I used to have a bunch of off-colour flashback cards but I have already cut the ones I had in blue and black so I might as well cut the others... except for lingering souls which I can't cut from the cube... not sure if I should move it to Orzhov section. Oh what and also Spider Spawning.. which is fun also.. maybe I should move them to the multicolour sections.
I decided to replace Twisted Abomb with void beckoner but not the green one. I am tempted to actually run both in black since there is plenty of reanimation in black.
I beefed up red midrange I hope it feels playable now. Dagger caster was a hate card for tokens but hopefully just trampling over is a more viable strategy now.
I wanted to add clash of titans because I see its bonuses but 5 mana is so much for red and I prefer having something like arc lightning as my 2 for 1 spell.
Noob, I'm curious about you cutting Shrine of Burning Rage, it's something I've been lightly considering myself, but I'd be happy to hear what your thought process is.
Shrine's strong and will end games, but it's not always very fun when it does. Playing it on turn 2, ignoring it for 5 turns then winning for 8 damage isn't the most exciting play pattern. Weaponize the Monsters will hopefully be more interesting and play into red's archetypes just as well.
When I see Healing Salve, I'm often like "Oh girl, I wish I could turn every card into this." Thanks they removed the gain life part, otherwise this would have been broken.
Proud Wildbonder? I tried making room for it by adding more hybrids but would have been forced to throw in cards weaker than I feel comfortable supporting. In theory, it should be pretty nice even if 3 toughness for a creature that relies on attacking unless you have a big trampler on the field already is a bit iffy. The main issue with Trample matters is how Trample is inherently a keyword that is useful with bigger creatures as that limits the value of any trample 'lords'. They tend to spread their effect to only one, maybe two creatures on the field unless you commit to extra synergies like Brawn.
It looks like a pretty sweet removal option for green that doesn't require to to have a boardstate like most fight-based removal, but I haven't seen anyone talk about it.
Is a 3 CMC conditional sorcery removal in green just too weak?
To me, the card seems too situational even with the Planeswalker addition. It works okay early game, but becomes a lot less reliable/practical in the mid to late game when you probably just want the creature out of your hand. At 3 mana, I think the cost is too high compared with other, cheaper Green removal (or other removal options splashed in other colors) and I would opt for other cards to spend that mana on early in the game if I am running heavy green.
But, it is an interesting take on the fight/deals damage equal to power mechanic.
i don't like wildbonder. feels win-more, and i don't think trample is as common as you think in cube.
charge of the forever-beast also seems kinda average. i like the instant speed fight options we have, but tbh i don't even really like running removal spells in green anyway. you're generally playing another colour which has infinitely better removal options, so i just let green develop the board / mana base rather than handle the opponent's stuff. except for artifact / enchantment removal obviously.
Illuminations > FoF is probably the hottest take I've ever seen tbh.
I know I'm a little bit late to this conversation, but I read this thread a while back lurking and I felt like I had to chime in here. I think you're missing the point of a card like Hieroglyphic Illumination. Illuminations isn't a great draw spell, nor is it the best cantrip. The reason why you play it is because it is both a draw spell and a cantrip. Think of a card like Fire // Ice. You probably wouldn't play a card that deals 2 damage for two mana or a bad cantrip that taps a thing for two mana by themselves. No, the reason Fire // Ice is good is because it provides players with the option to do both. Hieroglyphic Illumination is very similar, trading in the bad burn spell for Inspiration and removing one mana and the tap effect from the Ice side. It's a cantrip when you need it and a draw spell when you need it. FoF is many things, but a cantrip is not one of them. In some matchups, it just gets stuck in your hand because you need to be playing interaction instead of drawing cards. In these situations, being able to cycle and spend your mana efficiently could be the difference between winning and losing the game. Hieroglyphic Illumination might not be as strong as Fact or Fiction when it's being cast for 4 mana, but the added flexibility usually makes it much better.
TL;DR: Hieroglyphic Illumination is better than Fact or Fiction in many situations because it's more flexible, even though it might not be more powerful when cast for 4 mana.
