos High Priest
Description - The upside is reasonable but also narrow, so you have to warp your cube somewhat. The 2cc limit means you probably want it in an aggressive pants decks with auras / bestow / pump spells to get some triggers.
Anchors -
Supports -
Treasure Hunter
Description - Only if you have an artifact theme in your cube.
Anchors - Artifacts Matter
Supports -
Troubled Healer
Description - It's a healer that has 'haste', and the ability to use it multiple times in a turn gives it upside over other healers; sometimes it can act just like a Zuran Orb for keeping you alive. Perhaps the most decision intensive healer which might be the sort of gameplay you are looking for.
Anchors -
Supports -
Veteran Swordsmith
Description - The baseline isn't terrible even if you don't have any support. You will still want enough soldiers in your cube, as there are plenty of other 3 drops that will be better unless you have at least another soldier.
Anchors - Soldier Tribal
Supports -
Vigilant Sentry
Description - Only if you 've got some serious white dedication to a graveyard theme. With threshold on, threatening +3/+3 at instant speed is significant. You really want to make sure your players can get there though.
Anchors -
Supports -
Vizier of Deferment
Description - It gives you a few options, but the timing restriction makes it a bit clunky compared to similar alternatives. It can never clear a path, but it can stop an attacker for a turn, or save your creature mid-combat and reset ETB effects.
Anchors -
Supports -
Wall of Resurgence
Description - 3 mana for a 0/6 defender is not generally a good deal. However, you get a good blocker AND an attacker, but you may have to time when you cast it to reduce risk. The land becomes vulnerable to removal, so you may want to hold off on casting this on turn 3, or opting out of the 'may' ability if you really need a blocker and want to play it safe. Plays nicely with creature lands.
Anchors -
Supports -
Zealot il-Vec
Description - It might behave a bit like a pinger, with some downsides and upsides. It only triggers on attack, and pingers are much better when you can do it at instant speed. At least it triggers after blocks are declared, so you can put that extra 1 where it needs to go if it helps you in combat. Some marginal upsides are that equipment, auras or just pump spells can help you hit your opponent for more, and if you have ways to give it deathtouch you can start (slowly) clearing your opponents board.
Anchors -
Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Calciderm
Description - Possibly the best white aggressive 4-drop. On curve it can be difficult to mount a defense against it, especially if you've got a few hits in already. It does go away eventually, but 15 damage is not something your opponent can usually take; they may have to make decision to double block and 2 for 1 themselves, or chump until it goes away. Occasionally it can be stonewalled by an 0/6 or a couple of 3/3's or something, but it is solid in most board states.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
Palace Jailer
Description - It costs one more than Fiend Hunter, but you get to play the monarch game. The good news is that in addition to making you the monarch, the ability on Palace Jailer also removes a creature from the opposing board, making it more likely you will keep the monarchy and keep drawing cards. Even if Palace Jailer has to trade or even chump and they get their creature back, it might be enough to keep the monarchy for an extra turn, often allowing you to draw 2 cards before you are at threat of actually losing it.
Anchors -
Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Kongming, "Sleeping Dragon"
Description - It's an anthem on the stick, which can give it board impact the turn it comes down, while being an attacker in its own right if the board is clear. Being a creature makes it more vulnerable midcombat. You might also consider Soltari Champion and Pianna, Nomad Captain. They are more aggro-oriented; this provides the bonus on defense as well.
Anchors -
Supports -
Relief Captain
Description - The curve out dream puts 6/5 worth of stats on the board for 4 mana, 3 of which you can potentially attack with that turn, which is insane. It won't always be that good, and a single counter isn't amazing, but 2 is still solid. Great card all around; helps aggro push through, beefs up defense for control decks, and has good synergy with +1/+1 counters and is often a solid blink / bounce target. Most cubes don't care about Allies, but it has that going for it if you have any ally triggers.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Celestial Crusader
Description - You can get some surprise value here, either throwing it down as an uncounterable blocker if you need, or just to pump some of your team mid-combat. Some potential downside if your opponent is also playing white, but then you can just side it out. The boost is solid if you support tokens in white.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens
Coalition Honor Guard
Description - This can really shut down some of your opponents cards. If your opponent has removal, they are forced to use it on this, it doesn't die to a decent chunk of burn spells, and even if your opponent plays something like Pacifism, they still have to target it with anything else. The stats also let it play defense reasonably well. It's not going to stop your opponent smashing you with big creatures or going wide, but it can put the brakes on your opponents intended lines of play.
Anchors -
Supports -
Glimmerpoint Stag
Description - The creature stats are a reasonable base, but you can usually get some good value out of the slow flicker. Remove a blocker, get rid of a pesky Ghostly Prison for a turn so you can swing, reset creatures with counters, kill tokens, rebuy an ETB effect, give one of your creatures pseudo-vigilance by flickering it after combat etc.
Anchors -
Supports -
Goldnight Commander
Description - It can be support for go wide / token strategies, and might get some marginal consideration if you have flicker effects or creatures with flash. Not really for aggro, which want something more like Inspiring Captain to maintain pressure.
Anchors -
Supports -
Guardian of the Guildpact
Description - Close to unblockable. Soltari Trooper etc give you the same damage much cheaper and gets blocked by even less things, but this does have the advantage of being resilient to the majority of removal. Shame you can't boost it with most auras, but you can equip it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Imperial Aerosaur
Description - The base stats border on just acceptable, but it can represent a bit of damage the turn it comes down.
Anchors -
Supports -
Inspiring Captain
Description - It can make for an ok aggro curve topper, or serve in a go wide / tokens strategy. If you can't win immediately, it might upgrade enough losses into trades, or what would have been trades into wins, that you are left with a board state where you can win the next turn (and you've got a 3/3 to boot). That's a good scenario; it's not a great top deck if you are behind, but at least you get a Hill Giant.
Anchors -
Supports -
Master Splicer
Description - It's potentially 5/5 worth of stats for 4 mana which is already decent. The Splicer might be a target, but attacking with a 4/4 if you protect the Splicer is still fine. Ok on it's own (and a fine blink / bounce target), but obviously gets a little better if you have other splicers / golems (and you probably aren't cubing it without that support)
Anchors - Golem Tribal
Supports - Bounce / Blink, Tokens
Meadowboon
Description - While a lot of cards provide +1/+1 counters, this can be decent with marginal synergy support. If you just rely on it dying, it puts it behind better alternatives like Relief Captain, but the evoke can still be fine in go wide strategies or skies / evasive decks. Because it is a 'leaves the battlefield' trigger, you may get some mileage out of flicker and bounce effects as well.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters, sacrifice, blink bounce
Nearheath Chaplain
Description - The upfront creature isn't anything to write home about, though getting a trade while gaining some life is fine to then set up your flyers. 4 mana to get started is a bit high, but the value can give aggro a run for its money.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens, Graveyard Matters
Palace Sentinels
Description - a 2/4 for 4 with 'draw a card' would be a solid card, and this can end up being a lot more. The 4 toughness makes it a reasonable blocker to help maintain the monarchy. There will be occasions where it's worse (your opponent has a board state where they can take the crown and likely keep it), but there are still a range of scenarios where this will still be good.
Anchors -
Supports -
Paragon of New Dawns
Description - For the most part, this is only going to be worth considering if you support tokens / go wide well enough in white, though not usually difficult to do with several cards that create multiple spirit tokens or soldiers. The vigilance is mostly token text, and is a bonus the times that it makes sense to activate it.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens / Go wide
Seraph of Dawn
Description - The 4 toughness can make it hard to block, especially on curve, and the lifelink can help you race, especially if your opponent can't mount an air defense. Also plays well on defense, threatening to take out 3/2's and the like, and can even block 3/3's profitably due to lifelink.
Anchors -
Supports -
Timely Hordemate
Description - Obviously you need to have a creature to target, and the raid makes this suited to aggressive decks. It may be inconsistent, particularly if your opponent doesn't trade when you expect them to and this is your only 4-drop in hand, but there is some value there.
Anchors -
Supports -
Visionary Augmenter
Description - It's a 4/3 for 4, which you probably wouldn’t cube on its own, but isn't a bad rate. Having the option of making 3 bodies does make it worth considering, giving you options to go wide, or more options for blocking, particularly setting up favorable double blocks without costing you a full card.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens
Voice of All
Description - The protection can make it a good defender while also potentially dodging removal. It can serve double duty, getting past opposing flyers / reach creatures if you've chosen the right colour. More annoying to face than exceptional.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Auriok Salvagers
Description - You need to be running a dedicated suite of trinkets to go with it, obviously, and it only fits in that one deck. Depending on what you are recycling though, it can support a control oriented artifact deck.
Anchors - Artifact Matters
Supports -
Avacynian Missionaries
Description - It's pretty narrow and the baseline is underwhelming, but if you want to support an 'equipment matters' sub theme, flipping it is pretty solid.
Anchors - Equipment Matters
Supports -
Azorius Justiciar
Description - You really only want it in aggro, but it does help you push through damage while putting down a bear you can also swing with next turn, meaning you might have enough to just go wide to finish them off if you time it right. You get a creature, but it's almost as bad as Fog if you are playing defensively. Cute lockout potential with Crystal Shard etc if your opponent is creature light.
Anchors -
Supports -
Consul's Shieldguard
Description - It's probably not much better than a 3/4 in most board states, but giving something else invulnerability will be useful sometimes. Probably only worth serious consideration if you are considering an overall energy theme.
Anchors -
Supports -
Courageous Outrider
Description - There may be enough Humans in your cube for this to hit a decent number of times, and if you don't you still got a 3/4 for 4, which is not thrilling but reasonable.
Anchors -
Supports - Human Tribal
Daru Warchief
Description - It's essentially a 2/3 for 4 on its own which isn't good. Highly dependent on the number of soldiers (or soldier token makers) you have in your cube, with the stat boost being far more significant than the cost reduction in cube.
Anchors -
Supports - Soldier Tribal
Eiganjo Free-Riders
Description - There are lots of other options to support self-bounce, but you do get a decent creature here and the bounce is free. Considering this over the other options is highly dependant on the quality of your white ETB creatures, but replaying Cloudgoat Ranger or Relief Captain sounds great, and sometimes resetting a Fairgrounds Warden or Calciderm will be a solid play. Even in aggro decks, you might be happy to bounce a 1 or 2 drop for a reasonably efficient flyer.
Anchors - Bounce
Supports -
Enlistment Officer
Description - The baseline isn't great, so you need to have enough incidental Soldiers to consider it. At least it's in a color with a decent enough number of incidental Warriors or easy swaps. With 10 other Soldiers in your deck you average about a card.
Anchors - Soldier Tribal
Supports -
Heavy Ballista
Description - It is slow, but if you can untap with it can have a decent impact on combat, especially as it requires no mana to nactivate. Threat of activation is nice, but nevertheless, it is still conditional on how your opponent acts, and it's possible they just build out a board state that can swing around it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Heliod's Emissary
Description - The hard cast mode isn't thrilling but serviceable to keep your opponents best creature from blocking. Bestow isn't likely to happen frequently, but might be an occasional game winning top deck. Other decks would play it occasionally, but probably only really worth cubing if you support some enchantment synergies.
Anchors -
Supports - Enchantment Matters
Knight of Obligation
Description - The 4 toughness plus extort can help support grindy defensive drain / control decks, but not many other decks are going to run it, so depends how much support you need for that type of deck.
Anchors - Extort / Drain
Supports -
Lotus-Eye Mystics
Description - The base isn't too far below the curve when you should be getting as 2 for 1. You need to be pushing an enchantment archetype of course.
Anchors - Enchantment Matter
Supports -
Mistmoon Griffin
Description - You have to work a little if you want to control it, but if you can trade and get back something at least as good, you aren’t in a bad position. Using it as support for reanimator is probably dreaming though.
Anchors -
Supports -
Nagao, Bound by Honor
Description - It's at least a 4/4 attacker for 4 which wins combat with up to 4/5's, so it's a decent (if vanilla) baseline. Fine enough, but Samurai aren't a huge tribe, and putting it in a cube might give drafters a hope that there is.
Anchors -
Supports - Samurai Tribal
Ondu Greathorn
Description - A 4/5 first striker for 4 is solid; difficult to block profitably, even with double blocks. However, getting that consistently is going to be difficult to achieve. Only worth considering if you are going out of your way to support landfall themes.
Anchors -
Supports -
Phantom General
Description - It's clearly a build around card for token decks. Given that it is a bit more narrow, more general team pumpers like Soltari Champion are overall more powerful, but this is a clear signal card and gives this specific archetype a boost. If most of your token making is in white, Paragon of the New Dawns is going to be better.
Anchors - Tokens
Supports -
Rhox Pikemaster
Description - First strike can be an annoying ability to play against. On its own, it probably isn't good enough. I'm not sure what the
number is, but only worth considering if you have enough of Soldiers in your cube. Even 2 or 3 first striking soldiers can be a tough defense to break through.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sanctum Gargoyle
Description - You need to have an artifact theme to really warrant inclusion, but in the right deck you get a 2 for 1 with a flyer attached. Inconsistent though.
Anchors - Artifact Matters
Supports -
Stonehorn Dignitary
Description - It gets a mention as a potential combo piece with repeat blink / bounce effects to lock your opponent out of the most common win condition until you can find your own win condition. It's less good in other decks, but can still stall aggro for a turn and give you time to develop your board while putting down a defensive creature. Probably only worth actually cubing if you want the cute synergy though.
Anchors -
Supports - Blink / Bounce
Tah-Crop Elite
Description - Inspiring Captain might be the card you want to maintain the pressure immediately, but this can get repeat attacks if they can't block it though, which might be worth something in the right deck.
Anchors -
Supports -
Valor
Description - If you are playing defense, having an effect that provides first strike that can't be removed can make your team difficult to attack into. Not something most decks will actively look for though.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Wall of Swords
Description - Stonewalls nearly every flyer in the format, and with 3 power you usually can't just swarm around it, and with 5 toughness it isn't the easiest to break through. You need to be specifically looking for a defensive card in the 4 mana slot though.
Anchors -
Supports -
War Oracle
Description - It seems like a reasonable rate for what you get, and if you can get it to a 4/4 life linker that is solid, though it is a little 'generic'.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Cloudgoat Ranger
Description - White's premier white 5-drop. It puts 6 power on the table, which is good if you are either going wide or have sacrifice outlets, it can act as a 5 power flyer when needed, and is solid with bounce or flicker effects. Great value on its own, while being an archetype all-star.
Anchors -
Supports - Bounce / Flicker, sacrifice, tokens
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Custodi Squire
Description - In a duel, it's a 3/3 flyer that gets you back a card for 5 mana. Great value in most decks, with additional synergy with graveyard fillers, or when paired with other graveyard recursion like Eternal Witness to grind out games.
Anchors -
Supports -
Elite Scaleguard
Description - A decent top end, where unless you are forced to put the counters on itself it will usually result in an extra 2 hasty power while shutting down a blocker, with additional upsides if you cube a number of +1/+1 counter cards.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Radiant, Archangel
Description - It's not hard to draft a deck with enough flyers to have a good chance of this being at least a 4/4, and it also counts your opponents flyers. The worst case scenario is still a middling flyer, so the floor isn't terribly low.
Anchors -
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Belfry Spirit
Description - Haunt is a hard keyword to 'get' initially, but this is essentially 5 flying 1/1's, with a little bit of work required to get those last 2. The threat of getting those last 2 can cause your opponent to play suboptimally. Decent in sacrifice decks, where you have more control over when both the spirit and its target might die.
Anchors -
Supports -
Herald of the Host / Serra Angel
Description - Solid stats for a flyer, and the vigilance can let you stabilise against smaller threats while still being able to put up an evasive assault. Most cubes don't have too many creatures that can block it and survive. Identical in 2-player games, but you'd cube Herald of the Host if you sometimes play multiplayer.
Anchors -
Supports -
Oketra's Attendant
Description - The base stats are underwhelming compared to other options, but the inherent 2 for 1 and the ability to cycle make up for it. Synergy with self-mill strategies.
Anchors -
Supports -
Ornitharch
Description - You'll probably get a 5/5 that can be dealt with by 1 for 1 removal and remove the potential for bounce / flicker abuse, but either of the options represent value.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Avenging Angel
Description - It doesn't generate card advantage, but it does provide card quality; you are guaranteed to draw a mid-sized flyer. It does have inevitability against spot removal or a handful of flyers, and is a 'may' ability so you can always bin it if it doesn't help the current game plan. The extra stats on Serra Angel are likely to be relevant in more games, but this does have different angles of play.
Anchors -
Supports -
Dawnfeather Eagle
Description - Inspiring Captain is a close analogue; the team pump is probably something you want on curve more consistently for curve out aggro, but sometimes the flying and vigilance will matter more.
Anchors -
Supports -
Guan Yu, Sainted Warrior
Description - It's a mostly unblockable creature that blocks well enough… but it just seems underwhelming when compared to other 5-drops.
Anchors -
Supports -
Patron of the Valiant
Description - The base stats are fine enough that you might consider this over Serra Angel if you support a +1/+1 theme heavily enough. You'd still play it in a number of white decks without much synergy, but that is the reason to cube it.
Anchors - +1/+1 counters
Supports -
Phantom Flock
Description - It's a bit underwhelming on it's own. It can kill other flying 3/3's and survive, but in a vacuum other flying 5-drops are better. However, if you have ways of giving it more +1/+1 counters it can be very strong. It can also wear toughness boosting equipment or auras very well, which can make it into a nearly indestructible flyer. Only cube it if you've got the synergies.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Razor Hippogriff
Description - You are going to need an artifact them in your cube to consider cubing it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sensor Splicer
Description - At 5 mana and granting a not so great keyword, this is low on the list splicer you want to cube, but you might include it as part of a bigger Golem package.
Anchors -
Supports -
Shepherd of the Lost
Description - It's a decent combination of stats and abilities, but not a standout. In most cases, the bigger Serra Angel is going to be worth as much as first strike in any case.
Anchors -
Supports -
Skyspear Cavalry
Description - At 5 mana, it probably only goes in decks with enough power boosting aura's / equipment, or the flying 'lords'. By extension, only worth cubing if you strongly support pants, or play all the relevant flying lords.
Anchors -
Supports - Pants
Stormfront Riders
Description - You need a grindfest of a cube for it to do much, but it can spit out tokens while getting back other ETB creatures for re-use. Grindy decks should struggle to outvalue aggro, but this might be too slow for most.
Anchors - Bounce / Flicker
Supports -
Totem-Guide Hartebeest
Description - You may want an aura-based pants theme to give it serious consideration, but white is the colour with the most aura-based removal. Digging out a Pacifism is a decent option.
Anchors -
Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Sentinel of the Eternal Watch
Description - One of white's best control-oriented creatures. It locks down an opponents creature every turn, you can change the target each turn, and the vigilance, stats and lockdown ability usually give you a decent opportunity to attack. Excellent top end and a reason to draft a control deck.
Anchors -
Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
None
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Quarry Colossus
Description - It bears comparison with Phyrexian Ingester. This may end up bigger on some occasions, and it is effectively as 2-for-1. The downside comparison is that it doesn't remove a creature critical to the opponents game plan permanently. It's also in a colour that has permanent removal a lot cheaper (unlike blue) so you don't need to reach as far.
Anchors -
Supports -
Subjugator Angel
Description - It can act as a finisher. It can let you swing in for the win the turn you cast it, but unlike other cards that do only that, it can just be a creature to block with if you are behind, or contribute to an evasive follow up attack.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Bellowing Aegisaur
Description - You are probably only considering cubing it if you have combo pieces to go with it (Pestilence, Pyrohemia, pingers) and want to live the dream. The 5 toughness might make it hard to attack into on the ground, but at 6 mana you might have been pressured enough that it makes no difference.
Anchors -
Supports -
Seraph of the Suns
Description - The stats aren't huge for what you pay, but it can block everything (sans some trample damage), and survives a lot of removal. Still vulnreable to aura-based removal and tap down effects, so you might consider it lower if your cube is heavy on those.
Anchors -
Supports -
Urbis Protector
Description - On it's own merits, it isn't great compared to many other flying creatures. The only reason to consider cubing it is if you are heavy on the repeat bounce / flicker. Getting a 4/4 flyer each turn is good, but at 6 mana (plus whatever other investment you need to make) it isn't the most efficient.
Anchors -
Supports - Bounce / Flicker
Wispweaver Angel
Description - A reasonable option as a sizeable creature that supports your bounce / flicker archetype. You are probably sacrificing a small amount of raw power if you cube this over other 'Angels' but not a significant amount; a regular deck should still find some value to get out of the flicker effect.
Anchors - Bounce / Flicker
Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Path to Exile
Description - One of, if not the best 1 mana removal in white. Can target any creature at instant speed, and exiles them to prevent recursion potential all for a single mana. It can accelerate your opponent, but usually you will have gained a bunch of tempo already.
Anchors -
Supports -
Swords to Plowshares
Description - Vies for best 1 mana white removal spell with Path To Exile. Gets around any graveyard shenanigans, persist/undying, and has no conditions. The life gain might hurt aggro decks against big butt targets, but it's hard to go wrong for 1 mana.
Anchors -
Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Harm's Way
Description - Nice way to swing things around for 1 mana. Turn a trade into killing two of their guys instead. Turn their mid-combat direct damage spell against another creature, creating a 2 for 1. It can even provide reach if that is what is you need. Very rare you can't do something with it, will almost always be at least a 1 for 1, with decent opportunities for 2 for 1's.
Anchors -
Supports -
Land Tax
Description - Excellent value in all white decks bar focused aggro decks. Barring specific synergies, the baseline lets you keep pace with your opponents land drops, and helps pull lands out of your deck, giving you more chance of drawing gas. Depending on how many lands you have in play and cost of your cards, it may be best to sit on 1 land less than your opponent and strip all the lands out of your deck, even if you have to discard them. Also great for turning them into other resources; using looters, supporting Forbid, Goblin Trenches, Constant Mists and various other cards. Picked early, its power will certainly shape your draft choices.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sunlance
Description - Despite the restriction there are still a lot of targets; Strafe is bad in red, but it is good enough in white to be played in most decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Ajani's Presence
Description - As a base it helps save a creature from most forms of destruction, and may occasionally help get a kill with the pump. Targeting two creatures could help turn a combat around, but will be conditional on board state.
Anchors -
Supports -
Cloudshift
Description - Simple and elegant, can be used as a way to 'counter' a spell or effect targeting the creature, shift out after blocking so that it survives, or simply re-trigger an ETB effect… preferably more than 1 of those at a time.
Anchors -
Supports -
Condemn
Description - Less flexible than Swords to Plowshares for essentially the same effect. You would consider this over Swords to Plowshares if you care about the flavour of white (i.e. retribution against those who attack it) or want to max out exile effects at 1 mana. It can help if you want to ensure more options for a dedicated control deck.
Anchors -
Supports -
Emerge Unscathed
Description - It can counter a spell targeting your creature, remove an annoying aura, or help it get through in combat. The rebound can then be used to push through some more damage. This is slightly more aggro oriented than similar effect Shelter for that reason.
Anchors -
Supports -
Enlightened Tutor
Description - Provides card disadvantage, but may be worth it depending on the artifacts and enchantments in your cube. If you include powerhouses like Grafted Wargear, Loxodon Warhammer, Curse of Predation and Curse of Graves, this can be worth it. But can also just find answers (e.g. Oblivion Ring) or the other half of synergistic pieces.
Anchors -
Supports - Enchantment Matters, Artifact Matters
Faith's Shield
Description - Has upside over similar cards, as this can protect permanents, not just creatures. There aren't too many non-counterspell cards that can protect your Curse of Predation or Grafted Wargear. Strong upside when you are on deaths door, either making blocking a lot easier, or preventing some (or maybe all) of your opponents creatures from blocking. However, most things you protect will still be creatures, so you may want to consider the upsides of Shelter and Gods Willing first.
Anchors -
Supports -
Genju of the Fields
Description - Genu of the Fields is a great defensive player if you just need to survive the early game to set up your big plays. A 2/5 either eats early aggro creatures, or can stand in the way of midrange creatures, all while gaining life.
Anchors -
Supports - Control
GO TO JAIL
Description - It can't last forever, and you will be upset if it only lasts a turn, but it might be something you cube to support aggro decks that just need to remove a threat cheaply for a few turns.
Anchors -
Supports -
Glaring Aegis
Description - Most suited to aggro / tempo decks in the mid-game to both tap down their best blocker, while making one of your team more effective. Requires the type of deck that needs to push the advantage; if you aren't getting advantage out of the tap-down, then you shouldn't have it in your deck.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro
Gods Willing
Description - This is a serviceable protection spell to either counter a removal spell, protect something in combat, or be able to walk past blockers, plus some card filtering. That said, paying an extra 1 for Shelter is usually going to be worth the card draw over the scry.
Anchors -
Supports -
Hyena Umbra
Description - Can be used as insurance on your best creature with the totem effect, and the boost and first strike will make it harder to kill in combat anyway.
Anchors -
Supports -
Mana Tithe
Description - Provides disruption primarily in early turns. Can be unexpected as white is not usually the counterspell colour, and leaving 1 mana open is usually not too difficult. Can be a great tempo play in early turns, but loses value in the late game when the opponent has enough lands. This makes it better in aggro / tempo decks, but can still provide early support for control decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Oust
Description - Good tempo card, as the creature will almost always cost more than Oust. It doesn't get rid of it permanently, but it is still card parity and maybe a couple of turns without that threat is all you need. In a pinch, you can cast it on one of your creatures if you need a critical ETB effect, get around a pacifism effect, or in rare instances if the life gain is going to be relevant.
Anchors -
Supports -
Pollen Remedy
Description - Damage prevention often isn't amazing, but this is quite flexible due to the ability to divide the damage. It might sometimes do a Healing Salve impression, but where you've got a few creatures about to trade, you might only need to prevent a single point of damage, which can give this potential for a pseudo-3-for-1. In the late game, being able to prevent 6 damage for a single mana can help break complicated board states. Usable in most types of decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Swift Justice
Description - Can allow you to trade up in a fight, and give you a bit of a life buffer if you are either racing, or in defense mode to give you a little more time.
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1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Bandage
Description - At worst it can always cycle at instant speed for 1 mana if you don't care about the actual effect, while also being able to trigger prowess or spells matters themes. It's situational as it's not much damage prevention, but there will be times when a single point is all you need to turn a trade into a win or prevent lethal damage to a creature from burn.
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Brave the Elements
Description - Can work in buffing your team, especially in a colour that is often associated with tokens.
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Built to Last
Description - It's reasonable pump for a single mana even if you don't have artifacts. You might consider Strength of Arms as an alternative.
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Cartouche of Solidarity
Description - It can suit aggro decks, with the pump and first strike helping early drops continue to get through. It does suffer from the 2-for-1 aura problem though and is narrow in what it does.
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Ethereal Armor
Description - It's generally only going to get played in an enchantment deck, but could still make the cut in a deck with enough solid enchantments. The built in synergy of boost plus first strike gives it the opportunity to still have some board impact even if it is the only enchantment you have.
Anchors - Enchantment Matters, Pants
Supports -
Flickering Ward
Description - Flickering Ward can help itself get around the 2 for 1 by giving the creature protection from the most likely colour of removal your opponent is playing, and with mana up can return itself. A creature with protection against half your opponents creatures is only reasonable, but has some fringe upside as well, by being able to remove pacifism effects from your team, and hilariously remove positive auras from your opponents team. Plays well with Pestilence/Pyrohemia.
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Lithomancer's Focus
Description - It is one of few white 1-mana creature pump spell that pumps 2 power, but there are plenty of similar combat tricks, and those that grant first strike are going to be just as good or better most of the time.
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Marrow Shards
Description - Only affects attacking creatures, but can hurt some aggro decks, or help set up combat trades/wins. However it is conditional on board state. If your cube is designed with lots of aggro x/1 creatures or token decks it can have its moments, but you may also not want to include a card that hoses specific decks.
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Moment of Triumph
Description - Well, +2/+2 for one mana is the going rate in white. Probably the only reason to consider this over other versions is to provide more incidental life gain to a life gain matters theme.
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Supports - Life Gain Matters
Niveous Wisps
Description - Given that it's a cantrip, this is an ok way to turn off a blocker or prevent an attack for a turn.
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Oppressive Rays
Description - The best of the 1 mana Pacifism effects, but strong creatures can always circumvent it with enough mana on the board. As such, you may consider this if you want more removal for your aggro decks that control decks don't want.
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Steelshaper's Gift
Description - If you have a few pieces of strong equipment in your cube, this can be worth inclusion. You'd need to consider how many pieces of equipment a drafter is likely to see, so it can be pretty conditional.
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Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Anoint - Bad.
Archery Training - It has some strong upside… if your opponent can't deal with it or the creature, AND you have enough time for it to accumulate sufficient counters to matter. Which is too unlikely to happen.
Argivian Find - Often won't be anything to target.
Armor of Faith - Boost is not good enough.
Artifact Ward - Not going to be effective.
Awe Strike - Better similar effects.
Bandage - Bad.
Benedict of Moons - Only if you play with 4+ player multiplayer with your cube.
Black Scarab - Too unreliable.
Black Ward - Too unreliable.
Blaze of Glory - On your own creature, not sure why you wouldn't just want a Fog effect. On your opponents creature, not Blazing Hope - It works in far too narrow a window.
sure why you wouldn't just want removal.
Blessed Breath - Emerge Unscathed is strictly unless you are REALLY pushing arcane to be a thing.
Blessing of the Nephilim - Too few hybrids/gold in most cubes to matter.
Blue Scarab - Too unreliable.
Blue Ward - Too unreliable.
Brainwash - It's bad because your opponent can still block.
Burden of Guilt - You should feel guilty for having to pay mana for this each turn.
Burst of Energy - Too narrow.
Capashen Standard - Doesn't do enough.
Change of Heart - Too expensive to buy back.
Chaplain's Blessing - No sir.
Coalition Flag - You get 2 for 1'd in a way you kind of prefer.
Consecrate Land - Too narrow.
Coordinated Barrage - There might be some happy accidents, but not worth inclusion in a standard cube, and there is less conditional 1 mana removal.
Cowed by Wisdom - It might prevent some early attackers, but can end up doing nothing, and you'd rather just have actual removal.
Daily Regimen - Takes too long to do anything.
Death Ward - Just play Ajani's Presence.
Defensive Formation - Requires too many things to matter; play this which has no immediate impact on the board; you need to have multiple creatures on the board; your deck needs to be defensive in nature; you need to be able to at least double block each attacker to make the damage distribution have any chance of working in your favour.
Defiant Strike - Needs something else; might help you trade up on odd occasion, but won't help you win without something like first strike.
Demystify / Quiet Purity - Simple enchantment removal, but you probably want Erase instead to prevent recursion, or pay 1 extra mana for the flexibility of Disenchant.
Detainment Spell - There are a number of creatures this could work on… but generally you just want removal that does more, like prevent attacking or defending.
Djeru's Resolve - There are better protection spells.
Dispatch - More than likely, even if you push an artifact matters theme, other 1 mana removal options (Path to Exile, Swords to Plowshares) are going to be more reliable.
Divine Light - Allows you to swing in with impunity, but your opponent can still block of course, which limits it somewhat. Fringe benefit of protecting your creatures with Pestilience/Pyrohemia, or board sweepers. But I'm not seeing a deck you would want to draft with this in it.
Empty City Ruse / False Peace - I can see turns where you attack, and your opponent doesn't block because they see a chance to strike back the following turn. And then you cast this. But too many things have to go right for that to work.
Enshrouding Mist - Better options.
Ephara's Radiance - Requires two cards to make bad life gain.
Equinox - Too narrow.
Erase/card] - In most cases, Disenchant is more flexible, or you can get enchantment removal attached to a body.
Ethereal Haze / Holy Day - They are Fogs. Very situational and may keep you alive for an extra turn but don't affect the board.
Excise - Limited to attacking creatures, and smart opponents will leave their mana open before combat, further limiting its usefulness.
Fasting - Bad.
Festival - Maybe it is worth a mention as a soft lock on an Isochron Scepter, but is the same as Empty City Ruse.
Festival of Trokin / Peach Oath Garden - In the decks where this would gain you a lot of life, you should be playing something else to be able to swing in and win with your army.
Fragmentize - If it was instant there might be some competition, but instant speed and the full spread of targets make Disenchant better.
Funeral Pyre - You don't want to give your opponent this stuff.
Fylgja - I have a soft spot for this card. But it is not good.
Gaze of Justice - This is only likely to be effective in white token decks, which makes it very limited in its application, and that deck wants the better removal anyway.
Gelid Shackles - Letting it attack is bad, and needing a mana every turn to prevent it from attacking (even if you allow all snow basics) is not great when compared to paying a mana or 2 more for better effects.
Get a Life - You know whether this card applies to you.