Tl;dr: The difference between casting Hieroglyphic Illuminations and Fact or Fiction is massive. There's also enough cards that essentially directly replace Illuminations that the only way Illuminations > FoF makes sense is if you think FoF is a mediocre blue card, which is largely agreed to not be the case. If you do think that FoF is mediocre, then please just state that instead of using Illuminations as a proxy.
The problem with Illuminations (and Boon of the Wish Giver, to stay on topic), is that neither mode is ever actually cubeable. The ceiling of the draws spells are also their floor (which is way below acceptable in C/Ube, so having a split card that does both just isn't worthwhile. The ceiling on Fire // Ice (and removal in general) is significantly higher. There's quite a few matchups where you would play Fire by itself and be incredibly happy (Ice is a bit harder to make a case for, but it's easier to justify than bad Reach Through Mists). Compare that to Fact or Fiction, which is, well, FoF.
Against super fast aggro both FoF and Illuminations are boarded out immediately, so any marginal benefit from having a Reach Through Mists in your deck is even more minimal. Against non-red based aggro FoF is arguably still better, since losing to evasion is pretty common, which FoF is multiple times better at finding answers for than Illuminations. Cycling U isn't exactly free either, especially against super fast aggro decks.
If you think that FoF is just a bad card then I can't help you, but saying FoF is worse than Illuminations is saying FoF is a middle of the pack blue card, which is just not true. All the cheap draw (Chart a Course, Serum Visions, Ponder, Preordain, Impulse) directly replaces Illuminations (I'm just listing the commonly played ones). Into the Roil, Miscalculation, Remand, Repulse, and Condescend are all basically directly better too. Sea Gate Oracle and Cloudkin Seer are also better in the vast majority of situations. All of these cards are really close to directly replacing Illuminations in almost every situation. Unless you disagree with most of these comparisons, then FoF would be outside of the top blue cards without even considering Counterspell, Mulldrifter, Control Magic, etc., which is a huge distance from what most people place it at.
All the cheap draw (Chart a Course, Serum Visions, Ponder, Preordain, Impulse) directly replaces Illuminations (I'm just listing the commonly played ones). Into the Roil, Miscalculation, Remand, Repulse, and Condescend are all basically directly better too. Sea Gate Oracle and Cloudkin Seer are also better in the vast majority of situations. All of these cards are really close to directly replacing Illuminations in almost every situation. Unless you disagree with most of these comparisons, then FoF would be outside of the top blue cards without even considering Counterspell, Mulldrifter, Control Magic, etc., which is a huge distance from what most people place it at.
I think you're missing the point. I'm not saying FoF is a bad card. It's never been bad and it never will be bad. It's skill testing, it can be fun for both people, and it just plays well. There's a reason pros like it. The card is not bad.
However, a lot of contemporary cube designs have been forgoing FoF because it's 4 mana. Even non-aggro decks are very capable of powering out an impressive board state early in the game that control has a hard time dealing with if all of it's cards cost more than 2 or 3 mana. These cubes actually play, like all of the cantrips. I do mean all of them. The good ones, of course, like Chart a Course, Serum Visions, Ponder, Preordain, and Impulse, but also some of the bad ones. I've seen people having success with cards like Shimmer of Possibilities and See beyond in what would be characterized as very high-powered cube. The reason why these cards are good is not because they draw a ton of cards, but because they help control smooth it's draw and find the exact answers it needs when it needs them. Hieroglyphic Illumination maybe isn't the sexiest draw spell in the world, but reach through mists is actually just a fine floor when it also has a fine draw spell attached. Yes, it's never going to reach the same ceiling as FoF, but you always get to use your Illumination. That's why the card is good. It's flexible and you can always play at least one of it's modes.
Now, granted this is the peasant forum and therefore not a discussion about cubes with rares, but I think if a cube playing Liliana of the Veil is happy playing Hieroglyphic Illumination, then the argument that the card is somehow bad is flimsy, at best.
At higher power levels expensive draw is worse. Except, as you note, this is about peasant cube, not traditional cube. All my arguments are in the context of peasant cube.