Gideon's Defeat - Too narrow.
Gift of Granite - Bad.
Gimme Five - I guess there are scenarios where you could gain tons of life, but not in most scenarios.
Glimpse the Sun - There are better options.
Glyph of Life - Way too narrow.
Great Defender - Doesn't boost power. Any of the spells that grant protection is going to be better vast majority of the time.
Green Scarab - Too narrow.
Green Ward - Too narrow.
Guard Duty - Bad as they can still block.
Guardian Angel - Expensive damage prevention.
Guildscorn Ward - Nowhere near enough targets.
Guilty Conscience - Bad removal that the control can control.
Hail of Arrows - The window of opportunity and situations where this can be good is too narrow.
Harrow - Too narrow for cube.
Head to Head - Funny, but a bajillion better cards that have no conditions.
Heal - Get Bandage if you want this effect for the immediate card draw.
Healing Salve - Not good enough.
Heaven's Gate - Serves no purpose.
High Ground - Doesn't do enough.
Holy Armor - Doesn't do enough.
Holy Strength - Doesn't do enough to overcome inherent aura weakness.
Hope Charm - The first strike trick is probably the only one worth noting. Which means just get Ajani's Presence instead.
Hundred-Talon Strike - Ajani's Presence is going to have same effect most of the time with more upside.
Indestructible - Ajani's Presence is better.
Inheritance - Too conditional and slow.
Iron Will - Doesn't do enough.
Ivory Charm - None of the modes are good enough.
Kirtar's Desire - Not good removal.
Kithkin Armor - Not good enough.
Lance - Nope.
Lifelink - Not good enough.
Luminesce - Too narrow.
Mask of Law & Grace - Too narrow.
Mending Hands - Doesn't do enough.
Moment of Silence - It is a better version of Empty City Recluse, but the situations where it will be worth playing are still too narrow.
Mortal Obstinacy - Not particularly effective at anything.
Mortal's Ardor - Doesn't do enough.
Off Balance - Just play Niveous Wisps instead.
Opal Caryatid - Not reliable enough.
Orim's Touch - Don't touch it.
Pay No Heed - They aren't the same, but the upside of Harm's Way is likely to matter more often than maximum damage prevention.
Piety Charm - Effects don't do enough.
Primastic Wardrobe - Cube owners choice on this one.
Prophecy - Bad.
Pull from Eternity - Extremely narrow.
Purify the Grave - You really want this effect attached to a creature or have some other use.
Quest for the Holy Relic - Too slow and a horrible top deck.
Rain of Blades - Marrow Shards is strictly better and you don't want two of that effect.
Rally The Troops - Too conditional. If you want this effect, the cantrip on To Arms! is probably worth the extra 1 and more flexible.
Reaping the Rewards - Zuran Orb will be better a lot of the time. If you want life gain in white, there are better options.
Rebuff The Wicked - Faith's Shield is going to serve the same purpose with more upside.
Reciprocate - Need to wait for a bad thing to happen instead of just removing it.
Reconnaissance - This could work if you want to attack in force, and then save creatures from unfavourable blocks. But playing this is 1 less creature you are playing. Too conditional on board state to matter in most games.
Red Scarab - Too conditional.
Red Ward - Too conditional.
Reinforcements - Card disadvantage is not going to be worth the card quality and too difficult to set up any combos etc.
Remove Enchantments - Very narrow. And complicated.
Reward The Faithful - Not good enough.
Righteous Blow - Conditional Shock, which might be just ok for white, except there is lots of better removal. So you probably only want to include it if you are going deep, or want to regulate the power of your removal.
Righteousness - It can turn a losing block into a win, but relies on you wanting to block. There are other cards that can achieve a similar result without being so restrictive. In magical christmas land I'd love to block with my Spikehsot Goblin, cast this, and go 8 to the dome. But moments like those are rarely going to present themselves.
Ritual of Restoration - Argivian Find strictly better.
Sacred Rites - Card disadvantage for not much of anything.
Samite Blessing - The effect is not bad. But you are using two cards to get the effect you want, which is bad.
Save Life - On its own this card is bad. If you think you can trigger the Gotcha a few times, it might be worth it. Could be a card to put in the cube temporarily for a laugh.
Scapegoat - Requires too many things to go right; you want a creature that is already on its way to the graveyard or gives you a benefit, plus 1 or more creatures you want to save or ETB effects to re-use.
Scent of Jasmine - Not good enough.
Searing Light - Limited number of targets.
Seize the Initiative - Ajani's Presence is going to have the same effect vast majority of the time and has other upside.
Serra's Hymn - Terrible.
Sex Appeal - Nah.
Shadow Lance - Not good enough.
Sheltering Light - It's pretty close to Gods Willing, but it doesn't protect from exile or -x/-x effects, or allow you to walk straight past blockers. The corner case upsides don't really make up for it.
Shield of Duty and Reason - Too narrow.
Shielded Passage - Ajani's Presence is all upside over this.
Shieldmate's Blessing - Bad.
Shields of Velis Vel - Doesn't do enough.
Side Quest - Nope.
Slash of Talons - Harm's Way exists.
Smite - Very narrow removal.
Spirit Link - Not worth a card and setting you up for a 2 for 1.
Spiritual Visit - Bad.
Stand Firm - Doesn't do enough.
Stave Off - Emerge Unscathed, Faith's Shield and God's Willing all have upside compared to this.
Strip Bare - Too narrow.
Success! - Only for very specific cubes.
Sunspring Expedition - 1 mana and a card for 8 life is not terrible, but it isn't an instant, and will be terrible unless played in opening turns.
Testament of Faith - Too much investment.
Time to Reflect - Too narrow.
Unified Strike - Too tribal.
Valor Made Real - The cost of this card is unlikely to be repaid by its effect.
Vampire's Zeal - Nope.
Veteran's Reflexes - Too situational.
Vigilance - Doesn't do enough.
Visions - Bad.
Wake the Reflections - Many cubes have token archetypes, but this is going too deep.
Warning - Too narrow.
White Scarab - Too conditional.
White Ward - Too conditional.
Wojek Siren - Depending on the board state, might only affect a portion of your team, and might even be a dead card if your opponent shares a colour with you.
Wordmail - Very environment dependant. It probably most wants to be played in an aggro deck to push the advantage, so check your average word count on your white aggro creatures. A glance at the 720 average peasant cube only shows a handful of white creatures that have 3 words in their name. +2/+2 is probably only ok if your cube is light on removal, but you want to be able to do better. Blade of the Sixth Pride can become a turn 3 powerhouse, but that synergy isn't worth playing it over strictly better cards like Accorder Paladin.
Worthy Cause - 3 mana for a life gain engine… It sounds ok, but you would only want to save mana for this if you had nothing else to do. Not something you would want to rely on when you draft.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Journey to Nowhere
Description - Good removal that hits all creatures (sans shroud / hexproof). You might get the occasional blowout when your opponent destroys it mid-combat and gets their creature back, but for 2 mana this is solid. Trick 1: If you sacrifice it while the ETB trigger is on the stack, it will resolve last, after the LTB trigger, and it will be removed permanently. Trick 2: If you are on the receiving end and you have a single creature, if you can sacrifice the creature while Journey to Nowhere is on the stack, your opponent will be forced to choose one of their own creatures (targeting is mandatory and doesn't happen until it hits play).
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Shelter
Description - Good protection effect, allowing you to counter removal against your creatures, sometimes make one of your creatures unblockable, or turning a combat trade into a win. As a cantrip, even at its worst (using it to survive losing combat) it is still ok as a staller. Mostly however it is going to be a cheap 2 for 1.
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Temporal Isolation
Description - Excellent removal spell. It has flash as upside over Pacifism, with marginal downside of the creature still being able to activate attack triggers (e.g. renowned Consul's Lieutenant) even if it won't deal damage, or blocking your shadow creatures if you have any. Those are fairly minimal though. The damage prevention clause also provides some corner case benefits vs Pacifism effects against creatures with activated or triggered abilities that deal damage; flash it in while Flametongue Kavu's / Fire Imp trigger is on the stack, or shut down the likes of Guttersnipe and Hissing Iguanar.
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2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Angelic Renewal
Description - It's a 'may' ability, so you have control of when to use it. While it is an onboard trick, it can be tricky for your opponent to work around. Nice with an evoked Shriekmaw or Mulldrifter, and provides excellent value when paired with persist / undying creatures, but also fine to just get back a reasonable threat. Also reasonable if you can combine with creatures that retrieve enchantments from the 'yard to keep recursing them.
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Supports - Enchantment Matters
Disenchant
Description - Flexible and fair removal; most white cards target only one of the card types, more typically enchantments. You might prefer something on a stick, like Kor Sanctifier's, but this is cheap and doesn't require double white.
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Echoes of the Kin Tree
Description - It's 5 mana before it does anything and may be a bit slow for most cubes, but it could be decent for control decks to turn a small group of creatures into threats. Supports a +1/+1 theme, and synergies with persist creatures.
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Supports - +1/+1 counters
Forsake the Worldly
Description - It's forgettable, but if you want your disenchant with flexibility, this can work. Worth noting that it exiles, though rarely relevant for these particular targets.
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Gift of Estates
Description - It can be a way for a white based control deck to strip a few lands out of the deck and hit land drops, especially if on the draw. Can also serve as support for effects that sacrifice lands, like Goblin Trenches or Constant Mists.
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Intangible Virtue
Description - It's a solid signal for token decks in your cube. You need enough tokens in your cube to support it, but that usually isn't much of a stretch for most cubes. There are more universal boosters in Soltari Champion and Pianna, Nomad Captain that can serve the token deck while also being useful elsewhere, but Intangible Virtue helps more on defense and is usually harder to remove.
Anchors - Tokens
Supports -
Momentary Blink
Description - You could consider this a white+ card or an Azorius card. Cloudshift is strictly better as a white card (cheaper plus guaranteed to come back under your control), but the ability to get two uses if you are playing blue can make this worth considering. Usual blink benefits apply; good for re-using ETB effects, blocking in losing propositions and then blinking, or casting in response to removal.
Anchors - Blink
Supports -
Pacifism / Spectral Grasp
Description - It's solid removal. It has downside over Journey to Nowhere as static / triggered abilities remain on and activated abilities can still be played, so it might limit the decent targets. The only upside over Journey is that if Pacifism is removed, any ETB effects won't trigger.
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Raise the Alarm
Description - Serviceable for putting bodies on the ground. Being instant can help create surprise blockers, or cast at end of opponents turn to swing in with 2 more power than they were expecting. It's ok elsewhere, but you probably only want to consider it if you have pump effects either for tokens or team pumps.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens
Remedy
Description - It will be conditional on the board state, but this has the potential to break some stalemates, possibly turning multiple combat trades into wins, either on the attack or on defence. It's probably not going to help you if are really behind or outclassed, but can serve as a Fog in a pinch.
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Test of Faith
Description - A reasonable combat trick, helping to not only survive combat, but come back even stronger. Decent for aggro decks to turn the corner when they are about to be outclassed.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 Counters
Zealous Strike
Description - The first strike and power boost helps win combats. The first strike makes the toughness boost less likely to matter in combat, but can help survive burn in a pinch, and on rare occasions the power boost might be what you need to finish the opponent.
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1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Aerial Maneuver
Description - It might be just flexible enough as a combat trick, while the flying might be used on the offense to go over the top as a finisher. However it is going to be conditional on the board state and you probably don't want too much instant speed removal in your format.
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Apostle's Blessing
Description - It's there if you want this effect to be colorless, but isn't as good as the other white options.
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Artful Maneuver
Description - They see the rebound coming, but could be a way to turn the corner if cast on defense to survive, and then swing in, or cast on offense mid-combat while setting up a strong assault for the following turn.
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Battlewise Valor
Description - It's fairly interchangeable, but can let you win a combat while setting up your next draw.
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Blessed Alliance
Description - It's got a few options that can benefit a control deck; killing attackers in the early game, surprise untapping blockers in the midgame, and tacking on life gain if you have extra mana, but it does require finesse and timing to get the right level of value.
Anchors -
Supports - Control
Brave the Sands
Description - The decks where this will matter are limited. You need multiple creatures of decent size for both the vigilance and the multi-block to matter. It might help ramp decks stabilise, where tapping your attackers might open you up to alpha strikes. Consider Reconnaissance.
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Carom
Description - It has a narrower window of opportunity than Harm's Way (smaller damage and creature only), but could be as good as a 3 for 1 in some situations, particularly if you are heavy on 1 toughness creatures.
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Cho-Manno's Blessing
Description - It can be a combat trick to keep your creature alive, and also used to counter removal. Even if you aren't being 'tricky' you can just put it on something to sneak past. Holding up the double white is a knock against it though.
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Conviction
Description - Glaring Aegis is almost always better, but the return effect might matter for enchantment matters / heroic themes if you are really pushing them.
Anchors -
Supports - Enchantment Matters, Heroic
Felidar Umbra
Description - It requires enough other support, primarily in the form of strong evasive creatures so the lifelink can help you race while the totem armor protects your clock. The ability to shift it can also be decent if you wish to change what it is protecting before the totem armor kicks in.
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Gallantry
Description - It's a bone you can throw defensive control decks to survive early assaults, killing incoming attackers without costing a card, but only suits those type of decks.
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Gather the Townsfolk
Description - At worst it is a white Dragon Fodder, which is already worse than Raise the Alarm. If you are already down to 5 or less life, your 5 tokens might just be chumpers anyway, and you might not be able to alpha strike back. 5 tokens is still a decent number.
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Gideon's Reproach
Description - It's lower power than a lot of other available removal, but may be a metagame choice to give control decks removal against early creatures while not being removal that marginalises all of the big threats in your cube.
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Goassamer Chains
Description - 2 mana per turn to prevent damage from the largest creature on the opponents isn't terrible, and may help enchantment matters themes if you keep recasting it. In practice it is going to be inconsistent, and if you are stuck casting WW each turn it might prevent you from casting your other white spells in multi-colour decks. Prison Term is probably better for keeping the biggest creature locked up, though not strictly so.
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Graceful Reprieve
Description - It's like a worse version of Undying Evil. It still might be ok for getting back some ETB creatures that are on the way to the bin, but it is conditional and requres you to have the mana available at the right time.
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Grasp of the Heiromancer
Description - It's not likely to make it in cubes with all the cheapest removal, but being able to shut down their best blocker has some merit.
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Guided Strike
Description - This can be a reasonable combat trick, allowing you to survive combat without effectively losing a card. Zealous Strike is a comparable alternative.
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Hypochondria
Description - It doesn't look like much, but being able to discard excess cards like lands to help keep your threats on the board may be worth it.
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Immolating Glare
Description - White has higher profile 1 mana removal spells, but this is one of few that doesn't provide your opponent some benefit (life gain, land acceleration) while still hitting a lot of targets.
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Judge Unworthy
Description - Other removal is better. The only reason you might consider this is if you want to increase the amount of card filtering effects you have.
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Lyev Decree
Description - Blinding Beam is a similar card that fills this role and would generally be considered better and more flexible, but this is fine if you are really looking for this effect or want it at 2 mana (and if you aren't entwining Blinding Beam, this can sometimes be better).
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Mighty Leap
Description - It's a combat trick more geared towards defensive decks. You can always fly something overhead if you are attacking, but it's less useful against flying blockers, since the pump is then telgraphed before blocking. It likely requires combat-oriented cubes with a higher proportion of sorcery speed removal to be worth considering.
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Opal Gargoyle
Description - Most cube decks are built around creatures, so played early this might be a 2/2 flyer 2 that can't block the first turn (if your opponent plays a creature after combat). It's a bad top deck if you are behind though, and having to wait a couple of turns when you could have just dropped Mistral Charger. You might consider this if you want to push enchantment themes pretty hard.
Anchors -
Supports - Enchantment Matters
Otherworldly Journey / Long Road Home
Description - It's a serviceable blink effect, with minor upside with the +1/+1 counter. The timing is a mixed bag; marginal upside that the creature can survive sweepers over instant blink options, but you can't immediately re-use ETB effects if that is what you are after. It is one of only two blink effects (next to Turn to Mist) that can target opponents creatures, turning them off if they are attacking or removing a blocker for a turn, but with the +1/+1 counter it can lead to feel bad upside. Overall it's probably towards the bottom of the playable blink effects, but if you push a +1/+1 theme it can be worthwhile.
Anchors - Blink
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Seal of Cleansing
Description - It's sorcery speed to cast, but you can lay it down early and then curve out while retaining it as a threat. Your opponent can play around it (play their second best target as bait) but it can still be an effective deterrent. Some may prefer the instant speed surprise of Disenchant, but this can also support some enchantment matters themes.
Anchors -
Supports - Enchantment Matters
Servo Exhibition
Description - Raise the Alarm is better in a vacuum due to instant speed. Only if you really need the extra support for artifacts in white.
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Supports - Artifact Matters
Soul Tithe
Description - Being able to enchant all nonland permanents is a plus, but this is still worse than Banishing Light / Oblivion Ring, because the opponent gets the choice. If a card is going to win the game for them, they are going to pay for it. However you might include it if these sorts of decisions are the gameplay you want to promote.
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Spirit Loop
Description - Applications are going to be limited, but lifelink on an evasive creature can help race, and the returning factor mitigates the usual 2-for-1-yourself of auras. The fact that it returns and can be recast provides some additional support for enchantment matters themes.
Anchors -
Supports - Enchantment Matters
Tandem Tactics
Description - This does give you some options whether you are on attack or defense, though is still dependent on the board state. Attacking and your opponent doesn't block and you are racing? Cast after they attack to surprise block and win. Attacking and they do block? Trade up, while leaving untapped creatures to block anything they have left. Survive a sweeper. The life gain is a nice incidental bonus.
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To Arms!
Description - It is conditional, but with this in hand you should be able to maneuver yourself into a position where you can set up a favorable block. There are some corner case benefits with convoke or if you make land creatures, but aren't likey to happen in your cube. The floor is that it cycles for 2 mana, as it doesn't require a target.
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Valorous Stance
Description - It's a flexible card, that can either protect against removal or turn what would be a combat trade into a win (and rarely a loss into a win, such as against a first striker), or take out a key defender. Neither mode is exciting on its own, but it can be flexible enough. Perhaps best in an aggro midrange deck where it can maintain board presence instead of trade or remove a wall that is getting in the way. How useful it is will depend on how many creatures you have with naturally high toughness, or how often pump / +1/+1 counter effects push them up to 4.
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Absolute Grace - Narrow.
Absolute Law - Narrow.
Abzan Advantage - You would prefer enchantment removal on legs or Disenchant to this.
Acolyte's Reward - The possibility that it does nothing when compared to Harm's Way is not worth the possibility of higher upside.
Act of Heroism - There are better options.
Ajani's Mantra - There are much better options for repeat life gain.
Alabaster Potion - Bad.
Alarum - Too narrow as a combat trick.
Allay - You would rather have a more flexible card like Disenchant or have the removal on legs.
Angelic Gift - Just meh.
Angelsong - 2 mana Fog variant. Not good enough.
Aura Blast - There are more flexible options.
Aura Extraction - There are more flexible options.
Baffling End - The tradeoff compared to similar removal is they get a vanilla 3/3 instead of whathever you exiled, but the targeting restriction makes this a lot worse than other removal.
Bathe In Light - Too inconsistent depending on what colors your opponent is playing.
Blessed Wine - Not efficient enough.
Blessing - Not efficient enough.
Bonds of Faith - Too inconsistent.
Break of Day - Doesn't do enough.
Brilliant Halo - Doesn't do enough.
Cagemail - There are no scenarios where you are happy casting this.
Call to Glory - Roar of the Kha or To Arms! are going to be better.
Call to Serve - Doesn't do enough.
Candle's Glow - Doesn't do enough.
Celestial Flare - Other removal is better the vast majority of the time.
Celestial Purge - Too narrow.
Center Soul - The card draw on Shelter is better, and you won't need this as a second option.
Chain of Silence - Lack of control makes this bad.
Cho-Manno's Blessing - Doesn’t provide enough value.
Chosen by Heliod - Doesn’t provide enough value.
Circle of Protection: Art - Not for standard cubes.
Circle of Protection: Artifacts - Not going to matter often enough.
Circle of Protection: Black (and friends) - Too narrow an effect.
Cleansing Ray - Too narrow.
Clear - There are more flexible options.
Compulsory Rest - There are better options.
Crown of Awe - Too narrow.
Cursebreak - There are more flexible options.
Curtain of Light - Doesn't do enough.
Darksteel Mutation - It either costs two cards to make a middling blocker for yourself, or acts as bad 'removal' that still gives your opponent a blocker.
Dawn Charm - The flexibility of this Fog isn’t quite enough.
Dazzling Reflection - Too situational.
Defang - Poor removal compared to other options.
Defiant Stand - Narrow combat trick.
Disempower - If it's powerful, your opponent just gets to use it again next turn, and being able to save your own powerful effects on the odd occasion doesn't make up for it.
Divine Favor - Glaring Aegis is better for similar bonus.
Divine Offering - The life gain doesn't make up for being less flexible than Disenchant.
Djeru's Renunciation - Blinding Beam, Expose Evil and Repel the Darness all seem like better options.
Dragon Scales - Doesn't do enough and the return effect won't trigger often enough to matter.
Due Respect - Too narrow as a one off effect, even if it is a cantrip.
Echoing Calm - Doesn't do anything in singleton peasant.
Eland Umbra - No boost in power makes this undesirable.
Entangling Trap - You won't be playing enough clash cards to care.
Ephemeral Shields - It can be free, but just isn't exciting enough an effect for most decks to warrant inclusion in your cube.
Equal Treatment - It's interesting. I just don't think it has a home where it does anything useful.
Errand of Duty - Nope.
Eye For an Eye - There are other options that actually prevent the damage.
Favorable Destiny - Too narrow.
Feat of Resistance - Other protection options are better.
Feeling of Dread - Considered as a white+ card, Blinding Beam is probably going to be better most of the time. In an Azorius tempo deck it is going to be decent, but isn't likely to make the cut when compared to more exciting options.
Fend Off - Doesn't do enough.
First Copme, First Served - Possibility of backfire? Nope.
Flowering Field - Locking down a land for this effect is not worth it.
Font of Vigor - 5 mana for 7 life is not a good trade.
Forced Worship - Prison Term is leauges better.
Forfend - Not enough scenarios where this will matter enough.
Gilded Light - Too narrow.
Glare of Heresy - Too narrow.
Glorious Charge - Doesn't do enough.
Greater Realm of Preservation - Too narrow.
Hallowed Ground - There isn't a deck that cares enough about this effect. Landfall triggers are not strong enough to make this kind of investment.
Heroic Defiance - Solid boost, but not being on all the time sucks and of itself isn't worth warping your draft around.
Hero's Resolve - Decent boosts, but not enough to consider.
Hold at Bay - It can blunt the effects of an aggro assault, but it doesn't get you any closer to winning the game, and not being able to spread it among creatures makes it bad there too.
Honorable Passage - Too narrow.
Hope and Glory - Not a big pump and you must have two creatures.
Humble - There is way better removal.
Illumination - Too narrow. Disenchant is probably going to be better in nearly all cases by being able to remove the threat mid combat or at other opportune moments.
Impeccable Timing - Gideon's Reproach strictly better (and many other removal options better than that).
In Oketra's Name - Doesn't do enough.
Indomitable Will - Doesn't do enough.
Mageta's Boon - As above.
Inquisitor's Snare - Too narrow.
Inviolability - It doesn't do enough.
Invulnerability - Not cost effective as a repeat effect.
Kjeldoran Pride - Doesn't do enough.
Kjeldoran War Cry - Not for singleton cube.
Lashknife - Even if it was flat out free, the effect isn't worth a card.
Last Breath - Too narrow.
Lead Astray - Strictly worse than Feeling of Dread.
Leave No Trace - Too unreliable.
Liberate - Cloudshift or Momentary Blink are going to be better most of the time.
Life Burst - Not for singleton cube.
Lightning Blow - Guided Strike strictly better.
Luminthread Field - This effect is not worth the cost of a card, get Veteran Armorer instead.
Lunarch Mantle - There are far better auras than this.
Manacles of Decay - Or for this mana. Just get removal.
Mantle of Leadership - The potential for upside is appealing, and it might be serviceable in token or blink decks. But it's rarely going to exceed the power of more consistent auras that are also useful elsewhere.
Mine Excavation - I don't think any cube will be deep enough into either artifact or enchantment themes that letting two of its creatures take a turn off just to make this a 2 for 1 makes sense.
Moment of Heroism - Doesn't do enough.
Murder Investigation - You could use it as an insurance policy on decent size creatures, but in those cases something that actually protects it is probably preferable (Shelter, blink effects). It may have some marginal benefits in sacrifice decks, but for the most part those decks don't sacrifice big guys in the first place.
Muzzle - Get better removal.
Nimbus Wings - If your cube has the standard suite of efficient removal spells, this is not worth the 2 for 1.
Ondu Rising - Too many things need to go right for this to be effective.
Ordeal of Heliod - Too slow without enough upside.
Orim's Cure - Doesn't do enough.
Parapet - Veteran Armorer exists.
Peace and Quiet - Two for one sounds good until you are staring down Curse of Predation as the lone enchantment on the board with this in your hand.
Peace of Mind - Hypochondria is better; the ability to prevent damage to creatures is much better than chucking cards for life gain. There are better ways for repeat life gain if that is what you are looking for.
Peace Talks - You could cast it after combat, but it just doesn't do enough.
Pegasus Stampede - It looks like an engine for a control deck, but you would need a pretty specific collection of cards to make it work. Even with Land Tax, this is just going to be too slow and ineffective most of the time.
Pledge of Loyalty - Too narrow.
Plow Through Retio - It looks like it has high upside, but if you are just getting a Giant Growth, this is not worth it.
Pollen Lullaby - You don't want the inconsistency.
Pressure Point - Niveous Wisps strictly better.
Pride of Conquerors - There are better alternatives.
Prismatic Ward - Doesn't do enough to justify the cost of a card; it can still be targeted by removal or negative auras.
Puncturing Light - Poor removal.
Purge - Too narrow.
Rally - Too narrow.
Ray of Revelation - It's ok if you consider it a white+ card, but it just doesn't add anything relevant to your cube.
Razor Barrier - Faith's Shield is going to serve the same purpose with more upside. Protection from artifacts is rarely going to matter.
Redeem - Remedy is going to be better in vast majority of situations.
Redeem the Lost - Other protection options are better.
Relic Ward - Doesn't do enough.
Renewing Dawm - Too narrow.
Renounce - No deck will want this, so neither does your cube.
Repel the Abominable - Too narrow.
Reprisal - Only if you are intentionally depowering your removal.
Rest for the Weary - 8 life is a decent amount, but there are still no decks that will want it.
Reverse Polarity - So narrow.
Revoked Existence - Not at sorcery speed.
Rhystic Shield - Even if they don't pay, this is not an effect you want.
Righetous Aura - It's only good against larger creatures / damage spells, and only works if you don't already have ways of dealing with them, which is what you would prefer.
Roar of the Kha - None of the three modes are good / efficient enough.
Rune of Protection: XXX - These are all too narrow.
Sacred Boon - Test of Faith is strictly better.
Sacred Nectar - Nope.
Samite Ministration - Doesn't do enough.
Sanctimony - Too narrow.
Saving Grace - Underwhelming.
Serene Offering - Life gain isn’t worth more flexible options.
Serra's Blessing - Reconnassance exists.
Shadowbane - Too narrow.
Shield Wall - Doesn't do enough.
Show of Valor - White has more interesting combat trick options.
Silkwrap - Strictly worse than Journey to Nowhere.
Skillful Lunge - Zealous Strike is strictly better.
Soothing Balm - Nope.
Soul Parry - Remedy is likely to save 2 creatures in the same situations while also being useful in other board states.
Soul Summons - It creates a bear that can sometimes flip up into something else at any time. If you get a non-creature, all you get is a bear. The downsides if it is a creature include not getting ETB / cast triggers when flipped up, paying an extra 1W for the final product, and it being a reasonably vulnerable 2/2 until you get the right mana if the creature is a strong contributor to your game plan. The upside, and the reason you would include it given those downsides, is simply the surprise factor and the interesting scenarios it creates on the board, especially during combat. It's a card you include for the gameplay it creates, not power.
Soulcatchers' Aerie - Too narrow.
Soul's Grace - Conditional life gain? No thanks.
Spare from Evil - It's difficult to evaluate how effective this will be, as each cube will contain a different number of Humans. In any case, it is probably best to leave it to avoid errata nightmares.
Spirit Mantle - It's an enchantment that makes your creature unblockable, but you just want better spells.
Starlight - Too narrow.
Stasis Cocoon - Too narrow.
Steadfastness - Not an effect you want.
Strength of Isolation - Doesn't do enough.
Sun Clasp - Doesn't do enough.
Sun's Bounty - It's just life gain, and you aren't going to want to keep mana up to keep recovering it.
Suppression Field - The effect itself can be quite powerful, but at singleton cube you aren't fighting a known metagame. If it was in a cube and you drafted it, you turn off some of the other cards you would want to draft.
Surge of Righteousness - Too narrow.
Surge of Thoughtweft - Doesn't do enough.
Suspension Field - Worse than Journey to Nowhere.
Swift Maneuver - The likes of Shelter and Guided Strike are better cantrip combat spells.
Swift Reckoning - Narrow removal. Only if you are depowering your removal.
Temper - Test of Faith is the far better version by a billion miles.
Terashi's Verdict - Too narrow.
Time of Heroes - Nope.
Triclopean Sight - Doesn't do enough.
Unlikely Alliances - Hi opponent, I'm going to spend a bunch of mana telegraphing everything that I'm doing.
Urgent Exorcism - Too narrow.
Ward of Lights - Doesn't do enough.
Ward of Piety - The effect might be ok if it didn't cost so much.
Warmth - Too narrow.
Warrior's Stand - Only being able to use this on defense makes this too limited for use in cube.
Weight of Conscience - It's a lot of work for a removal spell. If you don't exile it, it can still attack.
Whitesun's Passage - Not worth the card.
Wipe Clean - Cycling provides it some flexibility, but you would rather have other options.
Banishing Light
Description - One of white premier removal spells because it hits multiple permanent types and hits almost every creature. There is some marginal downside compared to spells that permanently remove something, in that this can be removed midcombat which could cause blowouts, but it isn't much of a downside. Some consider Oblivion Ring better due to stack tricks, others prefer this for its simplicity (you can always play both).
Anchors -
Supports -
Lingering Souls
Description - Usually considered an Orzhov card, this offers fantastic value as well as being synergistic with a number of archetypes. It supports go wide if you have ways to pump your team, creates 4 bodies for sacrifice effects, the flashback supports self-mill / filtering / spells matter triggers, and on top of that the tokens are evasive. That said, it doesn't usually make it as a mono-white card, as Midnight Haunting is better in that role.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice, Graveyard Matters, Spells Matters
Oblivion Ring
Description - One of white premier removal spells because it hits multiple permanent types and hits almost every creature. There is some marginal downside compared to spells that permanently remove something, in that this can be removed midcombat which could cause blowouts, but it isn't much of a downside. There are stack tricks; if you can remove it from the battlefield while the ETB trigger is still on the stack, the exiled permanent will never return. Some don't like the complexity of the stack trick (the feel bads for newer players on the receiving end) and you can play Banishing Light in that case (you can always play both).
Anchors -
Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Ghostly Prison
Description - While it will be matchup specific, this card is great for decks that want to slow down the opponents assault. It makes aggro decks have fits, preventing them from curving out and attacking each turn, allowing defensive decks time to set up their big plays. Removed from some lists to ensure aggro can have its day in the sun.
Anchors - Control
Supports -
Lashknife Barrier
Description - It's a one time investment that doesn't even cost you a card that makes all your creatures more resilient and messes with combat math for your opponent. In particular, it makes blocking with multiple creatures particularly difficult for your opponent, and makes burn a lot worse.
Anchors -
Supports -
Promise of Bunrei
Description - 4 tokens for 3 mana is very strong, offset by making you jump through a hoop. It's not a hard hoop to jump through though, as creatures die often enough. Good in most decks, but gets better in token / go wide decks, sacrifice decks can both trigger it and get 4 more pieces of fodder. Enchantment recursion is a narrow or non-existent theme in most cubes, but this is very strong if you can get it back multiple times.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens, Sacrifice
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Acrobatic Maneuver
Description - Fine effect for saving a creature from removal, or re-triggering enter the battlefield effects, It's more expensive than Cloudhsift, which is easier to hold up a mana for, but you get the card back here which is great if you are also getting a cards worth of value out of ETB effects. Can be a grindy draw engine with Eternal Witness or other retrieval options.
Anchors - Bounce / Blink
Supports -
Arrest
Description - A decent option for removal. The downside compared to actually removing it from the board are triggered or static abilities, which can make Oblivion Ring preferred.