Just to give some context: in the Average MTGS peasant cube (680 cards) there are 16 draw spells in blue. Hieroglyphic Illumination is not among them. Meanwhile FoF is among the 16 most played cards in the average cube, let alone the most played among the 16 draw spells. Illumination isn't embarrassing, but you need to go a good bit beyond the top draw spells to consider it (which the person I was arguing with before was).
Late to the party, I wanted to share my thoughts on the new cards:
Staple/Solid: Boon of the Wish-Giver - I will happily trade the instant speed on Opportunity for Cycling 1, which turns this into a card that will either win you a long game or be effectively a free slot in your deck. Seems like the average of those two modes should result in a pretty good card. Ominous Seas - In a similar vein, this card is a two-mana win condition when drawn early and a cheap cycle when drawn late. Blue has a ton of incidental card draw even without looking at looters, which means you can expect Kraken #1 quick enough to be relevant in most games and in longer games there’s even the threat of Kraken #2.
Bastion of Remembrance - Second or third best version of this (behind Blood Artist and somewhere near Falkenrath Noble). I like it a lot more than Zulaport Cutthroat, as I am happy to pay the extra mana for a near-permanent version of the triggered ability plus a free body to chump or sac with (the body on Cutthroat is never relevant outside of emergencies) Grimdancer - Efficient and flexible body which will be good at any stage of the game. Lots of tension in choosing the right keywords; great design. Heartless Act - Third best 2cc black removal (behind Go for the Throat and Cast Down). Arguably more interesting since it’s never a dead card, and it becomes an indirect payoff for the +1/+1 counters deck by giving their creatures resiliency against a premium removal spell.
Weaponize the Monsters - Lots already said on this one, personally I think it’s going to be great. Likely the second best sacrifice outlet in red, behind Goblin Bombardment and just ahead of Bogardan Dragonheart (a card that has overperformed, I would definitely recommend it if you want to support sacrifice in red). Flame Spill - Glad to see this printed since I don’t run silver-bordered. Four damage for three mana is a good rate (I recently cut Stoke the Flames for being too inefficient), and this can partially get around the downside of not targeting players as long as your opponent has a token lying around.
Ram Through - Probably the best green fight spell we’ve seen printed yet, edging out Nature's Way and Clear Shot. I like giving green access to this type of effect so I’m happy to find room for this one.
Skull Prophet - Ramp and self-mill on a relevant body? This does everything a Golgari deck could want and more. Sprite Dragon - A fantastic payoff to the Izzet spells archtype, this is a two-mana win condition in the right deck and will take over the game very quickly if not dealt with.
Reconnaissance Mission - Adding cycling on an already fringe playable makes for a very intriguing card. Will have to test to see if this is good enough for the tempo or flyers decks. Neutralize - This vs Sinister Sabotage is tough. I ultimately landed on keeping Sabotage due to the raw power, but I’ll have to try to track how many times I wished I could have cycled it away.
Parcelbeast - I will have to test this to see if it will play as good as it looks, but that ability is absurd if you can get more than one activation and the mutate means you can get this rolling as early as turn 3. Jubilant Skybonder - Probably the best Azorius hybrid, especially if you support any sort of flyers theme.
Borderline/Fringe: Will of the All-Hunter - Testing to see if cycling and +1/+1 counter support are enough to put this combat trick over the top. Probably not. Valiant Rescuer - Almost good enough on his own, and this inches white closer to enough support for a cycling sub-theme.
Wingspan Mentor - Seems like it is going to play very awkwardly with the targeting restriction, poor body, and slow ability, but testing to see if this ends up being more than the sum of its parts.
Cavern Whisperer - My pick for best mutate card (not counting Parcelbeast). Black has very few humans, usually has access to a lot of tokens, and the discard clause helps mitigate the inherent 2-for-1 in mutate. Trading off your worst creature for a 3B 4/4 haste, menace with ETB discard seems like a great deal in any aggressive-leaning black deck. Call of the Death-Dweller - On the fence about this one. You’re never going to be up on mana (as compared to most reanimation spells), so you’ll need the keyword counters and 2-for-1 possibilities to make up for the times when this card is dead in hand without reasonable targets. Will be testing.