Anchors -
Supports -
Blinding Beam
Description - You can cast it on the opponents end step to open them up to an alpha strike, and entwined can help seal the game if you've applied early pressure or win races. It's comparable to (and competes with) other tempo finishers, but it's fine in that role.
Anchors -
Supports -
Bound by Moonsilver
Description - The baseline is worse than Arrest or Pacifism, but this might get the nod if you have a higher density than usual of transform cards, but probably more likely as white support for a sacrifice / graveyard theme, or to be a delirium enabler.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Excommunicate
Description - It's an ok tempo play if you've got an aggro start to remove a blocker and set the opponent back. It's not flashy, but it gets the job done.
Anchors -
Supports -
Griffin Guide
Description - A decent aura that can give you a solid threat with a backup plan if the creature gets dealt with.
Anchors -
Supports - Pants
Lightform
Description - You may need to watch how many double cost cards you have, but the baseline of a 2/2 flying lifelinker for 3 mana is solid enough. If you have something bigger than a 2/2 to manifest later in the game, that is just gravy. Has a low opportunity cost for inclusion if you support an enchantment matters theme, as any white deck can play it. On raw power it is a little outclassed by Aerial Responder, but it is still perfectly playable.
Anchors -
Supports - Enchantment Matters
Midnight Haunting
Description - Decent token maker. The instant speed either gives you surprise blockers, or throws up a couple of evasive creatures end of turn you can then swing in with.
Anchors -
Supports -
Orim's Thunder
Description - Enchantment or artifact removal with some strong upside if you are in Boros. You probably want to call it a Boros card, though you might sometimes play it on other white decks if you didn't get any other removal, or try for a small splash.
Anchors -
Supports -
Prismatic Strands
Description - It is a 3 mana combat trick upfront which can be tricky to hold up, but it gives you the potential to turn combat around. While your opponent can see the second one coming, it makes it tricky for them to play around given its 0 mana cost.
Anchors -
Supports -
Prison Term
Description - An interesting Arrest variant you might consider depending on how many other cards you have with heavy white commitments. The caster always gets to upgrade to the best target which is powerful, but it might be stifling to have your best creature always answered. On the other hand, it can be an answer to shroud / hexproof creatures such as Plated Crusher if you feel you need one.
Anchors -
Supports -
Rally the Peasants
Description - With other better white versions, you will probably consider this as a Boros card. In Boros it can be a blowout; double activation after you let a couple of creatures through can end the game.
Anchors -
Supports -
Shoulder to Shoulder
Description - It's something you probably want it if you support (hah) a +1/+1 counter theme but it can be played elsewhere, either in aggressive decks to try and punch through with early threats, or in Skies / evasive decks to increase your clock.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Stasis Snare
Description - It's a fine Banishing Light alternative, depending on what you want out of your removal. It's less splashable and only hits creatures, but you gain the power of instant speed.
Anchors -
Supports -
Story Circle
Description - It will depend on your particular cube, but assuming most decks are 2 colours this can be a reasonable inclusion for your control decks without being a showstopper for the opponent. It can turn off some of their cards, forcing them to play around it, but it is also tempered by the fact that you must spend white mana, and if you are 2 colours you might not be able to answer everything.
Anchors -
Supports -
Timely Reinforcements
Description - This is a card that can really help you come back from a losing game, getting you out of reach range while setting up a defense. Some cubers don't play it for the mini-games it can create; with this in your opener, you can choose to play nothing until your opponent plays a creature and hits you with it, and then play this and unload the rest of your hand.
Anchors - Control
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Angelic Purge
Description - A low power but still playable piece of removal due to the large range of targets. It can also help fuel delirium / threshold.
Anchors -
Supports -
Battle Mastery
Description - It comes with the standard weakness of auras in that you open yourself up to 2-for-1's. You would need to be pushing certain abilities or mechanics a bit harder than normal to make this worth it; mid size tramplers and saboteurs are the most likely to benefit.
Anchors -
Supports - Saboteurs
Cage of Hands
Description - It is going to be generally behind other removal options for this cost. However it does have the advantage of being able to be moved to a bigger target, and is something to consider if you have an enchantment theme.
Anchors -
Supports - Enchantments Matter
Choking Fumes
Description - It's narrow, but it can be a tool for control decks to slow down aggro decks. Gets a little better the more x/1's in your cube.
Anchors -
Supports -
Cold Snap
Description - You need a very specific cube, where all basics are mandatory snow basics. In that cube, this is like a white Sulfuric Vortex. You can play it, your opponent gets pinged (potentially for several damage if the game has gone long), then you can sacrifice it if you can't afford the damage. It might even be broken in that cube, providing a decent amount of reach for white.
Anchors -
Supports -
Dauntless Onslaught
Description - It competes with a lot of other combat tricks. It does give you the opportunity to turn around 2 combat losses or trades, or even get in that extra 4 damage you need to seal the game. Depending on how often your cube tends to go wide, other cards like Make a Stand or Borrowed Grace may be preferred.
Anchors -
Supports -
Devouring Light
Description - The option of free removal is worth considering, but it is conditional. Magical Christmas Land is triple block their fatty while you are tapped out, they cast a pump spell, respond with this. A low power removal option slanted towards control. You could develop a defensive board and still be able to cast this to remove an evasive threat. Other removal is better but convoke gives this a different angle.
Anchors -
Supports -
Embolden
Description - It isn't exciting on the surface, but this can do some work in removal-lite combat heavy cubes. The first casting will sometimes just be a '1 for 1' where you save something that would have died in combat, but you can get more value than that. The flashback is an onboard trick, but if you already got value from the first casting, it might just make your opponent play suboptimally while you play your other cards.
Anchors -
Supports -
Empyrial Armor
Description - It is going to be inconsistent, but if you put this on a 2-drop (preferably something evasive) on curve and have 4 cards in hand, they are going to have to deal with it pretty quickly.
Anchors -
Supports - Pants / Voltron
Even the Odds
Description - This does nothing when you are ahead, but being good when you are behind is usually more desirable. It may create gameplay you don't want; white players playing nothing and then surprising the opponent and killing incoming attackers, or having pseudo-haste by casting at the end of their turn. Timely Reinforcements is sorcery speed, but is probably better because you can also recover life from the first few hits as well as put creatures on the board.
Anchors -
Supports -
Hobble
Description - If you want removal to wheel to your control decks, this is a reasonable option. In that deck, it's fine for stalling early assaults while letting you dig and build towards the end game. Aggro is less excited because they can still block.
Anchors -
Supports -
Kor Chant
Description - Harm's Way is probably useable in more situations due to its mana efficiency, but you can still get some 2 for-1s out of this against burn spells and it can take out bigger threats that Harm's Way can't.
Anchors -
Supports -
Lapse of Certainty
Description - It's white, and it counters everything. It's obviously not as good as Memory Lapse, and if the spell is truly powerful they still get to play it, but if you just need a tempo play or the spell needed timing it can be fine. At worst, you know to play around it moving forward.
Anchors -
Supports -
Make a Stand
Description - You need to get the timing right, but it can work in a few scenarios. It can really swing a combat in your favor, particularly if you are either making or on the receiving end of an alpha strike; kill some opposing guys and have all your team survive for the next swing. On the low end, it can be used to 'counter' most removal. It's likely to perform better in an aggro role to keep up pressure while preserving your board rather than holding it up in response to something your opponent is doing.
Anchors -
Supports -
Master's Call
Description - The only reason to include this over Midnight Haunting is if you have a heavy artifact theme which either triggers off these coming into play or you have sufficient sacrifice outlets.
Anchors -
Supports - Artifact Matters
Pentarch Ward
Description - It replaces itself, and if your opponent is heavy on one colour you protect yourself from their removal and waltz past their creatures presenting a clock, depending on what you put it on… but sometimes it might do very little.
Anchors -
Supports -
Recumbent Bliss
Description - A lower power removal option; probably the only reason to give it serious consideration is if you support a life gain matters theme to get repeat triggers, otherwise Faith's Fetters is worth the extra mana.
Anchors -
Supports - Life Gain Matters
Righteous Charge
Description - Sorcery speed is not ideal for team pump, but this is a decent amount of pump that your opponent might have difficulty defending against even if it is before blocks are declared. Great Teacher's Decree also worth considering for this role.
Anchors -
Supports -
Spirit Cairn
Description - You need to go deep on the right synergies, but it is possible to support. Ideally you want all the best looters in your cube, as well as blue and reds card filtering tools to fit it into a control shell, and probably blacks best discard as well. Probably only for grindy cubes where you can get maximum value; otherwise something like Spectral Procession is better value without the set up costs.
Anchors -
Supports -
Trial of Solidarity
Description - Probably only worth cubing as part of a Cartouche / Trials subtheme. Whole team 2 extra damage, even if it is sorcery, can still be potent.
Anchors -
Supports -
Unquestioned Authority
Description - Making one of your creatures unblockable is a reasonable starting point, but it can also make something into an good blocker if that is what you need. Your creature still dies to removal (although it is protected from Shriekmaw and every other ETB creature kill), but cantripping overcomes the inherent 2 for 1 aura problem. It is still a 3 mana spell that doesn't add any power to the board.
Anchors -
Supports -
Wing Shards
Description - It's lower power removal. Without a storm count, a 3 mana spell to take out an attacker of their choice isn't amazing. It gets better if you can take out multiple creatures, but once people know it is in your cube they will play around it. It might either be a feel bad for not knowing they need to play around it, but it could also be a design choice to help teach people to play their spells after combat. Might be something you put in for a short time and then take out.
Anchors - Control
Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Battle Screech
Description - Solid evasive token maker. The ideal play pattern is with one other white creature on the board, so you can get your 4 tokens in the one turn. You might not be able to flash it back on occasion, but it usually isn't too hard to plan ahead. 4 flying 1/1's for 4 is great.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens
Faith's Fetters
Description - It's 4 mana, but it is flexible. It can shut down almost anything (including nonbasics like Maze of Ith if you cube them), and the life gain also buys you some time.
Anchors -
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Cast Out
Description - It isn't likely to be cycled, and at 4 mana it starts getting unwieldy, however dealing with any nonland permanent at instant speed is still relevant.
Anchors -
Supports -
Great Teacher's Decree
Description - Decent team pump if you are looking to go wide. Sorcery speed means they see it coming, but the sheer amount of numbers over the 2 turns is usually enough if timed correctly. They might be able to survive the first strike, but they should be left in a board state where you will win on the rebound.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Allied Reinforcements
Description - It's fine for putting bodies on the board. Nothing exceptional, but fine for go wide strategies. You aren't likely to have any Ally synergies, that is just bonus.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens / Go Wide
Angelic Favor
Description - It can upgrade a blocker to a 4/4 for no mana cost, so it could be an ok anti-aggro card. It doesn't really add much to your cube though, and only works on defence.
Anchors -
Supports -
Breath of Life / False Defeat
Description - You can include it to support reanimator, and it can serve to get your best creatures back in midrange decks. It probably makes less sense than Zombify given the different mechanical focuses between black and white, but it is still ok.
Anchors - Reanimator
Supports -
Captain's Call
Description - Augmented Visionary is going to be better in most circumstances, but you could go deep if you want more tokens, or you specifically care that the tokens are white (e.g. you cube Paragon of New Dawns), or you care about soldier synergies.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens, Soldier Tribal
Cenn's Enlistment
Description - 4 mana for a couple of 1/1's is pretty bad, but the power is in building out a board for control decks. Nice if you can find ways to retrieve lands back from your graveyard.
Anchors -
Supports -
Diversionary Tactics
Description - You really have to build around it, and be in a deck full of tokens / go wide to make it worth trading off your 2 worst creatures for their best one. Once it is on board, you can use it during your opponents turn before combat or end of turn to lock down a few creatures.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens
Faith Unbroken
Description - The upside is appealling; remove a creature, then swing with a pumped creature they can't profitably block. Still prone to blowouts, and you can't even cast it if you don't have a creature, so at 4 mana it is probably only worth cubing if you have depowered your removal.
Anchors -
Supports -
Honden of Cleansing Fire
Description - In some ways the worst of the Shrines as it doesn't affect the board, but if you are gaining 4 life a turn and have otherwise stabilised the board, it can put you out of harms way. Signals a shrines deck, but it is also repeat life gain for a one off investment if you support life gain matters decks.
Anchors - Shrines
Supports - Life Gain Matters
Ramosian Rally
Description - Hard cast you can get cheaper, so lets look at the alternative cost. If you are on the offensive, you don't want to hold back something that could be attacking, but you can play a creature pre-combat and tap that, letting you develop your board while also hitting harder this turn. Could also be used defensively for free after blocks. Pretty situational.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sage's Reverie
Description - A few things to note; on it's own it will always replace itself (removal while on the stack notwithstanding), and it counts Pacifism, Singing Bell Strike etc you've placed on opponents creatures. Draw a card, provide +1/+1 bonus isn't great. Draw 2 cards, provide +2/+2 bonus, you're starting to look decent. To make that consistent though, you definitely need to be supporting an aura subtheme.
Anchors - Enchantment Matters / Pants
Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
None.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Charge Across the Araba
Description - Of white's team pump options, this probably has the biggest risk vs. reward gap. Solid upsides are that the pump has a high ceiling and is also at instant speed; if you give 4 creatures +4/+4 that is going to be pretty nuts. If it doesn't win you the game, or set up the board for winning on your next swing, picking up your lands might really limit your board development. It will also suck if you are stuck on 4 lands or only a couple of plains in play. Instant speed removal on a key creature after picking up your lands is also probably going to hurt. Stir the Pride is probably 'safer' but this looks a lot more fun.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sphere of Safety
Description - On it's own it is worse than Ghostly Prison, so the main reason to consider it is as part of a broader enchantment theme. In the right deck though (with supporting cards in the cube) it can provide a challenge to some game plans.
Anchors - Prison Control, Enchantments Matter
Supports -
Swell of Courage
Description - It's in a slot with lots of similar options, but the flexibility here if you haven't had the opportunity to go wide is decent, and can make a decent top deck in more situations than a lot of similar cards.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens / Go Wide, +1/+1 counters
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Miraculous Recovery
Description - Instant speed and 5 mana makes this more like a (expensive) combat trick than a reanimator option, but could lead to some 2-for-1's.
Anchors -
Supports - Reanimator, +1/+1 counters
Roil's Retribution
Description - It's going to be conditional on your opponent behaving the way you want, and sometimes it might be a 5 mana 1-for-1 kill spell which isn't great. The occasions where it turns into a blowout can make it worth considering, so it may depend on the prevalence of aggro decks that usually attack with low toughness creatures.
Anchors -
Supports -
Stir the Pride
Description - It sits in a slot with lots of similar options. This is the one with the best base stat boost, with the lifelink side probably only coming into play when you've got 7 mana.
Anchors -
Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Spectral Procession
Description - If you pay 4 mana for it, you are getting a very good deal and that isn't hard to achieve. It's unlikely any non-white deck would be willing to pay 6 mana for it, so it is usually considered a white card. Good in most scenarios, but if you play any cards that boost flyers, tokens or other team pump, you should definitely be cubing it.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens, Skies, Sacrifice
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
None
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Feudkiller's Verdict
Description - 10 life is a decent chunk, but you really need to get the Giant to be worth it. It might be occasionally bad against aggressive decks wehre you can't retaliate early, but it can be a decent stabiliser in a control deck.
Anchors -
Supports -
Triplicate Spirits
Description - It's a decent token creator in it's own right, as it can come down early if you curve out. Not as consistently good as Spectral Procession, but a good additional token creator in white.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens, Skies
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
None
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Most cubes only have limited space for true gold cards, and therefore most are evaluated with a ‘gold tax’; if they are only marginally better than a mono-coloured / hybrid analogue that will fit into more decks, they probably aren’t going to make the cut. Where appropriate, the closest analogue will be included in the description.
As most cubes do not include them, 3+ colour cards are not evaluated here.
Rakdos Cackler
Description - The vanilla is bad, so you would only include if red and/or black aggro is something you push. But in those decks it is amazing, and having both power and toughness at 2 for a single mana with no meaningful long-term drawback is excellent. In a pinch, you DO have the option to play it as a vanilla if you just need a blocker.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Dryad Militant
Description - Even if you don't support green aggro, the flexible mana cost is appealing over other vanilla white 2/1's, but is probably the best green aggro 1-drop. However, the graveyard hate might be something you want to avoid if you are trying to push archetypes that care about it.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Judge's Familiar
Description - Doesn't really need anything in the way of support, and at worst is 1/1 evasive creature for 1 which is passable. Opponent can play around it as it is an on-board trick, but can slow down their sequence of plays.
Anchors -
Supports -
Tattermunge Maniac
Description - The drawback forces this to only fit in red or green aggro decks that want to rush out of the gates, but is a reasonable addition to those decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Blistercoil Weird
Description - Can work in a spells matters theme. The untap is not going to matter a lot in those decks, but can be used to present a surprise blocker. The Paradise Mantle 'combo' can exist in cube, allowing you to untap the Weird to generate mana to cast more spells, preferably cheap card draw so you can keep playing spells. Hard to pull off effectively in cube though.
Anchors -
Supports - Spells Matter
Slippery Bogle
Description - Pillar of the 'hexproof' deck, but needs the right environment to work. Needs friends with hexproof, and sufficient equipment and auras to be a force to reckoned with.
Anchors -
Supports - Voltron / Hexproof
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Duergar Assailant - Too narrow.
Elvish Hexhunter - Needing to tap this makes it too slow.
Manaforge Cinder - This type of fixing not worth worrying about.
Nip Gwyllion - Just meh.
Odious Trow - Not efficient enough.
Oona's Gatewarden - It will just trade with something. If you don't kill it, sure you made it smaller... but you didn't kill it.
Scuzzback Scrapper - Most of the time is likely to just trade with something anyway.
Seedcradle Witch - It's not effective until mid-game, but combat with the mana open can make combat difficult for the opponent. The untap is mostly a bonus, but can turn your tapped attackers into blockers if required. The cost required however makes this too difficult to use. Makes me wish Viridian Joiner was playable.
Slitherhead - Bad as a vanilla creature, and the scavenge is not significant enough.
Stream Hopper - Not good enough.
Wild Cantor - The sacrifice is not often going to be worth it for a 1-off effect, even if for a single turn of acceleration the following turn. Can support Storm cards, but that is a narrow application.
Zealous Guardian - Not good enough.
Barkshell Blessing - 1
Description - Not the best base stats for a pump, but being able to effectively cast it twice makes it worth a look. On defense, can block with two creatures, then tap them to give them each the bonus. Situational, and value goes up in cubes with less removal and more focus on combat.
Anchors -
Supports -
Unplayables
Bioshift - Even if you support a +1/+1 theme, this is too narrow.
Cloud of the Dominus - Too narrow.
Dawnglow Infusion - Not enough life gain for the cost.
Dream Salvage - Too narrow; needs too much support to make this viable.
Edge of the Divinity - Too narrow.
Fossil Find - Random is bad, and the reorder will almost never matter.
Guttural Response - Too narrow.
Memory Sluice - An aggro mill deck is not viable in singleton peasant cube.
Riot Spikes - Not good enough.
Safewright Quest - In cube, you want your green land searchers to be more flexible and find other types of lands.
Scar - Not good enough.
Baleful Strix
Description - A strong combination of abilities at a cheap price, acting as pseudo-removal against attackers without costing you a card. It's unique identity also makes it resilient to black removal commonly played in peasant cube; it is multicolored so it doesn't die to Ultimate Price, it is an artifact creature so it doesn't die to Go For the Throat, it is black so it doesn't die to Doom Blade.
Anchors -
Supports - Control
Burning-Tree Emissary
Description - Of itself it is excellent value while promoting different styles of play. Aggro decks love it, being able to potentially drop 2 creatures on turn 2, or play and equip Bonesplitter on your 1-drop without taking off a turn from laying down creatures. It suits control a little less, but they can put down something to block with while also playing setup cards. It can support storm while being good elsewhere. If you only have 2 Forests or 2 Mountains, it can even fix your mana if that is what you need. Occasional hiccups when you drop this on turn 2 without having another play.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro, Storm
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Putrid Leech
Description - This is a solid aggro card with applications elsewhere as well. There might be occasions where you get hit by removal after you've activated and lost some life, but it can apply pressure quickly. If it is being attacked into, your opponent has to be willing to lose their best creature for the cost of 2 life.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
Qasali Pridemage
Description - It's flexible and well costed, being a bear when you need it, while able to destroy multiple card types. The exalted is upside that can be relevant, either giving your 1-drop a leg up, or swinging in for 3 itself on turn 3. The exalted can also provide marginal support for a pants archetype, and is in the most common colours for that archetype.
Anchors -
Supports -
Rix Maadi Guildmage
Description - Solid anchor card for Rakdos aggro. The first ability can make blocking difficult for your opponent. If they don't block because the first ability would be unfavorable, you have the opportunity to deal them more damage.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
Voltaic Brawler
Description - Solid aggro creature for these colours. A 3/2 for 2 is already decent, but potentially being a 4/3 trampler for the first two attacks is even better. And it gets even better if you have some other energy cards to support it.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro, Energy
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Azorius Guildmage
Description - Often considered a white card in peasant cube circles, as the blue ability is rarely activated in practice. In that case, it can be an ok white card to tap down your opponents creatures, preferably during their upkeep to prevent attacks while enabling you to swing in, but it may be too slow for some environments.
Anchors -
Supports - Control
Deft Duelist
Description - A 2 power first striker can hold off a number of attackers. You can get Youthful Knight in mono-white, but the shroud is likely to give some aggro decks conniptions while they stare at their spot removal. While you can't equip it, it can still be a serviceable attacker.
Anchors -
Supports -
Gruul Guildmage
Description - The threat of activation of the pump is solid. The red ability provides bonus reach, but often leans more towards being a green card.
Anchors -
Supports -
Honored Crop-Captain
Description - Solid beater for Boros aggro decks. Base stats are already fine for what you are paying, and pumping the rest of the team is also very good.
Anchors -
Supports -
Inkfathom Infiltrator
Description - There isn't much to say apart from that it is ok as a clock for blue or black decks, serving a similar role to shadow creatures. Being hybrid means it doesn't have to take up a true multicolor slot (depending on how you count them). Can’t block is a drawback, but if you include a creature that can't be blocked, you want to be attacking anyway.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro
Jhessian Infiltrator
Description - It provides a clock, and is great with equipment. Not much else to say here; the only negative you could put forward is that it might not be that interesting or reduces interactivity.
Anchors -
Supports -
Korozda Guildmage
Description - It provides cross synergy for sacrifice decks by being a sacrifice outlet, and token decks by creating tokens, all in the same effect. In ramp decks, it can provide evasion against some decks, while also providing a way to switch to a go wide strategy.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice, Tokens
River Hoopoe
Description - The base creature isn't amazing, but could block some cheap aggro creatures in the early game. The investment required to activate makes it more likely to see play in Simic ramp decks, but the life gain can be pretty relevant in a stalled game or where your opponent is pressuring you with an evasive creature.
Anchors -
Supports - Ramp
Selesnya Guildmage
Description - It's another bear with upside that can be played aggressively (curve out and pump on turn 4) or play the long game.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens
Shambleshark
Description - It's likely to attack for 3 on turn 3, which is solid. Plays into flash / go if you want to push that theme.
Anchors -
Supports - Flash / Go
Sky Terror
Description - Two evasive abilities make this pretty hard to block. Supports aggro decks, but probably not horrible in control decks either, to chip in while controlling the ground or opposing flyers.
Anchors -
Supports -
Spike Jester
Description - 3 haste power for 2 mana is strong and something you won't get at mono colored. It's pretty unexciting for a gold slot though.
Anchors -
Supports -
Stormchaser Mage
Description - It can block some early creatures both on the ground and in the air, with the threat of prowess triggers making blocking decisions harder given it's toughness.
Anchors - Spells Matters
Supports -
Stun Sniper
Description - It's a decent way of dealing with multiple creature types. Clear out tokens or aggro creatures, and tap down the larger ones you can't deal with. A fine role player.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sunhome Guildmage
Description - Supports an aggressive go wide approach, with a backup plan as a mana sink to pump out tokens if you either stall, or want the game to go long.
Anchors -
Supports -
Tattermunge Witch
Description - The threat of activation can mess with combat, and the trample can help with an alpha strike, especially if paired with midrange / ramp creatures. Curving out with the likes out Blastoderm / Flametongue Kavu could be nasty.
Anchors -
Supports -
Tidehollow Sculler
Description - It's a Mesmeric Fiend variant, but with extra power and toughness that make it worth considering it as a gold card, as it will have actual impact on the board. You can use the same stack tricks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Truefire Paladin
Description - Solid combination of abilities to make combat difficult for your opponent. Block? Use mana to trade up and /or first strike to gain board advantage. Don't block? Either push through extra damage, or leave mana open to reduce likelihood of incoming attacks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Winding Constrictor
Description - A 2/3 for 2 is already a decent deal. Clearly supports +1/+1 counters where it is great, with some other incidental support (levelers, vanishing / fading). Probably the biggest downside is that there is a lot less counter support in black than there is in green. It's also not optional, so it's a nombo with a few cards, mainly cards with persist.
Anchors - +1/+1 counters
Supports -
Zameck Guildmage
Description - While it's best if you already support a +1/+1 theme, it is still functional just for making your creatures larger. Might be worth noting the first ability stacks if you need a mana sink.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Akroan Hoplite
Description - Attacking alone it is at least a bear, but has potential to deal a bit of damage if you can curve out. It might create some story-worthy moments, but the average case is more likely to be at or just above aggro creatures you could get a mono-colour.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports - Tokens
Cartel Aristocrat
Description - Can be an option for the sacrifice / death trigger decks as a free sacrifice outlet, though is less exciting than other options.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Cavern Harpy
Description - It supports self-bounce narrowly in blue/black, but those colours offers some good creatures to bounce (Shriekmaw, Nekrataal, Mulldrifter). The engine is slow, but once it is committed to the board, being able to block and then bounce can also be a good way to stem combat damage while resetting the engine. Narrow on the theme, but can be good in it.
Anchors -
Supports - Bounce
Chief of the Edge
Description - There are enough generally playable warriors that you may consider this as a support card. You want to make sure you have sufficient Warriors particularly in black and white, as this will act as a signal card that it is supported.
Anchors - Warrior Tribal
Supports -
Deputy of Acquittals
Description - The only reason you would play it is if you were going really deep on the self-bounce theme and wanted an(other) anchor card for Azorius. While this has upside over Whitemane Lion (you can play this onto an empty board), that is a very close mono colored alternative.
Anchors - Bounce
Supports -
Dimir Guildmage
Description - The activation costs are fair... almost too fair. The sorcery speed of activations limits it, but in long games it has the opportunity to draw out some value.
Anchors -
Supports -
Flamewright
Description - It isn't going to be good in most decks. Cube it if you want something for Boros control or something that spits out artifacts to support an artifact matters archetype or creatures to support sacrifice cards. It's hardly a win condition in and of itself.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice, artifact matters
Forerunner of Slaughter
Description - 3/2 base stats are fine, and being able to give it haste if cast after turn 2 is nice. It doesn't really fill a hole you can't get in either of the colours though. It's unlikely you will have many other targets to give haste.
Anchors -
Supports - Colorless Matters
Frostburn Weird
Description - It can be ok for blue and / or red control decks that want to stall early, while providing a potential threat later. It survives attacking 3/x's, and while it isn't primarily aggressive in nature it can attack into opposing 2/2's, 1/3's and 0/4's profitably.
Anchors -
Supports -
Goblin Electromancer
Description - It's a clear signal card for a spells matters theme. Whether to include it for that theme depends on how you want that deck to play out. If it just plays its spells a turn earlier, a mana rock is more reliable than a vulnerable creature, and more decks will want mana rocks. If it is buying back spells or playing multiple spells a turn then this gets better. It does also help enable storm decks if that is something you are pushing. You might include this over more universally playable mana rocks if you want to push the spells matters deck rather than make it fight for mana rocks.
Anchors - Spells Matters
Supports - Storm
Goblin Legionnaire
Description - It's a flexible card. You get Ember Hauler in mono-red, and while the burn option is likely to be used more frequently, the damage prevention can sometimes save a critical creature, or let your biggest creature swing in with insurance.
Anchors -
Supports -
Horned Kavu
Description - If you are playing this as a multi-color card, you really want it to be signalling it as some sort of theme in the colors. It doesn't have flash, so the main draw is great stats for cost and getting to re-use an ETB creature. There are some great ones in the colors (Eternal Witness, Flametongue Kavu) but it is narrow. It's leaning towards Magical Christmas Land, but Burning-Tree Emissary into this on turn 2 is a great aggro start. You can always bounce a mana Elf or another cheap aggro creature after combat.
Anchors -
Supports - Self-bounce
Icefeather Aven
Description - Without morph, a 2/2 flyer for 2 is reasonable. 6 mana for morph + turn face up is a bit more than you want to pay for the effect compared to similar bounce effects on creatures, but you do get to activate it essentially at instant speed. It might be worth considering if you support morph, but it doesn't do much that mono color cards can't already do.
Anchors -
Supports -
Inkfathom Witch
Description - The base stats plus fear is bad for its cost compared to a lot of other evasive creatures. The additional ability however might provide some support to those other evasive creatures if they are in your cube, and can add another layer of decision making to blocking choices for your opponent. Perhaps its biggest drawback is that it is in two colors that have the least amount of good tokens to support a 'go wide' strategy.
Anchors -
Supports -
Izzet Guildmage
Description - It has potential as a value engine, but it requires a bit of mana to get going and is a bit durdly. It's probably not going to make it in faster cubes, and of course you need sufficient instants and sorceries at 2cc or less to consider it. You may also consider Nivix Guildmage.
Anchors -
Supports -
Kiora's Follower
Description - It's a bear, but it is a 2 mana accelerator which usually don't cut the mustard. It might be worth considering if you support green / blue ramp with Utopia Sprawl and similar spells. However there aren't often a lot of creatures you need to untap. In the ramp deck, it can give those creatures pseudo-vigilance which it might need to stabilise.
Anchors -
Supports - Ramp
Legion Lieutenant
Description - There might be just enough playable Vampires that you could throw the tribe a bone. Competing with other gold cards makes that a lot less likely though.
Anchors - Vampire tribal
Supports -
Mistmeadow Witch
Description - It's an anchor card for a flicker archetype. The two things working against it is the cost, and the onboard threat. If your opponent has cheap instant removal, they can save it until after you have activated, which can lead to a decent tempo loss. Because of the cost it isn't amazing in some matchups or in fast cubes, but if you can get the engine running it can be good with other solid ETB effects.
Anchors - Blink
Supports -
Nimbus Swimmer
Description - Skyrider Elf is not strictly better, in the sense that this can be become bigger than a 2/2 without splashing other colours, but it will serve better in that role most of the time. However Nimbus Swimmer can be a good card to ramp into, and is probably an indicator for the archetype.
Anchors - Ramp
Supports -
Nivix Guildmage
Description - The first ability provides filtering that control decks want, though it is a bit on the expensive side. Being able to copy any instant or sorcery is nice (compared to Izzet Guildmage) but 4 mana is a lot. It's a nice value effect, but its cost is going to be too slow for most cubes.
Anchors - Spells Matter
Supports -
Rakdos Guildmage
Description - It's slow, but flexible. In a long game the black ability can turn excess lands or other cards into removal or combat tricks against larger creatures, while also fueling any graveyard shenanigans you might support. The red ability is hard to use aggressively, but the tokens can be used as sacrifice fodder, or as blockers. Its usefulness is going to depend on the speed of your cube.
Anchors -
Supports -
Safehold Elite
Description - It's fine as an anti-aggro staller, and fits well as fodder for sacrifice decks. You can get similar effects elsewhere, so it may depend on how you count hybrid in your cube.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Scab-Clan Mauler
Description - It primarily belongs to RG aggro, but it is good in that deck. Needs enough aggro support at the 1 mana slot to get damage through. The menace on Stormblood Berserker is probably better than this if you want a mono-colored analogue.
Anchors -
Supports -
Shipwreck Singer
Description - You are forcing your opponent to do what they probably wanted to be doing already. You can support this by pairing it with first strikers or other punishing cards, and it is a punisher card itself, which might prevent attacks all by itself from opponents who have chosen to go wide.
Anchors -
Supports -
Simic Guildmage
Description - You need to be supporting a +1/+1 theme, preferably in green and blue, for this to be worth considering. Blue ability can be fun with white Pacifism type effects, or moving pump auras in the middle of combat. Also worth noting that it can 'counter' Control Magic effects.
Anchors - +1/+1 counters
Supports -
Skarrg Guildmage
Description - Turning excess lands into 4/4's is good enough upside you don't see elsewhere to make this worth considering. Could be good in ramp or with effects like Land Tax so you've got a stream of lands to keep smashing towards your opponent.