Fire Prophecy - Probably the best 2-mana burn spell that doesn’t hit face, but not hitting face should be a deal-breaker for those trying to push viable aggro strategies.
Hornbash Mentor - Likely the best of the Mentor cycle due to the base body. Also lightly supports +1/+1 counters and trample themes. Wilt - Honorable mention if you need non-creature artifact/enchantment hate in green
Proud Wildbonder - I like this card as another playable RG hybrid, and also as an interesting sub-archtype in Gruul (beyond just "Gruul smash"). Testing this out in a fun little package with Bramblewood Paragon and Hornbash Mentor.
Primal Empathy - Seems strong enough, but I personally couldn’t find room in my Simic section. Back for More - This vs Baloth Null is interesting. The Null is generally going to get you more value and plays better in the graveyard as a creature if it gets milled, but Back for More can be really explosive (especially at instant speed) and should help stabilize better against most board-states.
Overall a pretty impressive haul from this set, especially considering how much of a whiff Mutate was for cubes.
I have to say, I think we're on exactly the same page here. It's pretty remarkable to me how your thoughts echo my own.
Only point I really disagree with is that Skybonder is the best azorious hybrid. I can't imagine that a pretty medium wind drake is better than minister of impediments and mistmeadow witch
Also, the warrior-trample-tribal element in gruul is something I had totally missed, and really should look into now.
I have to say, I think we're on exactly the same page here. It's pretty remarkable to me how your thoughts echo my own.
Only point I really disagree with is that Skybonder is the best azorious hybrid. I can't imagine that a pretty medium wind drake is better than minister of impediments and mistmeadow witch
Also, the warrior-trample-tribal element in gruul is something I had totally missed, and really should look into now.
Great minds, as they say
The Skybonder isn't exactly stellar, in retrospect it probably belongs down in the Borderline/Fringe section. I think my ranking/excitement speaks more to the weakness of the Azorius hybrids in general (I wouldn't really consider Mistmeadow Witch a true hybrid, as you need access to both colors before you'd want to put it in your deck). Maybe I'm underestimating Minister of Impediments, but that seems really slow for a tapper. Wouldn't Curse of Chains be better in most matchups?
I wouldn't say the card is amazing, but it's a super easy to cast tapper that most notably doesn't require any mana to do its thing. It has the advantages all tappers have, which includes...
- Being removal that doesn't let your opponent use the creature as a sac target
- Always hits the best thing on the board
- Can "double tap" by tapping end of turn, untap, tap their dude
- Good against haste/surprise tactics
For sure there's plenty of downsides too, but I see it as a sort of prison term, which is always a solid effect.
After playing some IKO I think these cards might scale well to peasant.
Call of the Death-Dweller - Getting back a 1 drop deathtoucher and a 2 drop menacer is really hard to deal with efficiently, especially if what you're getting back has text. Getting back a utility 3 drop is also a lot better than I expected, since it trades up on attacks and blocks. You need to deckbuild slightly differently, but I think it's probably worth it.
Pouncing Shoreshark - Mutate generally played better than I expected in small quantities. I underestimated both playing the card normally and the amount of haste damage mutate represents. Creatures having an alternate psudeo-burn mode is really powerful.
Spelleater Wolverine - A 3 mana 3/2 double strike is an insane rate, even if you need to jump through a hoop. People were talking about red midranged in the main thread, and this might be better than the other options.
man is this the first time someone other than myself has mentioned pouncing shoreshark itt? i think it is. glad to hear some feedback about the card though, i'm still hesitant to include it since we have a ton of cheaper options for manowars, but none of them have flash, which i think is the coolest part.
man is this the first time someone other than myself has mentioned pouncing shoreshark itt? i think it is. glad to hear some feedback about the card though, i'm still hesitant to include it since we have a ton of cheaper options for manowars, but none of them have flash, which i think is the coolest part.
any other reports of sick new cards?