Anchors -
Supports -
Skyrider Elf
Description - At worst, it is 2/2 flyer for GU which is efficient, with the opportunity for further growth. Most cube owners will want more than just efficiency, but it does have +1/+1 counters if you are pushing that theme.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 Counters
Somnomancer
Description - It's a strict upgrade on Leonin Snarecaster, though worse than Azorius Arrester (apart from being hybrid). Only if you want to go deep on tempo creatures or you want both colors to have access.
Anchors -
Supports -
Steward of Valeron
Description - It's not a bad combo of abilities; attack, then ramp. Only if you really want to push ramp in GW.
Anchors -
Supports - Ramp
Thundersong Trumpeter
Description - It's fine in both roles, just not exciting.
Anchors -
Supports -
Tidehollow Strix
Description - It's ok, but almost no reason to play this over Baleful Strix and little reason to play both.
Anchors -
Supports -
Underworld Coinsmith
Description - On its own, it is a bear with a costly, but not inconsequential, form of reach. However, it demands that you support enchantment matters, as this will signal this to your drafters.
Anchors - Enchantments Matter
Supports -
Vizkopa Guildmage
Description - Supports a life gain matters theme. If you aren't supporting that theme, don't put it in your cube.
Anchors - Life gain Matters
Supports -
Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage
Description - It's super slow. Compared side by side, you can get similar results with Centaur Glade. While there is potential for this to copy something bigger, those tokens are few and far between at peasant (Rhino from Trostani's Summoner comes to mind). Might still be an option if you want to push tokens, or clearly signal it as a GW thing.
Anchors -
Supports -
Watchwolf
Description - It's good stats for cost, but it is vanilla. Only if you really want to push GW aggro.
Anchors -
Supports -
Weapons Trainer
Description - Fine base stats, so it might make the cut even if you don't draft any equipment. It's nice that it doesn't have to be equipped, so you can just drop the equipment and get the benefit straight away. Because the base stats are already decent, you don't need to go out of your way to add a whole bunch of extra equipment to your cube. Being an Ally is likely to just be incidental.
Anchors -
Supports - Equipment Matters
Wood Sage
Description - Bad in most decks, but it does do a couple of things some decks might like. While it does nothing the turn it comes down, it fills the graveyard 4 cards a turn which some decks will appreciate. And while the ability won't hit very often, you can always dig for whatever creature suits the current board state as long as you remember what is in your deck. Combines well with top of library cards, such as Sylvan Library, Sensei's Divining Top to make sure you hit while also clearing away stuff you know you don't need.
Anchors -
Supports -
Zhur-Taa Druid
Description - An accelerator while pinging away. You probably only want to consider it if you are taking a bloodthirst approach to your red / green section.
Anchors -
Supports -
Acidic Sliver - Tribal.
Azorius First-Wing - It's efficient, but you need more than that to consider it.
Bant Sureblade - You aren't going to have the depth of multicolour for this to matter.
Battlegate Mimic - You won't have the triggers.
Battlewise Hoplite - It doesn't do enough.
Boros Guildmage - There are better options.
Boros Swiftblade - The extra point of toughness is pretty marginal over Fencing Ace and Viashino Slaughtermaster that you wouldn’t allow this to take up a multicolor spot.
Cartel Aristocrat - Not enough value to consider over other options.
Cautery Sliver - Tribal.
Ceredon Yearling - Mildly efficient, just not interesting enough.
Chief of the Scale - You can get the effect for all of your creatures on Veteran Armorer.
Coiling Oracle - If it whiffs, it's an Elvish Visionary. If it hits, it lets you accelerate. But it leaves behind a bad body. Just play Sakura-Tribe Elder or Rampant Growth in mono green instead of taking up a multi-color spot.
Crysalline Sliver - Tribal.
Darkheart Sliver - Tribal.
Dimir Infiltrator - It's 2 mana for 1 unblockable power. It's a better blocker if you need one, but if you are in block mode while you are playing unblockable creatures, you've lost anyway, and most burn that would take out the smaller analogues will also take this out. The transmute doesn't add enough to consider this.
Dire Fleet Captain - Too tribal.
Disciple of Deceit - The ability is a powerful one, but it has to untap which is unwieldy. It is either likely to be blocked by something else that can survive and then swing back at you, or blocked by a couple of bears that will kill it.
Duskmantle Guildmage - On it's own it takes 7 mana to cause your opponent to lose 2 life, so you need the triggers to work in other ways. 3 mana is a lot to keep up while waiting for your opponent to throw a spell on the stack, or for their creatrures to die in combat. The likes of Blood Artist do that in mono color and with much less investment required.
Emberstrike Duo - Even if you consistently trigger it once each turn, it still isn't that good. And on average it is probably going to be less than once per turn.
Esper Stormblade - This won't matter in vast majority of cubes.
Ethercaste Knight - On its own it can be a 2/4 attacker on turn 3 which is decent, but not exciting enough to use up a multi-colour slot on.
Gaea's Skyfolk - Skyrider Elf or Icefeather Aven are strictly better.
Galina's Knight - Doesn't do enough.
Ghostflame Sliver - Tribal.
Gobhobbler Rats - Not good enough.
Goblin Deathraiders - 3 trample power isn't nothing, but it isn't significant enough when this will die to the first thing that it runs into. That would be the case if this was mono, let alone multi-colored.
Goblin Legionnaire - You get Ember Hauler in mono red, which is far more likely to be activated than the damage prevention.
Goblin Outlander - Not good enough.
Golgari Guildmage - Both abilities are too slow to matter.
Grixis Grimblade - Not going to trigger often enough.
Grizzled Leotau - Vanilla is not what you want to be doing with your multi-colour slots.
Groudling Pouncer - The activation is too conditional.
Hibernation Sliver - Too tribal.
Jund Hackblade - Rarely going to be relevant.
Llanowar Dead - It doesn't do enough.
Llanowar Knight - It doesn't do enough.
Lurking Informant - Dakra Mystic serves a similar role better.
Marchesa's Smuggler - You can get mono blue versions. Even Amphin Pathamge is probably better, as with a 3 mana activation the haste isn't going to be operational very often.
Marsh Goblins - Bad.
Medicine Runner - It isn’t going to matter often enough.
Merfolk Mistbinder - There aren't enough plyable merfolk to make this worth it.
Mourning Thrull - It doesn't do enough.
Nacatl Outlander - It doesn't do enough.
Naya Hushblade - Won't be relevant often enough to matter.
New Prahv Guildmage - Granting your creatures flying isn't bad, but is intensive and in colours where you probably have the highest prevalence of flyers. The detain ability is too expensive to be of much use, even if it targets all permanents.
Nightsky Mimic - It isn't going to trigger often enough to matter.
Orzhov Guildmage - Unless your games go very long and you have a bunch mana, pay 1 more mana and get Drana's Emissary.
Puresight Merrow - To be able to untap this, you need to attack, and it's just a bear. While the filtering is nice, there are better cards to filter with.
Putrid Warrior - It doesn't do enough compared to other options.
Rakdos Shred-Freak - Better options.
Razorfin Hunter - There are decks that would play it, but Gelectrode is far more interesting.
Relentless Raptor - It suits Boros aggro decks and would fit in there just fine, but there are a lot of other options that can fill that role while being more flexible.
Rip-Clan Crasher - Doesn't do enough as a gold card.
Riverfall Mimic - Won't trigger anywhere near often enough.
Scarwood Goblins - Bad.
Selesnya Evangel - It's going to be too slow for most cubes and ties up 2 creatures, and only costing a single mana might look worthwhile to create an army of tokens, but it is too conditional.
Shadowstorm Vizier - Not going to trigger often enough.
Shivan Zombie - Too narrow.
Shorecrasher Mimic - Not going to be triggered enough.
Somnomancer - Apart from being hybrid, Azorius Arrester is better.
Sootstoke Kindler - Doesn't do enough.
Spined Sliver - Tribal.
Spiteflame Witch - It doesn't do enough.
Thoughtcutter Agent - It doesn't do enough.
Tithe Drinker - It's fine, but you can get the effect in mono colour.
Valeron Outlander - Too narrow.
Vedalken Ghoul - 2 mana and gold for a mostly unblocked 1/1 creature? Nope.
Vedalken Outlander - Too narrow.
Victual Sliver - Tribal.
Vodalian Zombie - Too narrow.
Wayward Servant - While there are few white zombie reward cards, there isn't enough density to really put this up for consideration.
Wojek Halberdiers - It's fine, you just aren't going to consider it over other options.
Woodlot Crawler - Too narrow.
Woodlurker Mimic - It won't trigger often enough.
Yavimaya Barbarian - Too narrow.
Zombie Outlander - Too narrow.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Lightning Helix
Description - On pure power, this is an excellent card. Removal, reach and a buffer all at the same time. The reason you might not see it in lists is not because it isn't powerful, but is considered by some as a boring card. You can get burn (the main reason you care about this card) in red without needing to spend a gold slot.
Anchors -
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Agony Warp
Description - It has flexibility. It can act just like a 2 colour Last Gasp to take out an opposing creature. Or you can cast before combat to kill a blocker, and turn down another blocker that would otherwise trade, either forcing a 2 for 1 or pushing damage through. Or cast mid-combat after blocks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Azorius Charm
Description - Cheap enough and flexible enough modes to consider. In go wide decks the lifelink can give you a decent buff if you alpha swing, while also being reasonable removal. At worst, you can always cycle it.
Anchors -
Supports - Life Gain Matters
Boros Charm
Description - Each mode brings enough to the table that combined with the flexibility this is a decent package. The first mode supplies reach, and unless the other modes are relevant you may hold onto it and cast this mode as a finisher. The second and third apply in similar situations, either letting your creatures survive an alpha strike made against you, or helping you make one yourself. The second mode has fringe benefit of preventing artifact and enchantment destruction as well.
Anchors -
Supports -
Curse of Chains
Description - Reasonable removal across two colours. Each colour has options which are arguably better (activated abilities can still be played, though the tapping can make timing awkward for your opponent), but this isn't far behind and the hybrid lets it fit more decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Gerrard's Verdict
Description - It's one of few 2 mana discard spells that creates advantage, with the upside that if your opponent has excess lands it makes the decision to discard them harder.
Anchors -
Supports -
Izzet Charm
Description - Flexible, with each of the modes being useful in a variety of situations. At its worst, it can always be a poor burn spell, while offering support to graveyard matters themes with the final mode.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Lim-Dul's Vault
Description - It's card disadvantage, but is still a great way to tutor at peasant, particularly as an instant. It can help you find the answer or threat that you need, and set up the next 5 draws, lettng you play out your plays.
Anchors -
Supports -
Manamorphose
Description - A one-shot mana fixer without costing you a card. This can be good if you want to support multi-colour decks, and it can also be a Storm ritual if that is what you are looking for, drop an Illusory Angel or support surge spells.
Anchors -
Supports - Storm, Spells Matter
Pit Fight
Description - Reasonable hybrid card, although if you are playing red you are more likely to pick almost any burn spell over this. It's best upside is that it is instant which is not common on fight spells.
Anchors -
Supports -
Savage Twister
Description - Can be a board clearer for midrange or ramp decks to clear out opposing aggro creatures, or for a green splash in a red sweeper deck.
Anchors -
Supports - Sweeper, Ramp
Selesnya Charm
Description - It's a flexible card, where each mode is fine on its own. The token is perhaps a smidge under where you would like it to be, but the flexibility of also being a pump spell or a removal spell means it will always have a role to play.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sigil Blessing
Description - It's unassuming, but fine for go wide decks while at least being a Giant Growth if you only have one thing on the table.
Anchors -
Supports -
Simic Charm
Description - Nearly every mode is relevant that you wouldn't be unhappy playing this in most green blue decks. Win combat, counter removal, or bounce a creature if you need to buy time.
Anchors -
Supports -
Terminate
Description - It kills stuff dead. It contains a lot of raw power. The main reason you won't see it in lists is because many cube owners want their gold slots to be more interesting than this, and while better than most mono-black versions, it isn't by much.
Anchors -
Supports -
Zealous Persecution
Description - It will be conditional on the board state, but it can really turn around combat, whether you are the beatdown or not. Sometimes you might be able to cast before combat to remove 1 toughness blockers altogether before swinging.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Call of the Conclave
Description - It just gives you a vanilla creature which you can get with Watchwolf. It's a good rate, with downside if it is bounced, and upside if you play it with specific token boosters. But it's boring.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens
Cauldron Haze
Description - Assumption without having played it personally: It can be an interesting trick to save your team during combat, retrigger ETB effects, or get extra mileage out of sacrifice effects. It does require some timing and the right board state to make sure it isnt 'regen a creature and put a -1/-1 counter on it', but isn't too difficult to get value.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Drown in Filth
Description - If you are pushing graveyard matters decks in BG this can be an anchor card. If you aren't pushing a graveyard deck, it doesn't have a place in your cube. Marginally better the more lands that sacrifice for effect you include in your cube.
Anchors - Graveyard Matters
Supports -
Fate Transfer
Description - You need to be pretty deep on +1/+1 counters throughout your cube, but if you do, this can be a powerful card to steal counters from your opponent. It moves other counters, but you aren't likely to have many others.
Anchors - +1/+1 Counters
Supports -
Golgari Charm
Description - You wouldn't play this if it was just a single mode, but the flexibility of having all three will give it something to do in most games.
Anchors -
Supports -
Grisly Salvage
Description - You would probably only include it in your cube if you push graveyard themes in BG, but is still playable if you are just filtering for a card you need.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Hidden Stockpile
Description - It's a sacrifice outlet and a reward all in one. However it is going to be inconsistent, and it only works on your turn so you can't chump block.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Mask of Riddles
Description - It has a unique effect, providing both evasion and a saboteur effect. While the combination is unique, something like Curiosity gives you the biggest draw of this sort of card without needing to dip into gold cards.
Anchors -
Supports -
Scarscale Ritual
Description - It has a pretty meh baseline. You would want to seed ways to take advantage of it to consider it and reward synergies or careful play, such as Undying creatures, or casting before sacrificing a creature that can survive the counter placement.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Secret Plans
Description - You need a fairly big critical mass of morph creatures, preferably in blue and green, to consider this. It's only good in that deck, but you might consider making it an anchor card.
Anchors - Morph
Supports -
Seeds of Strength
Description - It might see play in other decks, but probably the only reason you would play this over other pump options is if you have a contingent of creatures with Heroic in your cube.
Anchors -
Supports - Heroic
Sterling Grove
Description - It might have a place if you are really pushing an enchantment theme, especially if supported by enchantment creatures to take better advantage of the shroud. The tutoring can help particularly in conjunction with the likes of Banishing Light and other enchantment based answer cards.
Anchors - Enchantment Matters
Supports -
Sundering Growth
Description - It's mostly a Disenchant / Naturalize, but the flexibility of the hybrid can be misleading, as requiring double of one colour if you aren't Selesnya will limit your plays. While most cubes have a reasonable number of tokens, the populate is going to be a miss sometimes, but your mileage may vary.
Anchors -
Supports -
Thopter Foundry
Description - It's really a case of having enough other artifacts in your cube to sacrifice, and you would need to support the 'artifact deck' to make it worthwhile. Combos with Sword of the Meek, but that is not great on its own. Can also be friends with Epochrasite and Perilous Myr. It's not going to be worth it unless you have enough of these other cards to draft around it.
Anchors -
Supports - Artifacts
Turn to Mist
Description - ok support for the blink archetype, while still being a maginally playable card elsewhere (flicker out attackers).
Anchors - Blink
Supports -
Angelic Shield - Doesn't do enough.
Batwing Brute - Neither mode alone is worth inclusion. Together is ok, but it isn't enough to get this over the line and into your cube as a gold card.
Captain's Maneuver - It's a lot of mana when you have access to Harm's Way and similar in mono color.
Castigate - The exile isn't significant enough that you would pay two and force a gold card with other options in mono-black.
Chemister's Trick - Not good enough.
Colossal Might - It's not better enough than mono options to consider spending a gold slot on it. Predator's Strike is the closest analogy.
Conjurer's Ban - Too narrow for cube.
Countersquall - The lifeloss isn't good enough upside compared to the restriction.
Crystallization - White has better options.
Dark Heart of the Woods - Too narrow, Zuran Orb is more flexible.
Demonspine Whip - It could have some upside in some decks, but you have to spend 4 mana before you are starting to benefit. The mana investment it demands might be ok in slow decks that can take advantage of it, but being multi-colored restricts it too much.
Desperate Stand - The base effect is not better than what you can get at mono-colour, and a gold strive cost is hard to meet.
Destructive Revelry - The 2 damage over Naturalise does not warrant wasting a gold slot on this.
Diabolic Vision - It lets you dig, but it doesn't clear cards you don't want. Options like Impulse mean this is not worth a slot.
Dimir Charm - The first two modes are too narrow, and the third is not worth the card disadvantage.
Double Cleave - It doesn’t stand out among other options.
Dramatic Rescue - It doesn't do enough over mono-coloured bounce options.
Energy Arc - It's rarely better than a Holy Day, which you aren't playing either.
Executioner's Swing - Too restrictive.
Favor of the Overbeing - It's fine on a GU creature. Which will be almost never. Which means it is bad.
Fists of the Demigod - Too narrow.
Gerrard's Command - This is an ok card, but it's not enough extra over mono-green pump options. Savage Surge is the closest analogy if you want an untap surprise blocker.
Ground Assault - Takes too long to be better than other options, especially as a gold sorcery.
Gruul Charm - One mode is super narrow and the others don't do enough.
Heroes' Reunion - You can get better options in mono that you also don't want.
Hindering Light -
Too narrow for a gold card.
Hull Breach - It has flexibility going for it, but it isn't going to be better than Naturalise often enough, which is also instant speed.
Hydroform - While you could use this as a surprise blocker, a 3/3 is going to die to enough things that it isn't worth losing a land over. On the attack, it's a pretty conditional Lava Spike.
Inside Out - Unless you really want the hybrid, this costs twice Twisted Image.
Kaervek's Purge - You aren't going to want to play this over Terminate.
Kin-Tree Invocation - It needs to be at least a 3/3, preferably more, to be worth the downside that you can't cast it on curve, or at any time you don't have a board presence. It might be nice as a turn 3 play following a Wall of Blossoms, but it doesn't seem worth pursuing.
Leap of Flame - The combination of the effect isn't terrible but not worth it on its own, and gold replicate costs are awkward.
Magefire Wings - Doesn’t do enough as a gold card.
Malicious Advice - Not worth the life loss.
Martial Glory - Doesn't do enough.
Necrogenesis - Repeat 2 mana for a 1/1 is not a bad deal, but the requirement for cards to be in the graveyard marginalises it too much.
Orzhov Charm - The Vendetta mode is going to be the most played option, which you can get for a single black mana. The other effects are going to be rarely played.
Overrule - The extra mana over Condescend is significant, and the life gain doesn't add enough.
Paranoid Delusions - You won't be making a mill deck with this card.
Prismatic Boon - Not efficient enough.
Psychic Drain - The niche that it fits in is probably one you don't need filled. It can fill your graveyard while giving you a life buffer, but otherwise doesn't affect the board and there are better cards for both elements in graveyard decks.
Rakdos Charm - None of the modes are effective enough.
Reborn Hope - Too narrow.
Reknit - Better protection effects available.
Ride DOwn - Just get better removal in the first place. Especially as a gold card.
Sangrite Backlash - If you can't kill their creature, it is bad, and if your creature would survive, it becomes really easy to kill.
Sealed Fate - Doesn't do enough.
Search Warrant - Doesn't do enough.
Shattering Blow - It's hybrid, but the effect itself is still narrow.
Shield of the Righteous - If you want that effect, just get Wall of Frost. This doesn't provide enough value elsewhere.
Simoon - Electrickery exists.
Sleeper's Robe - Mask of Riddles is a permanent.
Spatial Binding - There isn't a deck that cares about this.
Squee's Embrace - Doesn't do enough.
Surge of Strength - The additional discard makes this difficult to consider.
Swerve - Too narrow.
Teleportal - While it could be powerful, being a gold card it is forcing your decks to play in a particular way, and it needs too many things to go right.
Trace of Abundance - Doesn't do enough to consider over mono-green options.
Treasure Find - It's worse than Regrowth, and not something you want to spend a gold slot on.
Vitalizing Cascade - Bad.
Warped Physique - Too inconsistent to be good.
Wings of Aesthir - Not good enough as a gold card.
Wings of Hope - Not good enough as a gold card.
Kitchen Finks
Description - One of peasants best 'value' creatures before even considering potential synergies. Being a 3/2 for 3 that comes back for free as a 2/1 is already excellent in any deck before you toss on 4 points of life gain. Aggro gets to keep attacking even if it trades the first time. Control gets a life gain boost as well as potentially getting a 2 for 1 off trading against incoming aggro guys. Most cubes inherently have synergistic ways of getting even more value, such as putting +1/+1 counters on it so it keeps coming back, or flickering it to reset it while gaining more life. PLUS it has a flexible casting cost, and goes in just about every green or white deck.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters, bounce / flicker
Reflector Mage
Description - An excellent card in virtually any deck that can play it. Aggro gets to put a reasonable stat body on the board while reducing the opponents board; great for aggro to push the advantage. It puts a blocker on the board while setting back your opponents team; great for control decks on defense. Usually they will have something else to play, but if they are in top deck mode and draw a land the next turn, it can be extra punishing.
Anchors -
Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Psychatog
Description - It can threaten to end games out of nowhere. An attrition / control deck can get a 'tog later in the game that is hard to deal with. Even an aggro deck with a good start can threaten a tog with power 5 or greater early in the game; sometimes a weak card or two in your hand is worth running it into blockers you want to remove. Free discard as well as being able to use the graveyard as a resource makes it a fine card for Dimir graveyard focused decks.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Shadowmage Infiltrator
Description - It isn't great against the decks that can block it, but unless your opponent is playing monoblack you are still going to be able to sneak him past sometimes. Evasive damage and card draw every turn is very strong.
Anchors -
Supports -
Shardless Agent
Description - Just a straight up value card that provides plenty of it. A 2/2 for 3 is not great on it's own, but when it comes with 'draw a cheap business spell and play it for free' it becomes very good. It doesn't work as well with reactive spells, but it is always a 'may' ability.
Anchors -
Supports -
Trygon Predator
Description - A decent option for giving decks ways to repeat deal with artifacts and enchantments. The creature is decent on its own, so it's a low opportunity cost to include artifact / enchantment destruction without a subuptimal card if there aren't any targets.
Anchors -
Supports -
Wall of Denial
Description - It's fine at completely blanking most attackers, and can buy Azorius decks time. Go wide decks can attack around it because it has 0 power, but it is eschewed in some cubes for being a bit blunt, and decks that want to rely on a lower number but larger threats might get stonewalled. If you include it, you might consider edict effects or deathtouch creatures / combat tricks as additional ways to deal with it.
Anchors - Control
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Ashenmoor Gouger
Description - It's not subtle, but it's effective enough in an aggro deck that wants to smash with big dumb guys.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
Bloodwater Entity - 2
Description - Good baseline for what you are paying, and while it doesn't generate card advantage, the card quality is still decent, as well as guaranteeing a prowess trigger.
Anchors - Spells Matter
Supports -
Boggart Ram-Gang
Description - Solid in the majority of RG decks, the haste makes it smash quickly, and the wither can break through defensive creatures. In a pinch it can sit back and threaten to shrink an incoming fatty to the point where your other creatures can deal with it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Bounding Krasis
Description - It's a fine value creature. Being able to flash it a 3/3 for 3 is solid for any Simic deck. You can surprise block, and potentially untap something else for additional surprise. Or you can cast at the end of your opponents turn to give you an unexpected attacker the following turn while tapping down something they just cast. If you want to look for a downside, aside from flash / go it doesn't really support a specific archetype if that is what you are looking for in your gold cards.
Anchors -
Supports -
Catacomb Sifter
Description - A decent value creature, giving you 3/4 worth of stats for 3. It points to a sacrifice archetype, though at times you might get multiple triggers in the same turn, and multiple scry 1 triggers don't always stack well if you've already found a card you want to keep on top. It's still fine value even in decks that don't have sacrifice elements.
Anchors -
Supports -
Drana's Emissary
Description - A fine value creature, providing some extra reach for Orzhov aggro decks, or providing some inevitability to a control deck. You can go a little deeper and support it more specifically with life gain matters.
Anchors -
Supports - Life gain matters
Dreg Mangler
Description - 3/3 haste for 3 is reasonable on its own. On that basis, the scavenge can be considered a bonus when you have the 5 mana and the right board state, while also being marginal support for self-mill / graveyard themes.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Elusive Krasis
Description - This mutant fish comes down as an ok blocker, and presumably shouldn't be hard to get up to 3 power to swing in with. It might not be an ideal top deck late in the game, but it can break through board stalls.
Anchors -
Supports -
Enigma Drake
Description - You don’t need to really heavy on the spells to make this decent. The 4 toughness puts it out the range of some of the more common burn spells, and lets it block reasonably well even if it's power isn't huge. It doesn't take a huge amount of effort to make it decent.
Anchors -
Supports -
Fanatic of Xenagos
Description - Either mode is reasonable. It doesn't support anything particular, it's just decent value for RG aggro or midrange.
Anchors -
Supports -
Gelectrode
Description - It's a fine spells matters signal card. Even if 2 points in a turn is only occasional, it still increases the number of creatures you can clear from the opposite side of the board, particularly when combined with combat tricks.
Anchors - Spells Matters
Supports -
Hellhole Flailer
Description - It's often going to come down as a 4/3 for 3 which is solid. 3 toughness means it isn't going to too difficult to deal with, but it does come with built in reach. Don't count on it doing more than 4 damage, but occasionally a pump spell or equipment can give it an extra boost.
Anchors -
Supports -
Lorescale Coatl
Description - It's hard to say it is an archetype, but this is among a few UG cards that reward you for drawing more cards. It's solid, and can attack as a 3/3 for 3 on curve, but has the potential to get large, particularly if supported by looters, cantrips or other card draw. Obvious support card if you care about +1/+1 counters.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Lyev Skyknight
Description - A 3 power flyer for 3 without a drawback (except for low toughness) is fine out of the gate, and the detain helps you race, getting in a creature when you may have had poor attacks, while preventing a crack back before you start swinging in with your flyer.
Anchors -
Supports -
Nyx Weaver
Description - It's a clear archetype signal for graveyard matters themes, particularly for pushing the grindy versions. It fills the yard, and can get back a key card for the deck that gets milled away.
Anchors - Graveyard Matters
Supports -
Obelisk Spider
Description - If you are looking for a defensive Golgari creature, this is a decent option and acts better than a 2/4 in that role. The -1/-1 counter stacks with combat damage, so it can take out x/2's, and there are situations where the -1/-1 counters really disincentivize your opponent attacking. E.g. Two 3/3's which would normally just attack into a 2/4. Bad at attacking, but you would cube it if your Golgari decks spend time setting up graveyard interactions or are otherwise grindy.
Anchors -
Supports -
Plaxcaster Frogling
Description - It's a 3/3 for 3 with a few upsides; inherently benefits from +1/+1 'lords', can give at least itself shroud, and can share around its counters if there is a benefit to doing so. If your +1/+1 decks are grindy, the shroud can help protect your creatures as you go tall.
Anchors - +1/+1 counters
Supports -
Plumeveil
Description - You are going to kill a decent number of incoming creatures for your 3 mana, while providing a nice blocker to deter future attacks. Gives Azorius control decks a nice tool.
Anchors - Control
Supports -
Rhox War Monk
Description - It's a fine collection of stats and abilities for 3 mana. About the best on offer for this 3 colour combination, but it isn't likely to make you reach for that third colour unless you have good fixing.
Anchors -
Supports -
Shambling Remains
Description - It's pretty much a straight up aggro card for Rakdos. It might be a fringe inclusion in self-mill decks, but if you include this in your cube it is because you want to beat face.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
Shapers of Nature
Description - The activated abilities aren't cheap, but you start with an acceptable stat line for the cost. Works well on its own, while being a card that benefits from a +1/+1 counter theme.
Anchors - +1/+1 counters
Supports -
Skyknight Legionnaire
Description - It's fine for Boros aggro, if a little unexciting.
Anchors -
Supports -
Spellheart Chimera
Description - A fine signal card for the spells matters deck, with a decent combo of scaling power, evasion, and the ability to steamroll over spirit tokens or whatever chumpers the opponent might put in the way. The 3 toughness might make it slightly vulnerable, but if protected and your opponent has limited ways to deal with it, it has the potential to win games single-handedly.
Anchors - Spells Matters
Supports -
Sprouting Thrinax
Description - Best in class for these 3 colours. A hard to cast 3/3 for 3 wouldn't be good enough, but there is plenty of value in the death trigger.
Anchors -
Supports -
Storm Fleet Sprinter
Description - It hits for 2 every turn including when it comes into play which is fine, especially if you can give it some pants to wear. If you want to consider it a downside, while the haste is unique, you can get mono-blue unblockables instead of using up a gold slot.
Anchors -
Supports -
Void Grafter
Description - Fine value card. 2/4 for 3 mana with flash is going to jump in front of Borderland Marauders and the like often enough for you to feel good about it. 3 mana is a lot to hold up, but you can use the ETB trigger to counter removal or other undesirable effects.
Anchors -
Supports - Flash / Go
Wee Dragonauts
Description - I'm not sure where this sits in the scale of Izzet spells matters cards. Preferred over Mercurial Geists?
Anchors - Spells Matters
Supports -
Whirler Virtuoso
Description - Solid enough baseline. You probably want to have either an energy theme or an artifact theme in these colours, but you'd still play it in the majority of generic blue/red decks.
Anchors -
Supports - Energy
Wilt-Leaf Cavaliers
Description - Decent combo of stats and ability, able to attack well on curve while holding off attackers. It's fine as a Selesnya aggro / midrange filler if that is what you are looking for.
Anchors -
Supports -
Woolly Thoctar
Description - It's a vanilla, but it makes up for it by being massive if you can cast it on curve, and even at a turn or 2 behind it still matches up with other creatures well enough.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Bane Alley Broker
Description - It's a Merfolk Looter that costs 1 more, can block better, can 'draw' cards if you need to recover them later, with downside of not supporting graveyard themes like most Looters. It's seems fine for grindy games, but it isn't a standout.
Anchors -
Supports -
Blood-Cursed Knight
Description - A 4/3 lifelinker for 3 mana is amazing, with a failcase that is underwhelming. You need enough support for an enchantment theme in both black and white to consider it.
Anchors - Enchantment Matters
Supports -
Chronicler of Heroes
Description - 3/3 for 3, draw a card is nice value. You need to be heavily supporting it with other +1/+1 creatures however, and it does compete with similar reward cards.
Anchors - +1/+1 counters
Supports -
Diregraf Captain
Description -It's a bit lacklustre on it's own; you can get better deathtouchers in mono-black. However it obviously supports zombie tribal, though you may have to reach a little to get enough blue zombies.
Anchors - Zombie Tribal
Supports -
Duergar Hedge-Mage
Description - It's nice flexibility, but it isn't particularly amazing.
Anchors -
Supports -
Flayer Drone
Description - An unconditional 3 power first striker isn't something you usually get for 3 mana, however options in red like Splatter Thug or Blood Ogre are likely to be preferred mono-options despite their conditions.
Anchors -
Supports - Colorless Matters
Fleetfoot Panther
Description - It's nice stats for the cost, and being able to flash it in so you can surprise block might even be worth bouncing something without an ETB ability. It can also save something from removal, but ultimately this is pretty conditional given that it forces you into Selesnya.
Anchors -
Supports - Bounce
Hearthfire Hobgoblin
Description - It's a narrow archetype card, but if you provide enough support for a pants / double strike archetype (auras and pump spells) it is fine.
Anchors - Pants / Doublestrike
Supports -
Herald of Kozilek
Description - It's 3 mana for a 2/4 which is reasonable. However you really need to pushing a colorless / artifact matters theme to consider it.
Anchors - Colorless Matters / Artifact Matters
Supports -
Immerwolf
Description - There probably aren't enough wolves or werewolves in most cubes to warrant this, but it isn't beyond reason to go extra deep and play all the best red and green ones. It's theorycubing, but you are probably sacrificing some other archetypes / power to make that happen.
Anchors - Wolf Tribal
Supports -
Iroa's Champion
Description - It's a narrow archetype card, but if you provide enough support for a pants / double strike archetype (auras and pump spells) it is fine.
Anchors - Pants / Doublestrike
Supports -
Izzet Staticaster
Description - The best comparison is Gelectrode. This can block without dying, it can take out small opposing token swarms, and you can flash it in midcombat to block and / or surprise ping something. Downside is that it can only hit players, and comapred to Gelectrode can never ping something twice in a turn. The reach on Gelectrode is probably enough to outweigh the upsides here (as well as being a clearer signal for an archetype), but it is close.
Anchors -
Supports -
Joraga Auxiliary
Description - It's about as grindy as it gets. It can do some work in a board stall situation, but it does require two other targets. You would need a slower cube to give it the breathing room it needs to shine.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Kathari Bomber
Description - Not sure what to make of this. Not imagining many play situations where I'm excited to play it, but it can create 4 goblin tokens if it gets through.
Anchors -
Supports -
Minister of Impediments
Description - Compared to the mono-white versions that cost one mana (Gideon's Lawkeeper, Goldmeadow Harrier), at least there is no activation cost. It's fine, but not particularly exciting.
Anchors -
Supports -
Necrotic Sliver
Description - There are few peasant legal cards that can destroy any permanent, so this is likely to make it into most Orzhov decks without any tribal support. However, be aware it is a questionable design choice, as drafters might think a sliver tribal deck is supported.
Anchors -
Supports -
Nivix Cyclops
Description - It's an ok support card for spells matters. It probably blocks a little better than other options (thus keeping you alive to cast more spells), but it can't punch through as easily, so is a little less desirable than the rest of the field.
Anchors - Spells Matters
Supports -
Noggle Bandit
Description - How good it is will depend on how many creatures with defender are in your cube. Most aren't going to have a huge amount, making this close to a Phantom Warrior with a flexible casting cost, but you will be sad when it faces a Wall of Blossoms et al.
Anchors -
Supports -
Noggle Hedge-Mage
Description - The blue effect lets you develop your board while getting attackers through. The red effect only hitting players isn't so great and probably won't be making most mono-red decks, so you might consider it for your cube as a blue+ card if you want more tempo effects.
Anchors -
Supports - Tempo
Qasali Ambusher
Description - A 3 mana 2/3 reach is already on the 'meh' side before you factor in that it is a gold card. What makes the difference is being able to play it for free. You are going to get attacked at some point in the game, allowing you to play this for free if you have the right land base. Playing out a 2 or 3 drop and then dropping this for free sounds like good board development. A bit reliant on what your opponent is doing, but if your opponent is on the back foot then you are probably winning anyway.
Anchors -
Supports -
Quillspike
Description - This is quirky and needs the right environment to really make the most of it, but it already plays nicely with some commonly played cards. Devoted Druid turns this into an arbitrarily large creature, while also being friends with Kitchen Finks and Murderous Redcap. You'll probably want to go a bit deeper than that to consider it though.
Anchors -
Supports -
Rendclaw Trow
Description - It's slanted to control, but the combination of wither and persist can help deal with a variety of board states. Aggro getting you down? Deal with that 3/2 and 2/1 on consecutive turns. Sentinel Spider coming in? Wither it down over a couple of turns while trying to find extra blockers. It isn't as hot on the attack though.
Anchors -
Supports -
Renegade Rallier
Description - It can provide some value, but it is a bit clunky. Devoted Crop-Mate is a similar mono-colored option that can be played without anything in your graveyard.
Anchors -
Supports -
Restless Apparition
Description - Threat of activation can help you get through, but in that case it is a 2 power creature for 3 mana. The pump plus persist give it just enough to warrant consideration; threatening to pump it twice in the late game can make for difficult choices on defense.
Anchors -
Supports -
Rogue Refiner
Description - Forget the energy, this is just a fine value creature. Doesn't really support anything specific, apart from being a bounce / blink target.
Anchors -
Supports -
Shambling Shell
Description - It's a self-mill card that gets itself into the graveyard easily. Using your draw step to get a +1/+1 counter on something just to fill your yard is probably a trap, but 3 power means it should be able to trade with attackers. Less generically powerful than something like Dreg Mangler, but you might prefer this if you are specifically looking for graveyard fillers.
Anchors - Graveyard Matters
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Silkbind Faerie
Description - It can serve in a control deck, with the option of attacking if the coast is clear, and then tapping down their best attacker while being able to block small fries. 2 mana investment is a bit more than you want to pay. The easiest comparison is Goldmeadow Harrier which is cheaper and can lock something down at any time, it doesn't need to be tapped first. The Faerie can get in chip damage and tap down stuff that would block it. Faeries can wear pants and attack while still locking down the opponent and being able to block with its pants on. Goldmeadow Harrier is the 'better' card, but you might consider this for some of the niche interactions. Bonus niche interaction - Viridian Bow.
Anchors -
Supports -
Souls of the Faultless
Description - It's narrow and has a tricky casting cost, but it does provide a signal for an Orzhov bleed / control deck. It does make it hard for an opponent to attack into you profitably with ground troops, and even when you get to the point where you have to chump, you get at least an 8 point life swing.
Anchors -
Supports - Control, extort / drain
Trestle Troll
Description - The regeneration is expensive, but it blanks most x/1's, slows down aggro ground and sky assaults, and when they've got creatures that could break through, you can lean on the regeneration. Still, it fills a niche that most cubes don't need filling.
Anchors -
Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an
effect.
Behemoth Sledge
Description - Generally considered the best Selesnya card. Power boost plus trample helps trade up, and if you were about to lose the lifelink can really help turn the game in your favour. It is comparable to Loxodon Warhammer, though the toughness boost here can actually be more important than the 3rd point of power, reducing the times you have to re-equip due to trading. Might be excluded from some cubes for power reasons.
Anchors -
Supports -
Electrolyze
Description - Excellent burn spell; if you are playing Izzet, there is almost no reason you wouldn't include it in your deck. At worst it is a cantripping burn to your opponents dome, but it is usually going to take out at least 1 creature, and being an instant gives you plenty of scope to get more advantage. It's in the most prominent 'spells matters' colours, making the cantrip even more relevant.
Anchors -
Supports - Spells Matter
Fire Covenant
Description - One of the best Rakdos spells, to the point of feeling unfair and similar to 1-sided Wrath of God in some games. In an aggressive deck where you are the beatdown, the lifeloss is probably inconsequential and clears blockers for you to win the game. On the opposite side, if you are playing Rakdos control against aggro, sometimes 6 or so life is going to be worth it to clear multiple creatures and stabilise.
Anchors -
Supports - Sweeper Control
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Blightning
Description - It's not tricky, just fine value that most Rakdos decks would be happy to play. It gives aggro some reach while keeping them off their bigger plays, and control gets to gain card advantage while hitting the dome.
Anchors -
Supports -
Mortify
Description - It's a fine piece of removal, particularly allowing you to have enchantment removal without dedicating a slot just to that. Power level is fine, but mostly not played to make room for more interesting gold cards.
Anchors -
Supports -
Putrefy
Description - Decent removal, providing artifact removal without being dead if the opponent isn't playing artifacts. Power level is fine, but may not see play to make way for more interesting gold cards.
Anchors -
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Abzan Charm
Description - It's a solid range of options that can suit different game states. It kills a decent range of targets, can help draw you into more threats if you are at parity or dig for answers, or help win combat while leaving you with a bigger creature.
Anchors -
Supports -
Armadillo Cloak / Unflinching Courage
Description - A solid aura, it can really take a game away if it sticks. You give the creature added survivability with the stats, the ability to punch through with trample, and the life gain can help you recover if you are behind. Both are very close, but Armadillo Cloak upside of stacking with creatures that already have lifelink, while Unflinching Courage can sometimes help you survive lethal combat damage (lifelink happens during combat, but if you are 0 before this triggers, it's too late). While you don't have to pay an equip cost here, Behemoth Sledge is the better option from a pure power perspective.
Anchors -
Supports - Voltron
Consume Strength
Description - A decent combat trick, with the ability to affect two different blocks. Occasional bonus mode pre-combat to clear a blocker and swing in with your now bigger thing.
Anchors -
Supports -
Fires of Yavimaya
Description - Giving all your creatures haste can force your opponent to play much more defensively, especially if they are on a low life total. Great if you can curve out into sizable 4 and 5 drops. The once-off pump can always threaten to save a key creature, and gives this something to do if you are behind and losing.
Anchors -
Supports - Midrange / Aggro
Firespout
Description - Some players consider this a red spell to sweep the ground, with the green being upside. It will vary from cube to cube, but 3 damage can be the sweet spot, especially against aggro decks sporting the likes of Thrill-Kill Assassin, Splatter Thug and Brazen Wolves.
Anchors -
Supports -
Naya Charm
Description - Flexible options, and it doesn't seem unreasonable that you would find a use for it in most board states.
Anchors -
Supports -
Pillory of the Sleepless
Description - It's a fine removal spell while providing some slow reach, but fairly interchangeable with other removal. You might lean towards it if you really want to push the 'bleed' archetype.
Anchors -
Supports -
Recoil
Description - It's a fine tempo play that doesn't leave you at card disadvantage. In the late game it can function as removal if the opponent has an empty hand.
Anchors -
Supports -
Roil Spout
Description - The base mode is a fine tempo play without effectively costing you a card, with some solid upside in the late game. Once you hit 7 lands, bouncing a creature while adding a hasty 4/4 to the board can be a big board state change.
Anchors -
Supports -
Soul Manipulation
Description - You can make a comparison to Exclude which is a fine card. This does have downside of not always being able to play it on turn 3 for full benefit as you may not always have a decent target in the yard, but at worst it is still a 1-for-1. It gets a bit better in the late game when you have more choice of targets in your graveyard, making it more likely you will 'draw' a relevant card when compared to Exclude.
Anchors -
Supports -
Snakeform
Description - Pseudo-removal in colours that don't get a lot of strong removal. Let's you kill just about everything as long as you have a blocker, or cast it on an opposing blocker to win a combat. At it's worst, it reduces damage a creature would deal you to 1 for the turn while cantripping. Gives you a couple of niche applications as well that standard kill spells don't; gets around indestructible, trumps death triggers ala Pelakka Wurm, or can even just turn off triggered / static abilities for a turn (e.g. turning off Blood Artist when a bunch of creatures are about to trade in combat).
Anchors -
Supports -
Sultai Charm
Description - A decent combination of abilities; destroys most relevant permanents, with a tertiary filtering mode.
Anchors -
Supports -
Temporal Spring
Description - Sometimes it will be a harder to cast and weaker Anchor to the Aether, but there is enough upside of being able to target permanents. Especially if you are on the play, it can hit land drops and set your opponent back, or deal with another troublesome permanent type for a turn. Probably brutal in cubes that have bounce lands.
Anchors -
Supports - Tempo
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Crosis's Charm
Description - The bounce and kill effects give this enough flexibility that it should always do something, but they are also effects you can get in mono colour.
Anchors -
Supports -
Ephara's Enlightenment
Description - It's certainly not a 'good' card, but in a specific environment it could do work. Primarily a cube that cares about both +1/+1 counters and enchantments being cast.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters, Enchantment Matters
Fieldmist Borderpost (Plus the rest of the cycle)
Description - An argument can be made that these are like split guildgate / mana rocks. Most cubes would probably prefer a Darksteel Ingot at 3 mana, and the alternate cost doesn't effectively accelerate you until you've played out all your land drops. You'd rather play Signets or other rocks on colour, or just rainbow rocks.
Gift of Orzhova
Description - The effect itself is fine; on the right target it will make racing very difficult for your opponent. But it comes with the usual 2-for-1 aura clause, and isn't particularly exciting.
Anchors -
Supports -
Golgari Germination
Description - It's slow but can add up over time. Mostly wanted by sacrifice decks which can enable the trigger while getting extra fodder, but it can also just play into attrition wars.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Grixis Charm
Description - An ok range of modes. Kill a reasonable range of creatures, bounce the ones that it can't (or some other troublesome permanent), or pump in an aggro deck. It's hard to imagine picking this though if there is a better black kill spell in the same pack.
Anchors -
Supports -
Mardu Charm
Description - It's got some ok modes, but nothing that really stands out given that it is a gold card.
Anchors -
Supports -
Quicksilver Dagger
Description - If it hit creatures it would be fine. Drawing cards is good, but there is a bit of risk here, probably too much for most cubes. Still, certain synergies can make it a bit better; there aren't many creatures with untap clauses that are playable, but there are a few saboteurs where you can double up on card draw or other damage trigger effects without needing to enter combat.
Anchors -
Supports - Saboteurs (non-combat based damage triggers)
Spontaneous Combustion
Description - The only instant speed sweeper I can think of that does 3 damage to everything (unless you count Fire Covenant), but the setup is a little high; you've got to be in a position where your two cards (this plus the sacrifice) give you more than your 2 cards worth.
Anchors -
Supports -
Unlicensed Disintegration
Description - Terminate is a stronger card in general, and Murder does the main job in a single colour. However, you might still be willing to make the swap to push an artifact theme in these colours a little harder.
Anchors - Artifact Matters
Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Bloodbraid Elf
Description - Excellent value, potentially one of the strongest Gruul cards. Even should you hit something meaningless, a 3/2 haste is not too far below the curve, and hitting any type of spell that affects your opponents board can really start swinging the game.
Anchors -
Supports -
Murderous Redcap
Description - Excellent value creature. When used fairly, it will nearly always have a target on the way in, and you can influence when you will get the extra point of damage. Also has the opportunity for silliness by putting +1/+1 counters on it to cancel out the -1/-1 counter, or flicker / bounce it before it dies a second time.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Ghor-Clan Rampager
Description - 4/4 trample for 4 is already decent. 2 mana to not only pump but also trample can help trade something else up while still applying pressure.
Anchors -
Supports -
Thunderclap Wyvern
Description - If it just had flash and flying it wouldn't stand out, but still make some decks. But it doesn't take too many other flyers to make the pump really good, and the pump synergises well with the flash either on offense or defense.
Anchors - Skies
Supports - Flash / Go
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Carnage Gladiator
Description - The first ability is symmetrical, so it is clearly an aggro card. Curving out puts the screws on your opponent as soon as you cast it, and while the regeneration is expensive, the 4 power will often force a trade while still chipping away with the triggered life loss.
Anchors -
Supports -
Corpsejack Menace
Description - As a baseline, a 4/4 for 4 is at least acceptable if you don't get benefits from the trigger; you might even include it in a deck without any potential to take advantage of the synergy. That said, you aren't cubing it without giving it some support. It's a power enough effect that can provide a lot of value in the right deck. Might be tempered somewhat by virtue of being a Golgari card without a huge amount of independently good black +1/+1 cards.
Anchors - +1/+1 counters
Supports -
Horizon Chimera
Description - It's a reasonable combo of effects, though the 2 toughness means it trades a little more often than you'd like. The life gain is mostly negligible, but it can add up if you have repeatable card filtering.
Anchors -
Supports -
Marauding Looter
Description - Reasonable filtering, however a 4/3 for 4 is a little more fragile than you'd like. It promotes attacking, but is somewhat 'generic'.
Anchors -
Supports -
Moroii
Description - It's a decent enough curve topper for aggro. The 1 mana saving over mono-colour options might be a few turns while you wait for land drops, and there are few other flying 4 drops or cheaper that can deal with it. If you are smashing with a 4/4, the life loss shouldn't matter. If your Dimir decks all skew towards grindy control decks, then don't cube it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Raging Regisaur
Description - It's a fine enough card, though it does compete with similar Gruul midrange beaters. You might weigh this a little higher if you ways to give it deathtouch, or other effects that trigger off dealing damage like Curiosity, or a number of other enrage Dinos.
Anchors -
Supports -
Restoration Gearsmith
Description - Reasonable package with ok stats, given that it is a 2 for 1 that includes the most relevant card type, but can also get you back broken equipment if you play with them.
Anchors -
Supports -
Rosheen Meanderer
Description - It's probably going to be a vanilla 4 mana 4/4 most of the time, which might still be a decent enough rate that you will be willing to include it in decks that can't take advantage of the mana ability. It's pretty obvious what you are looking to support this with, though you have to reach a bit; there aren't too many X spells or creatures with X abilities that are highly playable. You would probably want a handful of them before considering cubing this.
Anchors -
Supports -
Spitemare
Description - Slots into any deck and creates interesting board states. The ability to kill big creatures if they attack you often means your opponent just doesn't attack at all. Also difficult to block, as you get to choose where the damage goes.
Anchors -
Supports -
Spire Patrol
Description - Decent in Azorius aggro to either turn off a blocker for a couple of turns while laying an evasive threat, or slowing down ground based aggro / midrange in Skies decks while you race.
Anchors -
Supports - Skies
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Ascended Lawmage
Description - It's fine if your opponent is relying on removal to deal with evasive creatures, but it isn't particularly thrilling.
Anchors -
Supports -
Aven Wind Guide
Description - It's a support card for a token deck, although some of the tokens you might play with in these colours already have flying, mitigating the benefit somewhat. Check your token composition before cubing this one.
Anchors -
Supports -
Belligerent Hatchling
Description - It isn't great when you are behind, but if you can get it to 3/3 first strike the following turn it becomes ok, and once you get above 3 power first strike seems pretty good. Inconsistent, but a bit better in a spells matter deck where you can threaten to modify its stats at instant speed.
Anchors -
Supports -
Blazing Hellhound
Description - It's an option if you want an anchor cards for Rakdos sacrifice. It's ok in that role, but not particularly fast.
Anchors - Sacrifice
Supports -
Blazing Specter
Description - It's a decent card, but in the gold slot it fights Blightning as a similar card that can force discard and get in for immediate damage (particularly as a top deck). Haste is certainly valuable (you can strip a card before they can leave something on defense or cast removal), but you can get similar creatures in mono black rather than using a gold slot.
Anchors -
Supports -
Blind Hunter
Description - The front side is borderline acceptable, and getting another 2 points of life drain a little later is nice. Probably only worth cubing if you are looking to anchor extort / drain / life gain matters themes in Orzhov.
Anchors - Drain
Supports -
Blizzard Specter
Description - If the air is clear, this can be a beating if played on curve. Worth noting it is in the colours of removal, tap down effects or bounce to clear a path too. It loses a lot of value in the late game though, when your opponent has nothing to discard, can choose to bounce lands they don't need, or even choose something beneficial to bounce.
Anchors -
Supports -
Cliffhaven Vampire
Description - There are stronger Orzhov cards, but it's an anchor card for the life gain matters archetype. While you aren't going to cube it without having specific support for that archetype, it can still be filler as a high toughness flyer.
Anchors - Drain
Supports - Life Gain Matters
Flame-Kin Zealot
Description - It's akin to Inspiring Captain, but you get to add 3/3 haste to the board. That isn't going to be worth the difficult casting cost for most, and there are better Boros cards, but it might suit some cubes as an aggro curve topper.
Anchors -
Supports -
Fluxcharger
Description - Timed correctly, it can hit hard. However something like Enigma Drake is likely to be better most of the time. If you can follow this up with instant and sorceries consistently for the next few turns it might be better, but it isn't going to be as consistent.
Anchors - Spells Matter
Supports -
Mercurial Geists
Description - It's clearly a spells matters cards, but there are enough other options specifically in the Izzet gold slot that this one is only worth it if you are going pretty deep and / or have a very large cube.
Anchors -
Supports -
Rot Farm Skeleton
Description - In an aggro deck, you get a recursive 4 mana creature. In a graveyard synergy deck, you get a repeat way to fill the graveyard while putting a cretaure on the battlefield, but the can't block clause is a notable drawback for that type of deck. It has synergies, but isn't likely to be a standout.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sawtooth Loon
Description - It has a few play options. On the bounce side, you can return an outclassed early drop, which you can then put on the bottom of your library if your draws are better. You can just get back another ETB creature and consider the card filtering a bonus. Or you can bounce the Loon if you just need to keep digging to find a specific answer. When it comes to cubing it, it does fight among a lot of other Azorius bounce / flicker support cards, and at 4 mana it can get edged out.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sigil Captain
Description - How powerful this is will depend on exactly how many 1/1's you have in your cube, and for the most part they are going to be tokens. Upgrading your Battle Screech or Lingering Souls tokens to 3/3's sounds pretty solid. It is pretty narrow. Worth noting that Sigil Captain is a nonbo with anthem effects, and if you are considering Sigil Captain, you would probably look to Intangible Virtue or Phantom General first, but this does help +1/+1 'lords' if you care more about that sort of thing.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens, +1/+1 counters
Skymark Roc
Description - Fine stats, and the bounce might not always find a target but can provide a little tempo hit, and kills most tokens. Nevertheless, it doesn't really do anything to stand out from other Azorius flyers.
Anchors -
Supports -
Voracious Cobra
Description - If your opponent doesn't have removal for it, it is very difficult to attack into. However, at this cost, there are Gruul creatures that are hard to attack into because they are big, and can attack much better. Only if you really want a defensive oriented Gruul card.
Anchors -
Supports -
Zendikar Incarnate
Description - It's at least a 4/4 for 4 unless you use mana Elves (in which case a 3/4 on turn 3 is still fine), but it is just a vanilla creature. Terra Ravager is worse (variance in land holdings aside), but this ties up a gold slot and you might cube the Ravager to promote aggro. Top decking a 7/4 late in the game is still fine.
Anchors -
Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
None.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Gruul War Chant
Description - It doesn't look like much on the surface, but with just a few creatures on the board, you can often start getting through because your opponent just can't block everything. The forced double block plus power boost can also force them to double block and have to lose both, which can be compounded with combat tricks or instant speed removal after blocks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Warleader's Helix
Description - It's fine, but it's boring. The life gain helps, but you can get deal 4's in mono-red.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Aethertow
Description - This could maybe do some work in a control deck. The consistency of something like Undo is better, but putting the creatures into the library instead of the hand could turn this into a 2 for 1 if you can conspire.
Anchors -
Supports -
Call to the Feast
Description - It is poor if you directly compare it to Lingering Souls, but it can provide support for token / sacrifice, or offer life gain triggers if you cube life gain matters cards.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens, Life Gain Matters
Deathreap Ritual
Description - The ceiling is solid; it can draw you 2 additional cards each turn cycle. The average case will be a lot less, but it is a card that can change the way your opponent plays, as they try and avoid trades. Gets better in cubes with sacrifice outlets. You don't need to support sacrifice archetypes for this to be playable, but most players will probably assume you are supporting it.
Anchors - Sacrifice
Supports -
Vanish into Memory
Description - It's an odd card that could have a few uses. There aren't huge numbers of creatures that have significant power higher than toughness, and even at 1 power higher you are still breaking even. So it is mostly going to be a card filtering card as opposed to a hand filling card. It can Fog a creature while you are at it, but it might be bad against some creatures. Similarly, it can be good with some of your own flicker targets (Shriekmaw et al) but bad with others (Wall of Omens). The 4 mana is perhaps its biggest downside. It does work well against opposing tokens.
Anchors -
Supports - Blink / Bounce
War Flare
Description - It's ok but not particularly exciting. Curving out into this is going to be great, and the untap gives you options to use it defensively. You can get similar options in white, but this is the cheapest for this specific stat boost at instant speed.
Anchors -
Supports -
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Cloudblazer
Description - It's great value. The biggest 'downside', if you want to consider it one, is that it's pretty close to a multi-colour version of Mulldrifter.
Anchors -
Supports -
Maw of the Obzedat
Description - Instant speed team pump without requiring mana is powerful. You need to be going wide for it to be really doing much, but it doesn't take much to be able to threaten for lethal damage, or throw away your worst creature to turn combat around.
Anchors - Tokens / Go Wide
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Decimator Beetle
Description - It doesn't need to remove a -1/-1 counter to be able to place one, so it can be a decent midrange card, attacking as a 4/5 while making something smaller on their side of the board. Fine, but most cubes aren't going to have a lot of synergies it can take advantage of.
Anchors -
Supports -
Fleetfeather Cockatrice
Description - It's passable at 5 mana, but you really want to get it monstrous to make it really worthwhile. That makes it well suited for ramp decks (and probably signals that is what you want ug to be doing), but it can still help when you are behind by being able to take out most incoming attackers at instant speed when needed.
Anchors -
Supports - Ramp
Haunter of Nightveil
Description - If you want to support Dimir control, this is a reasonable option to hold off opposing creatures assaults, while potentially increasing the profitable attacks you have, especially against go wide decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Juniper Order Ranger
Description - The base isn't great for the cost, but it only takes a few more creatures to become decent itself, while beefing up those creatures at the same time. Fine for midrange, and gets better if you have +1/+1 lord support. It does have some infinite combos with persist creatures, especially if you have a free sacrifice outlet.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Pharika's Mender
Description - Solid value. It’s stats aren’t the biggest bang for buck, but it will still trade with a decent amount of creatures, while getting you back a relevant card. Good anchor card for graveyard recursion decks for Golgari. If you don't want to cube both this and Baloth Null, this might be your choice if you care about enchantments, particularly allowing you to recurse enchantment based reanimator spells.
Anchors -
Supports - Creature Recursion, Enchantment Matters
Raging Swordtooth
Description - 5/5 trampler for 5 is decent, though it competes in a similar space to Ghor-Clan Rampager. The ETB effect is going to be inconsistent; sometimes it might clear some tokens or small aggro creatures, or you might be able to cast it after combat to put on the final point of damage.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Deadeye Plunderers
Description - The floor is pretty low, so you really need an artifact matters archetype to make it work. The activated ability is also expensive, but at least gives you a way to create more artifacts. If you've already got a few artifacts in play by the time you drop this it can be ok, but even then it is still vanilla. Consider other Dimir artifact matters cards first.
Anchors - Artifact Matters
Supports -
Fusion Elemental
Description - You need to be all in on 5-colour. You probably don't need this, but if your cube has enough color mana rocks, ramp spells and colour fixing that you can get this out around turn 5 with reasonable consistency, an 8/8 vanilla is still a good size threat.
Anchors -
Supports -
Knights of the Black Rose
Description - ok stats if you think about it as drawing a card off it. A 4/4 is decent enough stats that it might hold off or trade against crack backs. The triggered ability probably won't come up often, but prevents scenarios where your opponent would be happy to hand the crown back and forth. Being a gold card makes it less desirable than some of the mono-colored options.
Anchors -
Supports -
Kulrath Knight
Description - You can use other cards that put counters on your opponents creatures, like -1/-1 counters, but it also shuts down any of your opponents creatures with counters, including their own +1/+1 counters, fading or levelling counters etc. It might be effective in some scenarios, but it might generate 'feel bads' for players drafting a synergistic +1/+1 counter deck for example.
Anchors -
Supports -
Maverick Thopterist
Description - It's no Whirler Rogue, but even without discount it isn't a bad deal. That said, the main reason to cube it would be in support of an artifact theme, given plenty of other Izzet playables.
Anchors -
Supports - Artifact Matters
Possessed Skaab
Description - It hits a range of targets, but even then a 3/2 for 5 mana is underwelming. You might cube it if you want more 'value' cards for your Dimir section.
Anchors -
Supports -
Resolute Blademaster
Description - It's worth noting as the ceiling can be decent if you've got enough mid-sized creatures on the board, but as a one-shot effect something like Rally the Peasants is going to be more consistent. If you've got some other incidental Allies you might consider it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sky Hussar
Description - It's a mana free draw engine in the right situation, though tapping creatures on your own upkeep is a bit of a downside. It can come with a free draw the turn you play it if you have the creatures available, as they will untap on the ETB ability. If you have the sort of control decks that are likely to be able to draw multiple cards from this (that don't need them to protect you while you are spinning your wheels) then consider cubing it; otherwise there are lots of other Azorius options which would be better includes.
Anchors -
Supports -
Zhur-Taa Swine
Description - It doesn't weigh up against other Gruul options, but if you want to go all in on aggro, throwing an extra 5 damage on an unblocked creature might win you the game, and if blocked your creature will nearly always be able to win the combat.
Anchors -
Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting
a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Prophetic Bolt
Description - Excellent value. Kills creatures, can hit players, doesn't cost a card, and you get card selection for the replacement. There are few Izzet decks (if any) that wouldn't want this.
Anchors -
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-
around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Aether Mutation
Description - Bouncing an opponent's midrange creature, or better yet a ramp target, and getting 4+ tokens can be a decent tempo hit; get something through this turn, then go wide it next turn after they recast it. Also decent when you are behind, and in the right board state can target your own creature.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens
Bituminous Blast
Description - The tempo gained can be impressive. Cast in response to an attack, you might take out something while also putting a profitable blocker on the table.
Anchors -
Supports -
Torrent of Souls
Description - You would consider this a Rakdos card rather than hybrid; you are never casting the red side alone, and there are better reanimation options. Getting both though can be fine if you've got a few others creatures to throw into combat, potentially acting as an aggro finisher. Fine, but doesn't stand out.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific
interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Leafdrake Roost
Description - Creating an army of flyers is appealing, though it is essentially 8 mana before your get your first drake. Probably only if you are looking for a win condition for UG control decks.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens
Slave of Bolas
Description - It's ok as a way to kill their creature while getting a hit in, but when you view it as 5-mana creature kill it doesn't sound as good. If you have multiple ways in your cube to sacrifice it for value it gets a bit better. It does have a weird colour identity; probably calling it black is fine.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Worm Harvest
Description - It's an interesting win condition for cubes that support self-mill and similar graveyard themes, allowing it to go wide over several turns. It doesn't take too many of those types of cards to make this decent, and if you can start casting this with 4 lands already in your graveyard it's a good start. Often counted as a Golgari card rather than hybrid given the mana commitment, and that those two colours have the best support cards. (You technically don't NEED to support self-mill and other graveyard themes for this to be a win condition, but I'd like to see the control deck that survives long enough).
Anchors - Graveyard Matters / Self-mill
Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is
little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Baloth Null
Description - Great value creature. Getting back 2 creatures while being a relevant body makes this a great way to grind out a game.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Recursion
Trostani's Summoner
Description - A fine Selesnya ramp target or high cost card for tokens decks for putting 10 power on the board. It's also a fine reanimation target, given that it is resilient to spot removal, and a great blink target given how much value it brings with it.
Anchors -
Supports - Reanimator, Ramp, Tokens
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Dinrova Horror
Description - It can act as removal if the opponent has an empty hand, but even if they get to keep the creature, it is still a 1-for-1 that affects the board the turn you play it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Enlisted Wurm
Description - 5/5 vanilla for 6 alone isn't a great deal, but drawing and casting another relevant card is good. Doesn't really support anything specific, just ok midrange value.
Anchors -
Supports -
Nucklavee
Description - A potential 3 for 1 makes this pretty solid. It depends a lot on your spells matters deck, and presumably there are less relevant red sorceries than blue instants, but even just a 2 for 1 is still fine.
Anchors - Spells Matters
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Swift Warkite
Description - There is some decent value. The base creature is just ok-ish. If it was just a big Gravedigger variant it would probably be worth considering; the fact that you get a free hasty attack on top of that, and the potential for 2 shots at ETB effects, raises it a bit higher.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Ruthless Deathfang
Description - It's a narrow build around, but if you get it to work it can lock down a game. Make sure to support with enough creatures that sacrifice themselves or sacrifice outlets. It's worth noting that a couple of cards it pairs well with push you to 3 colours (Goblin Bombardment and Hidden Stockpile), but there are a bunch of other sacrifice outlets you might consider.
Anchors -
Supports -
Savage Ventmaw
Description - It probably ramps you to 12 the turn after you cast it. I'm sure there are gross games where you reanimate this on turn 3 and then drop your hand, but given that scenario will probably require 3 colours is a rarity. Probably requires a bit of thought to be particularly good; a higher count than usual of X spells or mana sinks in Gruul colours could make it worth it. It's still a 4/4 flyer in the instance that the mana isn't really doing any work for you.
Anchors -
Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
None.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
None.
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Cauldron Dance - 1
Description - Quirky card. More interesting than powerful, but it can give you 2 extra ETB effects from something that has hit the graveyard. In some cases you can get down 2 hasty attackers, but you can use it on defence if needed.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
None.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
None.
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Memnite
Description - You might include this if you want your aggro decks to be able to unload their hands as quickly as possible, though it will be bad in those decks as a top deck, and unplayable in most other types of decks. Maybe if you support some artifact matters/affinity theme.
Anchors -
Supports - Artifact Matters, Aggro
0 - Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
None.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Everflowing Chalice
Description - While flexible, there are better options across the curve. Cast for 2, you'd rather have better 2cc mana rocks. And ramp decks just want better ramp spells. Still, its flexibility is worth noting, and it does give you back half your investment immediately. But whatever deck it goes in probably wishes for a better version more appropriate to what the deck is trying to achieve.
Anchors -
Supports - Ramp
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Lotus Petal
Description - Gives you a one-off boost, which might help some decks, but at peasant the card disadvantage is usually not worth it. You might include it if for maximum support of Storm decks.
Anchors -
Supports - Storm
Zuran Orb
Description - The 'free' life gain can help when you are on the ropes, potentially giving you time to cast your game winning spells and turn the game around. In some cases, it's just delaying the inevitable. Does have some good synergy with some specific cards which may elevate its worth in your cube; Land Tax, Vizkopa Mage, Ajani's Pridemate, Worm Harvest.