I am attempting to run a u/b inflitrators archetype in my cube, so I feel like the shark plays pretty well there. Flashing it in on top of a small evasive beater like shadowmage infiltrator helps keep tempo going and remove troublesome potential-blockers.
That said, casting always feels very "all my eggs in one basket". The jury is still out on this one.
EDIT: Shadowmage Infiltrator is a human lol. Maybe I will cut the shark
I've been really impressed by Ominous Seas in Ikoria limited that I ordered a copy to try. It seems comparable to Errant Ephemeron but instead of the worse case scenario being top decking a 7 mana card while on five and having to wait for 4 turns or hoping you draw two land you can just cycle it.
Yeah, but unlike Shrine, it's definitely not guaranteed to connect. It also doesn't have the evasion that Errant Ephemeron does, though I think the ability to top-deck and cycle it as well as the repeatable effect and larger creature does make up for the lack of flying.
Was ponder too good?
I used to have a bunch of off-colour flashback cards but I have already cut the ones I had in blue and black so I might as well cut the others... except for lingering souls which I can't cut from the cube... not sure if I should move it to Orzhov section. Oh what and also Spider Spawning.. which is fun also.. maybe I should move them to the multicolour sections.
I decided to replace Twisted Abomb with void beckoner but not the green one. I am tempted to actually run both in black since there is plenty of reanimation in black.
I beefed up red midrange I hope it feels playable now. Dagger caster was a hate card for tokens but hopefully just trampling over is a more viable strategy now.
I wanted to add clash of titans because I see its bonuses but 5 mana is so much for red and I prefer having something like arc lightning as my 2 for 1 spell.
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/5e646fe670240a58539a3fee
->Desperate Ravings > Weaponize the Monsters
→ Dragon Fodder > Forbidden Friendship
→ Dagger Caster > Momentum Rumbler
→ Gore-House Chainwalker > Bloodfray Giant
→ Syr Carah, the Bold > Light Up the Stage
→ Sandsteppe Outcast > Splendor Mare
→ Aven Eternal > Wingspan Mentor
→ Zulaport Cutthroat > Bastion of Remembrance
→ Wakedancer > Grimdancer
→ Twisted Abomination > Void Beckoner
→ Crocanura > Excavation Mole
→ Travel Preparations > Ram Through
→ Dovin, Hand of Control > Jubilant Skybonder
→ Burning-Tree Emissary > Proud Wildbonder
→ Riddleform > Reconnaissance Mission
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
Shrine's strong and will end games, but it's not always very fun when it does. Playing it on turn 2, ignoring it for 5 turns then winning for 8 damage isn't the most exciting play pattern. Weaponize the Monsters will hopefully be more interesting and play into red's archetypes just as well.
Nah, just redundant with (and worse than) Preordain. I'm trying something different.
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.
It looks like a pretty sweet removal option for green that doesn't require to to have a boardstate like most fight-based removal, but I haven't seen anyone talk about it.
Is a 3 CMC conditional sorcery removal in green just too weak?
But, it is an interesting take on the fight/deals damage equal to power mechanic.
450 Card Peasant Cube on CubeCobra
450 Card Pauper Cube on CubeCobra
charge of the forever-beast also seems kinda average. i like the instant speed fight options we have, but tbh i don't even really like running removal spells in green anyway. you're generally playing another colour which has infinitely better removal options, so i just let green develop the board / mana base rather than handle the opponent's stuff. except for artifact / enchantment removal obviously.
I know I'm a little bit late to this conversation, but I read this thread a while back lurking and I felt like I had to chime in here. I think you're missing the point of a card like Hieroglyphic Illumination. Illuminations isn't a great draw spell, nor is it the best cantrip. The reason why you play it is because it is both a draw spell and a cantrip. Think of a card like Fire // Ice. You probably wouldn't play a card that deals 2 damage for two mana or a bad cantrip that taps a thing for two mana by themselves. No, the reason Fire // Ice is good is because it provides players with the option to do both. Hieroglyphic Illumination is very similar, trading in the bad burn spell for Inspiration and removing one mana and the tap effect from the Ice side. It's a cantrip when you need it and a draw spell when you need it. FoF is many things, but a cantrip is not one of them. In some matchups, it just gets stuck in your hand because you need to be playing interaction instead of drawing cards. In these situations, being able to cycle and spend your mana efficiently could be the difference between winning and losing the game. Hieroglyphic Illumination might not be as strong as Fact or Fiction when it's being cast for 4 mana, but the added flexibility usually makes it much better.
TL;DR: Hieroglyphic Illumination is better than Fact or Fiction in many situations because it's more flexible, even though it might not be more powerful when cast for 4 mana.
Highball MTGS Cube Thread
Youtube
The problem with Illuminations (and Boon of the Wish Giver, to stay on topic), is that neither mode is ever actually cubeable. The ceiling of the draws spells are also their floor (which is way below acceptable in C/Ube, so having a split card that does both just isn't worthwhile. The ceiling on Fire // Ice (and removal in general) is significantly higher. There's quite a few matchups where you would play Fire by itself and be incredibly happy (Ice is a bit harder to make a case for, but it's easier to justify than bad Reach Through Mists). Compare that to Fact or Fiction, which is, well, FoF.
Against super fast aggro both FoF and Illuminations are boarded out immediately, so any marginal benefit from having a Reach Through Mists in your deck is even more minimal. Against non-red based aggro FoF is arguably still better, since losing to evasion is pretty common, which FoF is multiple times better at finding answers for than Illuminations. Cycling U isn't exactly free either, especially against super fast aggro decks.
If you think that FoF is just a bad card then I can't help you, but saying FoF is worse than Illuminations is saying FoF is a middle of the pack blue card, which is just not true. All the cheap draw (Chart a Course, Serum Visions, Ponder, Preordain, Impulse) directly replaces Illuminations (I'm just listing the commonly played ones). Into the Roil, Miscalculation, Remand, Repulse, and Condescend are all basically directly better too. Sea Gate Oracle and Cloudkin Seer are also better in the vast majority of situations. All of these cards are really close to directly replacing Illuminations in almost every situation. Unless you disagree with most of these comparisons, then FoF would be outside of the top blue cards without even considering Counterspell, Mulldrifter, Control Magic, etc., which is a huge distance from what most people place it at.
That's not at all what I'm saying but I'll humor you.
I think you're missing the point. I'm not saying FoF is a bad card. It's never been bad and it never will be bad. It's skill testing, it can be fun for both people, and it just plays well. There's a reason pros like it. The card is not bad.
However, a lot of contemporary cube designs have been forgoing FoF because it's 4 mana. Even non-aggro decks are very capable of powering out an impressive board state early in the game that control has a hard time dealing with if all of it's cards cost more than 2 or 3 mana. These cubes actually play, like all of the cantrips. I do mean all of them. The good ones, of course, like Chart a Course, Serum Visions, Ponder, Preordain, and Impulse, but also some of the bad ones. I've seen people having success with cards like Shimmer of Possibilities and See beyond in what would be characterized as very high-powered cube. The reason why these cards are good is not because they draw a ton of cards, but because they help control smooth it's draw and find the exact answers it needs when it needs them. Hieroglyphic Illumination maybe isn't the sexiest draw spell in the world, but reach through mists is actually just a fine floor when it also has a fine draw spell attached. Yes, it's never going to reach the same ceiling as FoF, but you always get to use your Illumination. That's why the card is good. It's flexible and you can always play at least one of it's modes.
Now, granted this is the peasant forum and therefore not a discussion about cubes with rares, but I think if a cube playing Liliana of the Veil is happy playing Hieroglyphic Illumination, then the argument that the card is somehow bad is flimsy, at best.
Highball MTGS Cube Thread
Youtube
Just to give some context: in the Average MTGS peasant cube (680 cards) there are 16 draw spells in blue. Hieroglyphic Illumination is not among them. Meanwhile FoF is among the 16 most played cards in the average cube, let alone the most played among the 16 draw spells. Illumination isn't embarrassing, but you need to go a good bit beyond the top draw spells to consider it (which the person I was arguing with before was).