Anchors -
Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
None.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Chronomaton
Description - Can be useful for control decks that lock down the board. Over time, it can turn into a threatening blocker, pumping itself either after blocking or end of opponents turn, and then attacking once it is formidable enough.
Anchors -
Supports -
Signal Pest
Description - Useful for supporting token or other go wide strategies. The evasion means it can be a decent target for equipment.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Bonded Construct
Description - Can fit into aggro decks of any colour. Slightly more fragile as it is vulnerable to artifact removal. Worth noting that it is missing the 'can't block alone' clause on similar creatures so it isn't completely useless alone. Best as a support card when you have sufficient 1-drops in your aggro decks that it can be drafted alongside.
Anchors -
Supports -
Cogmentor
Description - If you ignore the contraption clause, it gives you a colorless 1/1 flyer for 1 if you really want it. And you probably only do if you are reaching for support for an artifact archetype, or of course your cube supports contraptions.
Anchors -
Supports -
Consulate Skygate
Description - It's not exciting, but it might be a metagame choice to give you a colorless defensive option as an early play against aggro decks, including Skies. Steel Wall and Wall of Tangelcord might be some alternatives.
Anchors -
Supports -
Thraben Gargoyle
Description - You can make an argument that it can serve as a turn 1 blocker for control that can become a threat later. Bonded Construct may be an alternative that doesn't specifically have defender and can attack earlier and may find its way into aggro decks as well; however the late game upside here is stronger and the second point of toughness may be relevant for holding off grounded 1/1 tokens.
Anchors -
Supports - Control
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Skullclamp
Description - The best piece of equipment at peasant, this will quickly take over games with massive card advantage. Even a single turn, where the opponent doesn't have instant speed artifact removal, can generate a big advantage. Some cube owners do not include this card for being overpowered. While aggro and token decks have the most to gain, every deck will want this, and if picked early, will shape that players draft as they look for small creatures to sacrifice to it or ways to dig for it. It can pump an attacker to force damage through, then placed on a weak blocker; it is always threatening to generate more card advantage.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sol Ring
Description - The best artifact available, it's acceleration is stupidly good. Often considered one of the best cards in fully powered cubes, let alone peasant. In the opening hand, it is insane in making all your future turns 2 turns ahead of the curve. That type of advantage usually wins games. Late game at it’s worst it nets you a mana the turn you play it, and is no worse than a land. Unless your deck is hungry for coloured mana, you can probably straight up replace a land for this, meaning it has no negative impact on your deck at any time. Due to the significant advantage it provides, many cube owners do not include it for power reasons.
Anchors -
Supports -
Bonesplitter
Description - Excellent piece of equipment for aggro decks. A 1-drop followed on turn 2 by a Bonesplitter and equip is an amazing start. If the creature dies, its cheap to throw it on other creatures. Best in aggro, but can show up in defensive decks if they have a high enough creature count. Great with first strikers or double strikers. The only decks that won't benefit are control decks with few finishers.
Anchors -
Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
None.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Aether Vial
Description - This can be good for aggro and midrange decks, but requires skill in sequencing of plays. Once set up, being able to flash creatures in is powerful. Also has some synergy with Crystal Shard decks, allowing those decks to replay key creatures for free.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro, Bounce
Leonin Scimitar
Description - It's not flashy, but it is cheap enough to consider.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sai of the Shinobi
Description - Potentially never having to pay an equip cost makes this appealing. Can allow you to attack with an equipped creature, and then drop a creature on curve and have a bigger blocker.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sensei's Diving Top
Description - Playable, but the pieces are missing to make this truly powerful. It's value goes up the more shuffle effects in your cube, or the more effects you have that remove cards from the top of your library (dredge, scry).
Anchors -
Supports -
Sylvok Lifestaff
Description - The power pump is usually secondary to the life gain which can help in racing situations or buy time in sacrifice decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Trusty Machete
Description - Reasonable boost for reasonable cost. Feel like this needs more description but don't have much to say.
Anchors -
Supports - Aggro
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Adventuring Gear
Description - Can be ok in general land ramp decks, or if your cube has a lot of saclands (Terramorphic Expanse / Evolving Wilds or breaks Peasant for rare saclands). It can be inconsistent, and is not great when it top deck mode.
Anchors -
Supports -
Aether Spellbomb
Description - Could be an alternate for a bounce effect if you support an artifact matters theme. If you don't have that synergy, just get a better bounce spell.
Anchors -
Supports -
Black Vise
Description - There will be times you play this and it can just win the game for you against slow opponents. But if your opponent is on the play and has a fast deck, it might do almost nothing even if it is in your opening hand. The more cards your cube has that slows the game down by bouncing your opponents permanents, or maybe if you support land destruction, or is just slow in general, it gets a little better. But without this support, opponents will often get down to 4 cards quickly enough to negate its effects.
Anchors -
Supports -
Chromatic Sphere
Description - Chromatic Star is strictly better, but this still serves almost the exact same role, and may be worth inclusion if you want redundancy of the effect. Most decks will want more permanent color fixing though. Can help support storm cards if you include them.
Anchors -
Supports -
Chromatic Star
Description - Reasonable way for any deck to get some 1-off mana fixing, and at worst has a net cost of 1 to cycle into another card. Most decks will want more permanent colour fixing though. Can help support storm cards if you include them. Marginal benefit of still netting card drawn if sacrificed to something else.
Anchors -
Supports -
Codex Shredder
Description - Can support a control based mill deck if you want to push that, with minor upside. You can also target yourself if you support graveyard-based archetypes. A fringe use is to filter your draws if you have ways of looking at the top of your deck. Another fringe benefit is removing cards from the top of your opponents library if they scry or use tutors that go to top of library.
Anchors - Mill / Graveyard
Supports -
Elixir of Immortality
Description - Fills a specific niche if your cube supports graveyard / self-mill decs that will want to start over, or in control decks that can lock down the game and want to go long. The life gain can buy you some time. Shuffling business spells back in slightly improves your card quality. It gets better in decks that have a lot of card draw or filtering (Ponder and friends, Crystal Ball), allowing you to dig back to your more powerful spells quickly.
Anchors -
Supports -
Expedition Map
Description - It's value depends entirely on the nonbasic lands you have in your cube. If you just need fixing, you probably want Traveler's Amulet / Wanderer's Twig / Wayfarer's Bauble. If you are finding Maze of Ith or other utility lands, this may have a place.
Anchors -
Supports -
Flayer Husk
Description - It's not exciting, but is a vanilla 1/1 that leaves something behind when it dies. Can help give your aggro deck a bit of colourless support, but you will often be happier with a better creature or equipment.
Anchors -
Supports -
Ghoulcaller's Bell
Description - Can be used in a graveyard matters theme, but there will usually be better cards for that. Can be used alongside other mill cards. If you have ways of looking at the top of your opponents library, can prevent them from drawing gas, but is a narrow archetype.
Anchors -
Supports - Mill
Infiltration Lens
Description - It doesn't make anything unblockable, but it probably means your opponent won't block, pushing damage through. And if they are forced to block, you get to draw more gas. Allowing the opponent the choice is usually bad, but the the cast and equip cost are cheap enough. You need something decent size or with a combat damage trigger to put it on for the most impact.
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Supports -
Ivory Tower
Description - This card is a trap in cube. You can drop it turn 1, and just hit land drops in an attempt to gain 3 life a turn. But most opposing decks will deal more than that after the first couple of turns, and as you play answers you just wasted this card. If it isn't in your opening hand, you are more likely to play threats and answers, and then draw into this and it will be a dead card. It is friends with Land Tax, but synergy with one card is not going to be worth it.
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Supports -
Lantern of Insight
Description - In a vacuum this is bad, but gets a mention on the basis that it can be used with targeted mill cards such as Thoughtpicker Witch, Codex Shredder, Ghoulcaller Bell etc to support a deck that can prevent the opponent from drawing anything useful. But if you don't support that deck, it does nothing.
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Supports -
Neglected Heirloom
Description - Forgetting the transformation, the baseline is not exciting. It's cheap enough to cast and activate, but aggro decks are probably better served with something like Shuko so they can curve out. The toughness will matter sometimes, but is never what draws you to these cards. If you have some transform cards though, it might be worth another look. Inconsistent, but will be a good story when it happens.
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Supports -
O-Naginata
Description - The effect for the casting cost and equip cost is solid. Inclusion in your cube will depend on what type of decks will consistently be able to make use of this. It can give green ramp a way to break through tokens, and red and black aggro get some low cost creatures with 3 power.
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Pyrite Spellbomb
Description - When compared to other red direct damage, this is poor, but when direct damage is poor it can still be ok. The only reason you would include it over other options is if you had an artifact matters theme or recursion like Auriok Salvagers.
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Supports -
Sky Skiff
Description - A 2/3 flyer is ok, but it can be played turn 1 and start swinging on turn 2 with the right draw. Disruptable if your opponent can keep you off creatures (like any vehicle), but it can deal with most flyers up to around the 4 mana mark.
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Supports -
Springleaf Drum
Description - Being able to tap a creature while it has summoning sickness makes this an accelerator as well as a fixer primarily useful for aggro decks that didn't want blockers anyway. While most 'inspired' creatures are not considered playable on their own, it provides synergy to those cards.
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Squee's Toy
Description - For a single mana you get a repeatable no-cost effect that can threaten to mess with combat math. The more combat-heavy your cube, the better it becomes.
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Supports -
The Rack
Description - Getting below 3 cards is a common occurrence as players either play threats, or answers to threats. Holding onto cards usually means not keeping up on the board. However once The Rack hits the table, it’s not hard to hold onto a few lands. Black has a number of discard cards, including some repeat effects like Hypnotic Spectre, which The Rack can be paired with. Outside of that type of deck, The Rack might get in a few points of damage, but becomes easier to play around.
Anchors -
Supports - Discard subthemes
Traveler's Amulet / Wanderer's Twig
Description - Played turn 1, it can help you find your second color on turn 2 if required. Fights with Wayfarer's Bauble for mana fixing, which also accelerate. Expedition Map costs 1 more to activate but finds nonbasics if you have utility lands.
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Supports -
Triangle of War
Description - 3 mana isn't the most efficient cost for this effect and your opponent can see it coming; you won't be springing any surprises mid-combat. However it is 'removal' that is available to every colour.
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Supports -
Viridian Longbow - 1
Description - The equip cost is a little high, but with enough creatures on the board, can ping for 2 damage for 3 mana, or 3 damage with 6 mana on the board. It can be slow, but if you have enough time (either your cube is slower or you support decks that can slow the game down) it can start taking control of the board. Has synergies with deathtouchers or saboteur effects that don't care if it was combat damage.
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Supports -
Voyager Staff
Description - ok blink effect if you want it in artifact form. Casting cost means it can be tutored if you have Trinket Mage or want an Auriok Salvagers package.
Anchors -
Supports - Blink
Wayfarer's Bauble
Description - Played on turn 1 allows you to accelerate and fix into 4 mana on turn 3. Most ramp decks are more likely to want greens better ramp spells, and control decks are more likely to prefer mana rocks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Ashnod's Transmogrant - Doesn't do enough.
Avacyn's Collar - Not good enough.
Avarice Totem - Not going to be good enough and no way to abuse.
Barbed Sextant - Chromatic Star strictly better.
Bladed Bracers - Not good enough.
Blazing Torch - Rarely going to matter.
Blinding Powder - Too costly and your opponents can see it coming.
Braidwood Sextant - Strictly better options in Expedition Map, Traveler's Amulet / Wanderer's Twig, and Wayfarer's Bauble.
Chimeric Coils - Too much investment for a 1 off.
Civic Saber - Bad.
Conjurer's Bauble - Applications are too limited.
Copper Carapace - If you are going to have to pay 4 before something happens, may as well have Vulshok Morningstar and have a cheaper equip cost.
Crystal Rod - Bad.
Darksteel Axe - Not worth paying for the indestructibility.
Darkwater Egg - Too narrow.
Dead-Iron Sledge - It might have some value in a defensive deck that can pump out tokens, but even then it seems pretty narrow.
Didgeridoo - Too narrow on tribal, and it's not even good for that tribe.
Explorer's Scope - Too slow.
Explosive Apparatus - Aelopile is a better version.
Feldon's Cane - Paying extra mana for Elixir of Immortality is going to be worth it; it also shuffles itself for re-use.
Flamecast Wheel - Not even if you have Auriok Salvagers.
Glasses of Urza - Not worth the card investment.
Golden Urn - Too slow. Terrible top deck.
Golem-Skin Gauntlets - Rarely going to have multiple equipment.
Gorgon's Head - Not good enough.
Gremlin Mine - Too narrow.
Hankyu - Terrible.
Hedron Blade - Won't be enough colourless creatures to matter.
Honed Khopesh - Neglected Heirloom strictly better (at least as long as you have a double-faced card in your cube).
Horizon Spellbomb - Traveler's Amulet / Wanderer's Twig are going to be better for most decks.
Hot Soup - Whispersilk Cloak is the better version.
Inventor's Goggles - There aren't going to be enough synergies in cube to warrant this.
Iron Star - Bad.
Ivory Cup - Bad.
Jeweled Bird - Ante.
Juju Bubble - Bad Juju.
Lens of Clarity - Doesn't do enough.
Leonin Bola - Because you can only equip sorcery speed, can't lock down opposing board on their turn. Makes this too limited to use.
Library of Leng - Doesn't do enough.
Lifespark Spellbomb - Doesn't do enough.
Locket of Yesterdays - Not useufl in singleton cube.
Magma Mine - Bad.
Mana Cylix - Prophetic Prism is worth the extra mana.
Mana Screw - Not worth the card investment.
Mossfire Egg - Too narrow.
Necrogen Spellbomb - Not good enough.
Neurok Hoversail - Cobbled Wings better equip cost.
Nihil Spellbomb - Doesn't do enough.
Origin Spellbomb - 3 mana cycle and get a 1/1 token is not good enough.
Panic Spellbomb - The red decks that would want this have the effect attached to creatures already.
Pathways Arrows - Not efficient enough.
Peregrine Mask - Not versatile enough.
Phyrexian Furnace - Doesn't do enough.
Prism Ring - If you have a life matters subtheme, incidental life gain is still better than this.
Profane Memento - Narrow applications as it has no effect on the board. Best place would be in a removal heavy control deck with mill cards But even there its performance is likely to be lacklustre.
Prying Blade - The best case scenario doesn't seem very good, let alone the average case.
Relic of Progenitus - It's not an effect that many cubes are likely to want, but if you do, this may be ok. Players choice for the first ability is bad if you need to get rid of something specific, but you can always activate the second ability and not be down a card.
Rod of Spanking - Only for funsies.
Runed Stalactite - If you include the odd lord or two, this does have some benefits over Leonin Scimitar, but rarely relevant enough to pay the higher equip cost.
Scrabbling Claws - Similar to Relic of Progenitus. Not good enough.
Scroll of Avacyn - You will rarely have an angel, and without it this is bad.
Scroll of Griselbrand - You will rarely have a demon, and without it this is bad.
Sentinel Totem - Not something you really need.
Shard of Broken Glass - The decks that want to self-mill are usually not trying to win immediately (unless by reanimating something massive), which can also mean they aren't attacking, or at least aren't going to throw creatures into combat willy nilly.
Shriekhorn - An aggressive mill strategy isn't viable at singleton.
Shuko - Sai of the Shinobi is going to be better a lot of the time due to the toughness boost.
Shuriken - Bad.
Silver-Inlaid Dagger - Power boost not going to be consistently better than Bonesplitter often enough to warrant the extra equip cost.
Skyblinder Staff - Doesn't do enough.
Skycloud Egg - Too narrow.
Slagwurm Armor - Just toughness boost is not enough.
Soul Net - Having to pay mana makes this too inefficient.
Sunbeam Spellbomb - Doesn't do enough.
Sungrass Egg - Too narrow.
Surge Node - Too narrow.
Synod Sanctum - To be effective, it almost requires 2 mana to be available at all times to be able to sacrifice in response to artirfact removal. If that is possible, you can always tuck away 1 permanent a turn that would otherwise be destroyed, or be able to re-use some RTB effects. But it is too inefficient compared to blink/bounce strategies.
Tablet of Epityr - Rarely going to matter and too expensive to keep paying for.
Tanglebloom - Not good enough.
Tel-Jilad Stylus - This is only effective if you have consistent ways of getting back the thing you put on the bottom, or you can effectively get yourself down to 1 card. Neither of those things is going to happen in peasant cube.
Terrarion - Being able to fix multiple colours at once is nice, but not being able to use it the turn you draw it is a drawback you don't want.
Thran Foundry - Just get Elixir or Immortality.
Thran Turbine - The Sol Ring that couldn't. Not enough targets that can make use of it. Centaur Glade might be the best, but not enough depth to make it worth it.
Throne of Bone - Not good enough.
Urza's Chalice - Not going to matter a lot of the time, and you don't want to pay the cost.
Vial of Poison - Opponent can see it coming.
Voltaic Key - Not going to have good enough targets.
Witches' Eye - Ties up two cards and you still have to pay mana to scry 1. Scry is good, but not worth tying up 2 cards.
Wolfunter's Quiver - Sorry, the equip cost is what?
Wooden Sphere - Not good enough.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Epochrasite
Description - Can be solid in decks that intend to go long. Putting it down as a speed bump on turn 2, with the promise of decently beefy 4/4 in a few turns is a decent move, and can help stall ground assaults and win attrition battles. It has some synergy with +1/+1 themes, can be used as a sacrifical lamb, and is also something you don't mind committing to the board if you are playing in a sweeper deck. Also good with blink and reanimate effects like Unearth.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters, sacrifice
Perilous Myr
Description - Solid card for control decks, as it can often be hard for opponents to attack into. It can take out attacking x/3's by itself, or trade with x/1's and take out other low toughness creatures on the way out. It can make your opponent nervous once they get low on life.
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Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
None.
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Agent of Acquisitions
Description - It probably won't make your final 40, but this can be an interesting card for traditional draft formats if the rest of the pack contains strong cards, or a number of cards that support the deck you've been shooting for.
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Supports -
Millikin
Description - It suffers from the problems as any other 2 mana creature accelerator which has a mana rock analog. You can't use it the turn it comes into play, and as a creature it is vulnerable. However, there isn't a pure mana rock version that puts cards into your graveyard. It's still narrow, but you could add this is an accelerator for any deck, that gets a little better in decks that care about their graveyard, or with any top of deck matters cards you might be playing (Sensei's Divining Top, Sylvan Library).
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Myr Sire
Description - It's not the most efficient version for this effect, but it is colorless if you really want all color decks to have access to it. It can provide some support for sacrifice decks or to buy time in control decks of any color.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Necropede
Description - It isn't going to be more than a speed bump in most cases, though the infect plus death trigger can give some flexibility for minimising threats. It isn't particularly exciting though.
Anchors -
Supports -
Wall of Tanglecord
Description - 6 toughness for 2 mana is decent if you just want a ground staller that is available to all colors. It can be a way to seed a defensive card for all decks without having to throw walls in every color. While it's better in green decks, its playability doesn't skyrocket there so most would not consider this a green card.
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Supports -
Alpha Myr - Poor stats.
Bronze Sable - As above.
Acrbound Slith - Not effective enough.
Acrbound Stinger - Not effective enough.
Aegis Automaton - Doesn't do enough.
Battering Ram - Just bad.
Chainbreaker - This requires interactions between some pretty specific cards to be close to good, but the activation cost is still too expensive.
Copper Myr - Plus the rest of the cycle. They cost 2, can't tap the turn they come into play, and are vulnerable when compared to other mana accelerators.
Coretapper - You need too high a density of cards that want charge counters to consider adding this to the environment. There are playable cards with charge counters, but this is too narrow on supporting those cards.
Curious Killbot - Vanilla.
Delighted Killbot - Vanilla.
Despondent Killbot - Vanilla.
Eager Construct - It's a bear, but your opponent gets the first benefit of scrying.
Emblazoned Golem - Not efficient enough.
Enraged Killbot - Vanilla.
Field Creeper - Vanilla.
Frag Skulkin - Too much work involved.
Gleaming Barrier - If it came with the treasure, it would be a solid blocker while accelerating, but waiting for it to die is not what you want to be doing.
Gust-Skimmer - Doesn't do enough.
Haunted Guardian - Not good enough.
Hedron Crawler - Worse than a mana rock.
Hedron Scrabbler - A sometimes bear is not good enough.
Hovermyr - Not good enough.
Ichorclaw Myr - It won't fit any decks game plan.
Immolating Souleater - You can imagine the best case scenario where you've come out of the gates and you have a lot more life than your opponent, such that paying life to end the game is possible. But it just isn't going to happen often enough to make up for the fact that this is otherwise a 1/1 for 2 mana that might trade up on the odd occasion.
Jhoira's Toolbox - Too narrow on the suspend mechanic to matter for cube.
Manakin - Any mana rock is better than this.
Myr Retriever - Too narrow.
Narnam Cobra - You don't want it if you aren't green, and if you are green you just want a better deathtouch creature.
Omega Myr - Hovermyr strictly better, and that isn't good enough anyway.
Pila-Pala - Doesn't do enough.
Plague Myr - There isn't a deck that would want this.
Runed Servitor - It doesn't really fit anywhere you can take better advantage of the symmetry.
Sliversmith - It doesn't do enough.
Soultether Golem - The inherent stat upside isn't enough to overcome the sequencing problems.
Spincrusher - It can't do anything until it blocks at least once. There might be some board states where it does something, but your opponent can easily play around it or only attack with stuff that will kill it, and you won't be able to hold out long.
Steel Squirrel - Only for very specific cubes.
Toymaker - Too narrow.
Verdant Automaton - Too much investment.
Walking Atlas - Too inefficient and slow to matter.
Wall of Forgotten Pharaohs - Bad.
Wall of Junk - The name says it all.
Watchers of the Dead - It doesn't completely hose graveyard decks, but leaving them with 2 cards probably doesn't hose them enough either.
Welder Automaton - Too much investment.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Isochron Scepter
Description - While it always requires enough instants with cmc 2 or less in your cube to be good, it can be ridiculous if you are playing most of the staples. You can get 2 for 1'd with artifact removal, but if it sticks around you are generating card advantage every turn that is usually also having an effect on the board. Being able to repeat Path To Exile, Lightning Bolt, Remove Soul, Doom Blade, and various other cards every turn often leads to inevitability. Some players exclude it for this reason.
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Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Azorius Signet (and friends)
Description - As a cycle, they are among the best artifact mana fixers / accelerators. They fix two colors, and can fix both in the same activation. Unless you cast it on turn 2, you can use it the turn it comes into play. They can be included as the full cycle if you want to promote 3+ colour decks, though as it takes up 10 slots in your cube arguments can be made for only including certain ones to support / promote slower decks in the particular color pair. This can include only including blue ones to support the common slow blue decks, excluding the green ones because green already has access to better acceleration / fixing, or not including them in color pairs that are primarily aggro in your cube.
Anchors -
Supports - Ramp, Control
Coldsteel Heart
Description - While it comes into play tapped, being able to fix whatever color you want makes this a good choice for acceleration / fixing. The snow will rarely matter if don't support other snow stuff in your cube, but can be a throw-in if you include something like Stalking Yeti.
Anchors -
Supports - Ramp, Control
Mask of Memory
Description - This has some strong upside, but requires it to be supported by evasive creatures or a board state that will let you get through. It not only nets you a card, but the filtering really lets you shape your hand while also providing marginal support for graveyard themes.
Anchors -
Supports - Graveyard Matters
Mind Stone
Description - This is a solid accelerator for control decks, letting them cycle it away once they have enough lands, or even in situations where they need to try to draw answer ASAP. Costing 2 and being able to tap straight away means it is only a total investment of 1 mana on the turn you cast it.
Anchors -
Supports - Control, Ramp
Shrine of Burning Rage
Description - It's 5 mana total, but it doesn't take long for this to build up a decent amount of counters in a red deck. Played early in an aggro deck it can provide reach once you start getting outclassed on the board, providing some inevitability. In a slower deck, you can just wait until it has the right number of counters to take out the opponent in one fell swoop. The activation cost means you may have to play around artifact removal, but this is solid in any red decks, and can still be playable in non-red decks.
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Supports -
Shrine of Loyal Legions
Description - It doesn't take too many tokens to make a 'go wide' strategy work, so you can get this off the ground pretty quickly in white decks. In control decks, firing off 10+ tokens will win the game in short order if you've suppressed most opposing threats.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Contagion Clasp
Description - It will be too slow in some cubes, but if your cube has sufficient number of support cards and is a bit slower then it can be worth it. It pairs well with Serrated Arrows (add charge counters while adding to existing -1/-1 counters), +1/+1 themes, and levelers, Blastoderm / Calciderm, among others.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Fellwar Stone
Description - This is an ok accelerator. It's never guaranteed to fix your mana, though it is decent at supporting 3+ color decks, as the opponent is usually guaranteed to have one of your colors.
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Supports -
Lightning Greaves
Description - Good to support midrange decks that want to curve out and swing hastily with decent size creatures. Also protects your best creatures from removal.
Anchors -
Supports -
Mortarpod
Description - At it's worst, it's a 2 mana ping for 1 that can chump block for a turn. With some mana it can be used as a pseudo-finisher, or use multiple creatures, preferably tokens, to take out a slightly bigger threat that must be taken care of. Pairs well with cards that care about creatures dying, like Blood Artist and Hissing Iganuar.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Prismatic Lens
Description - A reasonable accelerator and fixer, but is fairly interchangeable with other options.
Anchors -
Supports - Ramp
Specter's Shroud
Description - It's best in a deck with evasive threats, but can perform ok in an aggressive deck with ways to keep the way clear. Most decks will probably prefer the card draw / filtering of Mask of Memory, but this does provide a power boost so can at least do something on defence.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sphere of the Suns
Description - It accelerates and fixes, but only for a limited number of turns, but that might be all you need. Good if you want your decks to have perfect mana over long-term acceleration.
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Supports -
Talisman of Dominance (and friends)
Description - They are good as fixers and rampers, though you usually wouldn't consider them ahead of Signets and only bigger cubes are likely to have space for both cycles. Only having allied colour pairs is a knock against them if you want the fixing to support all colour pairings equally.
Anchors -
Supports - Ramp
Viridian Claw
Description - It is probably the only equipment that gives first strike that is worth considering. Useful in a range of situations; the extra point of power plus first strike can help aggro creatures win combats they would have lost to keep up pressure, and it makes it unlikely that midrange of larger creatures can be effectively group blocked. Defensive applications are obvious.
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Supports -
Vulshok Morningstar
Description - ok stats for costs, but not exciting.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Aeolipile
Description - It's a 3 mana onboard Shock, but you might include it to give some direct damage to your non-red decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Blight Sickle
Description - The decks where this will matter are limited. Decent on a cheap regenerator as a staller, and good on first strike creatures to help force through damage or unfavourable blocks, but setting those up and having them happen consistently enough in games is a big ask.
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Supports -
Bubbling Cauldron
Description - It's an interesting intersection as an oulet for sacrifice decks and repeatable life gain for life gain matters themes. If you aren't supporting both, you probably don't want it. Festering Newt is not the greatest of cards, but draining for 4 is decent if you do include the 'combo'.
Anchors -
Supports - sacrifice, life gain matters
Cranial Plating
Description - You need to be pushing an artifact theme, but it may have a place there. You won't be able to live up to its constructed pedigree, but with a few thopter tokens floating around your cube and other playable artifact creatures this could be decent. The black activation is pure bonus; no one would consider this a black card.
Anchors -
Supports -
Energy Chamber
Description - You would have to be deep on artifact matters themes, but it could be an anchor card for that type of deck.
Anchors -
Supports -
Genesis Chamber
Description - It's pretty marginal, and you would have to seed the right cards in your cube to overcome its symmetry. Gating creatures and bounce / blink decks are the most likely ways to take advantage of it.
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Supports -
Gorgon's Flail
Description - It's not strictly worse than Gorgon's Head, but if you are deathtouching, you would probably prefer the cheaper cost.
Anchors -
Supports -
Guardian Idol
Description - It doesn't fix, but accelerates, while also being able to become a threat if required. You might include this as a support card for sweeper deck.
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Supports -
Manriki-Gusari
Description - The cheap equip cost can make this worth considering. If your environment has the strong-to-busted equipment (Skullclamp, Loxodon Warhammer) its value goes up, and is probably the clincher as to whether you include it or not.
Anchors -
Supports -
Millstone
Description - It can fit into a control shell if you want mill decks in any color. However this option is a bit slow compared to some of the blue options.
Anchors - Mill Control
Supports -
Pentad Prism
Description - It has some decent best case scenarios, but it is going to be inconsistent. It can store up mana for later turns to hit your big drops, and can ramp into 5 mana by itself on turn 3. It can support casting Illusory Angel on turn 3, or assisting follow up a card filtering spell with a reanimation spell in the same turn. While effects that sacrifice artifacts are not commonly played in peasant cube, if you have some this might be your mana rock of choice.
Anchors -
Supports - Ramp
Pit Trap
Description - It's not particularly efficient, but gives you colorless removal if that is what you are looking for.
Anchors -
Supports -
Prophetic Prism
Description - A reasonable fixer that ultimately doesn't cost you a card, but doesn't accelerate like other options, which renders this a bit lower in the pecking order.
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Supports -
Prowler's Helm
Description - Most cubes won't have too many Walls, so this is near unblockability. Whispersilk Cloak grants that if you want it, but this is cheaper, and might be preferable if you want the opportunity for interaction on the battlefield.
Anchors -
Supports - Saboteurs
Skyshaper
Description - It is an option if you want a colourless 'finisher'.
Anchors -
Supports -
Spawning Pit
Description - It's usefulness is a victim of rules changes (it was printed in the era when combat damage went on the stack, so you could sac with combat damage still resolving), but it might still have a marginal place, primarily as a cost free sacrifice outlet for good sacrificial lambs. In combat, you would have to be losing anyway to consider sacrificing. With the likes of Blood Artist on the board, Spawning Pit nearly halves the amount of creatures you need on the board to end the game.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Sunset Pyramid
Description - If you want some colorless card draw for control decks there aren't many viable options, but this is one of the better ones. Only requiring 2 mana to activate means you may be able to play out cards you draw, or allow control decks to hold up counter mana while playing this out. Once depleted you still get some card selection if you've got mana lying around.
Anchors -
Supports -
Sun Droplet
Description - Played early it can be a strong card for aggro to get through, effectively providing you 2 life per turn, especially if you can stabilise before you hit 0. The good scenarios are offset by being a bad top deck later in the game. If you are already at 5, Sun Droplet probably isn't going to help you get back in the game. Can be useful as free repeat life gain for life gain matters cards, though your opponent has to be willing to play your game. Minor synergy with Pestilence / Pyrohemia or other mass damage cards.
Anchors -
Supports - Life Gain Matters
Trigon of Rage
Description - It's expensive before you get your first activation, and it is an onboard trick. However it is semi-repeatable and is a decent boost.
Anchors -
Supports -
Amulet of Kroog - Too inefficient.
Alchemist's Vial - Doesn't do enough.
Angel's Feather - Too narrow.
Arcum's Weatehrvane - Does nothing in cube.
Ark of Blight - Too inefficient.
Armillary Sphere - Too much mana for something that doesn't put them on the battlefield.
Armory of Iroas - It's too slow and does nothing if you are on the defensive.
Ashnod's Battlegear - Too inefficient.
Banshee's Blade - Too difficult to make use of.
Baton of Morale - Nope.
Bladed Pinions - Prowler's Helm is better evasion.
Carnage Altar - It's 5 mana before you end up at parity, only if you don't count the creature you sacrificed. The mana + creature investment is too much. You don't want to keep 3 mana open just in case your opponent fires off a removal spell.
Cellar Door - It's too slow and inconsistent.
Charcoal Diamond - plus the rest of the cycle. They accelerate, but only fix one color if you don't already have it, and enering the battlefield tapped means you can't use it the turn it hits unlike better accelerators / fixers.
Cloak and Dagger - It doesn't do enough.
Cobbled Wings - Prowler's Helm is much better evasion.
Cogworker's Puzzleknot - Not efficient.
Copper Tablet - Too slow and inefficient for a symmetrical effect.
Cranial Archive - It doesn't cost you a card, but it does cost you 4 mana. In nearly all cases you will have been better off using that 4 mana for something else rather than marginally improving the quality of your draws.
Credit Voucher - You are 4 mana and a card down for no guarantees of getting a better hand.
Crook of Condemnation - Too narrow.
Crown of Empires - Won't be do anything at peasant.
Culling Dais - Too much investment and setup required.
Cultist's Staff - Vulshok Morningstar is strictly better.