Staple/Solid:
Boon of the Wish-Giver - I will happily trade the instant speed on Opportunity for Cycling 1, which turns this into a card that will either win you a long game or be effectively a free slot in your deck. Seems like the average of those two modes should result in a pretty good card.
Ominous Seas - In a similar vein, this card is a two-mana win condition when drawn early and a cheap cycle when drawn late. Blue has a ton of incidental card draw even without looking at looters, which means you can expect Kraken #1 quick enough to be relevant in most games and in longer games there’s even the threat of Kraken #2.
Bastion of Remembrance - Second or third best version of this (behind Blood Artist and somewhere near Falkenrath Noble). I like it a lot more than Zulaport Cutthroat, as I am happy to pay the extra mana for a near-permanent version of the triggered ability plus a free body to chump or sac with (the body on Cutthroat is never relevant outside of emergencies)
Grimdancer - Efficient and flexible body which will be good at any stage of the game. Lots of tension in choosing the right keywords; great design.
Heartless Act - Third best 2cc black removal (behind Go for the Throat and Cast Down). Arguably more interesting since it’s never a dead card, and it becomes an indirect payoff for the +1/+1 counters deck by giving their creatures resiliency against a premium removal spell.
Weaponize the Monsters - Lots already said on this one, personally I think it’s going to be great. Likely the second best sacrifice outlet in red, behind Goblin Bombardment and just ahead of Bogardan Dragonheart (a card that has overperformed, I would definitely recommend it if you want to support sacrifice in red).
Flame Spill - Glad to see this printed since I don’t run silver-bordered. Four damage for three mana is a good rate (I recently cut Stoke the Flames for being too inefficient), and this can partially get around the downside of not targeting players as long as your opponent has a token lying around.
Ram Through - Probably the best green fight spell we’ve seen printed yet, edging out Nature's Way and Clear Shot. I like giving green access to this type of effect so I’m happy to find room for this one.
Skull Prophet - Ramp and self-mill on a relevant body? This does everything a Golgari deck could want and more.
Sprite Dragon - A fantastic payoff to the Izzet spells archtype, this is a two-mana win condition in the right deck and will take over the game very quickly if not dealt with.
Cubable:
Splendor Mare
Void Beckoner
Sanctuary Smasher
Titanoth Rex
I love this whole cycle (except for the tragic blue one). Splendor Mare is flexible, efficient in either mode, and relevant at every stage of the game. Void Beckoner and Titanoth Rex are huge bodies for reanimation and/or ramp strategies that are never dead in hand and bin themselves. Sanctuary Smasher and Void Beckoner can be two-for-one combat tricks. Sanctuary Smasher is an actually playable 6-drop in red.
Reconnaissance Mission - Adding cycling on an already fringe playable makes for a very intriguing card. Will have to test to see if this is good enough for the tempo or flyers decks.
Neutralize - This vs Sinister Sabotage is tough. I ultimately landed on keeping Sabotage due to the raw power, but I’ll have to try to track how many times I wished I could have cycled it away.
Forbidden Friendship - Enough said on this one.
Excavation Mole - Super efficient body with self-mill upside, green now has a very reasonable suite of graveyard enablers (Satyr Wayfinder, Grapple with the Past, Winding Way) that aren’t embarrassing to run outside of the dedicated gy deck.
Parcelbeast - I will have to test this to see if it will play as good as it looks, but that ability is absurd if you can get more than one activation and the mutate means you can get this rolling as early as turn 3.
Jubilant Skybonder - Probably the best Azorius hybrid, especially if you support any sort of flyers theme.
Borderline/Fringe:
Will of the All-Hunter - Testing to see if cycling and +1/+1 counter support are enough to put this combat trick over the top. Probably not.
Valiant Rescuer - Almost good enough on his own, and this inches white closer to enough support for a cycling sub-theme.
Wingspan Mentor - Seems like it is going to play very awkwardly with the targeting restriction, poor body, and slow ability, but testing to see if this ends up being more than the sum of its parts.
Cavern Whisperer - My pick for best mutate card (not counting Parcelbeast). Black has very few humans, usually has access to a lot of tokens, and the discard clause helps mitigate the inherent 2-for-1 in mutate. Trading off your worst creature for a 3B 4/4 haste, menace with ETB discard seems like a great deal in any aggressive-leaning black deck.
Call of the Death-Dweller - On the fence about this one. You’re never going to be up on mana (as compared to most reanimation spells), so you’ll need the keyword counters and 2-for-1 possibilities to make up for the times when this card is dead in hand without reasonable targets. Will be testing.
Fire Prophecy - Probably the best 2-mana burn spell that doesn’t hit face, but not hitting face should be a deal-breaker for those trying to push viable aggro strategies.
Hornbash Mentor - Likely the best of the Mentor cycle due to the base body. Also lightly supports +1/+1 counters and trample themes.
Wilt - Honorable mention if you need non-creature artifact/enchantment hate in green
Proud Wildbonder - I like this card as another playable RG hybrid, and also as an interesting sub-archtype in Gruul (beyond just "Gruul smash"). Testing this out in a fun little package with Bramblewood Paragon and Hornbash Mentor.
Primal Empathy - Seems strong enough, but I personally couldn’t find room in my Simic section.
Back for More - This vs Baloth Null is interesting. The Null is generally going to get you more value and plays better in the graveyard as a creature if it gets milled, but Back for More can be really explosive (especially at instant speed) and should help stabilize better against most board-states.
Overall a pretty impressive haul from this set, especially considering how much of a whiff Mutate was for cubes.
Formerly hedgehogger
I have to say, I think we're on exactly the same page here. It's pretty remarkable to me how your thoughts echo my own.
Only point I really disagree with is that Skybonder is the best azorious hybrid. I can't imagine that a pretty medium wind drake is better than minister of impediments and mistmeadow witch
Also, the warrior-trample-tribal element in gruul is something I had totally missed, and really should look into now.
Great minds, as they say
The Skybonder isn't exactly stellar, in retrospect it probably belongs down in the Borderline/Fringe section. I think my ranking/excitement speaks more to the weakness of the Azorius hybrids in general (I wouldn't really consider Mistmeadow Witch a true hybrid, as you need access to both colors before you'd want to put it in your deck). Maybe I'm underestimating Minister of Impediments, but that seems really slow for a tapper. Wouldn't Curse of Chains be better in most matchups?
Formerly hedgehogger
I wouldn't say the card is amazing, but it's a super easy to cast tapper that most notably doesn't require any mana to do its thing. It has the advantages all tappers have, which includes...
- Being removal that doesn't let your opponent use the creature as a sac target
- Always hits the best thing on the board
- Can "double tap" by tapping end of turn, untap, tap their dude
- Good against haste/surprise tactics
For sure there's plenty of downsides too, but I see it as a sort of prison term, which is always a solid effect.
Call of the Death-Dweller - Getting back a 1 drop deathtoucher and a 2 drop menacer is really hard to deal with efficiently, especially if what you're getting back has text. Getting back a utility 3 drop is also a lot better than I expected, since it trades up on attacks and blocks. You need to deckbuild slightly differently, but I think it's probably worth it.
Pouncing Shoreshark - Mutate generally played better than I expected in small quantities. I underestimated both playing the card normally and the amount of haste damage mutate represents. Creatures having an alternate psudeo-burn mode is really powerful.
Spelleater Wolverine - A 3 mana 3/2 double strike is an insane rate, even if you need to jump through a hoop. People were talking about red midranged in the main thread, and this might be better than the other options.
any other reports of sick new cards?
I am attempting to run a u/b inflitrators archetype in my cube, so I feel like the shark plays pretty well there. Flashing it in on top of a small evasive beater like shadowmage infiltrator helps keep tempo going and remove troublesome potential-blockers.
That said, casting always feels very "all my eggs in one basket". The jury is still out on this one.
EDIT: Shadowmage Infiltrator is a human lol. Maybe I will cut the shark
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/djredpeasant
My C/Ube on Cube Cobra
Reminds me of Shrine of burning rage, it is this ticking time bomb that keeps ticking up each turn.
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own