Cyclopean Snare - 5 mana to get a repeat tap effect?
Dagger of the Worthy - Not efficient enough.
Darksteel Brute - You would have to care about the indestructible a fair bit to consider it over Guardian Idol which has acceleration and cheaper activation upside.
Darksteel Pendant - You would rather pay the extra mana and have Crystal Ball.
Decoction Module - It's too expensive to get an engine going.
Demon's Horn - Too narrow.
Deserter's Quarters - Removal that doesn't work until you have 6 mana.
Dragon's Claw - Too narrow.
Ebony Owl Netsuke - You would have to way too deep on bounce / tempo cards to consider this.
Echo Circlet - No deck wants this effect, so neither does you cube.
Elaborate Firecannon - So… you invest a card to turn cards in your hand into 4 mana Shocks that you can only cast once per turn? I'm scratching my head trying to figure this one out, but I can't figure out any synergies that would make you cube it.
Elsewhere Flask - It doesn't do enough.
Elven Lyre - You can activate this mid-combat, but for an extra mana you get Vulshok Morningstar equipped.
Embalmer's Tools - Doesn't really do anything in cube.
Endoskeleton - Doesn't do enough.
Essence Bottle - Too slow.
Excavator - No guarantee it will actually work against your opponent.
Executioner's Hood - Prowler's Helm or Whispersilk Cloak are going to be better.
Fireforger's Puzzleknot - Doesn't do enough.
Fleetfeather Sandals - You want Lightning Greaves for haste, paying 2 for haste is a lot. If you want flying, look elsewhere.
Fractured Powerstone - This is obviously for specific cubes only.
Fyndhorn Bow - Just get equipment instead.
Iron Lance - As above.
Galvanic Key - Too limited.
Glassblower's Puzzleknot - You pay 5 mana and you get some energy and card filtering, but you still end up down a card.
Glint Hawk Idol - The stats aren't so much better than the 2 mana initial investment would normally get you, and isn't worth the hoops you have to jump through.
Golem's Heart - Too narrow.
Graveyard Shovel - Not efficient at anything.
Grinding Station - Not worth the sacrifice.
Hammer of Ruin - Too narrow.
Healer's Headdress - Doesn't do enough.
Heart-Piercer Bow - It's ping that is conditional.
Helm of Awakening - It's symmetrical, in which case your players would prefer to play a mana rock because there aren't enough ways to support this in cube.
Hematite Talisman - Too narrow.
Hero's Blade - The equip cost is 4.
Horned Helm - Doesn't do enough.
Ichor Wellspring - 2 cards for 2 mana is good. To get value, you need enough reliable ways to be able to sacrifice artifacts for benefit. There simply aren't enough that are worth it to consider this.
Inquisitor's Flail - Nope.
Ivory Crane Netsuke - There aren't any decks that will reliably get to 7 cards that you would consider this.
Jabari's Banner - You have to activate this before blocking is declared, rendering it marginal in most situations and not worth the card.
Jewled Torque - Too much investment for not enough return.
Kaleiodstone - A very narrow fixer.
Kitesail - Prowler's Helm is much better evasion.
Kraken's Eye - Too narrow.
Krark's Other Thumb - Only for very specific cubes.
Kry SJield - Just bad.
Lapis Lazuli Talisman - Too narrow.
Liquimetal Coating - Doesn't do anything you care about.
Lobe Lobber - If it dealt damage to creatures this would be great, but not if it hits just players.
Magewright's Stone - There aren't enough targets that make this worth it.
Malachite Talisman - Too narrow.
Mask of Avacyn - Equip cost is too high.
Metalspinner's Puzzleknot - Not efficient.
Mindcrank - It's mostly a do nothing card.
Mogg Cannon - Bad.
Mycosynth Wellspring - There aren’t enough decent ways to sacrifice artifacts to make this worth it, in which case Traveler's Amulet is better for the ability to play it turn 1 or sequence your plays better.
Mystic Compass - Not efficient enough.
Nacre Talisman - Too narrow.
Neurok Stealthsuit - Just get Lightning Greaves.
No Dachi - Viridian's Claw is lower power but much more efficient if you want to give your creatures first strike.
Ogre's Cleaver - It costs 5 to equip.
Onyx Talisman - Too narrow.
Pentad Prism - It can let you accelerate to 5 mana on turn 3 as a one shot effect, but the window of opportunity is small, and the fixing is not quite enough.
Perpetual Timepiece - You are invested a card which you never get back.
Phyrexian Splicer - Too narrow.
Pillar of Origins - Too narrow for cube.
Power Conduit - Too difficult to make use of.
Reito Lantern - Doesn't do enough.
Raszortip Whip - Too slow.
Relic Barrier - Too narrow unless in a dedicated cube.
Revelsong Horn - If the tap symbol wasn't there, this might be good. But it is, so it isn't.
Ring of Evos Isle (and friends) - Too slow even in mono-coloured decks.
Riot Gear - Strictly worse than Vulshok Morningstar.
Rogue's Gloves - Mask of Memory has a cheaper equip cost and a better effect.
Sacred Armory - Too slow.
Scarab of the Unseen - Too narrow.
Sharpened Pitchfork - Not good enough.
Shield of the Ages - It only prevents damage to you, not creatures.
Shrine of Piercing Vision - It doesn't do enough for the time you have to wait.
Sigil of Valor - It has some ideal board scenarios, but isn't going to be consistent enough.
Silverskin Armor - Doesn't do enough.
Siren Song Lyre - It uses 2 cards to get an inefficient effect.
Slab Hammer - Any landfall triggers you might have don't make up for this.
Soldevi Digger - There aren't any decks that will take advantage of this, so it doesn't belong in your cube.
Sparring Collar - Not good enough.
Spy Kit - It probably enables a quirky combo or two, but in general it is just going to be bad.[/
Star Compass - While sometimes you will want more of what you already have, the fixing on Fellwar Stone is probably going to be better in most decks.
Steamclaw - Bad.
Stormrider Rig - Doesn't do enough.
Surestrike Trident - Too slow.
Swiftfoot Boots - There isn't really a reason to play this over Lightning Greaves. Hexproof is objectively more powerful than shroud, but a 0 equip cost is significantly better to allow you to swing in with hasty creatures on curve.
Sword of the Meek - It combos with Thopter Foundry. Outside of that, the stats are worse than Vulshok Morningstar, and the graveyard trigger is unlikely to matter. There aren't enough other ways to benefit from sacrificed artifacts.
Tablet of the Guilds - Doesn't gain enough life quickly enough.
Tawnos's Weaponry - Get equipment.
Telim'Tor's Darts - Razortip Whip is better if you really want this type of effect.
Thornbite Staff - Inefficiency stacked on top of inefficiency.
Thought Vessel - Mana rocks thats cost 2 mana are pretty good, but the maximum hand size clause will mean nothing in 99% of games, and you could be playing Mind Stone or other better artifacts instead.
Throne of Geth - There is not enough depth in artifact themes to support this.
Throwing Knife - It's versatile, but you would rather have better options.
Torch Gauntlet - Strictly worse than Vulshok Morningstar.
Tormenter's Trident - You don't want to give your creatures a drawback.
Touchstone - Too narrow.
Tower of Coireall - Too narrow.
Trailblazer's Boots - Too narrow.
Trigon of Mending - Not efficient enough to consider.
Trip Noose - You could cast this on turn 2 and use it as early as turn 3, but for 1 more initial investment for your first tapdown, you can have Icy Manipulator.
Tyran'ts Machine - Bad version of Trip Noose.
Urza's Hot Tub - Too hard to construct with cube in mind.
Vanguard's Shield - Doesn't do enough to warrant a spot.
Veteran's Armaments - Too narrow.
Veteran's Sidearm - Bad version of Leonin Scimitar.
Vial of Dragonfire - Worse than Aeolipile.
Vorrac Battlehorns - There will be situations where this will be useful, but not enough to warrant inclusion in your cube.
Vulshok Guantlets - Too expensive.
Warmonger's Chariot - Bad.
Warping Wail - It's enticing, but it isn't enough to what amounts to splashing another colour.
Whalebone Glider - Equipment is better.
Wooden Stake - Too narrow.
Woodweaver's Puzzleknot - It's a good chunk of energy, but it still doesn't do enough for a regular cube setting unless you are highly dedicated to energy.
Wurm's Tooth - Too narrow.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
None.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Cathodion
Description - It can feel a bit 'filler', but from a cube design perspective you give every colour a 3/3 for 3, which slots into most decks; ok stats for aggro and midrange, and provides reasonable defensive speed for control decks that want the game to go long. The mana ability isn't always going to be useful, but its value goes up a little in decks with sacrifice outlets, particularly if they have targets to ramp into.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Filigree Familiar
Description - Solid enough combination of abilities. It isn't going in any aggro decks, but the life gain can buy you time, and even if you have to chump at least you get the card back; if you can trade with something, that is gravy. Aggro decks playing against it usually just have to bite the bullet and plow through it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Palladium Myr
Description - It's decent acceleration, potentially taking you from 3 to 6. You may consider Worn Powerstone because the Myr is vulernable to creature removal which is more prevalent than artifact removal, but Myr can help support delirium a little better should you care about it, and can always enter combat if you need it to once you no longer need the acceleration.
Anchors -
Supports -
Phyrexian War Beast
Description - Sacrificing a land may seem rough, but aggro decks are less worried about this drawback compared to others in the 'big artifact creature with a drawback' category. Most colours will have better aggro creatures at this mana cost, but being colorless can help provide an additional relevant body across every colour, and the 4th toughness can be relevant against burn or when running into other 2 and 3 drops. Control decks might even be willing to side it in against aggressive decks to put a solid cheap blocker in the way.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Chief of the Foundry
Description - It's a build around or synergy card that definitely needs support, with the most obvious avenues being cards that create thopter tokens so your army is evasive, but servos also fill the role. You will want other solid artifact creatures like Perilous Myr, Porcelain Legionnaire and Spined Thopter, and possibly the more 'generic' stuff like Cathodion. A 2/3 isn't terrible when it isn't pumping something else, but you need the support to consider it.
Anchors - Artifact (creatures) matter
Supports -
Lurebound Scarecrow
Description - It might be worth it if you want to promote mono decks or leaning on a single colour, especially aggro decks that can put permanents on the board quickly. You are prone to getting blown out though.
Anchors -
Supports -
One-Eyed Scarecrow
Description - It probably slots in to certain decks that have trouble with fliers. But if your Skies decks are dominating, it might be an indicator to change something else rather than include this.
Anchors -
Supports -
Pilgrim's Eye
Description - It's not particularly thrilling, but it gives you a (small) evasive threat while hitting your land drops or finding a splash land. Ramp decks that just need to hit their lands might be fine just chumping while they set up their bigger plays.
Anchors -
Supports -
Scuttlemutt
Description - It does have upside over Darksteel Ingot by being a creature that can enter combat when relevant, but that is also its downside as it is easier to remove and doesn't have 'haste'. Sphere of Suns is probably the preferred version unless you really want a creature version. The secondary ability will rarely be relevant, but the niche interactions will be nifty when they turn up (protecting a creature from a Nekrataal, being able to block a Nezumi Cutthroat etc).
Anchors -
Supports -
Spin Engine
Description - Maybe this isn't too bad as a red card? It isn't going to break through massive board stalls, but after some early pressure and trades maybe you just need to spend a couple of mana to waltz through?
Anchors -
Supports -
Togglodyte
Description - A 3 mana 4/4 is solid and can create some fun game states and mind games. You play it and pass the turn, you might force your opponent to play out of sequence so they can turn it off before they attack. If it's turned off by the time it is your turn, you can play your spells pre-combat. There will be times when you can't attack or when your opponent turns it off mid-combat, but a 4/4 for 3 doesn't come without some downside, and it's going to hit pretty hard. You probably need to draft around it and pick up more instant speed tricks to keep it turned on.
Anchors -
Supports -
Yotian Soldier
Description - It will serve mostly as a blocker. The high toughness does give it scope to attack, but the 1 power means it can still be stonewalled by enough creatures that it isn't really worth it. It's reaching, but those stats plus vigilance might make it just enough if you have lots of equipment or auras that boost power, or have ways to distribute +1/+1 counters, or your cube is loaded with aggressive 2/1's and 3/1's.
Anchors -
Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
Crystal Shard
Description - Such an anchor card that people draft the 'Crystal Shard' deck to abuse it, but the basic effect is good enough. Just being able to return creatures after you block or save them from removal can be effective enough. Your opponent has to be very careful about how much mana they leave open; if they are tapped out, you can pay u3 to lay this down and bounce their dude. Or you can activate it at the end of their turn, and then again on your turn, forcing them to leave 2 mana open. Commonly though, it is built around to get multiple uses out of your own enter the battlefield effects, whether it is drawing cards off Mulldrifter or killing stuff with Skinrender, or building a Kithkin army with Cloudgoat Ranger. Most consider this a blue card; it can be played in other decks, but the 3 mana cost can be prohibitve to advancing your board state.
Anchors - Bounce
Supports -
Grafted Wargear
Description - One of the top 3 best pieces of equipment, this card is ridiculous. As long as you have at least one creature, it has instant effect on the board once you cast it, and the free equip cost just makes it busted. The boost is strong, meaning any creature you put it in is likely to at least trade if not just win combat; Every creature you play just gets to be massive. Unless your opponent can deal with it immediately, it's likely to win a lot of games where it resolves.
Anchors -
Supports -
Loxodon Warhammer
Description - One of the top 3 peasant equipment, to the point of being removed from some cubes for power concerns. Once you equip it, most creatures can then at least trade with most opposition while delivering life gain upside and potentially trample damage. If your creature does trade, just suit up something else. If your opponent doesn't block, the life swing makes it difficult for them to race. Unless your opponent has artifact removal or can keep every craeture you play off the table, it will regularly win games that were otherwise unwinnable.
Anchors -
Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Basalt Monolith
Description - It can be part of a ramp strategy, almost like a delayed ritual. Casting Pelakka Wurm on turn 4, or earlier if you had other ramp, is enticing. However it doesn't really do anything outside of that deck.
Anchors -
Supports - Ramp
Crystal Ball
Description - It isn't the fastest, but if you can stabilise and get more than a couple of activations out of it, the card quality is likely to pay off.
Anchors -
Supports - Spells Matters
Oketra's Monument
Description - It takes a few tokens to get your value, but they can add up if you are going wide or playing a control deck. If you can play this and follow it on turn 4 with a white 5-drop or a couple of 3-drops, you will recover well enough. Has some specific interactions with Kor Skyfisher and Whitemane Lion, giving you tokens for a single white mana. Might still be good enough in non-white decks, particularly sacrifice decks that can take advantage of the extra bodies.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Pristine Talisman
Description - A fine accelerator that also help to keep you alive, particularly for control decks. If you stabilise the board, the continued life gain can start putting you out of reach of your opponent. A fine support card if you want to support life gain matters.
Anchors -
Supports - Life Gain Matters
Renegade Freighter
Description - A solid vehicle for aggro decks. If cast on curve, it's usually a 5/4 attacker on turn 4, which is excellent, often acting like equipment without an equip cost; sometimes your 5/4 can break through when a couple of 3/2's or similar might not have profitable attacks. However, it is tempered somewhat if you are playing all the best instant speed removal; you might find yourself on the receiving end of removal after crewing your vehicle which can be a bit of a tempo less.
Anchors -
Supports -
Tumble Magnet
Description - A decent way for aggro to close out a game. In that scenario it almost acts like removal on their largest creature as long as you close out the game in three turns, and it can impact the board immediately. You can also wait until their next end of turn, activate, and then on your turn to clear 2 blockers. Less essential in a control deck, but locking down a 3 power creature early in the game while laying out your bigger plays can still be worth it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Worn Powerstone
Description - It isn't essential, but if you want to support artifact ramp, this is one of the better options (unless you count Sol Ring), potentially taking you from 3 up to 6.
Anchors - Ramp
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Atarka Monument
Description - It's fine in decks that want to ramp or otherwise go long, but far from an essential piece. It gives you a flyer in colors that don't normally get them.
Anchors -
Supports -
Azorius Keyrune
Description - Most cubes are better off with a signet (especially to help splashes), but if you are really itching for a threat for control decks that is resilient to sorcery speed removal and sweepers you might be willing to include it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Barbed Battlegear
Description - Could this actually be ok? Turns anything with toughness greater than 1 into something that can smash down your opponents door? It's obviously bad compared to Grafted Wargear, but that card is stupid.
Anchors -
Supports -
Blasting Station
Description - It can combo with some other playable cards; you can ping for 2 damage with an undying or persist creature, and if you've got ways to remove their counters (Juniper Order Ranger for example) it can be an instant kill. Probably too narrow for most cubes as the cost if you are using it fairly (sacrificing a creature) is high, but cubes which can create a bunch of tokens might have some additional use for it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Chimeric Idol
Description - It can fill a specific metagame role. Viewed purely as a creature Cathodion is better because this has a drawback, but this can be a 3/3 for 3 that can avoid sorcery speed removal or sweepers if your control decks need it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Crystal Chimes
Description - It's narrow and requires some careful card swaps to consider it. You need enchantments that regularly make their way to the graveyard such as Seal of Doom, and a decent contingent of bestow creatures. With the right support this could be a solid player in that deck to refill your hand with gas.
Anchors - Enchantment Matters
Supports -
Darksteel Ingot
Description - If you are in the market for a colour fixing mana rock, this is ok. Sphere of the Suns might be an alternative; however this might be preferred if your cube trends towards longer games and you want to support 3+ colour decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Dimir Keyrune
Description - Most decks will prefer the cheaper signet, but this can provide Dimir control decks with some inevitably if they can control the board.
Anchors -
Supports -
Edifice of Authority
Description - The first mode doesn't lock down blockers for aggro or midrange decks to get their creatures through, but it can still be fine in a control deck. You might also consider Icy Manipulator for more flexibility in timing / targets, or Pacification Array.
Anchors -
Supports -
Fabrication Module
Description - If you assume you don't have other energy cards, it's an expensive way to put +1/+1 counters on your creatures. You probably want one or more colours that have a decent energy identity in your cube to consider it (or it's a worse Dragon Blood), and for the composition of your cube to be grindy.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters, Energy
Fireshrieker
Description - It takes a bit of investment to get going. Probably best in decks with moderate size creatures to help turn trades into wins, and unblocked creatures to smash decent face. Fringe benefits if you support saboteurs, and nice with tramplers.
Anchors -
Supports -
Leonin Bladetrap
Description - It isn't particularly efficient but it is a unique effect, giving you an instant speed colorless way to ambush your opponent.
Anchors -
Supports -
Magnifying Glass
Description - In a vacuum it's a 3cc colorless mana rock and you need to spend 6 to draw a card, which doesn't sound great. However it might have a place if you find your control decks are too good with access to the best 2cc mana rocks, and the clue tokens might give you some support for artifact matters themes.
Anchors -
Supports - Artifact Matters.
Moonglove Extract
Description - Can be ok if you want 'artifact burn'. You can cast Aeolipile when you have 2 mana, but you always need to keep that 1 mana up at the right time, which you don't here.
Anchors -
Supports -
My First Tome
Description - Gets a mention as a card that will probably draw you a few cards for a while, but may need to rotate out once your players start paying attention. Might be a 'feel bad' depending on the range of knowledge or individual care factor about flavour.
Anchors -
Supports -
Pearl Shard
Description - Repeatedly threatening to prevent 2 damage at instant speed is worth respecting, but it can generate grindy gameplay that your group may not appreciate.
Anchors -
Supports -
Rakdos Keyrune
Description - There are better options when looked at as a pure mana rock / fixer, but threatening 3 power first strike is a reasonable alternate mode. It plays well with the black and red sweepers.
Anchors -
Supports - Rakdos Sweeper control
Rhonas's Monument
Description - The power boost hints at being aggressive, but this forces you to take a turn off which can be awkward. A midrange deck with reasonably statted creatured is where this is likely to be best. Self bouncing creatures like Kor Skyfisher and Whitemane Lion can also do some work with this.
Anchors -
Supports -
Seer's Lantern
Description - Viewed purely as a mana rock it isn't the best in class. However the scry does give it some extra flexibility once you have spare mana, which might make it suitable for control / ramp decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Skeleton Shard
Description - It has a narrow range of targets, but if you support enough artifact creatures it might be worth it. It's particularly good with some playables like Filigree Familiar and Perilous Myr, but could just be a grindy value engine with some other generic artifact creatures. Nice if you've got some sacrifice outlets for extra benefits.
Anchors - Artifact Matters
Supports - Sacrifice
Sunstone
Description - Repeat colorless Fog for control decks if your basics box includes snows might not make for fun gameplay, but it could be powerful.
Anchors -
Supports -
Thunder Totem
Description - It seems ok in terms of power level, but unless your environment really needs white ramp or threats that avoid sorcery speed removal / sweepers it doesn't seem necessary.
Anchors -
Supports -
Thunderstaff
Description - It only prevents damage to you, not creatures, so you have to be willing to let them through for this to have effect. But you might be more willing to do that if you can crack back on the attack, or if your opponent has a bunch of 1 or 2 power creatures.
Anchors -
Supports -
Vulshok Battlegear
Description - This looks horrid compared to Grafted Wargear and Loxodon Warhammer, but those cards are insane to start with. You could consider this a 'fair' version of those cards, but it doesn't add pressure quickly like the Wargear, or really swing a game back your way like the Warhammer. If you CAN stabilise and equip it though, the boost is solid. Only if you want your equipment to be a bit less swingy.
Anchors -
Supports -
Whirlermaker
Description - It's pretty slow, but in the right matchup (it's probably a death trap against aggro) you might be able to generate an army of thopters over the long game and swing in. Probably the 'best' of the repeatable artifact token makers. It isn't great, but if you want one of those, this is probably it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Whispersilk Cloak
Description - It can be swingy, and is probably the best in midrange or ramp decks to finish off the opponent once you've got your deck off the ground. Also helps saboteurs if that is something you support, or in a pinch it can go on an annoying blocker to avoid removal. It's not particularly efficient however.
Anchors -
Supports - Saboteurs
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
None.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Galvanic Juggernaut
Description - Probably the best 'aggro artifact creature with downside' at 4 mana. It hits hard, and if you are aggressive, creatures are likely to die. Sometimes they are forced to chump it, and it gains pseudo-vigilance. It might compete with Untethered Express if you don't want 2 4cc aggro artifacts.
Anchors -
Supports -
Snare Thopter
Description - It doesn't do anything particularly special, it's just a solid set of stats and abilities for the cost that nearly any deck would play, but certainly a solid colorless option for aggro decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Su-Chi
Description - A colorless 4/4 for 4 is playable in just about any deck. It's hard to get value out of the dies trigger, but it's nice when it comes up.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Etched Oracle
Description - There is potential here, but a lot of things have to go right in the draft to actually play it. Only if you've got the right support for 4-5 colour decks, and probably a slower cube. Gets marginally better the more ways you have of getting more +1/+1 counters on it.
Anchors - Domain / 5 colour
Supports - +1/+1 Counters
Pierce Strider
Description - The Hill Giant body is not much to write home about, but the life loss can help as colorless reach for any coloured aggro deck to maintain pressure.
Anchors -
Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Serrated Arrows
Description - Only impacting the board with a single -1/-1 counter the turn it comes down might not save you from a curve out aggro beatdown, but instant speed activation makes attacking and blocking decisions more difficult for your opponent, and being able to spread them around can wreak havoc on decks with smaller creatures. Cute double synergy if you play any proliferate cards.
Anchors -
Supports -
Untethered Express
Description - One of the better vehicles, usually a 5/5 trampling attacker on turn 5, and if your opponent can't deal with it then, the growing counters make it harder to take out after that.
Anchors -
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Hedron Archive
Description - It's a reasonable accelerant for ramp or control decks; in the midgame the mana helps you fire off your spells, and in the late game when you have enough mana, you can trade it in for cards. Less powerful on the frontend than something like Worn Powerstone, but increased versatility in the late game.
Anchors -
Supports -
Icy Manipulator
Description - It's a decent tapper, with a cheap activation cost. Find 4 mana might be challenging against some decks, but holding off their best attacker or clearing a blocker is usually worth it, and if you want to attack you can always tap down something on their end step and another target on your turn. Sometimes it might be right to lock down their land to mana screw or colour screw them. Can also provide incidental hate for some strong utility lands like Maze of Ith.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Bomat Bazaar Barge
Description - 5/5 for 4 is a lot, especially one that comes with a card, but crew 3 might also be hard to pull off. At least it might draw you into creatures to crew it if you are short.
Anchors -
Supports -
Ovalchase Dragster
Description - It dies if it runs into anything, but it hits hard. If you can lay it down and get through because of the haste and then threaten another 6 the following turn it can be good, but it is going to be inconsistent.
Anchors -
Supports -
Skull Catapult
Description - It's a sacrifice outlet, and the effect you get is a fairly decent one. You probably have to spend a turn setting this up so it is a little slow, but a cheap activation cost means you can keep developing your board while threatening 2 damage at instant speed (which you can do after chump blocking).
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Thran Dynamo
Description - It ramps a lot, but it competes with a number of other ramp options. This is the only artifact that can accelerate you from 4 to 7 without having a fifth land drop. Basalt Monolith can get your ramp spells out earlier (especially if you don't hit your fourth land), and Hedron Archive doesn't ramp as much but comes with better late game upside.
Anchors -
Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
None.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
None
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Dross Golem
Description - 3/2 with fear for 1bb isn't terrible, you can cast it for 3b if you happen to be short on black, and later in the game it might be cost 2 or less. It's an evasive 'black' creature, fine but it doesn't stand out from similar options. If you care about artifacts in your cube, that might put it ahead of those other options.
Anchors -
Supports - Artifact Matters
Kozilek's Channeler
Description - It's a 4/4 for 5 without a colour commitment, which is still not very impressive. It might help you stabilise while accelerating into your 7-drops. Most ramp decks are probably going to perform better on average with a cheaper mana rock like Worn Powerstone, but you might cube this instead (or in addition to) if you feel your ramp decks need a ramp spell that also helps stabilise.
Anchors - Ramp
Supports -
Self-Assembler
Description - This rating is on the assumption you allow a 'draft 1, get 4' type of scenario. Guaranteed 4 vanilla 4/4's in a row isn't necessarily amazing, but it does develop your board nicely.
Anchors -
Supports -
Skyreach Manta
Description - You need enough colour fixers in your cube to get this to be a 4/4 flyer; anything smaller than that on a consistent basis and you probably shouldn't be playing it.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Thopter Squadron
Description - It doesn't seem particularly great in a vacuum, but you could cube it to support some archetypes. It can provide triggers for artifacts entering the battlefield, and also has a few specific interactions with +1/+1 counter cards, E.g. Winding Constrictor.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters, Artifact Matters
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Breaker of Armies
Description - It's expensive, but your opponent also can't just chump it all day long if they don't have removal. It usually presents a couple of scenarios; they have enough power to kill it, but you get to choose the order in which their creatures die usually offering a good set of trades; or they don't have enough to power to kill it, which can signal the end of the game, because they won't be able to mount a defense after that. Notwithstanding, you can also get through with everything else on your board. Solid ramp target, and if you can reanimate it it demands an answer.
Anchors - Ramp
Supports - Reanimator
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Artisan of Kozilek
Description - 9 mana is a lot, but the payoff is also high. Assuming you hard cast it, even if it gets countered or dies to removal at least it brings something else back with it. And if it does stick, it becomes a must answer threat. If you support reanimator you might also consider it; if they don't have immediate removal, the game is probably effectively over after the first swing.
Anchors - Ramp
Supports - Reanimator
Bane of Bala Ged
Description - Compared to Ulamog's Crusher, only having 5 toughness means it is going to die more frequently when it goes into the red zone. The opponent gets to choose the permanents, so a reasonable scenario is it trading it off for 1 or 2 creatures and a couple of lands that are unlikely to matter. 7 is less than 8, but if you are supporting ramp you should probably just cube the other Eldrazi.
Anchors - Ramp
Supports - Reanimator
Deathless Behemoth
Description - 6/6 with vigilance at colorless is decent. That said, the main reason to cube it is if you just want some beef for any color. Eldrazi scion synergies are probably pretty thin in most cubes, but nice if it happens.
Anchors -
Supports -
Drownyard Behemoth
Description - It's going to kill most things it blocks if you flash it in, and you can also do so without fear of reprisal. It's just vanilla after that, but you can 'ramp' it out early with emerge and cast it on your opponents end step.
Anchors -
Supports -
Ulamog's Crusher
Description - You might occasionally die on the crackback, but the majority of the time you want to be attacking with an 8/8. Unless you cheated it into play, your opponent can probably sacrifice lands for a few turns, but if they don't have an answer it can lock the opponent out of the game after a few turns even if they have creatures to chump with.
Anchors - Ramp
Supports - Reanimator
Wretched Gryff
Description - You don't really want to be hard casting it, but even if you are trading in a 2 mana creature that has outlived its usefulness, you get an ok creature and replace the sacrificed creature. It doesn't really stand out though.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Darksteel Sentinel
Description - It can be an ok stabiliser, hopefully taking something out on defense with the flash. Cube it as support for control decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Lashweed Lurker
Description - You might not always realise its full potential, but setting the opponent back on board can be worth if you can accelerate it out by sacrificing a non-relevant creature.
Anchors -
Supports -
Pilgrim of the Fires
Description - It's expensive, but 6 first strike power is notable. It blocks well, is difficult for the opponent to trade with, and the trample means the opponent can't just chump with tokens. It doesn't compete with green ramp targets and you'd probably cube Eldrazi as colorless ramp targets, but slower combat heavy cubes have enough to like here.
Anchors -
Supports -
Razor Golem
Description - If you paid 4 mana for it, you probably wouldn't be thrilled but it might be acceptable. The main reason to play it would be in support of either artifact synergies in white, or to complement draw / go control decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
Vexing Scuttler
Description - It's probably good enough in a spells matters deck, but you'll need enough sacrificial lambs in your deck.
Anchors -
Supports - Spells Matters
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
None.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
None.
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Dreamstone Hedron
Description - Hedron Archive is going to be the better version in most decks. By the time you cast this, you probably don't need the ramp so much, making it a 9 mana draw 3 in some cases. You might cube it for maximum redundancy of ramp options.
Anchors - Ramp
Supports -
Loreseeker's Stone
Description - 6 mana is a lot to get started, but the potential to draw 3 repeatedly is at least worth noting. The decks that could play it would be pretty narrow; possibly ramp decks refill after emptying the hand of ramp cards or attrition-based control decks.
Anchors -
Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Aether Hub
Description - While it is one off (unless surrounded by other energy cards), it is a great fixer for aggro decks, given that most such lands enter the battlefield tapped, but likely to be played in any deck.
Anchors -
Supports -
Tri-Lands (Arcane Sanctum)
Description - You will find these in nearly every peasant cube. By fixing 3 colours, it opens up the number of decks that can play them, as they are just fine if you are only playing 2 of the colours. If most decks are 2 colours, each 2 colour fixing land only matches to 1 pair; each tri-lands matches to 3 pairs, making it easier for players to find fixing during the draft. They allow for easier splashing if you pick something powerful up later in the draft. Some cube managers may exclude specifically to reduce the splashing and '4+ colour good stuffs' decks.
City of Brass
Description - One of few fixers, especially of all colours, that doesn't enter the battlefield tapped. While the damage can add up, you will be able to cast your spells. Aggro decks are the ones that benefit the most; if in the opening hand it helps curve out while the damage is probably negligible. Some cube owners have been known to include multiples, given there are few aggro-oriented fixing lands. Control decks or attrition decks that want to grind out a long game are less inclined to want a land that doesn't have an option that doesn't deal damage. You can go super old school and include Icy Manipulator or some such and kill your opponent slowly by tapping their City of Brass.
Gemstone Mine
Description - One of the best (among very limited options) for 5 colour lands that don't enter the battlefield tapped. As such, excellent support for aggro to make sure they hit their early drops, with those decks being less likely to care by the time the last counter is removed. Has some incremental synergies with threshold/delve, bouncelands, or other self-bounce stuff like Kor Skyfisher.
Vivid Lands (Vivid Grove)
Description - Excellent fixers that few cubes go without. They are fine as your base colour and using the charge counters for a splash or high colour commitment cards in another colour. They are equally as fine if the permanent mana is your splash colour, as even if you quickly use your charge counters for your primary colour(s), but the time you've used them you have often reached the point of the game where you've drawn into those lands. Also a plus that this a 5 land cycle that doesn't favour certain colour combinations (e.g. ally colours or enemy colours only).
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Evolving Wilds / Terrmaorphic Expanse
Description - They can find any basic land in your deck at the cost of being tapped. It's just good fixing, and can help support splashes or multi-colour decks. Marginal benefits of filling the graveyard for decks that care, and may trigger landfall twice in a turn.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Bouncelands (Azorius Chancery)
Description - They fix 2 colours. While it enters the battlefield tapped, when you hit your final land drop you are one mana ahead of where you would have been, creating a sort of card advantage. Better for control decks where that advantage matters. They are mostly better than ETB duals, with marginal downsides if you want to split the mana, and land destruction or bounce spells that hit permanents are more punishing. They also have some synergy with landfall. If you are on the draw and don't have another play prior to dropping this, you might need to discard, but you may consider that a feature (reanimator, kick-off dredge, discard flashback cards).
Mirrodin's Core
Description - A good card to support a splash or if you have a few cards in different colours that have strong colour commitments. In 2 colour decks it is going to be worse than most ETB duals / tri-lands if you need to alternate every turn putting storage counters on it and then taking them off.
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Refuges (Akoum Refuge)
Description - The refuges are fine ETB lands that fix 2 colours. The life gain is a nice bonus, and are little better if you have a life gain matters theme in your cube. If you are already solid in your 2 colours, you might pick this over a tri-land, but until you are near the end of the draft you will probably take a tri-land, and they will fit more decks be default. These might be an option for an additional fixing cycle or in larger cubes.
Artifact Lands (Ancient Den)
Description - You need to be pushing a strong artifact theme to make these worth the effort. Depending on what colours your artifact theme decks are, you might not include the whole cycle, though this then causes issues with colour classification. Some cube owners might let their players choose a limited number as alternate basics.
Ancient Ziggurat
Description - It fixes all colours and doesn't enter the battlefield tapped. Creatures are the pre-dominant card type in peasant decks, and in aggro decks this can help ensure you hit your creatures on curve. However, the drawback is still relevant. If you have any other game changing spells or activated abilities, this essentially eats one of your land drops. Holding onto a Mind Control with Ancient Ziggurat as one of your five lands is going to be annoying. As a result, it doesn't belong in every deck.
Panorama (Bant Panorama)
Description - There is only one likely reason to play them; you are supporting a colourless / devoid deck and you want access to colourless sources. If you aren't supporting that deck, don't play them. The plus side is they do come into play untapped, but when you activate it costs you 2 without an immediate payoff because the target comes into play tapped.
Crumbling Vestige
Description - It is fixing that doesn't cost you a land drop per se, at the cost of only getting the fixing once. This can make timing awkward, as you need to make use of the first mana during a main phase. The best case scenario is as early fixing for aggro decks so they don't miss a beat, or if you support cards that care about colourless mana (which is probably very few, if any).
Myriad Landscape
Description - It can help you find your splash colour, but it is pretty slow at doing it. In a 1 or 2 colour deck, it is just a slow accelerant.
Rupture Spire / Transguild Promenade
Description - They fix all colours pain free, but they are too slow for most decks; it essentially costs you 2 mana the turn you play it.
Warped Landscape - (0?)
Description - If you push colorless matters in your cube, it might be worth looking at. However, it is really only best in other decks to help you find a splash colour you don't need until late game. Unlike Terramoprhic Expanse, this costs you a total of 3 lands to find that basic land compared to 1. It comes with upside that you can use it for mana immediately as it doesn't enter the battlefield tapped itself. Unlike Terramorphic Expanse, you can keep using it for mana while manipulating the top of your deck, and then crack it when you don't like what is on top. That is pretty narrow upside though, and not something most decks are going to draft.
Anchors -
Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Ancient Tomb
Description - It accelerates you without any initial investment that affects your board development(ETB or bounce something else), and therefore allows you to build your board faster than your opponent. Great in most decks, though in some match-ups the damage will add up.
Anchors -
Supports -
Library of Alexandria
Description - It doesn't have much of an opportunity cost. If you draw it late, you just count it as one of your land drops and keep on playing. If this is in your opening hand though, and particularly if you are on the draw, the value that it provides is insane and something has to go really wrong for you not to win with the massive card advantage it generates. If affordability wasn't a factor (or you play with proxies) you still might not see it in cubes due to the ridiculous power in the opening hand.
Anchors -
Supports -
Maze of Ith
Description - Insane 'spell' that consistently removes the biggest threat from combat, all at the low cost of a land drop. Even if you play it early, the effect will keep you alive long enough to keep hitting actual mana-producing land drops to play the rest of your stuff. Being a land makes it hard for most decks to remove, and forces them to rely on go wide attacks, or be completely locked out of the game.
Anchors -
Supports -
Mishra's Factory
Description - An excellent creature land due to the fact that the activation cost is so low and it doesn't ETB tapped. It can even block as a 3/3 on defense by targeting itself. Only the more colour intensive decks would consider not playing it. Incidental support for artifact matters themes.
Anchors -
Supports - Artifact Matters
Strip Mine
Description - Probably the most powerful land destruction card in the game which can just generate mana if you need it to. Better in aggro decks that can either strip their land on turn 1 and survive on low lands, or get out 1 or 2 early creatures and then keep the opponent off their bigger spells. Most often it is excluded due to power level / lack of fun.
Anchors -
Supports -
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Faerie Conclave
Description - Excellent creature land with a cheap activation cost while also being evasive. Fun with Standstill, and better in environments with removal slanted towards sorcery speed.
Anchors -
Supports -
Treetop Village
Description - Among the best of the creature lands, providing decent stats for a low activation cost, allowing you to beat down in the mid game while casting cheaper creatures.
Anchors -
Supports -
Wasteland
Description - Most cube decks include nonbasics, and this is likely to take out a fixing land and set your opponent back. Best in aggro decks that can keep laying beats while disrupting the opponent. While it is restrictive in its targets, most will exclude this because they don't consider it fun. Strictly worse than Strip Mine, but that card is insane in the first place.
Anchors -
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Desert
Description - It can't kill things before they deal damage to you / your creatures, but a repeatable source of damage that doesn't cost you any mana to put into play (including ETB tapped) can add up quickly. Against aggro assaults, you may be able to pick off those x/1's, hold off token assaults, or trade your creatures up. If your opponent has a couple of bears, they can't profitably attack into your 1/3 any more. Being a land also makes this hard for most decks to remove.
Anchors -
Supports -
Foundry of the Consuls
Description - Has decent upside for a low cost, as it just replaces one of your lands and doesn't come into play tapped. Once you hit 6 lands, you can starting throwing some evasive creatures into the air. It's fine on it's own, so can be a good card as incidental support for an artefact matters subtheme.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens, Artifact Matters
Ghitu Encampment
Description - The ETB tapped is a small price to pay for a relatively cheap activation, and the first strike can help ward off attackers or get it through. It is a card you can seed in your cube as support for sweeper decks (or against them).
Anchors -
Supports -
Looming Spires
Description - It's fine to play in the mid-game when you can sequence around the ETB effect, and time it when the first strike and pump makes things awkward for your opponent. It is conditional, but doesn't come with a huge cost.
Anchors -
Supports -
Mortuary Mire
Description - It doesn't create actual card advantage, but it can increase card quality by giving you back your best creature. It does require timing though, and in the early game you may just find yourself with a swamp that enters the battlefield tapped due to having no targets.
Anchors -
Supports -
Mouth of Ronom
Description - Rating is on the basis you allow your players snow basics. In that instance, this card can clear a lot of creatures outside of ramp targets once you get to 6 lands, and can be played as removal by any colour.
Anchors -
Supports -
Pendelhaven
Description - It looks green, but you could easily count this as a colorless card that gets slightly better in green decks. Most peasant cubes have a number of 1/1's, particularly tokens, and it can give some extra play to some of your utility creatures, particularly on defense. e.g. Being able to block an early aggro creature safely with Mother of Runes while still granting protection to something else, or being able to profitably block with a Merfolk Looter. Just as fine to support your Mogg War Marshal, Hordeling Outburst, Beetleback Chief start. It's value will change depending on the exact number of interactions you have in your cube.
Anchors -
Supports -
Quicksand
Description - Decent colorless removal as it doesn't ETB tapped and still provides mana. Makes attacking difficult for your opponent if you leave this open.
Anchors -
Supports -
Rogue's Passage
Description - This can really turn around stalemates in the mid to late game, or help aggro secure a win just as your opponent stabilises. Sometimes the board position is such that you can safely send in a single unblockable attacker for a couple of turns to get your opponent into range for an alpha strike. It isn't the primary reason you would play it, but it is also good with saboteur effects.
Anchors -
Supports -
Skarrg, the Rage Pits
Description - Its usefulness will vary depending on your red and green sections, but the threat of activation can sometimes make blocking tricky against early creatures where the single power or toughness will change the outcome, and if you've got some nontrample fatties it can really help you break through.
Anchors -
Supports -
Skyline Cascade
Description - This is a fine stalling card. You might occasionally have to play it without a target, but shutting down an aggro creature for a turn can buy you time, or help in a damage race.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Cycling Lands (Barren Moor)
Description - You might include them in your cube if you want to give your decks more ways to smooth their draws. Mostly it is just providing decks some incremental advantage, and when it comes to cube construction you are using slots on incremental advantage instead of more defining cards. They have some synergy with delve / threshold.
Anchors -
Supports -
Bazaar of Baghdad
Description - This requires a bit of building around and support from your environment to get the right benefit from it. It only works in a handful of decks, and requires the right set up to become worth it. The cost is steep; it doesn't produce mana so it costs you your land drop, and used 'fairly' as a filter it throws card disadvantage on top of that. However, it does get cards into your graveyard quicker than almost anything else, and pairs well with dredge, delve, and cards that care about being the graveyard. Also a good card for reanimator, where the card disadvantage doesn't matter quite as much while you keep digging. At the time of writing, madness is a topic of discussion (pending Shdows over Innistrad release) and Bazaar might contribute, but having to discard 3 cards coupled with this costing a land drop makes it unlikely you will be able to cast multiple cards even at discounted rates. You would could it as a spell for deck construction, and the first activation is essentially a 4 for 2 because you invest the card itself. You really need to be getting solid benefits from the discard for this to be worth it.
Anchors -
Supports - Reanimator, Madness, Graveyard Matters
Blasted Landscape
Description - It doesn't enter the battlefield tapped, and you can cycle it away if you need to. As a 1-of in a deck, you would probably play it unless you were playing more than 2 colours. However it really only offers incremental advantage to most decks, but doesn't really add anything to your cube.
Anchors -
Supports -
Blighted Cataract
Description - It has little opportunity cost in most blue decks. However unless you have other mana sources you need to hit 7 land drops before you can activate this. A land you no longer need that replaces itself with 2 other cards is powerful, but it is going to be slow in getting there, and there will be times you will be staring at a double blue card in your hand wishing this was just a basic island.
Anchors -
Supports -
Blighted Gorge
Description - It comes with a low opportunity cost, but you can trade it in later for some reach or to clear out an opposing creature. In terms of cube design, you may just want a better burn spell though.
Anchors -
Supports -
Blighted Steppe
Description - Low opportunity cost and the effect is fairly costed. It isn't exciting, but being able to gain 4+ life in the mid to late game if you've got nothing else to do is fine.
Anchors -
Supports -
Buried Ruin
Description - It is narrow and your cube needs to be built with it in mind, but can be a support card for an artifact matters theme.
Anchors - Artifact Matters
Supports -
Cabal Coffers
Description - This only belongs in your cube if you are actively pushing a mono-black theme. In a 2+ colour deck this is just bad because it doesn't accelerate you until you already have 3 swamps on the board.
Anchors - Mono-black
Supports -
Cloudpost
Description - The only way this would make its way into your cube is as a 'pick 1 get 4' deal. It could be an interesting choice for control / ramp decks, though peasant lacks good ways to find nonbasics.
Anchors - Ramp
Supports -
Dakmor Salvage
Description - It really only supports the dredge deck, and if you dump stuff from your graveyard into your library you can always get this back to hit your black mana requirements. You probably want some form of sacrifice outlet for lands / permanents to really get some benefit out of it though.
Anchors - Dredge
Supports -
Darksteel Citadel
Description - You likely only want to include this as an intersection between artifact matters decks and colorless matters decks. Being indestructible means very little.
Anchors - Artifact Matters
Supports -
Daru Encampment
Description - There are likely to be enough Soldiers incidentally in your cube that you could throw the tribe a bone without needing to go all-in. It's fine as a combat trick in aggressive decks, either trading up / surviving and winning the board war, or your opponent doesn't block due to threat of activation and then use the mana to keep developing your board.
Anchors - Soldier Tribal
Supports -
Dread Statuary
Description - It can hit hard if it activates, though the 2 toughness makes it hard to run into anything. It's fine in a sweeper deck.
Anchors -
Supports -
Eldrazi Temple
Description - If you want to push the colorless decks, presumably filled with Eldrazi, this is a nice signal card, but it only fits that one deck.
Anchors - Colorless Matters
Supports -
Fertile Thicket
Description - It doesn't help define your cube, but it can be a roleplayer in 3 colour decks to help dig for whichever colour you need, or feel more comfortable keeping some land light hands.
Anchors -
Supports -
Forbidding Watchtower
Description - It isn't particularly exciting, but if played early it can help control decks get to the late game by being able to block a lot of ground troops.
Anchors -
Supports -
Haunted Fengraf
Description - The randomness makes it hard to abuse, but it comes with only a minor opportunity cost. It is similar to drawing an extra card but in most cases you will be 'drawing' a business spell (sans some sac lands). It doesn't really cost most decks much to add, but it also doesn't really add much to your cube.
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Supports -
Ice Floe
Description - You would count it as a spell as it doesn't generate mana. The creature still gets to hit you (or your blocker), but then you get to lock it down permanently for no mana cost. You also get to untap it and upgrade to a bigger target, though they always get a swing first. It loses some of its shine by being an on-board trick though and not being able to prevent the damage upfront. Gets marginally better if you have ways to untap it at instant speed. Maze of Ith is better by miles, but if that card annoys you this could be a colourless replacement.
Anchors -
Supports -
Ifnir Deadlands
Description - It is fine enough on it's own, which is good given that few other Deserts are worth cubing (except actual Desert). This isn't fast, but trading it in later to kill or shrink a creature is ok. There isn't anything that really compels you to cube it though.
Anchors -
Supports -
Keldon Megaliths
Description - Hellbent is harder to obtain / maintain than you might initially imagine. It slows down your mana base a little, but can give you reach in aggro decks that can empty their hand quickly. You probably only want to include it if your cube supports really low curve aggro in R/x so you can trigger it often enough.
Anchors -
Supports -
Llanowar Reborn
Description - It's ok, but doesn't really add a lot to your cube. Gets a slight bump in cubes that support +1/+1 themes.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 Counters
Novijen, Heart of Progress
Description - It supports a +1/+1 counter theme, but is still useful outside of that. The biggest knock is that it essentially costs 3 mana to activate, so often won't be contributing until the late game.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 Counters
Radiant Fountain
Description - It is mostly incremental advantage for most decks, but control decks will like the life gain to survive until the late game. Synergy with life gain matters cards, plus some fringe synergy if you have bouncelands or other ways to return lands to your hand.
Anchors -
Supports - Life Gain Matters
Seriji Steppe
Description - Because you have to play it main phase, it reduces some of the impact most protection effects have. However, it can still provide some turns where you can make profitable attacks, either by getting through, or against boards with multiple colours of creatures, turning off the ones that are most threatening.
Anchors -
Supports -
Shefet Dunes
Description - It's a land when you need it to be, and a pump spell later. Sorcery speed and your opponent seeing it coming are downsides, but not giving up a spell slot is reasonable upside.
Anchors -
Supports -
Smoldering Spires
Description - In the early to mid game, you can probably sequence this to maximise its value in aggro decks while still being able to develop your board. While it's a land that will provide mana after it untaps, you might be better served with an actual red card that has this type of effect, like Mugging or Panic, or upgrade to a more expensive version.
Anchors -
Supports -
Stalking Stones
Description - As the transformation is permanent, this can be a land early and then a reasonably sized beater later. It's an ok card but doesn't add a lot to your cube, though it can provide a bit of support to traditional blue control decks.
Anchors -
Supports - Flash Go / Draw Go
Starlit Sanctum
Description - It's narrow on tribal, but you may have enough incidental Clerics in your cube to throw them a bone. Very cube dependant.
Anchors - Cleric Tribal
Supports - Life Gain Matters
Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
Description - Repeatable double strike is going to do some good work in some board states. If you are losing, it is probably too slow to help you recover, but might help you claw your way back if you aren't too far behind. If you are winning, it is win more. But if you are in a stalemate it is probably fine to turn things around.
Anchors -
Supports -
Tomb of the Spirit Dragon
Description - It's pretty narrow on the colorless theme that most cubes won't care about. If you have enough devoid creatures, artifact creatures, or effects that create Eldrazi spawn / scions, then it might have some value. The repeat life gain looks fine for a life gain matters deck, but that deck probably has minimal colorless spells.
Anchors - Colorless Matters
Supports -
Urza's Factory
Description - If you can stabilise or have managed to control the early and mid-game, pumping out a 2/2 every turn can be worthwhile to grind out a win. However, it essentially costs 8 mana and isn't going to turn around a losing game. That said, the opportunity cost is low and if you've constucted your deck properly the other cards will help you get to a position where you can activate this, or use the tokens to trade while stockpiling cards in hand.
Anchors -
Supports -
Vitu-Ghazi, the CIty-Tree
Description - It's slow, but like many lands, it has a low opportunity cost because it can always just provide mana. At it's worst, it costs 5 mana to prevent damage to you from a single attacker, and isn't likely to turn around a losing game. It can help break stalemates by slow rolling an army, but is unlikely to make it into most Selesnya sections.
Anchors -
Supports -
Wastes - 0
Description - This is a specific call out as you may wish to include some in your basic land pile if you are going deep on colorless, but you never want it as a pick in your cube. It's outside the scope of this scoring to talk about the pro's and con's of this approach.
Anchors -
Supports -
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
None.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
Fire // Ice - 3
Description - Neither mode is exceptional, but the flexibility makes up for it in an Izzet deck. Fire can do mop up or clear out creatures, while Ice can keep something at bay in control decks, or where there aren't good targets for Fire.
Anchors -
Supports -
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
Life // Death
Description - Reanimate that costs 1 more mana is still very good for reanimator decks as well as many other decks. Life can act as a finisher, especially if you support land based ramp. Several hasty 1/1's the opponent wasn't expecting can clinch a game if you've provided any pressure. Pairs nicely with anthem effects (Gaea's Anthem, Soltari Champion etc)
Anchors -
Supports - Reanimator, Go Wide
Order // Chaos
Description - Most players would consider this a red card, as Order is pretty bad. Chaos on the other hand can end games in aggro decks or midrange decks after a bit of pressure has been applied.
Anchors -
Supports -
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Appeal // Authority - 1
Description - Appeal might be a signal if you want to promote go wide / token strategies. It's narrower and has a lower ceiling than something like Predator's Strike, but can reward building around it. Authority is a nice upside, but you would probably consider this a green card first and foremost.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens / Go Wide
Consign // Oblivion - 1
Description - It's possible to cast Consign on the opponents end step and then use Oblivion to force them to discard it if they only have 2 cards. 5 mana is a lot, but Consign is efficient enough that Oblivion is just upside. You might cube it over Vapor Snag if you want your blue bounce spells to deal with most card types.
Anchors -
Supports -
Far // Away - 1
Description - Both modes are a mana more than 'retail', but the flexibility of either mode might make it worth consideration. The fuse at least means you can bounce their worst creature to get a better sacrifice target, and at least gets two creatures off the board at instant speed. Cube it as a tool primarily for control decks, as most other decks won't want it.
Anchors -
Supports -
Rise // Fall
Description - Rise is effectively a 1 for 1 that also sets the opponent back on the board and probably never bad, but seems most at home in Dimir aggro / tempo, and support for that deck is the reason you might consider it. Fall might be a 'fair' Hymn to Tourach that doesn't steal your lands on turn 2, and might be better cast on turn 4 alongside another 2 drop or something to maximise its value. Rise is probably the main reason to consider cubing this though.
Anchors -
Supports -
No reason to cube - There isn't a reason to cube these over options. You might find some perfectly 'playable' cards here, but there is
little reason to put them into your cube in the first place unless you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Cogwork Librarian
Description - Depends entirely on your chosen draft format. In traditional booster draft, taking a first and second pick out of pack 2 or 3 can be pretty powerful if you take it late in pack 1. It can be a fun mechanic for the draft itself, as it is never going to actually make a deck.
Anchors -
Supports -
Lurking Automaton
Description - It 'auto-corrects' for the power level of your cube, but it does end up just being a vanilla big drop. Probably only worth cubing if you have +1/+1 lords, and depends on your draft format.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Regicide
Description - It will depend on your draft format, but this is probably fine in 8-mans, with occasional relegation to the sideboard (or coming out of the sideboard depending on your preference). Clearly wonky in 2-man formats.
Anchors -
Supports -
Garbage Fire
Description - It will depend on your draft format of choice, but you will probably accept 4 damage as a baseline, and 5 or more starts looking pretty good.
Anchors -
Supports -
Pyretic Hunter
Description - It will depend on your draft format of choice, but if this is going to be 5/5 or better with menace, you are looking good.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Animus of Predation
Description - A 4/4 for 5 is not a great baseline, and you probably need two decent keywords to make it worthwhile. There is an opportunity cost to those keywords, as they take up extra picks, but there are some combination of keywords which are going to challenge opponents, and when there is nothing else for your deck you can just pick something with a keyword. It's probably more fun than a great card, but it probably creates some good stories.
Anchors -
Supports -
Leovold's Operative
Description - It's value will depend on your draft format. You are never going to include it in a deck, but being able to take a strong first and second pick out of a future pack that is on-colour or on theme is pretty strong.
Anchors -
Supports -
Adriana's Valor - It's going to be fine if it ends up in your white deck, but the upside isn't so high (given your opponent will know before having to block) that it is worth cubing over a white card that is probably better for those decks.
Advantageous Proclamation - I don't know the math, but it clearly makes the consistency of your deck better and I can't imagine it not being picked in the first few picks of a draft if you cube it.
Assemble the Rank and Vile - Like most of the colour aligned conspiracies, fine in your black decks but not high enough upside (and you might not even have mana at the right time) to really warrant cubing it.
Brago's Favor - Free cheaper spell is great, and is also a conspiracy with more variance due to what is in your cube than most. Mana rocks coming down a turn earlier can be nasty, if you cube buyback spells (Sprout Swarm comes to mind) that can get out hand a lot faster, and if you have a good self-bounce target you can make your cycle more efficient.
Double Stroke - Essentially becomes a free spell, which is awesome. Double awesome if that spell has buyback, rebound or flashback.
Echoing Boon - A bit more narrow than other conspiracies, because it requires an instant or sorcery that you are willing to play on your own creatures. So you might find yourself without a reasonable target anyway, and doesn't seem worth taking up a cube slot for.
Hired Heist - It pairs nicely with evasive creatures, and if you even think you might be in blue I find it unlikely you'd draft too many actual blue cards over this.
Immediate Action - If you are worried about conspiracies simply adding to the power of any deck, at least this one is more likely to help aggro decks than control decks.
Incendiary Dissent - Of course it will go in any red deck, but requiring investment makes it perhaps a little more 'fair' than others. Also works nicely to support anything that cares about 'power matters' such as double strikers.
Iterative Analysis - As long as you have at least one instant or sorcery, you get to randomly draw an extra card sometimes. Extra awesome if that card has rebound, buyback or flashback.
Muzzio's Preparations - As a baseline, making a creature you've drafted just be bigger from the outside is already awesome. However it does open up shenanigans with any persist creature, particularly already strong creatures like Kitchen Finks and Murderous Redcap which start becoming silly. +1/+1 lords also become stronger.
Natural Unity - It's power is tempered by requiring a mana investment, but when the opportunity cost is low it doesn't matter so much, and you can build up the creature on a stalled board.
Power Play - You get to start, which is obviously good, but the lack of a change to gameplay means it probably isn't worth cubing.
Secret Summoning - A card that does nothing in the vast majority of cubes.
Secrets of Paradise - It might provide some decks with an interesting angle to increase the value of some of their utility creatures. Perhaps a conspiracy that is a little more aligned to helping control than aggro.
Sentinel Dispatch - A little more aligned with control decks by giving them an extra blocker; however it might also be a conspiracy to help support artifact matters themes by making sure you start with one on the battlefield.
Summoner's Bond - Assuming a singleton approach, there might be times when you have both in hand before you can cast one of them, but getting a free card, AND having it be a creature card is pretty strong. Not to mention that you can link together two creatures that might synergise well together. It's probably better than most of the conspiracies that trigger off a selected card, because you have two opportunities to draw a card that will trigger it (assuming singleton).
Unexpected Potential - Essentially lets you splash any card. On the one hand it can make for some interesting synergies that you might not draft otherwise and create some memorable moments. On the other hand, some may see it as a 'cop out' and that you don't need to consider your mana base and can just throw in whatever is the strongest off-colour card you drafted. If it turns up in a later pack, it can unlock an early strong pack that you had to abandon.
My 180 Peasant Cube on Cubetutor
If there is demand I'll consider adding them in; I'm just not sure it will provide enough value at this point.
So, onto the 1-drops from the last few sets.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Vampiric Rites - 2
Description - Thrown in any deck, it may not excel but can provide an insurance policy against removal or losing combats, or turn outclassed creatures into draws. It becomes an excellent sacrifice outlet if you have creatures with death triggers, or if you have some token generators. You aren't likely to give up a creature just to trigger some life gain matters cards, but that is another minor synergy, and the incidental life gain can add up over the course of a game. It's a nice build-around if you draft it early.
Anchors - Sacrifice
Supports - Life gain Matters
Reaver Drone - 1
Description - It's a 2 power 1 drop, but there are enough other options that this is far down the chain. It will probably only make the cut in larger cubes, or if you specifically want to push a colorless deck in your cube.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports - Colorless Matters
Unnatural Endurance - 1
Description - If you prefer your removal to be combat-oriented, this might be an option to help your smaller creatures scale up and survive combat, which is fine either on offense or defense. It also provides 1 mana protection for your creatures against a lot of removal as a back up option. Coat With Venom is a comparable alternative; it guarantees trading up, while this is slanted to guaranteeing your creatures survival.
Anchors -
Supports -
Clutch of Currents - 1
Description - The base mode is strictly worse than Unsummon. While the baseline is the more likely mode, it has the awaken upside. It might be an include as a way to shoehorn +1/+1 counter support into your chosen bounce effect.
Anchors -
Supports -
Rush of Ice - 1
Description - At a single mana it might be good enough for pushing aggro strategies, with upside if you reach 5 mana. There are plenty of other cards with this effect, the reason you might play this one is if you really want to push a 1 mana version, or really reinforce +1/+1 counters in blue with the awaken option. The bounce of Clutch of Currents is probably a little more universal, with this being a bit better in some aggro strategies or against ETB creatures.
Anchors -
Supports - +1/+1 counters
Slip Through Space - 1
Description - Single mana to get your best ceature through while being at card parity. Susceptible to a 2 for 1 if they remove your target in response to casting. Almost interchangeable with Shadow Rift with the devoid being mostly flavor text, but if you want to support a colorles deck this might sway you.
Anchors -
Supports - Saboteurs, Colorless Matters
Blisterpod - 1 (Move Tukatongue Thallid from 1 to unplayable)
Description - Not a particularly thrilling card, but if you are trading with 2/1's or 3/1's you end up on top. If you are facing off against an aggressive deck, trading / chumping and then using the once off acceleration can be a decent play to get out bigger threats. Minor support for token theme or sacrifice decks.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Scythe Leopard - 2
Description - It only fits green aggro decks, but this can be a card to help push that particular deck. It needs the support of similar aggro cards to be worthwhile.
Anchors - Aggro
Supports -
Natural State - 1
Description - This may be a metagame call; if the majority of your enchantments / artifacts are 3 or less it could be an upgrade over Naturalize, or for decks that know it is the cheaper ones that are their downfall.
Anchors -
Supports -
Vines of the Recluse - 2
Description - It's a combat trick that you might consider given that it costs only 1 mana. Has the surprise untap factor, and the toughness boost plus reach means you are likely to survive whatever you kill. It can even be used aggressively to turn a trade into a win while setting up a blocker with the untap.
Anchors -
Supports -
Lithomancer's Focus - 1 (unplayable?)
Description - It is the only white 1-mana creature pump spell that pumps 2 power, but there are plenty of similar options, and those that grant first strike are going to be just as good or better most of the time.
Anchors -
Supports -
My CubeCobra (draft 20 card packs, 2 packs.)
430, Peasant, Very Unpowered
Why you should take your hybrids out of your gold section
Manamath Article
I'd put Clutch at 1 (1.5 if we still had halves, but fine if we don't), Rush at 0.
Bounce is better to get you into the late game and force them to commit mana to keep developing their board. Sleep effects may be slightly better either in the late game when they have ample mana and no other cards to cast, or in aggro decks if you expect to win quickly. I don't know. Bounce might still be better, but I'm not sure the gap is that big.
In any case, Clutch of Currents to 1.
And Vines of the Recluse to 2.
Once we get the rest of the 2's out of the way, it might be interesting to do a 'This or That' discussion (the Elimination threads died pretty quickly) on ranking the combat tricks, and make updates here if we learn anything from it.
Recent black and blue 2cc cards.
4 - Staple - Cards with enough base power that your cube is less powerful from their omission. They are cards that are likely to never rotate out of your cube unless you ban them for being too good.
3 - Strong - These are solid cards that get the job done. Their exclusion is probably an indicator that you are actively not supporting a popular deck / archetype / effect.
2 - Playable - These are good cards, but they are either interchangeable (e.g. lots of removal, aggressive red 2-drops) or are build-around cards that need a little support to be good (Favorable Winds).
1 - Niche - These cards aren't usually considered great, but might be included to support some obscure archetypes, specific interactions, or if going deep on a particular type of deck / archetype / effect.
Unplayable - There isn't a reason to play these over other options, except in extreme cases where you are intentionally depowering an effect.
Carrier Thrall - 2
Description - The two-in-one body can help a variety of decks; as a control card you can trade early against aggressive decks, and then use the scion to accelerate into your bigger spells, it provides two bodies for sacrifice outlets, provides insurance against removal / sweepers, and you aren't embarrassed to play it in aggro if you need more 2-drops.
Anchors -
Supports - Tokens, Sacrifice
Transgress the Mind - 1
Description - The biggest problem is that it costs 2 and you can get similar effects for 1 mana, which will suck when it whiffs. It might still be a metagame choice if you want your black-based decks to be able to strip game ending cards but let your slower decks keep their low cost answers which might get stripped with the likes of Inquisition of Kozilek. Any devoid synergies are likely to be incidental.
Anchors -
Supports -
Zulaport Cutthroat - 2
Description - On the surface it is less powerful than Blood Artist; this only triggers on your creatures dying, not your opponents, and the point of power will rarely make up for it. However, it will still rack up some life drain over the course of a game, especially if your game plan is active sacrifice as opposed to attrition. For most, it will be the third card considered after Blood Artist and Falkenrath Noble if you want another one of this effect.
Anchors -
Supports - Sacrifice
Corpse Churn - 2
Description - Raise Dead is usually not considered a great card and this costs twice as much, but the self-mill effect and instant speed make this worth considering. Outside of more dedicated graveyard decks it still has some play, getting back your best creature, and potentially putting a better target into your yard. Graveyard decks will be where it shines, whether it is to help hit threshold, put potential reanimation targets in the yard, help your delve cards etc.
Anchors - Graveyard Matters
Supports -
Visions of Brutality - 1
Description - If you want removal that is slanted towards aggro that your control decks don't want, this might be an option. It doesn't help if you are losing, but if you are the beatdown this is mostly going to act like a Pacifism.
Anchors -
Supports -
Tide Drifter - 1
Description - If you are going to support a colorless matters deck, this may be one of the anchor cards that you want.
Supports -
Umara Entangler - 1
Description - It might serve as an aggro beater for blue, especially in a spells matter deck. It's problem compared to most other prowess creatures is that raising the toughness from 1 to 2 doesn't increase its survivability by much.
Anchors -
Supports - Spells Matter
Kalastria Healer - Only for full on tribal.
Sky Scourer - You can get 2 power flying creatures in black that might have drawbacks, but they don't make you jump through hoops.
Slaughter Drone - Black is stating to get 2/2 creatures for 2 with upside, but requiring colorless for activation makes this a lot worse than Hand of Silumgar or Onyx Mage.
Horribly Awry - Remove Soul is strictly better.
Coralhelm Guide - The ability isn't efficient enough to cut it.
Mist Intruder - There isn't enough value in ingest or the 2nd point of toughness over true unblockables for 1 mana.
Tightening Coils - They can still block with it, or still trigger attack triggers.
Blinding Drone - The stats to cost are just mildly ok but not enough for cube, and requiring colorless mana for activation makes this a no.